Oki's on the other side of the border being a lil shit

Kuroki hadn't heard much about Abaven, except that it was home to some distant branch of his family. In his mind the concept was rather small and contained, limited to the fair few wolves that called Ashen their home and he was cool with it. Kept things nice and simple, meant he didn't have to gather too many birthday presents. But he knew of the sprawling legacy of both the Klein and Abraxas families, dotted all about Boreas in a tangled mess he had little interesting in trying to figure out for himself. And none of that accounted for all the wolves back in Nippon, relatives he probably wouldn't meet unless they happened to make their way to Kuroki's neck of the woods. And that was fine too, from what he'd heard not all of them were wolves worth meeting. Funny how even blood wasn't thick enough to make people get along. He wandered along the riverside, eyes barely visible against the dark of his face as his pale nose assessed the various scents lingering on the breeze. There were folks nearby and no doubt they'd take at least some offence to his lurking, but the way he saw it he'd done nothing wrong. He was right where an outsider was supposed to be, his paws firmly planted on no man's land.

She'd let everyone patrolling to keep an eye out for interlopers now that the snow drifts had finally melted. So far they'd been pleasantly lucky - the only visitors Abaven had received were friends or new prospective members. Theory hoped their luck would hold through the next season. Everyone still seemed to be shaking the winter out of their bones, herself included. Training had been neglected in favor of just scrabbling to get by and stay warm. Some of them had lost weight, most all of them had lost some kind of muscle tone. Patrols were an easy way to build back up some of what she'd lost, so she'd taken to running about twice as many when she had the time to squeeze in extra rounds. This new schedule was eye-opening. Typically patrols ran at predetermined times, but by sneaking loops in she was seeing a different side of her territory. She'd lived her whole life here and yet she was still pleasantly surprised by the creatures who also called it home. Theo had spied some new birds she hadn't seen before and a fat, sleek beaver that she otherwise wouldn't have scented slide his way into the rapids and glide upstream towards his home. The alpha made a mental note to check further up the river and make sure he hadn't made too much progress on a dam of any sort. And, of course, today's patrol revealed a little weasel on the other side of her borders. She stopped a few hundred yards away then dropped into a hunter's crouch downwind. He looked young and unfamiliar. Where were his parents? She supposed he wasn't exactly an infant, but certainly too young to be so far from home. He didn't smell like the bordering pack at all. Her thoughts now gathered, she stood up out of her hidden position and then loped towards him, making sure to kick rocks and brush to announce her approach. "Do your parents know where you are?" Theo mused, her ears pricked and bobbed tail high to help him infer who he was speaking to. The alpha, of course. "Speech"

Suspense was just vibing, she was always just vibing. She wasn't really sure what to do with herself a lot of the time and so mostly just entertained herself. Sometimes her mom would track her down and try to get some healing lessons in her but even then she was mostly left to her own devices. One of the good things about being good at healing was that with three more healers in the pack it made it easy to not have to worry to much when things were peaceful... and Suspense had been born into a time of peace for the pack. So she'd noticed that Theory was walking her patrol at a different time today. The tiny girl's tail began to beat the air and she decided she wanted to walk a patrol with her older sister... if she'd let her. She followed at a leisurely pace, not in a rush to catch up, which was good because when Theory suddenly stopped and assumed a more hidden position Suspense was not close enough to give her older sister away. Though it didn't take her too long to approach her half-sister, blue and purple gaze sliding from Theory to a young boy stood at their border. From her sister's stature, it didn't seem that Theory thought the pup a threat though to poor tiny Suspense nearly anyone could be. She'd stopped growing some months ago and was a little disappointed to find she stood only as tall as her mother and was quickly dwarfed by her towering brothers and father. Little ears perked as she heard her sister speak and Suspense picked up her pace, sliding in beside her much taller half-sister and fixing the pup with a curious gaze. "Who's this?" She asked, her tone light and chirpy, glancing between Theory and the speckled pup. "Speech" Think

