So shortly after Mother had given her initial tutelage in the psionic arts, perhaps a day or so, I came to a startling realization. I had been so single-mindedly devoted to figuring out this "fox magic" (that's what I'm calling it from now on, deal with it) that it hadn't occurred to me that I was still shitting in my pants. Well, perhaps it occurred to me, but it didn't register as something I should be concerned about. But now, it seemed like something of a problem. I mean, I could do this fox magic, though just barely, yet I was still suffering the indignity of needing someone to wipe my ass. Unacceptable!

I was still a baby, and by my recollection, as far as humans were concerned, it wasn't uncommon for children to be soiling themselves on the regular into their second year. However, I wasn't about to hold myself to the standards of a two-year-old and suffer this stain on my dignity any longer than I had to. This was a problem that needed to be rectified. Of course that was easier said than done. I mean, I couldn't even walk yet. With some effort and the use of a wall, I could get myself standing, but my legs were not strong yet, and my balance wasn't great. Plus this species had a strange way of walking, they were digitigrades, meaning they walk on their forefoot with the heel around 3 inches off the ground. While it was possible to walk the traditional human way, it felt more comfortable to walk in this manner. The problem was that it made balancing more difficult.

This meant that housebreaking myself would require two proficiencies: the ability to control my bowel movements, and the ability to get to an appropriate location to relieve myself. I supposed if I could control myself, I could get one of my parents to move me to a suitable location where this kind of thing was dealt with, this would be a step in the right direction. Although come to mention it, I wasn't even sure where they took care of their business... At any rate, to do this properly I really needed to be able to do both. And so, I added bowel and bladder control along with walking to my training regimen.

As it turned out, this first part wasn't too difficult. Yes, my initial attempts were quite futile. I could feel the urge, but couldn't really prevent it. However, it occurred to me that the issue was that I just lacked the muscular tone to hold it. I was familiar with exercises to strengthen one's pelvic floor, so I thought I would give those a go. A word of warning if anyone decides to take up an aggressive kegel program, moderation is the better part of excess. DON'T PULL YOUR PUBOCOCCYGEUS MUSCLE!!! It's quite unpleasant…

Despite this setback, getting a hold on my waste disposal processes didn’t prove to be a great challenge. After I felt I had achieved a sufficient degree of control, I asked my father if he would mind helping me relieve myself. As you can imagine, he was rather confused. I ultimately got him to take me to where they performed this solemn ritual, though it seemed like he wasn't sure what to expect. Turned out this sacred facility was what you might expect from such a society, and amounted to an outhouse on the periphery of the platform surrounding the tree. There was no container to hold anything, however, just an open-air hole that dropped straight to the forest floor. Woe be upon anyone unfortunate enough to be walking under one of these during a full moon.

Anyways, once there he kind of held me over the opening, not entirely sure what to expect. Now this was awkward, I couldn't go with him watching. "Could you… not watch?" He seemed bewildered by my apparent modesty. I suppose a 7-month-old baby having a concept of indecency was probably unusual. However, I wasn't 7 months old, and I did have a sense of modesty; my various sphincters were not going to unclench with someone watching. "I don't think I can go with someone watching." I wondered what kind of expression he was making under his mask.

Ultimately he obliged and turned around while still supporting me with an invisible hand. Still, I found it hard to relax. In the end, I really had to force it, which led to some... interesting sounds. Rather embarrassing. However, it had the benefit of indicating that I had relieved myself under my own power and control. Father was impressed. After that, I started using the "Sky Shitter" as I came to call it on the regular. My parents were happy to oblige. After all, it is easier to escort me to an open-air outhouse, than to clean a diaper. Sure... there were still a few accidents, but hey, I wasn't even a year old yet!

This left walking. Turns out, this was a tougher nut to crack. The real issue was muscular strength that just wasn't there yet. Not just the quad and calf strength, but also hundreds of other stabilizing muscles. Try as I might, I could not take more than a step away from a wall before my legs gave out and I fell on my face. Mother was initially concerned for my well-being, but after numerous face-plants, she realized that I would be just fine and calmed down some.

