Zee could try and explain away her lack of interactions with the pack on her being heavily, heavily pregnant but in reality.. well, that wasn't it. The fault lied only with her, she'd hidden herself away in her grief over losing the wolf she called sister. It was irresponsible and not fair to the members of the Armada who barely knew their queen. When she'd heard word of a timid sort being offered sanctuary here - and that said wolf was close to Tamsyn, the only wolf Zee had recruited herself - she knew she had to seek her out. She gave the new member ample time to settle in, having heard of the trauma that brought her under their protection and seeing no need to add more to her plate. It had been nearly a season now, and so Zee waddled out in search for the wolf named Rhona. Walking around the plains sucked, especially with a multitude of pups kicking around at her insides. She gave up looking for her den, plopped her butt upon the ground and gave a (somewhat grouchy, but still polite) howl of summoning instead. "Speech"

Rhona had spent a lot of time lingering around the training area near the ocean, especially after the spar she had with Naiche. She couldn't really decide what had spurred her into working so hard on her skills besides maybe the desire to prove Naiche wrong, but did it really matter where the motivation came from as long as she had some sort of motivation to follow? Sometimes it felt like she was avoiding leaving the safety of the pack lands by telling herself she was too busy working on her fighting skills to have time to go exploring when in reality she was just too nervous to go out on her own. It was a truth she wasn't really ready to address so here she stayed, continuously fighting the mannequins that were spread out across the training area. An unexpected howl stopped her mid practice attack and she stopped to listen, turning her head toward the noise and was surprised to hear that it was directed toward her. It wasn't a voice she recognized, but she also hadn't met all that many wolves personally yet so that wasn't a huge surprise. With a bit of anxious uncertainty, she set off to find the wolf that had called for her. She found her answer shortly after in the form of Sirius' mate Zee. While they hadn't met yet, her curling horns were extremely distinctive and it was impossible to mistake her as anyone else. Tamsyn had filled her in on how Zee had been the reason she had made it here in the first place so even without meeting her Rhona already had a pretty favorable opinion of the smaller woman. What she hadn't been expecting was how clearly and obviously pregnant Zee was, her expression giving away her reaction when her eyes widened a bit on her way to greet her. "Hello, Zee," she greeted with a small smile, dipping her head politely. "I'm glad we finally get to meet - Tamsyn told me a lot about you." "Speech"

The woman was prompt - a good sign if Zee had been looking to judge her quality as a member. It was unnecessary however, as any family of Tamsyn always had a home in the Armada as far as Zee was concerned. Her love for her friend was strong and hadn't faltered even when Tam had left them to follow Resin. She gave Rhona a warm smile, withholding a bout of laughter as the other woman's eyes widened at her state. Zee's paw lifted to touch upon her stomach in silent confirmation - yes, pregnant, not fat! - her smile growing a little crooked. "All good things I hope." There hadn't been much time between Rhona joining and Tamsyn leaving, and so Zee hadn't been able to ask about Rhona as easily as the woman had been able to ask about Zee. "Are you settling in well?" Casual, easy small talk seemed like a good start. She could ask upon the events that brought her to them later on when they knew each other a little better. "Speech"

"Oh yes, all good things," she confirmed with a soft chuckle. She staled onto her haunches since she figured they would be chatting for a bit at least although small talk and conversation weren't exactly her strong suit. Her demeanor was naturally quiet and polite, though she hoped that wouldn't come off as cold to any of the wolves she met here. Being able to speak freely was something she was still adjusting to, among many other things, but even just in the short time she had been here she could tell that this place had begun to pull her out of her shell. After all, she was able to sit and have a conversation and calmly make eye contact when that was something that had felt difficult at first so that was progress on its own, right? She nodded to Zee's question about her settling into the pack. "I think I am so far," she replied. "It's the first time I've been... well, I don't guess I'm alone here really, but... It's my first time living independently - I guess that's the best way to put it. It's been an adjustment, but I'm getting used to it." The first couple of weeks she was here she had leaned on Tamsyn heavily to figure out what she should be doing, but now that her sister in law was gone she had found herself spending more time alone than she ever had in her life. Back in her old pack she was pretty much always either with Osmond or her family or some of the other females in the pack and she had never been given the autonomy to choose her own path until now. "Learning how to fight has been tough," she admitted as well, giving Zee a slight smile. "Everyone has been a big help though. I'll get it eventually I hope." "Speech"

