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They still remembered what they had been before.
Caramel remembered being dragged into the pool. She remembered the sleek fur that used to cover her entire body, the weight of it dragging her down as she tried to swim. When it shed, she cried and cried until her tears ran out.
She remembered waking up and looking herself in the eyes. She remembered Fudge’s voice in her head that first day. She remembered being confused and scared of their shared minds.
Caramel-Fudge had learned to shield their thoughts from each other or share them when needed, and developed their own identities. Caramel was the softer spoken of the two, her surprisingly gentle nature making her a great caregiver. Fudge was fiercer and more protective, ever insisting ze needed to prove zey strength. As much as Caramel tried to ignore zem, she knew ze was right.
Tadar couldn’t remember what he had been, but he remembered being alone. Aran was talkative, it was unable to shield its thoughts, and in their shared mind Tadar-Aran often had one-sided conversations in which Aran rambled until it ran out of words while Tadar listened and shielded his thoughts.
They shared the opinion that they needed to be strong. Tadar was strategic, Aran was swift. Cooperating was challenging, but if Tadar called the shots and Aran made them, they made a good team. They knew they could be strong, but were they strong enough?
As time went on and Caramel-Fudge and Tadar-Aran adjusted to lair life and to each other, they began to grow anxious. Fudge believed ze needed to return to the pool, to swim again and become stronger. Caramel wanted to look for other options. Tadar kept to himself as Caramel-Fudge mused to themselves and thought out loud, but Aran, ever talkative, interjected with its opinion.
“You know, Victory and Zel and Eridani are strong, and they never went to the pool.”
Fudge blinked. “What do you mean they never went to the pool?!”
Caramel rolled her eyes. “They’re not like us. They’re as they were when they were hatched, and they’re more than strong enough to protect themselves from the Shadetouched.”
“Well.” Tadar shifted. “Perhaps we should ask them for advice.”
“We should” Caramel agreed.
Fudge hissed, but reluctantly agreed.
It took a little bit to get their point across, mostly because Aran kept interjecting with irrelevant information and Fudge kept hissing at it. Once they had explained their situation, Eridani frowned and looked over at his teammates. “Well, I can’t say I’ve trained Aberrations before, but I’m certain there’s something we can do for you. Where do you want to go?”
“What?” Tadar blinked with all three eyes at once. “There’s a difference?”
“There’s a lot of areas” Victory said. “The Harpy’s Roost, the Mire, the Forbidden Portal, the Kelp Beds…”
“…Boreal Wood, Ghostlight Ruins…” Zel trailed off. “I personally like the Portal, it’s fun to train in-”
“-Except the Bilworpers are a pain to fight” Victory said with a sigh.
Eridani laughed. “Guys, you’re confusing them.”
Caramel-Fudge was a little overwhelmed, but they didn’t want to let it show. “When can we start?”
“As soon as you’re ready” Eridani answered. “We can only train one of you at a time- Wait. Is it one of you or is it two of you?”
“Oh, um-” Caramel stammered. Fudge rolled zey eyes. “One pair of twins” ze said.
Eridani nodded. “Alright. We can currently only train one pair of twins at a time, but they will then be able to help the other train. Which of you wants to start?”
“Oh, oh, can we?” Aran immediately chirped. Tadar nodded. “We’ll go first. You two can watch and decide if it is right for you.”
“Fine” Fudge grumbled softly, and Caramel smiled shyly. “Sorry about zem, ze still believes swimming in the pool is what makes us stronger.”
“It might.” Eridani gave a shrug. “But this is a different kind of strength, and one I believe will suit your needs more. You’ll be able to prove to everyone that you don’t need the Plaguebringer’s powers to be strong, much less her approval. You’ll be strong all because of your own actions and nothing else. Doesn’t that sound great?”
Fudge reluctantly agreed, swishing zey tail and pulling Caramel’s tail along in the process. “Alright, fine. You’ve convinced me. Show me what you can do.”
Eridani smirked at that. “Alright. Tadar, Aran, let me know when you are ready to start your training. We won’t start until you are both ready.”
“I need a little more time” Tadar said. He wanted to look into the different options for training first. Aran sighed and rolled its eyes. “Aw, come on?”
“Not until we’re both ready, Aran. I’d hold you back otherwise.” Tadar smiled. “But as soon as I’m ready, we’ll start.”
“And we’ll let you know when we are ready” Caramel promised.
It took some time, but a few weeks later, Tadar-Aran approached Eridani and his teammates.
“We’re ready to start training.”