The maned wolf pranced about with a small cave mouse in her jaws. She was quite proud of her achievement, and honestly quite hungry. She had recently joined the Kingdom of Eridanus, and was just trying to fit in. Zavenlora wanted to eat her meal near the garden, it had nice scenery and would be a good place to get some quiet. As she neared the garden, she was about to sit down and eat, then saw something she didn't like. A gembound, who didn't look very happy. It was clear to the pup that this was a hybrid. It was obviously part moose, and part bird. Which bird it was, she did not know. The pup dropped her mouse, then trotted over to the hybrid. She attempted to come carefully next to the unhappy gembound, and gently put her nose on his leg in greeting. "Hi, I'm Zavenlora. You ok?" Then something weird happened. Zavenlora's gem glowed as she accidentally used her magic for the first time. She saw a piece of this hybrid's past, and was amazed. That was not how meeting this hybrid was supposed to go.

@Huckleberry

He was sitting a little ways away from where Blackberry was kept, nervously fidgeting on the ground. He wanted to talk to her, to say something, anything, but he was scared. So, so very scared and nervous. Shiny was curled up next to him, grooming the wiry fur on the side of his neck, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was too concerned about everything and wrapped up in what he was going to say, but it was at least calming enough to keep him from having a meltdown.

A voice interrupted his thoughts and he raised his head curiously, swiveling towards the voice. Someone was approaching, a pup. A very small pup. A baby? Immediately, he tried to brighten his features. "Uh, hello! Are you new?" He tilted his head a little curiously as they leaned over to brush their nose against his leg. He jerked back a little, mainly out of surprise then anything, but the transfer of magic was lost to him.

What Zavenlora would find herself seeing was confusing. A lot of flashing lights, the loud echo of thunder in the air. Frustration in her heart, anger and confusion so intense it nearly blurred her vision. There wasn't anyone else there - she was alone with nothing but raging emotions and a lot of lightning.

Huckleberry blinked. "Um, I'm...fine. I'm Huckleberry, by the way." He flinched as he blurted out his own name, wondering if it was wise to be doing so. But, then again, she was new. There was no way she would associate the name with anything...right?

@Zavenlora

Zavenlora could not believe what she had just seen, but kept her demeanor calm. The pup realized that she had arcane magic. She already knew what that was, thanks to a white owl she met in the kingdom who explained to her about magic in the caves. Arcane magic was about delving into the unknown, seeing things others could not. One of the spells in this type of magic had, was hindsight, the ability to see the past through touch. She wagged her tail at Huckleberry's greeting. "Hiya Huckleberry! Yep, I am new to the kingdom! I was just about to eat my meal near the garden. I'm a maned wolf, and an omnivore! Omnivore means I eat meat, and stuff like fruits, plants, and other stuff. Wanna eat my mouse with me?" Then another scent hit the young pup's nose. Unbeknownst to her, it was Blackberry's scent, and it caught her attention. She lifted her nose, her young mind unable to resist the new smell. "Hey Huckleberry, you smell that? I think it's a bird!" Zavenlora's tail began to wag more, wanting to know the source of the smell.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry was a little surprised by this wolf in front of him. She was very very enthusiastic and it kind of put him off for a moment, but he could entertain her for a bit. It, at least, took his mind off of Blackberry for a little while. "Oh, uh, welcome." It was a little lame, but he wasn't really sure what else to say.

He tilted his head a little, eyes narrowing. She was a little weird. "Uh, yeah, I know what an omnivore is." He glanced at the mouse the pup was carrying and his stomach twisted. Quickly, he shook his head. "Uh, thanks but no thanks. I don't eat meat. You can have it." And it wasn't like he was hungry or anything - this whole ordeal was making him sick to his stomach, the worry and the stress was getting to him really bad-

Mind off, for now, he reminded himself. But she was turning, turning to the one place he didn't want her looking. He glanced over as well, an unreadable expression crossing over his face. "Yeah," he choked, "there's a bird in there. You shouldn't go in there, though. Unless Rift lets you."

