The trip had been long and made more difficult by the continued, never ending winter weather, but as they drew a bit closer to the end of this supposed spring he hoped that perhaps by the time they made their way back to Abaven the weather would begin improving. He didn't know how long they would stay or even what to expect when they got there, but he had to make the trip. Waiting for Aranea had strained not only himself but their children and he could sense that from each of them in one way or another. Staying positive and encouraging for so long took its toll and he knew they all needed to be reinvigorated as a family.

By the time they reached the border of The Hallows in Auster, he was more than ready to get off of his paws for a while and get to somewhere that was warm. The cold was making his once broken leg ache like crazy and he was limping slightly for at least half of their trip. He felt guilty for having to leave Forte behind under the care of his family members, but he would rather her miss out on this trip than risk worsening her sickness by being out in this cold for hours and hours. He assured her there would be more visits in the future since he didn't want this much time to pass without them seeing their mother again.

He stopped at the border and gave himself a shake to free his coat of any snow that might have accumulated on him, glancing at Balthier, Solo, and Psalm with a smile before lifting his head to call for Aranea. He couldn't help but feel excited about seeing her again, that excitement drowning out the resentment and confusion that had been steadily building over the last couple of seasons. Now he just hoped that their surprise visit was received well.

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Aranea had been working in her greenhouse along side Ulric in his training center. Things had felt a lot better that they had opened up to each other and were back to what seemed like a more normal relationship. She spent nights in his room and loved nothing more than his warm company beside her, making her forget most of her pain and guilt while her family was living in Abaven. She had a look of shock when Allegro's voice came to her ears. She stood a moment outside her green house, looking towards Ulric but not lingering to get explaining or chat about it. As she went across the plains, she was overwhelmed while she came closer to her children that had grown greatly since her last time seeing them. And while times on her end weren't exactly a perfect picture for them, the meeting had a much happier air as she closed the distance between them. She moved immediately to her children, a slight tension towards Allegro that wouldn't have been noticeable through her excitement to see her children. She would let them give her any affections they wanted, or if they didn't she would try to give them each a few licks to the top of their heads. Looking at the three of them, she would look back to Allegro with question, "Forte...?" She had known that their other daughter didn't seem to be fairing too well. Maybe the reasoning behind Aranea being absent in their lives to begin with. It was another guilt she let herself feel, but not in this moment right now. "You must all be tired. Come now." She led them back to the Castle, entering the courtyard where she eyed up to the balconies in Ulric's wing. He wasn't there, but her thoughts were constantly drifting to him even through the joy she felt reuniting with her family. She took them over to her room in the north wing, opening the room beside hers, "You three can stay in here if you'd like." She didn't expect them to go bolting into the room, maybe they wanted to stay beside either Allegro or herself. There were also other rooms along the hall that each of them could have their own, but she didn't know what to expect on such a short notice. Her eyes finally came to look into Allegro's but she struggled to keep a long hold on them. Walk "Talk" Think

Balthier couldn't have imagined the trip being so long and brutal while he spent most of his young days in Abaven. The weather didn't help, but he was big and strong like his dad so that didn't make him want to give in so easily. How could the world be so big? It was strange for his mind to wrap around the fact that they had barely traveled a portion of what was around them. There was a million other things to see! Though the scenery was pretty grey and dreary, Balthier still saw the beauty in everything. He was much more high spirited even when he was feeling down. When they had reached The Hallows, Allegro gathered them and called at the borders. He was eager to meet his mother again but he was also scared. He didn't really know how he would feel when they were together again. She had been absent for what felt like forever, and he had secretly been looking up to Poem as a mother in the meantime. He hadn't replaced Aranea in his mind and he didn't think he ever would. A million things ran through his head while they waited, but finally she would come to greet them. He wouldn't act any kind of crazy excited, not jumping on her and demanding kisses. But he allowed her to give him a couple licks to his forehead with the slight wag of his tail while she looked at him. His emotions still throwing him for a loop while he wasn't sure how he wanted to feel. He wanted to feel excited beyond belief, but he couldn't force it. Aranea would lead them into the giant castle, yet another astonishing sight for him. He felt like there wouldn't be enough time to explore everywhere. He followed behind his parents until Aranea opened the room for them to stay in. He didn't really want to be away from her or Allegro, but he didn't want to reject the idea. So he would again look to his mother with a small grin and wag of his tail before obeying her offer. His claws clicked across the stone surface of the castle floors, he was pretty tired after all that traveling, so he would probably rest for now, but he wasn't ready to go to sleep just yet. Walk "Talk" Think

Psalm didn't know what spring was meant to be like, and she didn't know she didn't know that. The girl had known mostly cold and driving snow for her still short life, had known it to cause sickness and take her only sister out of commission... but it didn't strike her as odd, or worse than anything else, she simply didn't know that the spring had been held within the unnatural grip of winter. So she really didn't know how difficult the trip was, obviously she herself struggled at times, still quite small and not gifted with her father's height but she made the trip regardless. The girl had quickly latched onto her father after her mother had left, doing her best to mimic him where she could, though she wasn't conscious of it she was worried if she disappointed him he'd leave her too.