I tried to think of some exercises I could do to strengthen my legs, but most of them required the prerequisite ability to stand up. I tried to think of what people who were in serious accidents did to recover their ability to walk. They used a physical therapist and specialized equipment, neither of which I had access to. I suppose some of this specialized equipment could be as simple as a mounted rope, but this too was not available. What to do... It seemed like it might be asking too much of my already fairly accommodating parents to assemble an infant gym for me, so I was going to have to find some other way. That is when it occurred to me, I could use fox magic.

In a way, this was a great solution. I could kill the proverbial two birds with one stone. I could strengthen both my body and my magic. Of course, at the time, my psychic strength wasn't that great, even my infantile muscles were superior. Well, I guess my fox magic would get the most out of this arrangement, not that it was a problem or anything.

With this idea in mind, I started an exercise routine targeting the various muscle groups I thought were involved in the walking process; quads, calves, hamstrings, glutes... I was sure there were many other muscles involved, but it was not as though I was familiar with them. I hoped that they would get worked as a side effect of the major muscles I was targeting. At first, the exercises consisted of me just moving my legs in various directions. They would eventually become weary just from the sheer volume of activity. Mentally and spiritually though, I was exhausted. Fox magic was taxing. Well, I suppose specifically taxing for the spirit, you felt drained after you exhausted your energy reserves. A kind of mix between physically tired, and unmotivated. Apparently, whatever energy it was using, was also responsible for one's drive to be productive. The mental exhaustion was just a consequence of concentrating a lot; presumably, this would be less of an issue once I was more proficient.

A month went by, and my magical prowess had improved, still quite feeble, but it had progressed to where it was useful and not just a novelty. For instance, I could use it to assist in standing up. With this, I no longer needed a wall. As you might have guessed, my legs had achieved enough strength to stand, and they had in fact gotten a lot stronger, but as it turned out, those stabilizing muscles I feared may have been neglected, were just that. I would quickly lose my balance and fall over.

Once my parents found out that I could stand up, they would help me keep my balance so that I could walk around and get a feel for their digital locomotion. By this point, they had stopped being surprised by my precious development and treated this discovery the same way any parents would with a child progressing at the standard rate of progression. That is to say, proud and delighted, but otherwise, this advance did not elicit further emotions. Honestly, I was a bit let down. Guess I had gotten used to the feelings of awe and bewilderment from my parents. The attention must have gotten additive.

This parental assistance definitely was helping, and I was sure that given another month or two, I would be waltzing to the sky shitter under my own power, just like a big kid. However, I was impatient. I wanted to be a big kid NOW! I expressed my frustrations with my parents, but they just laughed. "You might be a genius, Indigo, but it will be a while before you are a 'big kid,' even if you can use the sky shitter (my translation). You don't even come up to my knee yet," Father exclaimed with a light-hearted laugh, as he slapped his knee. Way to point out my inadequacies, Dad.

Despite the comment, my real goal was to achieve the dignity of being able to "wipe my own ass" so to speak. Perhaps it would have been more distressing to be a grown-ass man having his ass whipped and bodily function in general managed by caregivers, a fate I had mercifully been spared by dying, so perhaps I should be keeping this perspective in mind. Still, I was impatient. I just needed a way to stabilize myself, the same way my parents were doing, something to keep me from falling over... A sudden obvious realization occurred to me. I could just use a little fox magic to catch myself. Why had it taken me this long to realize this?

It did take some work; I had to build some sensitivity to know where I needed to apply some force, in the right proportions. Also, I had to be aware of when my balance was being compromised, after a certain point, I wouldn't be strong enough to stop the fall. Even still, it only took the better part of a day to get myself walking around. And another couple of days to feel comfortable with it. I suppose it wasn't walking in the truest sense of the word, but it got the job done. I felt like one of those kids from the old potty training commercials.

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Things progressed pretty quick after that. As it turned out, this place did in fact experience winter, and a pretty heavy winter at that, at least in terms of snowfall. The snow could pile up to the height of a full-grown adult. The trees spared the platforms from the worst of it, but it was hilarious when a pile of snow would break free and take out one of my fellow tribesmen. They were always okay; well except for that one time. A large icicle had broken free with an audible crack. Everyone was projecting, "Look out!" but the one guy who was directly in harm's way looked up just in time to see it hit him in the head. Fortunately for him, he was wearing a bucket on his head, so he just had to deal with the blunt force trauma of the frozen mass. He might have had a concussion, but he would be otherwise alright. I think the guy really was the village idiot.

