Gloom cowered in the mouth of the temporary den her small family had been moved to. Her sapphire and violet gaze was turned skyward, searching the horizon as if expecting the foreboding black cloud from days earlier to return to threaten her and her family again. Gloom hadn't exactly been an outgoing pup to begin with and with the sudden evacuation and panic over the volcano the girl had grown paranoid and even more skittish than before. The child whined, placing her head on her paws, allowing her insides to be gnawed at by fears to numerous and too strong for any single pup to be burdened with. Speak! Think!

This wasn't at all their home, but Corvus had long since abandoned the notion that home was where Abaven had always lived. Home was a concept that he'd spent his entire life shaping - when his parents had left, it hadn't felt like home at all, and when his best friend Ignis had left to join his uncle in the north, he'd felt a little piece of home slip away from him then too. As attached as he was to those lands, he knew they were just that - lands - and that they could rebuild, far away if they really had to. At least they'd found somewhere to reside temporarily, though who knew how long that would really be. Corvus sure didn't. Everything had changed quickly, though change seemed to be somewhat of a constant these days. Perhaps expecting the unexpected was the way to go? Either way, he was handling it well enough. Everyone had gotten here safely, and slowly they were beginning to readjust to a new normal. The island couldn't sustain them forever - but the volcano couldn't erupt forever, could it? Occasionally it continued to spew ash into the sky, though from their distance off the coast, they could no longer feel the tremors that it was likely creating. Already he found himself missing the sun, which seemed permanently obscured from view by a thick layer of ash and smoke. As hard as he tried to keep himself from feeling too gloomy, it was hard not to with the current weather conditions.. He was wandering aimlessly today, knowing his duties as Blackthorn didn't cease just because they'd been temporarily uprooted. Making sure everyone was safe and secure was always a priority.. especially the young of Abaven. That was why, when he saw a child peering from the mouth of a makeshift den, his interest (and worry) was immediately piqued. Cautiously he headed over toward Gloom, offering the pup a faint smile. "Hey Gloom," he greeted her lightly, hoping not to frighten her. His face was familiar, even if she didn't know him well at all. "Feel like hanging out with me for a bit? I have to patrol the island, if you want to join me?" Maybe not being alone would help her out some, assuming she might be feeling as sullen as he was.

A figure approached and when the scent reached her, familiar but not comforting, the girl cowered back a bit further, watching with wide eyes as the man approached. Some cousin or other of hers, of which she had a great deal many. Which was why she hardly felt comforted by his approach, the only wolves she'd grown close enough to, to really trust outside her siblings and mother was her uncle Rhyme. Still, she understood enough to believe that if Rhyme was okay with any wolves it was likely to be the ones in his pack. She knew he would never have let dangerous wolves in. Not that she yet understood he wasn't alpha anymore either, she had been much too fear-stricken at that meeting, surrounded as she was by mostly strangers, to focus on anything said. So when Corvus spoke the girl stared up at him for a moment, eyes wide, nervousness visible in her face and stance. Slowly she nodded, not trusting her voice. Slowly, painfully slowly the girl pulled herself from the den, rising to her full, tiny, height and watched cautiously for her cousin to make his next move. She dared not get any closer, yet. Speak! Think!

Corvus wasn't quite sure how she'd react to his presence. She didn't know him, not really - none of the pups really did - but hopefully they knew he could be trusted, if nothing else. But being uprooted from their home and everything they knew had to be stressful for them.. he knew it definitely was for him. Maybe a distraction would be the best course of action for her? Surely sitting around in her den looking terrified wasn't going to help her any... maybe he could change that. She didn't reply though, and instead just stared and nodded and eventually stood up. Was she scared? She must be. He wasn't really the best at dealing with kids - at least, he didn't think he was - but he tried to think of what would've helped him had he been in her position. An adult probably being normal and calm would've done the trick. No talk of the volcano and their future, and definitely nothing scary. "This is a pretty cool place, actually," he started, stretching his forepaws in front of him before slowly moving to walk away - hopefully with Spirit in tow. "The last time I came here, I did a lot of fishing. Have you ever fished?" He glanced over her way, grinning slightly, hoping that she was growing less timid around him.. though if not, that was alright too.

