Not that Triss would ever hang out close enough to the Armada to hear the information call from the Warlord. Not that she would ever pry into Crux’s life. But say she did manage to catch some information - what would she do with it? She spent the rest of the day, after hearing the call, putting something together. She used seashells to make a silver bracelet that was similar in color to the ones she wore every day. The only difference was, on these bands, there were rivers of dyed blue and gold that wove around the circuit in twisting, intertwining lines.

It felt like a good idea at the time, but the longer she held it, the cheesier it felt. It wasn’t even that great. Just put together with resources she could find on short notices. Chances were, Crux wouldn’t like it. It was silly. But, by now, the day was wasted. If she was going to give him something it had to be this.

She found her nerve, and crept as close to the border as she dared. “Crux” She hissed, “Crux!” her voice was barely a croak, and she couldn’t even howl. This had been a truly, spectacularly, stupid idea. Dejected, she rocked back on her haunches, letting her present fall to the ground. She didn’t even notice the vulture that lifted off from the trees and went to fetch Crux. If she had, she might have recognised it as the Warlords bird.


"Crux" & "Triss"

[Navigation note: Waterfall Peak]

There was only so many pony rides he could give his nieces and nephews before his hips started to ache and admittedly that number was lower on sand. He'd tapped out and volunteered Riya to take over for a while. Which she was thrilled about. Crux watched the gathering, taking a moment to observe everyone that had shown up and despite himself couldn't help wishing Triss was here. Not just for himself, no. He knew she'd made friends with one of his nephews as well. The rustling of feather's drew his attention and Crux looked up to see Marshal approaching.

-Insert travel montage here-

His hips, specifically his leg joint (you know which one) was so sore. But Crux wasn't going to complain, he admittedly had probably pushed himself a little too hard, eager to see Cryptis. "Triss!" Crux lit up when he spotted her, joy exuding from his whole being. He rushed to close the distance between them, though he did not throw himself at her he allowed himself to come to rest much closer to her than he would most others. Crux tried to say "Why did you call for me?" and "What are you doing here?" but instead he said: "Why did doing here?" And in response his face immediately grew hot. "Good to see you."  Smooth.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

She sat at the border for a little while. She’d already planned to leave the bracelet behind. There was no way for Crux to know it was for him, so it would likely get lost. Or, perhaps one of the kids she knew lived in the Armada would find it. Oh well. Just as she was getting up to start the journey home, Crux appeared. Her expression lit up with surprise - and joy - at his arrival. He rushed towards her, but she could see how uneven his gait was. Was his leg flaring up? She wished she was as intuitive and able to help him as he did so reflexively with her asthma.

She did blink in surprise as the jangled mess that came out of his muzzle, but she got the gist of it. She giggled at his blush. “I heard it was your birthday.” She said. “I..” She glanced at the bracelet where she had left it on the forest floor. Did she want to own up to it? Would he like it? “I wanted to see you.”


"Crux" & "Triss"

If Crux could have known what thoughts Cryptis was having he'd have rushed to reassure her. She was plenty intuitive she'd literally saved his life once already, he'd only helped her though her attacks. But he didn't know, so he didn't say. He grinned as she giggled, how easy it was to feel like all his tension had melted away when he was with her... Well aside from all the worry she caused him herself. Crux also glanced down when she did but Cryptis was quick to keep the conversation moving and though Crux was curious he wouldn't push it... Yet.

"Thank you." Is that how you respond to someone wishing you a happy birthday? He took a little step closer, nearly touching now. "I love my family to death but I'll admit whenever I had a moment to breathe I couldn't stop wishing you were there." A longer way of saying he'd wanted to see her too.

Now! Crux turned his attention towards the bracelet on the ground and he lowered himself down to look at it better. "Did you make this?" He tilted his head back so he was looking up at the tiny girl. Crux knew less than nothing about making anything but medicines and medical supplies, the thought that Triss had spent any time making the jewelry was impressive at least to him. He also didn't fail to notice it bore more than a passing resemblance to the ones she wore.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

Why was she feeling so terribly awkward around Crux lately? She felt like she couldn’t quite get her thoughts in order. Perhaps it was because of Medusa’s warning. She was here against her Godmother's wishes. She wasn’t sure what trouble that would lead to, but walking away from Crux felt utterly impossible.

