It had been a few weeks since Shaye had announced her as Abaven's new heir. Theory had made it her primary objective to train harder than she ever had before, doubling down on her diplomat training and taking part in a little bit of every chore and activity in the pack. Needless to say, she was worn out. There had hardly been time to take pride in the fact that she had been chosen in light of Motif's disappearance and the death of Vail and Solor. Once she had settled in to a new routine, a soft glow began to build within her. She was heir. It was something to be proud of, even in the face of recent tragedy. Motif would be returned home before long - Theory hadn't even considered any other options. When she came home, they would all celebrate and mourn together. Of course, she hadn't been as close to Vail and Solor as Poem and Motif had, and their deaths effected her differently. It was a tragedy for Abaven, but not a loss that she felt as deeply as her sisters. She hardly felt like she had time to mourn when the still-enormous task of training to become alpha was laid out before her. The more capable she could become, the better she could honor their memories and protect their children. Of course, there was someone far away she still had to tell. Theory hadn't seen Thalia since their fight in shallow water during the festival, but she wanted nothing more than to rub her nose in it. If the Abraxas whelp thought she was a god, then this ought to really rile her up. Theo sent Alouette south to ask Thalia to meet her at Time's Cavern in a few days' time. Once her raven returned, Theory set out for the yawning maw of the cave at the first soft light of dawn. When she arrived, it was damp and smelled vaguely of fish. Okay, not exactly the dramatic backdrop she was hoping for, but she could make it work. Theo paced at the entrance of the cave before making her way inside. As the sun rose in the sky, light touched the rocks inside and seemed to light them from within. Everything was brightly colored, like gems had been scattered on the floor of the cave. Now, that's more like it. "Abraxas?" she whistled, unable to keep a smirk off of her face. "Speech"

It had admittedly been hard to keep Theory off her mind since that day at the festival. Though she was only slightly older than Thalia, somehow she was everything she wanted to be - fierce and confident and unrelenting, at least in her eyes, and Thalia had been both agitated by and impressed by her. At least... as impressed as she could be by a mere mortal, not that she'd ever dare admit it to anyone, let alone Theory. Despite her straying thoughts, she'd been alarmed when Theory's companion had come to find her. Why had she come all this way, anyway? Surely it meant she'd left an impression on the older girl, which was a thought that pleased her greatly. Maybe she HAD gotten Theory a bit riled up, even if she had done a good job at hiding it. That was something Thalia needed to work on - so many of her older family members were so good at keeping their emotions reigned in. Showing too much of her feelings was a weakness, wasn't it? She was determined to not let Theory get to her this time. Not sure how her father or mother would react to her sneaking across the Bifrost to meet someone who they'd consider a stranger, Thalia decided not to tell them. Now that she was getting older, she was spending more and more time on her own.. so not being able to find her for the day wouldn't be so alarming. Right? Hopefully. She slipped out in the middle of the night, heading the way they'd gone when they went to the festival. There was supposedly a cave on the beach where Theory would meet her. Thalia wasn't sure how long she wandered, through the thick vegetation, always veering toward the water to keep her direction - but before long, hours had passed and she could see the sun beginning to creep up above the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, but what was even more rewarding was when she caught a whiff of Theory's scent as she neared what she thought might be the cavern that she'd been told to find... and seeing Alouette circling overhead helped confirm what she already knew to be true. But why was she here again? Had Theory been thinking about her, enough to want to see her again? The thought settled weirdly in her stomach, but she hid any discomfort as she neared the mouth of the cavern, letting out a bark as she approached. "This better be important," she snapped, trying to sound as fierce as she possibly could.

Theory was practicing puffing out her chest and strutting before Thalia arrived. Alouette was perched on a stalagmite inside the cave, cocking her head to and fro at the curious motions that her companion was making. It was similar to the mating dance of a raven, but... distorted and awkward. Ah, youth. Lou was young herself, but ravens aged a bit faster and she considered herself much wiser than Theory (even though she would never admit it). Luckily, the cavern echoed at even the sound of a distant approach. The tide was rising as Thalia arrived. Her voice sounded much louder and older when she called sharply into the recesses of the cave - for a split second, Theory imagined them years from now. Thalia would still be small, she thought, but she would tower over her. For some reason, she pictured them standing side by side. Why? She lives all the way in Auster. Besides, those Abraxas are crazy... who thinks they're a god, anyway? But how could she claim herself a god when Theory was bigger, braver, and now heir to Abaven? Although she wasn't positive, she was pretty sure it was Boreas' largest pack. The thought made her gulp. It somehow made everything more real. At the sight of Thalia, she hopped on top of a large, flat rock. She was even taller now. The rising sun threw light into the cave, fully illuminating the inside. Theo squinted against the light. Thalia was illuminated at the entrance and the cave, and the bright light threw Theory's shadow back against the wall of the cave. She had become a titanic version of herself. "Oh, it is," she assured the Abraxas pup. "You're looking at the heir of Abaven, Boreas' largest pack." "Speech"

