The god's garden.

Elizabeth had been in these lands for some time now, not enough to call it a long time but she had finally settled a little. Though the frustration of not being able to gather herbs was real. So she would settle for exploring the place. Her mother had told her Auster was mostly unexplored or rather she'd never been there. Since crossing the bifrost she had already met one other. Elizabeth though was on the search for someone specific. Her mothers sister. She didn't know if anyone else was around. It stung a little, thinking about Heather as she looked around the garden. Auster felt hot, unexplored and wild that was for sure. Kaizer was also around here somewhere. Liz had smelt her and only assumed she was looking for family as well.

"What would you do mom, do you know how hard it is tracking others down." Liz said out loud. Maybe she needed to get herself one of those companions like Luta had. That would be nice, but she wasn't too included in other species lives. Just her own and her siblings. However she became so much easily distracted by The gods garden. What did the stars look like from here, maybe she would stick around until night time.

The days of her wanting to explore and check out her surroundings were far behind her, but staying still was letting her mind wander too much. Her desire to stay near her newly reunited family wouldn’t let her wander far, but she at least stayed active enough to keep her mind from overthinking things. She ended up in an area dotted with over grown stone ruins which really just felt more fitting than she liked to admit. It was late in the afternoon and she knew she should probably get back before dark, but she wasn’t in any real hurry. The spotted woman felt oddly drawn here for some reason and it was a nice distraction to have some new scenery to examine.

Meeting her youngest grand daughter and seeing how similar she was to Ganta had felt like meeting a ghost. Being back in Boreas had pulled enough old, buried memories to the surface as it was, but seeing that his appearance had been passed on to one of his grandchildren only reminded her of the loss that still hadn’t quite healed. Years had passed and she thought that she had moved on, but now she was beginning to realize that she had only buried those emotions deep down until it was possible for her to ignore them. Now she was forced to face them again and she still had no idea where to begin.

She rounded a corner past a collection of barely standing ruins, and her blue gaze landed on a solid white young woman standing several feet away. She could only see the other wolf from the back, but at least from where she was standing she couldn’t see any features that made her recognize her. The only thing that made her pause instead of slipping away before she was noticed was the oddly familiar notes in her scent. It wasn’t something she could quite place, but it was enough to make her wonder. Roza was pushed forward by her own curiosity and padded over to the woman, making sure to approach in a way that she would be seen and not startle her.

”Hello,” she greeted politely, leaving a comfortable distance between the two of them. ”Sorry to bother you, I just haven’t met anyone else since we got to Auster so I figured I’d take the chance to socialize. I’m Roza.”

In the midst of her thoughts Elizabeth heard a stranger approaching. A scent hit her in a wave - when she turned for a moment she could have sworn she had seen this wolf before. Of course she hadn't, but when she spoke her name it was like a wave had come crashing down and her heart began to pound against her chest. Liz turned - and with the few feet apart from them it felt like nothing else in the world mattered. Now she had to calm down this could be just an odd coincidence. It wasn't as if Roza was an odd name. Liz's tail wagged albeit only a little bit, if this was the wolf she had been looking for then her chest tightened. It hadn't been that long since her mother passed away and the news still frightened her still.

"I... I think I've been looking for you." it had to be her she decided. "My name.. is Elizabeth Adravendi. Heather Adravendi was my mother." she swallowed. Now feeling a little weak in her knees but she still stood tall. To finally meet someone that her mother had soken about. It felt like a fairy tale coming to life. Well all of this had felt like a dream, Boreas and Auster. Elizabeth tried to give Roza a smile.

These last few days had proved to be an emotional roller coaster and it showed no sign of stopping. When the white wolf stated that she had been looking for her, Roza looked at her with confusion, but as soon as she introduced herself she understood. Her eyes widened with surprise when the realization came to light that this was in fact her niece. In all her heart ache and grief combined with the worries over her own children, Roza hadn’t had the chance to think about her siblings in quite a while. Life had taken such a turn over the last several years and the things and wolves that she cared about had slipped out of her grasp.

