Boar-ed

She never cared for children; Enyo seemed to lack the innate maternal urges that most females displayed. Instead, when forced to be around pups she felt frustration. Most of the children were not of the same quality she and her siblings had been at their ages. Where most would see a chance to teach, Enyo would see inadequacy and weakness.

Enyo’s heavy paws crushed the undergrowth beneath her, as she worked on the hunting trap. She barely noticed the sound of rustling nearby until the sharp grin of Grim came into view. A brief glance was all she allowed herself.

"May I help you boy?", her thick voice just teetering on the edge of annoyance, commanding attention without effort. She didn't stop working, her broad shoulders and thick mane rippling as she adjusted one of the wooden beams in her trap. There was a certain disdain lurking in the back of her mind, a simmering hatred for the interruptions of youth. Yet she knew better than to display it openly. His mother was Medusa, after all. For the sake of the relations between the Dunamis and Insomnia, she’d suffer his presence... for now. This was enough for the woman to put up with whatever antics he had.

She straightened up, towering over him. Her gaze appraising. Icy hues sharply assessing and judging the boy.

Of poor stock, she would quickly decide.

However, it wasn't what he was made of that mattered. Just who his mother was. The kid looked like he was stitched together from shadows, his body all angles and unsettling sharpness, especially with that eternal smile that made him seem like he was always. The woman was sure none of her siblings had ever been so odd or hard to gaze upon at that age.

"And what brings Medusa's little shadow to me?" she asked, her tone deceptively casual. She turned fully to face him now, her broad chest and massive stature casting a long shadow over Grim’s wiry frame. He was an odd one. A creature made of darkness and grins, but Enyo was unshakable. She wouldn't let him see any discomfort.

Her tail, or what remained of it, twitched slightly behind her. She’d seen worse than this half-formed yearling. Yet, there was something... unnerving about him, the way he always smiled.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of curiosity dancing behind their cold exterior. "Or did you come to watch me work? You could learn something," she added, almost daring him to prove his worth in her eyes. She was, after all, a Shriek. From what she understood, this was a rank centered on hunting and providing. So, she offered a lesson on crafting traps as a way to fulfill this role. The very idea of teaching a yearling was abhorrent. However, she figured someday he would hunt beside her, so why not make sure he was capable of actually doing something? She would wait to hear his response. Grim might have had Medusa's blood, but that didn't mean he'd automatically earned her respect. He’d have to work for that. Just like his mother. Just like everyone else.

"SPEECH"