Very real consequences. Like what though? She didn't really wanna know, she was tired of this line of questions in her head.

Her delight was palpable on her face as he encouraged her.
The best swimmer in the Armada?! That sounded amazing! She could totally be the best swimmer in the Armada! She let him usher her out of the water and gave her whole body a hearty shake. One paw after the other and then all over again. Making her tilt over and nearly lose her footing. She bounded off toward the Col with her tongue out but suddenly drew herself up short and looked at her paws. Hey feets, do you remember how many lengths Daddy said to stay near him? She pointedly looked back along the floor and noticed she was pretty darn close to bouncing out of "The line."

"I almost forgot!" She said seriously, instead taking a spin to wait for him to lead them. "Can we go to the market now? Please please please?" She asked with her head craning almost upside down at him. She'll happily skip and bounce right alongside him as he walks them to the Col.


"Selene"

They shook off, and his spirited child began to bound off. Just as he was considering putting a leash on her, she stopped. Looking at her paws, before padding back to him. Good, very good. She was learning. He kissed her crown as he caught up to her and chuckled. “We can” he agreed. She needed to see that there were benefits to listening, and not just consequences for acting out.

He led her out of the storage den, and trotted the short way up the Col to the market. He turned to her before they past the guards at the entrance, his eyes serious. “Best behaviour, little bean.” He warned her, before letting the expression melt into a smile and led her inside.

"Basilisk"

Her whole body wiggled under his tender kiss and she pressed her head against his mouth as her way of returning it. Skittering beside him in bounces and bounds she was beyond excited at the prospect of going into the market with him! Absolutely beside herself jumping back and forth with overwhelmed glee.

Best behavior! Best behavior! She trotted beside him as they passed the guards, she briefly scrunched her face and stuck her tongue out at the one who had refused her entry before before bounding a few steps ahead of her daddy. She was a princess! She gets to go where she wants!

The market was bustling as usual, but she had never SEEN so much in her eyes at once! Or HEARD! The sounds and the smells were so new and different and there was so much going on! Her heart sped up and her breathing grew shallow and quick as she kept seeing new and exciting things! Why was someone yelling about tumeric? What was that? Ohhhh shiny! So many sparkly things! She wove and dove around legs and stands and tables. There were books and trinkets and knives, and spices and dangly things, and tasty things and smelly things and noisy things! Her head was suddenly light and her paws were all tingly as she had been breathing too quickly while she dashed this way and that. Her eyes glazed shiny like glass and she started running. She couldn't get enough of the sensations in her eyes! She had to see more! She had to hear more! What was it like over here? What were they saying over here? Everything was so big! There were so many people!

She didn't know what was going on anymore! She was panting hard and she couldn't see her Daddy anymore! Oh no! She spun in a circle, but her eyes had stopped seeing anything in front of her! She wanted to yell out for her Daddy but suddenly her mouth didn't work at all! Everything was too loud! Too much! Too many colors and confusing voices! Panicked and overwhelmed she found a deep corner beside one of the quieter stalls and buried her head into the crevice to make everything stop. Everything needed to just stop so she could find her Daddy! She was gonna be in so much trouble! She'll never be able to come again! Ever! Daddy will be so disappointed!

"Selene"

Allowing the kids into the Market was allowing them a glimpse into the greater world. It was more unpredictable what they might witness, and who they might come across. He could understand why Ignita might worry, even if he didn’t want her smothering them. They needed a few scraped knees and life lessons.

They entered the market proper, and he kept an eye on the silver wolf. Knowing she was likely to get overwhelmed. He was curious to see how long his lesson would stick… he saw when she started to move away from him, overwhelmed and distracted. He watched her, ensuring no one would trip over her small form when she looked about herself and realised she couldn’t see him. He was only a few tables away, his eyes trained on her.

When she crawled into a crevice he trotted over, and knelt down beside it. “Come on, little Selene. I know its a lot to take in, but you can’t hide away from what scares you. Come on, take my hand…” he soothed gently.

"Basilisk"

Watery tears were pouring out of her pink eyes and her nose sniffed. Her head was pressed hard into the crevice as if it helped block out the sounds and smells, or the pain of her head against the rock side of the market cavern gave her something to focus on. He could barely hear her father's words but she recognised the tone. He was soothing her like he did when she had an upset stomach when she had too much milk when she was younger. Bleary-eyed and sniffly she slowly pulled herself out of the crevice. A stranger shouted something and another sound clashed into her overworked sensitive ears and she bolted into the space between his hip and stomach! The sound had suddenly hurt!

The world became known again. The smell and warmth and feel of his fur helped the screaming tension in her tiny body melt. She could hear the thudding of his heartbeat over everything now. She burrowed harder into his hip, imagining the safe warm place of their den. She didn't know there could ever be Too Many things at once before!

"Selene"

Basilisk considered Selene as she slowly crawled out, and then dashed beneath him. It seemed, for all her curiosity and desire to explore, she could be easily overwhelmed. That would not do, that would not do at all… But, he could not simply throw her to the wolves and expect her to cope. Instead, he snagged a scarf off a shelf beside him, and gently shuffled Selene to where he could better reach her.

