WORD COUNT: 342

As beautiful as ever, Hanako padded along the shore, the wind gently rustling the fire of her coat as she set her sights on the swelling ocean waves. On a day as warm as this she wanted to do nothing but find a comfortable spot on the beach and snooze her day away, but she knew she couldn't really get away with that anymore. Not after she'd more or less spent a whole season inside, foisting responsibilities and pup rearing onto anyone else who had fur covering their form. It wasn't as though she thought it was a chore or that she didn't love her children it was just....well it was a lot of work. And anyone who knew a lick about her knew Hanako wasn't fond of the w word.

Besides, it wasn't really her fault. Sirius hadn't sought her out so what was she supposed to do but fish every now and then? Just enough to look busy if someone happened to glance her way.

Catching fish one by one for her own consumption was usually fine, but if she really wanted to make a large addition to the packs stores then she'd need to be a little more industrial and use some traps. But what kind? Pursing the pale of her lips, she wondered what sort of fish would take the least effort to catch in bulk. From her sparse knowledge of fishing with nets and snares, she knew she'd be able to catch a lot of fish with a net but....She really fancied some octopus, it had been AGES since she'd eaten one last and quite liked the idea of sharing them with her children. A cute little family experience to blend in with humdrum of the Fatalis life style.

From what little she knew of octopus they liked to hide in nook and crannies amongst coral so... What if they dropped some vases and hoped for the best? It sounded low effort and would give Hanako an excuse to go for a little swim too. Win win.

It was almost strange to see his mother out of the den. She had spent much of their childhood cooped up in it. He was almost ready to believe she was allergic to the sun - the sun was weird after all, right? It was a strange thing that hadn’t even existed the first time he had come out of the den. And then suddenly it was there, bright and intimidating.

but his mother had grown a lovely, colourful coat, and stepped outside again. So maybe she wasn’t allergic to the sun? As Basilisk went looking for a snack, just something little to take off the pang of hunger in his belly, he found his mother. The koi woman was walking down the beach, with her eyes on the ocean. He fell into a light jog, racing towards her. “Mumma, mumma!” he called, slowing and skidding as he reached her, before lightly bowling into her paws. That was one way to stop. “Hi mumma, what are you doing, do you have any food?” he asked, bright eyes looking up at her hopefully.

Wc: 187
Total: 529


"Basilisk Fatalis"

Word count: 158
total:687

Turning to face her biggest boy, Hanako was quick to smother him with kisses. Look at how tall he'd grown! At this rate he'd easily overshadow his Father. Pulling him close with a front paw, she pressed kisses from the length of his snout to the top of his head. For all the moments she'd missed, she was eager to make up for lost time, in her own way.

"Not yet, love." She gently tapped the end of his black nose with a fiery paw. "I was thinking of setting some pot traps out in the coral, catch us some octpuses? Octopi?" Hmm. Whatever, they were delicious so she didn't care what they were called. "First we need to make the traps. Can you go fetch me some pots from storage? Then once we're done we can swim out and put them in place."

Did that sound like something fun to a pups ears? Hanako had no idea.

Basilisk couldn’t help but double over, bunching up his neck and giggling as she peppered him with kisses. “Muuuuuuum!” he said. What if one of the warriors were watching? She pulled him closer and kissed his snout, and he didn't really put up a fight.

She released him, and tapped his nose, and he hopped up to give her a peck on the nose back, just so she knew he didn’t really mean it when he complained about her kisses. “Sounds tasty!” he said, tail wiggling in anticipation. The boy was down for anything that related to food. “Got it!” he promised, and took off towards the storage, knowing the way well by now. He arrived at the caller, grabbing a couple pots awkwardly, and trotted back, holding his head high to keep them from hitting the ground.

WC: 144
Total: 831

"Speech"