Three of her daughters had indicated their interests, but her eldest two children had been too I'll for her to truly learn their minds. It was passed time to remedy that lack. They were all nearly yearlings now, and it was overdue for them to take up their formal learning. She was pleased with her younger children's choices, and she had no doubt that her elder two would also make the choices best for them. Trotting to the forest territory, she called first for her son. The only son of her litter, and the only son she would ever bear. She regretted the boy would not have a brother to grow up with, but she had no interest in performing the required act to bear more children. Perhaps if the gods sent her a second son, she would raise him as her own, but she did not she it as likely that an acceptable substitute for Finnvi blood would simply appear on Yfir's border, given the lack of quality in Ardent's bloodlines and the improbability of a child surviving long enough to do so.

Ah, it was simply not to be so. Still, her mind lingered thoughtfully on the possibility of future problems for her burly son as she awaited his arrival.

In the middle of the Forest was a large pile of pine needles, dirt and whatever else littered the forest floor. Deep gouges criss-crossed the dirt around the pile in an uneven circle; the marks clearly created during the construction of the pile. Laying on top of the pile was a tangle of freshly severed branches whose bases were riddled with teeth marks and nearly bare of bark. Every once in a while the pine needle pile and all the crap piled on top of it rose ever so slightly as the beast underneath it took a breath. Taufr hadn't been having much luck with hunting as of late. He was just a little too bulky and a little too clumsy to put a hurt on the rabbit population, and since chasing didn't seem to be working he decided to try something else. He'd seen plenty of spiders sit perfectly still in their webs until a bug came along and then wham! the spider had a meal. So why not try the sit-and-wait method? It seemed to work for the spiders. Granted, the chase-and-pounce method seemed to work for most wolves, so what did he know? His mother's voice somehow managed to filter down through the crap piled on Taufr's head. As soon as it reached his ears the boy's head shot up out of the pile. He canted his head to the side as he listened. She was calling for him only? Yes! Overjoyed with the chance to get his mom all to himself Taufr leaped out of his pile in an explosion of forest debris. He adored his sisters, but sometimes he just wanted to hang out with someone who wasn't a girl. And who better to hang out with than mom, who was totally not a girl? Rounding the base of one of the Forest's huge trees brought Katja into view. After sobering a little (because grown ups were serious and he desperately wanted to be one) Taufr trotted closer. "Móðir," he greeted, his tone curious. Was it time for a lesson? He wanted to tell her about the ravens that had followed him around earlier, but first he wanted to know why he'd been called. In all honesty he was hoping she was going to take him to the battlefield or something and sic him on an enemy. That's what ravens meant, right? Hm...maybe he should tell her about the ravens first. "Talk" "You" Think

Her son's appearance brought a gleam of satisfied pride to the viking (though she looked askance at the small remainder of debris touching his pale striped fur) and she stepped forward to touch the now-taller wolf's shoulder with her cheek. "Taufr," she greeted in return. "We have much to speak of, now that you are well and old enough for responsibilities." She gestured for him to join her as she paced away, her expression clearly pensive. "You are my only son, Taufr, the only son of my blood that I will bear. This will leave you with great responsibilities towards your sisters and this pack should I leave this world. They will be well able to defend themselves, of course - " except for Alfrun and perhaps Naudir, though the girl was proving capable enough in other ways that Katja suspected she'd be capable in that way as well - "and it may be that one of them eventually takes over as drottning. But you will always be their only brother, and they will always need you." She turned her silver gaze to him. "What path you take to that end is up to you to decide. As a fighter, a healer, a hunter, a trader, a priest... any option you chose will be important to the future."

His mother's pointed look didn't go unnoticed and, trying to be discreet, Taufr's gaze flicked to the place she was looking. When one glance down wasn't enough he peeked a second time and finally realized what she was looking at. The insides of his ears flamed red and the moment she turned away from him Taufr quickly flicked the bit of debris off with his nose. He hoped that was the last of it. Just to be safe he quickly twisted around to look at his back to be sure nothing clung to him there. Once he was sure nothing else was stuck to him (well, not on his back, anyway) the boy jogged after his mother until he was walking almost abreast with her. He nodded along in understanding as she spoke, but was going to remain quiet until he felt it was his turn to speak. Taufr didn't really like thinking about the idea of carrying on should his mother die, but he understood that it was necessary. Death, he knew, was a part of life and no one was immune to it. Not even his mother, who struck him as pretty infallible. Katja turned and rested a solemn gaze on the boy. He nodded again as she finished speaking and said in a firm voice, "I understand, and I will always be there for them." Her final statement almost felt like a question and it gave him pause. He really wanted to fight, but was defending the path he was supposed to take? Did there need to be a difference between work and sport? Taufr frowned thoughtfully. "What if I don't know exactly what I want to do yet? And do I have to pick just one? I want to fight..but trading sounds interesting." It sounded a lot like sparring for the mind, honestly. Slowly he puzzled through the things she'd listed. "I don't think I'm meant to be a priest; I don't got what Alfrun's got...I don't think I want to hunt all the time either..." His frown deepened. "Healing sounds interesting too, but I don't feel pulled to it, you know?" "Talk" "You" Think