”Well, what are the chances I would run into you here?” she replied with a smile, her tail wagging gently behind her. The joy of meeting another young member of her family was clear on her face. ”I’m so happy to meet you, Elizabeth! That’s a lovely name. How is Heather...” That was when her brain connected that Elizabeth had spoken of her sister in the past tense. Her smile faltered and her ears flicked back against her skull. It was a truth she didn’t want to accept, but in truth she knew the answer even before she spoke her question. ”Heather... Has she...?” It felt like she was slowly adding names to a list of wolves that she would never see again. Was this part of getting older? Or was this just the continuation of the terrible luck that she had been facing for nearly half of her life?

There was no easy way to realize how to feel about this. Liz thought that she was ready she and her siblings had agreed that they were. Part of her hated that she was the one to send the news - she would of rather Mark or Kaizer do it compared to her. However there was also a selfish part of her that was glad that she was the first to get a hold of Roza. For a moment she allowed herself to wag her tail. Her aunt! Flesh right in front of her now the stories had been true. With her mother's mental state sometimes she questioned if anything she had said was real. However while Heather was emotionally compromised her memory was not. "I'm sorry that such sad news has to be brought to you, I'm certain that with my mom missing this whole time it isn't exactly what you wanted to hear." Liz would close the distance between the two of them. She could pass this lie on, it was only half a lie after all.

"My mother was very fond of you and her other siblings - she told us stories all the time. Three seasons ago she passed in her sleep. Not long after we lost our father. Don't worry - she was well loved! A queen even alongside my father. Me my sisters and my brother decided we woud seek out Heather's homeland so here we are. " she wagged her tail. It was bittersweet, "I know it must be hard for you." she never really thought about how it affected her. Liz didn't have much of a concern over herself unless it meant it would endanger others after all. "Oh yes, Kazier my sister, Tara my other sister and Mark my brother came with me they're all out there looking for family until we come back together. They look a lot more like our mother than I do. Seems like I'm the only one who came out looking like our dad." she laughed. So it meant that Roza would be seeing some Heather look a likes at some point. "Kaizer should have been around she came in this direction when we got here after I went to Valhalla but suppose it was my luck to run into you first." she was talking too much. Too much Liz.

Even though it was terrible news, there was a bit of solace in at least knowing what happened. At the very least she didn’t have to go on wondering where Heather was or what had come of her the way she would continue to wonder about the rest of her siblings. Even her youngest half-siblings from her father’s second litter were a mystery to her now. Everything had slipped away from her without her really realizing what had happened until it was already too late. She liked to think this could be her second chance to pick up the pieces that were left... After all, didn’t she finally get to be with her children again and a couple of her grand children? And now there was nieces and a nephew to meet!

As Elizabeth filled her in on Heather’s fate, the names of her siblings, what brought them here, and more Roza remained quiet and attentive. She was honestly happy to sit and listen while the young woman filled her in on pieces of her life. There was so much that she didn’t know about her niece yet and she was thrilled to get the chance to know her. She just wished that she had gotten a chance to see Heather again before it was all said and done.

”I’ll definitely have to keep an eye out for her then - and your other siblings too.” She gave her niece a warm smile, adding, ”Thank you for seeking me out. It’s not news I want to hear, but I’m happy to know that she was loved and had such wonderful children... You say this must be hard for me, but I can’t begin to imagine how it has been for all of you.” She was familiar with what loss felt like and it certainly wasn’t a feeling that she wished on anyone. It was something they all had to face eventually, but to have to experience it so young was hard to imagine.

She looked at the solid white woman thoughtfully for a moment before she spoke again. ”You know, I’m sure you do look like your father, but you take after the Adravendi side of our bloodline quite a bit too. Mine and Heather’s grandmother was almost completely white with just little bit of a russet color on her paw and ear. Plus, blue eyes are a staple in our family. Heather actually took more after your grandmother. You and I are more similar to my father and grandmother.” She wasn’t sure what all Heather had covered in her story telling, but Roza was happy to fill in any gaps that may have been left and to offer Elizabeth any connections she might desire to know.

”Oh! By the way, my two children, Ulric and Philomena, are not too far from here. I’ve been staying here with them in Auster for a little bit now. Philomena has two daughters here as well, Nausicaa and Memento. If you ever want to stay with us please don’t hesitate to find us.” She paused, feeling like she was the one rambling on a bit now, but she was truly enjoying getting to talk with family again. ”If you or any of your siblings ever need anything at all - please let me know. If there’s anything I can do I want to be here for you.”