Thalia knew exactly why she was here, even if she kept wondering why exactly Theory had called her here now, for what specific purpose. At first Thalia hadn't really intended to keep up her end of the deal - coming whenever she called, for an entire year just seemed insane - but at the same time, shouldn't she follow through with her promises? Sure, she was above a mere mortal, but she would've wanted Theory to suck it up and do what she'd said, if she'd claimed victory over her. She'd give it a try - for now - however begrudgingly. And she sure did look begrudging, clenching her jaw as she slipped into the dim light of the cave and let her gaze focus on Theory. Somehow she looked much bigger than she remembered, though Thalia herself had grown since that one day at the festival... and yet the height difference seemed more noticeable to her now, especially as Theory found higher ground. It made her puff her own chest out slightly, keeping her head raised high as she watched her between narrowed eyes, though they widened at her words. "Heir of Abaven?" Thalia mimicked, hiding any hint of awe that might creep into her voice at the thought. The thought of being in the presence of a future leader was impressive in its own right, but she wouldn't dare admit it. Not when she didn't even know what Abaven was. What if she was lying about all of this?  "How'd you manage that? You must be an only child," she drawled matter-of-factly.

"Actually, I have plenty of siblings," she replied hotly. Theory was vexed that the other girl wasn't suitably impressed. She had gone over this moment so many times in her head and it was frustrating that it didn't play out like she had imagined. She hopped quickly off of the rock, noting with a certain sense of pride that she still towered over Thalia. At this point, it would likely remain this way for the rest of their lives. It would be easy to take her down in a fight again... right? If it came to that. Or whatever. The thought of her body, warm and close to her own, made her feel itchy. Angry, she reminded herself, I'm angry. Theory glared down her muzzle at the Abraxas. She couldn't let on that she hadn't been Shaye's first choice, or that Noir had tried to kill Poem... or any of the other terrible things that had happened to line up and create the void that had allowed her to step into the elevated rank. "I've got a brother and three sisters, so," she added. "What's your pack, anyway? What's your rank? Is it 'sore loser?'" Theo asked in quick succession, her tail cutting through the air decisively at what she considered a good insult. It wasn't very often that she had occasion to be nasty, but Thalia just seemed to grate on her nerves. Inwardly, she was pleased that the Abraxas was obeying the punishment meted out from Theory's dominance win. There must be some part of her that wanted to obey, and Theory was aching to exploit that weakness. The tide had begun to rise, lapping into the entrance of the cave. It was a comforting, familiar sound. If you stood in the right place on the Serpent Plains, all you could hear was the waves crashing against the rocks below. Where did Thalia live? Did she ever hear the ocean? "Speech"

Quickly she retorted that she had plenty of siblings, earning a very dramatic eye roll from Thalia. Even if she did, clearly they weren't that outstanding if Thalia had been chosen as heir to her pack over them.. right? She was trying to convince herself of that. Maybe Abaven was a small pack? Theory had boasted they were the biggest pack in Boreas, but somehow she wanted to find a way to prove her wrong, or declare her a liar, but she didn't know if such a thing was possible. This was only her second time to Boreas, anyway - who even knew how big this place was? Four siblings was what she had, apparently. "Sure you do," she shrugged off the comment easily, half-tempted to brag that she only had two, though she wasn't sure whether that was something worth bragging about or not. "My pack's actually an Empire," she bragged, smirking slightly as she glanced up at the girl above her. "We're called the Risen Empire." If that didn't impress her, Thalia wasn't sure what would.. perhaps by explaining some of her family's religion to her, but she knew most mortals didn't believe that the Abraxas were descended from a God.. and she wasn't particularly in the mood to deal with her disbelief. "Actually, I don't have an official rank yet. But I'm sure I'll have a good one once it's time." She wanted to ignore the question, but Theory seemed annoying enough to press the subject until she told her something - and this was the truth, even if it wasn't impressive at all. She clenched her jaw tightly, moving slowly to circle the rock Theory stood on. "So why'd you call me, anyway? Surely you have more important things to tend to than me, being heir and all?"

"Wooow," she blew air out of her mouth in a great gasp of humor and surprise. No rank yet? Theory could definitely use that. Thalia confirmed what she had already suspected - she hailed from that weird pack in the south that believed they were gods or something. For some reason, she didn't seem to want to admit it. Shaye had warned her about these wolves. They certainly seemed a little touched in the head. As much as Theory wanted to push her buttons, she got the sense that pushing the whole "religion" subject might not end well. She tucked it away for future use. "No rank? That's... wow," she added, really trying to hammer home how surprised she was that Thalia was without a rank or any duties. "What do you do all day? Just, like, sit around? I'm training nonstop." At least that part was true. Theory felt like she was being run ragged - but it would be worth it in the end. Right? "It was a test. I wanted to make sure you'd come, since you're practically my slave and all for the next year," she replied, grinning wickedly. "Well, I guess not slave. What's better than a slave but still someone who's gotta listen to you..." She thought on it for a bit. "You're like an omega that I get to boss around. 'Cause, you know, you lost the fight. In case you forgot." "Speech"

