She had decided today that she would be a good girl, for a change, and behave.
It wasn't as though she hadn't been behaving all along, but she had to admit, perhaps sneaking off to snoop around Ushujaa territory wasn't exactly what was expected of her. She knew that, as a cub, she was supposed to sit about under the cubsitters' watchful eyes and play some games with the other cubs. Like her siblings, perhaps, but that didn't quite cut it for Andraste.
She was always happiest when she was near the fighting and the warriors, where she could almost feel the power of the Ushujaa whispering to her on the air. She felt as close to at home there as anywhere, content in the unshakeable knowledge that one day, when she was older, she would be there too.
It was this steadfast believe that gave her comfort. Knowing that there was a place she was destined to be, where she would fit in without question and where she would thrive and succeed was a great relief to the young cub, whose life otherwise might have consisted of nothing more than games of tag and hide-and-seek, day in and day out.
No, she had a purpose. She had much more to do than fool around and play games. Which she still did, of course, but even these she played with a sense of purpose. Tag taught her how to run fast, and hide-and-seek showed her how to utilize everything at her disposal to stay out of sight, and she used these opportunities to learn to the fullest.
Still, she had always delighted in sneaking off on her own, away from the boisterous crowds of youngsters that mingled while the cubsitters watched, and she would spend time on her own.
Today, that was different. Today, she had decided to stay, for a change.
