He probably shouldn’t have left yet. Mama would be very upset. She was probably fretting and crying over the disappearance of her precious boy. The elder would be comforting her; he would tell her that all men must walk their own path and some become men earlier than others. Ra’s wasn’t sure if he could be quantified as an adult yet, but he wasn’t getting any closer to independence under the carefully sheltering paw of his Mama.

Black paws jogged at a cheerful pace through the forest, graceful and silent as only a gypsy could be. At three years old, he was a leggy sort of boy, deep-chested and tall and very lean. He had met his full height at forty-two inches but was still narrow with youth. There wasn’t an extra inch of fat anywhere on his body due to the gypsy life on the paw. His former band had been extremely mobile, almost restless in the way they never seemed to settle anywhere for long. But that was what he grew up with, that was his culture and he loved every bit of it.

In his quest for self-sufficiency, the boy had broken off from his family the night before in these very woods. The camp had been sleeping, only the elder awake and it was but a brief moment of silent eye contact that transpired before he disappeared into the night. If there had been an issue, his family would have collected him by the early morning. No matter how much ground he covered, a gypsy always had a way of finding those they sought. No, his departure had been accepted; his mother had accepted his absence in one way or another… though, he was sure it had taken quite a bit of convincing from the rest of the party.

Paws halted abruptly at the edge of a shallow pebble stream and the boy dipped his muzzle to lap at the cool, ground filtered water. His bright spring gray eyes took in his rippling reflection as he drank, a black silhouette against the green and white patched leaves above. The white saddle of fur behind his shoulders seemed to glow in the bright afternoon sun that filtered through the trees, contrasting heavily with the black and dark russet highlights of his lingering summer bleach. Very soon, his highlight would begin to darken to a uniform black and his coat would lengthen for the coming winter. But it was still hot, still early for autumn and so his fur reflected as much.

Ra’s took in a deep breath of the fresh forest air, the smell of wet leaves pungent in the day’s humidity. He lowered his body to the ground and rolled into the ankle-deep water, wriggling around gaily as the cool liquid flooded his fur and tingled on his skin. It was refreshing, just what he needed after his long jog through the forest, and after a few moments he went still and let his narrow frame fall to one side. He closed his eyes, simply enjoying the contrasting feel of the cool water below and the warmth of the sun above as it shone through the trees.

Somewhere in this land, there was another band of gypsies. The signs of nomads, things only another gypsy might acknowledge, had been present nearby their last camp. Hopefully they would welcome him, a fellow vagrant, and he could find his new life in the small troupe that roamed these lands. If not, well, his journey would continue regardless.

and I've been doing just fine