Now that I could get around under my own power; I could open doors and the like. I began to really get into things. Or would have if there were many things to get into. These were clearly simple people, they had only a handful of tools, some clothes, and a few keepsakes perhaps. The only thing to get into that might have given my mother anxiety was the kitchen knife. I say kitchen because that is where it was mostly used, but it was used whenever a sharp object was needed. Naturally, I needed to investigate this bladed instrument, I'm a man after all. I was nowhere near tall enough to reach the counter where it resided, but by this point, I was good enough with the old fox hand to pull it off.

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It slid off easily enough. Soon, the bladed goodness would be in my hands! However, before I could get my paw on it, mother had pulled it out of the air, and was giving me a thorough reprimanding. It might have been one of the only times I saw her angry at me. Well, I would just have to wait until she wasn't around.

There were a few other things worth examining, the tools mother used for her craft, the pots, pillows, fireplace implements... I guess they were not spectacular or anything but I was curious to see what approach they took to constructing them, I was an engineer after all. Okay, so this probably only took a day, there wasn't really much there. I began to get bored. I could work on honing my fox magic, but after the novelty wore off, it was the same as any other practice. Still, I made sure to gain steady progress.

It might have been different if it hadn't been winter. It made doing things outdoors more difficult, at least for a baby. As such I didn't get out much. Even to use the sky shitter, my parents wouldn't let me go without an escort, so that was kind of a bummer. However, spring came soon enough, and with it, my first year of life had been completed. As it turned out, with it came a major change in my living arrangements.

"Well, Indigo, it looks like the day has arrived..." Mother announced one day. "I thought I would have had another year with you, but we have already held you back as it is." She had a slight slump in her posture and sadness permeated her messages.

"Hmm? What do you mean Mom?" It happened as we were finishing our morning meal, I had finally been weaned a couple months prior and was able to partake in some real food. It was lucky for me too, as that green fruit wasn't in season, and we had been eating exclusively meat. On a side note, it looked like we could survive purely on the flesh of animals, so we could apparently produce our own vitamin C! Huzzah!

"Well..." She looked down over her shoulder with apparent resignation. "It's time for you to join the children's group.'' With this thought came images of groups of other children all gathered in one place, under the care of another of our tribe. It still wasn't quite clear what she meant. If I had to guess, I would say it was some kind of school.

"Could you elaborate?" I was a bit anxious considering Mother's state, but I couldn't help being excited for the break in the monotony.

"It's where the children go once they attain a certain level of proficiency." In other words, I could use the sky-high outhouse.

"Oh, that seems fun, but why are you so sad?" I felt there was more to it than that, surely my absence for a few hours a day wouldn't be that big a deal.

"You will be under the care of Lilac Governess from now on." Oh, was this like some kind of nanny? I was still confused; Mother was sparse on the details, but still, considering that I had been cooped up in here for a while, a break in the standard day-to-day living would be more than welcome.

Well, it turned out that when she said I would be under the care of this Lilac Governess, she meant exclusively under her care. That is to say, I would be living in a kind of group home for delinquent children. Well not really, this was the standard. All children, once they had achieved a certain degree of self-sovereignty, would go live in this communal group. Why? Well, I guess there were several reasons. First, it served as a daycare, but this was a more surface reason. It also served as a kind of school and a way to socialize with others our own age. On this latter point, there weren't apparently many children, maybe twenty for the entire tribe.

I should point out that while the children lived here, it wasn't as though we had no contact with our parents. On the contrary, parents could come by anytime they wanted. If they had nothing better to do, they could even help out, a gesture I couldn't help but notice that the Governess greatly appreciated.

