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Spring Thaw
The ice monsters had been successfully repelled in the passed two weeks, but something much more trecherous had appeared: Mud. The mud creatures of Southofthetower were plentiful recently. Perhaps it was their mating season. Intrepid Explorer Sharona would have to find out.
Carefully staying hidden in the mud camoflague she constructed for herself, she slithered forwards, leaving an obvious trail in the sloppy wet stuff. Up ahead, there were two such mud creatures. She could hear them, squelching away.
She narrowed her eyes and continued to sneak up on them. There were loud, boistrous giggles. Hmm, thought Intrepid Explorer Sharona. Perhaps it wasn't mating season, but hatching season.
Just then, a large wad of squelchy wet mud smacked her in the face. This action was met by another swarm of giggles as Intrepid Explorer Sharona slithered out of her hiding place and doused her tail in mud.
And then, an all-out mud-slinging war began between Sharona, Anacleto, and Rudolph.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Rudolph shouted as a big, messy wad of mud flew from his paws and splattered all over the three of them.
*AIP!* Sharona shouted as she took the brunt of the action. She fell over and clenched her eyes shut and whimpered a little.
"I say, Rudie. I think we went overboard with that one," Clet said as he carefully tip-toed over to look at her.
"You think so, boss?" Rudie asked, peeking over his shoulder.
Clet nudged Sharona with his paw. She flopped limply.
"What'll we tell her dad?" Rudie asked cautiously.
"Well, I guess we tell him -- "
Suddenly, two splats of mud flopped on their faces. *How badly his little girl beat both of you,* she giggled and slithered away into the grass.
She was getting away pretty well when she was pounced on by Anacleto, and then Rudolph, and the three of them were giggling a good deal and rolling about in the grass.
And right into a pair of big black legs and glaring eyes.
Three pairs of eyes looked up through the muddy mess as Kipfel continued to stolidly glare down at them. Löwen managed to look disapproving while obviously fighting back a fit of giggles.
Clet and Rudie cleared their throats and got to their feet, obviously averting the icy glare of Sharona's father. She ducked her head and looked up at him with the biggest, cutest eyes she could manage. He continued to glare down at her.
*Let's go,* he said calmly, turning away from the three muddy messes.
Sharona looked pleadingly at the angecur, but they just shrugged and shook their heads. She sighed and whispered *Bye...* before slithering off after him and Löwen.
"Well," Anacleto said, kicking the mud. "Now what're we going to do?"
Rudie shrugged. "We could always go find some birds to chase. Be mud-and-feathered."
"Maybe..." he shook the mud from his wings a bit and stepped in the direction of the town. Tacitly, Rudolph followed.
***
*They're not bad, Daddy!* Sharona insisted as Kipfel worked soap over her scales.
*They're troublesome and irritating,* Kipfel replied stolidly. *I don't want you near them again.*
Sharona scowled at the water and stubbornly said nothing. Inwardly, though, she was boiling. This wasn't FAIR! Ugh! Who was he to say who was and wasn't worth being around? He hardly paid much attention to her, she needed someone to be around! Someone who wasn't always licking his wounds or studying some crazy stories somewhere.
*Do you understand?* Kipfel asked, the sponges tied over his talons squelching suds all over Sharona's little snake-like body.
Löwenherzchen scampered up then and perched with his paws on the edge of the tub. Sharona found herself locking eyes with it. It made no move, not even to blink, and she felt her boiling inner thoughts rise to the surface.
*You're the one who doesn't understand,* Sharona found herself saying, almost against her own will, and definitely against her better judgement. She couldn't break the gaze with the little sufan, either. She felt her backspines ripple in agitation.
And she felt the firm but thorough scrubbing of her father stop. *What?* he asked.
She tried to look away, she begged herself to. But then, she found she couldn't. She was still staring into the liquid black eyes of her father's sufan. *You don't understand,* she said a bit more firmly.
Kipfel brought his front paws out of the water and stared at his little girl, his precious little darling. *I don't understand?* he parroted.
*That's right,* Sharona said with a touch of anger in her voice.
*You care to tell me just what I don't understand?* Kipfel asked with a silibant whisper.
*Anything. You don't understand anything at all. You think that your way is the best way, always always always. If it's not your way, it's punishment. If things aren't the way you want them to be, you make people miserable.*
Kipfel blinked and bore that silently, staring down at his sufan. *You know, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and you, my friend, are crossing it,* he said, eyes narrowing at Löwenherzchen.
*Leave him alone,* Sharona said sharply, blinking and looking up sharply. *He's helping.*
*He's antagonizing.*
*He's helping me tell you what I want to say but won't because I'm scared of you. But you know what?* Sharona asked, glaring. *I shouldn't be. You need to hear this. And you're not going to listen to anyone else.*
Kipfel scoffed. *Go to bed, Sharona,* he said, picking up his daughter by the scruff of her neck and sliding the sponges off his feet. He set her down gently on a big warm fluffy towel.
*I'm not done talking to you,* she said, a bit less fervently.
*You're quite done, young lady.*
And then she felt a nudge in the back of her mind, pushing her, egging her on. She didn't recognize it, it wasn't anything she'd ever felt before. She wasn't sure she liked it, but it did the trick.
*I'm not going to be your little girl forever!* she blurted and blinked at herself for coming out with something like that.
