Left on her own-as if she didn't have at least two sets of eyes watching her- Ophie was quick to find the beach. At first it was the strange hissing of the waves that drew her close, but she was soon distracted by a lovely wet patch of sand to roll in. Like an upturned turtle she tossed herself this way and that, smothering the turquoise on her back beneath a thick, and slimy layer of sand. In the distance a magpie squawked in amusement, as a white and orange blur watched on in horror, but Ophie was too wrapped up in her mucky mess to even notice them. She rolled onto her belly, legs extending out in all directions as the sun dried out her sandy cloak. What a mess she'd made of herself and in such short time too, but she was happy and that's all a pup ought to be really.

Marshal was the one in charge of the companions, ensuring that all the pups had eyes on them at all times. He could have run it past Marshal to find where his little travelling beans were, but it was more fun to find them on his own.

He found the scent of little Ophelia (Zeelet) down by the beach. He remembered how Asla had taken a tumble in the water when she was as tiny as tiny could be. She had been afraid of the ocean for a while. But it was a hard fear to keep when you lived with your sister pack a good paddle away.

As he reached the sandy territory, he found a grainy abomination in the place of his daughter. He paused, snaking his head forward, raising his hackles. “I came here looking for my daughter, did you eat her, sand monster?”

Ophie let out a startled little GUH sound as her ears flicked back, the very epitome of guilt. Daddy sounded like he was really mad, the most very mad she'd ever heard! She flinched a little, smushing herself further down into the sand as if it would pull her in and hide her from his wrath. Her front paws crept up over her head and she hunkered beneath them, peeping out from behind as her tail tapped at the sand in slow, apologetic sweeps. For a long moment she only focused on his tone but as the seconds drew by her mind eventually caught up and deciphered the meaning of his words. Sand monster? Oh yeah! That was her, for sure! She was most certainly was a sand monster now, even her Daddy knew it to be true! Like a flick had been switched she leapt to her paws and pranced and danced before Sirius. Spinning in dizzying circles before she slapped her front paws, splishing sand everywhere, as her butt rose in an unmistakable playful position. She bared her white puppy teeth, hardly intimidating when compared to the length of Sirius' incisors, and let out the loudest RAAAAWR her lungs could muster.

His little one ducked down, burying herself further in the sand. He had to press his muzzle together, pushing it into a flat line to keep from laughing. Oh, little Hope. She was going to be a terror to keep clean, it would seem.

After a moment, shoe rose to the challenge, slinging wet sand as she settled herself into a fighting position. One wad of the stuff smacked into his muzzle, and he went cross eyed looking at the orangy goop.

Then he focused again on Ophelia, who snarled and growled at him. He lowered himself to the ground, his tail swishing slowly behind him. “Sand monster! Release my daughter, or pay the price!” he snarled, taking a gentle, experimental swipe at her nose.

Ophie watched, delight shining in her eyes, as Sirius hunkered himself down to something closer to her level. Even laying down he was still so big, tall and massive, like a big furry mountain for her to climb all over. Unable to stop herself her tail began to wag so hard her whole, tiny, frame shook. It was hard to be fierce and scary, the dreaded sand monster, when her fave dire of all time was right before her.

"GRAAAH!" She roared again, launching herself forward as she leapt up onto his head.

She scrambled and climbed, making even more of a mess of his face as she struggled to find a foothold. Wriggling up to his neck she took a hold of the loose skin of his scuff and bit down, her growls muffled as she held on and shook her head. She was a monster, a scary thing to be feared- except that she loved her Daddy very very very much. And as fun as it was to fight and play...she liked loving on him so much more. Her mouth dropped open and she let him go, her paws smoothing over the hurt she might have caused as she began to gently knead away at his neck.

"Da. Love you." Endlessly, more than a little pup like her could articulate.

Sirius let out a deep cry of pain as the monster launched itself at him. Knowing his time had come! As she landed on him his face fell hard to the sandy floor. The monster had felled him. The great Armada Warlord… was defeated. The pack would have to go on without him, as he lay, forgotten and dead in his sandy grave.

The dead beast twitched as she continued to attempt to scramble up his face. Almost putting out his eye with a dangerous, sandy paw as she did so. She hooked a toe into his nose in her passing, and he sneezed sand.

