Was she cranky? Of course. Of course Cy was cranky. How could she not be? The puppies that she was denying carrying were growing bigger by the day. It was a drain on her physical strength, but her emotional strength too. She'd done her best to stay close to the band, to keep busy, to actually be a part of the family but... shit was hard, okay? Shit was hard for her, especially as someone who was sulky and reclusive by nature. She made her way to the edge of the river that flowed through the valley. It was pretty here, as it was in the willows. They'd ended up in an awfully pretty part of the land, she'd give them that. Along the river, it seemed that the first of the blackberries were starting to grow. The wraith examined one of the short, stout bushes with interest. While many of the berries were still green, or just starting to turn pink, at least a few were already an inky purple-black. Carefully, she plucked one free. It was still tart, but not in a bad way. Cyanide gently plucked the last few ripe ones from this bush and piled them on a decently sized scrap of cloth before bundling it and moving on to the next bush. Maybe she'd make wine back at camp, it would be just about ready by the time she'd be able to enjoy it. cyanide he said to be cool but i'm already coolest

The youth was finally growing into a young man. It wasn't a bad thing. It's more like a 'I need to start finding myself' sort of thing. While he enjoyed living with the pirates and being a pirate, Scald wasn't sure if that was the life he wanted. The camaraderie and family bonds just weren't his thing, he supposed. This was probably why he was spending more and more time away from the beach, away from his family, away from his brother and best friend. Again, not their fault. It was the whole growing-up thing. It was on his mind a lot lately. Especially since he started noticing... how others appeared. Really didn't matter if they were male or female, but Scald noticed. He noticed if they were handsome or not. Pretty or not. There was a burning, a tickling, an itch in his belly to explore those feelings. It made his lips quiver and teeth clamp together. He had to hold it together. He couldn't just attack his friends. How could he be sure they looked at him the same way? Did they even find him attractive? The boy would glance back at his galaxy-like coloring as if he was a streak of mud on someone's butt. Everyone else really didn't look like him too often. Fuck. Was he ugly?! Dammit. Scald was clearly distracted. Clearly in such deep thought that he quite literally did not see the shadow plucking berries. His nose should have picked her up as soon as he dipped into the valley, but he hadn't. There was an over-ripening scent of sweetness that clouded his sense. Warmer weather than usual was bringing in an early blossoming of flowers and vibrant plants and along with it, berries. He wasn't super keen on eating any of the berries, but they were there. The girl was also there and as one would have it, Scald nearly walked right into her. Her scent finally hit him like a brick being tossed out of a ten-story building. Halting in his tracks with spinal quills bristling and lips curling upward, he shot daggers at her with his bi-colored gaze. "Watch where yer goin'," he rumbled in his teenage angst voice. He continued to stare at her as his hackles rose and his ears flattened back. He couldn't deny that even as plain as the girl was, she was pretty too. But she smelled like Sparrow did when Sparrow was pregnant. It was an odd smell, but it turned him off from questioning anything. Letting out a grunt, Scald waited for her to get out of his way. SCALD ABRAXAS