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Wisely the wolves of Abaven did not leave Kuroki to his own devices for too long. Out from behind some greenery she emerged,  all tall and leggy, with a nubby tail that didn't reach far beyond her haunches. Though not aggressive her question was fairly pointed, implying that a boy of his age shouldn't be wandering around the world all on his lonesome. Well, his companions were somewhere nearby, and even if they weren't just because Kuroki wasn't supposed to do something didn't mean he wouldn't go ahead and do it anyway. Rules were to be broken, boundaries to be tested, Kuroki needed to know just how far he could push before something had to give. He pursed his lips at her question, not at all liking the direction she seemed intent on steering this meeting towards. Whatever, it wasn't something Kuroki couldn't handle. When in doubt, be a little shit and pretend you don't speak the common tongue. You'd be surprised how often it worked and he'd never let an opportunity to say something dumb in his second language pass him by. "I like big butts and I cannot lie." Kuroki tinged his tone with obvious confusion and even titled his head to the side for good measure. And then another wolf appeared on the scene, so tiny it made little Kitsune look like a giant in comparison. "Beep boop, tree sky cat." He then said, playing it stone faced serious, though he was only just managing to hold back a rush of laughter. This was just too much, too damn fun.

She sat slowly back on her haunches as the stranger opened his mouth and babbled in a strange tongue. Well. She hadn't been expecting that. It was unlikely that he couldn't understand her - he looked well-fed, smelled like he belonged to a pack. Theory hadn't caught wind of any Boreas packs that only spoke one language. Aurielle's pack had an ancient tongue that they protected, but they all spoke the common language as well. Theory welcomed Suspense to sit at her side as she approached. She'd noticed her smallest sister join the patrol a little ways back - if they hadn't been interrupted by this pup interloper, she had been about to ask her about her day. Her father's youngest litter had reached their yearling majority. Soon it would be time for them to make more concrete choices about their life; would they pursue advanced training in Abaven or set out on their own? Theo desperately hoped they would stay, but she wouldn't stand in their way if they decided to leave. "Well, I'm not sure who this is," she replied to her sister, a hint of amusement in her voice. "Would you like to tell us who you are, or am I going to have to chase you off?" "Speech"

Kuroki pressed his lips thin at the expression the (probably) alpha lady shot his way. It seemed as if  she was familiar with troublemakers, those who kicked up dust just for the sake of it, and so had a rough idea of how to handle this kind of situation. Even then it was kind  of funny though, an adult getting all huffy and puffy over one lone pup muttering gibberish at her borders. Instead of coming down on him hard as the wolves of Ashen tended to do, she was dangling a threat in front of his nose. A pretty limp one at that but a threat all the same. Ooooh he'd be chased away, wherever would he go!? Plonking himself down onto his haunches, Kuroki raised a paw to pick some dirt out from beneath one of his talons. He couldn't really say he liked her attitude or the way she flexed her power, like it really meant anything in the end. But that shouldn't really have come as a surprise since he'd really started chomping at the bit lately, getting all salty at figures of authority the moment they gave him a sour look for not doing as he was told. What was wrong with having a mind of his own? He'd be a yearling soon and that had to count for something, right? "Chill out lady, I'm just messin' with you." Spoken like a boy who had spent far too much time in the company of his roguish-sort of- uncle. A bad influence for sure, but better than none. "Ain't I allowed to come and see my family? Was told they live in these parts."

Chill out, lady. Theory felt a pressure building between her eyes. It was coming on fierce. She hadn't had a headache since this bad since Poem's brood had just weaned and they were shrieking and scampering all over the place. She groaned and rolled her eyes as he flicked his talons. He had a host of strange accoutrements, but none of the manners she'd expect one of Sirius' children to have. Who did he belong to? Whoever it was, she pitied them. "Family? I don't know anyone who looks - or talks - like you," she replied, dead-pan. The only thing he was looking for was a reaction, and she was determined not to give it to him. "How about you, Suspense?" Theo laughed, turning to her half-sister. "Does this spotty-spiked boy remind you of anyone?" "Speech"

