Rhyme didn’t like the weird nervous feeling tha welled up in his gut as he travelled back to Abaven with his father. He knew Shaye had the skills she needed, but how serious was Valentine about to get about this training. Best case scenario his own lessons had readied the alpha enough that Valentine would barely have anymore work cut out for him. Worst case scenario… He didn’t really want to think about Shaye not accompanying them to render justice on the evil doers. Rhyme tried not to get his hopes up, but he wanted her there. He could see Imperia circling over the territory as they approached the border. Her large form veered towards them as she caught sight of the two large wolves. Rhyme did his best to keep his expression stoic, but he smiled slightly as she swooped down at him. She didn’t land, but they made eyes contact as she returned to the sky. He was growing more and more fond of the raven. Looking towards Valentine after Rhyme put his head to the sky and summoned Shaye to their side. Now or never, here we go. ""

Impatiently Valentine strode past his son and into Abaven territory. If they were to get this business squared away then they had no time to spare for pleasantries or diplomacy or any of that other frilly shit that would slow them down. He wanted to be on his way yesterday and he wasn't about to let decorum get between him and chewing the shit out of a slaver's windpipe. What was this cousin's name again? Shaye, right? His memories of her in Imperium all those years ago were hazy at best. At the top of his lungs, he shouted, "Shaye! We have business to discuss!" If he had to, Valentine would drag her out of her den for this. ""

She heard the howl of her cousin, with a hint of urgency and a touch of something else in its tones. She tilted her head, curious, before getting to ehr paws and letting them guide her across the territory. He was in the monument Rapids, but he seemed to be calling from the borders edge, which was strange of him. She picked up her pace, and would arrive in time to see Valentine strolling across the territory. She paused, before making her way over to the two of them. “Valentine. Is this about the slavers?” she hazarded a guess, eyeing him a little wearily. He looked even more impatient then she remembered from the Alpha who had once allowed her access to his territory for Rhythm’s sake.

Of course, she had expressed to her Auntie that she and his grumpy partner both where allowed on Abaven territory, so well it hadn’t exactly been polite of him, she saw no reason why they couldn’t simply get to business.

Valentine seemed quite eager to test Shaye’s battle prowess, as he slowed at the edge of the territory his father continued on through the invisible border. He did his best to resist rolling his eyes, and hoped Shaye was in a good mood. He sighed softly and followed him into the border as he yelled out for his cousin. Surely she would hear the mixture of howl and shout. Thankfully Shaye was a quick one, and before a few minutes passed she appeared before them. Correctly guessing the reason they had appeared. He offered a smile at his cousin, as well as an apologetic look as he let her know he was sorry for his father’s blunt actions. He remained quiet and lowered himself to his haunches to watch, letting Valentine do all the explaining and talking like he was likely want to do anyway. ""

While she may have moved quickly, Shaye didn't move quite fast enough for the impatient old king. He was hellbent on getting things in order as quickly as possible so they could be on their way. Training Shaye, while it would be worth it to appease his son, was going to slow them down. Best get it over with as quickly as possible. "Yes, of course," he said irritably. Why else would he be here? "My son refuses to leave here without you and I can't in good conscience take an untrained wolf along so I am here to train you." He swept by her and cast a glance around their surroundings in search of a wide, open place they could train. "We begin immediately. My terms are simple: you don't train, you don't go. You don't go because you didn't train, Rhyme doesn't get to bitch about it." He considered casting a sly, teasing glance back at Rhyme but decided against it. Actually he probably shouldn't have poked at him to begin with, but it was too late to take it back now. While they still had a lot of catching up to do, Valentine was fairly certain Rhyme didn't share the snappy sense of humor he'd passed on to his other sons. ""

