Cub Raising Association

Chapter 14: Learning how to fly

"Tiuh!" Hearing the praise, the Kuhti cub proudly raised his chest and called out to him as if agreeing.

(T/N: Lol, imagine a high pitched voice proudly saying, "Yeah, I did good, didn't I!")

In addition to the Kuhti cub, there were two more cubs in the club that, in Xie Tao's opinion, had beast forms similar to that of birds. One was from the Cotto race and the other was from the Kuwei. The Cotto had soft feathers in different shades of grey and the Kuwei had shiny yellow feathers similar to that of a baby goose.

Although the Kuhti cub was tense around other cubs, Xie Tao though that the cub would be more comfortable if he was around more similar cubs that were the same size as him. Xie Tao therefore put the three together in hopes that it would be the first step towards the Kuhti cub's integration.

Xie Tao had only good intentions, however when he brought the two other cubs to the Kuhti cub, he found that the cub did not get as comfortable as he had expected.

In fact, the small chest that had been raised after being praised, shrunk back, and the cub awkwardly moved his wings as he slightly lowered his head.

"Baby?" His mother had not said anything about his situation in the other nursing clubs or at home. But after observing the cub's reactions, Xie Tao felt that the cub must have experienced something traumatic that made him act the way he did.

Looking at the Kuhti cub's current state, Xie Tao heart ached, and after thinking about it, he picked the cub up. Gazing down at the cub in his arms, he lightly touched his soft red feathers and whispered: "Don't be afraid, the other cubs are very well-behaved and nice, they won't bully you, I promise."

This was the first time that someone was being so patient with him and although being treated this way felt a bit weird and foreign, the cub liked this new warm sensation.

The cub looked at Xie Tao for a while and then turned his head to the two cubs he just met before skeptically looking back at Xie Tao. "Tiuuh?"

In the previous nursing clubs, the caretakers had never been this patient. The one teaching him would start frowning after a while and then shake their head and sigh.

This cub simply must not have the ability to fly...

The cub had been to several nursing clubs and this was the sentence he repeatedly heard the caretakers say. But it still wasn't worse then when they finally gave up..

We have tried our best. If the cub still can't fly when the parents visit then they can't blame us, there is something wrong with the cub...

When cubs similar to him got to know that he could not fly, they usually stayed far away from him. Even though other cubs who did not have the ability to fly, did not deliberately avoid him, they still thought of him as stupid and ignored him.

After hearing the cub's questioning tone, Xie Tao nodded and tenderly touched the Kuhti cub's back feathers.

While comforting him, Xie Tao slowly moved his hand to one of the cub's wings. The cub got a little tense but still permitted him to gently spread out his wing.

Xie Tao lightly moved his fingertips along one of the wings' feathers. Although the rest of the cub's body was covered with soft fluff-feathers, his wings had long and robust feathers that felt powerful enough to carry him.