Big Salmon Lake primum non nocere

It was night time when Aureli next sought mother and son. Long days had passed; he was weary, but eager to begin the grand task of training an apprentice.

He had long been ready. He'd simply been waiting for the right pupil to come along.

"Leave us, please," he asked quietly of Leto, turning to lead @Delos by moonlight around the edge of the ink-black waters. He only wanted to be out of her immediate reach, to a place where Delos could not look to her for guidance. There was no true privacy here on the lakeshore — only the quiet susurrus of inland waves to whisper under the voices, and the bright light of the moon shining down on their faces, and up again at their throats as it reflected off the still waters.

"Moonshadows," he said to Delos, nodding to their long, gangly twins. In shadow, they were twisted together into a two-headed and many-limbed beast. But, "My master used to say that they were a good omen." And it had always frustrated Aureli to hear such superstition from the otherwise intelligent man. Now he felt nostalgic for those times.

He turned his attention more fully to the pale boy.

"Have you made your decision, Delos?"

He had been overjoyed when Aureli returned, yet kept the feeling wrapped neatly in his chest. Delos had made up his mind long before the offer had ever been made. Without hesitation he left his mothers side, following Aureli to the lake.

Bright, moonlit nights like this always had something that made Delos feel a bit less like a sickly child and more like his graceful mother. It was dark enough to hide flaws, yet bright enough to nearly make his white fur glow. He watched Aureli speak in relative silence, looking down at his reflection the moment after.

I want to learn from you, Aureli. He responded without hesitation, but, I'd like to ask something of you first. Can I do that?

Despite asking, he did not wait for a response before continuing. My mom. He paused, looking up at the healer. If she's travelling with us, and I'm your apprentice, I want you to um.. he frowned, sort of stay away.

Delos wasn't stupid. Between the talk in Verapaz, overheard conversations, and now when he saw her interacting with men during travel.. Delos had begun to feel a bit protective. She was his mother, it was his job. If Aureli was going to start hanging around them, no matter the reason, Delos wanted to set that single boundary down.

If he held any disquiet for this answer, it did not show on the physician's face. He regarded Delos calmly, and bade him, "Ask me."

It seemed he needn't have bothered. They spoke almost overtop each other, and Aureli quashed his irritation to gaze steadily down at the boy. He was growing quickly, he noted, well pleased by this fact — but his expression remained impassive.

Aureli was quiet for a long moment after Delos had finished speaking, his quiet the only signal of his disapproval. His voice, too, was quiet and even as he replied: "Please speak directly, Delos. How exactly shall I stay away from her?"

His gaze was aquiline in the dark, his chin lifted just-so, so that he peered down his nose at his young almost-apprentice. He reminded himself that the boy had much to learn.

Delos couldn't help furrowing his brow. He thoroughly doubted that Aureli was confused by his words, but he wouldn't argue. What was the polite way to say "hey! My mom is kind of a slut!" anyways?

I had two other siblings, none of us look the same. That's because at least one of us has a different dad. He spoke somewhat slowly, as though he were embarassed. I've seen how others talk about my mom, and I've seen how she talks to others. It was gross.

What I'm saying is that if I end up with siblings who have your face, I'll die of embarassment. The very pre-teen boy way of saying, don't kiss my mom.

He searched Aureli's face for a reaction. But that goes against some sort of rule anyways.. right? So I don't have to worry?

He wanted to travel with Aureli, and he wanted to learn from him. To Delos, the worst possible outcome was a romance between his non-commital mother and the well-mannered Aureli. He trusted Aureli, but he didn't entirely trust Leto on this matter.

He had not misunderstood, but the explanation still brought him some clarity on the matter. He was glad that they were far enough from Leto that she would not have to overhear her son's concerns.

He hoped.

"It is not your mother in the wrong, but the ones who speak ill of her," Aureli replied with great forbearance. He had no love for Leto, and indeed, harbored his own doubts and dissatisfaction with the woman — but not about her choice to seek men — few or many — in her fertile window. "You will soon find that many women make the same or similar choices with their family planning. It is not for us to decide these things for them, nor to judge them for their choices."

Aureli was as judgemental as they came, but he did his best to hide it. This was a case of "do as I say, not as I do" — he hoped that Delos would not find too many of these flaws within him.