Then she was kneading at his neck, and he fully gave up any pretense of being dead. He twitched his ears at her, grinning through she could not see it. “I love you too, little Hope”

Her Da's words were always loud and important, so when he said that Ophie believed him with everything she had. Surely she had to be the luckiest pup in the world to have a Da like him, one who loved her so fervently and earnestly, as though it came to him as naturally as breathing. Perhaps it did. She kneaded on and on, happy with the rhythm she'd fallen into till she paused and her paw slipped, almost causing her to lose her balance atop her Da's wide neck. She hadn't quite nailed the art of multitasking just yet but she'd get there, eventually. She leaned forward, her paws resting on the back of  Da's skull as she resisted the strong urge to nibble his ears.

"What is that? Little hope?" She asked with a curious tip of her head. She loved it when her Da explained things, it all just made sense, as though his words alone could clear fog.

She continued to kneed at his coat, wobbling a little as she worked, and settling on top of his head. After a moment, he reached up, pulling his paws over his head as he grabbed Ophelia, and pulled her close, snuggling her between her arms and kissed the crown of her head.

“Little hope is your nickname, Ophelia. Hope is… a feeling of trust, it's a word that expresses a desire for things to happen, and a positive outlook towards the future. You are my little Hope, little trouble” he explained, brushing his nose across her ears. “Now, would you like to learn to fish?”

Ophie was soon scooped up into her Father's embrace and the little pup was more than happy to remain there. Cuddles were quite possibly her most favourite thing in the world and she'd be a liar if she claimed it didn't make her a little sad that her siblings weren't exactly the snuggly type. They were just so tough and excited to see and explore the world, and Ophie felt as though she was being swept along. Almost forced to follow suit, even if only to fit in with the rest. But that was fine, it wasn't as if she minded, she just wanted to join in the fun. To play a part in a family that loved her very much.

Her dad's explanation brought a frown to her brow. She liked the idea of being hope, that she could and would make good things happen but again there was the weight of expectation. Whether he meant it or not Sirius had given little Ophie a lot to think about.

"Ooooh." The idea of fishing was very appealing to her, especially since she'd seen Hanako scoffing down on fish as though there was no tomorrow. "Yes pleeeease!"

Ophelia was a cuddly wolf, she kind of reminded him of Mortis in that regard. Of course, during Mort’s childhood, the Warlord hadn’t been as approachable as he was now. Catching up on lost time, he was quick to scoop up any of his brood and draw them in for a cuddle. He put the pup back down on her own four paws again, giving her a moment to ensure she caught her balance, before getting to his own paws. “Alright then, let's go see what we can catch! Have you been practicing your swimming at all, Oph?” he asked, looking back at the smaller wolf. He would have to be careful not to lose the small thing in the waves. "Speech"

Back on her paws, Ophie shook out her coat in a very lazy and half hearted attempt to rid herself of the sand she'd only just rolled in. Dad didn't seem to care much about her being a mucky pup but the same couldn't be said for Mum, whoops. If anything from what she could see he was just as bad as she was, all coated in soppy sand and mud. Maybe this was why she liked her Dad a little more, he just seemed to get her in a way Mum just didn't. As though he understood who and what she was and loved her in all her muddy glory. Ophie hoped so at least, cause it sounded really nice.

Bouncing on her paws, Ophie nodded, a touch over-eager. She'd been practicing a lot, splishing and splashing the water, skittering back and forth in between the waves. Which was to say...no she hadn't really gotten much, if any swimming done as of late. Too busy playing. She grinned, all wide and toothy as her tail wagged in a grey blur behind her, as though to charm the guilt away. But she couldn't lie to her Dad, not now and not ever.

"Umm....no?" She admitted, more sheep than wolf. "Can you show me how? Please."

He could only laugh gently at her admission. There was so much for a pup to learn, but he tried not to let anything important fall through the caps. Ushering her onto the beach, he lay down on the shallow shore. “Hope on Ophelia, and trust me, okay?” he asked gently of his daughter. He would take her out until it was deep enough for him to touch the water, and most of his back to be submerged. Then, she could practice her paddling just off the dad-boat. He would be right there if it looked like she was struggling, even for a moment. Swimming wasn’t one of Seer’s strong points, but he could manage the task. He was a heavyset and thick coat wolf, he had never mingled well with water. That was why he planned to keep them to the depths that he could easily touch. "Speech"