Her horns were beginning to show now. Calamity had two proud little nubs gracing her head, but the downside was they ached now more than ever. Being cooped up in the comparatively smaller area of Redwater Rocks was doing terrible things to do her temper. Since news of Archon's death had arrived, everyone was moping... which meant no one was paying attention to her. Cal was sad in her own way - which was to say, instead of sad, she was very, very angry.

Angry at god for taking away her father, angry at the pack for running away from danger, angry at her mother for disappearing into a fog of grief, the list went on. Cal didn't have anything useful to do except rub her head on everything - or better yet - slam her skull into the many rocks that littered the area. She was caught up doing the same thing today, running headlong over and over again into the side of a sloping boulder. Cal grunted, panting hard, as she ran into the rock again. Sweat poured down her flanks and made her shiver in the cold winter air. Nothing alleviated her pain.

Sirius Warlord Sirius approached as the pup went for a headlong dash. If it had been any other Ashen child, he might have been worried, but the sharp beginnings of horns on Calamity’s head protected her skull. A good thing, it seemed, if this was how she chose to spend her time. He hadn’t had as much chance to teach Calamity fighting as he had some of her sisters, and he could see her dire need for it in the way she burned off excess energy and frustration now. “Calamity," he said, informing the young princess of his presence. “What are you doing?’ he asked her in mild curiosity. He could guess, but he would give her a chance to speak it out loud. He was already judging her pose and balance, and knew what his plans would be for the next few hours. "Speech"

Calamity skittered to a stop as Sirius approached with a pointed question. "Mmmm..." she mumbled, shaking her head and then her whole body. "My head just kind of hurts all the time and this helps a little bit." She set her face in a hard little frown and looked pointedly away from him. "Plus everyone is too busy lately. With, you know, the volcano and stuff." And dad dying. The pup knew in a sort of background way that he had been training the others, but she'd managed to escape his regimen so far.

The horned little devil often made it a point to be difficult just for the sake of being difficult. There wasn't many other ways to stand out among the hordes of other siblings and cousins that flooded the pack. If being a brat was how she'd stand out, Cal was perfectly happy with doing just that.

Sirius Warlord “It would, what with that monstrosity hanging off your face” he said, his face serious for a second, before giving way to a grin, bearing his lip to display a fang - not in a threat, just to bring attention to them. He was accustomed to being different with his fangs. Of course, lately, there had been a lot of mutations in the pack. He blamed that witches brew from the firefly festival, and Deathbelle taking it well pregnant. “And the Volcano had been a teensy bit distracting, pretty rude, taking up all the attention like that, right?” he said conversationally as he came to a stop beside her and took a seat, looking down at her smaller, nub-headed form. “Zee has something similar forming, we can find out how she’s been getting around the itch, if you like” he offered. "Speech"

"Oh, Miss Zee has horns too...?" She said excitedly. Venom had all of the very cool blessings - cat claws reigned supreme in her mind. Cal thought they were the neatest thing she'd ever seen and was more than a little bit jealous. But if someone else shared her blessing, then that would be great! "It can be like, horns versus claws!" Cal said, her voice high and giddy. With excitement getting the best of her, she lowered her head and butted against Sirius' leg.

"Oh, um, sorry," she said sheepishly once it had gotten out of her system. The princess looked away, embarrassed to have lost her cool in front of Ashen's most powerful warrior. Sirius was strong - the strongest wolf in probably all of Boreas, she figured. Easily. She didn't want to do something that would upset him.

Sirius Warlord “She does - or at least, she will” Sirius said, the part they spoke of was still growing, but what was forming there was unmistakable. Just like Sirius’s claws, which itched and frustrated him in the meanwhile, where changing slowly day by day. He had fought enough large cats in his life to know what they were turning into. The young girl lowered her head and gave him a good butt with her growing horns. He grunted, but didn’t so much as budge beneath her onslaught. She was still greatly smaller than he, and he suspected it would always be so. “Butt away, if it makes you feel better” he encouraged, a wry smile on his expression. He had greatly expected trouble from the little Deathbelle litter. Miscreations, the lot of them, but he loved them regardless. He loved them something fierce, and unhealthy, as was always his way. "Speech"

"Well, it kind of does..." She admitted, giving him another playful bump. It didn't really solve the root of her problem though. Her head still ached something fierce. "Can we play?" Cal asked, nuzzling against his leg a bit more placidly. The young girl had heard that he was teaching her siblings to fight and she wanted a slice of that pie! She dipped into a play bow and wagged her tail in excitement; although her horns were just now appearing, from the bone spurs beneath the surface it was evident that they would one day be quite large. For now, they were less than impressive.

Maybe Miss Zee would come play with them too! Cal was fond of her mother's lady in waiting, if only because they often smelled the same. Playing with her in the den was as natural as playing with her own mother. If she could learn a thing or two from them both, she'd prove that horns beat claws every time!