So it was very exciting to get to go see her mom again! The girl bounced alongside her brothers, though she was also tired by the time they got there, and as they stood at the borders, their father having called for their mother a sort of wariness washed over her, the excitement had been tempered by the journey and suddenly she was very afraid of what her mother might think of them. The woman would approach and the girl approached warriely, rubbing up against her for a moment before skittering back towards her father, and pressing into his leg. Which is where she stayed as they moved into the pack lands. She would swap to sticking to Balth like glue when they were ushered into the room.

The journey had been incredibly long. Or at least, that's what it had felt like to him. He had to admit, the journey was a lot more taxing than he thought it would be, even for someone as energetic as himself. He always felt like he had all the energy in the world...until they kept going further, and further, and further still. They were going to visit mom, but honestly...he was having mixed feelings about her. He wasn't sure if he was the only one that felt like that, or if the rest of his siblings felt that way too. They hardly saw her, and he felt like forever had passed since they had last seen her. He had yet to voice how he felt or what he thought about it...but it was likely because he wasn't sure how he was supposed to be feeling. Wasn't he supposed to always feel happy and excited to see mom? The whole thing confused him. He didn't know why mom didn't just stay and live with them...why did they hadve to travel all this way to see her...why didn't she make the trip to Abaven to see them more often if she decided she didn't want to stay? He huffed quietly as they reached the borders of the other pack, and for once, Solo was quiet as his father called for their mother. It didn't take too long for her to come, and even as his mother approached the lot of them and licked each of their foreheads, he made no move to return the affection. Part of him wanted to, but the other part was conflicted. He was hesitant, too many thoughts racing around in his head far too fast for him to make sense of them. His tail didn't wag. Instead, it hung limp against his hocks. She led them to the castle, and under normal circumstances, he would have been bouncing around and excited to check it all out. But all he could really force himself to do was to follow her to a room, though once there, he remained close to his brother and sister. "Speech"

Allegro spotted Aranea approaching them shortly after he called for her. The hope in his chest began to fade as she didn’t come to greet him, instead giving their children a few licks on their heads and only looking at him to question where Forte might have been. ”I kept her home. She’s still ill and I didn’t think the trip would be good on her. Some of my family is keeping an eye on her,” he explained, though it was hard to focus on his own words as he was distracted by the palpable tension between himself and their mother. He glanced toward Balthier, Psalm, and Solo to gauge their reactions and was both surprised and not surprised at all at their timid and distant reactions to her. He kept a smile on his face even as Psalm pressed into his leg and he dipped his head to nuzzle at her cheek.

It made him feel like it was a mistake. He had wanted so desperately to keep their family whole, to keep their mother as a part of their lives that he had been willing to ferry them across Boreas and down to Auster to make it happen. It brought back that doubt and frustration he felt toward her even though he hid it very well. For their sakes. ”Yes, it was a long journey,” he chimed in when Aranea mentioned how they must be tired. He gave the children an encouraging nod followed along with them toward the castle.

He wasn’t really sure what he had been expecting, but her leading them to a room in the castle straight away hadn’t been the first thing he had imagined them doing. ”It’s nice that there’s so much space here,” he mentioned as he walked into he room with their children, still grinning happily as he looked around the spare room. ”This is a nice guest room.” He turned to face Aranea as he began to move back toward the door, saying, ”Perhaps we could have some dinner before we all rest? I can go out and hunt tomorrow to replace whatever we eat.”

Walk | "Talk" | think

The silence of her children she very much ignored if only for her own ego. Instead her mind surpassed the thought and moved on to her unthought plans. She had just been entirely rooted from Ulric, within the matter of the few moments it took to arrive at the borders to Allegro's call. She couldn't even sift through everything going through her mind. And she tried hard, and didn't want to seem troubled in the presence of Allegro and her family. Though, she may not have been that good at it. Allegro mentioned preparing for dinner, and Aranea was pulled from her wandering thoughts while her gaze was lost on her children. "That sounds like a wonderful idea." She glanced to Allegro briefly before setting her eyes to her dark son with a grin, "Balthier, would you like to come with me to gather our meal?" Her attention span had not noticed that Psalm had moved from attachment to Allegro to attachment to Balthier, and now she would probably be moving her back. She waited for Balthier to join her before leaving the rest of them. Walk "Talk" Think

Balthier would keep his focus much more on his siblings, and some towards his father instead of keeping a gaze up to Aranea. Psalm sticking to him was not much different than their usual lives in Abaven, so he would only put his weight in the his leg closest to her. He looked to Solo as if wanting to read his own expression or thoughts on the reunion, and found his gaze to the stone surface of the castle floors. Quickly though, his mother addressed him, and he would look to her with the same stale smile he was giving the floor. He looked to Psalm for a few seconds before pushing his shoulder into her affectionately and leaving to go with their mother. He wished they all could have went, but he didn't have the voice to ask so. They left the rest of his family and he helped Aranea take the portions from the stores but they wouldn't return back to the guest room. Instead they went to a large room with a fire, and they set up the pieces of meat to cook beside the fire. He followed her back to the guest room, he hadn't spoken the entire time he was with her and that didn't change when they returned. Aranea would speak, "I'll take you all to the main hall. Dinner is cooking there." Walk "Talk" Think