It'd been a while now since I first told Amoxtli that I was interested in becoming the Dream Catcher for his pack. It didn't really bother me that it was taking a bit of time for it to all come to fruition; after all, I was never really in much of a hurry unless the situation called for it. A few seasons back I'd taken a couple of the youngsters to Spirane to learn about pack borders and the like; we'd been lucky enough to choose a day on which the mountain wolves were gathering their own youth, and young Tzadkiel and his brother Vortigern had gotten to meet a few new friends. I was still puzzled about why Namira hadn't shown up that day like she'd said she would. But I'd seen her since then so it was good to know that nothing had happened to her; maybe something had just come up that day that kept her from our plans. Either way, Amoxtli had asked that I take a yearling out on a bit of an educational adventure, and I'd gladly obliged his wishes. Today, as it were, I was taking out his niece Zelda to do a bit of exploring. She'd exuberantly told me of her desire to visit the Grotto and, well, who could resist a sweet young face like hers when they asked for something?

I'd made sure to visit here a couple days prior, to investigate the area a little bit. After all, didn't very well want to bring a yearling who was under my protection into a place that I didn't know was safe, did I? Now we were making our way towards an easily accessible entrance to the grotto together, Zelda bounding off in front of me on occasion which would see me quicken my steps so that she never disappeared from my sight. I didn't really think she'd try to give me the slip, but I didn't really fancy the idea of her tripping over some unseen obstacle and getting hurt on my watch. I would have felt terribly guilty over such a thing.

"Its no trouble at'all, Miss Zelda. Reckon we'll have a bitta fun today, whatcha say?" I flashed her a playful grin, for it was plainly evident she was already having a grand old time the way it was. Together we moved into the shadowed entrance of the grotto, and Zelda looked up at me with a mix of mesmerization and happiness painted across her face. I couldn't help but smile back at her. She mentioned that this was where her parents had met, and my tail waved back and forth at this little tidbit of information. I hadn't met Amoxtli's sister or her partner, but if their daughter was any indication of what type of wolves they were, I was willing to bet I'd like them just fine. "Well, Zelda, the grotto can be a bituva maze sometimes; there are deep caves and twisting tunnels. Maybe we'll get luck 'nuff to find the very spot where they first met. D'ya know any little details 'bout it?" If she didn't that was just fine, there was plenty enough here to explore either way.

"Now, I reckon we could make a bituva game outta this, if you're up for the challenge? Its important, if you're going somewhere you've ne'er been before, that you leave a distinct trail as you go along...just in case you get a lil bit confused about finding the way back out. How d'ya think we should go about doin that?" It was a chance for the girl to really think something like this through, or get as creative as she might like to about the whole business as well. I wanted Zelda to have fun today, but I also wanted her to learn a little something that might help her out further on down the road of her life, too.