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By now Ya-Shuur could see how useful this beast’s skills were in protecting the herd. It could fly. It was huge. It was very obedient. It was extremely fast so it alone could protect a huge herd. But he had an odd feeling that it would not be staying with him for long. The fact that it was already tame and understood commands meant it had another master. It would obviously have to return to him at some point. He also saw it staring off into the distance a lot. It was as if there was something it had to go and do. So Ya-Shuur was thinking to himself that he could try breeding it with another animal to get a more efficient herder than the wolves so that he did not lose its skill. He decided that this was wise and began trying to do it.

The first problem was that the beast didn’t seem to have any way to reproduce. The second problem was that he did not know what it was exactly. If he could find a creature similar enough to it then he could breed them. He thought back to how Li’Kalla had been able to make things just with her will alone. He had never tried but he thought maybe he should. He started with something simple first. He found the two horns that the beast had torn on its arrival and he focused on them. After a few moments, he released them and found that they were floating. With his will he made them fly towards his head. His hair parted and made space for them. He thought it would hurt but the bonding of the two horn to his head did not hurt at all. For an hour or so afterward his head felt weird and heavy but then he got used to the extra weight and he felt happy that he looked more like the goats he loved. Now that name of Goat Defying the Darkness felt more right.

Now that he knew he had power just like Li’Kalla he went to the beast and stroked its head. Then he focused and tried to give it reproductive organs that were like a male wolf’s. When this was done he inspected his creation to make sure he had done it right. He could not be sure until he saw the results. So he went to the wolves and picked out a strong female. He brought her and inspected her. First, she would need to be bigger to handle the stress of mating with the beast. So he strengthened her and made her bigger. Then he focused hard and tried to make it so she could safely bear children from an exceptional creature like the beast. When this was done he led her to the beast and stared at them. They stared back at him. “Uh. Um. We-well go on.” He said. But they just stared at him. “Uh. I’ll leave you two alone then.” He turned away and left them hoping that they would be able to work it out. Surely the female’s mutations would make her identify a suitable mate? He would wait and see.

Soon enough, the two had returned to Ya-Shuur with the back of the female’s slightly rougher than how it was before but overall the two were fine. The beast looked down upon the demigod before it laid down on its side. He flipped onto his back and looked at the Shepard expectantly, despite its massive size over the young master. His tail went back and forth slightly as it awaited some form of reward. Ya-Shuur rubbed its huge stomach and praised it and he told it that as a reward it could go hunt and play around the island for the rest of the day. When it had leaped into the air and cannoned away he turned to the big she-wolf. She was lying down calmly. When he approached she got up suddenly and began moving away. 

Ya-Shuur glanced at the herd and then followed after her. He found her trying to go into a den but she was not big enough. He patted her and gently told her to follow him. Because he had traveled the area a lot now he knew of a good place she could stay and he took her to the cave. It was big enough for her and deep. She settled down and curled up. Everyday Ya-Shuur brought her a goat and he also brought the beast with him to teach him how to be a good mate. Eventually, the beast was taking animals it caught to the pregnant she-wolf every day. She gave birth nearly seventy days later. The creatures were as big as grown wolves even though they were still newborns. They looked a lot like a wolf but their tails were long and had a sharp protrusion for bludgeoning like the beast's. They had a longer face like a wolf but their mouths could open really wide like the beast. They didn't have teeth yet but Ya-Shuur could see that their teeth were going to be something in between their mother and father. They had sharp bones protruding at various parts of their body like the beast. They were deaf and blind for now like wolf cubs when they were born. 

Because she trusted Ya-Shuur the she-wolf let him stroke them. They sniffed him and became familiar with him. Every now and then one of them might sneeze and accidentally launch themselves into the air because they could fly like the beast. When they did they their mother gently brought them back down because they could not control their flight yet. Ya-Shuur also watched how the beast interacted with the litter of six.

The beast, upon being introduced to the litter, sniffed the pups and cocked his head curiously at them before he turned away from them. He walked away from them a few steps before laying on his stomach and gaze into the air, seemingly sniffing for something that was not there. It seemed that the beast was distracted before it let out a whimper and laid its head onto the ground. Ya-Shuur found this behaviour odd. He had noticed the beast staring off into the distance as though searching for something many times before. Only his voice seemed to bring it back to doing as he told. But now it seemed disinterested in its own children and that was strange. He walked towards it and stroked its head. “Are you ok? What’s wrong?” He could feel that it was anxious and a bit conflicted.

The beast only let out another whimper looking out to the sky in a very clear distraction. It’s muscles tensed up as it held a clear desire to be on the move, yet it would not move from its position next to Ya-Shuur. Such was it’s prerogative to remain close the kin of its master, even if Ya-Shuur knew not who the beast had come from. However, it did move forwards a little bit, crawling a few insignificant motions before it stopped again. The animal’s actions would confused anyone else. But because Ya-Shuur had become more attuned to animals ever since he discovered the name of Goat Defying the Darkness he understood that the animal wanted to go but that it now felt tied to him. He smiled and encouraged it to go. “Don’t worry. Go on. But visit me when you can.”

Its massive head jerked upwards and turned towards Ya-Shuur, almost as a look of shock before it jumped up to its feet to lick the young demi-god. After the licking, the beast pressed the top of its head against Ya-Shuur as one last symbol of fair before it turned and bounced into the sky. After a while it looked back to the young demi-god and its mate before howling a final goodbye as it quickly began to run away. The she-wolf came out of her den and looked at where her mate was disappearing. She paused somberly for a few moments. Then she howled at the sky. Ya-Shuur left her to be sad and went in to the den with the litter. He thought about the beast and how it had developed a bond and duties towards him. But it also had other duties too. It was a dutiful beast. He had taught a lot about justice but it had also taught him. He looked at the cubs and stroked them and then he spoke. “The fulfillment of duty is laudable. Those who forego their duty are to be shunned. Those who do not forego but are unable to fulfill their duty do no wrong. This is Justice.”

[hider=Summary]Ya-Shuur reasons that the beast will leave one day. So he decides to breed it with a she-wolf to create better animals to protect and herd his flock. He tests his powers by putting two goat horns on his head and making them part of his head. This is for free and doesn’t cost any might or free points. He gives the beast the ability to reproduce for 1 free point. He transforms a she-wolf into a bigger wolf and gives the ability to mate with creatures of phenomenal power safely. This costs 2 FP because she is a phenomenal beast herself now. They mate and a litter of six cubs is born. This costs 3 might points to create a species of phenomenal power that is also tame and this contributes 3 might points to the Animal Domestication portfolio. (I will write about their abilities more in my next post when they are more grown up). Then the beast sees its children but it seems conflicted and Ya-Shuur tells it that it can go but it should visit him. It is very happy and it goes. And Ya-Shuur makes a new maxim because he learned about duty from the beast. The new maxim is that:
“The fulfillment of duty is laudable. Those who forego their duty are to be shunned. Those who do not forego but are unable to fulfill their duty do no wrong. This is Justice.”[/hider]