Hento

Nestling
- When three new lives came into the world within the northern kingdom, under the dark feathers of their mother, one seemed a bit less energetic than the rest. In fact, one seemed utterly silent. Whereas their siblings chirped and searched for their mother's warmpth, this one stayed utterly still.
- Their mother's worry did not escape them, even at that time. A fourth egg that had not hatched at all, and a child who wasn't quite as lively as they should've been? It was almost a certain spelling of death, and it sent their dark feathered mother in a panic. Even the absolute smallest of the clutch wasn't as quiet or still.
- The worry eventually brought along their paternal grandmother, called to aid in the place of the new parent's inexperience, who brought the silent hatchling to life with relative ease.
- Though they still rarely chirped, it brought their mother relief as they quietly got to the typical chick behavior of blindly pushing around their siblings and eagerly demanding food when she returned.

Fledgeling
- Time went by, and Hento, as they learned they had been named, quickly gained stark white down and opened bright, icy blue eyes. Pale orange spots started appearing on their right front foot as well.
- They still hadn't quite figured out speech yet, only showing signs of it when they started mimicking phrases that their mother, "Nokee", and siblings, "Sussi" and "Kao...kai... Kauko..." spouted out, and it often sounded garbled and jumbled.
- The few time Valko was home, he did his best to socialize with his young fledgelings, and while Kauko certainly seemed enamoured with their father, pale and strong, Hento seemed rather distant. They enjoyed the nudges, the gentle pulls into a snuggle, but beyond that, their reactions were dull.
- It was often worried that Hento was sick due to his lackluster nature, but any attempts to confirm only led to," Nope, he's healthy, he's just odd."
- They did their best to stay clear of their siblings when the two got into spats, staying as far from them as possible, but even still, Kauko would come barreling into Hento when his scuffs with Susi went badly. Kauko was the smallest of them, but Hento's habit of avoidance made them quite the target for the small sibling.
- Even as they aged, they never thought Kauko wrong for his mean nature in the light of his own failures. It was simply logical... "Kauko did that because he could, and it was something to learn from. Besides, he didn't do anything permanent, so no need to be angry."

Sub-adult
- When the time finally came for the three avus to be put into school, Hento rather quickly found themselves in the "bullied" subsection of avus within the Northern schools, perpetuated by a lack of confidence, an inability to fight back, and a pension for being notably strange in mannerisms. Words would come out deadpanned and flat, almost insulting, and they initially had no idea how social boundaries worked.
- Hento quite desperately wanted friends, but any idea on how to genuinely make them was out the door. The few who were kind were also notably uncertain as to what to do with them.
- This is where Hento started watching their bullies from afar. Specifically, the worst ones, as they seemed to have the largest gaggle of friends. They watched their mannerisms, watched how they made friends of their own. That's when they got an idea of how this worked... though, they improved on it. Something their dear brother would find very useful in his own endeavors.
- It was just like that, that Hento finally gained "friends". Friendships built purely on promises of aid, assurance of safety, and quiet threats akin to knives against the throat. Now, with as small of an avus as Hento was, it was no more than a knife made out of wood, but the kids who fell for Hento's games knew not the difference.
- Those who saw through what Hento was doing, and tried to call him out were not off any better, as they then became a blaring target. "But they're so nice to us, how could you say that?"or "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" were few of many things Hento had convinced the others.

- In their years of being a young but astute avus, a trip within the streets of a nearby town led them to a peculiar sight... an avus through the window of a hut, going to work at a big structure laced with threads of all colors. But the thing was, they had very peculiar limbs. Limbs that ended in "paws" that seemed long and spindly.
- The hen, who Hento learned was named Edulis, was actually something called a harpy. They'd heard of such avus, though it was typically with scorn from both old and young gryphus alike, which piqued their interest as to why she was seemingly living so happily within the Northern Kingdom.
- As she told him, she had moved here from the Rainforest kingdom quite some time ago in favor of the political ideals that the Northern Kingdom had. Where everyone had to go to war unless they were needed, and everyone was pretty much on equal ground.
- However, that's not what had Hento's greatest interest. It was the large structure she was working with. This immense wooden contraption with threads of all colors woven through it. It was beautiful, Hento thought. It was a loom weaver, she had explained to the young gryphus.
- When the small gryphus asked her to teach them, she was surprised... but the happily obliged them, though not before telling the young one to speak to their parents first. She did not want to be accused of "poisoning the mind" of a gryphus teen, thank you very much.
- They doubted that their mother would be so keen on the idea, given how their life had gone, so they simply went home for the day, and waited a couple of hours, before quickly returning to her enthusiastically saying that their mother had approved. Though she was skeptical, she did not pry too harshly, and gladly invited him to learn the ability of loom-weaving.
- Hento struggled greatly at first, leading to much frustration on their part, Edulis offered them immense amounts of patience, carefully teaching them how to use their webbed front limbs to a greater advantage than most gryphus would have. It especially helped when she tied a wooden disc to the threads, which allowed Hento to more easily grab them when they curled their talons.
- This, as it turned out even as Hento fell out of touch with Edulis when she had to move abodes, would be immensely helpful in years to come.

