"Don't you dare come back, boy. Your soul is not clean. We don't want you!"
Those words had been echoing in his little head ever since his father left him at this strange place early this morning. Tears had began to bubble up while the brown figure of what used to be his father faded in the distance. He was alone and abandoned. Forgotten. He had done nothing wrong. It wasn't his fault he saw everything this way. It wasn't all the time.. why did he had to leave?

The small boy was seated beside a tree. His back arched due to his hanging head. His dark ears were glued to his head and tears kept streaming down his blonde cheeks. Golden eyes were filled with pain and fear. The sound of the river felt like roaring monsters. The wind kept startling him. And the scent of smoke, he could not get rid of. His tail was glued to his side.

Why am I so different..? His mind came to words as he stared into nothing. His paws pressed together and his claws dug slightly into the dirt, uncomfortably, worriedly and kind of paranoid. He had no idea where he was and definitely no idea where he will end up by the evening.
""

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Theory spent plenty of time at the rapids when she wasn't haunting the Abaven territories. They had once been home and if you were familiar with the scent of the pack traces of their occupancy were still evident. She liked to think that they were recovering. Although the rapids had been blocked further upstream after the volcano, it seemed that the water had done its work and found some way around or through the landslide and ash. It wasn't clean water, sure, but at least it flowed again. The young alpha wrinkled her nose at the soot and particles carried on the current. She'd have to warn the younger members of the pack not to drink here and be more careful when they swim. Some of the pups had never seen the rapids at their strongest and would be overtaken immediately by the current.

She noticed some unfamiliar prints and scents as she strolled along the course of the water. Putting her nose to work, Theo tracked the scent until she saw a small, hunched shape. Was it a fox...? As she drew closer, Theo realized it wasn't a denizen of the woods at all: it was a pitiful looking puppy. Furrowing her brows, she approached slowly. "Are you lost?" she asked once she was within earshot. He was little, younger than most of Abaven's brood. The past few months had put her on a crash-course of puppy caretaking and she liked to think that was quite good at it, but she still fumbled occasionally. Hey, no one was perfect.

The Gods were fighting in his head tonight. The wrath of Odin clashing in his bloodied throat, the might of Bellona lashing around, to and fro, in resistance as she attempted to break out of the cage behind his polished ivories. There had been so much he wanted to say to the man that bore him. So many words, so many flicks of his barbed tongue. Still, with all his anger, the ashen male couldn’t do much about the situation that was pulling itself apart in his head. Everything he could have done to protect his mother, the sentences that were held between his teeth… All amounting to this anxiety, this pain. Like a wake of vultures scavenging upon his carcass did he rip himself apart, and though he clearly conveyed the impression of being alive, it was obvious that the light in his eyes had all since vanished. His thoughts, his inner self, oh, how they kept cussing and thrashing its head, it snapped its soundless jaws into the atmosphere with such animosity he was certain that at any moment he, himself, would tear the very sky from its seat and spit the stars at everyone around him.

But he couldn’t do that, could he? For he was alone. All those years struggling to lift his back from under the paw that beat him, only to stumble around like the lost pup he’d been the weeks prior. Even out here, with all this silence, he could still hear his father chanting aloud to him in front of his pack mates. Disappointment, shame, it all crackled in his voice. 'You're gonna be nothing, you little shit! Did you honestly think you could get through this world humming and singing and picking daisies, huh? You little titty baby, you are! No! This world is made on blood, and through blood, we--,' "Take blood! I fucking get it, okay? I don't want to be like you, and just because of that, the very small insignificant fact, that maybe I didn't want to turn out like a fucking barbarian, the idea of freedom under you, it boils your soul, doesn't it? Doesn't it?! I don't want t--, Uh... Oh... Um," Sitting in front of him with its head down low, tears flowing from sun-kissed eyes, did a child stay waiting and... and a female. Damn, she was pretty, wasn't she? He was sure that she was ashamed of him, too. Ugh. Dammit.

