Ashen Snow, ever since he was young, had dreamed of being something. He had idolized his father blindly at first, seeing in him a giant, confident, strong, ambitious wolf - the kind anyone would wish to be. And he had brought his mother and uncle and brother along home to this beautiful, cold place in the mountains by sheer force of personality. What wasn't there to like about Melting Point? Ask Ash, and he would have told you that there had been nothing wrong with his dad. That he was smart and brave and strong and all the things that mattered in the world...right?
He had been given a cold slap of reality the night he had talked to Melting Point after meeting that strange berserker, Kale Greenleaf. Melting Point had immediately dismissed the idea of monsters actually existing, but Ashen Snow didn't fault him for that. At the time, he hadn't been so sure they existed himself. Large, non-fish entities with more limbs than sense? Giant birds with wingspans bigger than the whole of Kells? Snakes with the power to turn things into stone statues? It was all too fantastical in his ears even as Ash had described the stories to his father.
"Are you stupid?" Melting Point had asked point blank once he had finished. "Of course those don't exist. Why were you even talking to some stranger?"
There were times that Ashen Snow believed his father was less that and more...an older brother, in a way. It was hard to describe, but Melting Point didn't come across much as a parent, come to think of it. He had before, and now...Now, Ash wasn't sure where he had seen it.
"You said it was a berserker?" Melting Point prompted.
"I-I think so."
"You think?" Melting Point rolled his eyes. "Look, kid, I dunno what you thought was going to happen there, but at least you didn't get mauled half to death. I don't need that going on right now. You gonna report it to Frost?"
Ashen Snow looked unsure, already cowed by his father's attitude. Like he always was. Easy to scare, yellow belly Ashen Snow, who was too big for his paws. "He wasn't...Greenleaf wasn't hostile," he said after a moment. "I wanted to hear him out. Maybe he was onto something."
"Seriously?" Melting Point gave him a look, and then it dawned on him. He snickered. "You really want this stuff to be true, huh? Monsters and s**t. And then you'll be out there, what, hunting them? Killing them? C'mon, Ash. You can't even wrestle a fish out of the water without crying."
Ash's ears tilted down. It was an old memory as a pup, a training session gone off the rails as a fish almost half his size had nearly pulled him into the frozen waters. It had frightened him enough to avoid the water for days. But -- "It's just looking around for clues, not fighting," he said, avoiding the words I think again lest his father use it against him once more. "It could sort of be my yearling journey, y'know? I thought you'd--I mean."
Melting Point looked expectant.
Ashen Snow went on sheepishly, "You've always been so cool, Dad. I just...thought this would be my chance to show you I'm just as cool." That I could be a hero.
"Hah!" The older wolf barked a laugh before leaning in. And even though both of them were large, Ashen Snow felt himself shrinking in his presence. "Listen, Ash, and listen real good: Better aim lower. Nobody is better than me."
[ wc 595 ]