Satira wasn't breaking the rules by being out on her own, really. She was just bending the rules a little. Besides, rules were more like guidelines anyway. She'd only taken a few steps beyond the border of the Armada, and even then, it was only because she'd thought she'd seen some herbs on the other side of the scent markers, and knowing that her pack had needed to rebuild their supply stores, really this was her helping out the pack and doing them a service. Right? That's how she was justifying it anyway as the tiny fawn-colored girl wandered along the edge of the territories between the Armada's sea of grasses and the wilds of the willow forest, tiny paws crunching through the snow and leaving a visible trail of where she'd been. She glanced out at the droopy, alien trees with curiosity. What made them grow that way, she wondered? She considered asking her father, since he was the foremost expert on botany in the pack, but he was always so busy off doing his own thing. He barely had time for her anymore.

The thought made Satira more than a little sad. Mojito used to be around to come see her as often as he could, but lately he seemed... distant. Satira didn't see him with Asla anymore and it was like he was trying to avoid them. She frowned as her thoughts darkened. Had she done something wrong? She'd tried to seek him out a couple of times, but he hadn't been receptive to her. Did he not want to be her father anymore? Maybe she should ask her mother when she got a chance. Oh, but wouldn't that make her seem silly? She was a Fatalis girl after all; she had to be tough like her mother was and not let things get to her. She'd already felt weak thanks to the stupid snake, now she was going to go crying to Mom about Dad not being around? That wasn't very tough nor ladylike. No, she would just have to suck it up and hope she was being silly thinking these things.

As Satira wandered along the edge of the the willows, her eyes spied some marshmallow plants peeking out from beneath the thin layer of frost and snow. Beaming with her success, Satira bounded over to the plants and carefully brushed the snow from the delicate white and pink flowers. She was very pleased to see that, despite the colder weather of winter, the plant still seemed to be thriving, not yet dormant for the season as its blooms still held strong to its stems. While not a rare herb by any means, Satira knew that fresh living plants would be hard to find in the chill of winter, and she knew it could be used topically like her father had shown her, and also how it helped with teething. Arcturus had been having a bad time with his teeth lately, complaining about aches and pains with his jaw, particularly his two top canines. Surely he'd appreciate a little relief from the pain. Being the good sister that she was, Satira gathered up several bunches of the flowers, whistling for her falcon companion who came swooping down from the gray sky above.

"Take these back home for me, please," she told her companion, leaving the sprigs of flowers at her talons. The raptor scooped them up, then took to the sky again, obediently flying back toward the den. Satira watched her companion leave before turning back to the weird willow trees, looking them up and down curiously as she ventured further away from Armada territory and into the woods. She kept her guard up, reminding herself that she was very small and there could be some very large dangers out here. The snake was always at the forefront of her mind, a deadly reminder of the perils the world could throw her way. Satira was brave though—or perhaps just reckless—and she couldn't be compelled to stop adventuring. She was much like her mother in that regard. Headstrong and stubborn.

As she meandered through the fronds of several willow trees, Satira found herself coming across a small brook. The water babbled like a mellifluous chorus, and along its edges she saw some young horsetail. She smiled; another helpful herb to bring back to the pack! She was doing so well today! And all she had to do was ignore the rules! Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't been out in the world before. She'd gone on trips with Asla, she'd fought with multiple bears, surely she could handle a short traipse around the quiet winter forest. After all, what could she possibly encounter out here that couldn't be solved with the right application of charm, wit, maybe a flash of her status in the most powerful pack in the world, or a single howl? She was still close enough to the border that she knew if she called, her beasts of a grandfather and uncles would come running in a minute. Armed with that knowledge, Satira Fatalis was nigh untouchable. What was the worst that could happen?

"Satira Fatalis"

Cináed continued on with his trip around the more southern and eastern parts of Boreas before he began to loop his way back up toward the north again, but he certainly was tempted to just not go back. If it wasn't for his bright idea of putting his name in the running for the pack's heir in some vein attempt to get his father's attention and favor then he might have just joined the ranks of "deserters" and "slanderers" that his dad seemed convinced were out there. As delusional and out of touch as he was, he still had to put up with him as long as he was still a part of this pack and family so for now he contented himself to these trips away from the pack, giving himself several days away at a time to breathe away from them all so he didn't absolutely lose his mind.

