It had truly been ages since Azalea had allowed herself to be tied down to the land or "her" man.  Her children didn't care about her and her best friend was gone.  She no longer had a family in Alacritia, outside of a man who loved her endlessly.  It was not enough and that was proved by the way her paws never quite moving.  An Adravendi always found their way home, though, so here she was in the godforsaken land that had birthed her.   Spring was a great time to come home, after her wild winter hormones had settled firmly and her mind had returned to a less... horny place.  Children were the last thing on her mind, especially as she moved upward in years.  It turned out that she was a bad mom after all, not only once but twice over!  So fuck them and fuck the dicks that knocked her up.   The mid-sized woman was versed enough on the lands to be work up all the latest details from a passing stranger.  It would seem that the wolves became less and less familiar.  Maybe they were all moving on or maybe they were all dying.   So then, perhaps she was crazy for choosing to seek out the member of her family that hated her the most.   The scars on the left half of her face throbbed as she approached the border to the mangroves.  This place had been the home of many wolves and somewhere in there now was Epiphron Adravendi.  Azalea had to wonder if her aunt would even show up, though knowing her aunt's haughty personality she preferred to think that Pip would come with a fury.   Paws rooted firmly as she tipped back her muzzle to call into the pack's turf.  She wasn't here to stay, it was only a social visit.  Amber eyes searched the thick brush (which she sat at a defined distance from in case her appearance evoked an attack) for any sign of movement within.

Never in a million years would she have expected to hear Azalea call to her from the border of her home. After years.. after what they had gone through. Her niece had stood at the side of Syrinx's killer. Had attacked her.. had not mourned her own uncle's death. Epiphron hadn't expected this today. The emotions that came flooding back to her were sudden and powerful, and she felt a heavy weight pressing down on her shoulders. Perhaps if this visit had been.. not now, she might've had a more visceral reaction. She was no stranger to blind rage, and though she felt a similar emotion welling up in her chest now, it was much more akin to.. the bitter sting of betrayal, and the anger that followed a loss. She would not strike, not as she once had. A quiet sigh fell from her lips as she stood on all fours. She really had never expected this reunion to happen, and now that it was here, she was at a loss for words. Slowly she would make her way to the border, feeling fatigued despite her recent nap. Instead of feeling excitement, or dread, she simply felt confused - and the feeling did not change when she finally saw Azalea. She looked.. older. Two years had passed. Surely she looked older, too. "Azalea," she greeted her simply, without any kind of malice, though certainly lacking warmth. "I am surprised to see you." Her stare was calculated as she examined her, coming to a slow halt, her brows pulling together slightly.

Azalea's wait seem endless, weighing down on her as she swore the mangroves before her reared up larger and larger, threatening to swallow her whole. She choked down the anxiety that had wormed up into her throat and made herself take a deep breath. After all, she was here to see Epiphron, not the boogie man. For every emotion she had to feel towards her aunt, Azalea Adravendi's heart couldn't help but flutter to see the white woman appear with her brown dipped ear and blue eyes. They had always looked so strikingly similar that it made it hard to tell they were not technically related by blood and Pip's children? Well, they held an even more astonishing resemblance. The warmth that swelled inside her quickly ebbed though as her eyes moved to her left ear. half gone and long since healed it no less reminded her of the day she had spit her relation's ear tip onto the ground. Azalea had never thought of it as having her family's blood in her mouth until now. Pip would say her name in a chilly, guarded tone and Azalea would pull her ears back slightly before letting them move forward again. "I am surprised to see you." She nodded ever so slightly. "I was told I could find you here... its been two years, a lot has changed. I suppose I forfeited the right to know where any of my relation was the moment I walked away but, eh, old habits die hard and in the end I am an Adravendi. Whether you approve of me or not. Cairo judge me, but not you or anyone else in the family." Hadn't she always been the disappointment anyway? To her father, to her mother. Cairo saw her worth, and for a minute so did Pip if she recalled correctly. Amber eyes blinked, gazing beyond Epiphron for a moment before coming back to take her in. Sure, she had aged, they both had. Time never stopped flying by. With each passing day they became more weathered, more worn. "To be honest, I don't know why I am here. I'd say its to say sorry, but that would be a lie... and a liar I am not. At least I would never lie to you." She couldn't say for certain if that was 100% true but felt it was. Epiphron was not someone she would lie too, her bond to her aunt was too close, no mattered how damaged that link had become.

It was rare to see her falter, but all she felt now was aching uncertainty. Why had she returned, after all this time? Azalea seemed far less sinister now than she had on that fateful day, but she still felt her mind bristle defensively as she approached her. She stood for a long moment, feeling tongue-tied and bewildered, her muddled expression likely not hiding the fact.  There was no fear in her sapphire stare - though any feelings of warmth were neatly hidden away. Epiphron could not imagine feeling fear for her family - even her brother, with all of his misdeeds, had never frightened her. A lot has changed, Azalea began, and she nodded slowly in response. "It has," she said gently, considering for a moment. The loss of her brother had signified the end of everything, or so it seemed, in retrospect; she and her family had left Seracia not long after, and their family had slowly crumbled apart. It'd been years to pick up the few pieces that remained, though most of them.. their whereabouts were largely unknown. A sigh she hadn't meant to hold in was released as she reflected on the past. It was painful - and it was partially relieving that Azalea sounded somber as she spoke too. "You've always been an Adravendi," she said firmly, her brows pulling together tightly. It didn't matter who judged her - most of them were gone now. Dead or otherwise.  "And I would be kidding myself if I expected an apology." Azalea had never taken on her mother's gentleness. She saw much more of Collision in her than Soleil. She'd been brash as a child, often a bit too proud for her own good, and certainly too stubborn to apologize. She could've laughed, but all that came out was a slight huff as she grinned very briefly before her expression softened.  "There's no one else around to apologize too, anyway. I haven't seen any of our family for years, besides my own children, and honestly I haven't seen most of them for ages either." There was no reason to hide the touch of sadness that jilted her words; if anything would make her life better, it would be reuniting with her kids. "But.. what about you?" It'd been so long since Glaciem had fallen, and she didn't want to talk about that pack, nor about Isardis. And there was a large gap between Glaciem's demise and the present, and she was truly curious about what had happened then.

