Word Count → 5+ :: table © sie
The concept of adoption was as simple to the woman as it was to the girl. The second she had lain eyes on the small white form, shivering in the snow, Odette had belonged to her. A blood connection was not necessary - Alaine had known it in the deepest parts of herself, the parts she reserved only for those she truly loved. She had claimed the girl in the memory of the daughter she had lost, and now the child was her own, different only from the other two in age and sire.
The girl was whimpering, on the border of hysteria, but as Alaine snuggled her closer into the warmth of her own thick, silky fur, it seemed that Odette was slowly calming. Enough to form coherent sentences, which was a relatively new feat for the child anyway. Allowing the pup to snuggle up her blanky, Alaine took a series of deep breaths. The ivory pup had never actually left the Chien Hotel in search of her before, and this was an extremely concerning development. What if the next time she came home, her little angel had disappeared? The thought was far too painful to bear, especially with the memory of having found her so raw in the collie's mind.
She recalled, with perfect clarity, the way the girl's dainty body had begun to stiffen like the ice around her, and how the inside of her mouth had been a sickly blue color. How the chain had choked at her tender little throat, and how the cold had poisoned her nose and her ears with frostbite. It had taken many long hours of careful healing and uncertainty before Alaine had known that her third child would survive the night, and a good two weeks after to give her enough health to make the trip back down the cliffs.
A small white nuzzle pulled her attention from such unpleasant thoughts, and the Apothecary opened her sharp emerald eyes to peer down at the contented little face, returning the tender gesture with a big lick from pink tongue. "Oh, Odette... Ma beagán míorúilt..." She hugged the girl to her with one paw, shaking her head to the child's small pearl of wisdom. "What have I told you about leaving the Hotel, hmm? You will worry me senseless!" Ducking her elegant head, the collie managed to loop the leather strap of her satchel about her neck. "Grab your blanket," She said in a stern tone, before gently grabbing the girl's loose scruff in her maw. Lifting the small pup above the cold white snow, the Apothecary then crunched through the shallow white downfall and back into the hall, before turning into the main room.
She set Odette carefully on the worn timber floorboards and deposited her satchel, before making the smooth change back into Optime form. Odette had seen her make the transformation before, but had yet to ask the woman about her two-legged body. Alaine was a patient mother, and was sure that the questions would come when Odette was ready to hear the answers.
Kneeling before the cold, empty fireplace, she began to add in some of the chopped lumber, and started a small fire with the nearby flint.
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