The tiny dark bean scuttled across the dark Abaven territory. His parents were asleep, and his birdo companion (named Rhyme) had created a dramatic diversion to ensure his parents companions had been sufficiently distracted. Tonight was a night for mischief he just had planned what type yet.

He contemplated clever schemes of catching frogs and tossing them into his family den. The ensuing drama would have been a great deal of fun, but his chances of getting into trouble would have sat at one hundred percent.

He could go for a swim - his parents didn’t like him too near the river. He could check out the pack borders, there were tons of weird scents around there. He could try and swim to the fabled land island territory that supposedly existed.

In the end, he settled for exploring the border. That was a great curiosity for the boy. He found his way there after a few wrong turns, and lowered his head. Sniffing at the territory line, and catching scents of pack wolves he had yet to meet. He began to dig, tossing earth around, wondering if the scent markers went down blow surface level


"Speech"

Truthfully Corvus hadn't gotten to know Abaven's youngest members yet, but not for lack of wanting. Though he was nowhere near ready for children himself, he did enjoy the company of young ones. They were Abaven's future and should be rightfully tended to, not only by their parents but also from the rest of the pack as a whole. That was why, in the dead of night, when he came across the scent of Senryū - he was out patrolling the borders, not out of necessity but rather because he was having trouble sleeping - he had to trail after it to see what the youngster was up to. It was unusual for someone his age to be out wandering at this hour, so better safe than sorry, right? Corvus couldn't forgive himself if anything happened to a family member even partly due to him not being more cognizant.

It didn't take long for him to lock onto Senryū's scent and find him at the border of the plains. For a moment he observed him before making his presence known, watching as the boy dug into the dirt. Luckily whatever he was doing seemed harmless enough, though maybe this would prove to be a good time to get to know him? Grinning a bit, Corvus cleared his throat so he wouldn't completely terrify the poor boy, before approaching further. "Find anything good down there?" He asked with a light chuckle as he slowed to a halt, a short distance away from the younger male, squinting in the darkness to get a better look at him.

Senryū jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. He had been so caught up in his task, he hadn’t realised any others were about. In fact, the entire purpose of his mischief was to do it in the unknown of the night. He eyed the tan wolf cautiously, wondering exactly how much trouble he was in. When he realised what the other wolf had asked, he grinned. It would seem that he was in the clear. His tail gave a light, joyful wag behind him. He vaguely remembered this wolf. He had seen him in passing, but so far the pack was just a blur of faces and names past his own immediate family.

“Oh… uh… I was looking for that pack scent, it seems to be just below the surface too, but no further. Is it supposed to sink into the ground ‘doyouthink?” he asked, shaking dirt from his paws and taking a step back from his hole. He didn’t know this wolf very well, but perhaps he could enlist him to get into some trouble with Ru.

"Speech"

Corvus hadn't meant to startle the poor boy, and instinctively his ears flattened apologetically against his skull. He definitely wasn't in any trouble - he didn't really feel right enacting punishments on Abaven's youngest, anyway, especially if they weren't harming anyone or their packmates. No harm in exploring a bit, even if he was getting dirty in the process. He grinned a bit wider as Senryu relaxed and his tail began wagging.

"Oh, I don't think so," he answered, shaking his head. For a kid it was a pretty reasonable question, even a fairly insightful one, so he couldn't make it seem like a foolish one. "We can only really mark above ground. I guess if we lived in like.. a cave or something it'd be a different story," Corvus explained, realizing then that he was babbling a bit. "I'm Corvus, by the way. One of your... cousins? I think." Their family was too big for him to really keep track, or to know exactly how he was related to everyone, but it didn't really matter to him: family was family, no matter how closely or distantly related they might be. He loved and cared for them all just the same.

Corvus’ smile was the infectious sort, and soon Ru’s tongue darted from his muzzle in a puppy's goofy-grin. He was surprised that the adult was taking his question seriously - that, coupled with the fact he wasn’t telling him off for being out late nosing by the border, meant the bark-toned wolf must be a good sort.

The boy gave a few nods of encouragement at the explanation. “Wouldn’t that mean it would go away real easy? What if it was windy, or snowy, how would someone know this was our turf?”

Oh! And he was family. His tail wagged a little harder, and he bounded closer, stopping in front of Corvus and reaching up, balancing on his back paws to give the older wolf a kiss on the nose. “I’m senryū, but you can call me Ru!”


