Theft was never a concept the Nomad thought she would take part it, but it was steadily becoming a part of her actions. She had taken the child Sarian from Shiloh, attempted to covet her for the sake of filling that latent longing of maternal bliss and like a mad fool had hidden away in the mountains hoping for some obscure reason that the child would be fine and understand what she was trying to do. That day Nayru’s words did not how sway to dispel her selfish wants; if anything they reinforced them and made her want to keep the pup more. Her belief was strong that she would be a better mother to the child than Shiloh or at least provide the care and conditioning she would need to grow into a fine wolf.
But for all her efforts and her hopes, they were not enough to satisfy the needs of the child. Her innocent mind could not fathom the complications her presence stirred, but she knew that these transgressions on the part of the Nomad were wrong… so very wrong. The pup could only cry her needs to her surrogate, to be returned to her mother and Kiara whom she missed. X’yrin had tried and failed miserably to pacify her, to assure her that this was the better choice and that so long as she was there, she could take care of and protect the girl. But little Sarian was having none of those excuses. She wanted Shiloh, her savior, her caretaker…. Her mother. And no one else.
X’yrin was torn between fulfilling the wishes of the child or her own. She fought for the remaining days while in the mountains, pained by the babe’s crying and her own reluctance to give her up. She couldn’t… she desperately did not want to tear out this warming in her heart. But she could not either ignore the cries of the child for the sake of making herself feel better.
She had to be returned no matter how it hurt her. She needed that bond that the Nomad couldn’t fathom until now. It was with a heavy heart that she crossed the borders into Ichika, feeling more a felon than a welcomed member of this growing family. Before she lost her gathered courage, she lifted her muzzle and called out for the child’s mother, stirring the slumbering pup in her arms away in recognition to her mother’s name.