Part of her felt bad that she had lied. The way she and Mark had to watch their mother die, it wasn't something she would wish upon her worst enemy. Elizabeth knew her mother had it rough mentally anyway - she didn't deserve what had happened to her. Which was why she had made that pact with her siblings and they would take it to their graves. Liz didn't want anyone feeling the grief they did at this moment and it had almost been a year since they had died she and her siblings had only barely turned one year old it was a season after that Montra had fallen forced to grow up too fast it was.

Roza said thank you, that she couldn't imagine how hard it had been for them. Then again they grew up tough. "It's alright, we're a tough family. Things were rough since we were born where we lived, it wasn't exactly the lush land that Auster and Boreas is. I've never seen so many bushes and trees and wildlife in my entire time living." now that was a fact. Food had even became hard to come by. Frankly Liz was happy they decided to find this place it was better than living in their previous pack. "My father even called us heaven's children because we brought good luck to the land." she laughed a bit.

Hearing about her family made her happy, this made apparant by the wagging of her tail. After all Liz loved stories, she loved listening to her heritage even more. So her mothers grandmother was mostly white. Though this did explain how Roza looked. "My father had the most beautiful green emerald eyes, my sister Kaizer has them. I'm hoping she shows up soon." she had come to Auster when Liz had headed to Valhalla. Even further Roza's invitation filled her heart with warmth.

"At the moment I'm staying in Valhalla with the adravendi's there. Although I don't know if my siblings will do the same. I cannot wait to meet them. It may seem odd but I've been waiting my entire life to meet you, more of our family. My father refused to ever talk about his family - he didn't even have a surname at least not one we knew of." Liz's tail found itself wagging back and forth as Roza stated that she was here for them. She didn't know if the white and russet wolf knew how much it meant to Liz. "Thank you ah.... Roza. If you'd like I'd love to explore a bit of this area. I'm studying navigation next to my healing you see." She turned looking at the garden. The heavy stuff over her shoulders she wanted to at least ease that a bit.

Roza was overwhelmed. That was about the only way she knew how to describe everything that she was feeling in this moment. Between returning to her homeland to finding her daughter, meeting her new granddaughter, and now finding out about Heather and meeting her niece... It was a lot for the woman to take in and process. It was about all she could manage to do to just focus on Elizabeth and listen as the young wolf told her more about the place that she had been raised in and about her father. She nodded when she heard that her niece was staying in Valhalla. At least Roza knew where that was since Ulric had run into one of his cousins during his scouting. She had always been aware of the pack and the Adravendi wolves that lived there, though she wasn't sure if she knew many of them personally. It had been quite a few years since she had been that way. "I'm glad you're staying somewhere safe," she replied, making a note to herself to go visit her extended family there some time soon. According to Ulric the cousin he had come across had invited them anyway so maybe she would take him with her as well.

She nodded to Elizabth's offer to explore the area a bit more with her. "Absolutely, I'd like that." She got to her paws and began to move through the garden along side Elizabeth, letting the scenery and the peaceful surroundings calm her a bit. "I've always been a bit envious of healers," she admitted with a smile, giving Elizabeth a glance. "I've just always been so impressed with the knowledge they have. I've never had much of a talent for it... My father was a leader of a pack, though I guess you probably know that from Heather's stories. I mostly focused on diplomacy and conversation and less helpful things like that. I thought I'd help him run the pack. Then my late mate had his pack and I did many of the same things and had my children... I never had much of a chance to study something like healing." She felt herself rambling again and she stopped herself with a chuckle, shifting her gaze to look at the plant life that was growing plentifully around them. "Well this at least seems like a good place for you to find herbs, hm? I'm not sure which ones are actually helpful for you, but there's plenty of everything it seems."

Elizabeth knew that emotionally charged things could only go on for so long. So she wanted to ease her aunt a bit - there was nothing worse than having your heart pounding against your chest for so long. Mentally and physically it could hurt you, Liz was at least mildly aware of this. As she walked with Roza the garden was indeed beautiful. This gave her a chance to really look at it, as a navigator she wanted to become more familiar with these lands. Though Roza went on to talk about her experiences herself and Liz was happy to give her words full attention. Yes she was familiar with her grandfather being king, and how her mother had lost the pack but yet still had yearned to be in power. Well she was the queen of montra till her dying days and a damn good one Liz considered. "I wouldn't consider those less helpful things. My mother was queen of Montra the pack we were in. She didn't do a lot of fighting in our youth because she wanted to concentrate on raising us. She was also the only one who could calm my father down - he was an angry ball of fur if there ever was one. Those who can convince others with their words I think they're more powerful than any fighter or healer could ever be." She at least wanted to give her a bit of reassurance. "I'm only a healer because my father forced me to be though. I enjoy it but not as much as I enjoy exploring and Navigating... my dad was a wolf who thought you could only have strength in one area of practice. We weren't allowed to do anything else other than what 'he' thought we were good at. And for me it was making sure our females gave safe birth and making sure our soldiers lived through a fight." she shrugged her shoulders. It didn't mean she didn't like healing though, it was her calling.

