Kinderling 42

  In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress..

When it came time to go, I was surprised to find that Flower and the tribe weren't going with us.  Flower gathered me, Daisy, and Dobbo together and gave hugs goodbye.  Well, gave hugs to Daisy and I, Dobbo was left out of the hugging, but I'm sure he was glad of that, so I didn't feel too bad for him.

Apparently Flower and the tribe had a different destination that we did.  Not that I blamed them, I saw the effect the Garrison at Outcropping had on Mouse.  I didn't know if the rest of the tribe would feel the same, but I suspected that they would.  I hadn't thought about this part of the journey and found myself sad to see them go.  Not a dynamic conversationalist in the bunch of them as far as I knew, but good people none-the-less.

I was also surprised that Daisy was going with Dobbo and me.  I supposed having a big, strong Gorf around would be handy in case we ran into trouble, so I was glad of the company, but Daisy was number three in the tribe, surely they would need her.

The bridge where Father, Uncle Zon, and I turned the first time we went to outcropping wasn't far ahead, so we had a relatively easy walk ahead of us to get home.

When had I started thinking of the Garrison as home?

*"Home is where your love is dear one"*

"Smoke!"  I exclaimed happily.  It felt like an eternity since I felt the presence of my familiar, I knew she was near-by, but she was nowhere to be seen.

*"Be sure your companion doesn't try to eat me"*

Daisy!   Of course a forest Gorf might see a kitty as a meal of opportunity.  I had been traveling with the tribe for days, and had gotten used to them.  Of course traveling like we were, there wasn't a lot of food gathering being done, and Gorfs will eat just about anything.

I extended my feelings enough to pinpoint the bush Smoke was hiding under and went over with the intention of picking her up.  I quickly found that was no longer an option. 

Kinderlings are small creatures.  I'm a prime example of how tiny Kinderlings can be.  Cats are also relatively small creatures, if you compare them to Gorfs or Man.  However, if you compare cats to Kinderlings, they aren't so small.  Smoke had grown into a particularly large kitty.  She looked like a small jaguar, and was much less lavender and much more a dark smoky charcoal color.  I was initially taken aback, had Smoke now become dangerous to me?  Then I felt the bond, this was the same Smoke that I carried in my backpack, only bigger.  Much bigger.  I brought Smoke out from under the bushes, or more like we walked out together, and introduced her to Daisy.

"This is my friend.  Not food."  I said to Daisy.  I didn't know if a Gorf would be inclined to try to eat such a carnivore, but didn't want to take the chance.  "Smoke, this is a friend."

Daisy cocked her head to the side and smiled.  I got the impression she understood.  I hoped she understood.  I could tell from the bond that Smoke didn't completely trust the Gorf, but that wasn't unusual.  Smoke was always wary of Gorfs.

We continued on to the bridge and then up along the river.   

"How are things at the Garrison, how is Mizzy, how is Mama?"  I asked in quick succession.

*"Calm beloved, all is well."*

"Poor Mizzy must have been worried sick."  I said.

*"She was not.  I would know if you were in danger."*

"We were in plenty of danger!"  

*"Yes.  Hence my size."*  Smoke said through the bond.  *"I had to be ready to rescue you if you needed it."*

"You grew big so that you could rescue me?"

*"That is the way of things dear one.  We grow to the size our bonds need us to be.  Some of us stay kittens forever, because our bond needs the joy of a kitten.  Some of us become strong, because our bond needs our protection.  I suspected I would need to grow this time when I bonded to you.  You seem to attract trouble.  I like it, I'm tired of being a kitten."*

This was more than I had ever been able to get out of Smoke about the bond and the bonding process.  I have tried to get more information before, but she has always been closed mouth about it.