Golden Glade I feel like I'm the Paris of people

@Rannoch

well, his traitorous father and his stinky, lumpy little sister had ventured out into the great unknown together and left aengus to play with the new-old kid (who wasn’t very playful if we’re being honest) and his sleepy littermates (also not very fun to play with). the young boy had not been pleased with being abandoned so frequently by his supposedly doting and loving parents. the little bull felt like he had spent more time with strangers than he had his own flesh and blood.
 
taking it upon himself, aengus ventured out and trailed quietly after the scent of his father. his tracking skills were abysmal, but he did well enough that he was able to keep track of where rannoch had wandered. when the aroma grew stronger, aengus lifted his head and with a cheery smile, he sang into the trees, “daaaaaaaddy! i’m heeeeeeeere!”

Rannoch turned towards the sound of Aengus' voice with surprise—his son was the last wolf he'd expect to see on the borders. "Aengus?" Rannoch called back, moving towards the forest in an attempt to stray from the pack's boundaries. "Come here, my boy," he urged. 

Although Rannoch did not like the thought of having his son on the borders, he was slightly more comfortable knowing that he would be there, too. Perhaps, Rannoch could teach him about the importance of the borders and how they work—if Aengus complied.

“i tracked you like a real hunter,” aengus said proudly to his father as he tumbled forward on stocky limbs. once he stood beside rannoch, the boy glanced upward, smile unfading. it was nice to be out there, just the two of them. the little bull did not feel as though he had to constantly battle for his father’s attention with stinky sionnach or eshe. hell, he didn’t even have to share the man with liffey! if every day could have been that way, aengus would not have complained.
 
“what doing, dad?” the boy asked rannoch with a curious tilt of his head. his father had certainly ventured far out there. he wasn’t going to admit it, but the trek had already made him far more tired than he had anticipated he would be. aengus wasn’t about to chicken out; he wanted the full one-on-one experience and he was going to get it.

"Yes, you did!" Rannoch exclaimed, praising Aengus with enthusiasm. "You're going to be a great hunter like Breccan and Deshyr," he added, leaning forward to nuzzle the top of his son's head. Hanging out with Aengus was like a breath of fresh air to Rannoch—it was nice to have one child who was excited to hang out with him. 

When asked what he was doing, Rannoch smiled. "I'm making sure that we stay safe in our new home by marking the borders," he explained. "Basically, I pee all over the place to let them know that this land is ours." Really, there was no other way for Rannoch to describe the process. 

"Wanna help your daddy out?" he asked then, realizing Aengus could be of use.

aengus didn’t really want to be like anyone else. he wanted to stand alone in his accomplishments – wanted to be the best there was at… whatever he decided to set his heart on. surely, his size would allow him to become a formidable guardian of their territory. it would have been nice for him to lead the charge as a great knight or whatever it was that famous warriors were called. sure, aengus could hunt for his pack on the side. what he really wanted was to bring honor to those around him.
 
the boy listened as rannoch explained what he was doing so far from their den. aengus glanced at the edges of their claim and nodded his head in understanding. it seemed a little wack that he had to piss on things to convey that they belonged to him. he was certainly going to abuse this rule later on by peeing on his sister and telling her that she had been claimed. the thought brought a daft little smile to his face.
 
“i can help! i drank lots, so i have a lotta pee,” the small bull assured his father. he ran over to where he believed was a suitable place for the deed and lifted his leg up to wet the side of a clover that had sprouted from the earth. “we gotta do it all?” he then asked, trying to imagine what it would be like to pee so much that they could create a line around their entire pack.

"That's my boy!" Rannoch praised, his tail swaying as he spoke. Aengus then began his job, hurrying to a plot of land not too far from where they stood. "Exactly, son! Great work!" Rannoch followed, stopping when he stood in front of Aengus. 

