We Gain a New Polar Bear

Alfredo has been concerned for some time that Vim would grow up to be... distinctly odd.  The problem is that the younger generation here is almost entirely feline: Mahler, Cami, Navarre, Rusty, Khamsin, and Flurry.  There's also Beppe, but he's quite young; there's Tibby, but he's a bird; and there's Gilly and Sleepyhead, but they mostly live in the south room.  This means that most of Vim's playmates, including Flurry, his best friend, are cats.  Now, in a sense, this is a good thing; it is, after all, part of the Wild Republican Mission Statement to foster good feeling and harmony amongst different species, and educating younglings in a species-diverse environment is an integral part of this.  

But this isn't supposed to preclude said younglings from growing up with mannerisms foreign to their own species.  Alfredo is worried that Vim will take on too many feline characteristics to allow him to function in ursine society.  And even though Vim himself loves his companions, he does sometimes wish there were other bears around.  Neither Butterfinger nor Sleepyhead counts, exactly; and the cats get to talk to each other in Feline and then he feels left out.

So Alfredo and I agreed that a younger bear friend for Vim would be beneficial, and it just so happened that right around the same time, I discovered that by making a donation to a particular charity, one could acquire a polar bear. 

Clearly it was fated.

So, with all that ado dispensed with, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our newest Wild Republican, Rebus.

Rebus, you'll note, is quite small - much smaller than anyone had anticipated.  

 His diminutive size is actually part of why he was sent here: he was born prematurely, so he's very small for a polar bear.  His parents and the clan elders have agreed that the best option for his future is scholarship or diplomacy, so they applied for one of the coveted Wild Republic Youth Education fellowships on his behalf, and he was accepted.  Now, it's possible he might have wound up in this position anyway; as you may guess from his name, Rebus is quite clever.  But his size was definitely a contributing factor.

Vim was so excited to finally have another bear around.  Rebus was slightly startled by the magnitude of his welcome.  He's kind of used to being overlooked, since he's so small.  (Vim is much larger than Rebus, but he's actually younger.)

After offering this fulsome greeting, Vim introduced Rebus to his two closest friends.  Rebus and Tibby hit it off right away, as you can see.  Granted, most of the newbies tend to hit it off with Tibby, because he's such an amiable little fellow (surprising, given his pedigree, right?).  But Tibby and Rebus are both interested in learning stuff, and Tibby took Rebus right under his wing, so to speak.

Rebus's introduction to Flurry was somewhat more dramatic.

 Flurry can't really help it.  He's sort of genetically programmed to pounce on small things.

If you're starting to fear that Rebus is going to spend his time here getting beaten up by everyone, don't be.  He's small, but he knows how to take care of himself.  Rebus has an elder brother, Robulus, who is everything polar bears are reputed to be: huge, red-blooded, and brawly.  Robulus is the kind of guy who gets elected leader of the hunting squad and that sort of thing.  His relationship with Rebus is characterised by a complete lack of understanding of the other, coupled with genuine good feeling.  Robulus might have been a bit rough with his brother, but it was well-intentioned; he meant to toughen him up a bit.  The result is that Rebus is used to dealing with larger bears and can take care of himself.  He'd never had to defend against kitten-pouncing before, but he can probably adjust his strategies with some practice.  Rebus is a clever lad.

Also, he's already acquired a champion.

Apparently Rebus reminds Humphrey of one of his younger nephews.  We're not sure whether this is because the nephew is also very small for his age or because he's simply quite young; neither is Rebus, and he's not going to ask.  But it's sweet for Humphrey to take such an interest.

Right now, Rebus is still getting adjusted to everything and everybody.  He feels quite at home on the blue comforter.  I think I mentioned somewhere that the aquatic animals like to pretend it's water because it makes them feel at home (except Plouie, who seems to actually believe this), and Rebus is taking full advantage of it.  And getting to know Vim, of course.  We suspect that Rebus and Cami are going to become best friends - they're of similar ages and temperaments - but sometimes bears like to have other bears around, and Vim and Rebus definitely approve of each other.