Winter! Snow had already started falling days ago and now it blanketed the earth a pretty sparkling film of powder. He'd already spent the last hour romping through it and flecks of snow clung to his pelt and some areas even patches of it had frozen to his fur. He felt like a little kid again despite the fact he and his siblings would be turning two next season. He was a bit envious of Jayne and Diana. They were two now and would get to pick what ranks they wanted, but he was also relieved he hadn't had to choose yet. Lionel was still a bit stumped on what rank he wanted to pursue. Heather had it easy - she wanted to be Princess so that's what she was working towards. He had no desire to contest against her for the rank and had instead just settled for training with her so she could earn it. They'd sparred, done border patrols, and then Athena had even held fight training. He thought back to the healer training - he'd been practically useless in that scavenger hunt though he'd retained a few things. Then there was the hunting session he and Alfie had done - hunting porcupines had been frightening, but fun at the same time. The problem with his desire to learn everything just meant it was harder for him to choose what rank he wanted. If he learned more he could choose to be a healer, or he could take the simple route and be a hunter. He still didn't have enough experience fighting to be comfortable with the rank, but he was certainly interested. This was too hard! Not knowing what to decide, an idea came to his head. He'd talk to his dad about it! Yeah that was a good idea. He stopped under a tree, still covered in snow, and raised his head. He let out a quick call for his dad and silently hoped he wasn't busy. Walk, "Talk" Think

It wasn't too often that he got a howl from one of his children asking for him so when he heard Lionel's voice he was quick to drop what he was doing to head toward him. His children were his whole world, even above Fiori or his other family members. He didn't know if he would ever have the chance to have children again, but he was beyond happy and proud of Lionel and his siblings and the adults they were growing into. He was proud of the legacy he was going to be able to leave behind. He found his similarly colored son fairly easy and gave Lionel a smile as he trotted up to him. "Hello there!" he greeted cheerfully, bumping Lionel's shoulder with his nose affectionately before he settled back on his haunches. He hoped his children never thought he was too busy for them. The pack was time consuming, sure, but he would stop everything if one of them needed him. "What's up, Lionel?" "Talk" "You" Think

The boy let his rump fall to the cold ground as he waited. His thoughts drifted to Roza and he wondered briefly how her leg was doing. Surely her cardinal friend wouldn't let her overwork it, right? He'd offered to call Amalia, but she'd shot him down with that. It hadn't seemed like anything was broken so he tried tried to shove his worries down. She'd be fine. Maybe she'd be good to go exploring with him? Out of all his siblings he'd spent the least amount of time with her and she seemed just as stumped as he was about choosing what to do with herself once they turned of age. It was comforting to know he wasn't the only one. His dad's arrival broke him out of his thoughts. His face lit up and he let his tail thump softly against the ground. He returned the nose bump to the shoulder with one of his own and a giant grin. "Hey Dad." he greeted warmly. "I was hoping you could help me out with something." He was eager for Leo's opinion on the matter. He knew the ultimate decision was up to him, but some advice certainly couldn't hurt, right? "I've been having issues figuring out what rank I want when we all turn two. I was kinda hoping you could give me some advice." Walk, "Talk" Think

Leo's ears were perked forward toward his son as he listened to Lionel's request. Help choosing what rank he should have, hm? Well, this was pretty good timing, wasn't it? He smiled and nodded in agreement. "Of course. I've been meaning to talk to you about this sort of thing anyway... I've asked Heather to take the role as princess once you all turn two. It was a very, very hard choice. I know both of you would have done amazingly as heirs, but I ended up choosing Heather because I want you to do something else for me." He smiled softly as he went on, "I think your strengths really lie in supporting and watching out for others. I think you're the most similar to me in that way. That's probably why neither one of us really stuck to one discipline or another like Amalia has or how Athena has. That's why I'd like for you to be the Archduke. You and Heather seem to work well together and she'll need all the support she can get." He tried to watch Lionel's expressions as he spoke and wondered how his son would react. "Of course if you'd rather do something else then I understand. It's a lot of responsibility to throw at the both of you, but as I told Heather I'm not going anywhere for quite a while still and I certainly won't toss either of you into the wild on your own." "Talk" "You" Think

Lionel's ivory colored ears flicked forward as Leo admitted that he'd been meaning to talk to him about it. What luck! Of course now that just piqued his curiosity, but he kept his mouth shut as his dad continued speaking. he hadn't exactly expected Heather to come up in the conversation, after all he'd wanted help choosing a rank for himself, but a grin grew on his face regardless at the news. Heather was going to be the heir to Fiori! He was glad to hear that his sister's hard work had paid off in full - soon she'd be the princess come spring time. It was certainly an interesting concept to wrap his head around. His glee turned to curiosity at the mention that Leo had something else for him to do. The offer of Archduke wasn't something he'd really expected to happen, nor was it something he'd planned for. He'd never pictured himself with some high rank. Bright Moon, Amalia, and Athena all took up the lead positions and it was hard to imagine them going anywhere. He knew wolves grew old, but he'd never pictured them as old, especially not Amalia. So he'd settled on the fact that he'd choose a regular grunt rank like everyone else. He certainly had never aspired for anything like Archduke, or even heir. He'd been the one to admit to Heather he didn't want to compete with her for the rank. Now that Leo brought it up though it seemed fitting. Being an alpha seemed like a lot of responsibility and he certainly didn't want Heather to go through it alone. That and it helped solve his worries about choosing just one thing to focus on - now he'd really have a reason to learn everything. "Well if you think I can do it I'd love to give it a shot." He said while wagging his tail eagerly. Even if he didn't like it, well he wouldn't know until he tried. Walk, "Talk" Think

Leo grinned proudly when Lionel accepted his offer. He knew this was a lot to put on such a young wolf, but be firmly believed they could rise to the occasion. He still had a few more years in him, but he wanted Lionel and Heather to get started early so they could slowly acclimate to the roles. "I really think you can. I'm going to be here for both of you to help you transition into it and it'll probably be a couple of years before I hand it over for good, but I don't want to do it alone any more. Who better to help me with the pack than my own children." He smiled warmly at his son, his tail brushing against the ground as it wagged behind him. "I'm so proud of you and your siblings. I know things haven't always been easy, but... I think we've all made it okay. At least I hope so." If he could have rewound time and somehow kept Svetlana here he probably would have. He tried not to think about her too much, but it was hard not to during the winter. Its when they were married and right before his children were born. "I'll let you think about it some, but I want you and Heather to think about who we might want to fill the rest of our open higher ranks. I've left them empty for far too long and I want to make sure you both have a strong team to help you lead. We have so many members now there has to be someone that could do the job. The three of us can meet some time to talk about it." "Talk" "You" Think