"I will enter an agreement with you, out of respect for your wishes, to stay away from your mother," he went on, a tiny smirk finding its way to the corners of his mouth. "But, while commitments outside of my vocation are disallowed, the matter of physical intimacy is a gray area. We can speak more of it when you are older, when it may become more relevant to you."

For now, Aureli expected Delos to remain undistracted by hormones.

"But I would like to talk about the vows," he said, gentle censure in his voice. "The first, do no harm, may not be as simple as it seems — for there is a kind of harm in these biases we hold, don't you think? And the last, to remain focused on learning and practicing the sacred art of healing, is easily broken. Your mother is traveling with us because you are yet young, and there is harm in separating so abruptly from these ties. But you must learn to let her go. She will make her decisions. You must be focused on your own path."

He waited, expecting that not all of these things would sit well with the young man.

He wasn't so much judgemental of Leto as he was frustrated. To Delos, it seemed like what she did must be hurtful to those it touched. However he nodded along to Aureli's words, supposing that he might know better when he grew old enough to understand.

Thank you.. He mumbled at Aureli's agreement, resisting the instinctual 'blegh' at the mention of physical intimacy. Not much more than gross and weird to him pre-ball dropping.

More talk of vows came now, and while the eyes of the young wolf were initially alight with interest they began to cloud with the concerns Aureli presented to him. You're right, I'm sorry. Delos hadn't thought about the fact that words could hurt, too. Maybe more than claws or teeth.

But for the next part, he had to pause and think. I guess I feel like I have to protect her. He was the only one Leto had left, but he knew that his mother could do more for herself than Delos ever could. @Apollo would have been a better travel companion for her, had he still been around. I know I'll get older though, and then I'll move on. Maybe she will too. Of course she would.

I won't let her distract me anymore, I promise.

His smirk firmed for a moment before he wiped the expression away entirely. He was pleased with the boy's openness to different points of view. Certainly, he'd been more opinionated and surly at not too distant an age. He'd been hurting, though. His own mother had gladly given him up — and he wondered, for a moment, if his outlook would have been different if she'd insisted on keeping him longer. If she'd tried.

And he wondered, suddenly, if he was doing the right thing by taking on Delos so young. If it was damaging. If it was worse, somehow, to drag Leto along.

Some things, he knew, would only become clear in hindsight.

"Don't be hard on yourself, Delos," he said when the quiet had stretched between them. "Your desire to see your mother safe is admirable, and your attachment to her is natural. You have done nothing wrong here, so long as you are willing to listen and learn. And I will tell you a secret that my master liked to tell me: The learning, in truth, goes on forever."

He offered the bot a small smile, his voice unusually gentle when he went on:

"Would you still like to make these vows, Delos?" he asked the boy. "Once now, just for the course of your apprenticeship. You may decide at the end of you will swear them again as a healer and as a man."

Aureli's words brought him some comfort. He would let Leto go someday, when he knew she had a new life to keep her busy. It would happen sooner or later.

I do. He promised, little hesitation in his tone. Delos knew that this was what he wanted, that at least for now, this was what he was meant to do. I'd like to learn from you. It was the kind of stability he needed, the sort of learning he could benefit from.

Eyes turning southward for a brief moment before returning to Aureli, his tail curled around himself. Where will we go first?

The cat came slinking out of the grass, silent but for the rustle of dry blades under her paws. She came to sit between the two men, turning the conversation into a three-point star.

She'd remained with Leto and Delos while Aureli was elsewhere. She was relieved that he was back — but she had already identified the two pale wolves as part of their colony. Now that their wandering tom was back in town, all seemed right in her world.

The cat began washing one of her paws, utterly at peace.

The physician felt his heart warm as he looked down at Delos. Though there were many things they would yet weather before the end, Aureli could find no fault in the boy's conviction. Only time would tell if it would remain, but for the moment, Aureli shared his confidence in the decision.

"There is a pack just north of here," he replied. "But first: please repeat after me, if you would."

Aureli led him carefully through the vows. I will do no harm to other wolves. I will always seek to help those in need of healing. I will wholly dedicate myself to learning and practicing the healing arts. Simple promises, but weighty in their commitment. When it was done, he graced Delos with another smile.

"We'll head there in the morning," he told the boy.