The icy slate marked girl walked easily under the green canopies of Abaven’s forests. Her bright blue and lavender gaze glittered in the sunlight as her stroll took her around the border of monument rapids. She was starting to really take her position of heir seriously, and enjoyed trips around the border with Edgar. The black and white raven was slowly coming into his feathers. He was looking more and more like a real bird and the two of them were learning each others cues quickly. It helped that Rhyme and his ravens trained with Poem and Edgar, guiding them in their path together.

Poem smiled softly as her bright paws stopped on the trail, she moved her dark marked muzzle from one side to the other as she surveyed the area. Edgar mimicked her movements. This was the border with the outside world, just a few inches away and Poem wouldn’t be in Abaven anymore. She found her gaze drawn to the horizon as the raven perched on her hips flapped his wings with uncertainty.

”Be brave, Edgar.” she told him as she looked back towards him. ”You should fly up and survey the area, like your mom does.” She told him eagerly. He didn’t look near as excited to perform the task, but he took it anyway. He struggled to lift himself into the air, but he managed to make it above the canopy of trees. Edgar called out to her that he had spotted someone, and Poem looked around curiously.

toRnAdic Tornadic prowled along the border, clearly sulking as his too-big paws paced over the soft grass. More than once his head lifted, almost expecting to see movement in the shadows, hoping to catch sight of slate fur or white rimmed golden eyes moving toward him, but there was nothing. He still didn’t fully understand why they had to come to Abaven, or why his mother was acting the way she did. She hated their father, that much was obvious, but he couldn’t for the life of him understand why. He swiped his wrist over his eye and gave a small huff of frustration before shaking out his body and continuing his brooding patrol of the border. He wanted to go home, and he wanted his father. His attention momentarily diverted upwards where he saw what was obviously a fledgling raven circling over him. Curious, and eager to distract himself he followed the bird’s path until he came face to face with a girl, roughly his age. He cocked his head upward to look at the raven again then looked at the girl. “Is that your familiar?” He asked. His father had a raven companion, but his familiar was the black serpent named Raane who was never far from his side. His father had explained the difference between the two once, but he hadn’t paid much attention, deciding it was something he could just ask about later. Speech

Poem watched proudly as her companion circled and gave his call. Bright lavender and blue gaze looked around her until the two toned form of an Erovare boy made himself visible. Poem offered a polite smile to him as he padded closer and asked about Edgar as he landed awkwardly on Poem’s slate marked hips. He looked from the fledgling bird to her as he asked, ”Is that your familiar?” She tilted her head curiously, having never heard that term before.

”He’s my companion, I.. don’t know what a familiar is.” Dark ears perked towards him as she leaned forward curiously. ”I’d like to know how to get one though,” she almost asked. Her father had two ravens to help him with his alpha duties, she supposed she could also have a second friend, who happened to be a familiar. Whatever that happened to be. Her icy tail flicked at her hindquarters before she lowered her haunches to the ground. A thrill at being so close to the border ran through her, she felt like an alpha already. Standing here on the border talking to a stranger… She was just like her mom.

toRnAdic The girl sat and looked at him with what he concluded was wonder and felt a small lift in his pride, just knowing that he knew something she didn’t. “Well, my dad has a raven companion too, but that’s not his familiar. His familiar is a cobra! And she’s so fast she can kill anyone in an instant!” He declared proudly. “But he says I’m too young to have a familiar…” He said, trailing off momentarily to look at the girl’s raven. Maybe he would let him have a companion if he told his father that all the Abaven pups had companions, which of course wasn’t true, but his father didn’t need to know that. He sat and thought for a moment, reaching back mentally to remember what he could about his father’s explanation, or at least something he could passably make up on the spot. “A familiar’s special; they’re like a best friend or a littermate, but not a wolf.” He explained. “My dad says him and his cobra know each other so well they finish each other’s sentences!” He exclaimed enthusiastically. Which wasn’t exactly a lie; his father had trailed off once or twice while speaking only to have his cobra interject with a request for food. “Most of all a familiar won’t let anything happen to you, and you won’t let anything happen to them. It’s like losing an arm or something.” The sooty pup added. Speech

This boy was all too eager to tell her what he knew, and Poem gazed curiously at him as he began. His father also had a raven, which sounded like her dad! However while Poem was much more interested in the bird the boy went on to describe his father’s familiar. She reacted with awe as the boy described the snake, the Destruction girl knew how dangerous snakes could be, what living so close to the serpent plains. It was amazing the boy’s dad had such a close friend in the viper.

