Wheeling Gull Isle We must be swift as the coursing river

@Huojin

Somewhere around here there should be a den right? Hua had asked her to train Aiolos's son and told her that Miwa would be recieving the same from her packmate. While Minori wasn't sure how she felt in terms of trusting others with her children she had accepted it by convincing herself the socialisation would be good for the children and help secure their loyalty to the island pack. There was some vague directions and after a while of tracking Aiolos's familiar scent she found the den and backing up called out the child's name with a request to come out. If not replied to she would introduce herself, stating that Hua had sent her to be his teacher.

huojin’s attentiveness to the goings-on outside of their den only increased with age. he’d found himself the perfect hiding spot between two stone spires, from which he could watch without being seen.. assuming he could remain quiet long enough.

he watched the unfamiliar woman scale pride rock’s edge, stopping just short of the entrance to their sleeping space. huojin craned his neck for a better view, sending stones toppling into the quiet, and thus revealing his position.

with no other options, he slowly descended and stepped into view. 你是谁? he asked. bright eyes stared directly into the woman’s, curious about her intentio

A child with bright red fur and streaks of white appeared promptly, speaking a language she was surprised to know was from around her homeland just not the same areas. She remembered hearing it very rarely, a few times a year during festivals when allies met up to feast and catch up with one another. She never bothered to learn it but by the inflection it was a question and he seemed curious rather than wary "I don't understand, can you speak like this? My name is Minori, I'm a friend of your father's" she tried to keep her words simple tail wagging a little as she lowered herself to be at his level remembering the many awkward failed conversations she'd had with pups in the past. Deku had helped her with that, she'd learned fast how to speak to children but there was bound to be differences in speaking to her own kids and the children of others. 

And what if he didn't understand common? 

huojin drew back with an open-mouthed gasp upon hearing the stranger speak. she spoke like aiolos, or sometimes his ruó, but used words that he hadn’t heard yet. while being trilingual might have been a good idea at the start, his writer was quickly realizing that it might have been a mistake.

he tried repeating some of the sounds minori made, keeping quiet so as to remain relatively unheard. like.. this? he asked, tilting his head for clarification, 有时. huojin gave her a moment to respond then continued, bye now?

The surprise at her speech made her think that he wouldn't be able to speak at first and she internally cringed before he finally spoke up in common asking if he was correct. Relieved she smiled and nodded "Yes, that is good. I can't speak the other way." she admitted her lack of understanding with a good humored thump of her tail laughing softly as he asked if she was leaving now. She understood wanting to be left alone, she wasn't much for socializing herself. "Your dad has told me I will be your teacher. I wanted to meet you before starting" she paused to see if he could understand that, hoping that pretending to be more familiar with Aiolos than she truly was would help her out with getting him to open up and speak to her more. He was still too young to be taught any real fighting moves but perhaps she could figure out other ways to sneak lessons in, to prepare him for when that time came. 

tea - cher? huojin tilted his head, unsure of what the word meant. the mention of his father earned minori some trust, though his apprehension would have been clear in the distance made between them. he’d backed all the way to a corner wall where his exit route could be easily accessed, should things go awry.

As he backed away Minori slid to her belly lowering herself as much as she physically could and resting her chin on her forelegs. He questioned the word teacher and she gave a small hum now figuring he was younger than she'd originally thought. "I will help teach you what you need to learn to grow into a big strong Yuèlóng wolf like your parents" she had never seen the mother nor did she knew of the woman's name..unless it had been mentioned in passing but in her opinion women were strong for the sole fact that they were able to shove many many lives into the world from between their legs. "Do you get to see outside much yet?" she asked him curiously for if he was able to leave the den with guidance she could probably come get him and start taking him out for walks and when old enough not to get sick some short runs to prepare his body for physical exertion. 

okay. huojin still didn’t understand why he needed another parent, but decided that he wouldn’t argue. to minori’s question, he answered, little, because while he could leave, and sometimes did, he much preferred the comfort and seclusion of their home.

minori’s paws were somewhat outstretched, allowing him to get a good sniff to solidify his trust. a moment of silence passed, then the lionet introduced himself: huo - jin.

Agreeable.

The trait was admittedly more than a little bit of a relief to the General. The only time she'd trained another wolf was those who had hit the yearling mark, the ones that she had needed to begin to push past their limits and the ones with attitude that she had to break. This child...she prayed he would remain agreeable in their future lessons. He answered her promptly and she smiled holding still as he gathered her scent, breathing in to do the same and finding that the sweet milky scent of a baby that wasn't her own still made her feel the same way. "Huojin" she repeated the name her tongue sliding through the name as she tucked it away in her mind "Would you like to come see the ocean with me some time? We live with it surrounding us" the idea sparked the beginning of their lessons. She'd have him walk with her through the shallowest of the waves, the small resistance would strengthen him and they could have conversation to keep his mind entertained away from the unpleasant sensation of one who was starting to push their body. 

would you like to come see the ocean? — huojin’s hackles lifted, his snout twisting into an attempted snarl. the thought of returning to the ocean, specifically with this stranger filled him with an uncomfortable mixture of rage and fear that he could yet put into words.

instead of speaking, he turned away from minori and began walking back up toward his hidden perch. leave, huojin said, no more. she was going to take him to the ocean and do the same cruel thing ruó had done.

shit.

The word "ocean" set him off like a firecracker and as she watched him try to snarl at her her first thought was "there's the potential" and then she was rolling onto her side ears pressing back against her head as she reached out to him with a paw trying to appease him by showing she was sorry before speaking. With a genuinely apologetic crinkling of her eyes she spoke "i'm sorry Huojin, I did not mean to scare you. We won't ever talk about the ocean again okay? I promise if you'll let me visit again, I don't want to be in trouble with your parents after our first meeting" the last bit was said with a playful smile, tail thumping against the sand as she peered hopefully toward the child. What the hell had happened to him with the ocean?

if nothing else, huojin appreciated minori’s apology. it wasn’t enough to prompt him back down, but he did peek out to make eye contact again. a moment of silence passed, then a whispered, okay.

someday, he would return to the water, but it wouldn’t be anytime soon. minori seemed to understand that, bringing huojin some comfort.

Content with the gentle uttering of acceptance she rolled to her paws and with a friendly wag and a smile in his direction she turned and did as he had asked saying goodbye before leaving to him his hiding place. She'd have to talk to Aiolos again to learn more about little Huo and perhaps meet the mother when it came to the age where the actual battle training would be done she wanted the woman to know that she wouldn't hurt him but his training would be strenuous. She was not a General who'd trained her own army with the help of her second in command by being gentle on one who was supposed to be preparing for potential fighting.