If you're looking for a truth, I'm proof you'll find it there

While the pups lay sleeping for their afternoon naps, (hopefully) watched over by Amaranth, it was the perfect time to slip away once more.

She had missed going off on her own. The last two excursions away from Fate's Respite saw her feeling an overwhelming amount of guilt and longing - she hadn't left the territory in several months, so it felt like she was committing a crime even stepping across their borders. Glancing around furtively, as if a wayward pup might hear her departure, she crept with near-reverence toward the general mountains, heading west.

It wasn't that she had anything in particular to do - she just wanted some fresh air.

Breathing deeply, she took in the view, gaze drifting toward the foreboding line of mountains that sliced through the forest that separated them. It had been so long since she last made the journey to Northfall, that fateful trip which saw the eventual birth of her children; her gifts, her little starlights. She wondered how Ragnar and his kin fared as animosity simmered perpetually between them and Dragonford, but that was not a problem for today.

She sighed, allowed the tension to melt away from her body - smiled - and watched the clouds go by.

@Aruna

the staff team luvs u

Straying eastward from the frost-lined hollow, Aruna loped swiftly through the territory, her path a direct b-line through the vale. As Wrath tended to Cloudrest, she could extend Stormguard's connections to neighboring wolves, rogue, or already affiliated. As the cliffs began to thin and the frost on the ground and her legs began to dissipate, the slate woman found herself in a meager forest just beyond the heights. An assortment of vibrant flowers decorated the grove, rolling hills that dipped to the central ground.

The woman shifted her weight, periwinkle gaze locking onto a shuffle in the brush. Out came a she-wolf, her coat a grayscaled variety of grays and white, eyes a glowing yellow beneath the sun. "Greetings, madame." She welcomed, voice lilting. The common tongue never sounded good to her, not as Valyrian did. Her mother tongue was unique in its own right, elegant and regal.

the staff team luvs u

Her brief reverie was interrupted by the arrival of an unfamiliar presence, and she turned at the sound of a soft greeting. A woman of impressive height stood close by, regal in her carriage with long fur that draped in gently curled waves down her neck and forelimbs; her eyes were a cold silver-blue, piercing but not unkind.

Valeska was taken off-guard for a moment, but quickly rallied, displaying her usual jovial behavior.

“Ah, hello!” she responded, eyes scrunching ever so slightly with the sincerity of her broad grin. “I apologize if I am intruding somewhere I should not be; my name is Valeska, overseer and High Priestess of Elysium to the east.”

Her fluffy tail swished nonchalantly behind her, demonstrating her relaxed state. “You are new to this area? I wander often, and enjoy taking short trips away from home - I have five pups that require all of my energy, so it is nice to go out and achieve peace for a few moments!”

the staff team luvs u

The ivory woman was outwardly convivial, wearing a delicate smile across her features. Aruna stared, gaze sharp as she introduced herself; Lady Valeska, High Priestess of Elysium. Bending slightly, Aruna dipped her body in respect to the noble. "A pleasure, my lady."

A thin sheet of frost blanketed the woodland, soft against her paws. "Daor, no." Her mother tongue rolled off her tongue habitually, sweet on her voice before returning to the common language. "Aruna Brehn, Varghona of Stormguard. We fester in cloudrest, just west of here." Opportunity struck; with two Monarchs in the same place, a bond could form and unite them in a mutual accord.

"Please, tell me of your home. Your litter fares well there, I hope?" Despite the energy children demanded, Valeska seemed content - she didn't speak ill of her spawn.

the staff team luvs u

An unusual language fell from the stranger's lips, only a single word, but enough to make Valeska's ears swivel forward out of curiosity. How intriguing - so many had arrived here over the last year and a half of all shapes and sizes, foreign tongues and customs, different ways of life and their own sharp perceptions. Part of the reason she wandered so much was to meet these peculiar new faces, eager to learn their stories and discover new perspectives.

She still liked her own, of course - but keeping an open mind was important.

“Aruna Brehn,” the Priestess repeated back, sampling the name. It rolled off the tongue easily. “It is also my pleasure! I have not been to Cloudrest, though I have heard it mentioned before. Ah - perhaps another pack once resided there, but they must have fled some time ago.”

Oh, gods, she asked about home. And the kids.

Valeska's face lit up like the sun on a warm spring day, every last trace of exhaustion disappearing in an instant. Her favorite topics (beside the Five, of course). She cleared her throat, wagged her tail a few merry times, and was all too eager to respond. “Oh! Yes; Elysium resides in Fate's Respite. We host a large lake and a row of mountains just north of Fate's Summit, which belongs to our neighboring pack, Vanderfell,” she said openly, gesturing with her head back in the direction she'd ventured from.

“I myself have always been keen to wander, though it is well to have a home to return to. I could tell you about many of the packs across the northern range - let me see, Northfall, Dragonford, Duskguard - my paws carry me to many destinations, though some are happenstance.”

It was a lot of information at once, admittedly, but she thought it might be useful to the regal woman before her.

“As for my children, they are... how do you say... подавляющий. — overwhelming A handful, but they are healthy, when not trying to slay each other.”

She smiled pleasantly, and ventured her own question.

“What of you? Do you have family here?”

the staff team luvs u

The woman smiled faintly, head tucking inward. "You must visit sometime, I'm sure you'd like it" The vale was most beautiful, akin to her tastes — she only hoped Valeska could feel the same.  "If there was, they're gone now." The land was desolate, its beauty ignored by the passing creatures beyond the herds that called it home.

The dam was full of exuberance, her smile widening as words fell from her mouth by the moment. Valeska was grinning ear to ear, voice kind. "Your home sounds beautiful, miss Valeska, though I can't say I've been so far east."  Favoring the cooler regions, Aruna kept to the north, close to the tundra.

