Chapter 2

Aspen was awoken out of bed from a soft knock on the door. He growled, wanting nothing to do with another person, having just watched his father die, he didn't want to do much of anything.

Living in the castle from being the son of a very important man, there were often people confronting him about matters do do with the army, though at that moment, Aspen wanted quite badly to ignore whoever it might be on the other side of the door.

He forced himself out of bed, telling himself he would dismiss whoever it was so he could be left alone.

He recognized the wolf fur immediately, the woman his father had tasked with the job of training the arctic wolf to fight, and how to hold his ground in battle. He realized then that it was the usual time that the wolf would train Aspen, her long hair already in a messy bun, but Aspens sense of time had been ruined by his difficult feelings on his father's death, having no idea of the time up to this moment.

"Sabrina, I think you already know I am in no mood for training today." Aspen snapped, already beginning to close the door.

But the grey worm held out her foot, stopping him from fully shutting the door on her.

"Aspen, you have no idea how sorry I am that your father has come to this unfortunate death, may he rest well in the realm of the spirits." She said, tone softer than her usual demanding voice whenever she coached Aspen during their training sessions. "But this should make training even more important today," she continued. "You can't stand idly by, letting your mind wander and rot, I've found it's much more beneficial for your mental wellbeing to keep yourself occupied, try to keep your mind off what I am so sorry you are having to go through now."

Aspen tried to repress his rage that the woman would even think this was an appropriate time for something like training. His mind felt so slow and ineffective that he wasn't sure he would be able to practice with the sword that day.

But on the other hand, he remembered his fathers dying words, how he'd wanted his son to be the one leading th army of furs who defended the continent, and that would be quite difficult without the proper training.

He sighed, broad shoulders slumping. "Fine." He snapped. "But if I tell you that I've had enough, then that is it."

Sabrina gave him a soft smile, "Good choice. I can tell you from my own experiences that this should be helpful" the wolf said as she and Aspen walked through the castle and towards the courtyard, a perfect area with a great expanse which was ideal for his training.

As they entered the courtyard, the sun rising across the horizon, covering the sky in a bright magenta, the grey wolf handed Aspen one of the long metal swords, the blade dulled enough that it would cut through the skin, but never leave any significant damage, a simple way to track how successful one's defensive moves had been.

Aspen gripped the sword in his hands, trying to put his mind into focus, but feeling it slip out of his control, his breaths shuddering as the image of his fathers dead corpse floated into his mind, the healers taking him away despite Aspens pathetic pleas.

He felt angry at himself. His father would never have wanted to see his son act so cowardly and pathetic, begging like a child for the healers to let him stay with his father. His father had always told him to command the room, never show vulnerability for anyone, it was a show of weakness.

He gripped the sword tighter in his paws as he and Sabrina faced each other, the anger of him practically going against what his father had tried to bring him to be caused his fury to deepen as he clenched the sword, angling the thin blade at Sabrina, a stoic expression on his face, willing his face into neutrality. He wouldn't allow himself to be weak, especially not staring now.

He swung the sword forcefully, the anger within him fueling his movements as he swung the blade, the grey wolf quickly dodging the attack with a quick move to the side, swings he blade swiftly cutting Aspens forearm, a thin line of blood forming below the fur.

"Simple mistake, you left yourself open to attack with that move." Sabrina prodded. "I'm quite sure we went over this."

Aspen grinder his jaws together, feeling the frustration build within himself as the second round started, the Arctic wolf, time and time again making foolish decisions he knew he should have known would lead to the failure.

Aspen snarled as he thrusted the blade forward, leaving his entire torso exposed as Sabrina swiftly made a shallow cut at Aspens abdomen.

He let out an angered growl, his paws clenched into fists, practically burning in frustration.

Sabrina frowned, looking at the Arctic wolf carefully. "Aspen, are you alright? She quickly asked. "We can take a break if you so wish." She suggested, lowering her sword.

Aspen clenched his jaw, not wanting to be a failure, not wanting to be such a disappointment the way his father had constantly seemed to fear he would turn out as. "I'm fine." He growled, stepping back to the starting stance.

Sabrina cocked her head, strands of her long brunette locks falling from their bun. But she alas decided to go along with it, a hesitant look on her face as if she was worried for him.

Aspens immediately rushed at her with all force, trying to use his speed and surprise to his advantage, but the grey wolf instantly held out a leg, tripping Aspen as he landed roughly on his forearms, the skin below the fur being rubbed raw from the rough material of the stone ground.

He forced himself to his feet yet again, emotions flaring through him, a mess of ruthless feelings that racked through him, the same word repeating through his head, the arctic wolf feeling powerless to stop hearing it. Failure.

Aspen charged at the grey wolf blindly once again, paying no farther attention as he closed the distance between the two, arm raised to cut.

He was instantly deflected, Sabrina moving swiftly to the side of him, quickly slicing the blade shallowly on his chest.

By this point, Aspens frustration had reached its limit, the wolf making a foolish decision to try to pull the sword out of Sabrina's paws with his own paw. As he tried to grab the blade, the move resulted in the sword jerking suddenly at Aspens decision, Sabrina's eyes going wide, her paws still wrapped along the handle of the blade while still trying to come to a stop form her quick dodge, the sword cutting into the flesh of the Arctic wolf.

He howled as the blade cut deeply into his chest, much more deeply than Sabrina clearly intended as he sunk to his knees, pressing his hands to his chest in an effort to stop the bleeding.

"Aspen! What the hell was that about?!" Sabrina shouted at him, her eyes a mix of frustration, anger, and concern as she knelt down next to the Arctic wolf, assessing the severity of the cut.

The blade had clearly gone deep into Aspens flesh, the bleeding not being controlled by simple pressure applied, the blood still streaming from under his paws, staining his white fur red.

"Oh, fuck!" Sabrina but our through clenched jaws. "Wait here, I'll get a healer." She said quickly.

Aspen watched as the grey wolf quickly ran back into the castle, turning the corner quickly to where he knew the healers worked. He sat down, trying not to whimper from the pain even though he believed he was alone. One thing he had learned about this castle was that it always seemed like someone was watching, with the amount of furs who resided within it.

But even with the anger that coursed through him just minutes ago, it quickly dissipated, leaving a hollow feeling in the Arctic wolf. The realization of how foolish and uncalculated his moves had been caused his disappointment in himself only to rise. He felt like exactly what he had feared to much to become himself, what his father would have frowned at him for being. Weak.