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Teaching a Young Cub Old Tricks

Chandi grinned as she sunk her claws into the springy surface of the jungle-tree, scampering up its trunk like a stripey squirrel. The young Rakshasi would probably have pondered the primal joy that tree-climbing brought her, and perhaps even speculated about how this might be connected to the lingering instincts of her distant ancestors, but such things were not part of her vocabulary yet. She was only ten, after all, and unlike their neighbors - the horse-like Equus - Rakshasa did not grow up very quickly. If anything, they matured more slowly than humans... or so she'd heard, anyway. She'd been growing more familiar with the largely human residents of the nearby Citadel of late, but there just weren't all that many kids there for her to compare herself to.

Reaching the tree's wide crown, she sat for a moment on a branch, gazing out across the jungle canopy as she listened to the cacophony of birds and other small creatures who were, like she herself, enjoying this fine day in the fertile lands of the Dragon Utopia. None of them sounded to be particularly close, mind. She wasn't disguising herself right now, after all, so most animals instinctively recognized her as a predator - maybe not a large predator, quite yet, but certainly big enough to make them antsy. It was by the same token that the jungle near the Rakshasa Enclave was considered a bit safer than near the Equus Enclave - the local predators recognized the scent of peers, and generally respected their territory. Hence, no-one objected to cubs like herself playing in the trees, so long as they didn't stray too far. Of course, they also had to promise to be_really_ careful not to fall out of any trees, and always carry one of the small signal-stones that the Utopia provided - allowing them to summon the assistance of the mighty dragons if they found themselves in a pinch.

Though Chandi didn't really have the frame of reference to appreciate it, the parents and particularly grandparents of the Rakshasa Enclave were actually remarkably permissive and relaxed about whatever risks their kids might be exposing themselves to - often sagely reminding one another that falling out of a few trees was how you learned how high you could safely climb. They all still remembered what it had been like before they had emigrated to the Utopia - living in secret among the human population of Ganarãjya, in constant fear of discovery, knowing that the mistake of a single individual could have deadly consequences for their entire species. Back then, cubs had been managed very, very carefully, kept indoors and hidden away - virtually prisoners until they had shown the necessary mastery of illusion-crafting to reliably disguise themselves as humans. Even then, they were discouraged from going out unnecessary, let alone forming any kind of bond or connection with non-Rakshasa children.

For those who had grown up under such circumstances, simply being _able_to let their children roam, running and playing and making friends with the foals of the neighboring Equus, was a marvel that oftentimes brought tears to their eyes. So what if they were climbing trees? Even if they fell out, they weren't likely to sustain any injuries that couldn't be fixed with a few of the Utopia's easily-accessible healing-potions or, at worst, the intercession of one of its handful of powerful Clerics. It wasn't as if they were risking the survival of their entire species with every mistake, after all!

Hence, nobody worried about how often Chandi or her peers roved into the jungle, or how long they stayed there. Indeed, the parents were well aware that they had some kind of 'secret base' in there, a home-made tree-house of some description where they no doubt had a marvelous time playing games, sharing gossip and play-fighting. Indeed, this was exactly where Chandi was now heading - in fact, she had been the founder of both the base and the club that now resided there, including having picked out the location.

Jumping up from where she'd been sitting, she scampered across the branches with inhuman agility, leaping into a neighboring tree, traversing its crown and from there reaching another neighbor. The canopy was heavily grown together in this area, making such travel relatively easy - not to mention largely mandatory. Below her paws, tall ferns with thick, fleshy, bright-crimson leaves waved, like a sea of blood - and anyone who tried to walk through that without serious defenses would soon find it expedient to take a different route. While not outright dangerous, the mere touch of the leaves prompted a fiercely burning, smarting sensation that could linger for hours - even the sleek, stripey fur of a Rakshasa offered no protection from their nigh-invisible barbs.

Thus, the secret base that rested in the crown of a tall tree right in the middle of this rather hostile area could - as far as its residents were concerned - effectively be reached only via the treetop highway and, even then, only if you knew exactly where to start and which trees were close enough together for easy traversal. Far more than a mere tree-house, this was their invincible fortress, protected by a natural moat and a veil of secrecy! They'd also been steadily improving on it since its inception, upgrading it from a simple platform made of purloined boards lashed together with rope and vines, adding walls and even a ceiling likewise made from a mixture of 'borrowed' supplies and natural materials. The later had been somewhat of a priority, really, considering that it rained fairly often in this area.

