race me! race me!

There was no denying that Mortis was taller then her and that he'd beaten her in a race but that didn't mean she was a slowpoke either. She appreciated the sentiment of course, and knew he was keeping pace for her sake but just to prove him wrong she lengthened her strides till they matched his own. It felt a little unnatural, having to stretch her legs out further than she normally would, but after a moment or so she quickly adjusted and they trotted along, almost in sync. What an odd sight they must've been, with him draping his wing over her shoulder whilst Hanako loped along like she was pretending to be horse, or something with equally long legs.

Hanako let out an impressed ooo when Mortis explained he'd made friends with a leopard cub. She'd seen a few cats before but none of them were very friendly nor did they seem interested in being her friend either. Honestly though, it made her a little jealous. All of the Armada wolves had cool companions, ones with pretty patterns on their fur or sharp teeth and claws. And what did Hanako have? A tanuki who liked to sleep and eat fish, amongst over equally boring things. She supposed none of that really mattered though, Toshi was good to her in his own way and not for one second did she regret saving him from the dark tanukis. She'd beat them all up if they tried to bother her friend again, that's for sure! As for Mortis' parrot she was pretty sure she'd seen a green bird flying about the plains, but since she hadn't seen it up close she couldn't say for sure. Maybe she'd get to meet her one day, that thought made her smile.

Soon enough the pair reached the tree. It was just about what she'd expected, if only a little taller than she'd imagined. She looked up and her ears tilted back a little as she eyed the jump she'd have to make, it didn't look impossible but wolves like her weren't made for climbing. As if sensing her concerns Mortis was quick to reassure her that he'd be there to catch her if she fell. Though in her mind it was more of a when then an if.

"Are you sure?" She asked, her voice laced with hesitancy.

Pulling in a deep breath, Hanako bowed down into a spring, her butt wiggling as she focused. Then with a mighty kick of her back legs she leapt up onto the branch, wobbling for a moment before she gained her footing. A massive grin pulled at her lips as she beamed with pride, her tail loosening into a wave as she didn't need to rely on it for balance anymore. From there she climbed up into the tree house with relative ease, poking her head out of the gap Hanako then called down to the Fatalis, her voice lined with a playful smugness.

"Hurry up slowpoke. Show me how it's really done."