Poem was much more bold about stepping over the border since going on the trip all the way to Auster. As long as she crossed where an adult had recently no one noticed when they did patrols that she was alone. It was dark out, and likely only her dad would come across it, maybe. He was busy with Noir and they didn’t always make it this far. She took in a deep breath and let her icy paws take her over the border. Edgar clung to her hips, since the fire the Destruction girl refused to let him from her sight.

The moon was full, and lit the path for her long legged form to pass over. She followed the water, having never been this direction from Abaven. The trees changed a bit, and she avoided the mountains. This place seemed rather deserted. Only a few old stale scents lingered, but she felt rather safe here.

She wanted a place outside of Abaven to talk, she knew that Noir wouldn’t be allowed on his own and as long as she wasn’t in Abaven there was no chance of running into him. She sighed softly to herself as she came to a halt nea a few of the large boulders and looked out over the ocean for a long moment. Eventually coming to look back to Edgar to let him know she was going to take a seat so he could position himself on the ground. Poem curled her haunches beneath her and her ivory tail curled around her paws. Edgar peered up at her as she watched the clouds roll by, illuminated brightly by the moon’s light.

toRnAdic Tornadic, like his sister had been in a bad mood since arriving in the north. His father had gone from being a king to being…Nothing. They were once royalty an now they were nameless underlings under an alpha they had never met before, expected to follow his rules rather than be obeyed. It was a temporary setback he assured himself, and one day he would be respected as a king again. He wobbled past the borders, his paws still too big for his small body with his head raised purposefully although he had no destination in mind. He wanted stability in his life but it seemed he wouldn’t find it as long as he was with his father. Speech

While Poem was quick to get lost in her thoughts Edgar lost interest in staring at his mistress and stated to hop around. He wasn’t so sure about flying at night quite yet, but if there was any time to do it, it was now. The young piebald raven hopped up a boulder with anything but gace and launched himself from the peak.

The raven gained height, quite surprised with how well he could see. And see he did, down below a pup about Poem’s age. It was the boy Tornadic. The raven returned to Poem’s position to tell her what he’d seen. ”Poem, that boy, Tonadic. He’s across the field.” Edgar hadn't been affected the way his mistress had. He was far away from the flame when she had been pushed, otherwise he would have pecked Noir’s eyes out.

The gil sighed softly, blue and lavender gaze falling to her paws. ”I don’t know if I want company right now, Edgar.” She told him honestly, not feeling as brave as she had before the fire. Her brush with death, and the fact that it was done by her own brother. Her whole world had been rocked. The raven cocked his head sympathetically, she wasn’t the pup he had bonded with, and the bird wondered what he could do to return her.

toRnAdic Tornadic lifted his head at the rustle of unsure wingbeats and found himself perking slightly at the familiar piebald raven looking over the treeline. He knew the bird was Poem’s and found himself galumphing after him as he circled and landed. He was excited to see a familiar face, but more than that he was excited to speak to someone who would understand what he was going through. As he approached her however he found himself slowing slightly, his head lowering as he took in her sulking appearance. The smell of smoke and ash still clung to her fur and became more apparent as he drew closer to her. “Poem?” He called gently. Speech

Poem sighed softly as she looked to her raven companion, the quiet misunderstandings between them were growing uncomfortable. The young heir didn’t know how to fix it either, there was a black smudge on her heart and the more she tried to wipe it off the more it seemed to grow. Their alone time was interrupted by a boy’s voice, and both wolf and raven looked up to see Tornadic approaching. He must have recognized Edgar and followed him back.

The Destuction girl offered him a smile, but even she felt like it was forced. This wasn’t how they were supposed to meet again, they were supposed to be alphas. Getting together to speak of political things, and pack alliance, not… Poem shook herself internally.