The pup, on the other hand, he didn't look very old at all, no, but he did look scared. Well. Whit was scared too. "Um, I, I didn't mean to frighten you, if I did, I-I didn't know you two were here... I uh, can... Can I help you?" His whines of embarrassment stayed behind his breath, ears flattened as he brought himself to lay down a little ways off from the two of them. He could sense something from this child that reminded him of himself, but he didn't know if it was the fact they were both out here, lost and crying or if it was something more. "Um, I-I'm Whitfield. Do... Do you have a name, kiddo?"

He was so out of it that for a moment someone might think that his ears went deaf. After a moment, his golden eyes widened slightly at the sight of white paws and a soothing voice. Was this another one of his hallucinations. His head went up and his eyes focused on black and white face and blue eyes. He sniffled. Usually everything went better when he attempted to touch what he saw and of course since it wasn't real he couldn't touch it. And that would bring an end to his hallucination. So he had the same intention here. His small brown paw lifted up and he attempted to press it gently against the paws before him. By the time he realized it was real and the wolf was really there the sound of a voice came from the side.

His eyes widened more and he jolted back as if he was burned with a yelp. His small body rolled backwards onto his back and he tried to scuttle back and closer to the bark of the tree in an attempt to hide. The new arriving figure that soon laid down and his words kept coming out, looked like he was real too. Tail curled against him and he was almost as close to the ground. Eyes stayed widened and tears kept silently rolling down his face. His paws soon covered his face and his cracked voice slipped out.

"P-please don't hurt me." His voice, though cracked and scared didn't cause his words to be wrong. For a pup his age he could talk pretty well. The sob that came after his speech caused his body to shake slightly. He had had enough and just wanted everything to end.

""

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color the coast with your smile She was so intent on the puppy before her that she almost didn't hear the approaching stranger. Theory flicked an ear backwards to monitor the sound of footsteps before she heard his muttering and stuttering. Oh, great... Was he touched in the head? He didn't seem to carry any kind of doddering uncertainty that she had come to associate with serious illness, but he didn't present as "all there" either. Talking to yourself - or rather, bickering with yourself - was never a good look, especially around children. Her hackles raised slightly as the male drew closer. She had no intention of making a scene in front this child. He was stressed, she could see it in every hasty breath he took. At least the newcomer kept his distance. Theory looked over her shoulder at him and narrowed her eyes slightly. Julian reminded her so much of Desolate or Void - any of Eulogy's kids, really. She couldn't help but feel protective of him. "My name is Theory, alpha of Abaven... and please keep your distance. You're scaring him." Julian's pleading cry just about wrenched her heart in two. Who had left him here? Theory backed up a pace from him and slowly lowered herself until she was laying before him. She settled her chin on her paws, trying to get down to eye level with him. "It's alright. Just take a deep breath, okay?" Theory inhaled deeply and counted to three before exhaling slowly. "Just like that. Can you do that for me?" Her recent breakthrough with Des had her hoping that she could at least get him to calm down enough that the lost puppy could give her his name. He had reached out to touch her, hadn't he? There was still something brave and curious within him. He wasn't too far gone. "theory speaks!"

There was so much going on outside - and inside - his field of view. The stuttering, the whining, the stranger, the ticking in his head. These were the times where he knew there was something far worse happening in his mind. Such moments called for him to ground himself. Moments where he knew if he didn't solve his troubling emotions that the beast lurking inside his ribcage would eventually heartbeat itself open. So he took the advice he heard aloud, even if the words the so-called 'alpha' rang out weren't for him. He closed those whirlpool eyes. Stopped. He took a breath. Then, most importantly, he let it go.