The day I arrived at this... facility? Not sure what you would call it, but it was a dwelling in the standard style of the village, though a bit larger; needed to make room for all the children. Anyway, the day was the first nice spring day, there was still some snow melting, but it only served to emphasize life returning to the forest. We were greeted by Lilac Governess as we announced our arrival, a light orange individual, with a rusty orange head of hair just long enough to tie back. She wore a blue fox mask. Even though I couldn't see her face, she had the distinct continence of someone who had been run ragged.

"Oh, Dry-grass Boncrafter, Stone Hunter (father's name), I was hoping it would still be a while..."

Her posture slumped more than it already was when she opened the door. Both my parents were present for this handoff, Being admitted into this group was something of a significant milestone in one's development.

"I'm sorry, I thought we were clear about leaving Indigo in your care..." Mother seemed conciliatory.

"I assume you mean later this cycle..." She gave me a one-over. "Isn't he a bit young?" She didn't seem entirely enthused to have me. I guess I was pretty young for school, which was pretty much what I considered this place.

"Yes, well..." Mother trailed off.

"You know age isn't the deciding factor in these things," Father stepped in to espouse the legitimacy of my admission. "In fact, he should have been admitted to your care a while ago."

"Oh? Is that so?" She sounded dubious

"For sure! Tell her Indigo."

Thanks for putting me on the spot, pops. "Uh... I'm not exactly sure what the qualifications are for admission. But if you want me to take a test or something to see if I meet the criteria, I'm willing."

"..." She seemed flummoxed "Well, he does seem well-spoken..." She put her hand to her chin as she considered. "He can... you know, relieve himself without assistance?"

"He most certainly can!" Father stated proudly.

She sighed heavily, "Very well, come on in." I couldn't help but pick up on the sense of despair that came along with those words. Father didn't seem to care, but Mother seemed to really sympathize with her.

"Are you doing okay, Lilac Governess?" Mother reached out. Lilac Governess, realizing that she was laying on the despair pretty thick, tried to assuage my mother of her concerns.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired today, that's all." I wasn't buying it, I'm sure Mother wasn't either. Regardless, she let it go.

Inside the den was a regular three-ring circus. Children were running around making all kinds of noise, both psychic and otherwise. On the other side of the den, several children were making a mess with some kind of black powdery substance. At the latter, Lilac Governess immediately sprang into action to stop their mischief, "NO! We do not play with the ashes from the fireplace!" They had entirely caked themselves in soot and were now jumping around the room throwing it at some of the more well-behaved children. This of course elicited a response of clumsy dodging only adding to the confusion. Turns out it is hard to avoid a spray of black ash as it wasn't exactly a discrete point in space you could evade. Those who found themselves unwillingly decked out in it, promptly began to try and bat it off themselves, letting the black contagion sped even more. it was a real spectacle

Mother and Father jumped in to help contain the chaos, with Mother seizing the ash wads out of the air before they could spread out like a short-barreled shotgun blast, much to the disappointment of the menaces that had pelted them. Father was more direct and seized the miscreants by the scruff of the neck and gave them what I assumed was a swift fox hand to the back of the head. Some of them tear up a bit, but this didn't seem to bother Father, or anyone else for that matter. Glad to see corporal punishment wasn't shunned here. At any rate, order was restored.

"Thanks." The Governess said with yet another heavy sigh. "I turn my back on these kids for a moment, and there is no end to the mayhem they can unleash."

"Hang in there, Lilac Governess!" Mother tried to encourage her. "I know you were still an apprentice when Leaf Governess passed away, but you got this!" Mother held her fist in front of her as she gave her pep talk. "Maybe you could even find an apprentice to help you out!"

She hung her head back. "An apprentice would be nice..." After a moment of reflection, she started the process of cleaning up the mess.

"Well, we are leaving Indigo in your care," Father announced as he angled his body towards the door.

Mother knelt down next to me and patted my head. "Okay now Indigo, you will be staying here from now on. We will come to visit often. Miss Lilac Governess is working really hard, so make sure you help her out and don't give her a hard time." I nodded, I too felt bad for her, and I didn't think I would appreciate the chaos these delinquents were causing, so at the very least, I wouldn't be adding to it. "Okay, Indigo. Love you." She gave me a hug and with a sad mien, she got up and made her departure along with my father.