The day was cool and crisp, a little warm even as the sun shone through the clouds and onto the clearing near her den. Avalon walked over to the round patch of dirt, aiming to settle down and relax. She didn't have the duties required of the others due to her age, and was in fact placed in a rank of retirement. After all the years she spent giving her service to others, it was soon time to settle down and enjoy the remainder of her life. She wished she could have spent it with all of her kids, but...Gryphon and Dragon were all that was left. She breathed in a sight of contentment as she lay her head on her paws, the old woman ready for a nap already. Her bird, Tanaraq, gently landed next to her and would start to groom the old womans fur.

Heloise was doing what she always did; she was working. her shoulder was healing up nicely and she flexed her muscles below the closed wound. she would have another scar, true, but it would look like Acere's. three deep gashes on her shoulderblade... just another sign from the gods that they belonged together. it had been fate that led her to Winterfell, and love that made her remain. she could not hope to go anywhere else, to be anywhere but by his side. if he asked her to jump, she would ask how high. if he needed to be defended, she would protect him. Heloise had kept the feelings deep inside for a long time, for a full season, until she felt frustrated enough to look elsewhere. yet nobody else caught her eye but him. "greetings" the ivory woman said as she neared a spot with a wolf in it. the old woman was lovely despite her age as if Heloise could see the youth within her still. an easy smile came to her face. "do you mind if I join you?" she hadn't met all the wolves in the pack yet, and here was a good place to begin again with that. noticing the bird with the woman, she would lift her eyes to where she knew Kresnik soared above. he did not land on his mistress, but she knew he would keep an eye out for her. work and patrols aside, she had earned a break. she had been a bit tired lately.

Eyes slowly began to drift closed, her mind also drifting in and out of consciousness like an old man falling asleep in front of the TV. She had been more tired then usual, though she attributed that to her aging body. Just as she was slipping into sleep, she heard an unfamiliar voice that caused her to snap back to wakefulness. She turned to find a she wolf the color of snow, scarred, and with frosty blue eyes. She was a pretty young thing for something so simple, but oftentimes those were the prettiest or the handsomest.

"Good morning, I don't mind at all," She offered a kind and easy smile, motioning for the woman to join her. "Avalon Ancora, it's nice to finally meet a pack mate that's not one of my sons or grandchildren. I must admit, old age has caught up to me so I'm not as energetic as I once was, it gets hard wandering around to try and meet everyone." Which led her to doing old people things like...taking naps and stuff. As it was, she remained in her lying down position because she knew she'd struggle getting up so soon.

the older woman would offer greetings and returned her invite. Heloise smiled with gratitude before settling next to her. not so close to touch, but easy enough to see that she was already enjoying her company. the world of Boreas was full of young wolves; it was a fine thing to see that older ones existed within. sharing their experiences and their wisdom. "a pleasure, Avalon Ancora" the alabaster woman spoke "I am Heloise" she also gave her name to the fellow Winterfellian. "a squire within the pack." Heloise resisted clicking her tongue in sympathy to the old wolf. it must be wearier getting around in the cold weather. bones ached more easily, and the chill was enough to retreat to a den. she was lucky she was young and living here; her thick fur protected her as well as age. "so, you have family here" Heloise went on "who are you related to, if you don't mind me asking?"

"It is very nice to meet you, Heloise. I am perhaps Winterfell's only elder," The old woman offered a warm smile as she shifted to better face the woman as she chuckled. Indeed, she was the oldest wolf in the pack. Perhaps even in all of Boreas and Auster as well. Heloise followed up with a question of who she was related to here, and Avalon happy to answer that. "In the pack? Dragon and Gryphon are my sons. And my two grandchildren, Drake and Wyvern. I have several other children, though I must admit I haven't seen them for quite some time." Her heart ached to think about them. She wondered how they were doing on a daily basis. If they were okay. If they were alive. And if they were, if they had families of their own. "I have two other sons from my first litter, Dragon and Gryphon's littermates. There's also Okami, Afrit, Arke, and Charm. Do me a favor will you? If you see them, pass the word on that I wish to see them before...well..." She sighed heavily, not wanting to continue her sentence but she hoped she wouldn't have to. She was sure Heloise knew where she was going with it. She was old, and she knew her time in the world wouldn't be for much longer.

As she took a deep breath, she felt Tan come to stand against her chest to groom her, an act that often calmed the old womans mind. In the quiet still of the morning, she noticed something vaguely familiar to her. A scent...however subtle it was...and she turned a knowing eye to the alabaster woman. "It seems you'll have a family of your own soon. Congratulations, Ms. Heloise." She offered yet another smile, not knowing that her packmate wasn't aware of it herself.

Winterfell's only elder... it was both awe-inspiring and lonely sounding. she didn't miss the longing in her packmate's voice when she mentioned her family. Heloise had no family. not anymore. she shook such thoughts away to focus on Avalon and what she had to say, however. "I have met your son, Dragon" she informed the elder with a nod "he is doing well; I saw him participate in a festival." and she was happy to provide details about the Firefly Festival to Avalon should she need it. the other names were lacking. Heloise hadn't met them yet, and could not offer words to them. but the woman's request to see the ones not here before she passed tugged at her heart. "I will make sure to look out for them" she vowed to give the elder comfort, however small. though the words Avalon spoke after her request made the alabaster woman pause. her eyes slightly widened, blinking a few times. 'have a family'... she had one with Acere now, but that wasn't exactly what the elder meant when... suddenly it made sense. she had associated her weariness with recovering from the polar bear but it seemed that was not the case. "I am pregnant" Heloise stated, rather than asked. her head dipped, brows furrowed in thought "they are the king's. my mate's." she informed Avalon. who else could they be? she had only shared herself intimately with Acere. she would have to tell him now, and the thought both excited and scared her. after one night together... what would he think? would he be disappointed or would he be happy? no, he would be happy.