When asked about the scale of their work, he smiled and shook his head in reply. "No, we're not going to do it all," Rannoch answered. "That'd take a lot of time, and a lot of pee. I don't think that I have enough." Nor did he think that Aengus was capable of carrying that much urine in his bladder. "We'll cover a good bit, though. You want to lead the way?"

hot damn that praise was good. aengus could not help but to turn around and smile at his dad – mid wiz – and raise his head into the air with a great deal of pride. it had never felt so good to piss on something, he had to admit. while it was enjoyable to cause havoc and destruction for his sister, he couldn’t necessarily pee on her without getting a stern talking to. age had given him many things, and the self-awareness to pee only where it was appropriate was one of those things. the young bull still clung to the thought in the back of his mind for a later time. one day, he could easily see having to piss all over sionnach in order to emerge victorious in an epic battle.
 
aengus was more than happy to pull ahead and lead their excursion. he could not help but to turn his head around to make sure that his dad was following close enough to allow a feeling of safety to flood the young boy’s body. the little frostfur could not wait to return and gloat to his siblings about his adventure to the borders. “how big is it, dad? we got lots of room? are you still the boss here or did someone take your spot?” he rattled off the questions that had lingered in his head and waited for a response.

Aengus pulled ahead, taking the lead, and Rannoch trailed behind. Fortifying the pack's perimeters wasn't rocket science, but regardless, he was proud of how quickly his son had caught on. "Let's walk where our scent is stronger," he suggested. "That way, when we stop and pee, we'll add our smell and help strengthen the borders." 

When asked a surplus of questions, Rannoch chuckled. "It's about the same size as the Hollow—lots of places for us to explore," he paused suddenly, chuffed, and motioned to the ground, signaling to Aengus that they should lay their markers where he stood. "Yes, I'm still the boss—you mother, Aunt Raven, and Uncle Quixote are the bosses, too." Rannoch lifted his leg then, urine spraying from between his legs, as he awaited Aengus' reply.

aengus truly felt like the king of the fucking castle. there wasn’t a whole lot that could really bring him down. he was out there doing what adults did on the borders of their brand new home. the more that they walked along the edges of their claim, though, the more the young bull had begun to formulate more questions in the back of his mind. he wondered if they would stay there for as long as they had stayed in the hollow or if they would be moving again. the journeying had been fun, but aengus hadn’t liked being carried all the god damn time. he might have been stocky and round but he could still walk!
 
“aunt raven is pretty,” aengus remarked quietly, nodding his head. then, he thought about uncle quixote and realized that he’d only ever seen the guy once or twice. really, he’d only seen raven once or twice too, but she looked nicer than the dark guy with crazy green eyes. “uncie quitototote is kinda scary,” firstly, that name was too much for the young boy to handle, so he added some additional sounds to it. aengus then looked to his dad with a shrug. take that and process, dad.

Rannoch could help the smile that spread upon his lips, and he nodded in agreement with Aengus' first remark. "She is," Rannoch replied as he lowered his leg, "She's also very nice. " The topic then changed to as Uncie Quitototote was mentioned, and Rannoch leaned forward and nudged his son's cheek. "Uncie Quixote is also very nice," he said. "He might seem a little scary, but once you talk to him, you'll learn that he's also very nice." Quixote was no Terance, but Rannoch enjoyed the company of his fellow Alpha. 

"And, if you like patrolling the borders like this, I'm sure that he could teach you some things," he elaborated. "He's a fine mercenary, and is a big reason why we are so safe here in the glade." Rannoch resumed their pace then, leading them northward along the territory's limits.

oh right, they were supposed to be pissing on shit. almost stumbling over himself to do it, aengus lifted his leg up and released a short stream onto the ground while still keeping eye contact with his father. the young bull was surprised that his father was attempting to sales pitch the uncle that he thought was scary. sure, aengus wasn’t a little weenie. it wasn’t like he was going to run away from the dark man, but he definitely thought that his uncle looked very serious at all times.
 
“dad, i’m pretty sure you think everyone is nice,” aengus said with a smile and a shake of his head. just like good old dad to think that everyone else on the planet was nice. gee whiz, dad you’re such a swell fella. “do you think he fights intruders? do you think that’s how he got that scar? how’d you get your scar, dad?” aengus spurted off quickly.

Rannoch chuckled at Aengus' observation; there were some individuals that he did not view as "nice"—but now was not the time or place to bring them up. Instead, Rannoch focused on the questions that followed his son's remark. 

