The island stretched out before Deluge, its sandy beaches lapped by the gentle waves of the ocean. As she padded along the shoreline, the warm sun beat down on her fur, filling her with a sense of contentment. Palm trees swayed in the breeze, their fronds rustling softly as tropical birds flitted from branch to branch, their colorful feathers flashing in the sunlight.

As the young woman paused to take in her surroundings, her keen senses alert to every sound and scent. The island was alive with the chirping of insects, the chatter of monkeys swinging through the trees, and the distant roar of the ocean crashing against the rocky cliffs. She was surprised to find the place unclaimed, it might have made a better stake for her father, if not for the lack of ready built denning space.

As she ventured further inland, Deluge found herself surrounded by lush vegetation. Tall grasses swayed in the breeze, their sweet scent mingling with the tang of salt in the air. Thick patches of ferns carpeted the forest floor, their delicate fronds brushing against her legs as she moved through them. Everywhere she looked, there were signs of life. Small mammals scurried through the undergrowth, their movements quick and elusive. Birds darted overhead, their melodic calls echoing through the trees. The place was teeming with prey, Perhaps, when her band eventuated, they could claim it as one of their bases?

“Speech”

As Avacyn walked along the coast from her home she spotted some islands off in the distance. It didn't seem to matter how long she lived in this section of Boreas, she still managed to find new things and places all the time. Curious to see how these compared to the larger island her pack called home, she paddled out to the closest small island and that curiosity brought her further and further out toward a larger island. She had never really considered herself much of an explorer, but as she tried to make herself more and more familiar with the lands near her own she was inevitably turning herself into a bit of an adventurer. Her ravens flew nearby overhead and occasionally she'd spot one of their dark forms glide by out of the corner of her eye. It wasn't as if she was ever really adventuring alone.

Reaching the largest of the islands, she shook out her fur and hung out on the beach for a bit to allow herself to dry in the sun while she took in the landscape ahead of her that was far more tropical than the mountainous, evergreen forest of Elysium's island. The occasional calls from her ravens were just one of the numerous bird calls she heard here and she smiled a bit as she listened to them all. This island also had a few mountains that brought a bit of elevation to the terrain, though they didn't seem quite as large or imposing as the ones she was used to. Over all it seemed like a very different landscape than her home so it felt more worth the trip to experience a different kind of island.

After giving herself another shake she began to move further into the island, but shortly after she began walking she picked up on the scent of another wolf. Apparently she wasn't the only one that had come to check out the island after all. She didn't immediately recognize the scent, but after following it for a few moments the memory suddenly hit her–the patchwork young woman that had accidentally made herself an intruder. Chuckling softly to herself, Avacyn picked up the pace a bit to catch up with her and eventually found her doing much the same thing she had just been doing herself. "Still island hopping I see," she said with a little grin as she walked over to join Deluge through the fern-filled undergrowth.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

There was more to this island than Deluge would be able to explore in a single day, she was sure some of those distant rises that would pass for mountains probably had caves to explore on top of the overland, and she found herself mesmerized by the bright bromeliads, all similar but different, their colourful leaves passing for flowers that cupped water, some even housing small tadpoles in their centers. The birds that seemed to give this island its name roosted in the trees overhead and raucously hawnked at the intruder, she scoffed. Their naked black necks and dirty white feathers hardly made them appear to be an appealing meal.

She was drawn from her thoughts as a familiar voice called across the space behind her and her shortened tail waved, a smile plastered on her face in greeting. "If I hang around one place too long I find m'self gettin' itchy, it's like I got an allergy ter sittin' still." She offered as an explanation, clearly joking.

“What brings yer this far south?” She didn't know many leaders that ventured too far from their homes, then again perhaps it was similar to her, and the leader just had itchy feet?

“Speech”

Avacyn nodded with understanding as Deluge explained her island hopping, exploratory nature with her "allergy to sitting still", the humerous analogy making her chuckle. It wasn't all that different of a reason from why she had found herself here and when the antlered woman questioned her about what brought her this far south she replied, "About the same reason as you. Don't get me wrong, I love our island, but I like to see what else is out there as well." The flapping of wings and a honking call from one of the nearby oddly shaped birds pulled her attention for a moment and she watched as a pair of them took off, gliding a short distance before landing somewhere that she supposed they liked the look of better. As familiar as she was with her ravens, the motivations and movements of other birds was still kind of a mystery to her.

Looking back to Deluge she nodded to the path the woman had been walking, continuing on with her if she so desired. "I've been exploring out from the lands around ours and saw these islands from the shore," she added about why she was out this far from home. "Had to see how this one stacked up to the one we live on and so far..." She paused, looking up and around at the landscape as they passed through it. "This one is pretty nice." She smiled and looked back to Deluge as she asked, "How've you been? Been anywhere interesting since your visit?"

