ORIGIN - isn't she lovely?

She couldn't help but feel, even if just a little bit, that she was neglecting her daughter.

Realistically, White should have been happy and perfectly content with Black, which in turn should have made Eve happy and perfectly content for her - but there was something inside the crow that simply didn't trust parenthood to a socially awkward dog who coughs up pieces of his own gem. She wondered, briefly, if that were common practice and how many kids Black actually has.

She was quick to dismiss the thought however as she soon found herself airborne, wings working to keep her in flight as she soared across Cetus, diving down into tunnel H. She was half-thankful the flight to Polaris wasn't actually that long - especially since it was already hard to divide attention between her children, she didn't want to abandon Oliver with Aquarian's children for too long.

Sure, Tal'at and Czernobog could take care of him in her absence - but what if he fell into the deep waters? Czernobog was already too wounded to carry anything and Tal'at would be too small to pull him out. What if he got muddy and asked them for help? They'd preen his feathers all wrong and he'd get upset. What if he started crying?

The crow winced as she fluttered into Polaris, heart wrenching at the thought of her own son crying. She'd best make this visit quick so she can get back home as soon as possible.

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Coiled up at the base of the spire, was White. By now, it was practically second nature to do anything near the spire - sleep, eat or laze around.

She hadn't been sleeping - not yet, no. She felt her eyelids get heavier with every passing second, head on the ground as she waited for herself to drift off. She hadn't noticed anyone pass by or enter Polaris - the place was so big and gembounds regularly passed through that it had become borderline impossible for her to keep track of everyone.

She hadn't expected anyone to come by and talk to her either - she might have hoped for a quiet conversation with Caravaggio, or for Black to come down and nap with her, but she was beginning to become accustomed to the quietness before sleep-time.

At first she had been scared of it, but as she started getting a little older she started to appreciate it. Sometimes things were too loud, even for her, and she needed a break from the constant noise.

The pup's eyes slowly closed.

The crow perched on the spire and glanced down at the white figure of the hybrid. Suddenly, her mind stopped dead in it's tracks. What was she supposed to say to her? She looked like she was trying to sleep, maybe she should come back another day.

But, for whatever reason, instinct took hold over the crow and she found herself fluttering down next to the creature, croaking quietly to her. "White," she nudged the pup's nose with her beak. "Hello."

She paused suddenly - what if her daughter didn't even want to see her? What if she was told to leave? She would - don't get her wrong, the comfort of her daughter was important to her but it's certainly break her heart to be dismissed by her.

Eve gazed over her daughter's clean coat of feathers and puppy-breath. She was pristine, perhaps even angel-like. She nodded upon remembering Black's words - she was perfect and pure. A creature like this shouldn't be in a place that she once associated with anger, hurt and death.

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White flinched at the touch of her mother, wide-eyed for a moment. Upon seeing her, she didn't immediately wonder why she was here or why she was alone - instead her first thoughts spluttered out, perhaps uncontrollably. "Where's Oliver?"

She was quiet for a moment, and so was Eve, before she spoke again. "Hi, mom," she wasn't mad that her mother had woken her up from the cusp of sleep - in fact, she folded her paws around the black crow and brought her in closer, licking the top of her head.

She smelled and tasted gross - but she assumed this was from living in a swamp all day. The little hybrid crinkled her nose and began cleaning her (struggling) mother from swamp-filth. She didn't bother speaking further with her tongue sticking out of her maw.

For a moment, Eve was quiet too. She quickly managed to speak moments before she was pulled by White, "Oliver's in Cetus, he's okay." And then, it was all over.

White's rasping tongue was mussing up her feathers and she cringed, very gently trying to pull away from her daughter - who didn't relent. As soon as she got too far she was dragged right back to the maw of White. "I-I missed you too, kid," the bird stammered, wide-eyed.

"Where's your pa at?" she tried to change the subject quickly - before White managed to rip out a couple of down feathers with that dry tongue of hers. She couldn't imagine her with a mouthful of feathers in her mouth, and she certainly didn't want to see it.

The black feathers would look so unclean next to her white pelt; almost as if they were corrupt in comparison to her daughters.

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She pondered for a moment as she washed her mother's feathers. Her father was usually around, sometimes hidden and sometimes not. She licked her own muzzle for a moment before speaking, "He's somewhere. It's okay."

The hybrid tilted her head a little. "Why are you here?" she asked. Was she hungry? She was tiny, she couldn't hunt for herself, could she? How had she survived for so long?

The hybrid abruptly got up and barked.