This journey was a bit longer than some other trips he had taken, going almost all the way to the opposite side of Boreas. Dark paws carried him through the forrest of willow trees and golden eyes looked over the strange trees curiously. He had never seen trees like this since most of the ones near where he grew up were all some kind of pine or cedar tree. Really, any tree that didn't have needles for leaves was pretty unusual to him though there were at least some hardy oaks and things of that nature near by. Everything was frosted with a bit of snow, but it was a far cry from the state the north was in and he wondered for the hundredth time why his dad would choose to keep their pack up there when it was always so miserable.

He passed a cluster of the droopy trees and found a babbling stream in his path and he paused long enough to take a drink. With his head lowered to the surface of the water, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and glanced down the stream to see the tiniest pup he had never seen poking around at some reedy plants. He wasn't all that familiar with pups, but he knew for a fact that none of his siblings had ever been that small and the blue siblings were a bit younger than he was and they are definitely bigger than this too. Curiosity pulled him toward the little tan, white and black ball of fluff and as he got closer he noticed the way her ears folded over and bobbed with every movement of her head. He squinted a little as he lowered his head to look at her more closely as he got close enough to speak comfortably, tilting his head slightly. "Hey, little girl, aren't you a little young to be out here on your own? Where's your parents?" At least in his mind she had to be super super young with how little she was and he could smell the pack scent on her so he knew someone had to be looking out for her somewhere.

Cináed Praetor

Satira didn't notice the other wolf approaching her until he was virtually on top of her. She was standing upwind of him, the babbling stream masked his approach, and only the subtle crunching of snow beneath heavy paws caught her attention away from the horsetail. Tira looked up at the strange wolf with a quiet gasp. He was tremendously big, with piercing gold eyes and a coat that looked like he'd just stepped out of living fire. Though he was older, his features were still soft and young; he was still very much a juvenile. Satira froze, both holding her ground and also not entirely sure what else to do. This was the first wolf she'd ever met that wasn't an Armada wolf, although he did smell like other wolves too. Was he from Ashen? Some other pack? Who was he?

Pale blue eyes studied the adolescent with caution and curiosity. She watched him squint, then bring his head down to her level to speak to her, talking to her as if she were some infant in need of coddling. Satira's gaze narrowed with annoyance at the stranger. Who was he to question a Fatalis princess on what she was doing? "That's not really any of your business, is it? And I'm not a little girl. For your information, I'm almost three seasons old," she remarked with a bit of a guarded edge to her voice. Satira considered herself far more mature than her age dictated, and to hear this unknown red wolf regard her as such a child irritated her.

She gave an indignant puff of her chest and gestured to the horsetail plants. "If you didn't notice, I'm gathering herbs for my family. My father's the Armada's lead healer." She said the last sentence very matter-of-factly, as if to drive home the importance of who she was. "And by the way, it's 'where're', not 'where's'. You meant to say 'Where're your parents'. And I'm not telling you. You're a stranger, after all." Although he was easily four times her size, Satira wasn't intimidated by the big red wolf. She'd fought bears and giant snakes with her mother before, and this boy was nowhere near as scary as either of those predators had been. "Who are you anyway, Mister? You don't smell like you're from here."

"Satira Fatalis"

When this tiny pup-looking girl started speaking in full, well thought out sentences and snipping back at him for calling her a little girl it made him blink in startled surprise and lean back from her. She looked like she couldn't have been more than a season old at best with how little she was and when she insisted that she was three seasons old he had a hard time believing it. The only reason he slightly believed it was how she addressed him, but he had also been pretty mature for his age when he was a pup too so who knew what the truth was. His golden gaze glanced over to the plants she had been poking around in when she said how she was collecting herbs for her family and oh so pointedly said how her dad was the Armada lead healer. Sassy and entitled! Well, at the very least she was entertaining if nothing else. "Well, excuse me, your highness. I didn't realize I was speaking to royalty," he told her with a heavy dose of sarcasm, giving an over dramatic, sweeping bow.

