“Rap.” The golden cub drew himself up alongside his brother. His language was simple and he certainly didn’t know enough words to put together a decent conversation. But he knew the important words, the ones that meant a lot to him.
The names of his siblings, the names of his parents: mama, dada. He knew them now and they were imprinted in his heart.
“Rap.” He reached out a tiny paw and prodded his orange brother’s shoulder. Their eyes were open and their strength was growing. The cubs were beginning to play now and the gold child had caught glimpses of their true colours in the shaft of sunlight from ‘upper world’. Bright colours the same as mother and father.
He’d seen his own colour too and had been horrified at what he’d seen.
He didn’t look like any of his siblings and he certainly didn’t look like his parents. He wasn’t sure why, but this thought distressed him terribly. Why was he a different colour? Was this why his mother found it hard to look at him? Was he…was he not even their son? He’d been nursing these silent worries in his desperate little head trying to think of a good reason to why he was so different.
“Rap!” He poked his brother harder and finally got his attention.
“Wha-?” The orange boy blinked and lifted his head to glance over a shoulder at his smaller brother. Then, with a play growl he rolled fully over to face his youngest sibling. The size difference was incredible really. Rap was a big cub and he was destined to be big and strong from the outset. The gold boy, on the other paw, was the runt of the litter; small and a little under nourished – though not dangerously so.
Because of this he’d become Rap’s favourite victim.
He swiped a pad of a paw at the gold’s face and released another playful growl. “Wha’s wrong wiff yous?”
“Nuffink.” The gold replied, dodging Rap’s paw. He was too slow, however, and he was knocked sideways by the clout, stumbling clumsily backwards until he fell back on his rump. “Oof.” He blinked vivid green eyes across at his brother for a moment and then after a pause he spoke again.
“Why ain’t I like yous?” It was a hard thought to put in words.
“Huh?” Rap blinked and pulled himself up onto his paws. Then, predator-like, he began to stalk his youngest brother, wriggling his little bottom in preparation. He released another growling-roar – cute to adults but terrifying to siblings – and leapt again, pinning the gold’s tail beneath his forepaws.
He grinned and looked up. “Yous no different.”
“Are too.” The gold replied, tugging pitifully to free his tail from his brother’s grasp. Eventually he gave up and released a deep sigh. His ears drooped a little and with a single paw he pointed towards the light. “See the shiny?”
“Leads to ‘upper world’.” Rap replied, lifting his brother’s tail in his teeth and giving it an experimental n**. For a moment he was rendered speechless.
“Light makes yous bright, like dada.” The gold pointed out lamely. Irritated that his heartfelt conversation was being ruined by Rap’s rough and tumble antics. He gave his tail a rough tug and bounced away from his brother’s advances. Didn’t Rap understand that he wanted to try and tell him something important?
“Make Lua bright like mama.” He continued.
Rap shrugged, clearly not understanding.
“Not make me like mama and dada.” The gold spoke sadly.
Rap shrugged again. “Yous ain’t the only ones. Zap and Ngoma aren’t like mama or dada.”
“Mama has white.” The nameless cub replied with a pout. His brother really didn’t get what he was trying to say. He’d have to be blunt. “Dun think I’m mama’s baby.”
“Dun be a doofus. Why’d yous be here if yous aint mama’s?” Rap was sitting now and it finally looked as if he were trying to take this conversation seriously. Apparently he did care enough about his brother to realise that this meant a lot to him – though he was rather slow on the uptake.
“I dun have no name.”
“Do.” Rap insisted with a sniff.
“Wha’s it?”
Rap thought for a moment. Clearly he was trying to remember a time when his mother or father had used it. His tiny face scrunched up with thought and his tail swayed slowly back and forth through the air. After a long moment of silence he returned his fiery eyes to his brother. “Dun know it.”
“See.”
“I give yous a name.”
“Yous?”
“Yup.”
There was a moment of silence as the boys regarded one another. The gold couldn’t help but feel a thrum of joy in his chest. Was this it? Was he finally going to have a name? Sure…a cub probably ought to be named by his parents but if that didn’t happen a sibling was the next best thing, right? Right! He wriggled with excitement.
“How ‘bout Fry?” The orange cub declared finally.
“Fry?”
“Yup.”
“Wha’s it mean?”
“Like, um, small. Small fry. See?” He grinned.
“Oh.” The gold wasn’t sure whether he liked that name very much.
“Be’er than none?”
“…Okay.” The gold – Fry – had to admit that it was better than no name at all. So, he allowed a tiny smile on his face and tumbled towards his brother, knocking into his chest so that they both fell backwards.
Rap pushed him off with ease. “No fighting, childrens.” He mimicked in his mother’s voice.
“Rap…” The gold lay on the floor of the den, his eyes bright. “I luff you.”
The orange cub thwapped him playfully with a paw. “That’s girl stuffs.”
The gold cub dipped his nose apologetically.
Rap cast a glance at the form of his sleeping mother and crawled closer. “Luff you, too. Brothers always.”
“Always.”
Neither of them could have guessed that this would be the last conversation they would ever have. A few hours later and the newly named Fry would be carted off across the desert. Away from his family and into a world of strangers.