@Zavenlora

Zavenlora hopped up and down like a bouncing bundle of joy all around Huckleberry. Her child like curiosity got the better of her, and having hatched not too long ago, the young one wanted to meet others. The little one had no clue about the horrors behind that bird and what was going on, but she liked meeting other gembounds. Zavenlora yipped at Huckleberry, speaking with great interest. "Oh! I wanna meet the bird! I wanna ask Rift to meet the bird! Can I meet the bird?" After she was done jumping around, and much calmer she asked Huckleberry a question. "Why is there a bird in there, and why does Rift control who meets the bird? Is it ok?" Her head cocked to the side as she spoke.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry's ears flattened against his head. She was being very very loud. He leaned back from her, his head shaking from side to side a bit, as if trying to flick off a flea. "Uh, um, she's bad. She did bad things. You don't want to meet her. And Rift is our leader so he can tell us what to do." He wiggled around uncomfortably, beginning to scratch at the side of his head.

He kept glancing towards where Blackberry was kept. He was starting to worry about. He was starting to freak out. No, no, no, he was taking a break, right? He hated that he was always freaking out like this.

@Zavenlora

Zavenlora flattened her ears like a child being scolded. She nodded her head slowly and decided to listen to Huckleberry's words. After all, children had no business in adult things, and this had nothing to do with her. The pup noticed she was upsetting Huckleberry, and she didn't mean to do that. She apologized with a bit of sadness in her voice for making him uncomfortable. "Sorry Huckleberry. I won't meet her, I promise." Then she decided to change the subject, into a more comfortable, happier topic. Her voice went back to its normal and happy tone. "Hey Huckleberry, I made my nest in the roots of the home tree. It's really comfortable and cozy in there. Wanna see?" Then she thought for a second, and another question came to mind. "Do you have a nest? If not you can share mine!"

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry continued his nervous habit for a moment while Zavenlora apologized. Shiny looked up and let out a small chirping sound and he immediately paused. Oops. He'd been doing it again. He brought his talons away from his face and looked at the tips. No blood this time, at least. He shook out his head again, scattering little bits of course fur before looking back at the pup.

"It's okay, okay, all okay. I just, uh, I know her. I don't like her much. Don't get involved, it's not worth it." He took another deep breath to steady his nerves. Why did everything have to come circling back to Mama?

The place he'd been scratching was starting to grow itchy, like it was begging him to scratch at it again. He lifted his claws again, rubbing at it with the palm of his foot. "Um, yeah, I live with Mercurius...I'm not too comfortable around here since....since....uh, nevermind, I just like to live a little ways away. I'm sure its comfy and cozy and nice but I don't like getting close." He looked up at the tree, feeling a wave of shame in his stomach. He'd touched the tree only once - he'd been close enough to touch it once and now it felt like he wasn't allowed to, like it was some perfect creation that his blood-soaked claws should never touch again. He hated getting too near it - even now, close as they were, he wanted to run into the forest and never look back.

@Zavenlora

Zavenlora decided not to ask why Huckleberry did not like the bird, as it was none of her concern or business. It seemed that Huckleberry did not want to come and see her nest. That was completely fine by the pup. Before the pup could say another word, her stomach gave a loud growl. She then took a glance at her mouse. "Man, I'm hungry! I think I need to find some fruits to eat with my mouse." Before she could take her leave, she decided to speak a bit more with Huckleberry first. "Hey Hucklberry, wanna be friends?" She looked up eagerly at him, hoping to make her first friend for the first time.

@Huckleberry

Huckleberry glanced down at the mouse as well. If he was as small as the pup, perhaps he'd want more too. He tapped carefully at the ground, expecting a banana to grow where he wanted, but his magic quickly sputtered and failed.

Disappointed, he retracted his claw and glanced back up at Zavenlora. The word stuck in him for a moment and he was confused. Friends? Why? They'd just met? Huckleberry didn't have many friends and those he did, well, they weren't exactly normal relationships. How was one supposed to have a friend? What did friends do?

He didn't realize that he'd gone silent for a moment, his eyes taking on a distant look before Shiny nipped at him gently, bringing him back around to the world. "Oh, uh, sure! I'm not...a very good friend but I can be friends."

@Zavenlora