A Lesson in Manners

(February 6th, open to Granny & the brat trio)

"AW SHIT!"

"Don't cuss Umeme!" Sasha barked violently.

"Well what am I supposed ta say? I hurt my toes!" The pups were running around unsupervised again. Enzo was a little nervous bunny since he'd been locked in the cages. His ears were always flat against his skull, his eyes were always wide and nervous. Every time Zira walked past him he peed a little. He'd even taking to wetting the area where he slept at night which caused his sisters and Dixie to make him sleep outside of the cave until he got his act together. But he was so afraid of everyone and everything he couldn't help it. He had said nothing so far on their adventures down towards the banks of the crocodile river. It was Umeme's idea.

"I can't feel my toes," Umeme groaned, "I'm dyin'!"

"You're not dyin'," Sasha hissed, "Relax. What're we doin' down here anyhow?"

"We're gonna poke a crocodile!" Umeme grinned. Enzo curled up in a ball and rolled on his side as his sisters argued.

"You stupid idiot! We ain't gonna poke a crocodile!" Sasha barked.

"You're a stupid idiot! We're gonna do it cuz I said so!" Umeme snapped. The girls argued as Enzo stared in the distance. He was too scared to move. Or tell his sister a familiar face was creeping up.

Granny Rose still wasn't in the best of temperaments over yesterday's events. Her little 'talk' with Dixie and Copper hadn't done anything to settle her mind, or ease her concerns over trying to raise a litter of pups in such a place as this. But after learning what had happened to Enzo, she'd determined to check on him herself.

And none too soon, from the sounds of things.

Her thick eyebrows bristled as she approached, padding silently as she fixed Umeme with a furious gaze. It was all too clear who had inherited their mama's good sense.

"Ain't nobody gonna go poke a crocodile! Of all the stupid ideas! What kinda moron you tryin' to be?" she barked when she was standing right behind the arguing sisters. Seeing how terrified Enzo already was, she made absolutely certain hot to let her gaze sweep across him. It was painfully obvious he didn't want to be there. Poor pup. Now, more than ever, a sense of absolute fury and hatred for the lioness blossomed in the elderly canine's soul.

All three pups gasped as Granny's voice rang shrill over their ears. Sasha gave her sister a look that said 'I toldja so' and Umeme stuck her tongue out at her. Enzo saw a comforting face and crawled on the ground towards Granny, tail batting back and forth slightly. Umeme decided to explain herself.

"Well, Ma'am," she said as if the answer she was about to give was the only obvious one, "Ah was just thinkin' that...if we poked a crocodile we could practice our stealth! Yeah that's it!"

"Aw horsefeathers," Sasha huffed, repeating something her mother often said, "Ah wasn't gonna let'er do it anyway."

"You were so," Umeme snorted, "What're you doin' our here anyway, Granny Rose? Isn't it too dangerous?"

Granny Rose spared a moment to offer Enzo a kind smile as she wrapped a paw around him and gently drew him close. Then she returned her gaze towards his sisters, and scowled as Umeme tried to offer an explanation for what she'd been up to. Practice stealth by poking a crocodile? She very much doubted that was why Umeme had planned such a bone-headed thing. She seemed a right dare-devil, that one.

"Is that so? Well, seems you've at least got more sense than your sister," she huffed as Sasha protested her innocence, and intention to keep Umeme from endangering herself. The she turned her attention back towards Umeme. "Tryin' to sneak up on a croc with all the noise you were makin? Much ruckus as you were raisin', you wouldn't be able to sneak up on a rock."

"Reckon I could ask you the same thing. If it's dangerous for me, it's definitely dangerous for a bunch of pups", she retorted with a snort of her own. Of course, anywhere even remotely close to Zira was dangerous, but that didn't make wandering around out in this wilderness any less so. And, unlike Dixie's pups, Granny Rose knew how to take care of herself. "Let me ask you somethin'. You ever seen a croc move? I don't mean just crawl on their belly into the water, but actually make a go fer somethin' they mean to make a meal of? Or somethin' that's gone and got one riled up? Then they're faster than a scalded haint, getcha afore ya even knew it."

As she finished talking, her paw shot out like a striking snake to bop Umeme on the end of her nose by way of a demonstration. Old as she was, the elderly canine was still quite spry, so Umeme would have to be quick on her toes if she wanted to avoid getting bopped, even if the blow was barely hard enough to do much more than maybe sting a bit.

The trio winced as Granny lay into Umeme. The bratty little girl's eyes narrowed towards the older dog. She stuck out her lip in a pout and was about to protest when she got bopped on the nose. "HEY!" She whined.

Sasha stifled a smirk. Enzo, however, was still buried in Granny Rose's chest. The male wasn't himself. No longer cheery or peppy, he took solace in the old dog's scraggly fur. Dixie wasn't as sympathetic as Granny. The pups desperately needed discipline and their mother wasn't giving it at all. Umeme rubbed her nose before turning over her shoulder and looking at the snapping critters inside of the water.

"I could'a done it!" Umeme barked, "Why ah could'a snuck up and done it no problem!" Her tail wagged slightly.

"What ARE ya doin' here, Granny?" Sasha asked.

Granny Rose met Umeme's gaze without blinking, a stern scowl on her features even as she rubbed a paw gently over Enzo's shoulders. She had stared down pups of her own, and even some of her grandchildren, even after they'd grown. Heck, she'd stared Cash down when he got a bit too uptight with Copper. One spoiled brat wasn't about to cow her.

Sh frowned when Umeme turned to gaze down at the river again, stubbornly refusing to listen to sense. She turned her gaze towards the river herself, eyes narrowing even more as she noticed one croc, half-submerged, with one eye facing the riverbank where the pups would've been if Umeme had managed to convince them to get closer. But before she could say anything, Sasha spoke up,asking her in a tone which, while not confrontational, wasn't exactly polite either, what she was doing out there.

"I came out here to check up on y'all. I reckon being born out here's made ya pretty tough, but it don't hurt none to be too careful with a crazy psycho cat running around," she huffed. "Besides, I reckon I needed a breather from that madhouse. Beats creepin' around like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."