Clambering across the last of the branch-road, Chandi finally reached the base - the Bloodfern Fortress, as it had been dubbed by general agreement. Pushing aside its 'door' - a patchwork of stitched-together rags weighed down by a stones sewn into pockets at the bottom, dangling freely from the roof - she crawled inside to discover that she wasn't quite the first to make it today. The twins, Parvati and Sarasvati, had apparently managed to slip away from their beleaguered parents early, and were now sitting by one of the fortress' large windows, reading something from the club's stock of 'study-material' while whispering to each other and giggling.

As soon as they saw her enter, they abandoned their book and swarmed her, eyes eager for news. The pair was among the club's youngest members, barely past their seventh birthday, and they delighted in playing with their older friends. "Is it true? Is she back?" Parvati demanded. "Did you see her?" Sarasvati followed up smoothly. Giggling, Chandi pushed them back. "Wait for the others to get here! I don't wanna have to tell it twice!" Grumbling, the two of them receded, and Chandi settled down to gaze out the window beside them, admiring the beautiful view.

This tree was one of the tallest in the area - another reason it'd been picked as the site of their fortress. From here, she could look out across the top of the nearby canopy, to see the Rakshasa Enclave nearby - elegant, wooden houses built across the branches of a copse of far larger and hardier trees that grew near the river - and beyond that, the spectacular sight of the vast crater that was the heart of the Utopia... and the Citadel soaring above its rim. From a dip in the crater's edge, a swift but narrow waterfall poured out, splashing into a deep basin - from which the river that served as the primary source of fresh water for both the Rakshasa and the Equus ran. A rainbow often played around this feature, appearing whenever the light was just right - as it was today.

Soon, the rest of the gang began to pour into the fortress, as surely as the water from the crater-lake above poured down into the basin below. There were more than a dozen of them by now, all between the ages of ten and seven, all girls, all Rakshasi cubs. Some of their parents had badgered them to be more 'inclusive' in their little club, maybe welcoming some of their little brothers or Equus friends in - but also seemingly recognizing that such a suggestion was a rather hard sell for cubs that age. Of course, an Equus wouldn't be able to reach the Fern Fortress anyway, and boys wouldn't be able to participate in their primary club activity... besides, they were dumb and smelly!

Once everyone was there, it was Aasiya who made the same demand that the twins had done earlier, albeit with a lot more gravitas - she was one of the older members of their little gang, just a week or so behind Chandi herself, and the club's effective second-in-command. "What did you learn from your scouting-mission yesterday?" she asked eagerly. "I really wanted to sneak over to your house and ask last night, but mom wouldn't let me go out after dinner..." Chandi nodded and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, parents get pretty silly about that stuff... but don't worry! My scouting-mission was a success and then some, and I am eager to report on what I discovered!"

All the cubs bunched up before her, ears twitching and slitted eyes wide, listening intently as Chandi began to recount the results of the mission she had volunteered for during the previous day's meeting, and carried out during the afternoon. "I infiltrated the Citadel using my usual disguise..." she intoned, trying to keep a suitably severe tone despite her bubbling excitement at sharing the news. "It worked as smoothly as ever - several people recognized 'Lily Lightfoot', and greeted her by name. From listening in on various conversations, I was able to swiftly confirm that the First DragonRider and the Champion have, indeed, returned from their long mission to Commogh...comorgh... the underground city!"

Fortunately, everyone seemed too eager for news to comment on her inability to pronounce the rather difficult and very foreign name of the First DragonRider's destination, Chandi reflected with a wince as she carried on. "Their servants have also returned, of course - all unharmed. In fact, I heard rumors that they have been 'enhanced', thanks to some sort of spooky kind of alchemists that live in... the underground city. I could not ferret out any details about these 'enhancements', however, and recommend that this be made the target of another, future scouting-mission." There were nods and murmurs of agreement on this count. "I will be happy to volunteer!" Aasiya quickly slipped in, eager to remind everyone that she could do fancy scouting-missions too.

Ignoring the question of who would perform that mission for now, Chandi forged on, eager to get to the best part...

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