The tale of Ravens is one thought lost to the native tribe of Quileute Indians, the written copies only made after the Whites forced their children into the schools, though even then, the stories told by the natives had no place in the colonization of what would be America.

There were so many tales lost, the elders lament to this day of the loss of history, of myths and beliefs. Grandma Maggie proudly told the tale to her daughter, prefacing that her own mother had told it to her, and her mother before her, a tradition of whispering the tale before the child slept, just as their fore mother before her did at St. Elizabeth's Boarding School at the turn of 18th century. It was easy to tell a story when you were a character, after all.

Belief is a powerful thing, charged and poignant, personified in myths, such as this one. The Quileute have a gift, is how she would begin the tale, divinity and humanity overarching in their blood, allowing it to coexist within them. The ability of the imprint, to know one's soulmate upon first glimpse with one's true sight, came from the legacy of the Raven.

She was the chief of her people, young and vibrant, with the darkest eyes and hair her mother had ever seen, so they named her Bayak. Bayak claimed her mate at a young age, for when they were together, the streams flowed strongly and the game was easy to catch. Their tribe thrived in a time before gunpowder, when other civilizations were beginning to bloom, they were strong already.

But love, with the ability to make one strong, has the ability to be the weakest link. Bayak and her mate struggled to conceive a child, with every full moon, blood would run between her legs and she would weep, far from the ears of her people, on the cliffs we now know to be in La Push.

Her cries drew the attention of the gods, who looked down on her in pity. His name lost to the ages, they began to simply call him the King of Time, as his role was the ruler of past, present and future. He came before the Raven and dried her tears with his fingers, freezing them upon her cheeks, they fell like crystals into her lap. "What is wrong, little one?" He asked her, the chill of his hands causing her breathe to fog up below her nose.

"I will never give my love a child." Bayak claimed, shying away from his touch. "How can I lead my people, give them hope for the future, when my bloodline dies with me?"

"I see." The King of Time said, nodding slowly. He understood her, better than she knew. For his love was unable to have a child, she had never foreseen one, and who was he to question the Queen of Fate? "You seek a bloodline, unbroken for a thousand years, is that what your heart imagines?"

In the Raven's mind, she envisioned a girl, with hair and eyes as dark as she, with her love's nose, his curved brow, his smile. "...yes, more than anything." She stood then, aware of who was before her. He smiled, gesturing a hand towards her, beckoning her forward.

She took his outstretched palm, fingers interlaced, the moment their skins connected, he yanked. The Raven began to fall, over the steep cliffs, her body hitting the water while her soul soared upwards, the flight of the Raven beginning. She turned, even in corporeal form yearning for her imprint, calling for him.

The man woke from the dead of sleep to find the embers of the fire within their home roaring for life, the shadows flickering to play out what had become of his love. He raced towards the beach, dove into the waters and emerged with his beloved Raven, her body drenched in icy water. He warmed her by the fire, curled her body flush against his and held her.

When she woke after three days, she told the story of the King of Time to her lover, he was in disbelief, unwilling to think of her icy plunge as a life altering baptism. Yet she ensnared him with passion and she soon fell pregnant, giving birth to two children, a boy and a girl, both with her dark features, contrasting with the snow.

When they were born, the Raven went mad with worry, fearsome that her children would not survive, few first borns lived past their first year, especially when born in the winter. So she took the children to the cliff on the first full moon of their lives, and called for the King of Time to appear.

Like Rumpelstiltskin, the trickster offered her a deal, give her daughter a long, full life and a daughter of her own, to begin a bloodline that would never end, in exchange for giving up her son forever. With bitter tears, the Raven agreed, giving her son to the god before her.

Yet he placed the babe in the arms of a woman with fiery red hair, her warm skin comforting the chilled child. She is said to have loved him at first sight, calling him the proof of Love in humanity, that it is willing be to sacrificed completely.

When the Raven's mate heard tale of this, he flew into a bitter rage, his soul twisting his body in his grief and anger, causing him to shift into his spirit form while still on the living plane, the first wolf of the Quileute tribe. The loss of their child broke the love between them, the Raven no longer able to feel the imprint bond, the Wolf unable to love anyone else, cursed to feel his center of gravity from a desolate woman. Their daughter shared her fate, trapped in the inability to recognize an imprint bond, even when another wolf was besotted with her, twenty years later.

The tale must never be forgotten, the shame of the Raven, the unbroken blood of the first imprint, which flows through the tribes veins, some stronger than others. For as long as there has been written recordings of the births in the tribes, as well as those who have spoken of centuries beforehand, there has always been a first born daughter to have a daughter of her own. From the first Raven, Bayak, to Margaret Young, who named her own first born Bayak.

A/N: Omg guys, I'm so sorry this took so long. Ive been wrestling with plot points for the story and have so much shit happening in real life.

An update on the past few months of my life:

-Graduated from University with my B.A. in English!

-Applied for and was offered a teaching position in Spain!

So I moved to AZ for the summer and leave in a week and a half for Spain! Sorry this took so long to write!