Corvus spoke and Gloom nodded blankly, not really sure she could even really agree or disagree with his sentiment. She'd hardly seen any of the old lands they'd once stayed in, at least no more than she'd seen of the island. Maybe that was a good thing, it meant she didn't have much to miss, much to be longing for. It left her mostly feeling ambivalent towards the island, it only really represented that a disaster had struck but she didn't really hate it here either. Gloom trotted a safe distance behind the older wolf, close enough to hear him but far enough away she could feel she could still flee if she had to. He asked her if she'd ever fished and Gloom shook her head. "We'd usually just eat what uncle Rhyme brought us." She said, her voice soft, not really caring if it was loud enough for him to hear it. Speak! Think!

Gloom didn't seem overly impressed with Corvus's words, but it didn't bother him as much as he expected it to. Maybe because she was a kid, but.. he wasn't as afraid of her opinion of him as he might be of someone else's. Not that he didn't care, he just.. was more worried about helping her and being there for her than any of that stuff, and he had a feeling she needed someone to lean on, even if she didn't particularly want that. She seemed hesitant to follow, but did so anyway; he hoped it wasn't only because he was an older wolf compared to her, but even if that was the only reason, he'd have to be okay with that too. "So you have a lot to learn," Corvus suggested lightly, glancing over his shoulder and offering him a faint smile. She was quiet, her voice barely audible at all, but he was trying to be attentive to her. Even if she didn't want to be doing this, wanted nothing to do with him at all, Corvus knew he had to try. Even if she pretended to care, maybe it'd make her feel better. He ignored the dark cloud of ash that loomed overhead, instead focusing on the shoreline just ahead of him. The walk there was a silent one, Corvus occasionally glancing behind him to make sure she was following, with him not pressing unwanted conversation. They reached the water before long, and Corvus paused to assess the situation. The tide looked like it had gone out a bit, and the waves were gentle at the moment, so he wasn't worried about Gloom being swept out to sea - he'd never risk that, if things were too dangerous. Slowly he waded into the water, gesturing for her to join him. "I'm more familiar with fishing in the rapids back home, but there's plenty of fish here too. Just gotta look a bit harder," he admitted, taking a few long strides out further. Occasionally the fish would swim close to the shore, surely searching for bits of seaweed that had washed up close to the beach, but actually snagging them would be tricky. "Here - there's one this way," Corvus directed her, not moving too much in the water so as to not disturb the small fish moving in the shallows. "You should try to grab it. The water's pretty salty though, try not to get it in your eyes." Hopefully she didn't take his advice as condescending - he was just trying to help and get her outside of her head for a bit, and he knew working on some skills wouldn't hurt her in the long run.

Corvus seemed like he was trying his best to remain positive and despite herself, Gloom couldn't help but feel a bit more at ease. Though she despised it when the adults pretended like nothing had happened or that nothing could be possibly going wrong right now she also found herself more at ease with wolves not falling into the same panic she was trapped in. Even in her anxiety Gloom was still a young pup after all and the idea of learning something new was an exciting idea. Even if she didn't really show it.  They arrived at the water and Gloom dithered at the shore for a moment before taking a tentative step into the cold water, a muffled squeal escaping past her lips as she felt the chill on her legs. Though she was still warry of her cousin the girl quickly bound closer to Corvus, nearly attaching herself to his leg. She was scared of the tide more than she was scared of her older cousin. She tried to follow his gaze as Corvus spoke and after narrowing her eyes against the glint of the surface when she saw it moving. Gloom listened carefully as Crovus instructed her and the girl nodded slowly.  With some hesitance Gloom readied herself to try and grab the fish. She was careful not to move, not that she had a particular understanding of the way that fish tended to act but simply because she was certain she'd do it wrong if she didn't just go for it. Screwing her eyes shut Gloom darted her head out and down, her jaws open. She felt the cool rush of the water on her muzzle as it broke the surface and she felt something wriggling in her mouth but as she tried to clamp her jaw down the fish slipped her grasp. Gloom tossed her head back, snorting and rubbing at her nose with her paw, the taste of salt heavy on her tongue. "It got away." She said plainly, looking up at her cousin. There wasn't really any disappointment in her tone, though she was now searching Corvus for the next step.  Speak! Think!