Breath escaped in harsh pants. Leaving her tongue to lounge lazily just on the outer banks of an agape jaw. Hanmel had been working all morning since before the sun decided to grace the skies with its presence. The gnarled trees made for the perfect home. Branches easy to allow her access to the open spaces above. To her, they were beautiful. No time wasted shortly after her arrival and a full night's rest she was up and moving things around to her liking.

Large leaves from the sand cove littered the wooden floorings. A few small ones scattered about. Whilst blue flowers she'd managed to find were tied with vine and sat just outside of her den. Hanging from nearby branches she'd found to be the perfect placement. Mel couldn't believe what she'd done. As paws wandered back from wooden depths to the open entrance of her slow, but coming along new home, her mind thought about her brother. She came looking for him. Found Eraithus. Met Sirius and asked him to be her teacher.

Her tongue licked at a few spots that were disheveled due to all of the movement as she went over all the events leading up to this. It didn't matter none. Her parents spoke of them spreading their ways. Would this be the place to start? Hanmel giggled to herself. Continuing the work started as she returned to the cove. It's gorgeous scenery quite breath taking even through the frostiness of winter. The waters still licking at the shores. Taking a few chunks of snow with it. Only to demolish it shortly after.

Mel knew the water would be cold. Nonetheless, she wanted seashells to line the walls of her newfound home. Looking around to find a piece of bark and already having a piece of vine between her teeth. Hanmel got to work. The freezing waters chilled her bones. But it didn't stop her none. Finding the prettiest of shells as she went.
"Speech"

There were a lot of complicated feelings going through the boy, the usual were there of course: The guilt, the exhaustion. But there was something else there, he was hyper aware of the funeral that had only just been held. Crux hadn't felt it was his place to attend, he hadn't known either wolf... And that was bothering him! He wasn't sure how he would have handled the grief of losing anyone, he hadn't ever fully recovered from the loss of his mother but it felt wrong that two wolves who should have been someone in his life just... Weren't. Maybe that was part of what drew him to the cove, even as he hated being there, his movements more awkward than ever on the sand. He wanted to feel like he knew the wolves around him, the ones that weren't his siblings... Hell even some of his nieces and nephews were like strangers to him.

He struggled his way across the beach, his mind elsewhere until an unfamiliar scent reached him. The Armada scent was there but he didn't know the wolf under it. Steel blues lifted to spot an older woman standing in the shallows. And then Crux's whole willpower fled him. What was he even supposed to say? He dithered there for a moment. Swallowed the lump forming in his throat and then made his way forward, certain the unknown woman would hear his awkward uneven shuffle, his cuffed leg at least mostly just kicked sand forward, which certainly made a dragging noise.

"Speech"

Art by MarkLix

Hanmel had gathered a ton of seashells. Each one larger or smaller than the next. The winter's breeze nipping at her wet fur sent a shiver over her skin. Her winters coat not yet coming to full bloom in need to keep her warm from the frosty weather. A few more days and she'd be okay. However, for now she dealt with it. Reminding herself to get an animal's fur to handle most of the cold chills.

Another added to the rest, she took a breath and smiled. Enough to finish the decoration of her den. A few rabbit furs to line the bottom and she would be utterly content. Body stretching as she found a leaf to cover her collection. Maneuvering the vine she held to tie it down for the journey back home. An ear turned to the sound of dragging. It wasn't she who was moving. And, when Mel lifted her head, she found herself staring at a yearling. His stance and scent all screaming Armada. The look on his face, an expression she'd seen many times, gazed back at her. "Are... are you okay? You look like you've seen the dead or something."
"Speech"

And then she looked up at him. Crux shuffled to a stop. He felt his face flush as the woman commented on his expression but it helped to jostle him into a less stressed expression. Expression. Because through no fault of her own her words did summon the face of the dead. Those two wolves he hadn't even known, their bodies bloated with flood water and faces already growing stiff. Cool, cool, cool. Good to know his mind was just gonna do that! His expression flickered for a moment as he tried to banish the images from his mind but he did manage to settle into a nervous sort of smile.

