Not Good At Climbing Trees

Cabbit gave his keepers hand a gentle squeeze as he left the picnic area and headed out into the woods. It had been a few days since he had actually been able to come outside, what with Starr still being so busy and all that. She had wanted to be sure that he got all of his lessons out of the way, so he could just have fun that weekend. While it was nice of her to think of that for him, he had truly missed being out in the paradise, and all the friends who were usually out there.

Ren came to mind, his large horse friend and little Nissa. Porcupine was often outside as well, enjoying the warm sun. Maybe he would run into one of them? Or maybe he would make a new friend today. Wouldn't that be fun! It had been a while since the Cabbit had made a new friend...and one could never have too many friends.

He smiled, singing a little song of meow's as he made his way toward the trees.

~~

Over by the trees a young squirrel monkey boy was bouncing all over the place, swinging from vines to other trees and jumping from branch to branch. Monkey was feeling proud, he was definitely getting better at this climbing and jumping thing! His Keeper always scolded him for being all bruised and muddy, complaining about how he wouldn't attract a nice decent family this way. Monkey didn't care, he wanted to be an adventurer! Then he could go all over the world, wouldn't that be neat? If he got a home he wanted a home with lots of grass and trees and sand and other fun outdoorsy things to do. Perhaps a slide, or a swing! Monkey was sure his new family wouldn't mind that. Surely they didn't want to keep him inside all day? That would be boring. Monkey didn't like boring people. He wouldn't go with a boring family, of that he was sure.

He didn't even really mind not having a family. This place was really great. They called it Paradise and Monkey thought that was a very fitting name for such an awesome place. And the facility had some other Companions that could climb trees and do other fun things so he wouldn't always have to play alone. So no, Monkey was in no hurry to leave. If the day came to leave the facility he would leave, until then he would enjoy this place as much as he could. Now that he thought of it, it would be more fun if he wasn't playing alone. So Monkey descended from the trees, checking the ground to see if there was anyone fun out there.

~~

Cabbit loved being out in the paradise, mainly because there were so many new sounds out here that he didn't get to enjoy on the inside. The quiet sounds of the water moving through the area, sounds of the other playful companions laughing as they played, the sounds of the wind pushing against the dome of the area on a windy day. His ears may have gotten in the way when he was trying to get comfortable to sleep, but other than that, they were quite useful; especially when it came to finding friends!

So he kept them trained, the large appendages up and alert, listening for any sounds of nearby talking or footsteps. He had heard something for a brief moment that sounded like someone running through the trees, but when he looked up, he hadn't seen anything. Maybe it had been his imagination?

He continued to walk deeper into the trees, eyes finally catching a glimpse of an unfamiliar companion scurrying down from the trees. "Woah, you're really good at that, Meow!" he said happily, as he closed the distance between the two of them.

~~

Monkey went down the trees, further and further until he heard a voice that made him halt for a second. "Hi, I'm Monkey! Thank you very much. Who are you? I'll come down, then we can play together!" he yelled down, all excited. He continued descending at a faster speed now, eager to get to this new Companion, until the ground was really closeby. On second thought, maybe a little too close. He was going way too fast! Trying to slow down desperately but failing, soon Monkey crashed into the ground. Ouch. Still remembering the compliment he wanted the other child to keep admiring him, so he quickly scrambled to his feet and pretended nothing out of the ordinary happened.

~~

Golden eyes followed the other boy as he descended, quite quickly, from the tree. Cabbit wasn't sure, but if almost felt like he might have been falling down the tree...and his fears were realized when the boy landed at the bottom with a loud thud. The cabbit's eyes grew wide, and he was just about to rush over to offer to help, when the boy hopped up pretending nothing had happened.

He gazed over the boy's form for a minute. Well, he didn't look like he was hurt, that he did not. Perhaps he had meant to do that? He wasn't sure that the landing was what was meant, but, at least the speed was really impressive. "I'm Cabbit, nice to meet you!" he said with a happy bounce in his step as he moved over in front of the other boy. "You're really good at that!"

~~

Ha, it had worked, the other boy was repeating how skillful he was. "Do you climb too? If not, you should totally learn! It's great fun!" He grabbed onto a tree and held his body to it so he was propped up against it and off the ground, hoping to convince the other that trees really were the very best. "It isn't your first time outside, right?" So far the other kid seemed cool, but you could never know for sure. Monkey liked asking them about outdoors, it helped a lot. In his opinion fun Companions played outside, boring Companions stayed in. "What do you normally do when you're outside?" Maybe this Cabbit boy knew other fun stuff he hadn't tried yet!