Suspense blinked, surprised by the unknown tongue that fell from the young boy's mouth, glancing between her sister and the boy. She wasn't going to say anything since she knew her sister was more than competent alpha and could handle anything. Okay maybe she didn't exactly have a realistic view of her older sister but she knew well enough not to interject before this mystery was solved! Finally the boy would in fact start speaking in a language they could understand. He said he was visiting family? Suspense's tail began to wag then. Abaven was full of her family and the idea there could be even more out there was exciting. She knew her mother was from another family out there, they'd gone to visit when she'd been a pup but the boy really did not look like any of the family she'd seen. But Theory would put the question to her. And Suspense tipped her head to the side, he didn't physically resemble anyone she could think of. She looked up at Theory. "He doesn't look like her... But he kind of reminds me of Ruin." The joke he'd tried to play seemed like something her sister would do... At least to her mind. "Speech" Think

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Kuroki couldn't say it came as a surprise to hear that. He hadn't really met any other koi outside of Ashen and from what he'd heard they tended to stick to their own, to only branch out if necessary. As for the Kleins he'd never had an interest in pouring over the old family tree, it was massive and sprawling with branches that were overgrown and tangled. But beyond that he was pretty sure his Mother had mentioned someone called Sam? Sammy? Kuroki wasn't much of a listener, if they weren't right in his face it was hard to latch onto the idea of someone so distant, you know? Might as well not even exsist. The lady turned to the teeny-weeny wolf and asked if she saw a resemblance, only to bring up someone or other called Ruin. From the sounds of it she lived up to her name. Kuroki's lips tugged into a wry smile, if he was reading the room right it sounded like this Ruin wasn't a complete stick in the mud. Like some. But he supposed he ought to give them a little more to go off. "My mum's Venom. Empress of Ashen yadda yadda." He flicked his front paw, so on so forth. Too many titles he cared to say. "Said her Aunt lived here so...she'd be my-uh?" His expression pinched in thought.

She was so young when Samara originally arrived in Abaven that it took Theory longer than she'd like to admit to catch on. Her family tree was its own twisted thicket, with some regrettable intermingling included; it was easy to forget just how it all connected. The alpha took a pause for a moment, assessing how to explain it to Suspense. This bratty young gentleman was technically her... cousin? And undoubtedly an unsavory influence. Ashen had its tendrils stretched far. Theo had a complicated friendship with Sirius - although she considered him an ally, she was right to be wary when he had still once bartered for her sisters. Slaves were an utterly foreign concept to her. Abaven had long been a family pack, built on fostering strength and personal growth. Some might consider her ideals weak, but Theory valued the personal freedoms of her packmates. Everyone without ill intent was free to come and go as they pleased. Pulling herself back to the present and trying to ignore the looming shadow that the name Ashen Empire conjured, she continued: "Ah, yes. Samara has been here for so long that it now seems like she simply belongs. I'd forgotten she wasn't here all along," Theory laughed. So much had changed after the volcano erupted, stranding visitors for far longer than they possibly intended. Long enough for Samara to fall deeply in love with her father. "And Suspence here is your cousin, Samara's daughter." She leveled her gaze at Suspense to gauge the young girl's reaction. "Speech"

Suspense's own feelings about her extended family were less complicated than that of her older half-sister. She was surrounded by cousins within the pack and though she had gone to visit Ashen once in her life she didn't know that branch of her family tree that well, but still when he explained he was from Ashen Suspense visibly brightened, well as much as she could from an already quite sunny disposition. Sure she hardly knew them but cousins were cousins in her mind and though she couldn't know things were different from Abaven it was just easier for the young Cavaliere-Klein to assume it was similar. She nodded along as Theory explained, beaming up at her half-sister when the alpha turned her attention on the tiny girl. "We visited Ashen once." She announced happily, practically springing to her paws with her own excitement. "Should we call mom?" She said, the question directed at her sister. She would've asked about the rest of her siblings if any of them were reliably in the pack, but only Sen had really shown his face as of late and even then he was often off exploring on his own. "Speech" Think

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