An Unkindness

Aresenn looked like he was interested, and that alone made Absinth’s mood soar even higher than the bird alone. She had never gotten the chance to bond with something so unique before, and growing up marveling at the black birds of death had been one thing she remembered prominently. As Aresenn took his words of pethood and such back the raven repeated him with a succession of ‘silly fireboy’. It’s feathered head dipping up and down as she nodded her confirmation of the nickname it has chosen for him.

Absinth tilted her head to the side as she contemplated his question, thinking up the best way to explain this as well.  “Well, you see… She has no name for herself, they refer to each other as differential sounds. But a sound cannot be a name, so I told her I would call her Vita.” Absinth smiled at her bird, who had begun repeating the name after her.  “It means life... I’ve loved ravens since I was a pup, because they are scorned and disregarded. I saw one mourn over its mate for weeks on end, trying to keep her warm, bringing her food, and shiny things until it passed from heartbreak. That’s a lot more than I can say about us wolves.” Absinth locked her gaze onto Aresenn, becoming increasingly aware that this all might have sounded strange, or much too… naive.

wormwood