The sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds the next day. It was a quiet day, peaceful even. The pack of ninetails and their companion mice traveled over the misty mountain, making their way towards the summit. They had made this trip many times for generations. Today though, they were joined by two newcomers.
"Wait for me kiddos!" Gidget howled. She was romping around with the ninetail children and some of the younger mice. They seemed to be having a great time, weaving in and out amongst the traveling adults. Walking alongside Pops and Tiny at the lead, Tiberius often kept glancing over his shoulder, keeping a close eye on her. He was deeply worried about her safety, especially after the incident with the carnivorous squirrels-
"Relax Eagle Eye, she is fine," Pops piped up. Tiberius sighed heavily, knowing very well that his mind had been read. "Hey Dad, can I play with them?" Tiny asked, his ears perked up. Pops nodded his head and replied, "Of course. Just remember that you need to be able to hear me if I call for you." His nine tails wagging in happiness, Tiny called over his shoulder as he raced off, "I will! Thank you!"
"You're just going to let him go on his own?" Tiberius questioned, worry evident in his voice. Chuckling softly, Pops responded kindly, "You have so much to learn about parenthood Eagle Eye." The griffin looked over at the ninetail, confusion written all over his face. The elder chuckled again as he explained, "You need to be willing to let your kid be themselves."
"Yeah, I do that with Norman," Tiberius insisted. The look on Pops' face told the griffin that the ninetail thought differently. Lowering his head in shame, he mumbled, "Am I a bad father?" Shaking his head, Pops pointed out, "No, far from it actually. I can see that you are a very good father. But you need to learn to loosen up the reins with your boy." Sighing softly, Tiberius murmured, "It's just so hard."
"I know. Being a single parent is a tricky business. I had my struggles at first but I learned quickly. Parenthood is a journey of learning," Pops explained. Patting Tiberius on the shoulder, he concluded, "You learn something new every day." A faint smile on his face, the griffin rasped, "Thank you. Norman would've loved to meet all of you." Pops bowed his head slightly as he remarked, "I couldn't help but notice that in your memories your son was wondering how old we can get."
"I would really appreciate it if you didn't poke through my head," Tiberius muttered. Laughing, Pops replied, "Perhaps. But I will gladly tell you that I am two thousand twenty two years old." Flicking his torn ear, the griffin replied gratefully, "Thank you. I'll remember to tell Norman that."
"We're back!" Gidget called, running over with Tiny and the other kids. They were all a giggling mess after all of the racing around they did. Jumping up and down, Tiny exclaimed, "Hey Gidget! What are you doing out here on the misty mountains?" Smiling, Gidget answered, "Sorry kids, I suffer from short term memory loss so I don't remember much. But my friend Tyron knows the whole story."
"Yay! Story time!" the children cried, looking over at Tiberius expectantly. "No no kids, I'm sorry but no. I don't want to talk about it," the griffin apologized. He was instantly met with a chorus of begging ninetail children. Head butting him in the leg, Gidget pleaded, "Please bestie? I wanna hear the story too." Sighing heavily, Tiberius muttered, "Fine."
