He tells his dad as they train about how he once saw a hunter lookin' at 'em while they were some ways away from the cabin, like they were the meal. Like Aunt Holly would be his meal and not the game. Guy had walked up to them and talked all tough to his aunt, pretendin' to want one of their loot.
"It was easy, takin' out his eye." Si brags slightly "It was almost like the dipshit didn't even recognize me as a threat until it was too late, or my slingshot. Makes sense, I couldn't have been more than eight or nine then. Holly May took my hand and started runnin' back home with me, didn't even hesitate."
"Good." Coriolanus says proudly "When we overthink our choices or hesitate too much, that's usually when the enemy goes for our throats."
"I'd wanted to stay, finish the job. But she took off and would've pulled my arm out the socket if I hadn't run with her. When we'd gotten far enough away from him, Aunt Holly put her hands on my shoulders and thanked me. Told me I was very brave, smart and had amazing aim, but to never do anything that risky again. She hugged me so tight I couldn't well breathe, as she kissed the top of my head. She made me promise not to tell my momma nothin' 'bout what happened, we both knew she'd have had a conniption at the thought of me bein' in danger."
"I can only imagine how badly your mother would react to you getting your hands dirty like that." His father agrees, understanding himself how necessary it was to keep his songbird unconcerned with things she shouldn't be worried about anyway.
Something his son seems to forgive him for now as he's matured these last few months under his care, physically and otherwise.
"Something tells me this isn't the dirtiest they've gotten though," he adds "Correct?"
A moment passes before Silas Ochre concedes "Meetin' you has explained a few things, some I hasn't even dared to wonder out loud. I'd had always known my instincts were more like Holly May's than my mother's, I didn't quite know why. Momma's has always had a much stronger aversion to hurtin' or killin' things than I had. Figured it must've been about nature, I was born with a gut for things she wasn't. Or maybe Holly May just had a strong influence on me, and she did. But it was always more than that."
"I'd be extremely surprised if the woman who helped your mother raised you had had no affect on who you became as a person." His father says "Tigris certainly affected me, and Grandma'am, even my teachers in school. I wouldn't be who I am without them."
"Yeah, Aunt Holly had that same thing I do, an acceptance of violence when it felt necessary, ya know? But even she has limits I don't always feel."
"Oh?"
"Most I get, like when huntin' don't kill the babies since they're needed for reproduction and if you kill them the parents will see this as an unsuitable place to have them and we'll be drivin' our food sources away. Don't eat all the eggs you find in a bird's nest, for the same reasons. When fishin', throw back the small ones. All those limits involved not punchin' down, not targetin' unfairly."
"Naturally, so then leaving the defenseless alone isn't your problem?"
"No...What I struggled with was not punchin' up." He admitted as he threw another punch onto the bag his father held for him "Maybe it was just me bein' an arrogant ass, overestimatin' my abilities. But it grated on me that I couldn't lash out on someone who I thought deserved it. Spenidin' more time with you has helped me understand that part of myself better. Holly May was just tryin' to protect me, after all. My momma even more so. I think you're the only one who understands that kind of protection ain't what I need."
It took weeks for him to forgive his father for endangering his mother, for lyin' to them all, for hidin' his brothers from him. They had screamin' matches that surely woke the dead for a few times before he finally understood why his father did what he did. His dad loves his momma, that much he couldn't doubt. Love makes you stupid sometimes, makes you impulsive and clouds your head. His dad's human, doin' the best he can to keep everyone he loves safe and happy. His step-mother didn't understand that, and was a major part of why he didn't trust her. As far as he's concerned, she's only ever worked for her own sake. Can't entirely blame her, but can't blame him for keepin' her in his sights neither.