She and Edgar were beginning to know each other better, they were almost always together. The boy went on to explain further and Poem couldn’t help but see the similarities between herself and Edgar and the boy’s father and his cobra.

”I wonder if he’s really my familiar and I didn’t know it?” She asked curiously as she looked over at the raven who had relocated to a tree branch above them when she sat down. ”We are best friends, and almost littermates. Tato said they hatched the same time my siblings and I were born. And we’ve been learning to keep each other safe.” She beamed up at her friend before turning her blue and lavender gaze back to the boy.

”What’s your name? Do you know what kind of familiar you want to have?” She’d always wanted to have a raven partner like her mom and dad. Though Edgar’s companionship had been somewhat of a surprise she always knew she needed him in her life.

toRnAdic He felt a small twinge of envy toward the girl and her raven, his father had said he was too young to have one, but it seemed the girl already had one, could his father have been wrong? “Oh wait! I forgot! A familiar has to be like you too, but not just in personality.” He added quickly. “Like my dad’s a king, and his familiar is a queen.” He said firmly, adding a nod for emphasis. “And my dad says he’s like lightning, and she’s like lightning too, because she’s fast and her venom burns like fire.” He grinned, far beyond just holding onto some small hope that she could have been wrong and straying into boasting on his father’s behalf. She asked what kind of familiar he wanted and he faltered, taken by surprise. “Well…I dunno. My brother says I look like a possum but I think he’s just being mean.” He said then tilted his head as he pondered the question. “I think I’m like a cat! Smart and sneaky, and dangerous!” He said with a playful and almost purrlike growl. Speech

She perked her ears again as he exclaimed that he had forgotten an important part. A familiar had to be like you, and he gave a couple more examples of how his father and the cobra were bonded. Poem looked on curiously as she tried to put more similarities between herself and Edgar. He was first hatched and she was first born of herself and Motif. She didn’t really know him well enough yet to find anything quickly.

She looked back to the pup as he answered her, he said something about a possum. Personally, Poem thought possums were cute. The boy said he thought he was more like a cat. Poem hadn’t had any interactions with cats yet. Her brother had almost gotten eaten by a mountain lion though. ”Oh! A cat sounds fierce!” The Destruction offered back. ”I think that I’d like to make friends with a raccoon, or maybe a monkey!” She liked their little hands. ”They’re crafty and brave,” two qualities she admired and thought she had. ”Do you only have one brother?” She only had one, and wasn’t a fan. She wondered if this boy, in addition to having an incredible father like her, had a brother he fought and competed with.

toRnAdic He giggled at the girl’s enthusiasm, his ego momentarily boosted by the girl’s declaration. She thought cats were fierce, so of course that would mean he was fierce as well. “What’s a monkey?” He asked, cocking his head to the opposite side. He knew what a raccoon was, he had seen plenty of them in the forest he had called home, usually washing oysters in the stream that ran from the forest into the shrine, but he had never heard of anything called a monkey. His first instinct told him it was a kind of lizard, but somehow he doubted that were true. The girl’s question brought a smile to his face, he may not have had a familiar or a companion, but he did at least have more than one brother. “I have two brothers, Tyto and Tythe.” He said proudly, his chest puffing out slightly as he spoke. “Tythe’s kinda weird, but Tyto’s my best friend, we’re going to be Highlord and Viceroy someday, just like my dad and his brother.” He explained. Speech

Poem giggled along with this boy, finding that even though he reminded her of Noir he was much easier to be around. Maybe it was because they weren’t related, or maybe it was because Tornadic didn’t automatically harass her when he saw her. Though Poem still basked in the glow of victory she didn’t know what would happen between the two of them when Noir finally stopped avoiding her. She kept an eye out at all times, just in case he had revenge planned for her.