*Don't be ridiculous. Of course you will.*
*No, Daddy, I won't. I'm not going to be your little girl to protect all the time. I have to learn on my own who to trust and who not to trust. And you're not letting me do that. I want to. I do. And I want to make you proud and happy and all that stuff, but I have to do things my way. You and Daddy made sure no one bonded with me so that way I could grow up without the influences of a bondmate and their troubles. But you know what? The way you try to keep me and culture me into what you think I ought to be is just as bad as a bondmate! I don't want that! I'm a red, right? And reds are brave and bold and fearless. I shouldn't be afraid of a pair of angecur, and you! Look at you! You're a black! People fear you just on that, but you're fierce and battle-hardened and vicious when you need to be, and geez louise, Daddy! People are scared of me because of you! Don't you see?*
Kipfel waited it out patiently, something he had learned gods-knew-when. *I don't see what you're fussing about. Now go to bed.*
Well, at least he was honest, Sharona thought sardonically. The nudge turned into a push, though, as soon as she thought of leaving it like that.
*I want to have friends!* she blurted again and blinked at herself.
*You have friends.*
*Yeah? Who! I have no friends but Rudie and Clet! And that's because they're not scared of you! They laugh at you. They call you uptight and beligerant and crazy!*
*They do WHAT!?* Kipfel snarled viciously.
*Relax, Dad. I tell them off about it.* Sharona's brow wrinkled and sighed, shaking her head. *I don't know why I want you to understand. You never had friends. How can I expect you to understand.*
She glanced at Löwenherzchen and then it became clear again.
*Daddy, do you remember what it was like before you bonded with Mistress Nabel?*
Kipfel didn't say a word, but his scowl was enough to tell Sharona what she wanted to know.
*Wasn't it lonely? Weren't you scared and afraid? Didn't you want to have someone to talk to?*
Her father's eyes hardened wordlessly.
*And then you had Annabel. And she made everything a little better, but not quite, right? Because you didn't want her. Don't give me that look, she told me, okay? Anyway, you remember the two minotaurs and the gorgon? Charleton, Lucifer, and Corliss? Well, they were all really good friends, weren't they? They needed each other. And they tried to make friends with you. Nabel said that Lucifer was fond of you. Closer to a friend than she was. And then... then you met Löwenherzchen, didn't you? And look at you! You're happier now than Mistress Nabel says you were even when it was just you and her! Why aren't I allowed to find that happiness?*
*You're not old enough,* Kipfel replied gruffly.
Löwenherzchen poked Kip's brain irritably.
*She's not!* Kipfel snarled, turning on the sufan.
What would have caused most others to cower caused Löwenherzchen to roll its eyes and shake its head piteously.
*You weren't old enough. For anything you had to do. You weren't old enough to know evil and hate. You weren't old enough to know lonliness. You weren't old enough to take a life. But you did. And because you did what needed to be done, everything turned out okay.*
*You're comparing apples to oranges.*
*No. I'm not. See, I don't think you're afraid I'm not ready. I think the problem is that you're not ready. You don't want your little girl to get hurt, because you're not there to protect her. Well, you had to give up Annabel. And you have to give up me eventually. You'd better start small. Whether you want to or not, you have to give me a little bit of freedom, at least to choose my own friends and decide whether or not they're good for me. Otherwise...* She smiled sweetly. *Otherwise, I'm going to do it anyway. And I'll get Daddy to agree with me. And then you'll be in the doghouse.* She gave him a sweet little wink.
Kipfel muttered. *Fine,* he snarled. *Do whatever you want.*
*Aww, thanks, Daddy,* Sharona said with a purr.
*But! If they hurt you or lead you astray, so help me, there will be blood on these claws of mine.* He stalked out.
Sharona turned to Löwenherzchen. *Thank you,* she said. The sufan winked and held a paw up to its mouth and scurried after Kipfel.
Sharona, in her turn, went to sleep, feeling a good deal relieved.
***
Sharona was outside in the rain, under the eaves of a roof in town. Daddy was visiting Annabel and Daddy was off... doing something. Sharona herself was playing in the puddles in the street. They were going to start paving the streets again this spring. Some of the cobblestones from last year didn't fit properly. They needed to be reapplied. The stonemasons were already out on the warm weather days taking measurements.
Sharona looked around the home that Annabel and Tren owned. It was beautiful, she thought. Better than that crummy old Tower. And it had plants and wood and all sorts of other stuff.
As she was admiring the certain shade of purple that was the door, she heard something that sounded like a wall being hit by a pillow a couple feet away. She turned and was surprised to see Anacleto.
"Lo and Hell, Sharona," he said with a grin.
"Marvelous weather we're having, innit?" someone on her other side asked, and she turned to see Rudolph.
She grinned and let out an overjoyed "SQUEE!!!"
"I do believe, Rudie, that she's glad to see us!"
Sharona nodded vigorously.
"We saw you all alone," Rudie said matter-of-factly. "Thought we'd chance a 'hello' while your Da wasn't watching."
Sharona beamed. *Daddy's not going to be a problem anymore.*
"Oh no? Got him wrapped around your little finger, have you?"
*Something like that,* Sharona said with a gleeful twinkle in her eye. *So,* she said. *What's the agenda today?*
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