It seemed Heloise had already met one of her boys, that was good. Between him and Gryphon, Dragon was the more outgoing of the pair. "Ah yes the firefly festival! I've heard about it, but I've yet to know how it went. Do enlighten me when you get the time," She could only imagine how Dragon fared at the festival. She knew it wasn't easy with his blindness but with the help of his companions? It was almost as if he never lost his sight at all. At her request, the alabaster woman agreed to keep an eye out for her other babies. It warmed her heart, gave her hope even, that she might see them before she passed on.

The reaction she got when she congratulated Heloise on her pregnancy wasn't quite what she expected. She too, blinked a couple of times before she realized that Heloise hadn't been aware that she was pregnant. Oh dear. It was made more evident with the way she stated she was pregnant, going on even to say they were...the King's. Acere? if she was surprised she did not show it. Instead, she dipped her head in apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you weren't aware of it. I've had two litters myself, so I must confess it's quite easy to detect these sort of things."

Oh lord. She hoped she didn't ruin anything by figuring it out before Heloise did. The old woman reached out to touch Heloise leg with her nose before pulling back to warmly look at her. "Acere is a good man. A very lucky one, I might add. The pair of you will do wonderfully together." Even with the age difference between them. Avalon knew Ace was older while Heloise looked to be quite young, but age never quite stopped what was meant to be. She herself had been older then her last mate. Not quite the gap Ace had on Heloise but, it didn't matter. They were in love. And to Avalon, that mattered more than anything.

she nodded dumbly, too shocked at the realization she was pregnant to really contribute to the conversation. it was only when Avalon reached over to press her nose on her leg did Heloise come back to reality. she'd fluster, not realizing quite the predicament she was in. was she even ready to be a mother? she loved children, did well with the ones she had met and they were not her own. with Acere at her side, she knew she could do it. it was just another step to bettering herself. "thank you" she said to the elder, quite distracted already. "I... should tell him soon" the alabaster woman went on, fumbling for words to express both her excitement and fear. it wasn't like the king was going to berate her for her pregnancy, but Heloise worried there was no room in Winterfell for their children. it wasn't an ideal situation to be in at this moment. had it been a good idea to pass up making her own pack? there would have been more room, fewer members crowding the place... she gave herself a shake. "how did you tell the father of your litters?" Heloise added hesitantly, having no mother to ask this of. her own ignorance of Avalon's past didn't occur to her that the woman may have had different contributors.

Heloise seemed to be in shock at the news, and rightfully so. Avalon knew pregnancy could be a frightening thing, but...she also knew the likelihood of the pair of them staying together and Acere helping his mate through it would make it much easier. She hadn't gotten that chance with her first mate, and her second one had been there through it all until the sickness claimed his life. Heloise thanked her and Avalon nodded as she studied the woman. "I...should tell him soon." "I'm sure he will be most happy to hear the news. If I'm not mistaken, he doesn't have biological children of his own, right? I'm aware of the foxes and his niece and nephew that he raised since they were all pups. But having children of your own to raise is something else,"

She could tell the woman was nervous. Frightened even. And when Heloise asked her question, Avalon sat up. Her situation had been different with both litters, but...it was years ago. Looking back now that she was older, she realized the mistakes and the rushing of what she presumed to be love. Still, the question didn't bother her. It was all so long ago. "Both of my litters had different fathers. You see, I had met a man by the name of Newol many, many years ago. It didn't work out. He disappeared just before the pups were born, but perhaps at the time I had been too hasty in thinking I was in love. As for my last mate Vereux, it was a bit complicated. He loved me and I loved him, yes. But...there was a lot of discontent with our relationship from my first litter mostly. And...there was another alpha who led a pack at the time that Vereux had been a part of and I'm not too sure what his promises were to them, but simply put, there was a lot of drama surrounding him due to his former life. He eventually died of an incurable sickness when our pups were quite young."

Thinking about Vereux saddened her. Though she kept out the part where she didn't love him as much as she thought she did...and perhaps it was due to the whole ordeal with Katja and her first litter where she felt she didn't want to deal with it anymore. Still, she did love him to a degree...just...probably not as much as he loved her. When he died, however, she had felt like the worst person alive for telling him beforehand. Or even not loving him as much as he did her. "Don't let my stories discourage you. It all happened years ago, and if I've judged Acere correctly, you've absolutely nothing to worry about. Both fathers of my children were excited to hear they were going to be fathers. No doubt Acere will be excited as well."

it was certainly a lot to take in, but she tried to focus on Avalon's voice and listen. this was just another step in a long journey. to live, to love... to be loved. she knew Acere would be delighted but Heloise still had to work up what she'd say to him. perhaps it was best to make it like any other conversation with the king - honest, humble and done with compassion. she had to think of what he would think, and prepare herself just in case for anything. "thank you, Avalon. your words are comforting" the name of a great kingdom of old fitted the woman's wisdom. she'd dip her head to the elder before rising. "I think I should do it now, while I have my courage" she'd chuckle. then perhaps tell the others once Acere was informed. she was only ever close with Fracture, but perhaps Dragon would enjoy knowing too. she had liked their chat previously. or perhaps she'd keep it a secret, wherein only she and her mate know. just for a little longer, before prying eyes and whispers ruined her joy. but that was to be expected, being the mate of an alpha. she had to prepare herself for her time in the spotlight. "good day to you." she'd add politely before marching off to find her mate. / EXIT