The Aegis had set up cleaning tasks for the Hallows wolves. Pups and adults alike were tackling the castle with aplomb. When it came to question who would sort out the mess that the Warlord had made in hearing the.. Difficult news, Mercury had volunteered. He had quickly been paired with an Armada wolf.

He felt himself worried about spending time with the likely grieving pup, but didn’t hesitate to reach out to her and call her for the cleaning task. To his surprise, he recognised the child when she showed. Sirius had bargained with him on behalf of this wolf, Andromeda. The wolf that was interested in the stars. He nodded his head to her. “Hello, Andy” he said. She was also the Fatalis pup that had shown up for his training exercise. “how's your footwork coming along?” he asked, as he opened the door to the ransacked room for the both of them.


"Mercury"

The days since the Fatalis pups had heard that their mother was gone have been a blur for the purple pup. Nights had been the most difficult and, while Andromeda usually loved the nighttime because of the stars, she has found just how vastly empty the sky feels without her mother beside her. When the nice Aegis had talked about all the wolves helping to clean up the Hallows land, Andy had volunteered herself. She hoped that it would take her mind off, well, everything and that the physical labor might even help her sleep.

Small lavender form moves through the hallways, taking her to the bedroom where the messy room waits. Pale blue eyes find the form of her teacher, Mercury, waiting just outside the door and Andy’s heart lifts. He is nice and she likes him. He nods to her, offering a greeting and her tail wags slowly behind her as she says, “Hi Mercury. It is… coming. Been a little, uh, distracted lately.” A small, humorless smile crosses her lips as the big man pushes open the door to allow them entry.

As she crosses the threshold, the pup bulks when she realizes just how messy the room is. Pale gaze roams over the trashed room as she softly whispers, “Whoa” while padding further into the room. Once inside, Andy glances back toward Mercury and says, “Daddy sure was mad. What should we do first?” A paw gently kicks a shredded pillow, sending downy feathers into the air as she does.


"Andromeda Fatalis"

Mercury kept the concern out of his gaze as Andy spoke of being distracted. What did one say to a child that had lost their mother? Her youth made the loss more devastating, and despite surviving his own losses he found himself coming up short on ways to help her.

Perhaps it was a good thing that in that moment he looked into the room and took in the destruction for the first time. It was rather impressive how thorough the destruction was. “Let’s start by pulling everything loose into the hallway first. Then we can righten the room and get a look at the damage” He suggested. He started to do so, grabbing the sheets and pillow and tossing them out the room. More than one released their feathers and soon he had many stuck to his fur. Grabbing the last pillow, he chucked it ripped side first at Andy. It was only fair they matched, after all.


"Mercury"

Andy is distracted as they step into the room but, as soon as Mercury offers her direction, she quickly focuses on her task. Were the big man can grab multiple things at once, the small pup is only able to do one item at time; a pillow here, a fur there. Pulling a strange… something out into the hall (was it a fur once?) the purple pup turns to look her mentor and finds him covered in feathers. She tries not to laugh, really, she does, but he just looks so funny. Great peels of puppy laughter rebound off the walls as laughs deeply from her belly and her eyes squeeze shut from the force of her joy.

The laughter continues until a big soft pillow collides with her form and Andy’s eyes spring open to search her form. Feathers stick out of her coat at odd angles and she looks to Mercury, narrowing her eyes a moment before bursting out laughing again. Prancing toward him, the pup makes bird sounds, thoroughly enjoying herself and forgetting the heaviness of the past few days. Looking to her teacher, a huge grin on her maw, the pup chirps, “Why if it isn’t the rare, castle bound, flightless bird, Mercury! Hey birdie. Can you tell my friend we need to clean?” Her eyes sparkle as she looks at him.


"Andromeda Fatalis"

It was worth a little more mess to hear her laugh. Anything to distract her from her pain, if just for a moment. It left him wondering if perhaps he shouldn’t see if he could take her and her siblings out for an adventure some time. He knew that the Armada Warlord was busy with his grief, but perhaps it was a thought worth following.

“Oh this? This is my Zeph impression” he explained, and lifted his head up high and gave a little strut around the room. “Of course, I need to stand on boxes to reach that boy's height” He added, before stepping out of the room and shaking out his coat in the hallway. “Help me righten the bed won't you, Star-bird?”

"Mercury"

These are moments that Andy is living for, the moments that help remind her that sadness isn’t all she has to look forward to. Her laughter is easy, unforced, and bright as she trills off-key bird sounds and struts around. She giggles as Mercury says that he is doing a ‘Zeph’ impression and the girl cocks her head, saying, “Is Zeph real? I keep hearing about this huge bird that lives here but I haven’t seen him. You think something as big as those stories would be easy to spot.”

Another giggle bubbles out as she follows the tall warrior out into the hallway where they shake out their coats. Andy cannot help but feel a tug of sadness at the thought of their playtime being over, however, Mercury’s words have the girl’s pale blue gaze moving up to meet his bright eyes and her ears perk up. Tail slowly wags as a happy smile blooms across her lips at the nickname, the simple words, bringing the girl great joy. Happily, she chirps, “Yeah!” before bolting back into the room to begin trying to right the bed… by herself.

With many grunts and huffs, Andromeda shoves her meager body weight into the overturned bed, determined to turn it over so that Mercury will call her Star-bird again.


"Andromeda Fatalis"

Mercury nodded his head at the question. “I’m surprised you haven’t seen him. There's a pretty big question on where he’s from and who his ancestors are, certainly he’s the largest bird I’ve ever seen” He explained as he stopped by the bed. “Artorias has adopted him as his oldest, that would make him… a nephew to you, if I’m getting your family tree right, yeah?” He said, glancing over at the little pup with a furrowed brow as he considered the connection.

“Hang on, hang on” he said, shaking away his distraction to give her a hand tipping the bed. Together, they heaved it into the corner. “Another sweep and maybe if we find some hanging to cover the chips in the walls, and the room will be good as new” he decided as he surveyed it. Of course, then there was hauling the mess they’d swept into the hallway away. “Start in that corner” he suggested to Andy as he got to work himself. “Have you had a chance to use your telescope yet?” He asked, nudging the question into the business of their cleaning


"Mercury"

Andy giggles at Mercury’s explanation of Zeph and her eyes grow bigger at the fact that Artorias adopted a huge bird as his son. Mouth rounds as a soft, “Whoa” spills out. At his question about her family tree, the pup shrugs and admits, “I didn’t even know we have a family tree. Oh! Maybe Zeph likes to hide in his family tree and that is why I haven’t seen him!” She imagines a huge tree claimed by a family and all the members visiting and taking care of it. That is what a family tree is or at least, that is what she thinks it is.

After he calls her Star-bird, Andy rushes back into the room to right the bed… all by herself. Mercury calls to her and she turns, grinning happily at him as he joins her. Together they get it upright and into the corner and her tail wags with joy. For right now, all she think about is the happiness that these simple tasks are giving her. She has a purpose and is moving which keeps her mind turned away from the gloomy thoughts that usually tug at her.

A nod is given to Mercury as she turns and begins to walking around the room again. She finds a few small pieces of chipped wall to take out into the hall. Once her sweep is done, she looks to Mercury and says, “All clear!” Andy is ready to find something to hang on the wall.


"Andromeda Fatalis"