”Hello, Torn.” She replied, hoping the slightly shortened nickname would make up for her pitiful smile. He had just lost his home. Her mother tried to keep her updated on the packs, much like she would need to do one day on her own. Erovare was gone, and now Winterfell had risen. Poem didn’t know where Tornadic fit, however. She knew Acere, and she knew Torn, but she didn’t realize the connection. ”Couldn’t sleep either?” She asked quietly as the clouds continued to roll by beneath the moonlight above them.

toRnAdic “Something like that.” He muttered then stepped closer to her with as much grace as his oversized paws allowed him. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, gaping like a fish as he struggled for purchase on words. He decided to sit, still a good distance from her and whined softly. “Why are you so far from Abaven?” He asked finally, his heart breaking just to see her so forlorn. Did she know why he was so far from Erovrare? He wondered. He looked at the equally abandoned looking raven and understood to some degree that something had happened to her, although what he couldn’t say. Speech

The once Erovare boy positioned himself a bit closer as he answered her question. His proportions were similar to her own, or any of her siblings besides Verse. Despite being tiny Verse seemed the most filled out, probably because she reached adult height over a season ago. Tornadic went on to ask her why she was so far from Abaven’s borders. She turned her blue and lavender gaze away from him and looked back up to the clouds.

”I needed to get away for awhile,” she offered him. It was partial truth at least. ”My mom told me about Erovare. I’m sorry.” Poem gave her condolences as she allowed herself to look him over again. She felt like she was processing a lot, she couldn’t imagine completely losing Abaven. She suffered from open mouth syndrome as well, she wasn’t sure if it would be polite to go on and tell him about Abaven’s fire. Or what she had endured. Even thinking about Eulogy’s limp form on the shore wanted to send her to tears.

toRnAdic He gave a brief snuff at her condolences, looking away as if he couldn’t care less. “Well, I said I’d make it on my own didn’t I?” He said attempting to sound more assured of himself than he felt. His heart ached thinking of their home in someone else’s paws, the land he was born in, where he and his brother had played highlord and viceroy, gone now and replaced with a nameless rank in a northern pack. “I’m the howling wind.” He said, eyes closing as he made his proclamation. “I’ll tear down mountains and I’ll break the seas. Nothing will stop me.” He said, puffing his chest out with each word and growing prouder by the second. Speech

Tornadic didn’t show how the loss of his pack affected him really. He managed to brush off her offer and remind her that he wasn’t an heir, but had always been tasked with making his own pack. ”I didn’t forget,” she promised while shifting herself. Poem lowered herself to the ground, her blue and lavender gaze on her toes as she spread them through the green dewy grass. Edgar hopped closer, his agile beak grooming the fur of her neck to try and soothe his mistress.

She turned her features back towards him, sue that the moisture in her eyes was invisible under the moonlight. ”All of Boreas and Auster will know your name, and fear crossing the pack you raise.” She knew he couldn’t be completely okay with losing Erovare, and wanted mostly to encourage him with her support. With effort she gave him a smile, but wasn’t sure if she had any more pep talk in her for the night. Her heart hurt.

The pain in her chest spread through her arms and stomach, every time she tried to think about the fire or Noir. Poem returned her gaze to her icy paws and she sighed softly. Edgar hopped onto her shoulders, offering another loving touch before turning his piercing eyes to Tornadic. Poem wasn't herself, and the raven was sure the boy wasn’t helping her any.

toRnAdic Tornadic’s features fell at her sullen response. He couldn’t see the tears but could smell them welling in her eyes and the despair as she spoke. Silently he shifted closer to her and turned himself in a brief circle before settling down beside her, his heart pounding with concern. For a moment his childlike brain wondered if she was crying for him before he decided that was stupid. They didn’t know each other very well. “I’m sorry.” He said, not quite sure why he was apologizing or what for but instinctively feeling like it was something she needed to hear. He looked at his paws as he laid beside her unsure if being any closer or attempting to touch her would be welcome or not. Instead he held an awkward silence, his stomach twisting nervously into knots. Speech

Tornadic shifted closer as her attentioned returned to her icy paws, she wasn’t sure if she trusted herself to look at him even as he offered her his support. Poem’s dark ears lay against her skull as his voiced reached them. The boy slowly positioned himself on the grass beside her, not touching but close enough for comfort. Poem and Motif were always touching if they were close to one another so the girl didn’t hesitate to close the distance between herself and Torrnadic. She pressed her shoulder against his and offered him a thankful glance before he eyes found their way into the night sky.

