Corvus stood near the edge of the bay, sea-green gaze cast across the waters as he focused on the island that lay beyond. His mind was currently on the visit he'd had with Ignis, and what he'd told him about the upcoming raid they were preparing. It was to be used as a training exercise of sorts, but he had a feeling that not everyone would be quite so nonchalant about another pack showing up at their borders and demanding a fight. Abaven was still healing - sure, not physically, not emotionally and mentally - and somehow it seemed like a low-blow for Winterfell to do this do them now, of all times. The fact that Ignis had told him at all made it seem like he was allowed to spread the word... but how? He had to tell Theory, he knew that much, as much as he felt like he was betraying his friend by doing so.

Fuck. If only Ignis had never left Abaven at all. He missed his friend and the current predicament he found himself in made those feelings even stronger. He sighed as he stood, kicking at the sand - only to watch as the breeze from the sea kicked it directly back at him, coating his forelimbs and some even lifting to get into his eyes. He huffed and blinked away the sand as he moved down the beach, trailing after Theory's scent and trying to play out their potential conversation in his head. As Blackthorn, his duty was to be on top of these things... but that didn't mean it was a conversation he was excited to have.

He knew where to find her. Theory's leisure time was often spent at the mouth of the bay. It was the only territory that still seemed fresh and exciting to her with none of the sour memories held by the plains and the islands. The only fresh start they'd had so far. Plus, the summer sand was warmed by a bright sun and it felt good to just lie down and bask. Theo was fully sprawled out on her side, blue eyes facing the waves, when she heard pawsteps on the sand. The young alpha lifted her head and, upon seeing it was Corvus, put her face right back down in the sand. "Hey," she said, perhaps a bit too casually. They'd grown so close with everything that had rocked Abaven that Theory didn't see the need for posturing. Besides, she'd finally gotten comfortable. "Anything to report?" Theo asked as she watched the waves roll in. The way she framed it was half a joke. Warm days stretched into warm nights and life was proceeding normally for the first time in a long time. What could go wrong?

Things had been relatively peaceful lately... which was why telling Theory this was going to suck even more than it normally would. Part of him hoped she might be hard to find today. Despite knowing exactly what he needed to do, delaying it just a bit wouldn't hurt.. right? But she was around, just as he'd anticipated and feared, and he hoped she didn't notice any disappointment that might show on his features when she came into view. She looked comfortable too; god, it was going to be a shame to ruin a nice day like this with what he was about to tell her.

"Hey," he replied, trying to mirror the same kind of lightness of tone, though Corvus had never been very good at masking his emotions. He was practically dripping with discomfort even from the single syllable word he spoke, and he fidgeted as he came to a halt near her, reclining backwards onto her hindquarters. "No," he started, though quickly corrected himself. "I mean - I guess yeah, there is something," he fumbled stupidly over his words, and wondered if he'd ever be good at this sort of thing. Was he betraying Ignis by warning her? It was a difficult decision but one he knew where he'd end up at the end. His family came first, always, without question. He let out a frustrated sigh.

"I went to go see Ignis the other day. My friend, from Winterfell," he explained, not sure if she knew him by name, or knew of the few times he'd selfishly fled to Winterfell. He'd probably be more than a little embarrassed if she did. But he was working on being more present, and not fleeing when he felt like he was struggling to live up to his own expectations. "He told me that his uncle plans to bring his fighters to Abaven to fight. To raid, he said, but... not to take anyone. Just to practice or something." Corvus wish he sounded half as certain as he wanted to sound, but it was hard to shake the feeling that it was a shitty move. They were doing it because they'd made a deal with someone, instead of just.. showing up and suggestion a practice or something. It certainly didn't leave a good taste in his mouth and he had a feeling Theory would feel the same way about it,

Theory closed her eyes as he approached, soaking up the sunshine. They'd have a light-hearted chat, maybe a splash in the waters. She could almost see how the day would unfold before her, ripples of a perfect summer afternoon. A faint smile curled up the ends of her lips. And then he opened his mouth. From the beginning she could tell that something was off. Corvus exuded every emotion he felt and they were far too close for him to pretend otherwise. Theory staggered to her feet, completely covered on one side with sand. If his announcement hadn't rankled her so deeply, it would almost be funny. Instead, her hackles raised so sharply that some sand dislodged from her fur and scattered to the ground.

