ooc:

She had made a promise after all, and the woman was too involved with pleasing others to go back on her word. Especially to a young, energetic pup that wanted to roll in the fields. But it would not only be fun and games though the pup was well enough now to move a little easier. This would be the Issor's first attempt at enrichment of a young mind just as her Shepard had done for her in her youth. It was an exciting prospect she looked forward to exploring, but made not of how she would have to amend certain things within these playful lessons.

When a pup would be able to see what was around them, little Zeus's impairment called for X'yrin to get a little more creative. Sounds and smell would be the strengths to focus on. And perhaps when the little one had his first shift, touch would come into play. She gathered a few familiar objects from around the chamber, an antler comb, a scrap of elk hide, and a few hollow bones to create various sounds. All this she gathered in a fox fur pouch and carried it toward the mouth of the dens with little shuffling footfalls behind her.

Her tail was curled high and wagging excitedly, perhaps more so than the little one waddling into the tall grasses. She looked them out just far enough from the dens for them to still be within sight but deep enough into the grasses that no stones from the mountain could roll beneath their paws. It was here that she laid down her cargo and turned to look at her charge. "...and here we are," she giggled, already stamping her heavy paws on the ground and bending low to the pup's level just close enough for their noses to touch. "What shall we play, hm?"

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X'yrin smiled with the caresses of the soft pink tongue, her tail wagging erratically as her large paws danced in place. Of course she wanted to play! She would have thought the offer was apparent, but obviously this was not something believed by the little one. She stared as his antsy form, her muzzle titled slightly in thought as she watched him shuffle.

"Of course I want to play with you," she whined happily and nudged the pup into the grass to roll. "There was a game my pack brother X'ies and I used to play together all the time as pups. It is called 'tag' and you and I can play it too!"

But while one would ask how this physical game could be played by a blind pup, it could easily be adapted to accommodate him and further develop his remaining acute senses. "It is a chasing game where you have to catch the other and tap them then they become 'it'. How about we practice a little?" Shuffling back just a little ways, the she-wolf dropped to the ground and laid still, keeping little Zeus within sight but just out of reach of becoming an easy find. "Use your ears little one... use your nose to find me."

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It took a little time and some determination on the little one’s part, but X’yrin had faith that he would accomplish this little test of the senses. Nomad pups were not often trained like this. As it was regrettable to admit, perhaps what the mother had done to this pup, the Nomad parents would often do to their defective children if their impairment kept them from working within their family. More often than not they were cared for at the beginning, then tested in ways that would suit theirs or other family. Success was praised highly, but a weak will was met with abandonment. It was a policy that had not changed in many generations, and in her time with them she had come to accept it. But here now…with essentially a little pup of her own, she was intent on doing everything within her power to grant him the life that was nearly robbed from him.

She lay there quietly among the grass, keeping her breath calm and even as she watched the little one on his ‘search’. Admittedly, he was a resilient little one and careful in his observations. His ears would dance to the sounds of nature, then hone in on the sounds of her breath. He would come closer then, sniffing to make sure the scent was hers, then sprang and caught the she-wolf by the muzzle. “Oh no!!” she wailed. “I’ve been found!” But the capture was short-lived as the pup ran off to hide himself…in plain sight.

Giggling the would-be predator lowered herself to the ground and began sniffing doing as instructed and only using her nose to find him. She hummed thoughtfully, inching along the ground whilst following the scent of her charge. “Oh where could little Zeus be…?”

The little ball of gold and black speckled fur was easy enough to find, but she would not spring just yet. Instead she circled around, sniffing everything but him as if ‘missing’ him location, all the while humming thoughtfully. “Oh…where could he be?” Her nose brushed along his back and the feigned a gasp of shock as he was ‘found’. “Look what I found!” she sang merrily. “A little pup all my own!” She proceeded then to bury her nose in his tiny belly, lapping wherever her tongue could reach.

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The she-wolf cherished her little prize, going to great lengths to keep him still amidst the loving onslaught. But he was a crafty, wriggly little pup and managed to wiggle out from her grasp. How X'yrin adored the little one. He reminded her dearly of the time she spent with Salvador. Though the pup was not her own, she cared for him as though she had given birth to him herself. She loved and cherished him too and was deeply wounded when he was lost within the Wentworth Valley. If ever she harbored a regret, it was that she had lost sight of the babe she dearly loved. And still... she believed that it was her never producing children of her own, always adopting and acting as mother to offspring not her own, that caused her mate to leave her.

It was times like this, tending to the pup and lavishing him with her unyielding affections that made her recall the life she had with Saluce. The promises they made to each other for a happy and fulfilling life. A life where their loved would take the form of many pups that they together would raise and mold into far grander images than themselves of strength and fill their minds with the collected wisdom of this many seasons on the land. Between the two, there had been such promise, and the female would lie awake at night beside him wondering what their pups would look like.

