Having come to a decision - however begrudging it was on her mate's part - made Caelum feel a lot better. It made her just a little less anxious, like she had the beginnings of a plan and things weren't so hopeless and directionless after all. Sometimes she felt guilty for moving on after tragedy struck, but over time it got easier. The world could knock her down as many times as it wanted, but Caelum was always going to get back up in the end. That's who she was. And now, she was ready to lend whatever resilience she possessed to what she hoped would be her new home. Their new home.

Sitting far enough away from the rapids so they weren't too loud for her, Caelum watched the water surge, spraying white froth into the air and onto the shore as it thundered to whatever destination it might have. Thinking back to earlier that day, she smiled at the memory of her daughter spinning around excitedly and cheering. The girl seemed pretty happy here, small pack or not Caelestis was more than happy to make some fun if she had to. Tipping her head back, Caelum howled a soft call for Sparrow. Abaven was about to get three members larger.

When the refugee woman called, Sparrow felt a small knot in her stomach. Perhaps they were ready to move on already. Sparrow couldn't pretend she hadn't enjoyed the family's- especially Caelestis's- presence in the pack. Though they were just visiting due to unfortunate circumstances, they had been a welcome addition.

Sparrow wandered towards the rapids and sought Caelum out. She offered a small smile and dipped her head at the woman, "Caelum," she greeted. "Is there something on your mind?"

Sparrow braced herself for their parting, hoping to at least be able to tell Caelestis goodbye. She understood, however, if the family wanted to leave quietly without worrying their pup about final farewells and the like. Until her thoughts were confirmed, Sparrow waited patiently, giving Caelum all the time she needed.

Her wait wasn't a long one, and it was made rather peaceful by the distant sound of the rapids. She could easily have spent a long, relaxing day here listening to the water. But there was business to attend to. As Sparrow approached Caelum sat up, stretching her limbs with a warm grin as her greeting. Scanning Sparrow's features, she thought she sensed tension and used her characteristic motherly tone as she replied in reassuring manner, "You look tense, don't be! I've called for you with what I hope is good news." Her tail swung gently as the older woman beamed, ice-blue eyes shining. "I spoke with Zephyr, and we've come to an agreement. We'd like to stay as members of Abaven, if you're alright with that?"

Pausing to see Sparrows reaction and response, she hoped this was the right decision. Since she'd been spending all her time here after the Dragoste takeover she had no clue if the Abraxas still lived in Boreas. If they did it would be reasonable to worry that Abaven might be a target. That lead her to summoning the courage to bring up the next topic on her mind. "We also discussed an idea of mine. You see, once upon a time Zephyr and I were alphas ourselves of a reasonably sized pack. I'd like to extend an offer to help you in any way we can. I know that few in your ranks are fighters, and I think it might be well advised to start changing that, whether it's by ensuring everyone has the basics of fighting down or by seeking to recruit fighters into the pack. If I can help with this I would be more than willing to." Canting her head a bit, she chuckled as she added, "Zeph's a pretty good fighter, he might secretly enjoy a chance to do a little teaching even if he wouldn't say so aloud."

When Caelum said that the news was good, Sparrow quirked her brow. They... wanted to stay?

A wide smile spread on Sparrow's face- probably the largest smile she had shown since she became an alpha.

"I'd love ot have you and your family in Abaven!" she exclaimed.

After that, Caelum went on to explain that she and her mate had been alphas. She suggested that Sparrow try to incline her pack to train in fighting. Sparrow nodded, "I agree, but never had the resources myself to push them in that direction."

Caelum also spoke of recruiting more fighters. The idea of having someone willing to help was exciting.

"If you want to help recruiting and maybe we can ask Zephyr if he wants to try to teach, that would be wonderful. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to fighting, so even I would be interested in learning from you two."

The energy between them was thick with excitement at Caelum's news and Sparrows subsequent reaction. Caelum was overjoyed to hear that they would be welcomed as members - how could she not be, when it was the first good news she'd had since... well, having Caelestis, she supposed. "That's good to hear! I'm looking forward to being a member here and having a purpose." Whether or not she'd speak of it aloud, it was clear to Caelum that she was drawn to pack life. To helping others and living within a community. It was just who she was, an inescapable part of her personality.

Taking in Sparrow's response, Caelum would add, "Now's as good a time as any." If that wasn't an understatement she didn't know what was. Depending on what Sparrow found out, there could be very real threats looming on the horizon. Caelum wasn't exactly a pro fighter, so now seemed like a good time to start brushing up on the topic. Yes, now that she'd thought of it she would have to start working on getting back into her best imitation of fighting shape. She wasn't totally decrepit and old yet, anyways.

"I would love it, really. I'm sure Zeph would have fun teaching, it'd give him that little ego boost he doesn't deserve," she chuckled, already imagining his reaction to the request with what she hoped was a relatively high degree of accuracy. She fixed Sparrow with a warm smile. The little brown and white alpha was growing on her quite a bit. Maybe it was because she reminded Cae of some of her kids, or maybe it was just because she found Sparrow likeable. Maybe a mix of both. "If you'd like, perhaps we could spar sometime? I'm very rusty so I need to get back up to speed; it'd do me good."

Sparrow was glad to see Caelum taking so fondly to the prospect of life in Abaven. With the looming threat of the Abraxas, she valued the few pack members she had, and the even fewer she had that were consistently active. The older woman took Sparrow's suggestion well, adding on that it might boost Zephyr's ego.

Sparrow couldn't help but laugh at the comment. "I'm sure he'll be fine with a little more ego. Maybe someone else will want to compete with him."

Caelum offered to spar and Sparrow nodded enthusiastically, "I definitely want to!"

After a moment, Sparrow turned to the woman, "Have you perhaps thought of what ranks you and your family would want?"

Giggling, Cae nodded, "Competition can be a very good thing! i find the more prevelent it is the more activity that arises from it." Once in her youth she met a pack that hosted all kinds of contests in their festivals. Everyone trained hard so they'd be ready fro those annual festivals in hopes of coming out victorious and earn some prizes. It was a cool idea, and Cae wondered if maybe it would be helpful for packs who needed a boost to do things like that. There had to be more ways to get members moving, right?

She was glad Sparrow wanted to take up the offer of a spar. "Just let me know when you want to do it and I'd be glad to, any time."

Considering the question for a bit, she had to think quite a bit. Caelestis would probably be easy. Anything that meant being active and moving in and out around the territory would thrill the child. Zephyr... Well, he was one to lean more heavily towards fighting skills. Honestly she was the one that was most difficult to decide on. "I think Caelestis would love anything involving lots of patrolling and exploring, that seems to be her main focus, although she has mentioned some interest in fighting. Zeph is a fighter, you can ask him though, but I assume he'd prefer something involving that. As for myself... I'm flexible, I've spent more time honing my hunting skills than anything else, but I also have basic fighting knowledge so I don't mind which skill is the primary focus of my rank.

Sparrow thought for a while on what each rank for the families might be. To be honest, the ranks seemed to make less and less sense the longer Sparrow was alpha. She kept trying to fit them into ranks, but it didn't feel like it was clicking. After a moment, Sparrow looked at Caelum, giving a light smile.

"I tell you what, I'll make the official announcement at the next pack meeting," she said cheerfully.

She just had to now decide how to restructure the pack to make it make sense and then fit them to ranks.

Sparrow looked towards the woman, "Um- if it's alright, I have some planning to do."

Sparrow flashed an excited smile. She needed to get busy.