God and boy { Mavrick the mutt

[KingCrowley]

"You're hunting deer, not chasing it." Atreus heard his Father say and he slowed himself down to a halt. Everything he did his Father seemed to find fault with and it was getting annoying. Atreus just wanted to prove himself now that he only had his Father to guide him, his Mother was gone---and he just didn't know how to connect with Kratos. The God had told his son to show him his hunting skills, so that he knew if he was ready or not to start this journey of carrying Faye's ashes to the highest peak in all the realms. It was going well for the most part, Atreus had shown his Father that he knew how to differentiate between the different tracks left by animals with hooves. Well, it seemed chasing the deer didn't sit well with Kratos and he had to remind his son that he was hunting, not giving chase.

"Yes Father." The boy sighed dejectedly, rounding a corner and then he lost composure when the great white creature came into view, it's blue glowing antlers gleamed majestically in the sunlight.He had a perfect shot, he could shoot the animal nice and clear and have Kratos be proud of him. Taking a steady breath, Atreus drew the arrow to his chest and with an eagerness to impress, he shot the arrow even despite Kratos telling him to hold fire.

Evidently the arrow missed, flying over the head of the creature which startled it, it let out a bleat of fright and then galloped away. Atreus felt anger and frustration course through his veins after realizing he'd missed such an easy target. "Ugh!" he grunted, throwing his arms down in childish frustration.

He had no idea his Father was about to tear him a new one for his mistake.

[Mavrick the mutt]

Kratos was undoubtedly a stern man and hardly ever called his son anything other than ‘Boy’ though would occasionally call him by his name, despite the tough approach there was no doubt that Kratos loved Atreus very much and would give his life just to save the boy. Unfortunately Atreus had a habit of getting ahead of himself, especially when it came to trying to prove himself to his father, even more so now that his mother had passed and the two never really connected since Faye had been the one to take young Atreus hunting and taught him all that she was able to.

Today however was a bit different for the two because it was the first time the God had taken his son hunting, or course it started out smoothly with Kratos giving light praise when Atreus identified a set of tracks before they finally came across their target and had to remind the boy that he was hunting it....not giving chase as he ran after it, fortunately he listened and slowed himself down to a hault before rounding a corner where he encountered the massive animal with its antlers glowing blue with the sunlight, it was clear shot and out of his own eagerness drew back, “HOLD.” The boy’s father commanded but it was to late and he’d already shot only to miss the creature and scare it causing the beast to run off drawing an agitated huff from Atreus.

Furious at his son’s failure to follow orders Kratos stormed over and snatched the bow from the boy’s hands, “what are you doing!?” His voice roared startling the child “Now its guard is up! Only fire....” He continued as he felt his own anger beginning to bubble up before taking a deep breath to steady his temper though the thick sternness remained “Only Fire when I tell you to.” He said with a low growl

[KingCrowley]

Atreus was of course stunned when Kratos marched over and took his bow, yelling at him about firing only when he told him to fire. Atreus felt anger well up inside him too, wasn't he supposed to be showing Kratos what he knew? Why should he have to wait for his mark? The boy looked down at the blanket of snow at his feet and then slowly back up at Kratos who still looked incredibly pissed. Atreus uttered a small sigh and said, "I'm sorry." though he could only get more angry when Kratos told him not to be sorry, but to be better, that one actually stung the kid.

Then he was ordered to find the animal and he reached out for his bow, expecting it to be handed back to him, but Kratos kept it out of reach, telling him to find it much more firmly. Atreus had to bite down on his tongue so that he didn't answer back, and he just huffed angrily. Stupid Kratos, stupid deer, stupid everything! He stomped his foot into the snow and then walked off to try and find his prey again. He broke into a run, at this point he just wanted to get as far away from Kratos as possible. He could do this on his own, he didn't need his Father!

Atreus heard Kratos calling out to him when he was completely out of sight, but the boy didn't answer or stop, he just kept running. What was he supposed to do when he found it? He didn't have his bow or anything, this was all just ----stupid.

"Atreus, to me!" Atreus heard his Father's growl and rolled his eyes.

"Atreus to me." he mimicked under his breath in a voice that sounded like Kratos. He didn't slow down, he kept going, looking for tracks.

[Mavrick the mutt]

Kratos’s firm glare only deepened as the boy apologized, “Do not be sorry.....Be better.” He answered sternly then ordered Atreus to go and find the prey then held the bow away from him when he went to reach for it, “Find. It.” He ordered with a much firmer tone than before as he draped the weapon over his shoulder and watched as the boy huffed angrily before stomping his foot in the snow then took off to go and find his prey. It was understandable that his son was mad that he didn’t get his bow back but this is because he knew the boy would attempt another shot if he came across it again. It didn’t take long for Atreus to go out of his fathers sight and the man was soon calling for him, “Atreus to me!” He called expecting his son to obey since the forest was incredibly dangerous and no place for a boy to be on his own, not while he wasn’t ready.

As the boy continued to run he soon found himself being ambushed by a Draugr that jumped out from behind a tree and growled at the boy, fortunately Kratos heard the screech and was soon knocking it away from the child and once again denying his son his bow. “No, you are not ready- stay back!” He commanded as he began to fight the beast only for more to show up, this resulted in a rather gruesome fight and when it was finally over he turned an angered look to Atreus. “You could have been killed boy!” He growled approaching him. “I have told you over and over about going out of my sight!”