She never smiled so brightly now as she had then when painting the mental images of their children, when envisioning the family playing and learning together. Creating a home together... a family that would grow to something more.

And with his absence, she felt that dream... that future was gone. That the sliver of a chance for that life would remain only with the young pup that stared at her blindly. In him she could find joy. In him she could impress her will to mold him into something more despite his impairment. But regardless of her wishes, she was reminded the pup was not her own. Despite how much her heart wished for this truth not to be so. "I am sorry little one..." X'yrin sighed softly while drawing her paws beneath her as she laid down in the grass. "I do not know. It has been some time since she asked you to wait..."

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A pup's mind was always filled with questions. This she knew from her own experiences that were seemingly drifting further into the past as the days went by. And she was reacquainted with the curiosities of a pup when she had the pleasure of bonding with the Wolfe brood while in Ichika. She hadn't anticipated then so many questions from the little Dalgina, but she found it pleasurable to indulge the child as well as herself. It prepared her of only slightly for what would come with youth. But it was only the first experience... the first set of questions posed from a vast curiosity. She had yet to experience the narrow questions about so specific a thing. She did not know where to begin.

When comforting words were not readily at her disposal, she whined softly to her charge and gently licked his nose. As he fell into her chest, she curved her head around slightly to draw him closer in then let her muzzle again rest on the ground. She breathed deeply.

"Zeus," she began quietly. "You have nothing to apologize for. And I do not believe you made her 'mad'. What she has done is set you on a journey that is meant for you alone. She must have felt her role as your mother had come to an end and left so that you would be guided by your ancestors." She nudged the little one gently. "My mother had done the same to me. After my first season, she left to rejoin her own family within our pack and I remained with my father and the rest of our strongest and able. Because of her decision, I became a part of a new family, guided by my papa...my Shepard, and came to respect and care for them as I would have anyone that shared my blood. Though there was no one else like my mother...no one else that carried her scent, I came to accept and admire those that cared for me. They became my family. And I believe, Zeus, that your mother has set you on a path just the same."

ooc: And X'y is crying her eyes out on the inside.

Would he be able to understand what she wanted to convey? Would he be able to hear her words and not be afraid of them? Her own questions came forth and swam through her mind. Some painful, others sorrowful...and a handful were roused by fear. A fear that she would have to tell him that his parents were not coming for him for wholly different reasons. She did not want to bring sadness to his eyes. Rather she wanted him to look hopeful for what was to come.

X'yrin remained silent as the little one processed her words. The soft songs of the afternoon birds flowed through the air on cheerily winds. Though the mood was anything but, a little smile creased the corners of her mouth. A little curl in controlled glee for having a pup within her loving grasp again. Even if the circumstances were not in favor of the young one. When she heard his soft spoken words, her ears fell back and she turned her gaze to him. She offered what warmth she could to console him, having no words of comfort to offer. But would it be enough? Would he take this new path and grow from it?

She felt him move and lifted her muzzle to peer into his void eyes. Though he could not see, she could still see something within them. The same life, the same light that was sound in orbs that could see as clear as day. There was expression, there was fear. But there was also hope. No... his mother was not coming back. But a new family, yes. This the pup could have. "Of course, my young one," she replied without hesitation. "I can be your knew family. All of Sangi'lak...or this pack, can be your new family. If you are willing to let them in." Carefully she lowered her muzzle to touch the tip of her nose to his. "And you don't have to 'see' for me as I would see. You can use your ears, your nose, and see the world differently than me. You can overcome what others would fail to do. You will 'see' through different eyes."

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The worries of the pup were fading, but in X’yrin there was still concerned for what the future hold. The chances of this conversation coming up again was inevitable…especially when Zeus became older and his mind was better equipped for understanding. But for now…he looked happy again with the opportunity for a new family and as if the energy in him never depleted, it returned with full force assaulting her large face with excitable licks. A sense of normality had returned.

“Yes, we can play more, my little one,” she growled softly and buried her nose into his soft stomach. “Afterall, pups need to play and have fun while they are small and fast or they will turn into grouchy adults.” She breathed through flared nostril’s into the boy’s stomach, parting through the fur to tickly the flesh beneath. “And Zeus doesn’t want to be a grouchy old adult does he?” With a little bump to his belly, she pushed the pup down into the grass and proceeded with a little attack of her own. Fairly light nips and wagging tongue. Stealing a nibble on an ear here and there then plunging her face back into his warm belly. “No…Zeus is going to be a happy adult!”