”Thanks, it’s not your fault.” She told him while trying to lift her lips into a smile. ”There was a fire in the thicket.” Keeping her eyes from him as she explained she wasn’t sure if she wanted to mention Noir’s actions. Poem left it at that as her blue and lavender gaze returned to Tornadic’s features. She would answer any question he asked, but she debated internally about speaking of the incident.

toRnAdic His face fell at her words. He knew what a fire was, but had no way of comprehending the totality of the destruction. It was a concept far too big for himself, which was how he began to understand just how much she had been through. “Did anyone get hurt?” He asked shyly, a sudden weight dropping into his stomach as he waited for her answer. The only real answer he could glean was that someone had been killed in the fire and that was why she was so downtrodden, the fact that something far more sinister and insidious might be the cause was still far from his mind, but he was determined to get to the root of her problem. Speech

She could see his features shift as she told him about the fire, it seemed he at least had an inkling about everything that had happened. He asked if anyone had been injured and Poem nodded her head slowly. She hadn’t known the woman that died, she had seen her once but never spoke to her. There had been many injuries as well. ”One wolf died, an elder named Storm. I didn’t really know her. My Aunt got hurt pretty bad, she got hit by a branch and got a bad cut on her brow.” She told him, still avoiding her own predicament with Noir.

She shifted her gaze back to her paws as she spoke quietly. As Poem continued her voice was barely a whisper. ”I.. I almost died.” She mentioned, knowing it didn’t look like she had sustained any injuries. Her fur was still singed in a few places however, and she hadn’t gotten the smell of smoke from her nose until she settled here in this field.

toRnAdic The name Storm glanced off him although he filed the information away for later in case he would ever need to use it. He was far more interested in her own brush with death and he felt the blood drain from his face and limbs as she spoke them. “What happened?” He would have hated for her to die, just the thought of never seeing her again after they had just started becoming friends made his stomach twist horrendously. He could feel the tension between them rise as he asked his question, his heart thrumming nervously against his chest like the wings of a trapped bird. Speech

She felt special, that Tornadic would seek only her part of the story. The other two wolves didn’t seem to interest him, but her story needed to be told. Dark ears pressed closer to her head as she avoided his gaze and thought for a moment about her next words. ”I got pushed into the fire.” She held up her left paw to show him where the delicate icy fur had been singed to the skin. Thankfully she had continued to roll. ”Thankfully I rolled into the river or I..” Or she might not have been there speaking to him. What would have happened to Noir then, if she really had died.

Tears welled up in her eyes, she felt ashamed that her brother had committed such an act against her. Poem shouldn't have wanted to protect him, she knew it would make her feel better if she told her friend. Someone who wasn’t family as was seeing everything from outside. ”My brother, I still don’t want to believe he meant to do it.” She whispered softly as her gaze lingered on Tornadic’s paws. Poem couldn’t quite meet his eyes.

toRnAdic Horror dawned on his face as he listened and then grit his teeth tightly in his jaw. “I’ll kill him!” He snapped fiercely, his fur bristling as he stood abruptly. In that instant he hated the black wolf with a passion that was beyond his young age. That mighty mountain thought he was so cool because he was bigger than everyone else. Tornadic would show him that size didn’t matter and that he could be as every bit as deadly even with their head of height difference. He paced from side to side angrily, flicking his thin tail like a whip as he growled “I’ll make him pay.” Speech

His reaction startled her. She shifted away from him as Tornadic jumped up and made his proclamation. Blue and lavender eyes widened considerably as she saw the anger and hatred in Torn’s yellow eyes. She tried to regain her own composure as she and Edgar both blinked up at him. No one seemed to have had this reaction about what happened yet. Poem’s dark ears tucked tightly to her skull as she regained control of her voice. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but her heart went aflutter at how upset Tornadic was getting for her.

”He’s being punished already. Mom said you can’t punish violence with more violence. Two wrongs don’t make a right.” She clung to those words. Shaye taught her to always do what was right, and revenge wasn’t right. She got to her paws and her raven companion took his place on her shoulder, feeling more strongly aligned with the boy than the girl’s mother. Edgar peered at Tornadic, but he was much more curious this time.