"Y-yeah." Crux sounded more sure than he felt. "I just uh, kinda struggle to move on the sand and thought I was gonna fall." A half lie, it was true he struggled to keep his paws under him on less than solid ground but he was also frankly just a socially anxious mess. Crux gestured over his shoulder to his right hind leg which was jutting out slightly, not in line with his hips the way it ought to have been.  He didn't love introducing himself as his leg first but sometimes it was easier than explaining the more complex parts of himself. He hated that it was so easy to boil his own disability down for simplicity when it felt like so much more. It was his own struggles, it was his own need to always be twice as good, it was everyone else's assumptions about himself, it was others assuming he was less than twice of everyone else. "I'm Crux Fatalis." Crux tried to move focus on as quickly as he could. "You're newer around here right?"

"Speech"

Art by MarkLix

The stranger introduced himself as Crux. His surname spoken right after and for a second Hanmel thought over if she knew anyone with the same. When nothing came to light, she brushed it off while gaze took notice of his leg. There was something quite different about it. But other than that, the young male looked like any wolf she’d come across so far while being in Boreas. "Your leg is cute. You shouldn’t be ashamed of what makes you different. Try embracing it. Overpowering it." A seashell so happened to catch her attention as she reached down to add it to the others. "You never know. One of these pretty females might find it quite attractive."

She shot a smirk. Followed by a wink and a light chuckle. Hanmel may be judgmental, bitchy and have a mouth that could clearly get her killed. One thing that she wasn’t, however, was prejudice. Everyone was born in their own unique way. It’s what gives each soul a sense of personality. Rather created normal or with an extra deformity. Regardless of it, Mel didn’t feel like anyone should allow that to stop them from doing or being anything. "I’m Hanmel. The new apprentice. My last name doesn’t really matter. I’ll be dropping it soon. Maybe even change my name." After the whole ordeal with Medusa and her brother Eraithus. The entire time having to submit because she couldn’t flee like she wanted to. Days it took to heal from the aftermath of that situation, she wanted nothing more but to change her entire identity.

"Speech"

Crux wasn't exactly in the habit of adding his surname, he only tended to do so if he had reason to think it might be relevant. He wasn't interested in pulling rank on anyone in the pack but if they hadn't gotten it from the nearly identical eye marking to his father, the Fatalis name was added only to make it clear that yes he was just one amongst the many wolves in the pack who were directly related to the warlord. Beyond that he didn't care. He loved his family, his litter mates in particular but he knew that some wolves did care. He didn't consider himself any better than the wolves within the pack that weren't family, he could never be called egotistical for sure. His ego wasn't weak per se but it sure did have some sore spots. Unfortunately his leg was one of them. Crux's expression tightened somewhat as the blue woman told him what he should think about his own disability, as if he hadn't had it his entire life. As if he wasn't the one constantly making sure he wasn't letting anyone doubt him for it. That didn't change that yeah, the sand of the beach was a pain in his ass that others didn't need to deal with because he couldn't, in fact, mind over matter his way out of poor balance. Kyanite was about the only wolf he could share that frustration with. All this ran through his mind in an instant, at this point thoughts so common he hardly needed to acknowledge them. Maybe if he had he'd have stopped the sudden flash of warmth that flooded his face as she continued to speak and an image of a certain small Insomnia girl appeared in his mind, like she'd summoned her! He didn't know if Cryptis liked his leg cuff but he did have to acknowledge it had helped them start their friendship their shared experiences of disability had helped to foster their relationship. "Yeah..." Crux said suddenly shy and ducking his head. "Maybe..."

Hanmel, Crux made a point of matching her name to her face in his mind. A brow quirking up in curiosity as she mentioned she was planning to drop her surname. But he wouldn't pry, he wasn't nosy, curiosity be damned. "Well I hope you find something you're more comfortable with." Oh if only the two of them knew, the commiseration they could share. Crux's own run-in with Medusa hadn't exactly been what he'd call pleasant, though that wasn't entirely the odd woman's fault, he'd also been anxious for Triss and recovering from having nearly drowned earlier in the day so there had been a lot working against him. "Oh! I'm a medic, forgot." He wondered what rank the blue woman would be chasing. If he had to take a guess, probably some type of fighter, that seemed to be the majority of the pack. Though many of them were his siblings and their father was called the warlord. Still he'd not deny hoping they might find more healers soon, considering how outnumbered by fighters they were. Crux turned his attention to the seashells at Hanmel's paws, tipping his head slightly to the side and shuffling a bit closer. "Collecting some shells?" He gave her a smile, simple curiosity driving this shift in conversation.

"Speech"

Art by MarkLix