Inevitably came the time when all of the children were too young to be out
on Terrai lands on their own, but too old to be given as much personal care as they had received previously. The Affries children were actually some of the first to be placed to pasture, which was a testament to their hard-working parents, and though they managed to have the place to themselves for a week or two, soon other parents were pressured to let go of their children as well, and in handfuls the pasture — named South A Sweet — filled up.
When they were on their own, they exhausted their energies mostly just trying to keep their balance, stabbing the soft ground with their hooves until they were grounded enough that they could hold one another up. Their laughter was huge and endless and they tumbled and stained themselves in the dirt indecently, free from public viewing. Finally they could manage a length or two walking carefully, in a six-legged mob. They could also last a couple lengths running, if you counted how far their arms stretched when they fell belly on the ground.
It was because of all this exhaustive practice that they made it to the challenge of grassy, uneven knolls faster than any other child born that season. They bragged about this to their parents, who quickly admonished them and instructed them to aid in the standing and walking of other children.
The last ones still on fours were the Poller kids, and that was because their parents hadn't parted with them until everyone else was already leaping about on the pastures, and too bored and impatient to help them walk, even the Affries. Once, though, Aucomis had noticed one of the Pollers just about to reach the grass, his arms all stretched out to either side, and he shouted, "Good job, Poller, just a little more!"
Which startled the Poller kid so much that he lost his balance and fell face-first in the dirt. He stained his face, and the rest of everyone laughed at the brown smudges on his cheeks, which he tried in vain to wipe away with his dirty hands. He began to cry.
Aucomis started and ran toward them to see if they were alright — sometimes there were sharp rocks in the dirt — but the other Poller sibs were running up on their fours to see the fallen Poller too, and when Aucomis came near, one of them yelled at him angrily and dug his heels into the dirt and launched himself forward. He bashed his skull into Aucomis's knee, and Aucomis howled with pain, and now everyone was all rushing over, especially Leucan, who started shrieking after she saw the blood on Aucomis' leg, and she began pounding at the Poller with the sharp part of her hooves, and now everyone was yelling and shouting, enough to attract the attention of guardians, who raced to the scene and began breaking the children apart with a sharp knuckles to their foreheads.
It turned out that the youngest Poller, who had fallen, was fine; so was Aucomis, though he was taken away for a week or two, to no one knew where.
"He broke his knee, probably," sneered the eldest Poller, "which would serve him right, because it was his fault," at which point Leucan flared furiously and longed to shove her horns into his brain.
"My brother was running to see if your brother was okay," she snarled, and the Poller gave her a disgusted look.
"Your brother was showing off how fast he could run," he said, "and then he fell on me and hurt his leg," and Leucan fairly snarled with rage. Her brother, fall? When he had been the first child able to walk of their whole group? And when she, and everyone, had seen that the Poller had tackled her innocent brother?
But it turned out that in fact no one had seen the eldest Poller attack Aucomis, not even Boula, though Leucan interrogated her so fiercely that Boula conceded that she witnessed the scene as well. Leucan accepted this from her, and with it accepted the first greatest disappointment of her life.
People didn't always tell the truth.
When they were on their own, they exhausted their energies mostly just trying to keep their balance, stabbing the soft ground with their hooves until they were grounded enough that they could hold one another up. Their laughter was huge and endless and they tumbled and stained themselves in the dirt indecently, free from public viewing. Finally they could manage a length or two walking carefully, in a six-legged mob. They could also last a couple lengths running, if you counted how far their arms stretched when they fell belly on the ground.
It was because of all this exhaustive practice that they made it to the challenge of grassy, uneven knolls faster than any other child born that season. They bragged about this to their parents, who quickly admonished them and instructed them to aid in the standing and walking of other children.
The last ones still on fours were the Poller kids, and that was because their parents hadn't parted with them until everyone else was already leaping about on the pastures, and too bored and impatient to help them walk, even the Affries. Once, though, Aucomis had noticed one of the Pollers just about to reach the grass, his arms all stretched out to either side, and he shouted, "Good job, Poller, just a little more!"
Which startled the Poller kid so much that he lost his balance and fell face-first in the dirt. He stained his face, and the rest of everyone laughed at the brown smudges on his cheeks, which he tried in vain to wipe away with his dirty hands. He began to cry.
Aucomis started and ran toward them to see if they were alright — sometimes there were sharp rocks in the dirt — but the other Poller sibs were running up on their fours to see the fallen Poller too, and when Aucomis came near, one of them yelled at him angrily and dug his heels into the dirt and launched himself forward. He bashed his skull into Aucomis's knee, and Aucomis howled with pain, and now everyone was all rushing over, especially Leucan, who started shrieking after she saw the blood on Aucomis' leg, and she began pounding at the Poller with the sharp part of her hooves, and now everyone was yelling and shouting, enough to attract the attention of guardians, who raced to the scene and began breaking the children apart with a sharp knuckles to their foreheads.
It turned out that the youngest Poller, who had fallen, was fine; so was Aucomis, though he was taken away for a week or two, to no one knew where.
"He broke his knee, probably," sneered the eldest Poller, "which would serve him right, because it was his fault," at which point Leucan flared furiously and longed to shove her horns into his brain.
"My brother was running to see if your brother was okay," she snarled, and the Poller gave her a disgusted look.
"Your brother was showing off how fast he could run," he said, "and then he fell on me and hurt his leg," and Leucan fairly snarled with rage. Her brother, fall? When he had been the first child able to walk of their whole group? And when she, and everyone, had seen that the Poller had tackled her innocent brother?
But it turned out that in fact no one had seen the eldest Poller attack Aucomis, not even Boula, though Leucan interrogated her so fiercely that Boula conceded that she witnessed the scene as well. Leucan accepted this from her, and with it accepted the first greatest disappointment of her life.
People didn't always tell the truth.
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