So... mentoring. This was probably one of the things Corvus was most uncertain about, when it came to his position as Blackthorn. He could help defend his pack, could help scout borders and organize scouting parties... but actually sitting down and teaching another wolf things? He wasn't so sure. He didn't know much at all about Theory - what if she didn't even need his guidance? Either way, he had to seem sure, because this had been his plan, not something that had been handed to him. He had to own it and make it his own, even if he felt wildly under-prepared. Maybe he could give her a hunting lesson... no, she was too old to be stalking snakes through the plains, wasn't she? He wrinkled his nose as he moved through the grass, nosing through the vegetation as he mulled over his own thoughts. Delaying wouldn't do him any good, and certainly wouldn't make him feel any more prepared, so he sucked in a sharp breath and decided to call for her - lifting his head and letting out a clear but unassuming call, making her known her attendance was optional if she was busy. He could always find her again some other time, if she wasn't in the mood to do any training today...

Eager to answer any call, Theory bounded through the tall grasses towards her cousin. No one had told her about who was her assigned mentor, but she figured that Shaye and Rhyme had more pressing matters to attend to. With Motif missing and the rest of her siblings scarce, Theory had had a little too much spare time. It had made her a little stir crazy. Corvus' call was a welcome distraction, to say the least. "Hello!" She called, her tail wagging fast. Eagerness was written all over her face and body language; it was impossible to mistake her delight. "Corvus, why'd you call? I mean, I'm happy that you called, but..." They hadn't really spent much time together. Theo wasn't about to turn down company, though, of any sort. "Anyway, what's up?" "Speech"

Maybe, just maybe, this was a bad idea. But Corvus had brought it up to Shaye, and she'd agreed that he could mentor Theory.. so realistically he couldn't really back out now. Not that he wanted to, but he couldn't help but feel uncertain about all of this. Maybe Shaye or Rhyme would be better suited to mentor her, or maybe... Oh. There she was. Trying not to look too flustered, he forced a grin - not that it wasn't genuine, but he was so out of his comfort zone here that had to give a bit of effort to not seem like he wasn't internally panicking. "Hey, Theory," he greeted her, glad his deep voice didn't betray the lack of confidence he was currently feeling. "I was just - uh - well..." He fumbled over his words for a second, though he tried to remind himself she didn't look upset he'd called. In fact, if he had to guess, she actually looked pleased. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "As Blackthorn, I'm supposed to be mentoring someone - and I picked you. Lucky you, right?" He chuckled softly, at his own feeble attempt at a joke. He didn't really know any of his younger family members, though he'd heard rumors about Noir... but he certainly didn't know much about Theory. "You're interested in fighting, right? I figured I could give you some lessons. Or something." He held back a shrug, hoping he didn't sound stupid. He wasn't exactly a skilled fighter, but hopefully he could find something to teach her.

"Oh! Yes," she said happily. Blackthorns... what did they do again? Theo wracked her brain; she desperately wanted to prove that he had picked a worthy apprentice. "Blackthorns are responsible for guarding duties, patrolling, and mentoring," she recited, tentatively wagging her tail. Theory was the picture of "teacher's pet." Her mother's early death made her eager for any sort of approval, especially from older members of the pack. Hopefully she could make Corvus proud. He seemed a little uncomfortable. Was he disappointed that he was stuck with her? She supposed that of her siblings, she was a bit unremarkable. Noir had his whole "insufferable bad boy" thing going, Verse had her companions and was becoming quite skilled at trapping, and Poem and Motif were Shaye and Rhyme's children, marking them apart from the others. Some wolves looked poorly upon them for their parentage, but no one seemed to shun them in Abaven. "I have been trying to train in fighting... but Shaye, Rhyme, and Poem are all so gentle. They won't give me a real tussle." Theory shot him a hopeful, imploring look. They were almost the same height; Corvus could make it a real challenge for her. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking, why did you pick me?" It seemed like a pretty regular question to her, but it could be considered loaded. "Speech"

