Dead Empress Backwater lying next to a ghost at night

for @Viorel only.

Asmund didn't want to be a bother, but the older he got, the more he understood that meant far more than hiding his life away. His existence in itself was a burden, and not one that had to be 100% upon the leaderships' shoulders just because they'd taken in his mother when he was born. In fact... if he didn't grow up, what was to stop them from ousting him altogether like @Llinnea had said? More and more he tried to swallow back his fears and act.

Part of that meant sucking up his anxieties over Viorel's sour moods and continuing his training with the wolf. When trouble came knocking, he had to be a part of the response, even if the mere thought of it made him want to completely shut down.

It took him a few hours of pacing and griping at himself, but as the dark of night fully descended, he'd finally mustered enough courage to follow after his leader's trail.

"Um... Viorel?"

The Valle man had been busy for a few hours, tracking down the scent of a fox he had noticed coming in and out of the territory. It had been the perfect excuse to get out some pent up frustrations and he was hoping to come back to the pack den happier for it. He always felt a little bit better after a hunt of a scrap, like it was releasing something dark and heavy from within his chest. Something he was just beginning to learn how to live with, he thought it was supposed to get lighter with time, instead he just felt he was getting better at carrying it.

Viorel had the rival trapped in a den within the territory, the fox screeching and chittering back at his growls defensively. It wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and he was happy to give him one. Until a voice behind him distracted him. Salt and pepper ear flicked sideways before he half turned to see Asmund standing there. With a grin he gestured forward, ”Perfect time for you to put your lessons up to the test.” It had been a while since they had had one, but surely the teen remembered something about them.

Viorel stepped back, giving Asmund the perfect advantage point to take his place and take the lead.

The sound that first answered him was not Viorel. Az flinched back, fear spiking within as the fox's angry, desperate cries reached his ears. He blinked, and was no longer in the present. He was back there, back then, and it was his mother raging with such fury and despair. Asmund wanted to run but he couldn't, muscles locked with terror. A sickening green hue began to seep into his vision, taking it over and tainting everything until it was all the same color as those awful eyes...

Seconds that felt like hours. He snapped out of it at Viorel's voice, teleported back into reality by the familiar timbre. Az recognized a smile, and realized that the man was happy to see him. The cold dread was still there, especially with the fox's continued panic nearby, but there was also a warmth that steadied him. He moved closer, trusting in Viorel to keep him safe against all of life's possible dangers.

Still, he was apprehensive of being left to his own choices rather than instructed. He shot Vi a worried look, but for the leader, he would try. He swallowed, and stepped closer yet to where their prey lay hidden. Not being able to see the other combatant left much to his imagination, and all he could think of was how to avoid having to come in contact with it at all. How to kill without getting bloody.

"... we can't bury it alive?" he asked as his eyes watched the den's entrance. Collapse the ground, smother and crush it, forever leaving a barrier of earth between himself and those sharp teeth...

(This post was last modified: Sep 24, 2023, 08:51 PM by Asmund.)

The Valle man recognized the worry on the teen’s face, but he remained silent allowing Amsund to process his emotions. He knew that the child had been through a lot, had sought out lessons for fighting but was hesitant to use them. Holding in a sigh so as to not discourage him, Viorel pondered, ”We could. But, that would be a cruel thing to do.” As a wolf he couldn’t recognize that fighting a fox who was also trying to make a home for itself was also cruel, only that he was removing a threat from their home.

Realizing he probably needed to explain further he continued, ”If we bury it alive it will die slowly, we need to get rid of it but we can do it quickly.” Looking proudly as Asmund once more, he gestured his muzzle forward to allow him to take the lead. With one final word of encouragement he stepped back, ”Go on Asmund, show me the Valle that you’ve become.” Because he was truly, or at least Viorel saw him that way.

And it wasn’t like Asmund had any other options for family.

Cruel. Asmund considered the word, found it lacked impact. Life was cruel by it's very nature, wasn't it? The smaller beast was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, that was all it took-

He tried to stay out of his head, focusing on Viorel's instruction instead. If it was important to the older man, Az would do his best to follow suit. Even if mercy was not present in the most base essence of who he was.

'Go on Asmund, show me the Valle that you’ve become.'

There was a moment where the words didn't click, the yearling's eyes focused on where their prey lie waiting. Then he blinked, and looked up at Vi, lightly tilted brows almost hinting at confusion. His sister's words echoed again through his thoughts, as they so often did. @Llinnea had been wrong, just like she was about leaving. Asmund took a breath, regarding the den once more, but now with a subtle sense of confidence.

