Don't Have a Name Yet.

The Task At Hand

I wake up to a stripe of pinkish light creeping over the span of my face. I turn my head and pull the furs over me, praying to the Spirits to give me a few moments peace. Without prevail.

My ears twitch as Paa steps in through the door flap. He puts a hand on my shoulder and shakes me a little.

"Taido, Wake up." He says, continuing to shake me like a seed pod. I groan and cocoon myself up into the warm furs. He yanks the covers off of me, causing me to crumple into a ball to make up for the cold.

"Come on, get up!"

"No...need...sleep..." I moan and roll my wrist around, shooing him off. Suddenly my eyes dart open to a sensation of pins and needles. I look up to see Paa flicking water on my face with his fingertips. I let out a yelp and fall out of my bed with a loud thud. I drag my face against the packed dirt floor, desperately trying to rid myself of the discomfort.

"Good, you're up!" Paa chuckles from the other side of the room. "Come on, I've got something that you'll like." He heads out of the lodge and pads off. I blow fur from my eye in irritancy and wipe the dirt from my cheek. I pull some light weathered clothes from the shelf under my bed, a long sleeve vest and some lace up buckskin pants before heading outside. The air is warm and clean smelling from last night's heavy rainfall and the patted earth beneath me is dappled in shallow puddles of mud. From across the clearing, I see Paa standing close to the Communal Fire and awaiting my follow. I scamper over to his side, avoiding putting my feet in any of the puddles.

"So what is it, what do you want to show me?" I perk my ears at him quizzically.

"Not showing, doing." He replies, being purposefully ominous about the surprise.

"Okay, what are we doing then?"

"Come with me." He leaves the center of the Village to the towering gate surrounding it. He stops by a small shed with a rack on it. I follow him yet again to the shed. He pulls a long thin stick from the rack and hands it to me. I thumb the amateur carvings and designs engraved around the length. He grabs one himself and smiles.

"What are these for?" Excited joy bubbles up inside me, for I already had a hunch.

"They're practice spears. I'm going to be giving you some fighting lessons today."

"Yes!" I pump my fist with excitement and grin ear to ear. My tail starts wagging behind me so violently that it starts taking my lower half with me.

"When do we start?! When do we start?!" I can almost feel my body flying apart with sheer anticipation. Paa chuckles.

"In a minute, in a minute! Spirits, calm down before you hurt yourself!" I can feel my smile growing wider by the second.

"All right my boy. Let's get a move on before you keel over." He pads through the gates of the Village with me hot on his tail. We continue to walk down an old trail through the woods, dust and sand turned to mud clings to my toes and refuses to let go. I wince as I gingerly take each step only to feel my feet sink into the squishy grit. Ugh.

The trail opens up to a small clearing only a little larger around than a lodge, all partially shaded by the budding green branches above.

"Come Taido."

I groan in realizing that the clearing is also muddy.

"Paa-paa we're not-AUGH!?!"

Paa picks me up like a rabbitskin doll and tosses me into the mud. I land in face first and sink in halfway. I leap up and scrape the mud off my tongue gaging and making sounds of disgust. I look up at Paa, who is leaning against a tree trunk and chuckling to himself.