Yani let out a heavy-breathed moan. As the oldest in his litter he always got the best nipples, the teats that were the most heavy with milk. His baby siblings got good ones, but he got the best. He always got the best.
For a little while he didn't know anything but silent blackness existed. Then his world began to expand. As the world of sound came to him, he forgot the time of silence and sound came over him. Then his eyes opened. At first it had been little more than a few fuzzy blobs before him, but eventually it transformed into a world he would be living in for many years. The innocent cub was turning into a seasoned cub already, at least for his age.
His mother, his caretaker, his milk-giver, was beautiful. She was a shade of pretty white, with blue points on her muzzle, paws, tail and ears. She had blue eyes. She was wonderful, in Yani's eyes. He didn't know her name. All he knew was that she loved him, and he loved her.
Then his mouth began to make noise. At first it was mindless, keeping himself occupied while nothing happened around him. Then he noticed his mother would make very specific noises to him, and realized that she was referring to herself. That's when the Light In The Eyes came to him.
Self, he realized subconsciously. Self is Me. What is Me? He grew curious. He watched her point to herself with a nimble blue-gray paw, and made a sound. Already he was trying to copy.
"Maa-aaa?" He mewed. "Ma-A."
"Mama," She said calmly, patiently. "Mama. Mama. Mama."
"Ma-a." He said in a final fashion. "Ma-a."
His sister was far better at this than he was. "Mama!" She giggled, a big, loll-tongued grin on her face. "Mama!"
But his little brother, the runt, stared blankly. His little milk-teeth already extended beyond his upper lip. His eyes were just hardly focused on their mother, their Ma-a. Yani didn't understand. Why wasn't he trying to repeat what the Ma-a had said? Did he not hear her?
He sighed quietly, flustered, and listened as his mother made more sounds. "Yani," She murmured, putting a paw on her son's head. "Yani."
"Ya-I." Yani squeaked, the feeling of Self blooming in his chest. "Ya... Yani!"
"Yes!" The sound of praise was familiar to Yani, and pride burned in his pelt. "Yani, good Yani." She turned and started teaching his sister her Name. "Kriky," She repeated over and over until she got it.
Then she went to the long-toothed cub, his littermate. She put a paw on his head and crooned, "Rune. Rune." But no sound came out of the cub. He stared at her before batting at her paw playfully, unaware that she was waiting for him to repeat the Name to her. Frustrated, she tried again and again, but nothing worked.
Yani was too young to understand how delayed his brother technically was. Named cubs were starting to copy their parents and realize Self right about now. But Rune wasn't. He was still in the mind of an Unnamed One.
"Rune," The sound she made was mournful. "Rune does not have the Light..." She sobbed.