Two Rivers Isle Working on it

Burke trotted through the territory. It was still summer in his eyes, but he knew autumn was coming soon. He was very confident that they would manage to get through the winter. He was still open for new members. However he was not openly going to look for them though. That was something for his scouts. The male now moved closer to the borders, thinking that he could patrol the borders and see if there was something interesting or not around there.

He marked a few trees on theirs side of the river. After all he was the alpha after all and his scent would need to be present at the borders. Plus if he wanted his mastery as a Guardian he would need to patrol the borders.

Snags daddy thread

Pyro prowled on the sly behind his father. He had seen him wander away early in the morning, and curious as he was he wondered 'where the hell did Burke go every day?' for once. So he sneaked down his path and watched his moves, making sure Vassago didn't follow and that neither of his parents noticed him.

One thing he noticed, and that he felt most curious about was how Burke stopped walking every once in a while to pee on a tree. Every time he did Pyro would reach the marked trunk and sniff it before tainting the mark with his own piss. Once he was happy with the results, having made sure to do everything exactly the way his father did, he would continue his way and pick up his dad's tracks again. Until one of those times Pyro found himself lost in grass taller than him, and failed to see beyond his own nose. For a moment he panicked, and Pyro picked up the pace, but doing so resulted in him running right into a wall and bouncing of to land on his butt.

The dark child shook his head, not realizing that the wall was in fact Burke until he lifted his gaze. "Hi dad.." he said smiling with guilt, not even trying to hide anymore. He had been caught red-handed, and there was nothing he could do about it.

OMG YAS

Burke kept his calm walk and continued. Marking the borders was something he usually did on the other side of the river, yet if other wolves were as stupid to miss his warning signs and go into the river than at least there would be a whole wall of scent once they would cross it. The male however had heard some moving of the bushes, and at first was thinking that it was some raccoon walking about.

But rather sooner than later he found out it was his own son. Pyro came running through the bushes and collided with him. Instantly his face was lit with guilt. Burke looked behind him, to the path he came from and sniffed the air good. Had Pyro been marking over his marks? Burke's face instantly sunk in that of a annoyed expression. All his hard work for nothing. He used his scent marks to show of his testosterone and now it was defied by a two month old pup.

"Pyro," he greeted, sitting down. The annoyance on his face didn't stay too long. He did not comment on the fact that the pup was not with his mother. Burke could however appreciate that the boy was out here trying to learn. "Do you know why I am marking those trees?," he asked his son.

Instead of the fireball that Pyro was expecting would surely come from his father, all he got was a question. The pup blinked, coming to the realization way to late and sitting more upright now that he felt a bit less in danger. He analyzed the question, looking back at the last tree he had re-marked, and realized that he didn't really know what he was even doing.

"Uhm..." he thought, frowning as he tried to make up a decent answer, fearing that father would drag him back to the den if he messed up. "That way people know you are here...?" he let out, not fully convinced, but feeling that was the most logical answer. His piss didn't smell like other pisses, and if there was Burke-piss around, it probably meant that a Burke was around. Well, at least he was trying to do his best.

Burke watched his son and how he was behaving. He got a feeling that Pyro might be afraid of him, which was something he didn't want him to be. The large male wanted a good bond with both of his sons not only with Vassago. Perhaps because he was so convinced that this little pup wasn't going to make it he invested little time in their bond. Now he could change that.

"Yes, Pyro," he confirmed. "However now you told everyone that you are here, instead of that fact that I am here," he started explaining. "Now others will smell your scent, not the one of the leader. Don't you think that might send of the wrong signal?," he asked calmly. He was not really mad because he never told the pup explicitly that he wasn't allowed to do this. But it would still take some previous time away from him.

For a moment Pyro felt proud of himself, he'd gotten the right answer for dad instead of disappointing him. It felt unreal, an emotion he hadn't experienced before, but it didn't last long. No matter what he would always be a disappointment to Burke.

Pyro's dark ears folded back and his tail tucked tightly between his thighs. He had messed up badly this time and he looked back to see his masterpiece become a disaster. Then his still blue eyes traveled back to his father, avoiding his eyes, but fixating on his paws. "I'm sorry," he said sadly, and hunched even more in shame.

You are killing me

Burke's tone had been friendly, even though it could have been annoyed or agitated. Still the pup seemed to hunch down and look ashamed. Burke let out a bit of a sigh. "It is okay, as long as you don't do it again. I never told you that you weren't allowed to do this," he spoke to the pup trying to make him feel at least a bit better.

The male looked down at his youngest son. "Bet you were just trying to help me, right?," he asked the darker pup. Trying to cheer him up a bit, or at least make himself feel better. That was the right thing to do as a dad, right? He was a counselor but a dad was a whole different game.

Pyro sniffled loudly as he looked down to his father's paws. He was on the edge of tears, feeling terrible as though he'd just ruined everything. He kinda had ruined all of his father's work, anyway, and it felt like a huge burden that could never be erased from his life. But thankfully, he didn't know how much of a soft guy Burke was.

He lifted his head, a pout still present in his face as he looked at his father with regret. But he was cheering him up, and slowly his tail untangled from his leg and made a shy dance while his ears still flopped down in shame. Yes daddy, he confirmed, but kept rooted to his place until his father hinted what he should do next.

Burke was relieved to notice that at least the sniffling stopped. The big male stood before his son and lightly shook his head. His words did cheer him up. Burke looked over him. "Well once you are older you can help me mark these borders," he spoke to the dark boy. He was still so small. He wondered if Malice stress during the pregnancy had something to do with it.

"Alright now, run along. I am going to have to remark the spots you marked. Why don't you look for your brother and see what he is up to," Burke spoke. He would need to get to work and he had the feeling that the more he would say the more he would ruin things.

Last post!
We should have a new one! Pyro is growing quickly :D

As Burke's tone changed, so did the child's. It seemed his father was not as angry as he'd thought a moment ago and Pyro was quick to forget he'd been crying. He got up, prompted by his father to go find Vasaggo, and took off with a smile painted across his face. Perhaps the lesson had been a necessary one,for as unfortunate as the situation had been. Pyro needed to start understanding how the world around him worked, and he was nothing close to being as dumb as he was small. Pyro had inherited his own father's intellectual capacities and soon he would prove it, all he needed was time and there was still plenty.

Definitely!!! :D

Burke watched his son rush off to find his brother. At least he had done a good job at cheering him up. Burke was curious to see what would come of him later. Perhaps he would grow out into something that could be useful. That sounded a bit harsh but the pup had looked weak for most of the time. Perhaps he did have a brain that worked well he could pick later and perhaps Pyro would come up with some amazing strategies. Burke continued his marking of the borders, having to do Pyro's marks over again.

-end-