Lee's Religion (REWORKING)

Ch. 3.3 // Axel and Ashe

Axel dusted off the dirt from his paws and wiped his forehead, the sweat mixing with the dirt a little. He laughed and looked at the beautiful line of plants he'd collected. He and Ashe had set up the specimens so they would be alright during the week they were visiting.

"Thanks a lot, Ashe. The magic in these crystals is really something." He said, leaning close to one of the bottles that had a glowing crystal in the bottom.

Ashe laughed a little and shrugged, "It's just a trick I learned. And now it's your trick! It takes a while to master it, but it's not that hard, right?"

He looked at them again and sighed. He set down his journal he had been taking copious notes in. "I certainly hope so. The ones you let me practice on turned out okay, so I think the notes I took might be enough."

Ashe sat on his bed and huffed, "Well, not to mention you know where I live now!"

"Y-yeah." He said, suddenly remembering why it was so uncomfortable to be around this new wolf. He scratched his head and started pacing a little. "H-hey, Ashe? Can I ask you a few questions?"

They tilted their head a little and twitched their ears curiously. "Sure, go ahead."

"It's about my dad, and the tribe and everything. I know it's a big set of questions..." He started, then mentally tried to sort everything out. "Okay. So first question. My dad's real name is Chrom?"

Ashe giggled and looked around the room, "That's how everyone knew him when he grew up here. It's his tribe name. He assumed a new name when he moved to the city. Some of the wolves who decide to move away change their names, or adopt new ones. Just for the ease."

"But why? The tribes don't do any harm-"

"We aren't well received in the cities, still. It's mostly to do with industry and the magic in the areas. I don't know all the politics but...it's a serious issue. That's why we're so adamant about keeping our traditions." Ashe said with a bit of sadness in their eyes.

Axel thought about this for a while and looked at his phone, which had full signal here. "You have technology though," He said, "So you aren't that set in your old ways, right?"

Ashe looked at him with a bit of a frown, "You speak as if we're not your tribe. I know it's hard when you grow up on the outside." They said, but cleared their throat a little to answer his question, "It is true though. We have adopted many modern things! I have a tv and computer in my home. It's not the inside of the rooms, it's how we live and how we work. The traditions upheld by the ways we communicate with nature. Important things that have been forgotten in the cities." They looked at the back of the room which held a small shrine with a few statues on it. They smiled back at Axel, "For instance, I'm sure you don't see shrines a lot there."

Axel's face darkened. He stopped pacing and tapped his footpaw. "We don't have them in our house because of my mother. She's ..."

The androgynous wolf folded their ears back and lowered their head some in regret. Axel saw this and winced. They looked like they had forgotten about his mother and how awful she could be. He took a breath and sat on the bed next to them. "It's alright. It's not horrible, we're not abused. She just has a different religion and can be very strict at times."

"That doesn't seem fair." Ashe said quietly.

They put a gentle hand on Axel's shoulder, which brought more support than he thought it would. He smiled at them and felt the overwhelming urge to lean against them, but he wasn't ready to accept this wolf as anyone he could confide in. He didn't understand what was going on with them and his father, and it was in the back of his mind now.