He smirked as she corrected his grammer giving a little rumble of a chuckle as he lowered himself down onto his haunches across from this ball of fluff that was barely bigger than his paw. She had twice the spirit than pretty much anyone he'd run into in Incindium so tiny or not she had his attention. When she questioned who he was and pointed out like it didn't seem like he was from around here he chuckled again, replying, "Certainly correct about that. I'm Cináed." He certainly wouldn't mind living around here rather than up north, but that wasn't exactly an option at the moment so he would have to settle for these trips and escapes from his pack whenever he grew bored or tired of what was happening there - or more specifically what wasn't happening... Not that he'd announce his displeasure of his father and his lack of follow through to a complete stranger, but it was an ever present cloud lingering in the back of his mind.

"It's awfully bold of you to demand someone's name without giving your own, isn't it? Rude even, I'd say." A teasing smirk lingered on his lips as he spoke while he lifted a large, dark paw to reach toward her ear, gently flicking the tip of her folded over, black speckled ear. "I've never seen someone with ears that flop around like this before... Are you sure you're a wolf? So tiny with floppy ears... Seems doubtful to me." He was having fun getting a rise out of the fuzzy girl, giving her a flash of teeth as he grinned. Teasing her was probably the most fun he'd had in quite a while - not that he really had a lot of "fun" to compare it to.

Cináed Praetor

Satira was quite pleased by the shocked look of stupor that crossed the bigger boy's face when she started talking back to him, clearly destroying whatever preconceived notions he had about her. Good; serves him right for making assumptions about her and treating her like a baby. Pale blue eyes narrowed to snarky points while she held the red wolf's golden gaze, warm and cool eyes locked in visual combat. His overly dramatic display of bowing before her made Tira scoff and roll her eyes, but at the same time it was an improvement to being condescended. "That's much better, thank you," she retorted and made a show of sticking her nose up in the air, returning his exaggerated show of pompousness that was definitely not characteristic of her. No doubt this stranger would probably guess that too. "I suppose I can forgive you this one time, but the next time I might have to have you executed." Try as she might to maintain a straight face, Tira couldn't resist the smirk from dancing on her tiny muzzle, nearly giggling at how silly her own theatrics were.

To her surprise, the boy didn't turn tail and leave. Instead he sat down, getting comfortable while he sized her up and made no effort to hide it. The way his gold eyes moved boldly over her, no doubt considering her size and spunk for her age, did little to faze the tiny Fatalis princess. Tira was nothing if not confident in herself and her position. The boy introduced himself as Cináed, then commented on her own brashness to demand someone's name without introducing herself. Then he called her rude. Satira's eyes widened, though they held their narrowed taper. Rude?! She was the very embodiment of manners, thank you very much! "Mom taught me to never give up the upper hand," she remarked with a teasing smirk of her own. "It's not rude, it's called being smart. You should try it sometime." Satira flashed Cina a bright smile and sat down to join him in his more relaxed posture. "I'm Satira. Satira Fatalis. You might have heard of my family before." Her final comment made in sarcasm; everyone knew of the superiority of the Fatalises, after all.

While she was lost in the pride of revealing her identity to Cináed, she felt something flick one of her flopped over ears. Satira blinked in surprise, gasping in shock and incredulity, floored that this stranger would have the gall to actually lay a paw on a Fatalis princess so audaciously! So stunned was Satira that she didn't say anything other than gape at him with wide eyes when he asked if she really was a wolf. How dare he! With the most ferocious growl the small puppy could muster up, Satira turned her head up and snapped tiny jaws at Cina's paw, catching the end of his digits with her tiny needly puppy teeth. "Excuse you! Of course I'm a wolf! You're clearly as dumb as you look!" She huffed and pouted, puffing up her little chest as much as she could, swiping her paws with little feline claws on the end at his paw if he made another attempt to flick her soft, floppy ears.

"Satira Fatalis"

The obvious offense she took at him calling her rude was almost too much and he very nearly bust out laughing at this little spitfire of a pup. He did manage to refrain though with just a cocky grin and a chuckle instead as she glared at him and gave him a sharp retort of never giving up the upper hand and a comment about how he should try being smart sometime. Ah, but she didn't notice how he didn't give her his family name or how he hadn't mentioned what pack he came from, had she? And how he had tweaked her enough to not only get her name, but her family name as well. Within the span of a few minutes he had learned that she was almost three seasons old, from the Armada, her father was the lead healer, her name was Satira Fatalis. She was extremely clever for her age and he certainly enjoyed the snappy comebacks, but there was still plenty for her to learn.

