Chapter 28
A little bit left, a little bit right
The little Kuhti cub had deliberately stretched his back and lifted his chest high in order to let his father see the gold medal more clearly. But his strength was still lacking and when the cub raised his chest, his small wings were tightly held behind him.
This was most likely the cub’s last attempt. If he didn’t get a good response this time, then he would probably never again have the courage to reach out the way he did now.
The courage he had gathered from his new confidence was very fragile, and it was only through his father’s verification that it would be able to live on. If his father, on the other hand, remained cold and did not praise him even after his big achievement, his new confidence, together with the courage, would crumble to the ground once again.
Before he had switched clubs and met Xie Tao, another parent who cared for him had tried to explain his father’s behavior. They had said that his way of teaching was excessively strict. It lacked praise and encouragement, and they had said that it was not normal, nor a good way to raise a cub.
Parents who were strict would always blame the cub for not doing well and as such, it was only natural that the cub would become timid when facing his father.
Seeing that the man still had a cold expressionless face even though the cub had tried hard to gather his courage and was reaching out, Xie Tao couldn’t help but feel worried.
But as he could not outright say, “Hurry and praise him,” he could only try his best to hint with his eyes as he continued to quietly observe from the side.
And if Xie Tao was worried, the Kuthi woman standing behind the man was of course very anxious.
Clearly, the other had just a moment ago nodded and promised her in the study. But now when the cub had taken the initiative and was so obviously trying to connect and be praised, how come no words were coming out of the other’s mouth—??
Afraid that the cub would soon pull back and things would go back to the way they were before, Fuya immediately pushed hard on the back in front of her.
The Kuhti cub had already deliberately shown off the small golden medal on his body and when he didn’t get a response for a long time, his wings started moving with unease. The originally bright eyes gradually started to lose their luster and the small head held high started to fall.
But at this time, the little fluffy cub suddenly felt his back feathers being touched.
“Tiuh?”
Just like when he heard that he got first place in the competition, the little cub called out with disbelief and raised his head to look up at his cold faced father.
It had only been after the second time the warm palm stroke his head down to his back feathers that the Kuhti cub reacted. Therefore, when Tanner had first touched him and looked down at the motionless cub in his arms, he could not help but feel that he resembled a fluffball.
Just like how Tanner’s body was stiff because he was not used to holding the cub, his movements when stroking him were also very rigid.
However, as he normally was not especially casual or relaxed, these stiff attempts at stroking the cub did fortunately not seem too odd.
Now that he had finally managed to take the first step, it was time for him to praise the cub for the medal he had previously shown to him. But even though Tanner opened and closed his mouth twice, he was not able to get the words out. It was as something was stuck in his throat, preventing him.
Not being able to think of what to say, Tanner tried to recall how he had done it in the past and found that he had not once praised the cub after he had hatched.
However, even though he had now realized his mistakes, as a parent and adult, it was still difficult for Tanner to change all of a sudden.
Almost all adults try to maintain a perfect facade on the outside and sometimes it was difficult to take the initiative to admit their mistakes. Especially when it came to admitting their mistakes in front of their own cubs…
As Tanner was struggling to tear down the wall he had built, he was suddenly caught off guard by a soft touch. The little red cub in his arms was touching his hand that had paused after stroking the back feathers.
No, the cub was not simply touching him, but was fully snuggling against his palm. He even occasionally glanced up and chirped…
Tanner almost dropped the cub.
He had not been mentally prepared for this and the shock almost made him drop him, but fortunately, he quickly managed to stabilize his hand again and catch the cub who was about to fall.
Actually, even if he really dropped him, the cub could now fly and would not fall to the ground. But at that moment, Tanner’s heartbeat had still missed a beat.
Perhaps it was because it had all happened so recently, that in Tanner’s heart, he still subconsciously believed that the cub would not fly.
Looking down at the little cub in his embrace and feeling the clear soft sensation of him snuggling into his hands, Tanner felt the intimacy and dependency expressed through the action and his ice covered heart melted into a puddle. [1]
“Peipei…” Tanner called out to the cub, but as he did not know how to praise him, he paused to organize his thoughts and then said, “…Peipei is very powerful.”
