swifter still

There was no reason for Levi to have to stick so closely to the Armada any more. He wasn't a kid, a baby that needed to be huddled to his mother's bosom and protected from the rest of the world. And yet that's the only thing Hanako seemed to want to do these days, to kiss and fuss and make him feel even smaller than he already was. It was so dumb, his eyes in a near constant state of rolling whenever he was around his towering family. Was he going through a grumpy teen phase? Yes. Was he always going to be like this? Probably, yes.

He stalked along the riverside, brows furrowed as he took in the blurred sight of his reflection. Waving and bobbing, shimmering at the edges like a mirage. He paused when he noticed movement along the other side of the river, that closest to the Ashen territory. He'd never gone out of his way to meet anyone from that pack, but he knew they were sort of like family, that Sirius had his paws in many pies. So to speak. If that's how he wanted to run the Armada, then whatever, Levi had his own goals and ambitions. Things he'd do one day, sooner or later.

But maybe an Ashen wolf would provide a sense of challenge, everyone in the Armada was slow. Barely even competition.