There was no denying it, Kratos was livid right now because he could have just lost his son and right now he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle that, not after losing his second wife so soon. “You could have been injured or worse!”

[KingCrowley]

Atreus continued running, and he didn't realize that he'd just run head first into danger, normally the woods were safe except for the odd bear or wolf around, but the stave that Faye put around the woods kept creatures out. To Atreus' surprise he was met with a Draugr who shrieked out his battle cry,

"DRAUGR!" Atreus half screamed, at that point Kratos had caught up, "My bow!" Atreus told him but again Kratos told him that he wasn't ready and to stay back, he obeyed but only because the Draugr looked menacing and Atreus had no means to defend himself right now. He watched in awe as his Father tore the Draugr a new one, ending it's being quite violently. The boy then looked up when an angered look was turned on him.

This wasn't going to be good.

Atreus winced when Kratos yelled that he could have been killed and he looked down at the snow when the God told him that he had told him over and over again about going out of his site, then mentioned that he could have been injured or worse. Atreus scowled a little bit and muttered,

"Would have been fine if I had my bow." under his breath.

[Mavrick the mutt]

The fight between the God and monster only lasted for a few moments before it was over and the creatures corps was left laying on the ground after having been ripped in half, it had been quite a while since Kratos last fought a beast but it seemed his spartan strength had yet to fail him in combat. The man turned his angry gaze on his son and began yell at the boy about how he could have been killed then went on about how he’d told Atreus multiple times about going out of his sight. He then heard the boy mumble something under his breath and the man narrowed his eyes, “Speak up if you have something to say boy.” He growled crossing his arms over his chest and waited a few moments, when he said nothing Kratos looked around for a moment before spotting a stump and decided he would need to deal with the boy’s reckless behavior before they continued with their hunt.

The god then walked over to the stump and pulled Atreus to where he was now standing in front of him, stern glare still holding strong. “It would seem I need to go about a different method with correcting you since repeating myself does not seem to work.” He said though his voice wasn’t as stern as it had been a few moments ago but it was evident he was still angry.

[KingCrowley]

Atreus just continued to glare down at the snow when his Father told him to speak up if he had something to say. He didn't think repeating those words was such a good idea, so he kept his mouth shut, though that was probably not a good idea either. The boy then looked up as Kratos started moving toward a stump, and then he pulled him over to join him. Atreus had never actually been spanked, his Father was always away hunting and his Mother didn't believe in violence----despite marrying a god of war, but Atreus didn't know that.

The boy glared at his Father as he stood before him, telling him that he should choose a different method to correct him as repeating himself wasn't working. He felt like rolling his eyes but knew that would be a bad move on his part. "You already took my bow, what else can you do?" he asked, some attitude in his tone.

[Mavrick the mutt]

Surprisingly enough this would be Kratos’s first time actually spanking the boy since he’d never done so in the past, this of course was because his wife didn’t believe in violence despite her having married one of the most violent men to have ever existed, let alone a god of war, that however was something young Atreus didn’t know about his father since neither parent had ever told him.

With Faye now gone it meant Kratos was on his own when it came to ensuring the boy’s safety, this also meant there would be no more simple punishments such as taking away his bow, especially not after having almost lost his life. Instead it was time for a different approach which would happen in the form of a sore behind as he pulled Atreus to stand before him after he’d seated himself on the stump and said that he would be going with a different form of punishment since repeating himself didn’t seem to work, the man then listened as Atreus said he’d already taken his bow before asking what else the man could do, unfortunately Kratos had caught the bit of attitude in his tone and simply pulled the boy over to where he was laying face down across his lap. “You are about to find out.” He said planting a firm hand on the small of his back before pulling his pants down to his knees leaving his pale little butt exposed.

[KingCrowley]

Atreus was punished by his Mother of course, but never in the form of physical correction. Normally she would confine him to the house or send him to bed without supper. Atreus had never really received any discipline from his Father, as they were never close enough to get on one another's nerves. The young boy looked at his Father, asking him what else he could do since he had his bow. He wouldn't be able to ground him as they had to take his mother's ashes to the top of the mountain. So what exactly could he do?

He was about to find out. Atreus found himself over his Father's lap, his bottom bared. The boy's eyes widened and he gasped, he couldn't believe this was about to be his fate, "Father! You can't!" he whined.

[Mavrick the mutt]

Kratos wanted many times in the past to take the lad over his knee but was always convinced other wise by the boy’s mother, this of course would result in the man grumbling under his breath as he left the cabin to either go hunt or build something to take his mind off of the situation while Faye delt with their son. Without saying a word the man pulled Atreus face down across his lap and bared his little backside and told him he would soon find out after being asked what more he could do since he’d already taken his bow and was he ever gonna find out.

It didn’t take long for the child to put the pieces together about what his father planned to do and was soon whining that he couldn’t, this merely amused the man slightly before bringing his large hand down across the lads backside, of course he held back on the force due to Atreus’s size but was painful none the less. “I can because I am your father-” He said sternly with that deep gravely voice of his before bringing his hand down again aiming a bit lower this time “- and will because your actions nearly cost you your life.”