The night once again passed without disturbance, and the morning came. I was the first awake, which left me with a dilemma. What to do for breakfast, my original diet of the dandelion grass and sadness was obviously inadequate now that there was a child I had to feed. I was saved when when Tamaya also woke up and offered to show me what plants were edible. 

Even trying my hardest I was not a tenth of the gatherer that Tamaya was. It did not take long for me to realize that the most useful task I could do was to simply carry the gathered food back to camp. With our 'teamwork' it did not take long for a sizeable vegetable stew to be ready. The soup was very good, and the only criticism was the absence of salt.

It was not long after that we started off down the stream. I had tried to give Tamaya the driver's seat, but the little ball of energy wouldn't sit still. We ended up leading the horses on foot. 

"So mister, what is it that your wagon is carrying?" Tamaya's eyes gaze at the cannon being towed behind the caisson.

"That is what is called a cannon, it is a type of really big gun. It is supper powerful and has a massive range." Tamaya starts giggling as she fantasizes about its power. Knowing her next question I head her off, "If you want to shoot it we can, but it will have to be this evening. Because the cannon takes a while to unlimber and load."

Tamaya pauses "But how can it shoot when the cannon does not have a lever to crank?" 

While I could give a simple answer like 'not all guns have levers' or 'the cannon is to big to have a lever action in it' shallow answers like these will not sate her curiosity. Instead it will only trigger more questions until I give a satisfactory answer.

"The cannon does not have a lever because the lever is used to load the next round into the gun. My henry here loads its shots from the back of the barrel here, while for the cannon you have to push the charge down the length of the barrel. Instead of using a trigger to fire the cannon you pull a rope called a rip cord that causes a spark that ignites the gunpowder inside the cannon. The Henry uses a case designed to shoot when struck, this makes its ammunition easier to load." Tamaya listens closely as I explain more about how guns work, she quickly starts to ask questions I don't know how to answer.

"Can the cannon shoot through the shell of a Rynoxigore?" "Do you think sparkle powder would work instead of your gunpowder?" As she discovered that I was no longer able to answer her questions she became quiet thinking to herself. For several hours we walked in silence until I decided to ask for more details about her village. 

"Is there a stream near your village?" I ask.

"Besides the one that runs right through it no."

"How do you usually get through the forest?"

"I walk, duh."

"No, sorry. I mean how do you usually get back home?"

"I just follow my trail back like anyone else would." she shoots a glair at me. Her annoyance at me for disrupting her thoughts is clear. Respecting her wishes I stop bothering her with questions. 

We don't need to stop to cook lunch as there is still soup left over from breakfast. But we still need to stop to clean the pot in the stream. Tamaya doesn't seem to understand the importance of clean cooking utensils, but I do. 

While I am rinsing the pot it occurs to me that the pot is not the only filthy thing that needs to be washed. I look towards Tamaya, and more specifically the pile of mud that passes as a hat. 

"Tamaya you know we should probably clean your hat. It is filthy, and will ruin your hair."

Tamaya doesn't answer, just stands confused.

"sigh... You know on top of your head. Your hat." I touch the top of my head to further show what I mean.

Tamaya copies me and reaches up. Suddenly her face changes from confusion to horror. "No, you can't."

"Listen Tamaya, be reasonable. Your hat needs to be washed, ok?"

"NO! NO! NO!" Tamaya covers her head and starts to throw a tantrum.

I am genuinely shocked by her outburst, I know it is something that children do, but I did not expect her to pull such a stunt. Something I do know is that behavior like this can not be tolerated. 

"Tamaya! If you don't let us clean your hat. I will not show you the cannon tonight." 

Tamaya starts crying. Her tears stab me right in the heart. But I must endure for her sake as well as mine I will have to hold this line. But first I will have to sooth her so that she can be reasoned with.

“Sush… sush. Its ok. I am not angry with you. But we need to do this, ok." I lower myself to look into her eyes. Tamaya shrinks away, slowly the crying stops.

"Only if you promise to let me do it. And also that you won't get angry." With all the crying her eyes and cheeks are as read as her hair. 

"Okay, that's fine with me."

"NO! Say it." She insists.

Baffled I go along with her request, "That I will let you clean your hat and also will not get angry about it."

"NO! NO! No! Promise it!" Tamaya is now staring me down, but then remembers to add, "The cannon too, don't forget about it."

I do role my eyes at this point. For me it is such a strange thing to insist on. 

"I Andrew Rose promise to let Tamaya clean her hat herself. And in exchange will not get angry at her, and also show her the cannon after dinner."

"Ok give me some space now..." Tamaya looks like a ship that had lost its wind. She sulks over toward the creek and gives one last forlorn gaze. 

Instead of removing the mud-hat like I expected, she dunks her head into the creak. The once clear water immediately turns brown from all the dirt, when I described it as a pile of mud I never could have hoped that it would have been this literal. When she is finished cleaning her hair Tamaya stands up. "There! Are you happy now?" In a voice that was trying to be angry, but was already on the verge of tears. 

I had never expected her resistance to be her trying to hid anything, much less this. Something that she was so desperate to hide that she had covered them with several inches of mud.

A pair of sobbing wet fox ears. 

"Its ok, here use this." I hand her the blanket to dry off with. "Lets go ok, we should make some progress before dinner." 

Tamaya accepts the blanket, and in spite of her previous reluctance, huddles on the caisson and does not say much.

Phew, 1,200 words. It took me all day to do, but I promised fluff! So I must deliver.

Bla bla bla, let me know what you think, excreta.

That being said your comments have been really fun to read through and respond to.  And this is some of the best fun I have had this year.

On the other hand, my vacation ends on Sunday. That Saturday I will have a 6 hour flight back home, and I plan on using that time to write. Starting Sunday I have no idea how much time I will have to dedicate to this project, however I think I can manage one chapter a week.

That being said I am interested in commissioning a quick and dirty cover art for this story, However I have no idea of where to start. So it might take some time. (help pls) 

Any way, Thank you all for reading.  ~Hatt