Come to the woods, for here is rest

Lethalia had never been so afraid of doing something wrong in her entire life. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but few things had ever seemed so fragile as this houluh pup nested in her arms. The satyr sat cross-legged on her front lawn, having shooed off the curious gallery of critters that had come to sniff out the newcomer. She didn't need all of them around just right now.

Once she'd gotten home with the pup, the realization finally set in; she had never trained a tiny delicate thing like this before. She had a vulti and rakai, but those came to her as full fledged adults. The only babies she'd dealt with were of the sarane variety, and they had enough sharp ends to them to make up for their size. While this pup had pointy milk-teeth, she had no claws to speak of, and only twitched and whimpered when the satyr stoked her soft fur, instead of snapping and hissing at her like a hatchling would.

---

It had been some time since she trained something that didn't resemble a reptile, she came to realize. Ever since Vidarr, it felt like her world had been immersed in their bloody games of dominance, unable to surface until recently since the 'dragons' calmed down and lost interest in making more eggs. Some time ago she realized it was likely unhealthy for her, but what was she to do with so many wee future berserkers when she needed to bond with all of them before they were uncontrollable, adult berserkers?

This pup was likely forcing her into the break from the blood and thunder, even if it wasn't entirely planned. It would be nice to focus on something entirely 'other' for some time, longer than just breeding orbaru for an hour or sneaking off for a few moments to smoke.

"So sweet, Goldie," she murmured, testing how the name felt rolling off the tongue. Naming creatures was so hard, especially as special as it felt the houluh's name needed to be.

It felt strange to be so attached already, but it was rather the point of 'man's best friend', was it not? Even more than creatures of the labs could engineer companions, nothing could compare to the deep-seated connection that dogs had to their masters. Though never big into researching that sort of thing, even Lethalia knew the jist of it. Wild canines brought to live with the humanoids of Pethia, changing after centuries to adapt to life with two-legged companionship, eventually to become an innate part of one another.

To say it was 'in their blood' would be understating things, but somehow Lethalia had never owned a dog in her life. Vulticus didn't seem like they counted.

Gold was still fairly leery of the satyr, casting a sidelong glance at the woman saying "Hey, Gold," while still safely bundled in a blanket cave. Yet, there was something about that strange primordial connection she had with humans - the pup had to wag her tail nervously at the sound of the woman's voice, completely on it's own accord.

It was a good little lunge that finally sent Gold out of the blanket, landing in a heap back on the satyr's lap. Perhaps it was something she could teach the pup to do on command sometime when she had grown a little more robust than she was now. To see how a creature new to her would grow was going to be a delight, especially to see if she had the right wits about her to be a help around the farm.

All in good time. For now, she was just a flaily little tiny thing. Gold set her chin on her paws with those ridiculously long ears askew all over the place, tail still thumping against the blanket. Lethalia found herself grinning at the baby behavior, even unsure as she was about domestic dog mannerisms. Whatzit, Gold?" she prompted lightly, since the pup didn't seem distressed or anything like that. More wigging and the pup growled just a tiny bit, her tail going harder; was she beginning to recognize her own name?

"Okay, okay," Lethalia laughed in a more neutral tone, grinning to herself. "Calm down, Goldpup. We're fine, noisy little bugger." Didn't want to get the puppy too worked up now, even if the way she threw her head back for those tiny howls was just one of the best things ever. Even if it was strange to work with a more domesticated species than she was accustomed to; they made quite a lot more nose than wildlings would, less versed in the ways of the world to feel the need to hide themselves. Houluh and other dogs seemed to be smart in this way, to tie themselves to one of the most dominant predators around.

She still lacked an entire plan on what to do with Gold, but ideas would come with time when she figured out her personality more than just an excitable puppy. Lethalia didn't expect to be keeping entirely many of the hounds, so her plans with each would be all the more important.

But no. Puppies do what they do, and would absolutely carry on their own whims as it suited them just like any other youngling. At least at this point Lethalaia had raised quite a number of babies between the caravan and the labs; one more shouldn't be all that differently challenging.

"No baby," she repeated softy, leaning over to scoop the curious houluh up to place on her opposite side. Hopefully one without a gross bug. The satyr scooted a bit further away from where Gold had found the thing, just in case. Of all things a puppy could find, it had to be a bug. Couldn't it have been a dead thing or even just poop? Lethalia did not do bugs.

Blessings of the short term memory of a puppy meant Gold forgot all about her creepy quarry once it was out of sight. Instead, she turned her attention to grabbing onto the blanket, growling and tugging at the resistance it's weight alone gave against her.

Soon as the harsher tone reached Gold's ears her once-wagging tail tucked to match her flinch, hunkering down to avoid the ire of the large humanoid creature. Gold wasn't sure yet if this was new-mom or what, but that was a pretty scary noise coming out of something a lot bigger than she was.

Lethalia stalled out as she took in the cowering puppy, trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. All of this, just from telling her off? She hadn't even been upset or really raising her voice, but getting snapped at was too much for right now. "Well, now y' being a good girl!" she decided to praise, ensuring her tone was adequately lowered this time around. Didn't want to praise the bad behavior or make Gold think she could get away with murder if she looked hurt. But hopefully her timing was right, because though it was a bit dramatic, Gold did stop doing what she was doing.

The offending blade was quickly nipped off, Gold rolled backwards onto her back and... there she went. Lethalia watched the pup trot off with a dazed smile, soothing to be with something who re-found joy so easily. People certainly had their own kind of freedom, but they'd never be as carefree as a puppy. Being in her own yard, the satyr felt comfortable enough closing her eyes to soak in the sun and cool spring air while Goldie explored, enjoying the quiet after the puppy-drama while she could.

Quiet never lasts long enough. An eyelid cracked open just enough to see, of course, no less than Gold approaching a centipede who was already reared up in aggravation. "Gold, no-"

Too little too late. A startled yelp sounded and suddenly Gold had returned to the safety of her cover, cowering behind her owner for protection. "Ah. Didn't I tell 'ya that'd happen?" Lethalia asked the pup, whose wide terrified eyes turned on her. "Oh gods. C'mere, even if it's y'own fault," she sighed, resolve already crumbled from those puppy dog eyes. Gold was scooped into her lap and the pile of blankets, safe from any more particularly angry centipedes. Looking the houluh over, she really didn't seem to be all that harmed aside from a tiny nick on an ear.