"I'm sure he does if they don't obey the laws of the borders," he answered. "Attacking another wolf is something that we do as a last resort. When faced with an intruder, we must always use our words first." Rannoch watched Aengus for a moment before continuing.  "I'm not sure if that's how he got his scar—I've never asked. I'll have to ask him next time I see him." 

The subject of his wound followed, and Rannoch's glanced down at his injury. "I got this when traveling alone," he answered. "A wolf came out of nowhere and attacked me for no reason. We were in unclaimed territory, too. Thankfully, I had some friends who lived nearby who got wind of what happened, and they came to my rescue." Although Rannoch and Hydra were no longer on the best of terms, he was still thankful that she and her sisters had saved him. 

"Wolves like the wolf who attacked me is why we must be wary of others. There are some crazy wolves out there, my son, and we must be careful." Rannoch did not want to scare Aengus, but he also did not want to shield him from reality.[/b]

all that sounded boring – laws and rules and stuff, blah! aengus didn’t want to hear about how his uncle had to slap someone on the paw because they stepped over an imaginary line that smells like pee. the young boy wanted to hear about a daring adventure in which his uncle had been forced to save the love of his life from a devilish monster. “words are boring, dad!” aengus jeered and dove forward, imitating a real battle that he had conjured up in his tiny brain. “it’s cooler to fight it out and then you can prove that you’re the toughest and no one should mess with you,” the young frostfur added.
 
it was safe to say that aengus did not share his father’s penchant for counseling. he was more about the action than he was about using frilly words to defuse a situation. after all, the young boy had been born with all that weight, he ought to learn how to throw it around before he made a decision about what kind of conflict resolution path he would prefer to take. when rannoch went on to talk about the crazy loner who had attacked him and given him his neck scar, that was more like what aengus was looking for.
 
“see! that wolf didn’t wanna talk things out with you. he just wanted to hurt you. words can’t save you when that happens,” aengus tried to make a point with a shrug of his shoulders. he was fresh out of pee, so he was really just teetering after his father. there had to have been a reason wolves trained to fight. it could not have been so that they could enforce rules. aengus didn’t believe that was worth all the trouble. he was starting to wonder just how soft his dad really was.

Aengus' sentiments concerned Rannoch; he had learned from experience that fighting was never the ideal way to resolve a problem. "You may think that words are boring, but they are important, son," Rannoch rejoined. "And although fighting may be fun, you must remember the dangers of it, too. You can get seriously hurt doing so." He didn't want his son to leap at his first opportunity to fight without being prepared. 

Aengus had a point, and Rannoch nodded solemnly in reply to the statement. "No, you're right about that. That situation is an example of when you must fight to defend yourself. I fought back because my words had failed." He hoped that any of his children would never be forced into a similar situation. "A true warrior never goes looking for trouble, son. He only fights to defend his territory and himself. Do you understand?"

of course the giant teddy bear would have some logical and sound reason why he preferred words to action. aengus was young, so he didn’t have a full grasp on the concept of how important it was to be able to conduct himself in a way that was appropriate and neutral. the young bull was full of fire; he wanted nothing more than to prove his worth. if he had been granted the body of a rhino, he had better damn well use it for something other than collecting more lard and talking the pants off of his enemies.
 
“well i wanna be a fighter when i grow up so i can protect you and mama and sia, i guess…” he trailed off with a thoughtful furrowing of his brow and adding a quieter, “even though she’s kinda mean sometimes.” it was only right that he should forgive his sister’s petulance. aengus was pretty sure that he loved her, so that was worth a fight or two.

When Aengus admitted his aspirations, Rannoch's expression brightened. "I'll teach you how to be the best fighter that you can be, son," he promised. Aengus had a lot to learn about becoming a warrior, but Rannoch was confident that in time he'd learn. 

"Our training will begin tomorrow," he added, already thinking of lessons to teach his son, "Let's continue our patrol now, and then go home and rest up for our big day tomorrow." It didn't take more than that prompting to get Aengus moving again, and the two continued their patrol from there. Although the rest of their walk took some time, they eventually returned home, and Aengus promptly fell asleep.