~~

"I've tried before," he said, ears falling just slightly as he helped up his arms, "I skinned my arms up pretty badly though, meow," he nodded with a sort of sad smile, "my Keeper said she was going to teach me a good way to do it though, meow!" he nodded happily, smile growing, "She loves to climb trees and just sit in them. She likes them a lot."

It was true, so many times he had found his keeper up in one of the trees after coming back from playing. "No, I've been outside a lot of times, meow. I actually like to be outside most of the time," he nodded, ears slowly flapping, "Usually I try to find people to play with! I like to explore, and sometimes I bring my friend Sonny out here with me! Sonny is my blobbie, meow!"

~~

The younger boy looked a bit defeated as he told his story, it gave Monkey a sad feeling so he tried cheering up the Little. "But you climbed, not many kids dare to climb." It was true. Most kids that liked being outside hung out at the pool or the sand or the grassy area, just relaxing. Those that did climb often used the small climbing wall at the playground where the slide, swings and various other playground equipment were also located. "You'll become a great and brave adventurer, like me, I'm sure!" He grinned broadly at the smaller child.

Monkey himself preferred the actual trees and vines, but if they played here now and Cabbit got injured he might got blamed. Monkey didn't want trouble, he might get punished for that and then they could forbid him to go outside! So for once he decided it might be a good idea to play elsewhere. "If you practice you'll be strong and fast real soon. We can practice at the climbing wall if you like?" he suggested.

If the Little disagreed and demanded they stay here, Monkey knew he wouldn't put up too much of a fight. He didn't care much for the playground but would go there to play with others sometimes when there were no other Companions around that could join him up in the trees. And if Cabbit wanted to stay here that only made him cooler in Monkey's book. He himself had learned his skills right here with the real trees, trying and failing, or falling was the more accurate word. It might not have been the smartest way to go about things, but it surely was the most fun way!

~~

The Cabbit boy looked up at the other boy, his grin growing. "You think I'm brave?" he smiled happily at that notion. He had always tried to be brave, wanting to be a good, strong boy like all of the really cool people in all the movies that he had seen in the T.V. room. There was always one who was brave to try things, wanting to be able to do whatever he needed to save the people in danger. That sounded like fun to the cabbit, yes it did!

"I dunno though," he said looking up at the trees again, ears falling just a bit, "I skinned up my arms...but practicing on the climbing wall, meow." he paused thinking about it. Starr had told him that climbing the wall was nothing like climbing trees. The best way to learn to clim trees...was to climb trees. He swallowed hard, "I will try again, if you can help me!"

~~

This kid was totally cool. He reminded Monkey of himself, if he had been a monkey too he would suspect this Little was his younger brother! He nodded happily at the child, a goofy grin firmly plastered onto his face. "You are totally brave! And trees are waaaay cooler than that climbing wall. I don't get why those kids go crazy over it, a real tree is way more awesome. It has many more ways to climb and it's bigger and taller and prettier and smells nicer too! So you see, trees are totally the best thing ever."

Monkey only just now let go of the tree he had been holding onto all this time and extended one of his hands out to Cabbit. "Sure I'll help you! We can climb together and I can catch you if you fall. I have strong arms! And look.." he swung his tail around some before wrapping it around a thick branch that was nearby and lifted his feet off the ground, effectively keeping himself up in the air with his tail supporting his weight. "I have a super useful tail too!" Monkey was glad his trick was successful, more often than not he stumbled out of trees when doing this as he was still practicing gaining full control of his tail, but perhaps his brain had sent a message to his tail that it was very important for this to go right. If he fell down Cabbit might not dare to climb with him! The kid was brave though, so perhaps it didn't matter, but better not test it out yet.

~~

Cabbit smiled, seeing the way that the boy lifted himself up off the ground with his long tail. "Wow, that's really cool, meow!" the boy cheered, his ears beginning to fan, "The best I can do is hear really long distances. It does come in real handy though, so I'm ok with it, meow!" The cabbit boy giggled at his own remark. It was true, his ears were quite useful in just about any situation. They could be used to play games, listen for his keeper if he was working on homework and needed a break, or just plain old listening to the rain on the roof of the building as he fell asleep at night. Yes indeed, his ears were one of the greatest things about him, in his mind.