- As they grew, Hento realized just how bad of a position their family was in. A mother working overtime to keep them fed, yet they barely ate filling meals, so many promises that fell flat because of lack of funds.
- It didn't help that they couldn't find anyone who had the same issues, and they even saw a few "charity" movements floating around. It brought them to the conclusion... why weren't they being helped? Why wasn't their mother being given a share of the "charity"?! Why were they suffering when those who seemed better groomed than the rest of them were thanking these so called "charitable figures" for what they gave to them?!
- Perhaps that was the conclusion Hento had to come to... the North didn't see them worthy... so, in turn, it was their family against everyone else. Survival of the fittest, was it not? Was that not what Kauko had taught them as fledgelings?
- This newfound cynicism towards the entirety of the kingdom they lived in worsened their behavior, made them care less and less about the lives they affected, as long as it turned out well in the end. It got to the point that two individuals who once thought they were Hento's closest friends, Pine and Catmint, found themselves with deep emotional scars left by Hento.

- By the time news of Valko's death, Hento had become apathetic. Even as Noki cried and weeped, and Hento gave her and their eldest brother, Viti, the sincerest comforts they could manage, they still never broke a tear of their own.
- It seemed even Kauko had noticed Hento's stone-faced nature towards the news at the funeral, but of course, he was wiser than to try and pry it out of Hento. Perhaps he knew, perhaps he thought the best. Either way, Hento moved on.
- They didn't even say a word as Susi took off from the home at the news, accepting it quietly, though they still wish to find her... somehow, some way.

Adult
- Years passed, and as Hento grew into a fully fledged adult, surprising many when he had a strikingly darker coat than their younger years, they happily assisted Noki in building a new business of hers. Pidgeon breeding.
- They were glad to see their mother happy again, and besides... the birds were entertaining. They were far smarter than other avus gave them credit for, and their personalities were wide-ranging.
- Life for Hento remained mundane, even when Viti returned from war. When that tore up Noki for the second time over, understandably so, when their brother came back missing a part of himself, Hento stayed ever quiet. Though, their cynicism for life grew further from that point.
- One day though, Hento got word of a harpy within the Northern Kingdom who was selling fine threads and bands, using a form of weaving called tablet weaving.
- The familiarity piqued his interest, and at once, Hento sought out this harpy, disregarding the strange looks they received as they asked about so intently.
- The harpy they came upon was not an old hen who moved with gentle patience, but instead a younger hen who looked at Hento with a touch of uncertainty and guarded curiosity, but he recognized the set up, their colors. When he explained that he had been taught by a harpy under the name of Edulis, she finally let down her guard.
- She, as they would find out, was the adult child of Edulis, Aglaia, who had taken up a more unique niche from her mother, though her mother had mostly retired at that point.
- It was a pleasant time as the two discussed Aglaia's mother, how she was doing, and how Aglaia was fairing in her business. But it was not long before Hento asked, so kindly, if he could possibly work out a trade between them. They would pay her or her mother to help get them a loom of their own, and they would also then use Aglaia as their primary source of thread.
- Aglaia was felt it was vaguely dubious, the way they brought it up, but she did not press her concerns when Edulis only felt joy hearing that the young gryphus had come back to pick up where she had left off. Besides, the idea of a consistent source of income would've been a foolish thing to reject for their line of work.
- The time came when they did want to have a home of their own once a large enough loom was made for them, and they saved up what copper they had earned in helping their mother to get a land of their own. Though, even as they moved, they brought with them the bonded mourning dove pair that they had helped rehabilitate with their mother.
- When the topic of Greybox's Ranch had come about, Hento had rejected it without hesitation, though they found vague amusement in the fact that their mother asked them well before she asked their brother. They knew he'd want it anyways, and it was never something they found interest in. They had their own ambitions that lay far closer than the expanses of a ranch.
- And it is in this state where Hento stays... waiting... watching as the war roils among the kingdoms, and as their own Queen navigates her decisions and loyalties, documenting the events upon tapestry in the silent background. And they're quite certain they're not the only one watching.