"Hmm... no, doesn't ring a bell," he said with a shrug when she said how he might have heard about her family before. The truth was that he had indeed heard the name in passing during the tournament he attended in Ashen and could tell that it was a fairly prominent name from how many he had seen participate in that festival, but other than that he was fairly unfamiliar. Even if he did know exactly who her family was and why her name was significant he wasn't going to tell her that. Might as well take the opportunity to poke at this ego that only a young, naive pup that had clearly not been out of the pack much would have. Well... that and perhaps someone like his father.

Her reaction to his paw flicking one of the floppy tips of her ears was perhaps the funniest thing yet though and he couldn't help the toothy grin that pulled across his lips at the shocked look on her face. Oh but even that paled in comparison to the attempt at a growl she did before she reached up to snap at his toes, catching his paw pads with her sharp puppy teeth. He winced and pulled his paw back, shaking away the sting she left there. The smirk still lingered on his lips though. He wasn't mad at her at all for biting him. He knew he deserved it and probably would have been disappointed if she hadn't. He scoffed a little when she asserted that she was in fact a wolf, calling him dumb for thinking otherwise. Just to tick her off even more he went to flick her ear again, only to be met with sharp feline-like claws swiping up at him. He pulled his paw back at the last second, narrowly avoiding her claws with a grin. "Floppy ears and feline claws, huh? Looking less and less like a wolf to me!" he teased, his tail wagging lightly though the light layer of snow behind him.

Cináed Praetor

Oh but this crimson boy really was doing everything he could to piss her off, wasn't he? Cináed was not only disrespectful and ignorant, but he was obnoxious too! He gave a dramatically pensive moment of thought before denying knowing her family or their name. Now she knew that was a lie! Every wolf in Boreas knew about the Fatalis line and the might of the Armada. From the southern coast to the northern tundras, the Fatalis name was infamous, almost if not more so than Abraxas or Klein. She huffed and gave a dismissive roll of her eyes, deciding to challenge him back. "Oh, like you're somebody more famous? What's your family name then, huh?" Likely some mutt name of a weak lineage of loner wolves, no doubt. The boy was cocky and arrogant, but he was a nobody.

Satira was quite pleased with herself when she watched Cina shake his paw after her teeth made contact with his soft paw pad. Served him right; it was what he deserved for being so improper with a princess. If her grandfather had seen such impudence she knew he'd have taken his paw clean off his leg. One day when she was big too, maybe she'd take after her Grandpa Sirius in that regard. Or maybe she'd just have someone stronger do her dirty work for her. It was quite unladylike for a princess to be involved in matters so bloody and messy, after all. Her victory was short-lived, however, as Cina never stopped smirking. Then the boy questioned her lineage further by mentioning her floppy ears and her cat claws. Narrowed pale blue eyes fixed him with a death glare, and if looks could kill she would have struck Cina dead on the spot.

"Well, I'm very sorry your family doesn't have any special gifts to give you," she snapped back, lifting a tiny paw to extend and retract her claws a few times to show them off. A proud grin appeared on her face while she held the yearling's golden gaze. His eyes were so intense, and virtually the exact opposite of hers, fiery and impulsive versus her cool and calculating. "You're lucky my Mom's aren't around. She would rip your tongue out for insults like that." It was true, too. Asla was the pinnacle of righteous violence, and gods help the ember-speckled boy if the pup's mother had been around. But that didn't mean Tira couldn't stand up for herself. Though his comments had hit some secret insecurities deep inside her heart.

"Satira"

Cináed smirked when she got even more flustered after he told her that he didn't know about her family, giving her a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Don't have one," he replied easily. "I'm a free agent. It's awfully nice to not have to live up to some fancy name, don't you think?" Of course that was a lie, but she wouldn't know that. If he had learned one thing he had learned from seeing how the other packs interacted at the Ashen tournament it was that his father's pack was not exactly liked and his family didn't have the clout or reputation that his father had led them to believe. It felt better to simply not bring up his family or his lineage than to give her some kind of ammunition to use against him. Sure, she might still use his lack of family against him, but he could pick the lesser of the two evils.

The death glare he got for his retort about her claws and ears made his smirk turn into a grin. He had made a game of getting under her skin and he was winning. He chuckled as she declared her sympathies that his family hadn't had any "gifts" to give him, wagging her special claws as if it was proof that she was superior in that regard. No, Celosia and Infrit were the only ones of them to get "gifts," if she wanted to call them that. He didn't want his worth to be measured off of something he couldn't control anyway. He couldn't change the fact that he wasn't born with horns like Celosia or claws like this little girl. All he could change or improve was his own skills and mind and in that regard he was leaps and bounds over his siblings - not that it really mattered anymore. He could make a name for himself with or without his family.

