Since his little meeting with Elettra, Angier had been minding his time, doing as she asked and filling the hours of his day with meaningful tasks and keeping an eye on the young royals. Really, it had been noble, even kind, of Guiness to honor his intentions of advancing in rank, but now at the head of the Willow Ridge hierarchy, the Lyall was only just starting get a feel for what leadership felt like. Could he be strong like his father had expected of him? Could he become someone likened to his brother Borden instead of his shadow? These two questions solely spun about at the back of his mind as he trailed along through Elettra's territory, his head held high (which felt rather strange for once) and his tail held out above and behind him (which felt even stranger without it wagging happily in the wake of a joyous occasion or realized insight).

A hard expression had settled on the tawny man's face, his pale gold eyes scanning his surroundings for something useful to bring back to his equal. The rain had fallen early this year and a part of him was starting to worry for the younglings' well-being if the frost would greet them earlier than expected. The Archer children knew little of winter and the fact that the rain fell in decent sheets over the Lore had him hoping the three youths would be mature enough to fully understand the dangers that could very well make themselves present in the next few weeks. If he instructed them to not stray from their mother's borders, he wanted to be sure they did well to obey his every word and, at last, start to learn how to help out the pack (@Asriel, it seemed, was ready to take up some developed interest in a Guardian's work; @Morganna, meanwhile, seemed to do well with plants; as for Sköll, well... Angier figured he would have to break the boy's defiant streak first before he managed to groom him for any sort of serious role).

Somewhere beneath a group of willows, he shook out his coat, releasing a sigh as he started walking again, his pace too frigid and stiff in comparison to the younger pack members' usual strides that seemed to make them practically tittup through the land. It seemed that Guiness and Elettra had recently been through the area and having already traversed this part of the woods the day before yesterday, Angier hoped his beat would go undisturbed at best...