She went searching for her fierce little warrior. She knew Poem trained well with Rhyme, and likely would make a good fighter once she was older. Perhaps that would have been the future she would have followed, if another course hadn’t been open to her. As it was, she was glad the girl was a fighter, she would need to be to lead a pack. She would need that stretch to win challenges, and protect her people. Of course, Shaye hoped it was many years before her little girl faced any such challenges in life. She found her near the rapids, and would watch her for a moment, before calling out. “Poem?’ her voice carried easily over the bubbling water, and the Alpha took a seat and waited for her daughter to wrap up what she was doing and head over to her. Poem already knew that she was the heir, she had told her when she had tried to impress the importance of their history upon her. Now she would learn that her training as such was to begin. "Talk" "You" Think

Edgar moved with lightning speed as Poem lifted the flat rock at the edge of the rapids. The water was slower moving here, making it a perfect estuary to husband tasty treats. This was the best place to catch salamanders, but even better, crayfish. Her raven companion more than enjoyed the shellfish delight and Poem enjoyed hunting for them with him. They were having some very good luck today, and being able to be the one to feed her companion gave Poem a sense of responsibility.

Edgar’s multicolored head retreated from the water, with his flipping little morsel in his dexterous beak. Poem smiled brightly as he ate the clawed beasty with care. She was about to move on to the next rock when her mother’s voice reached her. She shifted her dark muzzle towards the shore where Shaye sat and waited for her. ”Coming, Mom!” She offered sweetly as Edgar finished his meal and hopped upon her hips.

The pair scaled the bank to appear as Shaye’s feet, both looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. Her ivory tail wagged behind her as her fledgling raven preened contentedly. ”Yes?” She asked curiously, wondering what her mother had in store for her today.

After a moment of watching, she realised what Poem was doing, as Edgar moved a few paces back, a creature in its beak that it quickly swallowed. At her call, the bird hopped to her daughters back, and the young wolf would trott forward, curiosity in her bright tone. Shaye smiled, she couldn’t help it at the sound of Poem’s open curiosity. “Hey little one” she said, giving her daughter a gentle nuzzle and kiss on the forehead. She was growing so tall already, her creamy coat changing at the season progressed. She had the duel eyes of her father, and a warrior's spirit. Shaye loved her with all her heart. “I told you a little while ago that one day you would be Alpha” she reminded her daughter. “Today, we start your training in that direction” she explained. “All your siblings are about to start their training, in fact” she explained. "Talk" "You" Think

Her quick movements garnered a proud smile from her mother as she came to a halt before her. Poem’s curiosity was near endless and she loved to be taught by her mother. While she was quickly outgrowing Epitaph as a caregiver he was still the one to most frequently look out for her. All of that was about to change though. The winter pups would soon be at the half year mark, and with that came the choosing of paths and training in that direction.

Poem’s path was nearly chosen for her, as Shaye had bestowed the rank of heir upon her. Though the young Destruction had gladly accepted the mantle with her childlike naivety. She leaned into her mother’s kiss as she was greeted warmly. Shaye didn’t leave her daughter waiting, and explained their training was going to begin. Hers and her siblings. She gave her brother and sisters a small thought before all of her focus was on Shaye.

”Oh! Yes!” She exclaimed eagerly before doing a twirl. Poem was much too excited to sit still. Edgar didn't much appreciate her movements though. ”What are we learning today? Do I have permission to go into the rest of Abaven?” She questioned as she tried to sit still long enough to ask them.

Poem’s joy was contagious, and Shaye laughed gently at her daughters antics. Poor Edgar managed to hold on through the twirl, before Poem settled- or tried to. Shaye could quickly see that only busy-work would get through to poem today. Any theory would simply go in one ear and out the other. “Yes, you can travel all of Abaven now, and you’ll be allowed supervised, to head out of Abaven lands, as well. Supervised by myself or your father, at this stage.” she explained to Poem. she couldn’t leave any wiggle room, or she knew Poem would run with it. If she hadn’t specified who was supervising her. “Today we are going to learn about how a pack works and operates.” she explained to Poem. she got up and started to walk, knowing Poem would concentrate better if she was moving. “The first thing a pack needs is wolves, and then it needs material resources. Do you think you can name three?” she asked her young daughter. "Talk" "You" Think

Poem thought her tail was going to wag right off her hindquarters as Shaye said those magical words. No longer would she have to look over her shoulder for adults who would disapprove of her wandering. She was free to go where she pleased, and she could go out when she had one of her parents with her! Poem’s excitement seemed to travel through her to the dual colored raven. Edgar flapped excitedly, but also to keep his balance because his wolf wouldn’t sit still.

