The Sentinels Gift Of Love

   "Cas! Cas-teal!"

Witch's soft call rang through the sunset sky, excited as she wiggled from head to tail and bounded through a patch of dying ferns in the direction of her earth-toned guardians den. In her gentle jaws was clamped a pink, shining seashell, another beautiful thing she so loved about the sea and her endless gifts.

Her den.... Their den. 

At nine and a half weeks, the ingelligent little girl could understand more than even when she'd been kidnapped. There were a lot of changes going on with her, changes she wasn't sure about and some she didn't even know -- like the greenish tones to her left eye and the lightening of her right; even the slight paling and or brightening of her entire coat  -- but was very glad @Castiel was the one beside her through it all. She missed Althaia dearly -- nightmares sometimes brought her writhing in her sleep, crying out, but each time she opened her eyes to be tangled in the legs of her savior, her heart calmed -- and would never forget the family she knew, but she'd moved on. Her age was likely to have played a help in that, and even though the trauma was enough to shape her, it hadn't effected her all too much in the long run. The pale little flower was still reserved and quiet, perhaps a little resentful, but she was happy enough here in Donneliath that there was no need to complain. 

After all, Keoni and Nikai had each other, right? Steady and the other wolves would take care of them.... Even if she wanted to go back, she only knew it was on the other side of a mountain span. In her frantic run, she hadn't been able to pay attention to where she'd run or even in a direction, and couldn't figure out which mountain span was the one behind which her siblings resided. 

Chirping out joyously through her shell, Witchhazel poked her head into the den -- where was Cas?

Castiel had found a fat pheasant, bringing it back to the den. He wondered if his little cherub had ever tried pheasant and was finding that he rather enjoyed giving her different items to explore. He was not a father, and yet he found playing at it enjoyable all the same. Maybe in time their bond would grow even more however it was hard to surmize what might happen in the days and weeks to come. 

Castiel heard Witchhazel and her excited chirps, smiling to himself as he laid the fowl down at his feet. "Hmm, what did you find little miss?"  Castiel asked with a bright smile. 

Cas wasn't in the den, she found, but it was moments later that his deep, soothing voice questioned from behind her. Pulling back from the den, the cream little flower pranced delightedly over to her guardian, jaws held high to present  a slobber covered, pearly pink shell from the shore. Her front paws were caked with wet sand, but the rest of her, this time, was clean. Once Witch had found a well worn path from the den to the nearest part of the ocean, it was often the only place she went. Most days she came back covered in mud, sand, clay, moss or a mix of it all, uncaring and fully uncaring of what her unruly fire-kissed pelt looked like. 

Her blue(ish) orbs shone as she reared up at him, but her shoulders shrugged. She didn't know what it was called: who better to teach her than her guardian ?

When presented with it Castiel tilted his head a bit, leaning down to sniff not only the item but Withchazel as well. He could not find scents of strangers on her - even the wolves of the Depths were not to be trusted to him. Castiel had no bartering position but was vastly suspicious of the wolves that Deirdre had aligned them with. "That is a seashell, my dear." Castiel offered, choosing to push his thoughts of the pack away. It was harder to imagine what he would do now that he had promised to protect the girl. If he found the pack to suffer, if he sought a home elsewhere, what would he do? He had to protect her. "The animals of the sea live in them as we do our den." 

Cas' breath was warm on her nape, and the girl cooed softly as she arched herself into his touch, as a feline might. She didn't realize he was looking for the scents of others, only that his closeness brought her a sense of safeness she'd never known. A fathers protection. Althaia hadn't done a bad job by any means necessary, but there was a simple safety in being guarded by a massive brute as Castiel that her slim mother couldn't have ever hoped to accomplish. 

Unaware of said muddy warrior's worries, Witch listened intently as he explained -- her crystal eyes went wide, and she lowered her head to gently lay it upon the ground. Facinated, she poked at it with a blunt nail, taking a last sniff at it before turning her gaze back to the pheasant at his paws. Tipping her head, Witch stepped forward and nosed at it, too, before turning to face Cas again.

                                 "Cas-teal, whu' 'bout the birb?"

Butchered as some of her words may be, she meant where does the bird live, and didn't think to elaborate -- they were talking about homes, right? To wonder if a "birb" could live in a shell seemed only natural, even if the idea itself was unappealing -- she much rather liked the den, even if she couldn't see the sky and feel the wind.

Castiel smiled as he gazed down at the little girl, watching her for a moment as she process what he had said and offered her own question in turn. "Birds? They live up in the trees, in nests." He explained, pointing up towards a tree where a nest was visible. "That is the three big wonders of the world, the ground we walk, the seas they swim, and the skies they fly in." Castiel said with a small smile. 

He sat down, lowering himself closer to her level so that she was more comfortable. He knew his size was imposing sometimes but was happy to see that she was comfortable with him - it was what mattered, truly.

His deep, lulling tones explained to her that the bird lived up in the branches of their home -- even further, he showed and told her about their nests -- like they lived the earth, like the seas of fish, and like the wonderous sky itself far above. Returning his smile eagerly, she stayed silent to ponder this new information. Her ears fanned forward as a bramble-colored bird flitted up and onto the edge of the empty nest, inspecting it for mere moments before fluttering up and out of the view of the little girl. 

                "Cas-teal, I wan' sleep in the tree."

Her words were decicive and matter-of-fact, and her shimmering eyes turned exitedly to the earthen warrior. It seemed perfectly logical for Cas to be able to wrap his legs around the trunk and carry her up, like it was something wolves were good at.