Redhawk Caldera No protest from me.

helP he's so cute ;n;

Njal may have been a father due to biology, but he had never been given the chance to really father anyone. So when the boy disregarded his words, he was a little taken aback and didn't know what to do. He couldn't make the child obey, that wasn't right. And there was no reason for this kid to obey Njal anyway, he'd never met him. 

If Fox's kids obeyed every adult that showed up on their doorstep, they'd be easy targets. Still, Njal didn't particularly like being ignored. When the boy boasted about being a Warden, the older wolf scoffed softly; he wasn't looking at a Warden, he was looking at an overzealous Apprentice who didn't understand the seriousness of the position he clearly wanted to take.

And all Njal could think was, 'I'm getting old.' When had he become such a stick-in-the-mud?

"You really want to challenge me?" The man muttered, swishing his tail behind him and giving it a quick glance - not a hair out of place. He tried to relax a bit, and at least play in to the fantasy presented by the boy - even though it was ridiculous, and dangerous (at least in his opinion). 

"How about this -" Njal took a few more steps, carefully avoiding the boy's path but also, sort of, herding him in the direction Njal believed he had come from. "If you can grab my tail by the time we reach the meeting site, you win, and.. I'll help train you. You want to be the best Warden, right?" That seemed like a good way to motivate the kid. What about a caveat? 

"If you can't, then..." He paused in his walking, and feigned a curious, thoughtful expression. "Then you have to give it up, forever." Njal looked serious again, but there was a glimmer in his eyes that hadn't been there for many months. The kid wasn't going to fail outright - he'd likely not fail at all - but the old man enjoyed playing it up a little. He'd make the boy work for it, for sure.