Anushka
Anushka had been up ever since the sun began to shine weakly through the forest's thick foliage, bouncing on her paws and swishing her tail everywhere. It was today!"It is today!" she sang tunelessly as she pranced about, probably being a nuisance and not caring a whit. Today was her day to do something special and different that none of her sibs got to do. Being one among so many, and with a well-meaning but inept mother, opportunities for a single cub to do special things were few and far between. So she was wringing every last drop of enjoyment out of this visit to her cousin-thing's home.
"Is he here yet?" she asked, addressing her question to nobody in particular. Then, without waiting for a response, she announced, "I will go look to see if he is here."
Skjoldr
Skjoldr had been amazed by the complicated negotiations required before he was allowed to take one of his cousins away from the rest of the horde for a visit at his den. Once he had realized what he was getting into, he had been perfectly happy to forget the whole thing, but it seemed Ana had not been, and she had continued lobbying for a visit, apparently, until she got what she wanted.So now he made his way through the forest to pick up a cub that was not his and with whom he had very little in common for...what? A playdate? He could almost understand her enthusiasm for the excursion, but it didn't do much to make him more excited about it. After all, he had a long list of things he was and was not allowed to do and say while they were together, lest she pick up some undesirable behavior or glean some unfortunate piece of information that might upset her mother.
Anushka
"Nngh!" Anushka groaned in an inarticulate expression of impatience and frustration. To no one in particular she complained, "He is late."How could her cousin-thing be late when the days were already so short and this was so important? It was not fair, and Anushka was going to be very cross with him when he arrived. She would not even say hello to him. She would just remind him that he was late and now they had to hurry.
Maybe she should suggest that he carry her, since his legs are longer and they will travel faster that way. She frowned. No. If he was carrying her he wouldn't be able to answer her questions, and she had many questions she wanted him to answer. If he apologized for being late, of course. Otherwise she was not going to even speak to him. Not a single word.
Anushka had just made up her mind about punishing her cousin-thing with silence when she caught sight of his blue pelt emerging from the trees. Seeing him, she put on her very best glower.
Skjoldr
Skjoldr had not really expected that he would be greeted by a glowering cub. It was his understanding that Anushka had been looking forward to this outing, and pestering her minders about it ever since it was first proposed. The face she presented him with now was not the face of a cub who wanted to go on an excursion."It is a good day to die," he greeted her. "You don't look as though you're having a good day, though. How is that, Cousin Anushka? The day has barely begun."
It didn't occur to him that he might have arrived late. He had arrived within the specified period when he was told to be there. He just hadn't arrived toward the earlier end of it. Skjoldr had forgotten what it was like to be a cub who looked forward to things. Besides, his hadn't been that kind of upbringing anyway.
Anushka
Anushka glared as ferociously as she could at her cousin-thing. Was it possible that he did not realize he was late? That made it even worse. He should be aware and sorry. Very, very sorry. So apology. Much guilty. Wow."You are late," she informed him, breaking her silence to bestow this wisdom on him. "The sun has been up for some time, and you were not here. Now it is late and we will be late to your home, and since we must leave there early, I do not get as much time."
She explained more thoroughly than she needed to, perhaps, but he had not seemed properly contrite when she simply told him that he was late. Thus, it had been necessary to point out the dreadful consequences of his tardiness. Namely, they would have less time together, which wasn't fair. She was going to miss out because he couldn't be where he said he would be, when he said he would be there.
Grown-ups were so unreliable.
Skjoldr
In the face of Anushka's scolding, Skjoldr opened his mouth to protest that he was not actually late, and to remind her that he had not said that he would be there at sunup, but he would leave his home at that time, and so in failing to account for travel time she was accusing him falsely. Then he closed his mouth again without saying anything of the sort. She was little and it was simply not worth it to argue with her."I did not mean to upset you," he said instead. "I hope you are not so angry with me that you don't still want to visit."
It hadn't sounded like she was. It had sounded like she was annoyed at having been cheated of time with him. Nevertheless, he was willing to give her the opportunity to sulk and make a point. She was behaving more like Klona in this, and although he wasn't as experienced as some of his family in dealing with Klona, he could manage this miniature version well enough.
Anushka
"I am not angry," Anushka corrected. Then, barely suppressing a sly smile, she added, "I am just disappointed."That was what Grandda always said when someone did something he hadn't wanted them to do. He didn't get angry, just disappointed, but him being disappointed was just as bad as Uncle Sko getting angry in some ways. Less scary, but still something to be avoided.
"I do still want to visit with you." This was spoken a little too quickly to hide her enthusiasm, despite her prior irritation. There was a part of her that was afraid her display of temper would lose her this opportunity. Sometimes adults did things like that, and she didn't feel she knew her cousin-thing well enough to guess whether he was one of those adults who would punish her for a perfectly reasonable fit of temper.
Skjoldr
Skjold's smile might have been taken for a smirk by someone who knew the difference between the two expressions, since that's what it was, but he was lucky to be dealing with someone too young to appreciate the difference between smiles and smirks."I am glad to hear that. Shall we go then?"
He frowned. Something about what he had just said seemed off to him, but he couldn't place his paw on exactly what it was. There was nothing wrong with it, but coming out of his mouth the words felt unusual, not like the way he usually spoke.
"It is a bit of a hike, and we must be back early, as you pointed out."
That was it. His speech was beginning to mimic hers (and Klona's, he supposed). He wasn't using contractions. How annoying.
Anushka
With all the imperial majesty a cub can convey, Klona nodded, graciously consenting to his proposal to depart and forbearing to remark on his lack of an offer to carry her if it was so far to walk."Do you have any cubs?" she asked. It seemed logical to her that he might. He was a grown-up, and while not all of the grown-ups she knew had cubs, many did.
"I would like to meet some not-family," she told him as she began to walk, not minding the fact that she didn't really know where they were going. He had longer legs and would soon catch up with her and then they could walk together in the correct direction.
"Walk faster so that we can be there sooner." An imperious command. She really was, in many ways, her mother's daughter.
Skjoldr
Behind her, and thus safely out of sight, Skjoldr rolled his eyes. He hoped Anushka would relax a little over the course of the day. Maybe if she did, she would be less bossy. Or maybe she wouldn't. He remembered some of his siblings simply being bossy for no reason when they were young."I don't have any cubs." He emphasized the contraction to be sure he spoke it. "And I don't actually know anyone who isn't family living around here. But I think we can still have a good time."
He watched her carefully for signs of a tantrum or a sulk at being disappointed, but he didn't see any. The white cub simply nodded, taking this news in stride, and kept walking. She was not having an easy time of it with the uneven forest floor, he observed, and so without asking he bent and picked her up in his mouth, also effectively doing away with his ability to converse until they arrived. The possibility of cub chatter did not occur to him until it was too late.