She almost lost Shaye’s attention as she thought about everywhere she was able to explore now. Her mother spoke on, as Poem tuned back in. ”...about how a pack works and operates.” Dark ears shifted so she might not look like she had spaced out on the first part of the sentence.

Her mom was quizzing her hard. Three examples of physical resources. The young Destruction knit her brow and unintentionally looked to Edgar. His eyes were bright, but his beak was silent save for a couple crack’s. She returned her bright blue and lavender eyes back to her mom. ”Uh, food, prey?” She thought just a moment longer, the concentration obvious on her features. ”Water, and territory?” Those were all good answers right? She looked up to Shaye, just a little unsure of herself.

Nothing showed pure joy quite like a pup. With her little girl wagging a furiously happy tail and looking like she was about ready to bounce off the walls. She had a feeling she had lost her attention for the day until the novelty wore off, but her little one somehow managed to pull her attention back to Shaye. The Alpha saw when her daughters eyes refocused, no doubt finishing off all the plans for how she was about to cause trouble with her newfound freedom… Her words where said with hesitance, as though she wasn’t completely certain how her answers would be received, but Shaye paused in her walking to lean down and offer the girl a gentle kiss. “Those answers are perfect.” she said, very close to, if not exact, to what Shaye herself was thinking. Leaving off her own examples, she was happy to seize Poem’s and explain them. To show the girl how Shaye approved of her input. “Right, so we need food to live, so we need a structure in place for food. We need hunters, a kill pile. We need to know what wolves cant hunt for themselves and need delivery - weather that's because they’ve just given birth to a litter, are old and frail, or injured.” she explained. “Water in some cases aligns a little with territory, choosing the right environment to thrive. Abaven has an abunst source of water, so long as we are careful not to pollute it. We keep out kill pile far from our water source. But for territory - holding a territory is just as important as finding one. For that we need warriors, who guard and patrol the territory, leaving scent markings and keeping an eye out for danger.” She would go on to say, before bringing her explanations to a conclusion, a reason. “So just from those few examples you can see that there's a lot more that needs to happen just to keep one thing running. This is why numbers is important. An Alpha must always know when to delegate responsibilities. To have wolves in power, wolves to keep an eye on the hunters, so they know how often a certain area is being hunted in, and moving it often so we don't decimate out prey’s numbers. A warrior in control to set up routines and patrols. Well an Alpha needs to know what's happening in the pack, you always need a wolf that specializes in a field to be in charge of that field. Does that make sense?” she wondered how much of her lecture got through to the excited girl. "Talk" "You" Think

Her mom paused slightly and offered her a bit of affection as she praised her answers. Poem bounced happily as they continued, glad she had guessed correctly. This lesson wasn’t so bad! She shouldn’t have doubted herself so much though. Her mom jumped right into explenations and Poem again struggled to keep her attention focused. With her paws moving it was a little easier and she listened intently as Shaye explained how the structures of the pack worked, and how Poem was going to need to know everything.

Shaye was starting to lose her daughter again as she went on about something about scent markings and danger. Poem held on though, and Shaye drove the point home that running the pack was a team effort. She would have to choose wolves she trusted in positions of power. They would report what they knew to her, so she could look at the big picture and decide what course of actions would be best for the pack.

Poem tried not to daydream about her future as the alpha as her mother spoke, but she felt more inspired than ever to be a great leader. ”Yes, mom!” She answered as her mother asked if she understood. ”I can’t wait to be alpha!” She said excitedly, her tail wagging as her paws moved quickly beneath her.