“I would have come if I could. She promised him. “Medusa…” She hesitated, uncertain if she should tell him of the ban her Alpha had put on his pack. On its members. Would he walk away from her, for her own sake? That did sound like a stupid, heroic thing he might do. She wouldn’t have it!

She blushed when he lowered himself to the ground and found the bracelet she had made. “It’s nothing, just… something I decided to stick together today. It’s for you… if you want it.”


"Crux" & "Triss"

Triss promised she'd have come if she could and Crux shook his head. "I understand." Sure he didn't know about the ban that Medusa had placed on her wolves with meeting with Armada ones but he could pretty clearly picture her not being too thrilled to find out one of her members hadn't just been meeting with an enemy pack wolf but going onto their lands... Even if it had just been the once. Hell he didn't even blame her, without him having vouched for her Crux was pretty sure his father wouldn't have been as "friendly" as he had been to her, even then he didn't seem exactly "happy" about it. Ultimately he was concerned with making it clear he wasn't upset with her in any way, there were reasons the both of them wouldn't be able to be there even when they wanted to be. That thought was a dizzying one, the idea that she had wanted to be there and the continued confirmation that he wanted to be with her for events in her life. He wasn't thinking massively far ahead, not yet, just things like celebrations or moments when she should be proud of herself.

"Just stuck together huh?" Crux cast her an incredulous look from his position on the ground. Was she underselling herself? Not on his watch! "Why wouldn't I?" He began slowly working free one of the the leather cuffs from his forelegs. His left wrist feeling almost wrong without it, he gently touched his right cuff, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A grounding trick he'd been using since he was young. It had started with the necklace, grown to include the cuff and now... Opening his eyes again Crux started slipping his paw through the band. It didn't have the same weight to it as he was used to but he'd grow used to it in time. Then he repeated the whole ritual, a paw to just below his throat since he couldn't reach the pendant from this position, then to the cuff, then to the band. Ajax, Mom, Triss. Each in turn, each taking up a part of him that was different but no less important to him.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

Triss wasn’t sure why she was sure why she was feeling more shy than usual with Crux today. Perhaps she was feeling vulnerable after working on the bracelet she was trying so hard to dismiss. Or knowing that he was now an adult by the rules of their world, while she was still considered a child.

Whatever it was, it seemed to have robbed her of her confidence, and she found herself blushing and struggling as Crux teased her phrasing ‘just stuck together’ and pushed gently for more information. “It’s… I made it as…” She stammered. She looked away from him, and found that made it a little easier. “I made it because I like you. So you’d remember me in that pack of yours” She said at last, and dared a glance over at him. He was touching his other items with a sort of reverence that distracted her from her own bumbling. “Do they mean something?” She asked softly.


"Crux" & "Triss"

Maybe he was wrapped up enough in his own joy at her being there, at her gift, that Crux didn't quite catch her own growing shyness. Though he decided against teasing her too hard as she stammered through a response. "Don't think you're so easily forgotten." He said softly, wanting to reach out and nose at Cryptis' head, but holding himself just short. Okay sure she didn't occupy literally every waking moment he had but she took up damn near close to it. Not that he was about to admit that.