Zee nodded politely as Rhona elaborated on her time in the Armada so far, pleased to hear that she had been settling in well. Having some things to adjust to was normal, but as long as she felt like she was being supported during her self-exploration then Zee had no cause to worry. "Good, I'm glad." And she was - Tamsyn meant the world to her, and her love now extended to this wolf too. "If I'm remembering correctly Tamsyn was a bit hesitant at first too." Zee offered with a laugh. "But she picked it up fast and rose through the ranks to one of our most skilled fighters. And I'll never forget my first fight lesson, where I'd have rather drowned Sirius then allow him to teach me a single thing." Unfortunately the warlord had learned to swim since then, and Zee could no longer use his fear of water against him to get her way. Pity. "Speech"

Rhona thought about how she remembered Tamsyn being back in their original home and how she was now as Zee mentioned how the dark woman had become one of their best fighters after coming here. She had still been fairly young when Tamsyn was driven away and they hadn't interacted a ton before then so she didn't remember too much of how her sister in law had behaved, but what little she did remember was certainly not the same woman she saw now. Tamsyn seemed so confident now and able to take charge and was a strong enough fighter to get a special rank among all of these powerful, strong wolves... It was all so impressive and mystifying to her and it gave her a little hope that perhaps she could do a similar thing. She didn't think she'd ever be as in love with fighting as Tamsyn seemed to be, but she would at least be able to defend herself and that was leaps and bounds above where she was when she first arrived. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her when Zee joked about drowning the Warlord instead of having to go through training with him... or at least she hoped it was a joke. Either way, it made her grin and that was something that she was still getting used to doing. Ever since she came here she had been smiling a lot more and had been worried a lot less so at the very least that was already a major improvement to how she had been living before. "Well, he's still here so I'm guessing you didn't follow through with the drowning," she joked, her tail brushing lightly against the ground. "How long have you two been together?" she asked curiously. She knew they at least had one other litter of children besides the one she was currently carrying so she knew it had at least been for a couple of years. Real relationships were another thing that were a mystery to her and it was interesting to see wolves together that actually wanted to be together. "Speech"

"Well, he's still here so I'm guessing you didn't follow through with the drowning." At that, Zee's grin widened. She said it like it was a choice of hers to allow the titanic warlord to survive, and shook her head through the soft laughter. "No, you misunderstand. He was sparring, I was attempting murder. If it was up to me, I would have followed through." The memories of those times were fond ones from an easier year, and she gave a light sigh remembering back to the beginning of their 'relationship' as servant and guard. "I suppose that's why I learned to fight in the end, so that the next time I wanted to drown him that I might succeed." Her next question made Zee think, and she squinted slightly as she recalled the years. "Three years, I think. More then half my life, for sure." Though the couple was dysfunctional in ways, she expected to be with him for many more to come. She broke from her thoughts to look over at the other woman, mulling over what question she could ask that might not be too painful for Rhona to answer. She was here for the two of them to get to know each other, after all. "How did you come to meet Tamsyn?" From what she'd gathered the two were close, though not blood related. "Speech"

Rhona chuckled and grinned as she spoke of how she would have murdered the Warlord if given the chance back then. She couldn't really tell how serious or joking Zee was being with those statements, but Rhona couldn't help but find a good bit of humor in the thought. It was a different sort of dynamic than what she was used to and it was surprisingly wholesome and lovely despite the fact that drowning and attempted murder were part of the conversation. She wasn't entirely surprised to hear how long they had been together considering the rough math she had tried to do herself, but it still made her smile to hear that they had been together for so long. It made her wonder if she would ever have a relationship like that - a real one, not one she was forced in to. She was pulled out of her mulling thoughts by Zee's question and chuckled softly as she tired to figure out where to even begin, her ears flicking uncertainly. "We grew up in the same pack," she replied after a moment of thought since that was the easiest and simplest way to explain how they knew each other. It was only scratching the surface of course, so she went on to add, "She was a bit older than me so we didn't really grow up together necessarily, but all the women in the pack were together during the day for the most part so we crossed paths a lot. Her brother also picked my older sister to be his mate and eventually chose me as well when my sister passed away so we ended up being related in a way eventually." Her smile faded a bit as she spoke, turning into a bit more of a forced, tight smile instead. Even though Osmond had eventually met a fate that she was happy with thanks to Resin, she still couldn't help but feel that resentment and anger whenever he came up in her thoughts or conversation. "Speech"