Tern: A History

Tern was born with a head of scruffy black hair, which reminded his parents of the pure black, and sometimes scruffy head of a tern. Growing up, he was always enthusiastic. It became a great task for his parents and the rest of the tribe to keep up with his seemingly boundless energy and flitting attention. As he grew older, he seemed to tame a small bit (emphasis on small). In his adolescence he was over confident, self-involved, and a lover of all things beautiful (as long as said things boasted a pair of shining eyes and a perky chest). This too, with time, tamed (considerably).

As he matured, he began to experiment, taking male lovemates as well. He learned that he enjoyed the company of both genders almost equally, preferring the females by only a small amount. By the time he was completely matured and a step into being a young adult, he was confident, but no longer conceited or self-involved, and had only a single lovemate, Ara. He grew warmer and gentler underneath his regular easy-going, flirty skin, and became about as responsible and mature as he could.

He was always a bit of a hopeless romantic, even in his younger years (showering his objects of affection with gifts, attention, and compliments), and even though he was not so extensive in these things with Ara, he still did the sweet little things that showed he cared. He was devoted only to her and, still holding his belief in recognition that he does presently, hoped to recognize her one day. It wasn’t until his father was killed during a shark attack while hunting, and he saw how much it affected his mother, that he adopted the abstinence he has today.

His parents were the kind of lifemates that are beyond devoted (and would have most likely recognized again had Spearshaft not died). Tern had always noticed the strong bond between his parents and held it as an ideal for his relationship with Ara, but it wasn’t until he saw (and felt) how much his father’s death devastated his mother that he had the thoughts on recognition and lifemates that he does now. He thought to himself that he wanted to have that one day, and the idea of his lifemate being out there right then (the one who he would love so unconditionally that her death would break him) was enough to make him cut off his ties with his long time lovemate. Ara understood and after some time of getting adjusted to being without each other, the awkwardness left and they now remain very close friends and still love each other deeply (if not in the way they used to).

Eventually Ara recongized and Tern now acts as a loving and entertaining ‘uncle’ to her daughter, Seastar. After his father’s death, Tern grew to be a skilled hunter like Spearshaft, possibly because he felt it would fill some of the space from his father’s absence. After their mother’s formed a friendship (helping each other through losing both their lifemates in the shark attack), Tern and Coral began forming one as well, as they were both going through the same thing.