Here we are, another chapter. Yay! Enjoy.
Shira opened her eyes slowly, glancing around. As her vision became clearer and she woke up further, she stretched and yawned. Then, pawing slightly as the side of the furry cave she seemed to be in, mewing to be noticed, light suddenly flooded in. Two very familiar hands reached in and, feeling around for a moment before finding her, grabbed her gently around the middle and lifting her up.
She saw the smiling face of her kangaroo mother, Raz, smiling at her as she lifted her out. Purring softly, she nuzzled her mother's neck happily. "Good morning to you too." She said, patting her on the head before bending over to sit her on the deck, knowing she'd want to go play, probably go pounce on Squint, as she was just barely big enough to pin him now, then start up a game of tag/keep away.
Then maybe she'd go climb the mast to try and win over Captain Gutt again, seeing as she'd had more and more success each day. The possibilities were endless. Well, not literally. But when one lived on a pirate ship, constantly sailing into unknown waters that brought a new adventure with each one, she found it quite hard to be bored.
As she wandered around, she was greeted by Boris and Gupta, the wild boar and badger. "Morning Shira." She just nodded and smiled in response, still unable to talk. Then, as she continued looking for entertainment, she ran into Gutt, literally.
She collided with his leg, which sent her tumbling back. Sitting up and shaking her head to clear the dizziness, she looked up at his disapproving face. The looks he gave her anymore were a bit annoyed if anything, but no longer as though he hated her. "Hey mini." He greeted coolly. She just babbled at him, giving the captain a cheerful grin.
"So when are you gonna start talkin', huh? You can't just go on with the mindless sounds forever."
She just shrugged, cocking her head to the side in a slightly confused way. She wanted to talk, but still couldn't quite figure out how. She'd tried, she really had, but… the words just didn't come out right. She was beginning to get worried. What if she never learned?
…Maybe she just hadn't found the right word? Yeah, that must be it. She reassured herself of this, but she still couldn't fully dispose of the fear and doubt gnawing at her conscience.
As she walked along the deck, she spotted her rabbit uncle and, getting a devious grin on her face, crouched and started stalking forward, making sure to keep as quiet as possible. As soon as she was in jumping range, she tensed in preparation and sprung, bringing him down and holding him by the shoulders. Giggling at his surprised expressions, she bent down to nuzzle his face a bit.
"Hey Shira." He greeted, gently pushing her face away and ruffling the fur on top of her head. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but… would you let me up? You're crushing my lungs." By this point, his voice was choked and strained, seeing as she'd moved her paws so they were applying pressure to his chest.
She nodded and released him, purring as she started rubbing up and down his chest. He patted her head. Keeping his voice low, he said "Love you too, Shira. I love you too."
She sighed contentedly. "Uncle." Squint's head snapped up. Shira herself was frozen in shock.
"Did you just…" he couldn't contain his excitement as she nodded uncertainly. "Oh my god!" he yelled."Raz!" he dashed off, leaving one still very confused cub, who was staring off into space, lost in her amazement. Did she really just talk? She'd been waiting so long… was that what it felt like? To finally release at least one of her thoughts? It felt pretty good to her. Incredible, indescribably pleasing
"Huh…" she surprised herself by managing to say that word. Sure it was simple, but it was a whole new experience for her.
There was the pounding of feet and everyone surrounded her. "Is it true?"
"Did she really?"
"Are you sure?" were a few of the questions tossed around by the crew.
Raz pushed through the crowd. She bent down a few feet away from the girl who was staring up at the adults with slightly fearful eyes, slightly frightened from all the yelling. She held out her arms in a welcoming motion. She couldn't help herself. "Come to mommy."
Shira, at the sound of her voice, turned to her and toddled over, going slowly and still looking around at the excited faces of her family. Once she got there, she put her front paws up on her mothers hand, looking up at her with a loving expression. Rubbing her head on it, she managed to say a word she'd been wanting to since forever. "Mama…"
"See? I told you! I told you!" Squint said excitedly, jumping up and down and twirling his knife around happily.
"This is great." Boris said.
"This is better than great! This calls for a celebration!" Silas corrected.
Someone else approached the crew, and Captain Gutt himself walked. "So the little tiger finally talked, eh?" he asked.
They all nodded. "Well then." He said, kneeling down. "Let's hear it."
At first she seemed hesitant, but then, gathering her courage, she gently broke away from her mothers congratulating embrace and shyly walked up to him. Swallowing her fear, she said in a small voice. "Cap'n."
"Well, would you look at that." Gupta said in awe.
"Cap'n!" she said, trying out her new word. "Cap'n! Cap'n! Cap'n!" she sang, bouncing over to Raz. "Cap'n, mama! Cap'n."
"There's my smart little girl." Raz murmured proudly, grabbing her for another hug.
As she cuddled in her mothers arms, Shira whispered "Love you, mama."
So what'd you think off her first words? Pointers? Suggestions? Glad to listen. Review please. P.S., I'm working on another chapter right now, should be up sometime today.