Just as his paw was brushing the the new bracelet Triss posed him a question and he opened one of his eyes, giving her a soft smile and nod before he rose back up to a sitting position so he could properly explain. "It's a ritual I came up with, to help keep myself calm in stressful situations. But sometimes I also just like to remind myself they're there." "This isn't a stressful situation don't worry" basically. "First:" He lifted a paw to the pendant that now hung loosely against his chest. "My older brother he... Was cruel. He hated weakness and had a pretty narrow view of what constituted strength. He hated us, me and two of my sisters specifically. They were also born with disabilities, not the same one as me but I'm pretty sure our brother didn't even know the word nuance let alone what it meant. He harassed us whenever he got a chance, did some pretty bad damage to one of my sister's paws and pushed her face nearly into a fire." There was a tension in him as he remembered Azure, remembered learning what had been done to Kite. "I got good at hiding from him so I escaped the majority of his abuse but he taught me others would see my leg, and nothing else. That I wasn't a wolf with a disability, that I was a disability with a face. And others would hate me for it." Crux took a few deep breathes, gently playing with the pendant as he forced himself to return to a calmer state. "This," he said gently lifting the cord so it draped over a fore paw and let the feather dangle over his wrist, "was a gift. From my first friend, from the first wolf who taught me my brother was wrong, that wolves who weren't obligated to care could. It's silly, all we did was play in the market for a day but it was enough, if he could call me a friend then my brother had to be wrong." Okay enough of that before he started making things even more confusing.

Crux let the pendant drop to his chest and moved his paw to the cuff that he'd kept on. "My mother she-" Had his voice just cracked? Yeah this was clearly still a raw wound and his voice dropped, gaze doing so at the same time. He kept his attention on the cuff, rubbing it gently. "She was sick for most of the time I knew her... I still don't know exactly what happened but I think it had something to do with- There was something unnatural happening... I don't remember a lot." Yeah because mostly that time of his life had been written over by the sudden shock and grief. Wasn't that sad? The majority of what he could remember of his childhood was painful memories, the terror his brother inflicted on them and the loss of his mother. He really only had one pinprick of light in his memories from then. He wanted to be angry about that, but what good would it do? Azure was gone and even then nothing he did would ever bring his mother back. "Our father gave us each a set of these on our first birthday, to remember her by. The gems are like the colour of her fur and she used to have this cheetah pelt armour..." He fell silent for a moment but didn't want to let that sombre note colour things so he quickly added: "You're the first wolf I've told all this too." Crux pulled his gaze back up to look at her. Obviously his family knew what had happened to his mother but he'd never shared what his ritual was or the significance of his pendant before.

Okay, things were getting heavy, time to lighten things up. "Oh!" He said in mock remebrance and he shifted his paws to touch the bracelet. "Okay so there's this girl..." He allowed a playful smile and winked, "See she kinda saved my life, she's pretty and talented and she makes my stomach fill up with butterflies just by being there." This was the third time he'd told her he found her pretty. "So yes I'd say they have a meaning, and they're all pretty damn important if you ask me!"

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

Triss watched him closely as he answered her question. She didn’t realise just how much there was involved with the answer. But she would gladly take in everything he said, if just to hear his voice. It was tempting to close her eyes, but she wanted to concentrate on the words too. She wanted to understand Crux better.

She could well understand the importance of a ritual. She had to go through one when she felt an asthma fit building. She grimaced as he spoke of an older brother who was cruel, and hated weakness. There was nothing weal about Crux, and she wanted to give this brother a piece of her mind! Just… slowly, and with lots of breaths in between. “He sounds like a dick” she seethed softly as Crux continued on, explaining some of the damage that had been done to his sister. “Why didn’t your dad put a stop to it?” she asked quietly. The Warlord had seemed intimidating, but surely he wouldn’t let his kids bully each other?

She itched to reach out a paw and touch him, but she refrained. Letting him speak his piece without her going mushy on him. But dammit, she wanted badly to tell him how much he was worth it, and pull him into a hug. She swallowed down her feelings as he spoke of his mother, and losing her. She couldn't imagine losing Widow. She didn’t want to. Unable to refrain any longer, she stepped forward. Into his space, and placed her paw over his. Over the bracelet he had just put on. Then she drew her tiny paws around him for a hug. “Okay, just so we’re clear, I’m jealous of this girl.” She teased, as if she didn’t realise he meant her.