After a brief pause, she explained what a Blackthorn was, clearly trying to prove to him that she knew. Corvus's expression shifted into a more genuine grin now, and he nodded. "Exactly," he said with a degree of certainty he didn't quite feel. He was tempted to make a joke about how they'd picked the wrong wolf for the job, but he knew even a kid could see that his sad attempt at self-deprecation wasn't just a joke. Showing such a high level of doubt in himself probably wasn't a good trait for a mentor, was it? He bit his tongue, noting her eagerness.. but it was hard for him to believe she wanted his approval as badly as he wanted hers. He'd always wanted to be someone his packmates could look up to and lean on, and come to whenever they needed help, no matter what. Hopefully it wasn't too late to start. "I know the feeling," he chuckled sympathetically at her words. He remembered roughhousing with Aiden when he'd been even younger than her, but neither his father nor mother had properly sparred with him. He didn't blame them, but he remembered feeling frustrated at not getting a real fight experience. "But I also understand where they're coming from. It's important to know how to defend yourself, and your pack, but.. not at the risk of personal injury." Sometimes it was hard to veer between being reckless and too careful, and Corvus knew that. "You're no good if.. say, one of your siblings ends up needing help and you're limping around from sparring too hard," he added, trying to talk to her like he was anyone - not a kid, not someone he was trying to impress - just a packmate, and a family member. If he'd worked up any semblance of normalcy, his veneer slipped a bit at her question. Why had he chosen her? The decision had been an off the cuff one, but that didn't mean he didn't have reason behind it. "I've just seen you.. around. And thought you looked like you had a lot of potential." In a way she reminded him of how he'd been as a younger kid - eager and hopeful for the future. A lot had changed for him, but maybe he could help stoke the fire of passion in her, something Corvus wish he'd gotten back then.

As Corvus gently corrected her yearning for a more intense fighting experience, Theory winced and folded her ears. He was smart, that was for sure. Even if she wanted to be stronger right now, she wouldn't be of any use if she trained so hard that she hurt herself. It was so hard to be patient, though! Especially when it felt like so much was on the line. "You're right," she admitted, flicking her ears forward hesitantly. "That's a smart idea. I guess I have to be careful, even I want to be really, really strong really, really fast." Theory laughed, her short tail twitching merrily with the sound. His answer to her "big" question surprised her. Potential? She had always thought that she faded into the background compared to her siblings. "Why not Poem or Motif?" She pried. "Or Verse... or Noir?" Okay, maybe she was prying too much... but no one had really encouraged her except Shaye. With Rhyme gone to look for Motif, she was feeling a little starved for attention. Maybe she should get out more. Everyone was wrapped up with recent events - while typically a heir was under intense scrutiny, besides her training sessions with Shaye, Theory was left to her own devices. It made for a lonely last few weeks. "Never mind," she said quickly. "What should we do first?" "Speech"

Corvus wasn't trying to scold her or anything, and for a moment he wondered if he'd made the wrong choice in correcting her. He wanted to seem more like a friend and a cousin than a real mentor.. but maybe being the latter was more important. Actually, he knew it probably was. He wouldn't put any more emphasis on that point than he already had though, but he also didn't want her feeling bad about being over-eager - it was better than being too timid to try anything new at all. "I know Abaven's pretty calm and peaceful, but.. it hasn't always been that way. I just want to make sure that everyone's prepared." Oh shit. Was that too ominous? He nearly cringed at his words, though knew he couldn't take them back now. Either way, it was true. Abaven was made of wolves who were mostly good, and he knew not everyone else in the world were necessarily quite as well-intentioned as the people he knew. Being prepared was a good thing, and getting strong was also a good goal. He nodded, hoping she didn't pause too long on his weird warning. "You'll get there. Being really strong, I mean," he assured her, though his words seemed to trail off as she asked why he'd picked her over her siblings. He didn't really have a good answer for her. "I.. I dunno. I thought we'd get along the best, I guess," He couldn't - and wouldn't - admit to her that he wasn't quite sure how to feel about Poem and Motif. They were just kids, and Corvus knew that, but he couldn't help but feel a little strange about them due to knowing who their parents were. But enough about that. It was time to train. Or.. at least to try. "Wanna work on fighting first?" Corvus suggested, grinning a bit now. His expression was genuine, though he could recognize he still felt quite unsure about this whole mentoring thing. He didn't want to treat her like a tiny pup who didn't know the first thing to do when it came to fighting, but he didn't want to assume she knew too much, either. "Here. Pretend we're fighting. A real fight, not wrestling with one of your siblings. What do you do first?" Corvus adjusted his position and braced himself for an attack, assuming she'd take his lead.