"Ok," the boy said with a nod, doing his best not to show how nervous he was about moving toward climbing a tree again. "What should I do first?" he asked the monkey boy. He did not need a repeat of the last time he had tried, that he did not.

~~

That was a good question. Monkey had always just done and not so much thought about what to do, so he wasn't too sure how he was going to explain it to the other kid and truth to be told he hadn't ever given the whole safety thing much thought either. Perhaps he could support him one way or another. That would be a bit less fun for him as he wouldn't be able to climb at full speed but he did say he would help, so he would. "Err.. How about.." He tilted his head to the side and stared at the nearest tree, thinking long and hard on a good plan. "You put your hands on this branch.." Monkey pointed at a thick sturdy branch that hung low to the ground. ".. and I will be right.. here." He jumped up and grabbed onto the next branch located slightly higher. "Then when you pull yourself up I can wrap my tail around you for support." He gave Cabbit what he hoped was an encouraging and reassuring smile as he waited for the boy to move. He really wasn't sure if this would work, but his new friend seemed quite nervous so he probably shouldn't tell him that.

~~

Cabbit looked up, his gold eyes following as the monkey climbed up into the tree with ease. Well now, didn't he make it look easy. He wrapped his hands around the branch, and all he could remember was falling out of that tree once before. The way his arms had burned and ached. Still, he had promised his new friend that he would try. So try he would, even if the whole thing scared him out of his mind.

"Ok, meow..." he pulled himself up onto the branch, dangling for a while. Ok, what would be the best way to do this. He slowly starts to rock for a second, before tossing one of his legs over and successfully pulling himself up, very very slowly. His breathing increased, his ears wiggled, as he beamed up at the other boy, "I did it!"

~~

Monkey cheered as his new friend pulled himself up onto the nearest branch successfully. "I'm so proud of you, yaaaay" If he hadn't been using his hands to steady himself he probably would have applauded, this was so exciting! He had been a little nervous himself, but so far so good. Cabbit looked relieved as well, the first success seemingly taking away a bit of his tension. As promised Monkey carefully wrapped his tail around the other's waist to help him with his balance. "You did it indeed! Are you ready for the next step? You should try grabbing this branch I'm on and pulling yourself up so you're standing, no worries, I've got you so you can't fall."

~~

The cabbit glance up, hearing his new friend clapping. Well then, alright! So far, he had made it up ok, and didn't have so much as a scratch on him. Maybe he had just been in too much of a hurry last time, and hadn't been very careful at where he had been putting is feet. yes, that had to have been it.

He smiled when the other boy asked if he wanted to try again, nodding violently. He laughed, feeling the boy's soft tail wrapping around his waist. Well, that was very nice of him, making sure that he didn't fall down. "Thank you, meow!" The boy giggled as began to slowly stand, reaching upwards quickly and snagging the branch before he began swaying. No sense wasting time and ending up falling over!

~~

Monkey moved to the side as far as possible so there was room next to him for Cabbit the stand once he pulled himself up. Keeping his tail firmly around the younger boy's waist he hoped his plan would be successful, he really had no idea what he was doing but he liked how the other boy was smiling and seemingly enjoying himself and that he had helped to achieve that. It was kind of like having a little brother and Monkey thought a sibling would be much fun once he found himself a home. He also always enjoyed being outside, the trees being his very favorite, but this whole standing still thing was hard so he hoped Cabbit would learn quickly so they could do more fun things.

~~

Cabbit was happy when he finally pulled himself up onto the branch the other boy was on. He was quite out of breath now, his tiny arms not quite used to the workout they were starting to get. Nevertheless, the boy was most definitely having himself a good time. This new friend, Monkey, he was very patient with him, which made things a lost easier to deal with. It would have been much harder, having someone yelling or fussing at him for doing it wrong.

He smiled up at the older boy, his ears bouncing happily, "So, what do we do now?" he asked happily, kicking his legs back and forth on the limb he sat on.

~~

Monkey was about to answer Cabbit when.. CRUNCH! The branch they sat on starting to shake a bit and it made the distinct sound of starting to break. Crack! Uh oh! Monkey quickly grabbed onto the nearest branch above his head and pulled himself up, his legs moving into the air as well and securing himself around the branch completely. This one was much thicker so should be able to hold them both just fine in case the other one gave way completely. Monkey hoped that wouldn't happen and that he had reacted quickly enough to keep the branch from breaking off and scaring Cabbit again, but if the worst happened he still had his tail wrapped around the boy's waist and would be able to keep him up in the air.

