runnin' late with half your makeup on

Not bad, his words came. Okay, not bad, but in her mind it wasn't good enough either. A larger opponent... not getting caught off guard... okay, that was fair. Hazel did her best to take in what he had to say. He was a Warlord after all. Though the pup wasn't small necessarily, it seemed like pretty much everyone was bigger than her. Finding someone bigger wouldn't be too hard. She'd drill her defenses, she'd get better. Hazel had to get better.

Sirius spoke of things that could make her sloppy though, and she grimaced. "Bear um... how much did she tell you?" One of her ears flicked back, tucking against her head. Hazel was still worried about getting into trouble, but like... that Habari kid had started it. He'd called her smelly, and he cussed at her. Hazel was just trying to put an end to it, and it wasn't like she'd been beaten that badly. Did Bear tell him that it was a close fight? The pup hadn't told the Warlord about it partly because she was embarrassed that she'd lost, and partly because she didn't want to lose her exploring privileges. After all, what's one fight between kids? (She'd choose to omit the fact that she'd hold that grudge, but well, it wasn't hard to guess.)

Hazel bounded after Sirius, the promise of becoming a warrior enough to make her swell with excitement. "I wanna be a warrior just like you." The words came with a reverence, the way that little girls are meant to look up to their dad. No, he wasn't her father, but he was her dad. Hazel was a bastard by birth but she'd been adopted by fate, and there wouldn't be looking any gift destinies in the mouth. Together, they made their way to the border, edging toward the Weeping Willows.

The red and pale pup lowered her muzzle to take a sniff, searching for the scent of the cat. At first there's nothing new... mostly Azure and Sirius, and the other Armada wolves that had been patrolling the borders. Still, a few more steps and... "Ew," yup there it was. Hazel's nose wrinkled, looking to the Warlord. "Do jaguars always smell kinda... gross?" She didn't quite have the words for it... gamey? Skunky? Certainly a male, that much she could tell. Seer (sir) said he was young too. Maybe that's why he didn't know any better, coming so close to their borders.

"Speech"