Winter glided down to land heavily on her shoulders, making the Alpha grunt from the effort of supporting her. She wasn’t the small young bird she had once been, she was a young adult with a decent sized body and a sharp beak. “Whats up, Winter?” she asked as she pulled herself to a stop. She hadn’t gotten far yet in her morning run, which she used to also pace the borders when she wasn’t on patrol. She still felt a touch hypervigilant, what with the rate wild predators seemed to see Abaven’s borders as a game, or remnants of the slavers that might come seeking revenge. “Come” the bird cracked, and she wasn’t one for speaking very often. She communicated for the most part through motions, and Shaye had the feeling she didn’t like getting wolven words out past her beak. That her companion would chose now to speak, gave Shaye the sense that it was something important. “Alright, where to?” she asked, and her raven bobbed her head back towards her den. With a sigh, she moved through the territory, covering ground she had passed over not long ago. She got to the den and caught the scent of Rhyme on the breeze, but a glance around told her he was gone and had taken Motif with him. She glanced in the den to see Poem sleeping, and her companion Edger looked up at them with impatient eyes. She had the feeling their birds were conspiring against them. “Alright, im here, now what?” she asked, and in response Edger would wake up her daughter. What was so important that these birds had to tell them now? "Speech"

The day had only just sarted, and her mother and the two ravens decided to interrupt Poem’s sleeping in. Most days she begged for her mother to take her on the first patrol, of course she still didn’t quite have the stamina that Shaye did and was often told no, or she slept in too late. Like today.

She felt the gentle prodding of Edgar as he was determined to wake her from her slumber. She moaned in complaint as she rolled over. Bright blue and lavender eyes opened to find her mother standing at the entrance of the den with both ravens watching her. All the rest of her sleepiness fell away.

”What’s going on?” She asked innocently as she found her paws. She didn’t miss that Motif was already gone, and she wondered what was going on.

She glanced over at her sleepy daughter as she blinked up at Shaye and asked what was going on. The Alpha looked at the two birds a little sternly, and spoke, half to them and half to Poem. “I think we are about to find out” she said, as Winter flared her wings and hopped off Shaye’s back, only to waddle deeper into the den and come back with a leafy bag, with something inside that rattled. As the bird tipped the bag over, rocks carved into a strange shape, with numbers etched into the side would roll free.

“Our young coming of age” Winter said, solemnly, traditionally, looking both to Poem and to Edger. And Shaye began to suspect this was a strange bird event that happened at a certain age to their kids. Shaye moved over to Poem and sat down beside her daughter, deciding to be patient. After all, it was likely an honour that the birds where involving the wolves.

“They must now create an alter ego, and go forth in a world beyond this one.” the bird continued, and Shaye raised a brow and cast a glance over at her daughter, fighting a giggle at these strange words, said with such ritualistic tones.

“Edger will go first, and create their character, so Poem might understand the process in this creation.” the bird said formally, nodding her head towards her nephew . he presided over the dice and looked terribly solemn, as through this coming-of-age event was sacred.

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Poem looked up to her mother with bright eyes and she answered the question with no knowledge of her own. She watched as Winter descended into the den and returned with an odd bag. Poem couldn’t remember being interested in the thing before, but now it had all of her attention as the raven spilled the contents out onto the ground. Shaye moved close to her, and Poem would snuggle up close to her mom as the ivory raven gave them her explanation. Poem listened intently as Edgar moved to Winter’s side and nodded along knowingly.

The young Destruction girl was easily caught up in the seriousness of the raven’s tone. She was on the edge of her seat as Winter allowed Edgar to continue the lesson at hand. Bright blue and lavender eyes shifted to her dual colored companion as he stood up a bit straighter and looked mighty brave in Poem’s eyes.

”I am creating a Golden Eagle, called Talonsword.” Edgar started with his chosen race. ”He was a general in the Eagle Wars and has seen many battles, he doesn’t come to trust strangers very well but has a logical mind. He’s a fighter 100%.” Edgar continued, fleshing out his chosen alter-ego carefully. He looked up to his aunt, hoping that he had done well so far.

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Shaye would give Poem a kiss on the top of her head and looked to the ravens as they went about their work. She was certain she caught a hint of mischief in Winters eyes, so she wasn’t yet buying this ‘coming of age’ part, but she definitely assumed this was a game that some of the ravens played when they were bored. She hadn’t realised her companion had a flair for the dramatic.