He could do this. He could do this.

The boy lunged forward, attacking the animal head on as best as the confines would allow. It met back with fangs and claws, and when they raked across the tender skin on his nose he flinched back with a yelp. It stung, it bled, yet- the adrenaline made him feel stronger. He jumped back at the trapped quary and tore through its opposition, ignoring any pain it managed to cause him.

Asmund didn’t say anything after the leader’s words, but they seemed to have the impact they were meant to. The teen stepped forward with more confidence and was ready to tackle the problem head on. The Valle man watched closely, ready to step in if things got ugly or out of control, but content to let Asmund handle his own. It was a fine line, and he took a single step forward at the sound of the yelp, but considering the sound of the fights continued he didn’t intervene.

The sound of the fox and scuffle continued to get louder before it fell silent all of a sudden. A proud smile spread across the salt and pepper face, ”Good job Asmund!” He hoped the boy would let it go now, killing the children was something that would need to be done but ultimately it was unpleasant. He didn’t need the teen to see or be a part of that. Maybe he would take them and drop them in the creek or something. The father wasn’t sure that he even had the stomach for something gorier.

He waited for the boy to back out so that the leader might examine any wounds that he may have earned, though not expecting many. Foxes could be a worthy opponent on even playing fields, but this one was backed into a small dark hole.

Asmund found that the more he focused on inflicting damage, the less he noticed whatever was being done to him in return. He knew the fox was still biting and scratching back, but nothing it did excruciated him the way he always imagined being attacked would. That alone was empowering. He found the smaller animal's neck and wrapped his jaws around it, biting down with all his might. It shrieked at first, but was silenced and stilled once he felt the tips of his longteeth almost connect.

Panting, tiny rivulets of blood leaking here and there throughout his features, Asmund took a moment to process that it was all over, just that quickly. And he was fine. Stinging a little in places, but-

Good job Asmund!

His eyes lit up and his ears lifted, a rare smile spreading across his muzzle as he powered backward out of the earth's maw and back into the open. Happiness ballooned inside of his chest.

"I did it!" he couldn't help but crow, paws stamping the ground in celebration. That there was more work to be done did not occur to him in the moment.

The leader’s eyes swept over the teen quickly and found nothing but minor scratches, the majority of them hardly even bleeding. Yet the boy’s pride and joy was infectious and the older man couldn’t help but beam at Asmund, his own tail waving rapidly behind him. The den behind them had grown silent despite still holding a few kits inside of its depths.

His own muzzle was split wide into a smile as he rejoiced, ”You did it! I’m so proud of you my boy!” Maybe it was an inappropriate thing to say, as Asmund was not technically his child, and he had been coaching him through a murder, but it didn’t seem that way to Viorel. To him this felt like a huge leap forward for a teen who had been so beaten down by life and was finally beginning to fight back. Looking back at the minor scrapes and scratches he offered, ”We should get those scratches cleaned up in the river, Clover will have my head if I let you catch an infection.” Plus, once Asmund was safely away, he could decide what he wanted to do with the remaining foxes.

He was happy enough that laughter started up in his chest, spilling out into the air with a childish kind of charm. Losing his mother so young and hiding from everything as he did, Az had only a small handful of meaningful milestones that he could truly call his. This was one of them, a very significant one in his own opinion. That Viorel agreed, and was here to experience it with him, made things all the more enjoyable.

My boy.

Chest and chin both lifted with pride, feeling a level of confidence in his place here that he didn't often get to reach. Internally he swore to keep making his leader proud, to make sure he always was earning his spot in the Backwater.

"Okay," he agreed easily, ready to follow Viorel absolutely anywhere.

The leader could not help but wave his tail behind him like a banner, so pleased with Asmund and the progress he had made today. His own words seemed to bolster the teen further and Viorel beamed back at him. Thankfully he accepted the suggestion of going to the creek easily and he motioned with his muzzle, ”You go on ahead, I’m just going to bury the body it’s no good to eat even in the worst of times.” Gamey little beasts they were. Once Asmund was out of sight, Viorel gave into his somewhat weak stomach and collapsed the den. It felt hypocritical since he had told the teen it was too cruel to do, but he just couldn’t bring himself to kill the kits himself. At least this way they would be with their mother. Then he followed behind the Ingerssen boy to make sure his cuts and scrapes got cleaned.

FADE