The cub had once again slightly raised his chest and the golden medal around the cub’s neck was particularly eye-catching, it was shaped like a sunflower, with a “1” engraved in the center.
Looking down at this gold medal, Tanner finally got some inspiration and added. “Dad has never gotten first place in the flying competition, so Peipei truly is very powerful.”
For this sentence to be said, not only the cub, but even Fuya, got stunned. She had not expected that her husband would be able to say something like that.
“Tiuh, tiuh-tiuh!”
The cub strongly called out and fully stood up in his hand, strightening his back. The original folded wings were now slightly open.
This action was commonly used in the Kuhti race and the other two races to show others their strength and ability while in beast form.
Although there was no momentum to the action when it was made by a cub, and was on the country quite cute. It was very gratifying for the parents when their cub tried to show their ability to them, and it made Tanner think of something–
In the Waren manor, there was a spacious courtyard. After finally having managed to cross the barrier and connect as father and cub. Tanner brought the fluffy cub in his arms over to the courtyard that was covered with a green lawn.
“Tiuh?” Being put down on the grass, the little cub tilted his head and called out in confusion as he looked up at his father who stood in front of him.
After having set his mind, Tanner, in the next second, showed the cub his true form.
Red, intense bright red feathers. By the sun’s touch, the color seemed to come alive as if the feathers were aflame, it was a very mighty color that radiated strength.
The creature standing before the cub was very large and created a sharp contrast between them when compared. Even though they were both of the Kuhti race, the cub’s body was not even half the length of the other’s claws.
With a jaw like a swallow, body like a crane and a beautiful long tail, the beast form of the Kuthi race was very similar to that of the Phoenix in human myths and legends. It was an extremely gorgeous creature that could not help but be admired.
The huge body of the adult Kuhti suddenly cast a shadow over the cub standing next to it. Standing in the shadow, the cub blinked and gazed up at large creature before it, his black eyes filled with longing.
“Tiuh!”
He would become just as pretty and strong when he grows up. Unable to resist taking a step forward, the cub tried to get close to observe the huge creature in front of him.
As the little red cub went closer, his body suddenly became weightless and floated up. It was as if there was some kind of invisible force lifting him and it brought him from the grass up to the huge creature’s back.
After a while, the cub reacted and curiously took a step on the back feathers of this huge creature, then one more, and one more. A little bit left, a little bit right.
With the cub’s small weight, the adult Kuhti carrying the cub could not feel him stepping around, but this huge Phoenix-like creature naturally knew the cub’s position on his back.
Waiting until the cub on his back had adapted, the huge creatures moved and flapped his blazing red feathers, traveling high up into the sky. He slowly started accelerating while making sure that the cub would not fall off.
“Tiuh——Tiuh, tiuh!”
The little cub, sitting on the back of his parent, was for the first time experiencing such high speed and he excitingly raised his own wings, fluttering them as if it was he who was flying.
In the reflection of the cub’s dark eyes, clouds were gradually approaching, and the cub’s perception of the sky seemed to have deepened a little.
For parents to change into their beast form and carry their cub’s into the sky, was a very common parent-cub activity in the Kuhti, Kuwei and Cotto races. It was usually done by the father in the family.
Tanner had, however, never done this before and the Kuhti cub had never experienced it. But tonight, after becoming aware of his own mistakes, Tanner had taken the initiative to change that.
He carried the cub, across the sky, through the clouds, while listening to his excited cries–
I should have done this earlier.
Despite thinking this, Tanner knew that he could not change his past mistakes.
He could only try to avoid making the same mistakes here on after and try to be a better father in the future.
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Translator’s note:
Awwww~ that was so heartwarming.
I’m so happy for Peipei’s sake and that tradition seems very fun.
On another note, my editor will be on a break for a month as she needs to focus on her exams, but luckily my friend has promised to help me~ Thank you C ~
Also, thank you to everyone who answered the survey, so far I have gotten more than two hundred answers, way more than I expected, once again thank you, it really helped me out. ❤️
[1] – More precisely, he became softhearted and either “muddled and completely collapsing”, “in an awful condition”, “in complete shambles”, or, my favorite, “a total mess”.