~~

Just seeing the way that the other boy moved so quickly to get off the branch, let the cabbit boy know just how bad the situation was. He was quick to move as well, although no where near as graceful. He stretched up, wrapping pale arms around the higher branch and began to scramble up, his legs flailing as he tried desperately to pull himself on top of the branch before it completely broke through.

He was shaking slightly after finally pulling up, the muscles in his arms on fire. Still though, he had managed to get off of the smaller branch, and it hadn't broken...and he hadn't fallen. All in all, a pretty successful climb. "That was close, meow," he said, his ears swaying like mad as he looked up at the other boy with a small grin.

~~

Fortunately Cabbit had the same idea and moved himself to Monkey's branch. The one they had previously been sitting on had not broken through and no one had got hurt, so Monkey felt his nerves fading. He changed to a sitting position now that the danger was gone which was a lot more comfortable, his legs dangling free and swinging back and forth a bit. Cabbit grinned slightly and it worked rather infectious so Monkey grinned too. "See, now we've had a real adventure! You can all your other friends about it too! And now you know you're good at climbing, you moved up here so fast and easy, good job!"

~~

He nodded, seeing just how excited his friend had been that he had made it up without getting hurt. It was quite a feat, after all! He hadn't gotten hurt, hadn't fell, and despite a little struggle pulling his weight up, it had been a successful and quick climb. That was a very positive way of looking at it, yes it was!

He laughed, "I will have to tell my friend Ren about it, and of course Porcupine, meow!" he smiled, bouncing a little bit, "She will be so proud of me for trying to climb again, meow. Especially after I fell..."

~~

"I'm sure they will! Do they know how to climb too? I haven't seen anyone else here in a while.. Do you think we can go climbing with them sometime? Maybe you can teach them, you're totally a good climber now, like me! Will you do that?" the Monkey asked Cabbit eagerly. He was always excited to have more kids discover the fun of trees, those that liked to spend their time here were usually the most fun kids! It was one of the more quiet areas of Paradise which Monkey would never understand. How could you not love the trees if you loved being outside?

~~

Cabbit thought for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip. He wasn't sure either of his good friends knew how to climb. He knew that, for Ren at least, it would be very difficult considering his horse legs. Still, if anyone could do it, Cabbit knew without a shadow of a doubt that it would be the young stallion.

"I don't think Ren can, but I can try to teach Porcupine, meow!" the boy chuckled, nodding to the other, his ears flopping wildly, "if she doesn't want to, I will teach someone else, yes I will!"

~~

Monkey jumped up so he stood on the branch, happy and excited. He grabbed onto a nearby vine, swinging around a bit before landing back where Cabbit was. "That would be soooo cool! I'd love to meet some of your friends, if they are as awesome as you I'm sure we'll get along great!" he told the younger child. Maybe they could go meet them right now? Monkey didn't really want to go down, he loved being up in the trees, but he also loved making new friends. He'd just let Cabbit decide. "Do you think your friends are playing in Paradise right now? If they are, maybe we can go to them?"

~~

Cabbit was a little unsteady, not to happy that the boy was jumping up and down on the branch that he sat on. Even still, it was nice to see his new friend so excited about meeting some of his friends! Ren was always in the paradise...so perhaps they could find him! The mustang was usually down by the river, he knew that much.

"Cabbit?" a familiar voice caught the boy's sensitive ears, the rustling of leaves indicating which direction the voice came from. "Cabbit are you in here?"

The boy instantly recognized the voice as that of his keepers. He looked sadly back to his new friend, biting his lip, "Sounds like my keeper is looking for me, meow," he sighed as he slowly began to try and get himself down from the branch.

~~

Monkey heard some sound, but couldn't quite make out the voice or words. Luckily his friend had good ears! But him leaving wasn't fun at all, Monkey had hoped he could meet some of Cabbit's friends or at least play with Cabbit some more. "Too bad." he replied with a sigh. "Maybe we can play again some day? I'm usually around this area, so you can come find me anytime!" he told Cabbit.

"I'll come down with you." he said as he saw Cabbit trying to make his way down. He wouldn't want his friend to fall after doing so well! Monkey wasn't too worried about that, he thought Cabbit was quite good at climbing really, but he would just in case. And it wasn't any fun staying up here by himself so he had to go down to find some other friends anyway.

Once they were closer to the ground Monkey waved bye to Cabbit and jumped from tree to tree towards the playground. Much more fun than walking! "Byeee Cabbit, see you soon!"