Epiphron couldn't remain solid for long.  Expressions were breaking through, showing her mixed emotions.  Azalea understood the feeling.  If there was one thing Pip could agree on with her, it was that things had changed.  Today was not like yesterday and it was damn sure nothing like a few years ago.  Isardis was gone, to her knowledge, there was no more fear of the Armada name.  Heck, maybe it was so normal now that one of her boys had decided to adopt their father's name finally?  Yeah, even she doubted that. Her aunt would sigh, dragging Azalea out of her mind. "You've always been an Adravendi," their eyes met, fire and ice, "And I would be kidding myself if I expected an apology."  There was no concealing the half smile that pricked wickedly at the corner of her mouth.  She turned away, stifling a laugh.  As she looked back she just barely caught a glimpse of Pip grinning.  It seemed to do the trick on breaking the ice.  Azalea felt tension fall away and even Epiphron looked more relaxed.  "There's no one else around to apologize too, anyway. I haven't seen any of our family for years, besides my own children, and honestly I haven't seen most of them for ages either."   She nodded.  "Adravendi was once a proud name... now I think we're just holding onto the past a little too hard.  Its a bit different for me, feeling like just any other old wolf.  God, where did the time go?"  To be honest, she feared time now.  She was getting old. Her time was too quickly expiring, the fun running out. In many ways she had done very little with her life. Azalea wondered if Pip felt the same way but in proper Azalea Adravendi fashion, she resisted the conversations about things that really hit home with her. Epiphron wanted to know of her life, how things had gone after leaving Valhalla. "Given how swell our last meeting went," She glanced towards Pip's ear, "I don't recall if you were ever in the loop on my second batch of hellions. Two boys, one girl. I took them up to Tortuga where I had an acquaintance in Roman Armada. She eventually took unwell mentally, after miscarrying, and opted to hand things over to me. That was a pretty fast failure, guess I'm just not good at all that responsible stuff. I've basically just floated around since then, not doing much of anything." She nodded towards Pip, signalling her turn to bring Azalea up to speed.

Losing half of an ear, in all honesty, had been of little concern to her in the long run. A vain part of her knew she looked far more battle-worn than she really was, and that she really preferred to look; but it was nothing at all like losing a family member, to death or to disloyalty. She'd do it again, a thousand times over, if she had to. Physical pains seemed to pale in comparison to emotional ones. She felt a surge of relief at seeing Azalea's faint smile at her quip. If Adravendis were one thing, it was proud - and far too stubborn at times. At least, too stubborn to apologize for something that had happened years ago, something that was far too muddled with history to matter now. Azalea's words rung true with her. "You're right about that," she agreed with a soft, faint sigh. The death of Syrinx had seemed to have been the final nail in the coffin as far as the reign of the Adravendis went. Even though Leo ruled here now, it was different; Fiori was different. "I could name the number of Adravendis that I've spoke with in the last year on my two front paws." It was nothing at all like it had been when she was a child. It was surprising to hear she'd had another litter. Another with Isardis, she wondered? But she didn't dare ask, not yet. The name Tortuga made her fur bristle slightly; they'd had a sour relationship with Valhalla, before Azalea had even left. Still, she didn't know whether the names were the only similarity in packs, or if they had shared leadership at all, and so she would keep her questions to herself.. "I had no idea," she'd comment with another faint smile. They'd both missed quite a bit - hell, did Azalea even know she'd had a second litter? She'd been in Glaciem by then. It was quite likely she'd never found out. "The whole.. leadership thing has outgrown me, as well," Epiphron would admit a bit solemnly. "I like to say I'm too old for it, but I think I'm just too tired for it now. I ruled the pack here, Fiori, for a short while when it was handed to me, but my son Leo's in charge now." And he was doing a great job. It was not like the pack she'd once envisioned ruling - a great empire, full of physical strength and cunning, but a more humble pack, which she found herself appreciated more with her age. "Only a few of my kids are here, though," she started, noting that Azalea's gaze seemed interested in hearing more. "Leo, of course, and Amalia. I'm not sure if you ever heard about my second litter, but I had a few more," Epiphron would add a small laugh at the end of her voice. She'd never expected to want to be a mother, but it'd happened, and she never regretted it for an instant. She wondered if Azalea did. "I haven't seen Quintus for ages, and Cassius was here briefly, but left again. I've seen Caeto and Isolde enough to know they're living in these lands still, but I don't know where they'd been recently. And Arian.." her voice faltered, just slightly, when she remembered. Not that she'd ever really forgotten.. but actively remembering was still quite painful. "She isn't with us any longer. And it's been ages since I've seen anyone else." Some were dead, some were just gone - she didn't even know where to begin, or if Azalea knew anything more than she did.