"Excuse me? How could he do this..." she sputtered. "He knows how much we've suffered!" A raid wasn't friendly no matter how you framed it. There was some end goal. Even if no captives were taken, there would be some sort of victory. Why was he doing this? Although her blood was rushing straight to her head, so fast it almost made her dizzy, Theory took a deep breath. "Did he say why?"

Masking his emotions wasn't something Corvus was very good at, but when it came to Theory it felt pointless. She knew him well enough that she could no doubt see behind any mask he tried to wear, and regarding things like this... as much as it sucked to bring up and discuss, he knew in the end it was better to be straight-forward with what he had to say. All at once she sprung upright when he spoke, and he nearly flinched in the face of her outrage, despite knowing it wasn't directed at him. It was rare he saw her like that, and her pain was palpable enough to make his own suddenly be felt more strongly. And he had felt hurt when Ignis had told him what Acere planned, hadn't he? Feeling hurt wasn't an emotion he was accustomed to, but he realized precisely what that discomfort had been.

"I.. I don't know," he started weakly, letting his shoulders rise and fall in a halfhearted shrug. "It was some kind of deal that Winterfell had to make to save one of their pack members' boyfriends, or something. I'm not really sure what they're after but Ignis insisted it's not supposed to be taken badly." And yet it still stung, and how could it not? Even if they took no material goods, or slaves, it was still a victory in the name of whoever had sent them - and that thought made his own hackles raise instinctively, though his agitation was far less visible. He hoped he wouldn't have to fight Ignis; he would defend Abaven tooth and nail, and he knew others would do the same... and he had a feeling his packmates would be less forgiving than he might be if they ended up in a fight against Ignis.

Theory was mad enough to spit. "Not be taken badly? How can an invasion not be taken badly?" What kind of deal was Corvus talking about? Someone's boyfriend? It sounded insane, like a story that a child would make up. "And, if Acere had any shred of chivalry or decency, he would come warn me himself. I wouldn't find out like this," she scoffed. Theory shook the rest of the sand off of her fur and blew out a sharp, angry breath. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, noticing how Corvus had subtly shrank away. "This is just, well... it pisses me off," the young alpha grumbled. The crass language sort of surprised her, but she rolled with it. It felt good to let her anger out.

"I'm not sure there's any point in sending a messenger ahead. I wouldn't want your friend to get punished for doing the right thing and telling us," she mused aloud, running through different possible scenarios in her head as she spoke. "We should just prepare. A raid is a raid. If they made this deal on behalf of some other party, they will be taking something, even if we don't know what they were ordered to seize." Theory looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, trying to bury her anger for a moment so that she could clear her mind. "And we'll have to prepare whatever puppies are interested. If it's a "training" mission, he might bring along his children and I won't have them fight against full grown adults. That isn't right." She stared out over the waves despondently. Why didn't he warn her himself? Maybe he still held a grudge against how Shaye had treated him. "And Corvus, Ignis must be a very good friend to come ahead of the raiding party like that. I really appreciate that you shared this information with me. It's why you're my Blackthorn. Thank you, I mean it." Her tone was serious and emphatic. It was rare that she donned her alpha mantle for him but she felt it was necessary.

Theory was frustrated, and her anger made him flinch. Her reaction wasn't necessarily surprising, but.. well, he'd never really seen her like this. He'd seen her hurting, on more than one occasion, but he'd never seen her so angry - and the feeling was wildly contagious. He didn't blame Ignis but surely Winterfell could've gone about this in a better way? He felt himself bristling, shrugging off his cousin's apology easily. "It's fine. I don't blame you, at all," he agreed with a sigh, knowing she was frustrated and that her level of aggravation was more than warranted.