It hasn't always been that way. As if his words were a portent of things to come, Mount Volkan began to spew thick, dark smoke on the horizon. Theory turned towards it, her brow furrowed. Birdsong had all but stopped in the plains, and as the smoke continued to pour into the sky, all sorts of winged creatures took to the sky and flew away from the billowing black clouds. She shivered violently. There was something deeply distressing about the sight.

Nervously, she turned to Corvus. She shifted from paw to paw. "I just accepted being alpha..." She said shyly, one eye on the volcano. It felt strange to say out loud. "Alongside Shaye, of course," Theo added quickly, as if that made her yearling achievement less strange or important. It would be a while before she guided Abaven by herself (or so she desperately hoped). "But don't hold back because I told you th - !"

She felt more than heard the volcano erupt. An ear-splitting crack! resounded across the sky, and she couldn't help but let out a little shriek. It was decidedly not befitting of someone in a leadership position, and Theo tried to swallow it quickly. They were so close to the volcano - she had no idea that it was a dormant predator, waiting to strike. What did they do? What did she do? Was she supposed to lead? She fixed her wide, terrified eyes on Corvus, begging him without words to help her decide what to do. Fear froze her in place. This whole "alpha" thing was off to a terrible start.

Something in the air seemed to shift, quite suddenly. Living so close to Mount Volkan, he'd seen the plumes of smoke billowing from its peak in the near distance more than once - something that had been going on for as long as anyone remembered, as far as he knew. There was something different about this time, though. It seemed thicker, more ominous.. enough to catch Theory's attention, at least. Her suddenly shifting attention drew his toward it as well, at least for a moment, as he swung his head around to glance that direction before looking back to Theory. "Alpha? Really?" Corvus's tone wasn't disbelieving, but surprised.. and a fair bit impressed. Keeping Abaven run by family was important. It was a responsibility that he himself had never really wanted, and he felt no hint of envy at the admission. For a moment he wondered if the other youngsters in Abaven would feel the same. When he was younger, he could imagine feeling a bit jealous if Aiden or Rhea had gotten some position over him.. but that was back then, and a far cry from how he felt now. "That's a big responsibility. And it'll keep you busy. Along with all that training," he teased lightly, grinning at her. "Don't worry, I won't-" Corvus started, but suddenly all thoughts of training and Theory's new position slipped away from him all at once. The earth suddenly began to quake, far more violently than he anticipated. The shaking was followed by a loud crack - a sound that made him feel as though his head itself had been split. Though he didn't necessarily shriek or cry out, as Theory had, he certainly looked horrified. "Oh.. shit.." The volcano had always seemed like.. something just there, vaguely threatening as it stood lumbering in the distance, but never something he knew they needed to fear. But the way it suddenly seemed to come alive, sending the earth itself into an uproar, definitely scared the shit out of him.. and made him think that they needed to run, far away from this place. Their home - well, it wasn't all that important, was it? Not at the risk of their safety. "Let's... fuck, we need to go!" Shaye's call suddenly split through the rumbling, and he started running that way.. turning to make sure Theory was following. So much for training...