He continues to sit in this act of defiance, his protest subtle and non-violent, assured that wherever his Mother seeks to take him is far to far and that his interest in walking such a distance has dwindled. Never is forever taking him to places he cares not to see, walking him long distances to find things he did not desire to find and he is often left to watch her as she eats whatever food it is she has found and declared her latest desire for the day. If his Mother seeks to do the same then he will not abide her. He dislikes surprises. Indeed as he grows he will come to attempt to eliminate them entirely through his own methods- though indeed there are surely few whom understand what it is he will be by the time he has grown and how many will one day look upon him with awe instead of scorn as even his own Mother does now in shame at his laziness as she continues to walk away in some belief he may follow her. He is no longer a mewling pup- he does not need her milk so often and he is assured that if any are to break their conviction it will be his Mother. Her love for her child, her instinct to protect him will see her turn back before he goes forward. He has already deduced this and as such sees fit to test its theory upon her. Mere moments later she turns, as he expected, her gaze resting upon him as if his question had caused her great thought when he is assured he already knows the truth of it.

He simply nods at her answer, seeing no need to ask anything else of her for now, though he finds his thought curious of it all the same. He wonders of the other whom his Mother had taken from, so unaware that it had been to those battle cries of much the same wolf he had been born. He will find out more later, will ask it of Lonhro again, for despite his strangeness- his older brother is a clever creature, one underestimated even by Gunsynd though such a thing will not be known for many seasons yet. He speaks again and again his Mother hesitates, unwilling to part from him as again he suspected though this time her words seem to hold interest to him as he rises at last to walk forward- if only for his own curiosity now at her words.

“Why did you chose a fool for the Father of your son when you might have chosen any other?”

It is a sudden question and perhaps a no less shocking one, spoken with the same indifferent tones as so much of what he is given to say, as if perhaps he does not fully anticipate the wrongness of what he has said of the imprint of his own Mother and the wolf whom had sired him, continuing to wander beside her now all the same. The boy never having before displayed any opinion upon Tobias- until this moment.

“I learn something new every day Mother- despite my blood that would imply I don’t. Had you chosen my Father better then maybe I would not be so inclined to stubbornness.”

Green eyes lift briefly to the blue of her own, meeting them, seeming to seek some reaction as children often do when they walk upon the boundary line of what they know is surely a fine line at that. Whether he believes his words or not cannot be said, for he has never spoken any opinion before and indeed perhaps he merely seeks reaction from her, to test her limits and patience as any young boy and yet- perhaps he believes what he says, perhaps he has finally come to understand, upon the cusp of his first year…….just exactly what his Father is and who his Father is.

“Why would you give the pack to my sister who will follow you, when you could one day give it to me- who will not. Would it not be better not to follow you?”

Someone, it would seem, has begun to understand just what faults his family may have and yet where and from whom he has learned them remains to be seen.