"Speech"

Corvus wasn't really the strict sort of older cousin; he was much more likely to subtly deter a youngster from mischief than outright scold them. It just wasn't really his place. What was his place, though, was helping ensure everyone in Abaven (especially the youngest ones) were safe and cared for, and pushed to be the best versions of themselves they could be. A little curiosity wasn't such a bad thing, as far as he was concerned. "Kinda. We have really sensitive noses. And that's why we patrol so much, to keep marking our borders so everyone who comes by knows that we live here," he explained gently.

He let out a chuckle at the pup's sweet words and the accompanied kiss. "Ru it is then. So, Ru, what kind of trouble are we getting up to tonight? Since there's no other reason I'd imagine you'd be sneaking around for, at this time of night" he teased, leaning to nuzzle the boy between his shoulder blades. He'd been visibly started and Corvus didn't doubt he was trying to get up to something, but that level of mischief for a kid his age was pretty small and Corvus didn't mind tagging along with him. He didn't mind being a positive influence on him, if Ru didn't mind his company.

Corvus was happy to talk him through the scent-marking process, and the boy grinned. Did that mean if he walked along after his dad, his scent would make up a part of the message that said ‘bugger off!’ wicked.

Busted. He slowly lowered his front paws back to the earth, and turned up the puppy charm, wiggling his tail, and looking up at Corvus with big, blue, loving eyes. They were family right. Corvus didn’t want to tell him off, Right? and then it hit him. Corvus had said ’we’ did he have a friend in this adult?

“I kinda wanted to see what was on the other side of that border. Like, does the world change really dramatically, can you really see the difference? Between Abaven-” he put one paw down dramatically. ‘And ‘other” he put his other paw down, but a fair distance away from the first. Then looked up at Corvus with a hopeful grin.


"Speech"

Corvus was just happy to be spending time with one of his youngest cousins. He remembered his own childhood, and being surrounded by kids his age, something that had been infinitely useful to his development. He knew Senryū would benefit from a similar experience, and some younger family members to offer guidance was always welcome. He'd found guidance in wolves like Shaye during his youth. He thought of her briefly, and for the first time he felt more joy at her memory than he did pain at her loss. It felt good, to not be so bogged down by grief and uncertainty about the future. With new life brought into the world it was hard to not eventually move past the darkness and into the light once again.

And speaking of light... it was time for a little mischief. Well, not like leaving the borders wasn't allowed for him especially with a chaperone, but he didn't mind treating it like a little adventure. "Well, we can go. Just remember once you leave, it's harder to get help if you need it, so never go too far if you're uncertain." Corvus knew they couldn't keep all their youngsters at home forever, so it was best to make sure they could take care of themselves when they finally ventured off on their own, whether temporarily or permanently. "It doesn't seem all that different right away, but the world far beyond home is... well, you'd be surprised at the kind of places I've been," he admitted with a grin as he started to walk, gesturing in an invitiation for the youngster to join him. He didn't mean what he'd said in a braggy way, just... he was being honest. He remembered how vast and wild the world had seemed the first time he'd gone any real distance from home, and even now as an adult he found him self in awe of the places he visited, even those in their own home.

Ohhhhh hearing that, he looked up at Corvus with new eyes. This was a wolf that had seen the world, seen more then Ru could even imagine. He wanted to know about these places that would surprise him. Perhaps, if he was really lucky, his cousin might show him some of them.

As it was, he was surprised that Corvus agreed to take him out of the pack on an adventure. He was definitely being deemed the ‘cool’ cousin from his day onwards.

With a jump in his first step he was moving alongside the older wolf, leaning lightly against the brown wolf and sniffing at the bandanna the other wore, before his wide eyes looked around him. Only a few steps, and he was further then he had ever been in the world. “So where are we gonna go?”

"Speech"

The truth was that Corvus was hardly a well-traveled wolf by any means. He knew plenty of wolves who'd likely seen far more than he could even dream of, but compared to Senryu his experience out in the world likely seemed quite impressive. That was one of the things Corvus loved the most about kids - how full of wonder and admiration for the world around them they were, untainted by life's experiences. He knew the naiveity was fleeting but he'd enjoy it while it lasted, in all of Abaven's youngest members.

Hmm.. where were they going? Good question. Given that it was night time he didn't want to go too far, but he had some ideas. "There's a really cool spot I want to show you," he decided suddenly. The river that ran through Serpent Plains was no secret, but it extended further past pack territory and he knew of a neat spot alongside it Senryu might like. Perfect idea, he thought to himself. He hurried along, urging the young pup to pick up his pace and move along with him, ready for an adventure.