He tied the scarf over her ears, like sometimes you did when you wanted to bathe without getting your ears wet. Enough to dampen and soften the sounds around her. “There, is that better?’


"Basilisk"

She felt her father's massive paws around her, shuffling her out from under him. She desperately wanted to stay in his fur and scrambled at the ground as he gently hauled her out. Her kitten claws made little white scratch marks on the cavern floor.

Suddenly she felt something soft and muffled over her ears as he tied a scarf around them. She huddled in the spot he had placed her as she considered the sensation and blinked at the ground for a moment. She looked up at him curiously and the scarf muffs stayed in place. The sounds were a lot more bearable! The smells were still overwhelming, but the lights didn't seem to be so bad now.

She sniffed and wiped away a tear as she looked up at her daddy. Trying to catch what mood he was in, whether he was upset about her wandering off and getting overwhelmed.

"I'm sorry." She offered, "This is better. I dunno what happened Daddy." She said and jumped slightly as someone rattled a noisemaker somewhere that made it past her ear muffs. She didn't want this to happen again! She clung to his fur and feeling his warmth again helped her feel safer and more brave again. As long as she was right between her daddy's paws.

"Selene"

Basilisk patted his baby girl gently, and waited for hee to adjust to the changes in sound around her. Muffled as everything was by the wrap around her ears. He was disappointed in how easily overwhelmed the child was, but he wouldn't let it show in his expression. 


He tugged her gently out from between his paws and placed her in front of him, where they both could see each other clearly. Perhaps focusing on him would help, as well. “You are a Princess of the Armada. You will be a beacon to others one day. I want you to remember, courage is not the absence of fear. It's the strength to move forward despite it. The strength that runs through your veins is that of Warlords. Of Kings. It will carry you through your fears, you just need to learn to find that strength.” He tapped her chest lightly with one paw  and lifted that paw to tap the underside of hee chin. “Chin up, Princess. The Fatalis are a proud wolf.”

She finally let him remove her from his fur without more fuss. She sat before him feeling sheepish and worried. Looking up as he came down to her level. Having his gaze on her, the image superseding the hustle and bustle around her and blocking out more of the noise with his voice and scent, gave her something more to concentrate on. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, and the fur don't the back of her neck still stood straight up as he spoke to her about courage. Being a Princess of Armada. She was one of two princesses, her three brothers were the princes. She swallowed as he reiterated the blood that ran through her veins was that of warlords and kings. She just needed to find that strength to carry her through her fears. His paw on her chest nailed it home.
He lifted her chin and told her that the Fatalis are a proud wolf.

She puffed out her chest and tucked her chin in. Standing as tall as she could. She was a Princess of the Armada! She was Selene Fatalis! And- She couldn't help but jolt as something clattered loudly behind her. But she tried again. She turned to face the bustling marketplace, determination in her features. She wasn't gonna cower! She was a proud Fatalis! Just like her Daddy!

But there was so much out of her control here! So many people and things moving about, she had a hard time keeping track of any of it and her eyes were starting to hurt. She didn't feel scared...

"Daddy?" She called back up to him, her eyes squinting, "What do the Fatalis do when things hurt?" She asked innocently.

"Selene"

He could see her trying again, taking in the surroundings with a little more confidence this time. Trying to make him proud, perhaps? And he was. For pushing through, and trying. That was all he had asked for, and it was what she gave him.

What did the Fatalis do when they hurt? He considered the words for a moment, and then leaned down and kissed her crown gently. “You're asking the wrong question, honey.” He said, his lessons far from over. “We are leaders. It’s not what we do when we are hurt, it’s what we do when those in our care are hurt. We take away whatever is hurting them.”


"Basilisk"

She was a leader? Oh... She puffed her chest out again. The scarf muffled many of the noises. Was there anyone she could see that was hurt? Could she take away the things that were hurting them?
She was a Fatalis! She was a leader! She will be proud and take away the hurts of those in her care! She shook her fur out, the scarf loosened a little but it held fast.

"Okay, Daddy! Let's try again!" She declared and stomped proudly before him into the marketplace. She'd jump at sudden movements but she would try to recover the best she could and keep stomping through the aisle. Granted she was more focused on simply getting to the other side with her eyes locked on the far wall, she practically forgot to look at the fun things around them!
"Selene"

Basilisk would see how his words seemed to give her drive. Perhaps having something to do, something to worry about other than herself helped her. But she got back out there, stepping out of the comfort of his shadow as she moved through the market. She wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t expect her to be cured in a day. He was just proud of how willing she was to try, to push herself.

When she got to the end of the row, Basilisk trotting a few paces behind her, he stepped forward and kissed her brow. Pulling out some of Wylan’s honey treats that he’d picked up on the way and holding them out in his paw. “For a job well done.” He explained to her.

"Basilisk"