"Auster and Boreas are filled with herbs! Some of them I dont even know." she looked around the garden. "Today I've been wanting to brush up on my navigation. So far this place just feels... peaceful you know." Elizabeth stood up tall taking in a deep breath as she let the scents build around her from the rock and stone. Committing it to memory.

Roza gave her niece a warm smile when the youth told her that her "skills" weren't less helpful. She had never really considered them less helpful than others until she began to experience the life of a loaner. Being a strong leader was only helpful if you had wolves to lead. She was able to hunt for herself fairly well so at the very least she wouldn't starve, but if it came to it she wasn't sure she would be able to protect herself or take care of herself if she was sick. She had been lucky to have Ulric around for the last year or two. Her son had been incredibly kind with sticking with her to make sure she was cared for. It did make a twinge of guilt pang in her gut from time to time to think that he had given up life here just so he could be with her when she decided to leave for a while. All she could hope was that he would be able to enjoy some time to himself and grow on his own now that they were living with Philomena and her children again... as long as he didn't feel the need to be the caretaker for all of them in the end. Being a strong leader was only helpful if you had wolves to lead. She nodded in understanding while Elizabeth explained that her father had more or less forced her into being a healer. She was happy to hear that the young woman enjoyed the profession either way, but it did make her wonder what her niece would have gravitated toward learning if that hadn't been the case. She had never felt any pressure from her father to learn one thing or another, but he had been an incredibly laid back wolf. He only ever really cared if she - and everyone in his pack for that matter - were happy and healthy. She looked around the garden again with another small nod when she heard that the focus today was on practicing her skills of navigation. "It certainly does. It's one of those places that makes me wonder how it even came to be, you know? There's a lot of places around Auster and Boreas that make me wonder that." Things that were left from a time long forgotten with history they would never really know - it made her curious and imaginative as she tried to decipher them, but at the end of the day fell to the way side behind the other pressing matters in her life. "Well, I'll leave you to your exploring," she said as she paused and turned to face Elizabeth again, giving her niece a loving smile. She knew they had only just met one another, but it didn't matter. She was a piece of their family's scattered puzzle and that was enough for her to feel a warm connection with the young healer. "I better get back before Ulric comes looking for me. Come find us if you're ever in Auster again! Maybe I'll see you when we go to visit Valhalla, hm?" The older woman chuckled softly and leaned forward to gently press her nose to her niece's cheek "Stay safe, I'm here if you ever need me." "Speech"Think

The various stones that were around the place obviously were catching her attention. Somehow she almost felt like she was neglecting her aunt at this point. However it wasn't long before Roza came to the conclusion that she best stop this meeting. After all Liz was just obversing every tree, or lack there of, and bush that she could. The scents swirling around her she took a moment to take a deep breath. "I hate to see you go, but I do suppose we best go on our ways." it wasn't as if she would never see Roza again. Something about it though, hurt her. Maybe she was starved for family attachment more than she thought. However she ignored the feeling as Roza came and gently pressed her nose against her cheek. Liz felt all warm in her stomach and her entire body felt like it was engulfed into a hug.

She allowed her worries to melt away for a moment. She would have a place in her pack - new friends to make and places to see. Liz figured today was the day to start living. The God's garden had even shown her that. "If I see Kaizer before she finds you, I'll let her know. I don't know if she'll follow in my pawsteps to Valhalla after all." she wagged her tail and looked onwards into the land. "I wouldn't want to keep you longer anyway. It's best I start heading back as well." Liz would give a small dip of her head before she took one long last look at the Garden and it's features. Next time it would be much easier to move around in. However she had somewhere to be and wanted to head back to Boreas as soon as possible.

end.