Palaimon

Caeru yawned a bit as his eyes blinked open, greeting the sun of a new day. The black feathers on the chick’s head seemed to absorb every ounce of sunlight that beamed down on him, much unlike that of the strange Jackdaw nearby. Palaimon, the young Jack, was his closest friend, and was the individual that the flock had been grooming to be Caeru’s assistant.
Liquid dropped off the Jackdaw’s wings, dripping onto the snout of his Eboncrow leader and waking him up fully. As he looked up at Palaimon, the liquid Jackdaw beamed back at him.
“Gooooood morning, Caeru!! Ya ready for the day? Not sure what they’re having us do, more training probably!”
“I have no idea how you’re always so chipper this dang early,” Caeru chuckled, pushing himself to his feet with another yawn.
“This early!? The sun’s been up for aaaages!”
“Okay, okay let’s do this.”
Just as Caeru finished speaking, he could hear his name called by a senior member of the flock. Frowning a bit, he headed to go get the direction due to him. Of course, his loyal Jackdaw followed after him, ever happy to be by his side.
“Caeru, we’ve been having some…. issues with the bond you’ve formed with your Jackdaw,” the older crow said as if Palaimon wasn’t standing right there. “The relationship you’ve developed is not appropriate for a relationship to have with a Jackdaw. For that reason, you will continue your training alone. You will not be permitted to see em any further.”
As the Effluvial spoke, Palaimon was ushered away from eir Ebon. Ey hadn’t proven to be a good fit as an assistant, which was truly a disgrace considering the training ey had gone through to do so.
Palaimon was cast out of the flock, and it was only a matter of time before Caeru left as well, miserable due to the loss of his closest companion.

---

Palaimon set to wandering, totally alone and, without a steady source of water, desiccating. Thanks to the lack of adequate moisture as he grew, even at full size ey were much smaller than the average Jackdaw. Smaller, but that’s not to say weaker.
Ey found eirself in the heart of the Tangled Wood, surrounded by brambles and lights and, surprisingly enough, a flock comprised almost entirely of Jackdaws. Jackdaw warriors, having taken on full training to be every bit component in battle as any Effluvial.
Under their guidance, Palaimon found eirself to be more confident – both in self viewing, and in ability on the battlefield. Over time, ey became one of the flock’s strongest fighters, a true force to reckon with on the battlefield. Aside from eir newfound duty as guardian of the flock, ey also became in charge of training – both of younger members of the flock, but also members of the sister clans who were brave enough to confront the Crows for help.

---

The small Jackdaw trailed through the underbrush, training eir pupil, a nervous Ebon Myna, in stealth practice. The pair moved silently through the brambles, Palaimon was taking the opportunity to use the time as border patrol as well, hoping that ey didn’t find anything that ey’d have to show eir pupil how to deal with. Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want.
As they continued their patrol, they could begin to hear voices of individuals that didn’t know or, perhaps, didn’t care that they were beginning to encroach on the flock’s territory. Palaimon ducked down, ushering for the Myna with em to do the same. Eir pace slowed to a crawl, far more intent on listening to the intruders.
“You’re just being paranoid, Noctis! Sure, there’s things out here, but not anything that we can’t handle!” One voice chirped, clearly chipper as can be.
Another voice responded, in imperfect draconic, “You are, once again, overestimating our ability. It’s better to stay quiet and keep a low profile.”
Palaimon smiled ever so slightly. Ey would be victorious in this battle, the other party was completely off guard, and would have to pay the price of their incompetence.
As the foreign pair drew closer though, the small Jackdaw was shocked by what they saw. That was an Eboncrow, but not one that ey recognized immediately as a member of eir flock. Furrowing eir brow, ey decided to go forward with guarding eir flock even if it meant risking punishment.
Beckoning to eir trainee again, the two circled to move behind the intruders in order to catch them from the back, but their movements didn’t go unnoticed. The Mith spun around to face them, and though it took the Eboncrow a moment to realize, he followed suit. However, upon turing around and coming face to face with the liquidy Jackdaw, the Ebon’s jaw went slack with shock.
“…Palaimon…? Is that you?”
The Jackdaw scowled, raising eir talons in threat. “How do you know my name!?”
“…you don’t recognize me, do you…? Palaimon… It’s me, Caeru…” The Eboncrow pulled back his mask to better reveal his face, as if to prove the point.
Slowly, the Jackdaw’s offensive talon lowered back down to the ground. Confusion laced eir features, as if ey weren’t certain that ey could believe eir own eyes.
“You know… we were kids together…” The Eboncrow continued.
“Well I know that! I just… How can it be you? How can YOU be HERE!?”
“I think the answer to that’s pretty simple. I left home, obviously. …It was boring there without you. Mind if we stay a while? We’ve got some catching up to do.”