“What’s a monkey?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by the question, how had he not seen a monkey? ”They’re flat faced, with long toed paws, usually furry but sometimes..” She started to whisper now, ”their butts are bald!” She couldn’t hold back her giggling as she said it.

He went on to answer her question about brothers, unlike her he had two and it sounded like he got along with them much better than she and Noir. ”Oh, that’s awesome! Mom says that I’ll be the alpha after her with my sister!” It was odd how much the two of them had in common. She hated to think it but she also thought she liked Tornadic a lot better than his sister Theta.

toRnAdic He looked at the girl wide eyed, astounded by her description of monkeys. Had he ever seen an animal with a flat face before? He didn’t think so. Then she burst into giggles at her description of their butts and he started laughing along with her, mostly at the use of the word. They calmed and she went on to explain that she would be alpha after her mother. “Well…Supposably, my biggest brother Astraios will take over after my father and brother step down, but I’m gonna make my own pack! Like my dad did!” He said and dropped into a playful bow. “It’s gonna be just like my dad’s pack though cuz Astraios might want to change some stuff, but I'll be in charge and I'll get to make whatever rules I want!"He exclaimed. “By the way I’m Tornadic, but most people call me Torn.” Speech

She felt good making friends, being able to make Tornadic laugh gave her joy. Poem seemed to brighten as they laughed, and even Edgar seemed perkier. The black and white raven puffed his feathers as he seemed to chuckle alongside Poem’s boisterous laugh. Eventually they settled and went on, each one talking about their place as heir. The Erovare pup was a little different, he wanted to make a pack of his own, just as his father had created one from nothing.

Poem ogled appropriately as the boy spoke, and nodded enthusiastically. He gave her a name as the excitement continued to build. ”I’m Poem, but you could call me Po if you want.” She told him after he offered a nickname. ”It’s nice to meet you,” she added with a respectful nod, Shaye was diligent in teaching her daughter manners, especially with the role she had to fill.

”Your dad sounds awesome, I’m sure he’s proud you wanna be like him!” Her dad was proud of her at least. ”Abaven has been in my family for a really long time.” She wanted to be like her mom and dad and take up that mantle. She thought for a moment about what he had said, ”what rules will you have in your pack? Have you thought of a name?” Poem couldn’t deny her curiosity. She was going to inherit what was already built, she was impressed by the boy’s eagerness to build his own.

His heart sank as she mentioned how proud he would be of him. Would he? He couldn’t say, he had just learned to take his first steps outside of the den when he had been taken to Abaven, and he couldn’t help but feel like their father had abandoned them despite his visits. Would they ever go home?  

“I guess...” He mumbled then lifted his head as she changed the subject to his future pack. “Yeah, the first rule is gonna be ‘No one messes with the high lord!’” He proclaimed proudly, his chest rising with pride “I don’t know what to call it though. Astraios named Erövrare so maybe someone else should name my pack…It’s gotta be something super awesome though.” He said and nodded his head in affirmation.

Tornadic seemed relieved as she changed the subjects, though she wouldn’t let it slow her down. The boy seemed just as proud of his heritage as Poem. The feeling brought a smile to her ashen lips as he mentioned the history of Erovare’s name. The girl nodded, wondering who he might take his pack’s name from. Poem didn’t know if she was creative enough to come up with a good title, her eventual pack came with a name that she wanted to keep and to cherish.

”You’ll make such a good High Lord!” She expressed gleefully, finding that talking about the future was much easier with this boy than with Noir had ever been. She still hadn’t made time to tell her brother about her own promotion. She needed to sooner rather than later though, before her dad could or one of the other pups.