<P> Rituals and Rites (Ankou/Isidore)

[A Wandering Esper]

"Feel something ?" What could it be ? Well, there was only one way to find out, really. He headed toward the tree.

"What does it feel like ?"  

[midnight_medea]

"Um, like when you get sad." he wasn't actually quite sure what this felt like. he hadn't felt such an emotion really ... though when he thought his mother and father might have been hurt during the bad time, he guessed that was probably what sad felt like and this was like that.

It grew stronger as they got closer to the tree.
"There." Isidore pointed down, under the tree was a black ball of fluff, as they drew closer it looked up a them, a Grimm puppy with sad red eyes. It gave a low whine.
"See, it's sad."  

[A Wandering Esper]

A black dog... ?

Yes, he remembered those. Ever so faintly... But nothing truly concrete. Their existence, and that was it. What was this pup doing here, and where were it's parents ?

But, if Isidore had felt like grimm's presence, then perhaps it was simply meant to be his. Ankou lowered himself down, letting his son back on the ground again. "Maybe it was waiting for you ?"

He would remain vigilant, just in case... But he had a feeling he was right.  

[midnight_medea]

Isidore looked from the small dog to his father and nodded. Maybe?
"But where's his mama and papa?" He asked, taking a cautious step towards it.

The puppy looked up at them both and gave a small yelp. It tried to stand, but struggled and ended up flopping back to the ground.

"He's hurt." Isi moved closer, a troubled frown settling on his brow.  

[A Wandering Esper]

"I do not know..." Perhaps they were nearby, and the pup had gotten hurt. "Do you feel anything else ?" If Isidore had been able to sense the young grimm, perhaps he could also tell if it's parents were nearby.

The yelp, the struggle, and the revelation that the pup was hurt opened the door to a much darker possibility. If they had wandered too closely to the mortal settlements, the mortals might have gotten scared an harmed them.

If they could not find the parents, then they could always bring it back with them, at least until it's wounds were healed. He certainly did not know how to treat the pup, but... "Jinx might know how to take care of him." Ankou crouched down, trying to get a better look at the black dog's injuries. "But we should try to find it's parents as well. If they are still alive, they might be hurt as well."  

[midnight_medea]

Isi shook his head at his father's question. If he had felt anything else he could not really distinguish it as different, or from something different. He held his hand out to the puppy and smiled as it sniffed his hand and gave it a lick. Usually animals were scared of him, well apart from the crows.
"Kay. If we can't find them he can stay with us?" Yep, it was a question, but not really. Isidore was already looking up at his dad with those big blue eyes. He couldn't say no to that ...could he?  

[A Wandering Esper]

It was those eyes.

Ankou liked to think that he had been more or less immune to those kind of looks, but he was quickly learning that it was much different when it was your own child giving you the puppy eyes. "We would need to ask your mother as well." It was partly Cosine's decision as well, since the pup would probably find it's way to her living space as well.

With the grimm puppy focused on his son, Ankou took the opportunity to come closer and try to get a better look at the injuries.  

[midnight_medea]

Isidore grinned. The puppy was so his now. There was no way his mother was going to say no ... was she? She liked animals too.

He watched his father inspect the puppy a little anxiously.
"Can Jinx fix him?" He really hoped so.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Ankou seemed all too ignorant of his son's feeling of victory - too busy looking at the puppy's wounds to truly notice the little grin of satisfaction on Isidore's face. Of course, he was likely not to have noticed even if he had been paying attention.

"It does not look too bad." Of course, he was far from an expert - this was more Jinx's alley, or Ishum, though who knew where the beast master even was... No, his own aoide was probably a better solution. "His paw looks like it might be broken." He gestured toward the wound on one of the dog's front paws, careful not to accidentally touch it. It looked like the Grimm might have ended up caught in a trap that could have been meant for rabbit or other smaller hunting prey. "Or maybe it is only a cut. Jinx will be able to tell you for sure. She will be able to help, I am sure... And also tell you how to care for him."

Yes, Isidore could have his puppy as far as Ankou was concerned, but his father did expect the young boy would care for him. Well, care for him as well as a boy his son's age could, of course.  

[midnight_medea]

"Oh! Yes, I wanna learn." He was really excited now, a puppy and something to learn too. He'd take the best care of him, he'd be his new best friend. Of course he had his sisters but sometimes they were just too ... loud. Maybe the puppy would be loud too ... though not in the same way.
"Let's go show mama. Maybe he needs some cookies."  

[A Wandering Esper]

"I do not think cookies are good for dogs, Isidore." Bursting his son's bubble ? Perhaps, but better now than after the little creature got sick. "Can you carry him ?" The pup seemed to have already taken a liking to his son, and might feel safer in his arms than his own's. "Just be careful not to touch the injuried paw or bend it. If he is too heavy, I will carry him."  

[midnight_medea]

"Really?" Isidore was shocked to hear this. "No cookies?" Life as a dog must be terrible. He bent a little to pick the puppy up carefully, it was about half hi size and a little heavy but he was determined to be important and carry it back home to safety.
"I can carry him." Isi declared, taking a step forwards.  

[A Wandering Esper]

"Well." There was a moment of sillence. "Cookies just for dogs. Not human cookies." Dog treats were more or less cookies, right ? ...Erm.

Ankou really was more or less clueless about the finer points of caring for an animal beyond crows. Crows usually managed well enough on their own most of the time.

Which was exactly where Jinx was going to come in. Ankou kept a close eye on both his son and the injuried puppy, but it seemed things were going well enough.

JInx, thankfully, would not be hard to find - at least if one knew how to look for her. Boy, did she ever understand Priya's complains about having to clean up after kids now ! She'd had just about enough for that for today, so she had retreated to the makeshift stables not too far from the pantheon. Still, she could feel her lord's approach, and looked away from one horse as the two gods came in. "Oh, mya..." That poor little pup ! That looked nasty. "Isidore, can you let me have a good look at him ?" It was quite obvious what she was meant to do here.  

[midnight_medea]

Dog cookies ...? As they walked back to the Pantheon Isidore was wondering what dog cookies tasted like. He was sure they must be pretty delicious if dogs liked them.

He followed his father to the stables and smiled broadly as Jinx appeared. She would definitely be able to make the puppy better.
"Here." he replied with a nod as she asked to see the puppy. "He hurted his paw. Can you fix him?"  

[A Wandering Esper]

Jinx crouched down to have a better look, black tail swishing in half-circles back and forth behind her. The paw was carefully taken into an equally-dark hand and inspected closely. It did not look like the bones themselves were broken, or else the simple movement of taking the paw like this to look would have caused pain. It had not been sitting at an odd angle, either, which had prompted Jinx to test her luck.

"It looks a lot worse than it actually is, mya." The cat aoide rose again, walking toward the back, where she knew supplies were kept. All she needed to make sure was to disinfect the wound, bandage it well, and make sure the pup could not chew through the bandage or accidentally make it worse.