The water was cool to the touch. A calm sliver of water from the falls that was deeper into the territory. Completely safe for him to be in. He was staring at his reflection and doing what exactly. Trying to rehearse how he was going to explain to his family that he was a boy. Hanataro stared intently at his reflection, the flopped ear, his spots. "Not a girl." he muttered staring at his reflection. Heavens why was this so hard! Carefully he pulled himself from the river and flopped down on the dirt. Enjoying the cool feeling under his belly.

"Man why does everything have to be so hard!" he yelled probably a little louder than he realized. Pulling his little paws though the dirt he huffed not really understanding how to express this emotion of frustration. Maybe just maybe, he could chat with one of his siblings about it. They were all a team right? Hanataro liked to think of them as such. But he felt like he was falling far behind everyone already.

Ume’s been following Hana at a loping pace, uncaring if he’s caught but in no real hurry to catch up. he’s not quite sure what compels him to do it - that is, stalk his littermate - but he’s rarely one to question his instincts, so he settles at Hana’s peripheral and just kind of watches for a while. they seem…anxious, Ume supposes, those he’s not exactly the most observant or emotionally intelligent of wolves. but there’s a lot of sighing, and some mumbling, which is probably indicative of negative feelings. then they start yelling, so Ume crawls over on his underbelly and settles directly beside Hana, fixing them with a wide, unblinking eyes. ”what?” believe it or not, he’s trying to be polite.

ooc: using they/them for Hana just until Ume finds out about their preferred pronouns :)