"Crux" & "Triss"

It was hard not to get a little wrapped up in his emotions but the truth was all things considered he wasn't in the same dark place he once had been. Sure Crux'd never have it easy, he hadn't been born that lucky but y'know suddenly finding himself in a volcano aside he couldn't say the bad days outweighed the good. Despite himself when Triss said Azure sounded like a dick, Crux had to laugh, nodding. Yes, he was a dick. The question that would follow though? Well that was a bit more complicated. He shook his head. "I don't know for sure. At the time my brother was the acting warlord in my Father's place. I think he trusted him too much, but I couldn't tell you why, my oldest siblings are 4 years older than us so I can't pretend to know what my father has seen in my brother in those years." Crux was certain the signs had been there before his own birth, his brother hadn't exactly seemed stable, rather he'd always come across as volatile and cruel to him and he could only assume his father hadn't seen the moments where Azure had let his true nature show... Or well he hoped. He still wanted to give his father the benefit of the doubt, even if that was maybe naive. "Maybe he did and I was unaware, or maybe my brother was an asshole who wouldn't have listened in the first place." Both seemed plausible to him. But it wouldn't do to dwell on someone Crux had every hope wouldn't be back. Was that callous? Crux loved his family as a rule, he wasn't close with his older siblings but there was only one he despised. Respect and hatred both were earned not freely given, and Azure had earned every ounce of disrespect and hate Crux had for him.

Cryptis was the first to cross the invisible line the two of them had seemed to silently agree upon, stepping in to his space and placing a paw on his, touching the gift he now wore, before reaching around him for a hug. (Or well as close to around him as she could manage considering their difference in size.) "I wouldn't worry too much." He rumbled softly, chuckling as he leaned down to nose at her, wrapping one of his own forelegs around her tiny form and gently pulling her in closer. "I don't think there's a girl who could compare to you, butterflies be damned." In fact he wasn't sure they were butterflies anymore, instead he could swear she'd somehow gotten whole ass birds in his stomach somehow. "Triss I-" He faltered for a moment, his mind awash in the moment. "Would it be alright if I... Kissed you?" Some part of Crux was sad she wouldn't be his first kiss but he'd not been able to get the thought of kissing her out of his head since that day with Raka. Maybe that was how you knew you liked someone, kissing a girl had only made him want to kiss a different girl...

Was he moving fast? Probably, as young men were wont to do. It was earnest though, a desire born not from anything crass but just a desire to be with Cryptis, in whatever form that took.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.

It was fascinating to learn so much about the structure of Crux’s life, though damn it really sounded like he had been through a lot. She swore to beat anyone up that ever tried to tell him he was less. He was everything perfect in the world, and anyone who thought otherwise was an idiot. Since she couldn’t reach Crux very well on her own, she was glad when he leaned down and wrapped his own paw around her. Just one of his could wrap around her, while two of hers struggled to even reach up to him. The injustices of the world.

She was drinking in his praise, and paused when he hesitated, and then proceeded to blush bright red at his words. She drew in a stabilising breath, and took in a little courage to pull back, just a little, and look at him. “I’m going to be very disappointed if you dont” She aimed for sounding stern, but she was sure her voice wobbled along the lines of her words.




"Crux" & "Triss"

Crux already knew well enough the strength that Cryptis truly held, he'd pity anyone fool enough to underestimate her. What she lacked in stature she more than made up for in tenacity. Even if he worried it would get her into trouble... Again. No more drowning for a while was all he asked. It was that spark he saw now, even if she was mostly teasing, and Crux grinned at her. "Well, wouldn't be very gentlemanly to disappoint a lady would it?" He held a paw against her back and started with her forehead. Eyes closing Crux gently planted kisses moving down her brow, along her muzzle and then finally... Her lips.

Crux let himself just be in the moment, just let himself think only of her. Of the warmth of her body, of her already familiar scent, of the way her lips felt against his. He wanted to scoop her up, wanted to pick her up and hold her to him, tuck her against his chest and never let go.

"Crux" & "Triss"

Updated 04/30/23: Still on indefinite scarcity, please do not remind me of threads I am behind on right now.

Crux has a 6 inch long burn scar on his throat, most of his art does not reflect this.