Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Twenty

Malaki was up before the sun the next morning, hoping to go and see the puppies as early as possible. Ruben however was still fast asleep, and it didn't look like he'd be waking any time soon. In fact, no one else was awake, and the young squirrel felt he would burst if he had to wait much longer. He felt as if he'd been up for ages (though it really hadn't been long at all), when he decided to go alone.

In the dappled light of morning, with no elder to keep him safe, Malaki found the walk to the den to be unnerving. When he got there at last, he was relieved to know a friend was close by and ran in without hesitation. The sound of whimpering caught his ears, and lured him all the way inside. There in the middle of the den, where the sunlight could just reach through the wide entrance, was the pile of newborn puppies. Malaki bounded up to them, and instantly began patting their heads and noses.

“Look at you,” he said, stroking an ear on the smallest puppy. “You look like your mama, you have the same colors, and you're very pretty.” He turned to another, “And you look like your daddy, I'll bet you'll be as big he is one day.”

At the small but unexpected noises, Arkadi came awake with a growl. The growl was an unexpected noise for Malaki. His ears went flat, and he backed away as Arkadi's muzzle reached towards him. The nose flared, and the dog gave an irritated huff.

“I'm terribly sorry sir, I didn't realize you were here, I thought it was Niki,” Malaki said, as politely as he could.

“Niki is out, she went down to the stream. Now go on, go back to your own family.”

Malaki looked through the den entrance, out into the forest. “Can't I wait for Niki? I don't really want to walk back all alone.”

“Then why did you come all alone?”

“I just wanted to meet the puppies.”

Arkadi watched as the tiny squirrel started patting the nose of the puppy nearest to him. He was wishing more than Malaki was, that Niki was there. He didn't know what to do with the little intruder. The creature didn't even seem to care that he was watching it. The only thing that seemed to matter to the squirrel, were the whining, fluffy bundles he was surrounded by.

“Aren't you afraid me?” Arkadi asked.

“No sir,” Malaki answered, but then thought a moment. “You did scare me when you growled, it was very loud. But Niki said you wouldn't hurt anyone, so we shouldn't be afraid.”

The dog grumbled, and rested his head on his fore paws in defeat. There didn't seem to be anything he could do about his uninvited guest. He decided not to worry about the creature, it wasn't hurting anything. It couldn't really hurt anything. Arkadi closed his eyes, at least he could go back to sleep. But the next moment the squirrel was in front of him, he could smell it. Then, a tiny paw patted his own nose.

Arkadi lifted his head and glared at it, “Bold little beast, aren't you?”

“I'm sorry, you looked a bit sad... it always cheers Niki up.”

The dog couldn't take it any longer, he let out an exasperated sight and asked, “What's your name?”

“Malaki. What are the puppies names?”

“They don't have names yet.”

The light from the entrance was suddenly blocked, as Niki made her way inside. She spotted their visitor immediately. “Malaki, what are you doing here? Who walked you to the den?”

“I came alone, I couldn't wait any longer to see the puppies. They're wonderful, Niki.”

Glad as she was to see her friend, Niki needed to feed the litter, and knew she would be ready to sleep after that. So, much to his chagrin, Arkadi was given the task of taking the young squirrel back to his family, in the clearing.

The others hadn't been up long, and only just confirmed that Malaki was missing, when Arkadi pushed through the brush and into their midst. Everyone watched as the dog stopped, looked back over his shoulder and called, “Come on then.” The next moment, Malaki hopped into view, and the dog looked over at the other creatures.

“He made his way to the den, Niki asked me to return him.”

Kalah went to get her son, saying, “Thank you for bringing him back. I hope he wasn't too much trouble.”

“It's alright, he just wanted to see the little ones.”

Kalah shook her head, and gave her pup a push towards the camp, “Let's go you little rebel.”

“Wait,” Malaki said, “Please, can I ask Arkadi something before he goes?” His mother was too shocked by the question to say no. So, he hopped back over to the dog, and stared up into the copper eyes. “Arkadi sir, thank you for helping me home, but... when can I see the puppies again?”

To everyone's surprise, the dog smiled at him. “You can come around any time, just say hello or something when you get there. Don't surprise me again. You like the puppies quite a lot, don't you?”

“Yes sir, of course. How could anyone not like them?”

Finally, Malaki returned to his mother, who sent him to his nest to wait, while an appropriate punishment was thought of. What he had done was very foolish, and deserved a punishment, but still everyone was impressed that he'd managed to make friends with Arkadi.

“I blame you and Quinn for this mess,” Jacob told his brother, “He doesn't know what beasts he should be afraid of anymore.”

“I don't think that's true,” Ruben argued. “He seemes to know better than we do what “beasts” he should fear... Arkadi was perfectly kind to him. He wasn't unkind to any of us.”

Later that same morning, it was Quinn of all creatures, who suggested a punishment for Malaki.

“I say if he likes the puppies so much, let him spend some time out at the den,” he told Kalah. “Little ones come into the world making messes, he could help Niki clean up after them for a day.”

Kalah and Jacob both liked the suggestion. Afterall, it was really the dog's morning he'd distrupted, he should do something nice for them to make up for it. Before the punishment could be carried out however, they had to get Niki's approval.

As soon as they'd settled on a backup plan (which would have been not letting Malaki see the puppies again for two days), Kalah went to the den. She stopped at the entrance, said a cheery “Good Morning” and waited to be invited inside.

“I'm sorry to bother you, I know you have your paws full,” Kalah said as she entered.

“You're not bothering anyone,” Niki assured. “Did you need something?”

“Well, yes actually. It's just that we were trying to come up with a punishment of sorts for Malaki, after running off alone and then being a nuisence to you and Arkadi. Quinn suggested, and it seems fitting, to send him back here, and let him help you out for a day. If there's anything he could do that is, and if you wouldn't mind.”

“That would be fine, I'm sure there's something he could do. The bedding needs changing constantly, he could help carry out the soiled bits if nothing else.”

Kalah thought that sounded perfect. She took a moment to visit the puppies, then said good-bye and headed back to tell Jacob... and Malaki.