Alrighty dighty dippity doo. Lets see what I can do for you. I was hitting writers block, so I did a slight time skip in the fic. The truth of the matter is I don't want to go through all of Whitley's childhood. Because lets face it, if he wants to be like TR, some of the coolest stuff he did was when he got a little older. Now obviously we don't have that same amount of time. So I'm going to throw in some time skips from time to time.

I'm also trying to think of how I could get Whitley to truly start living like TR. Because imagine right now he's TR at Harvard versus when he became a cowboy/rough rider

I'll think of something eventually.

Anyways, you're probably wondering why there was such a large gap between chapters. Well I was debating becoming a Catholic priest for a bit, so I was trying to see if that would be right for me. Decided after a bit it wasn't. And now I'm focusing on my other hobbies and fics

"I thought this would be easier by now..." Whitley said as he just finished up his basic exercises.

It had been a year since Klein had first given him that book on frontiers. And since then he had tried to change his life as much as possible. But there was only so much you could do in an environment where your every move was monitored by an overzealous father. Whitley wished he could see his father as just his father, but now that Weiss had started to become a little more rebellious in her own way, Whitley felt like the pressure on him had increased. Klein had brought him a book on exercise, but most of the stuff he couldn't do yet. So his routine consisted mostly of bodyweight exercises, running and rowing. While he had gotten stronger in the past year, he still felt like he was struggling just to get through his routine sometimes.

However, after he finished showering he ran out to the stables. He smiled as he walked up to one horse in the stable.

"Hello Gletscher." He said as he pet a pure white Arabian on the head.

He had wanted to start riding horses ever since he read that book. And for once faith smiled on him. While his father would think the reason he wanted to ride horses was uncouth and uncivilized. He did associate horses with prize winning derbies and races. So naturally, he did end up having a stable added to the Schnee property. One of the horses he brought was Gletscher, who Whitley had bonded with immediately.

His father had paid for Whitley to have proper equestrian lessons. But when his father wasn't looking, Whitley would hop on Gletscher bareback and do some proper riding.

"Lovely day isn't it?" He asked as he used a ladder to hop on Gletscher.

The horse only whinnied in response as they rode out of the stable. Whitley loved the feeling of riding his horse. The wind in his hair, the cool nip of the breeze as it caressed his face. And the sudden rush he got as he could feel Gletscher galloping at full speed. One of the servants watched Whitley ride his horse out of the stable and he shook his head.

"Master Jacques would be cross if he saw Whitley refusing to wear a helmet again." He said as he went back to cleaning some of the stables.

It was true. Whitley hated the traditional garb he saw on the jockies his father would bet on. He preferred a simple jacket and letting his hair flow free. He passed by Weiss who was currently practicing fencing in another part of the property. Whitley couldn't remember the last time he had a conversation with either of his sisters. Both had gravitated towards each other. But at the same time they all seemed to do their own thing. Winter was focusing on the Atlas Military Academy, Weiss was focusing on her own studies and training. Whitley now knew the benefits of physical training. But he couldn't help but feel alone.

He could remember before the incident at Weiss's birthday party, his sisters would enjoy spending time with him. But ever since that happened, they both almost seemed to avoid him. He felt a frown coming on his face as he had Gletscher slow down. Why did it seem like his sisters didn't want him in their lives anymore? Was it just because of their different schedules? No that couldn't be it. Weiss and Winter were practically about to be separated for the first time since Weiss's birth, but they were still spending time with each other. So what was wrong with him? He brought Gletscher down to a light walk as he stared off into the horizon. Once he had his mind set on negative thoughts, it was really hard to keep his mind off of them.

"You're too much like your father, that's why they abandoned you." A voice in the back of his head screamed.

"No...that's not true at all." Whitley said as he dismounted Gletscher and walked by a small pond full of fish.

It was hardly the life he wanted for himself. The more he had learned about Frontier life, the more envious he felt of the men who got to live it. While here he was a rich boy with all his needs taken care of. Whitley never knew hunger, never knew pain, but he also never knew courage or bravery. It may have been ridiculous that a 9 year old was already having thoughts of wanting to change his life. But truth is his life was boring and routine.

He looked into the pond and saw the little koi fish swimming around. And in his mind he pictured an image he saw from Mistral. Mistral did have large roaming frontiers. Most would think it was nothing but city, but that didn't even include the wide array of untapped land. All the kingdoms were like that. Each had their own vast wilderness, whether it was forest, mountains or desert. There were so many places he wanted to explore. If Only he could get the chance.

"You know, if you're going to disobey your fathers wishes about not wearing a helmet, you could at least strap one to Gletscher's saddle." Klein said as he was doing some gardening around the koi fish pond.

"Sorry Klein, I just got so excited to ride." Whitley said as he pet Gletscher.

"You seem down Master Whitley." He said as he threw some food to the Koi.

"Oh I've just been thinking again."

"Care to tell?" Klein's eyes turned yellow as he got more curious.

"It's nothing, just some silly thoughts." Whitley said as he looked into the distance.

"Come now, if you really thought that you wouldn't have been deep in thought for the past five minutes." He said as Whitley sighed, no sense in lying to Klein, he knew enough about Whitley to know when he was hiding something.

"It's just, do you ever feel like you're stuck?" He asked as Klein looked confused.

"Master Whitley, I believe we already had this conversation a year ago." He said as Whitley shook his head.

"I don't mean like stuck here, I mean just stuck in general." He said as he looked at the happy fish swimming in the pond.

"It's just, Weiss and Winter don't want anything to do with me, father's putting more pressure on me, and the more he pushes me towards what he wants, the more interested I get in the stories of frontier life." Whitley said as he also threw some food to the Koi.

"The more I learn about life outside these walls, the more envious I find myself of the people outside." He said as he took a sip of a water bottle he had with him.

"I'm terrified that I'll be nothing more than a rich boy in a prestigious job for no other reason that who my father is." He said as that had been weighing on his thoughts for awhile.

"I want to know what it would be like to go somewhere, a place where people don't look at me as Jacques Schnee's son, but as some new guy who needs to be taught. I don't want everyone around me to treat me like I'm only special because of what family I was born into. I know it sounds weird, but the more I hear about men who have to live their lives out on the frontier having to survive off their own wits. The more jealous I am. They're tough as nails, and they know what they need to do to live their life to the fullest. And here I am with dreams I can't follow because father wouldn't approve." Whitley said as Klein nodded along.

"He's afraid he'll never live up to the standards he has in his head."

"I'm scared Klein, I'm scared of dying a rich boy in my own bed without ever knowing what its like to truly live."