Politics were never her favorite topic, but it was important to be aware of the surrounding territories. "Please, continue. How are their relations? Alliances, feuds — anything helps to protect our home." She urged, she would not have a repeat of Stormguard's original fall.

Family. She recalled their scents, figures, and voices all too well - figments of a life she wished to forget. She shook her head, gaze sharpening. "They were stolen from me long ago, but they watch from the stars." There was no time for vulnerability among the queen of Elysium; her dignity demanded it. Luxurious tail curling against Aruna's side, feigning indifference. "— Still, I'm fortunate enough to have companions where it counts."

the staff team luvs u

They exchanged a few more pleasantries amidst their small-talk, though Valeska did make a note to personally visit Cloudrest one of these days. She'd wandered close by it, but had never made the particular effort to venture any further in - it was so secluded, she had always assumed its inhabitants valued their privacy. Knowing that its new claimants were more open to socialization and learning about the surrounding area, however, changed that; she would return to greet Aruna and her pack once they had fully settled in.

The woman seemed unusually interested in the politics of the land, and although Valeska typically preferred to play mediator, she was as embroiled in the north's problems as anyone else at this point. She rolled her shoulders, realizing this would be tough to explain.

“Ah, well...” she took a breath. “Vanderfell keeps to themselves. We once offered an alliance, but they require something more... substantial to cement ties, and so we are simply on neutral grounds.”

The High Priestess made a pointed look toward the mountains that lay far in the northwest, only just barely able to see their frigid peaks from such a great distance but recalling fully well the wolves who resided within them.

“The Alpha of Dragonford has been accused of a great crime, and Northfall wishes for her death - but Duskguard and I have arranged for a Northern Council, made up of participating packs and lone individuals in the region who wish to offer fair and impartial judgment,” she said quietly, her expression taking on a somber look. Valeska did not anticipate the event with any great joy in her heart, but if it meant saving a life that need not be taken in the throes of grief, it was a task worth following through. “We will listen to both sides and judge accordingly, but I fear that may not be enough for Northfall. Their wolves are... I would not say barbaric, but they revel in bloodlust and fighting for the sake of it.”

She did not say whether or not Dragonford was at fault - it was not her place to sway a stranger who had only just arrived.

“I just wish to avoid the shedding of blood, if it is possible; but we shall see. It is to be held in the coming month.”

Aruna spoke briefly of family lost, and how they now watched from the stars. The little wolf wondered if these were the same stars as they had once sat beneath in the Land Before - she had never taken the time to map them in her past life, but now she sorely wished she had. Reincarnation was a shocking reality here, however; if Aruna had any chance of seeing her relatives again, the opportunity may not be so far away. Seeing Orlaith return from the dead (sans memories) had nearly frightened poor Valeska into cardiac arrest.

“This place is strange, my friend,” she said cryptically, “... I have seen many forgotten faces returned here.”

the staff team luvs u

The rejected alliance between Elysium and Vanderfell drifted by her ears. It hinted vaguely at an arranged union, but it seemed Valeska was disinterested. Still, she listened.

Aruna hummed thoughtfully, brows lifting narrowly to form a remorseful expression as the woman went in-depth on the militancy between Northfall and Dragonford. No doubt they harbored contempt for each other, varying based on the charges. "I pray they can repair the unresolved tension before it escalates." She was no stranger to the concept of war, even becoming a victim of it in her early life. Her motherland was initially lost to an unprovoked war where Valhalla reaped numerous family members in the process, and Stormrift faced its doom after generations of its survival. "There is no justice in butchering wolves who may or may not be culpable." The words were sharp on her tongue.

Valeska noted the potential revival of her past companions. The idea was oblique, but perhaps it held some truth. She appeared here amid night; who's to say the dead wouldn't drop from the sky reborn? Still, there was one she didn't wish to see again. "I don't doubt you there, but I was not on the best of terms with some. Reuniting with them could cause some.. chaos." She spoke it as if it were a warning to the universe, not to bring her sister here, or at the very least, not bring her to Aruna.

the staff team luvs u

Valeska set her mouth in a firm, tense line as she relayed the growing unrest between the two packs in question, but had little else to say as to its resolution. Only time and patience would tell, but at least Aruna seemed to share her concern. “As do I,” she returned quietly, pausing to look up at the bright afternoon sky. Small, fluffy white clouds driftly lazily overhead in sparse patches, and she breathed out a soft sigh as if wishing to float away herself.

“Whatever the outcome, I am hopeful that justice will persevere,” she said. “Life is still all too short, and to us, it does not always seem fair. I trust that the gods will guide their paws to the correct path.”

The roan woman looked marginally intrigued by Valeska's brief narrative concerning the nature of the world they now found themselves in, though not wholly pleased. It seemed she did not particularly want to see everyone from before again - but the little wolf could hardly blame her.

Even she remembered individuals from her past she would be more than happy to leave there.

“I cannot fault you for that,” she replied with a small smile. “Well, Aruna, should you ever find yourself in the northeastern-most corner of this region, come visit us. Elysium would be happy to welcome you as a friend.”

the staff team luvs u

They both longed for peace between packs, to avoid bloodshed and keep others safe. Aruna gave an appreciative nod, ice-like gaze softening against golden ones. Perhaps the two both had memories they wished to disregard in the back of their minds.

"I would be proud to call you an ally to Stormrift." As the encounter came to a close, Aruna bid the pale woman adieu. "May the gods be kind to you, Queen Valeska." Twisting on her heel, the Varghona made quick work of the fields, bounding back to the land of ice she adored so immensely.

---

exit aruna! <3

the staff team luvs u