---- [Great misty forest, deep interior] [color=a36209]"NO! Jus' Look it ya! Ya ain't goin' lookin' like at!"[/color] The grizzled, one-eyed man's eye was wide with dismay and indignation. [color=a36209]"Yous jus' barely survive da win'er on accounta 'em folks, an' ya wants tuh jus' DIVE righ' back in!? YOU NUTS SON!?" [/color] One-eyed-Jack, his father, was a very... Unique... person. To say the least. Not very many people would even consider being "Married" to a bear, let alone find it "Desirable", for instance-- But on top of that, this man had very very little concern for the affairs of humans outside, and far more concern for the health, welfare, and well-being of even the tiniest songbird, in the most scrubby part of the wood, in comparison. That isn't to say he was completely heartless to human sufferings, only that he felt humans were more than capable of caring for themselves, even to the point that their doing so, often very much jeopardized the health and safety of "Everything Else." -- Like his son. [color=7bcdc8]"Uh din' say uh waz!"[/color] he protested, leaning on his walking stick for support. Really, he really WAS very weak with protracted starvation. [color=7bcdc8]"You an' Me's gots so dayum much tuh duh as-is, an' uh knows it! But *I's RESPONSIBLE* for em people's suffrin, pops! I CAIN'T JUS' Leave em! Ya taugh' me better 'an 'at, and ya knows it!" [/color] [color=a36209]"Yous goes ou' 'ere like at, an' it gunna kill yous fer shour!"[/color] the old man persisted, then took a more stricken, emotional break in his tone and demeanor. [color=a36209]"Uh.... Uh caint lose ya both... Not tuh EM PEOPLE..." [/color] Cedar hobbled on his staff closer to the old man, and embraced him. He loved the old man very, very much. He felt his hands slide through the shedding, coarse fur on his back, taking tight hold, as the man hugged him back hard. [color=7bcdc8]"Pappi...."[/color] he muttered, craning his neck over the much shorter man's shoulder, and behind his neck for a nuzzle. [color=7bcdc8]"uh ain't ne'er gunna leave yous..."[/color] The man said nothing. Just shuddered, and buried his face into the fur of his chest. He could feel the warmth of his breath, and the slight dampness of tears there. Cedar gently held him close, and the old man did the same. His protracted absence, and unannounced departure, had severely rattled his father, who had worried himself sick, and nonstop until his return, over a month and a half later. Once again, "Unforeseen consequences" of one's well intentioned actions, bearing terrible fruit. [color=7bcdc8]"Uh's gunna stay a bit long'er-- you an' me's gots suh much tuh duh--"[/color] he muttered, rocking side to side, still holding the old man. [color=7bcdc8]"Uh know's dis year' "Special" fer yuh an' Mammi... Lil' Pine an' em girls' gots tuh has places fer em 'afore win'er... Wit' 'at many tuh make, it gunna take alls 'uh us workin... Ya knows 'at." [/color] The man let go, then backed up a bit-- pained indignation still hard on his face. [color=a36209]"Suh ya jus' gunna go git, an' run off a'gin, is ya?" [/color] he scowled. [color=7bcdc8]"Imma gunna eat wut uh cain afore 'en, dontcha wurry none 'bout 'at pappi..."[/color] he said, then placed his heavy paw on the man's shoulder. [color=7bcdc8]"... Gunna try an' warsh muh hands uh da whole ugly mess, 'en come righ' back home. Nearly da whole time uhs were out 'ere, uh was thinkin' 'bout bein' back 'ere.. ... an' 'bout yuh.... I loves you pappi. More an' you knowed.... But yuh knows I *HAS* tuh go."[/color] [color=a36209]"Ya ain't leavin' till all uh dat work's done 'en!--- AN YUHS BETTER GIT FAT, AN' QUICK, 'er yah ain't goin' 't'all!"[/color] Cedar smiled. He loved his dad so very much. [color=7bcdc8]"Uh will, paps... Promise--- We'd better git on it, en, uh? Mammi ain't gunna let em' little-uns tag along 'ahind 'er fer much long'er, 'reckon. Uh knows how dat is-- Buhlieve meh!"[/color] he said with a wry chuckle. [color=7bcdc8]"We both know'd she aint da type tuh mess 'round wit, when it come tuh stuff like 'at!" [/color] That single, solitary brown eye narrowed and focused in intensity, and the brow furrowed. [color=a36209]"Nuh-- Nuh she aint!"