everything you hate me for

She looks to her son intently, waiting and wondering of his reactions to come out in play. Never before had she been a mother to coddle her children. She took care of them and took care of them fiercely, though in approach on lessons were a harsh reality, of so she had hoped. She had taught them a bit about protecting themselves and fighting by bullying them, by pushing them over and snapping roughly at their unprotected areas. She had taught them how to hunt firstly not with some defenseless rabbit, half dead, but with a creature with sharp, long front jaws with a full capability to do some serious damage whilst it was only hindered by a broken limb. She taught them the basics of healing not by show and tell, but on real wounds, if not Morganna's from the first hunt, but by their sparring lessons. Even now, she does not make promises that Asriel would gain everything he had ever hoped for, but compelled him to fight for it, if it was what he wished.

She wondered, as she had a paw-ful of times before, who would end up leading in her stead, should the Leadership be passed down from herself to one of her children. Would the lands become flooded, burned, before this happened? Would she die a Queen by illness or battle and not know the outcome of who took her Throne? Would it be one of her two sons now, who both sought to grasp firmly upon it, or would it be one of Angier and Elettra's, a pup born of both Willow Ridge Leaders. He speaks of certainty then, that he wants it and so, shall it be his. Asriel was bold, proud and strong. But he was arrogant and looked down upon others not Archer as though they were lesser. Skoll was cunning, quick-witted and manipulative, to woo others to his side. But he was a trickster that others would see through, spiteful and with a sense of unwillingness to share. Both children had their faults and their greatness's, much as Elettra Archer herself and it was a true wonder to her who would overcome. Quite frankly, @Morganna seemed more as herself then ether of her boys. But girls would be girls, and boys would be stupid. "Care to help me in my search for herbs?" She then asked, settling the manner and changing the subject with her question.

:) perfectly put: "Girls would be girls, and boys would be stupid." Loved this mommy/son/(son) thread. It's getting older now, and I suspect you probably want to tie up non-new-momma threads so I'll have this archived.

With his decision made, and a distraction presenting itself, Asriel stood and bowed his head low to respect his mother and show that she should lead the way and he would follow like an obedient pupil. He still wanted more than what he had asked for; he was greedy and did not even know it. He wanted more from his mother, but was still content with what he got, for now. While he wanted promises, laws, birthrights, he would get nothing for certain. And it had finally begun to resonate in Asriel's mind that he couldn't simply have because he wanted. It was an unsettling reality but it was one he would have to live with. Certain things were outside of his control, and certain things were- but they had to be worked for, such as leadership. He was impatient, but he would have to fill in his time by working in order to keep himself from becoming too restless.

He followed his mother off in search of herbs, gleaning a bit more about them from her as she had quite the knowledge of healing medicines. It was never something Asriel had taken an interest in, but if he wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps, he would have to learn. He learned of the Gods from her, he learned of hunting, guardian, and the ways of life. And all too soon he would learn that he could not be the center of her life- not that she'd ever favoured him above the others, nor had she ever given him too much love to spoil him, but he'd wanted it anyway. He would learn everything he could from her, and had decided, then, that any action he wanted to make would be action he had to take. "I want to be a guardian."