Upon opening his vision did he witness the weeping pup more clearly than he had the first time 'round. The little doves' eyes seemed to lap at the sun so immensely that with every tear he spilled its glow onto the land around him - searing it with his own pain, his confusion. The child had no clue why he was here or where here even was. He was tired, he was shaken, cold, and now suddenly he was supposed to trust the two figures that seemed to appear out of thin air? No, actually, the lass in front of him wanted him to trust her over anything else. He could tell by her stance, by that "better than you" cockiness she wavered about as if it were intimidating. So, she was an alpha, eh? Cute. While typically he could understand, he had no reason to trust her - as her to he - and with the turn of her head to narrow those azure eyes would she be met with a stern growl.

"I like to imagine we're both frightening him, your height and appearance don't exactly say 'welcome'." He bickered through his teeth in a tone so hushed it wasn't even audible, after all, he didn't want to cause a bigger scene than he already had, but in his mind, he'd gotten his say. Though truly, even if she was an alpha, she had no say-so over what he could and could not do, these lands weren't claimed, nor him or the pup, but he had a feeling one of those would be changing sometime soon.

Standing with his tail out and his ears forward would he walk a bit closer, finally coming to a stop as he sat further from the female but nearer to the child. He didn't entirely know what to say to the kid, but he did have a lot of questions. It wasn't certain if they were even worth saying with how startled he was, but sometimes talking about to situation helped it. So, instead of speaking to the tot as if he was some wreck to mend, he brought a soft smile to his face, a tilt to his head, and a gentle thump to his tail. "How'd ya get out here, anyway, little dude?"

Julian thought that keeping his eyes closed and himself curled up and his face hidden under his paws, he would be okay. The sob that had escaped his lips earlier had stayed in the air, making it heavier. His dark ears were pushed back against his head due to the fact that he was scared out of his mind. The soft rustles and the speech tossed around by the two caused him to shiver for a second, before everything went quiet. A soft rustle around him caused his paws to move slightly away from his face. Golden eyes landed on two faces in different directions of him. Two sets of eyes staring at him.

"It's alright. Just take a deep breath, okay?" an inhale and then an exhale "Just like that. Can you do that for me?"

His head moved in a soft almost invisible nod as he imitated the breathing exercise the female showed him just a moment ago. By the time he exhaled his eyes watered slightly again and golden orbs moved to the other set of eyes that looked at him too. Another voice came out.

"How'd you get out here, anyway, little dude?"

The words needed a few moments to settle into his mind before his ears flopped even more if that was possible and a few more tears rolled down his blonde cheeks. His words slipped out, cracking at the end. "H-he.. he left me." He began and let out a soft whine before finishing his sentence. "Dad left me.." He finally finished and curled up in a tighter ball, his eyes focusing on his paws before him. He still was trying to understand what was wrong with him so much that his family would leave him. That his mother won't look at him and that his siblings would run away from him. He was all alone and that was the worst feeling he ever felt. It tore his little heart apart.
""

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color the coast with your smile She had no patience for this... Whitefield? Whitfeld? any longer. Theory hadn't been paying much attention when he'd introduced himself to the child. He wasn't her concern. Although she worried for his health, the child took precedence. Once the pup was sorted then she could see if he needed to see a healer. There was no way she was going to open up this interaction into the pissing contest that this male was clearly hungry for. He muttered something under his breath, and although Theo couldn't quite make it out, she could hear from his tone that it was something churlish. That was fine - he could talk to himself as much as he liked. Her heart hurt for the child when he finally spoke. Theory's eyes softened and she made a soft sound in the back of her throat, somewhere between a whine and a word that hadn't quite formed. She knew that pain quite well. "My mother left me when I was very young," she offered. "I know a little bit about how you're feeling." It wasn't quite the time for smiles and niceties. When she was the same age and caught up in her own pain, all she had wanted was someone to try and understand. No one could truly know someone else's pain. Theo had come to find that was the most strange and unique part of life: your suffering was unknowable. All you could do was find your kindred souls and hold them close. Abaven was her safe haven and she would extend its comfort to anyone who hadn't yet found a safe place to untangle their hurt. "Good job on your breathing," she murmured, offering him an encouraging smile. "Could you try one more time for me? Then if you're feeling ready, could you tell me your name?" "theory speaks!"