Winter nodded her black head towards her nephew. “He sounds fearsome indeed.” the bird said, sounding pleased. “A fighter is a well rounded class, some other suggestions, are Cleric - a healer, a Druid, a creature of nature who can change its form. A Monk, one who fights bare handed and can avoid some of the most fearsome blows. A Ranger, a woodsman who can track with the best of them and fight from a distance. A bard, who can invigorate his companions through words” the bird said carefully, before turning to Poem. “Put forth ideas and I will help you form them” she suggested, bobbing her head gently as she moved a little closer to the young wolf.

The young slate colored girl listened and watched as Edgar created his fearsome character. She wasn’t sure at all what she might do. As he finished both young ones looked to Winter as she beamed at her nephew and gave Poem some ideas as to what she would be in this created world. She looked up at her mother for encouragement as she decided.

”I want to be an otter,” she started. Remembering the family group that lived near the rapids over the spring. They were bright and vocal and Poem always giggled as she watched their aquatic antics. ”He.. is called Fishbreath by his friends, but his official name is River Runner. I think he’s a.. Ranger.. no. Druid.” She decided as she thought about it. The otters usually stayed by water sources, being a druid he would be able to adventure much easier without webbed feet.

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Shaye watched on as the young ones got stuck into their game. She was settled in, and was happy to supervise and watch, and would add exhale with surprise here and there once the story actually started, in order to add to the atmosphere. Mostly, she was just amused.

Winter nodded his head approvingly at Poem’s choice “A druid otter called River Runner.” he agreed. He would then spend some time helping them set up their characters. He helped them build upon them, and set their stats. This took some time, but Shaye was able to keep from fidgeting as her daughter and the two birds spoke for a while.

Once this was done, Winter would clear her throat and bring everyone's attention back to her. “Very well then, our Druid Otter was making his normal routines through his lake when he would see a blight upon the trees to the right of him, and he would hear a fearsome battle cry from the sky above. What does he do?”

The young Destruction perked her dark ears and put in effort into the development of her and Edgar’s alter-egos. She was kind of disappointed her mother didn’t join in as well, but she was still having fun as Winter finally began their adventure. Poem was told she would mostly have to use her imagination, and so she did.

Winter looked to her, eyes bright as she began to describe where and what was going on. Poem thought for a moment as Winter asked what River Runner was going to do. ”Well, I don’t want to be in the blight trees, and it sounds like I’m getting attacked. Um, retreat into the water and regroup? Maybe try and observe what’s attacking me from underwater?” She wasn’t sure what was going on, but the action seemed somewhat smart.

Edgar shuffled a bit beside her, his wings ruffling as he looked to Winter and waited for his turn.

Winter nodded her head to Poem, before turning to Edgar, “You see your companion dive into the water, and from your high vantage point in the air you see the great form of what looks like a lion with the head of a human and the wings of an eagle, as it pulls itself from the blighted tree and glides to the water. Do you go down and warn your friend?” Winter asked, and waited a moment for the younger bird to reply

When Edgar gave the affirmative, Winter nodded and turned to Poem. “You hear the shouted warning of your friend and raise your head from the water, in time to see the Sphinx land on the back before you. The great creature says. ‘You have entered my domain, you must beat me in a challenge if you wish to walk free. Will your challenge be a riddle, or a game of strategy, choose wisely and chose fast’ what do you do?”

Winter continued her narration of the tale, the young raven and his wolf pup listened intently as their mentor went on. She spoke of a creature that Poem couldn’t even imagine, and contemplated the question for a long moment. ”A game of strategy!” She spoke up after looking towards Edgar, the young raven nodded.

The older white raven nodded and explained a quick game. A gridded board stands between the two heroes and the sphynx. Poem and Edgar’s characters control the black pieces on the first two rows of black squares and the Sphynx controlled the red pieces on the red tiles across the board. The two youngsters fought gallantly, taking pieces quickly in the beginning of the game. However, as their pieces became more scattered the Sphynx pulled ahead.

”The pair of you lost, the Sphynx launched the two of you out of the water and you land on the outskirts of her lands.” Poem had fun playing the game, but was kind of disappointed that she lost. She moped a little but still had a smile on her features.

Shaye watched in amusement as the two younger creatures battled the older Raven in mind games, trying to overcome their foe through tactics and strategy. Poem and Edgar seemed to really get into it, and she could sense a smile in Winter, even if one couldn’t quite see a smile on a Raven. Whether the game was a serious thing or not, she was glad her companion had suggested it.

Shaye made an appropriately disparaging noise as Winter told them all how the two young adventurers were thrown out of the Sphynx's land. She moved forward and rustled Poem’s hair and smiled at Edgar. “better luck next time, eh?”