What were they supposed to do in the meantime? Prepare, he supposed, and Theory confirmed his own thoughts. Maybe he and Twig could pull together a training session for the younger members of the pack, if they had time. If not maybe he could spend some time with them each individually (well, or at least some of them) and see what they needed to work on. "I can work on making sure everyone who will be fighting is ready." Already he was going over a plan in his head. Giving direction wasn't what he'd consider his strong suit but he was much more comfortable with one-on-one interactions... and he cared about Abaven above all else. Making sure they were ready was a given, not something he'd have to push himself to do.

She was right though. Ignis was a good friend and he appreciated the heads-up about the raid, even if he hadn't taken the news all that well at the time. "He is a good friend.. and you're welcome. I couldn't ever keep something like this from you." Corvus reminded her, his voice serious. He wasn't sure he always knew the difference between right and wrong but he knew one thing above all else - that he'd do anything to protect his pack and his family - so the decision to tell her hadn't been something he'd had to second guess.

"You are one of my most trusted friends. I'm glad you've found the same in someone else," she said, offering him a brilliant grin. Although she was still frustrated, her perpetual optimism was trying to break through. They would find a way out of this. "For fighters we have... You, Twig, Poem, Rhyme... We have so many children," she paused and took a deep breath. Winterfell was a hardy pack with, to her knowledge, plenty of capable fighters. She didn't want to show her worry to Corvus but it was nearly impossible to hide it. Her ears pinned back for a moment in distress. "We'll pull through. I've been training hard." But was a one-woman army capable of holding off an entire troupe of battle-hardened warriors? She wasn't sure. Probably not. Not even optimism could carry her that far. "Do you have any bright ideas?" she added, laughing nervously.

"And you are one of mine," he replied without hesitating. Corvus wasn't really good at talking about his feelings, and the hard stuff, even if he was absolutely horrid about hiding his emotions ever. But Theory somehow made it easy. He'd known her since she was much smaller, and somehow the two of them had grown close. He saw a lot of himself in her, though somehow she seemed leagues stronger than he could ever be - or maybe she was just better at hiding it. Either way, he was proud of how she'd handled things and how she was continuing to handle them, even if the news he brought her was far from favorable. He let out another sigh, not afraid to voice his frustration, though he wouldn't let her think he thought this raid was hopeless. Maybe they'd be outnumbered, but Abaven had survived a lot worse than this. An occupation by the Abraxas, a volcano, for fuck's sake... they could take this.

At least, he desperately hoped they could.

If they didn't win the raid, they would rebuild and rise from the ashes even stronger than before. That was the Destruction way, wasn't it? But his mind found it hard to not shift toward his fears, and Theory's - especially regarding their lack of fighters. "I'm sure Winterfell has plenty of children too. If they don't bring their younger fighters.. well, we'll make do. If we each take down a few wolves each, I'm sure we'll do fine," he forced a dry laugh and tried to lighten the mood. He was no highly skilled fighter, not compared to some wolves, but he'd do his best even if the odds were stacked against them. "We should make sure everyone's ready. Do -" He hesitated mid-sentence, casting her a wary glance. "Do you think you're going to warn everyone before they come?"

"We have to," She replied immediately. Although she was inexperienced, she knew it would be a mistake to let this raid take the pack by surprise. "If Acere is insisting on treating this like a training exercise... well, that's what we'll say." Right? Theory didn't want to alarm her pack if she didn't have to. Unless Acere sprung a more devious surprise on them - which she wasn't expecting - the raid would go over as Drifa had explained. There was no reason to be suspicious. Sighing, she tilted her head to the side and racked her brain for solutions. "I'll call a meeting and we'll organize a fight training - half for "fun," half to prepare. We could all use some more experience fighting against multiple opponents... let's walk and talk," she said, shaking the rest of the sand off of her fur. Her brain always seemed to work better when her paws were moving. Theo pointed her nose towards the plains and set off at a relaxing pace. They'd come up with a suitable plan together.