[/color] he said intensely, then slapped cedar on the side. [color=a36209]"We be'er git on it, en, shoun't we boy?!" [/color] ---- Days turned into a week. Then two. Old Jack had NOT been idle, while his children had been growing over the past four years. He was blessed with the "Long view" of things, and had been cutting, digging, stacking, and preparing timbers, stones, and other materials as time allowed that entire time, when he wasn't working in the shadows behind the fat, lumbering she-bear he called "Mama", for lack of a proper name, and the cheeky half-human cubs he had sired on her. He always stayed out of her way-- Letting her take the reigns in instructing their children in the hows and whys of surviving in the harsh natural world-- They could not possibly have asked for a better teacher, but he was always there, just in arm's reach, if there was trouble, or need. That was how he and the she-bear managed the need for balance between closeness, and separation that their "Relationship" required. At times, HE would get the kids, while she wandered off to indulge herself on food without competition-- especially toward the autumn months of the year. Times he greatly cherished, and indulged his children with. The man was nothing but love, and affection, with a healthy trapping of fatherly tutelage in "How to be people" when the opportunities arose. This spring, "Mama" was quite content to let Jack "Steal" the children, as teaching them "How to den" was a very important life lesson that-- as much as it bothered her-- she admitted, she was not the best to give instruction for, given the kind of cubs she bore with her mate, and their unique needs-- and the 4 of them were hard at work putting the supplies he had prepped together, and getting hovels put up. It was both a source of contentment, and of lament, for Cedar. He loved to see Pine settling into a home of his own-- even if it WAS rather far away from his own-- A necessity actually-- All of them needed quite a lot of space to sustain themselves, and that meant moving quite far from "home", and from each other. But with each hovel being built (thankfully, only two-- the girls had insisted that they would live together, despite incredulous attestations from both their dad, AND their mom, about that), the reality that he would be departing became more and more weighty. He was still thin, but at least not half-skeletal anymore, by the time all that work was finished. Discretely, he tracked the old man down again, and cornered him in secret one last time. There were more things... IMPORTANT THINGS.. to discuss with him, before he left. [color=7bcdc8] "Paps... We gots tuh talk." [/color] [color=a36209] "Yeas... Yeas we does."[/color] said the man, with a kind of cold reservation. [color=a36209]"Ya know'd uh ain't happeh 'bout ya leavin."[/color] [color=7bcdc8]"Paps.... Yuh GOTTA git dis place readeh... Em problem's outside... 'Ey migh' no' STAY ou' 'ere... You KNOWED what uh mean. We dun talked 'bout dis when uh got back, ya hear?" [/color] [color=a36209]"Be a lot easier,---an' uh'd be a LOT happier-- if'n yeh stayed, son."[/color] He was referring, of course, to the risk of both Kindean and Mechean soldiers trying to occupy the village of Mistville, nestled into the bosom of the forest, for its strategic location on the border, and the kinds of supplies either side could pillage from the villagers, in the event of all-out-war. Also, to the risk of serious and catastrophic harm to the forest-- from PURPOSEFULLY SET fires, by the opposing force, if either of them actually SUCCEEDED in that objective. They had decided, that the entire region needed to be as "Completely and savagely unhospitable to any kind of occupational force as was INHUMANLY possible." -- and that meant, rigging the whole forest edge with deadly traps and dangers for any kind of person foolish enough to try to gain admission. A very arduous task indeed, given the immense size of the forest, and the scarcity of able hands to do it with. Old man Jack and Pine would likely need to spend ever waking moment after the old man's seasonal time with mama, devoted to the completion and succinct assurance of that end. It would be no small task indeed. [color=7bcdc8] "Uh knowed paps.... Uh knowed."[/color] He tilted his head, and smiled at his dad weakly. [color=7bcdc8] "buh' Ya knowed I caint."[/color] [color=a36209] "Uh knowed."[/color] There was a long, pregnant pause, then cedar ventured a little more. [color=7bcdc8]"E'res a girl uh cared fer-- in 'at area. Had a narshty woun' in'er chest. Arruh clean through, recon. Poor thang never had a proper meal in 'er life... Did duh bes' uh could fer 'er. Uh wants tuh check on 'er, whiles uhs out. Be on muh way back, quick as kin be, af'er. Promise."[/color] the old man looked at his son with a tipped head, then made a dirty smile. [color=7bcdc8] "AINT LIKE AT PA!"[/color] he protested, but the old man just chuckled. [color=a36209]".... A'course it aint--- A'course it aint..." [/color]he muttered behind that cheeky bearded smile. [color=a36209]"Buh you thinks she need come stay 'ere--- Tuh git be'er, a'course--- Well naow, yuh jus' go righ' on, and bring 'er 'ere. We'll fin' a spot fer 'er."[/color] Cedars ears burned and his nose wrinkled. this was so damn embarrasing. [color=7bcdc8]"PAPS." [/color]he protested, but the old man just raised his hand and smiled. [color=a36209]"Bes' be on yer way en, don' ya thank?"[/color]