Through rhythmic strokes and the melody stemmed from memory, the wandering heart of the Nomad reclaimed the distance path that lead to home, to a time when beneath was not this scarred form but her own, and above hovered the idealized visage of her Shepard. The gentle serenade was one of his composition meant to ease the young warrior when she had suffered the scrape of relentless claws and teeth of her brethren. Never had he asked how harm had befallen her, for in his eyes was a knowledge brought on my seasons she had yet to touch; of trials she had yet to overcome. This was but a hurdle, he had often told her, and more of the like would follow as the wandered through this unknown life. ‘Learn from this, and be better for it. Recall what brought this upon you, and do what you must to prevent its outcome again.’
They had been the words of lesson, often spoken and reiterated until the young Exultare lived and breathed these words and spoke them with the voice of her Shepard to herself religiously. “Learn from this and be better for it…” the words fell kindly from her lips as they again caressed the wounded back in cleansing. “Recall what brought this upon you, and do what you must to prevent its outcome again. This is not the first and will not be the last. This is but a hurdle even I have crossed… and as I have, so will you overcome it.”
The ministrations ceased she the she-wolf withdrew both tongue and presence from behind her care. A massive form was silent in movement, circling the side of the pained male to sit herself in front of him wrapping her tail around her paws. She trusted he could tend to his own wounds with the worst of them now cleaned, but could not for certain say he was ready to be out of her sight or care. She fixed him with a questioning stare, extending her paw in gesture for his explanation to her unanswered question; ‘What will you do now?’