The truth that he had offered to the pair was hard for him to accept. His own family.. leaving him. How could that even be true? Wasn't family the one thing that you could not lose? With this thoughts in mind his tears streamed down his cheeks once again. As the female spoke his teary golden eyes met her blue ones and he looked at her as if she was his only savior. His shoulders relaxed a bit and his ears kept their position against his skull. When she shared with him that her mother had left her, he could feel her on a much more soul-ly manner. His small body crawled forward softly and his front paws attempted to get placed on her muzzle and the boy aimed to press his small nose against hers in order to try and comfort her while his own tears streamed down blonde cheeks.

When she encouraged him to try again with the breathing he did. And after the exhale his tears began to stop. Every now and then a stray one would fall down his cheek and disappear in his earth toned fur. His golden eyes got lost in her blue ones and as he watched he fell silent. His ears slightly lifted as she wanted to know his name. A slow inhale--- followed by a slow exhale. His eyes kept their positioning on hers as he scooted backwards a bit and allowed his honey toned voice to slip past his lips.

"Julian." Came the short response from the little boy. His tail began to tap slightly on the ground in an attempt to wag it. But he was still too scared and sad to show any kind of happiness. His paws aimed to remain on each side of her muzzle still trying to comfort the big woman, while his head lowered down to imitate her own.
""

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color the coast with your smile Theory offered a small smile as he completed the breathing exercises. He was coming along well for such a short time. Theo could see that there was a resilience to him. He wouldn't give up just yet. His small paws on her muzzle surprised her. She had only recently made a minor breakthrough with Desolate - maybe she had a knack for this whole "kids" thing. All you had to do was treat them with the same respect you'd treat an adult, right? And right now, Julian was lost and hurting. Just like any adult, she wanted to offer him shelter and space to recover on his own time. "Well, Julian, would you like to come with me? We can get you some food and figure out what you'd like to do next." Theory felt that it was important to offer him choice - not just the illusion of it. He would be in charge of his own destiny. "theory speaks!"

The small boy removed his paws from her muzzle and as her words were presented to him he tilted his head slightly and ears reclined backwards again. Lips pressed together softly as he watched closely and then manged to pull himself up and sit up, his legs shaking slightly, due to dehydration and hunger.

She was offering him a home. But what if it turns out to be the same as before? His shoulders rolled and he exhaled softly before finally giving a small nod and stood up carefully. He still had some trouble making some steps. Ears kept their position glued to his head while he watched Theory. "You won't hurt me, right?" He asked with a soft shaking voice. She didn't look like someone that would hurt him, but he felt the need to ask. Not if someone wanted to hurt others would tell them in their face, but still. His tail was tucked between his hinds and he waited for her to lead the way to his new home.
"" ooc: sorry it's short ;w;

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color the coast with your smile "Hurt you?" Theory replied, frowning a little bit. "I wouldn't dream of it. My home, Abaven, is a safe place. There are plenty of others around your age right now, and I'm sure they would appreciate another friendly face - and besides, once you have a full belly and feel a little bit steadier on your paws, I can help you with whatever you would like to do next. Coming with me right now isn't a life sentence," she added, her little frown changing into a small, encouraging smile. Hopefully he could see that the choice was all his. Theo didn't want Julian to feel coerced in any way. It was clear that he was vulnerable right now and, more than anything, she feared for his safety. Predators had been returning to the area in droves now that the volcanic activity had settled. Nocturnal animals had been sighted out in the daytime and nature's regular rhythm had been destroyed. He wasn't just vulnerable, he was outright in danger. "Do you like the ocean?" she asked, cheerfully. Abaven was almost entirely a seaside pack now. Hopefully he liked fish! "theory speaks!"