"Ceryn, come here, I have something for you," Harper called her young charge over to where she had been working in the warm sunlight. Although they had met a few other Taurs and humans, Harper had decided that they should live apart in a small clearing away from the villages. A nice dry cave provided a comfortable home for them, the sandy floor proving most useful as the infant cervitaur had grown.
Ceryn approached at a gait that was half trot and half jump. The youngling reveled in movement and activity, and seldom simply walked from place to place.
"What is it, Harper?" she asked in her high young voice. "Is it a feather?" Ceryn had been very excited when Harper had explained what the feathers she wore meant, and was eager to get some of her own.
"Well, this isn't a feather, but it will lead to you getting one if you work hard. This is your very own staff, Ceryn!" She held out a straightened and smooth piece of wood, wrapped with a bit of rabbit pelt on one end and decorated with some woven rope. It reached shoulder high on the young cervitaur as she took it from Harper and stood with it beside her.
"My own? This one is mine to keep?" Ceryn asked in an awed voice. She had been scolded more than once for wanting to play with Harper's staff.
"Yup, munchkin, this one is for you. I have decided that it is time for you to start learning some weaponwork."
Ceryn danced in joy, nearly knocking her caretaker in the shoulder with her new weapon.
*****
Over the next few days, Harper begain laying the groundwork for the lessons that could prove lifesaving in the cervitaur's future.
"Keep it balanced as you move, sweetie. You don't have to hold it very tight - do that and your arm will be tired all the time. Staff work is all about circles." She reminded Ceryn, who was still more than a little unsire of herself.
"You make it look so easy!" the youngling sighed, as she once more moved her staff into a ready position.
"That's because I have been using mine for so long! C'mon let's try again! Show me that last move I taught you."
A few moments later, Harper was regretting those wrds as she lay on the ground holding one knee and trying not to curse. Ceryn had attempted the move, only to overbalance and fall. In her wild swinging to stay upright she had caught Harper across the leg with the staff, sending the Amazon to the ground.
"I think that's enough for today," she said ruefully. "I'm ok, don't cry, little one." she reassured Ceryn, who had burst into tears when Harper had fallen and she realized what she had done. "Accidents happen, my friend Teria once knocked the Queen into the mud during practice!"
That got a hiccupy giggle from the young Cervitaur. "Was she mad?" she asked.
"Nope, she just picked up a handful and threw it at Teria! We all had a glorious mudfight after that! Why don;t I head to the cave and start some supper. If you get some apples, we can bake them for dessert with some of that honey I found."
Carefully getting to her feet, Harper headed towards the cave while Ceryn took her new staff and went to the apple tree.
"Appless, apples, I'm gonna get some apples," she sang to herself as she trotted to where it grew. Once she arrived she looked around for new fallen ones to no avail. ""There has to be some, I want baked ones!" she said to herself as she swung her staff around idly. AN idea occured to her then, and she got as close as she could to the tree, bracing her fron hooves against the cark so she was as tall as she could reach. Using the staff - whack! two apples flew to land on the ground nearby. With a grin she swung again, and more apples fell.
"I did it!" she said in glee as she gathered up her bright red treasures and headed back to the cave.
****
"These are wonderful, Ceryn, and you were very smart to think of that," Harper said later that night as they sat in front of the fire enjoying the treat. "In fact," Harper reached over and snagged a feather from her own braid. "I think you deserve this, since you figured out that your staff is more than just a weapon, but something with many many uses!" Reaching over she tied it into Ceryn's hair, while the youngster just sat there, eyes shining bright in the firelight.
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