Another lesson not learned

Caeli let out a soft chuckle as the young girl played along, but she did not address her question until her tale was over. Looking down from the gathering of stars, she blinked her orange eyes at her slowly. "A human, child. They are stupid creatures, or so I have been told. They died off long ago, not strong enough to endure this world. They are survived only by their stories passed down from wolves that they had kept as pets, but those too are dying off. Not many know their stories anymore," she said softly, leaning down to nuzzle her head. It wasn't long before she was asking for another story, making the older woman hum and she rocked back on her haunches. She looked around at the visible stars, trying to think about something else to tell Ray. She seemed to like tales of adventure, so she glanced across the night sky. Her eyes rested on a large grouping of stars, one called Andromeda. Blinking softly, she recounted the story of the maiden in her head to make sure that it was suitable for a child of her age. "You see that one up there, Ray?" she asked, pointing her nose towards the constellation. "That is Andromeda, a beautiful woman. It was her boastful nature that got her into trouble. She offended the sea nymphs by claiming that she was more beautiful than they were. Now, sea nymphs were creatures that lived within the sea, they were said to sometimes have the lower half of fish and the upper half of a human woman. Other times they were just depicted as beautiful woman, and they were said to be be close to the god of the sea, sometimes even said to be his children. Well, when the sea nymphs told Poseidon, the sea god, he sent a great sea monster named Cetus to flood her home. When the king sought advice from the Oracle of Ammon on how to prevent complete destruction of his lands, he was told that the only way to appease the gods and nymphs was to sacrifice his daughter to Cetus. His daughter was Andromeda," she paused, looking down at Ray to see if she was following along. She would explain what things were after her story, if she had any questions at all. "Andromeda was chained to a rock and would have been left to the monster if Perseus had not come along and saved her. He swooped in to save the beautiful maiden, and later on they became mates. The tale goes that it was the goddess Athena who placed her in the stars to tell about her bravery. She had faced the great sea monster to save her home and her family, even though it meant her death. If she had not been saved, she would have willingly gave her life to save everyone."

Caeli stopped again, stretching out her neck from looking at the constellation for so long. Laying down on her belly, she tucked her paws under one another, crossing her legs. Orange eyes gazed at her niece, a fondness resting in them. "Now, time for questions. Do you have any for me?" The quiet woman asked. This was the most she had talked in awhile, but it was easy to go on about the stars. They truly were her element, and she strove to learn all she could about the pinpricks of white light.