As Asmodeus grew, one of his favorite pasttimes became pouncing on smaller creatures. Mice, squirrels, and the occasional snake would panic beneath his paws while he looked down upon them, pretending to be a God and deciding whether they were to live or die. Of course, his mother had instilled in him some sort of fairness and he knew it wasn't right to kill things you didn't intend to eat, so nine times out of ten he'd release the critter citing some form of 'I take pity on you, puny mortal!' and proudly watching as it scampered away knowing he gave it it's life.

He was in a pretty good mood what with all the benevolent God-ing, and was humming a little tune to himself while he pranced about the lake peering under boulders and into nearby shrubs to look for his next 'victim'. A soft quack drew his attention and his mouth made a small 'O' as he thought upon this new species of prey.

The growing pup leapt forward, missing the duck by quite a distance and not even managing to take a feather from it's butt as it flew away. To it's departing rear end he called out "You're welcome!! Enjoy your second chance at life you jerk!"

(note to self: set pre-Eligos talk)

Thalia's focus had shifted wildly away from Aerie since her little talk with Theory, and though soon she needed to sit and think properly about her future, in the meantime she knew she needed to connect with the members of Aerie she hadn't spent much time with. Would it be possibly for her to leave Aerie, in any sense? Her loyalty would always remain here, to her family and to Eligos and above all else, to the Fallen God, but she needed to make sure everyone else knew that. She wouldn't allow them to doubt her loyalty to them.

Even the opinions of the youngest ones mattered. They were the future of the Abraxas; they would likely live on long after she did and in her place they would need to forge a path for their family to achieve true greatness, if it didn't happen in her lifetime. That was what crossed her mind when she stumbled across the scent of one of the youngest Abraxas, and warily she followed it. Only when she saw a duck frantically fleeing did his position become immediately obvious, and Thalia redirected her path toward him. Thalia wasn't terribly skilled at interacting with kids, and she didn't know the first thing about talking to Asmodeus, but she wasn't opposed to trying. "Chasing ducks?" She called out finally when she got within earshot of him, tilting her head slightly.

Asmodeus was still grumbling when the voice sounded behind him, turning to direct his attention towards her and trying not to look too offended that someone got to watch him lose his prey. "Oh, no, not chasing." He clarified, shaking his head slowly as if the very idea was beneath him. "I'm just.." The pup had to stop and think, to come up with a proper explanation that wouldn't sound too outlandish nor make him seem too silly to the adult. "I'm reminding the little woodland creatures of the power of Abraxas, that's all. That duck was scared out of his mind, I let him live because I'm not hungry." He nodded then, convinced by his own explanation. Had he wanted to catch the duck, he definitely would have caught it. Yep.

He turned away from the lake towards her, stepping up and giving her a small sniff before his rapid thoughts distracted him away from introductions. "You know one day I'm going to be such a good fighter that ducks will be beneath me I bet. I won't even see them anymore because they'll smell me coming and run." The boy leaped forward in a mock fighter's stance, spreading his limbs wide and lowering his head between his shoulders to snarl out over the plains. His tail was still wagging, which perhaps he'd need to work on if he wanted to intimidate anything. "What about you? I bet even deer run away from you 'cause you're bigger and stronger."

Thalia would hardly judge the boy for losing his prey; ducks were hardly beginner targets, as far as she was concerned. She quirked a brow slightly as Asmodeus denied her accusation and tried to find the words for what he actually had been doing. Not chasing ducks, not hunting, but.. reminding the woodland creatures of the greatness of the Abraxas. Well, he certainly sounded like an Abraxas then, didn't he?  Amusement shone faintly in her bright gaze as she watched him, studying his expression as he spoke. There was no doubt at all that this was a child of Pyrrhic. "Of course," Thalia replied simply. Even if she didn't fully believe that he hadn't intended on catching the duck, it didn't really matter. He believed in himself, which was often the most important thing of all.

She let out a soft laugh - hardly laughing at Asmodeus, but instead filled with an unusual delight at a young one with such a strong drive toward greatness. "I have no doubt you'll be even greater than that. It just takes time and training." Talking to this kid was already proving easier than she thought, maybe because he naturally looked up to her - it was a stark contrast to how she felt around most other wolves, like they might immediately see her weaknesses and pry her facade apart, splintering it into a million tiny pieces. Around Asmodeus she felt like she could just b, and even in light of the changes that were no doubt coming for her, she felt like a weight had been temporarily lifted from her shoulders. "Even I have work to do still. We can always get better, stronger. We're just... naturally predisposed to being a step above everyone else. Woodland creatures, sure, but mostly other wolves," Thalia explained easily. Surely he knew that already, and she didn't mind confirming his beliefs.

Asmodeus assumed the only reason she was not confirming her ferocity was out of some form of humbleness, and while he listened politely the pup did not appear convinced by her words. There was just no way that any adult of his family wasn't already perfect - masters of their craft - and any reassurance that Thalia too had work to do was likely just to reassure the in-training pup that he and his sister weren't miles behind them all. Regardless she was complimenting him and his future as well, and Deus politely latched onto that subject so he could let Thalia think he believed her silly, modest lies. "I'm training so hard - I even have a friend I train with!" He assured her, straightening his pose into something more proud and flashing her a bright smile. "She lives in Valhalla, maybe she'll even teach me special Valhalla fighting secrets. Does Valhalla have special fighting secrets? Do we have special fighting secrets!?" Deus' voice grew more excitable and pitchy, and he began to hop back and forth from paw to paw. "If we do, you gotta teach me. I promise I won't tell Aoife!" "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

While greatness was endowed upon them, Thalia did believe that, it was the type of thing that needed to be carefully fostered. While the Abraxas were superior by virtue of simply existing, it wasn't difficult to stray off the path the Fallen God intended for them. Eligos had declared that they needed to orient themselves in a different direction. Their greatness was starting to be questioned by those inclined to spew needless violence wherever they went. That wasn't the Abraxas way - surely they were capable of violence when necessary, but flying off the handle was far from ideal. It wasn't the reputation that they wanted to foster, even if they knew they were capable of it.

"Oh, do you?" Thalia asked with a slight grin. Fostering relations with a neighboring pack was always a good thing, even if it was just one child to another. Perhaps that child Deus spoke of would speak highly of him to their parents. The Abraxas didn't have the best reputation everywhere, and that needed to change... and even the work of one small child could help them toward that goal. "I don't know if they do. I suppose you could say we do, though." For a moment she faltered, remembering that her own fight history hadn't exactly been rife with success.

"I like to remind myself... that with the Fallen God, all things are possible. If we lose a fight, it is simply because that was what He wanted. Sometimes we we must be reminded that we are imperfect, and only with proper guidance and training can become what we are meant to be. I do like to call on Him when I fight though. It helps me focus on the fight, and let everything else fade into the background," she admitted. Her little insight was likely not quite what he'd hoped for, but she hoped he'd take it to heart anyway. "I can show you a trick or two though, if you're interested in a little training," Thalia offered him after a moment of thought. She wasn't quite sure how to train anyone to fight, but she figured she could wing it. Training the future generation of Abraxas was too important.