Uprising (Makuta|Kezme|Sage)

Kezme awoke to the tapping sound of clawed pads on the wooden surface outside. He raise his head and blinked into the light that shone through his parents kobel. His littermates had noticed as well and while Sage remained calm and stayed back, Kez and his brother Makuta immediately jumped to their paws and ran clumsily towards the exit. From the smell they already knew it was one of their parents and excitedly wagged their tails in anticipation who it might be. Suddenly the light was shut out as a large shape slowly entered the Kobel and was immediately stopped by the little furballs around its ancles. Tungsten looked around and smiled to himself. He was proud of another healthy litter and them all being so lively.

«Slow down boys, I can't even get in.»

«We missed you dad!»

«I wasn't even gone for long. You all surely have the memory of a Mapelfish.»

He lowered his head and the two whelps cuddled his snout, then even Sage came up and did the same. They were growing fast and parts of their final furcolor could already be seen through the black of their coats. While Kezme was bright green with spots all over, Sage was very brightly colored and Makuta had inherited the red coat of his mother. The latter two were also sporting the beginnings of full manes just like him, a few strands going all the way down their backs, while Kezme seemed to have a normal, shorter mane. The only thing worrying Tungsten was that the three weren't always going along well, fighting for milk or playing rough, still he assumed it would get better once they learn to be more empathy towards their siblings and other Salikos.

«I think it's time for your first walk outside, what do you think?»

«Oh yes!»

Their eyes sparked with joy and all three couldn't hold their excitement in.

Tungsten stepped back through the entrance and walked along the thick branch outside, which was used as a path towards the kobel. Kezme and Makuta waited at the border, unsure about what to do. Then the green one, as a curious and adventurous nature, stepped out first and carefully balanced on the wooden surface. After a few steps he stopped and looked down, almost becoming dizzy seeing how high up they were! It made him a little scared and he dug his tiny claws more into the bark of the branch. Suddenly he felt being pushed and lost grip as Makuta, angry about his brother being the first one outside and taking so long, came up to him and pushed him aside to get even farther than him. Tungsten, who had been watching carefully, immediately reacted and caught the green whelp by its neck, then placed him more towards the middle of the branch again.

«Makuta, you have to be more carefuly, your brother might have fallen.»

«But I wanted to go outside too! I can't wait forever for him, he was taking up all the space.»

Now very slowly and carefully, Sage stepped outside and crept closer. He wasn't as overzealous as his siblings and always seemed more thoughtful than them. He looked at Kezme and worry was written in his face, the eyes of the bright whelp open widely.

«Are you alright?! That was close.»

«Yeah, it's fine.»

Makuta gave them a sulky glance, as they made him look bad, just because they were incapable of working their legs right. He himself had no problems walking on the branch and hanging on to it, why couldn't they? And now his father has scolded him for no reason. It was so unfair.

As the tree to their nest was really high and didn't have many branches to jump on, their father decided to place them on the ground himself, one at a time. They'd learn climbing soon enough, there was no need to hurry on their first day outside. He grabbed Sage, gracefully leaped down the tree and put him down at its roots, making the other two whelps stare in awe.

«Whoa! I wanna do that too!»

«I'll learn it first!»

«No, I will!»

«You can't do it, I'm better than you!»

«No you're not!»

«BOYS!»

Tungsten had already climbed back up again and looked at them with an eyebrow raised. The two seemed to have a strong competitive urge towards each other, which would surely cause more troubles the older they got. He picked up Kezme and jumped down again, but Makuta didn't want to wait, he wanted to prove himself, so he dug his claws into the bark and slowly began his decent down the tree. But he was still young and not very strong yet, so very soon he noticed his energy draining and he still had a long way to go down, but he couldn't hold on for much longer. Still, instead of calling for help and look like a loser, he told himself to be strong, even if his body was aching, even if he didn't want to be strong, all this just to seem better than the others and especially not to become a laughingstock. He held on tightly but had his eyes closed to concentrate, when suddenly he felt something pull him on the back of his neck. He couldn't hold on the the trunk any longer and let go, but he didn't fall. Instead he opened his eyes and saw the white paws of his father below him and felt ashamed he had to be rescued.

«Hey! I was doing fine! Why didn't you let me keep climbing down myself?!»

Tungstens mouth was still full with the little furball, but as he placed him safely down on the ground he spoke with a serious voice and his eyes fixated on the red whelp.

«You did not! Just look at you, you're still shaking! If you would've lost grip you could've fallen and broken your neck.»

«I'll learn fast, much more faster than those two, you just have to let me do it, dad! I know I can!»

«Makuta, you're still young, you have so much time to grow up, and trust me, it's a lot less fun than you might think. Just be happy for now that you're cared for, that you have everything you need and no one expects anything from you, because all that is gonna change faster than you'd like.»

Makutas gaze was withstanding Tungstens eyes, fierceness and confidence already pouring from the little ones attitude. He would not back down just because someone told him to, no matter how much stronger or more experienced they were.

Kezme and Sage had watched the whole scene quietly, with their ears folded back. They didn't feel comfortable when one of them was being scolded, but their empathy was way stronger than his, so they felt as if their father had scolded them, not him. When Makuta joined their little group again, they immediately ran up to him and asked in complete seriousness if he was alright and said they had been worried about him, but to the red whelp, they were just mocking him for having to rely on his dad to save him.