Rhyme would offer her a smile that looked more apologetic then pleased. Just what had Rhyme unleashed onto their pack? Valentine had had a lot more… poise when she remembered him from her youth. Benevolent, and stern, and more then a little scary as she disobeyed her Alpha and Mother and asked his permission to visit her Auntie. Valentine would admit that his son refused to leave without Shaye, and that added a touch of fondness to her chest as she glanced again at her Cousin. She hadn’t realised her coming was so important to him. Of course, she was eager to get in on the revenge. That anger that she had discovered inside of herself lay very close to the surface these days. Taking it out on those that had hurt her family might just appease it. “Let’s get to training then.” she said simply as he laid out his terms. She noticed his gaze as it swept her territory, and she moved to her right, walking a short distance until the ground leveled out, guessing this was the kind of place he had in mind. She then stopped walking, and looked at Valentine expectantly. She didn’t waste words, she fell into the pose that Voltage had once taught her, and Rhyme had helped her to perfect. She lowered her head, tucked her chin, raised her shoulders, bunching the skin around her neck. She spread out her paws, digging her claws into the earth, her knees bent slightly, strengthening her center of gravity. She folded her ears to her skull, narrowed her eyes to slits. This done, she looked at Valentine, waiting for instruction. "Talk" "You" Think

Rhyme listened to the two of them exchange words, his father as quick to the point as ever, and Shaye doing her best to be as respectful as she had been as a pup. His father explained, not forgetting to give his son a bit of a hard time while he was at it. Rhyme rolled his eyes and shook his head, but the hint of a smile played over his lips. Shaye thankfully was just as eager as his father and led them to the practice field. He lifted himself from his seat and loped along to keep up with them. He hadn’t planned on jumping in, but he couldn’t keep himself away from observing. Rhyme had always looked up to his father, especially when he had been captured. He wanted every day to tear open his captives, but knew he would not survive the encounter. There were too many slavers. Him his mother.. maybe even his half siblings would be killed. He’d done what he’d been told, and he was patient. He fought for the slavers when they needed him, and bided his time until he could spirit his mother home. Every day he had thought about his father and asked what that immovable alpha would have done. He’d made it out eventually, and now they trained to return, to take up revenge and bring justice. He took in a deep breath as he watched Shaye, the moment of truth was upon them. "”

Much to his surprise, Shaye didn't offer any resistance. Hm. Well that was terribly anticlimactic. He'd been hoping for a tussle of some sort. Yeah, that would have interfered with the speedy departure he was hoping for, but Valentine was a glutton for punishment. He relished the chance to win things - and yes, he was fairly sure he'd have won the argument. Might have ended up winning the battle but losing the war, but his capriciousness knew no bounds. Shaye took the initiative and squared up with him, quite clearly eager to begin, but Valentine...couldn't find it in his crabby little heart to be so easy. He frowned at their surroundings, clearly displeased with some aspect of it. Nope, this was not the place. He sniffed and then brought his attention to Shaye. "I've got a better idea." Valentine jerked his head in the direction of the border. "Follow me." ""

She held her defenses, looking across at the large brute, and fully expected him to pull a cheap shot, bring down her guard and catch him unawares. So, when he said he had a better idea and told her to follow him, she hesitated for all of a moment. She looked at the blue-black beast, looked towards Rhyme, and feeling an awful lot like the child that had once made her way to his border - abide one with more resignation - she relaxed her defenses and straightened her legs. She had too much respect for this grumpy, contradive man to do anything else. Funny how that turned out, wasn’t it? Despite everything, he had made a lasting impression on her, when he, and he alone, had been the only adult who had understood her need to keep Rhythm in her life. Rhythm that was the other reason she listened when this man spoke. He looked out for her Auntie, when the rest of the family in her generation was gone. Who would have been there to greet Rhythm, to promise her revenge, and a safe home, if Valentine had not been there. The realisation of her respect left her feeling a little bit of whiplash, and she was quite as she followed him towards the border, lost in thoughtful introspection. She had enough awareness to keep a touch of distance between her and the man. Respect or not, she was still expecting him to do something unexpected. "Talk" "You" Think

Shaye seemed ready and eager for the training, and Rhyme felt an amused grin fall over his features as he waited for the training to begin. He was sorely disappointed when Valentine declared this wasn’t the best place for them to begin. His brows knit in confusion, but like Shaye he followed after the old timer closer to the borders of Abaven. "What are you planning?” He muttered under his breath as he watched Shaye. She seemed about to jump out of her skin. His father was unpredictable but surely he wasn’t about to throw too much at his cousin. He looked to his father as he tried to dismiss the far off crashing he heard in the woods beyond. Swiveling his ears in that direction he wondered what might be watching them. He’d seen evidence of moose recently.. "”