He laughed as the little fluffy pup said he was lucky her mother wasn't around and how this angry momma bear would have ripped out his tongue. "Must be nice to be able to hide behind mommy," he teased, reaching over to quickly flick her ear again and jerking his paw away before she could claw or bite at it. "Try living without any parents and see how you do." He hadn't been much older than her when his father disappeared for over a season—not that he was really around before that either—and he'd never known his mother. He didn't know what it was like to feel like he had some kind of protection. The closest he got was being able to stay behind pack borders and at least feel mostly confident that he was safe within these arbitrary borders.

As much fun as irritating this little pup was, she was starting to make him think and consider things that he didn't really feel like thinking about on his vacation. He came down into the southern parts of Boreas to get away from his family, not to be reminded of them at every turn. He chuckled and rose to his paws, giving his fiery pelt a quick shake before throwing her a smirk. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, princess," he said as he gave an exaggerated, sweeping bow in front of her. "Maybe I'll see you around, pip-squeak." With that he turned to leave with another chuckle, trotting away from this tiny firecracker of a pup. Part of him did actually hope they crossed paths again some day. She was entertaining if nothing else.

Cináed Praetor

Cináed was rapidly becoming a more painful thorn in her side with every snide and mocking comment he made. He riled little Satira up in ways even her obnoxious brother hadn't. At least with Arcturus, his teasing was good-natured and came from a place of love. Cina's words, they were just meant to hurt. And hurt they did. Satira wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing just how deep his comments had cut her though. If there was one thing she'd learned from her mother, it was that Fatalises don't cry—they get even. Being as small and helpless against the much larger boy, there was no way for her to get even with him right now, so she at least wouldn't let him see her break down. He claimed he had no family name, no family, and that he was on his own. Then he flicked her ear again while mocking her for having to rely on her mother to protect her. Tira growled and snapped her jaws at his paw, but he retreated much too quickly and she bit down on nothing but air.

Satira decided she hated everything about Cina. She hated his cocky grin, she hated the way he took so much entertainment out of trying to hurt her, she hated his dumb stupid face and the fact that he was talking about her and her family this way and getting away with it! She wanted to call for her mother or her father or her grandfather or her uncles so they could come teach this bully a lesson, but she couldn't. Every time she tried to draw in a breath her lungs would quiver as she held back sobs. The tiny pup was immobilized by her emotions and her inability to control them well enough to stay composed. But really, who expected a six month old to have their emotions in check?

The red wolf chuckled and got back to his feet then, making another dramatic show of bowing to her before dismissing himself, unable to resist slinging one more name her way before he sauntered off like a proud peacock flaunting his feathers. Satira huffed a few times and tried to think of something snappy to say back to him, but her mind was too busy reeling from this encounter. Her heart hurt in ways she'd never felt before and the adrenaline running through her was starting to make her feel sick. Before she knew it, she was left alone, sitting in the snow beside the stream while fighting back tears. Tira was gritting her teeth together so hard they hurt, but she couldn't control herself. Nobody had ever spoken to her that way before—nobody!

Rising to her own feet, Tira didn't even bother to shake the snow from her fluffy downy fur while she stepped over to the stream. She gazed down in the gliding waters, staring at her own reflection and eyeing her flopped over ears that bobbed with every subtle movement of her head. Her ears had never bothered her before... so why were the bully's words making her look at them and feel ugly? Sniffling to herself, Satira lifted one tiny paw and extended her feline claws, looking at them and then back to her ears in her reflection.  Was there something wrong with her? All of her family had strange claws, but her ears... Only her and her father had ears like this, or fur that wasn't the same as everyone else. Was Cina right? Was she not a real wolf?

Choking back a sob, Satira steeled herself just enough to be able to focus on where she was going while she ran back home. She'd never been so happy to cross back over the Armada border as she had been in that moment. All she wanted to do now was go curl up in bed and pretend this day never happened. To forget the red boy and his mean words and how in one moment he had made her go from feeling like a beautiful princess to an abomination.

"Satira"