At home, Thalia was confident and calm, but Theory seemed to have a way of agitating her like no one else could.. but then again, she hadn't met that many wolves outside of her family anyway. Maybe this was just how it felt to interact with wolves outside of your family, your pack? Thalia wasn't sure, but as agitating as her company was, Thalia couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to further explore it. "You don't know anything," she finally breathed, feeling her agitation grow into something that felt more like anger. Theory knew nothing of the Empire, or of the Abraxas. Ranks weren't given to children - she didn't know how Abaven did things, but clearly it was quite different. Either way, she wouldn't allow Theory to make her seem lesser because of it. The very thought made her blood boil.  "I don't just sit around all day. We all are learning how to fight and learning about our God," she said, definitely sounding protective now. As much as she wished she could sound nonchalant about all of this, even an indirect insult toward her pack and their way of life stung in a way she hadn't expected. "Of course I came. You won," Thalia breathed, still fuming. She didn't fully know how to be a good Abraxas, but staying true to her word seemed important. Someday perhaps Theory would fear her, when she was bigger and stronger, but at least now she could remember her as someone who followed through with what she was supposed to do. For Thalia, it was all done in the name of her God. These mortals needed to know what they were dealing with, right? Acting like a petulant puppy wouldn't earn her any favor in His eye, she was sure.  "And you wonder why I'm not ranked when I get to waste my time coming all the way here for nothing," she sighed, rolling her eyes, as if this was something she'd ever done before today.. but that seemed besides the point.

Aha! Their god! So she definitely was one of those strange zealots from the south. Theory filed this away as "important knowledge." Shaye had told her to be careful around these wolves, and anyway, being mean was starting to feel uncomfortable. It wasn't in her nature to be so flagrantly rude and she was running out of good insults - best to quit while she was ahead. "Well, you definitely need to learn how to fight," she quipped, one last jab before backing off. Just because she won once didn't necessarily mean she would always come out on top, but for now, she didn't want Thalia to forget about her victory. Alouette shuffled her wings in the dark recesses of the cave and cast Theory a beady, disappointed look. She finally cooled off and dipped her head in appreciation as Thalia said of course I came. "Promises are important to keep," Theo said, lowering her eyes in a token show of submission. "I appreciate that you came," she added, suddenly very serious. Not a hint of humor or mean spirit remained in her sharp blue eyes. "I won't forget that you keep your word." The older girl gestured to Alouette and stepped towards the entrance of the cave. "I just wanted to let you know I'm the one you and your God and your pack will be dealing with. I'll be going on some diplomatic visits, maybe, come spring... so, I'll see you around." Alouette took flight and soared out of the cave towards the sun. She didn't particularly care for damp, dark places and was glad to be moving on. "Abaven always welcomes visitors," Theory added over her shoulder as she brushed past Thalia on her way out of the cave. As their shoulders touched she experienced a strange transference of energy, like an electric shock but one that she felt almost to her core. It was almost pleasant. Trying to keep her head on straight even though it was up in the clouds, she padded out of the cave and headed back towards home. "Speech"

For a second, Thalia had almost been expecting a different reaction when she admitted she spent time learning to fight and learning about their God. Thalia had been taught by her father that the world was full of nonbelievers, and that converting them to their religion was always the right way.. but Theory didn't strike her as someone easily swayed into doing anything. But at least she didn't argue with her, instead making a comment about her needing to learn to fight. So what? She'd work on some more lessons and then, the next time Theory called her to fight, she'd totally kick her ass then - Thalia was sure of it. Not only did she not make a comment about that, but she seemed genuinely appreciative that she'd came. Part of her had felt like she'd have no other choice, despite knowing fully well there were ways out of it, but she nodded seriously in response. "Just don't make a habit out of this," Thalia warned, narrowing her eyes. How often could she realistically sneak away from home on these lengthy trips? At least, they seemed somewhat lengthy for someone her age. She frowned slightly at her next words. It was hard to imagine Malleus being particularly welcoming to Theory, or her pack, on any kind of diplomatic visit... but it wasn't her place to know for sure. Hopefully if she responded to that future call she wouldn't be sent away like a child - how embarrassing would that be? "I'll be sure to warn them of your visit," she almost teased, letting a faint smirk tug at her lips, though most of the seriousness she'd been hanging on to just moments ago seemed to slowly ebb away. "I'll see you," she replied, finding it hard to imagine sneaking away not only to see Theory, but visit her.. in her packlands. For some reason, that seemed unthinkable. Only it seemed marginally less unthinkable when Theory brushed past her, sending a pleasant wave of electricity through her body. It reminded her briefly of the way she'd felt when they had sparred at the festival, but.... different. "Soon," she added, as if it was an afterthought, twisting around to watch Theory and her companion leave. -exit-