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Even if she was tied to a pack, Deluge liked to think she would continue to explore other areas of the continent and move to wherever suited the needs of her followers best, as circumstances changed. Staying in one place too long could deplete resources, build up bad energy, and this place clearly had plenty of resources, and her lack of connection to the place left it clear in the case of the latter. She was sure there were no shortage of plants Sakana could put to use for healing, or those red flowers looked like they might make a nice dye for Kenway. She took a couple as samples to show when she got back to Daager.

When Avacyn enquired as to how she had been, she let loose a hollow chuckle. “Didn' get far enough away ter avoid m' mother haulin me back in, so I reckon I'll be a Raider fer a little while yet.” She smiled, but it was a sharp-edged thing. “I did make it north though, there's a big cave but if yer can get inside there's strange colourful rocks in th' winders, and images on th' roof o' strange hairless things... or well, they're like those dogs that 'av hair up 'ere,” she waved her paw over the top of her head, “but nothin' anywhere else... but they kinda look like monkeys.” She shrugged, it was hard to explain. “I reckon it'll freeze over ter next summer now though.” She admitted with some regret. She did plan on visiting again.

A clattering in the branches in the distance, the unfamiliar Whoop whooping of some sort of monkey had her eyes turned to the treetops, trying to catch any sign of movement. “How about you though? How's yer pack doin?”

“Speech”

Avacyn gave a curious little tip of her head as Deluge shared how her mother had pulled her back into the Raiders, at least for the time being. By the way it was said it felt as if the decision hadn't entirely been her choice, but it seemed like Deluge was still in good spirits regardless. "Family can be hard to get away from," she admitted with a smirk. She was too duty bound herself to ever even consider leaving her family or abandoning the responsibility that had been placed on her as a pup, but she had to admit that if it had been an option striking out on her own with Saracyn when their relationship began to develop would have made things far easier. Perhaps one day when they were older and the mantle of Matriarch was no longer hers to hold it could be something she'd let herself ponder.

She listened with interest while Deluge gave her the details about another leg of her journey that had taken her further north to a cave with odd paintings of primate-like creatures that only had fur on the top of their heads. It made her head tip again as her brow creased with thought as she tried to imagine the image that Deluge was attempting to describe. Whatever that creature was it sounded very strange indeed. Now Avacyn wanted to see this strange cave for herself, but she imagined Deluge was probably right–it was pretty difficult to get much of anywhere up north in the colder months. "If you feel like playing tour guide come summer and don't mind me tagging along I'd love to see that cave," she admitted. "I've never heard of a place like that so it'd be a new experience for sure."

Her ears perked at the sounds coming from the trees above them, her dark gaze being drawn upward for a moment as well as they continued to move through the foliage and take in more of this tropical island. Her attention returned to Deluge as she asked about her and Elysium. "We've been doing well," she replied easily. Things for her personally had been turbulent, to say the least, for a period of time, but even that had seemed to find a kind of resolution and she was finding more and more to look forward to in the future. "Things have been quiet, which I suppose I should be grateful for. There's new pups being born so the pack is growing and I'm finally filling some of my more important ranks. I think the only thing I'm still trying to figure out is how to motivate my wolves to train and work on their skills. It's not like I'm going to be sending them to war, but I'd like for them to be prepared in case the fight ever comes to us."

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Deluge's tail waved at the invitation to play tour guide come the summer, “'S a date,” she promised with an easy smile on her face, certain that by the time summer rolled around she would be well and truly free of her mother one way or another.

She nodded along as her companion went on to explain how things had been going at home and the mention of pups bought an uncertain dread to the pit of her stomach. They were getting close to the time of year she could be expecting more siblings, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about the prospect of that, but she kept it from showing on her face. Ranks filling was an achievement for any leader. As for motivation, “I could always talk ter dad about comin' 'round fer a visit? Reckon we could sweeten th' deal a bit too, throw in a barrel o' booze fer th' winnin' side?” She offered casually. If an impending raid wasn't motivation, she wasn't sure what would be. While the Raider's preference was always chaos and not necessarily bloodshed, they would match energy and she knew some people didn't like a fight without a bit of blood involved, so she wouldn't make a promise on the behalf of others.

“Speech”

Avacyn turned her attention toward her pink-marked acquaintance as Deluge offered the possibility talking to her father about them coming around for a "visit." It was easy to read between the lines and know that she meant to bring the Raiders around to do what they did best. She chuckled at the addition of a barrel of booze as the prize for the winning side and she hummed with thought at the idea. She and Saracyn had already discussed the possibility of planning a practice raid with one of their allies, but she supposed that it would be silly to turn down the option of having someone so willing to fill that role come to their doorstep. "If you and your father are so inclined..." she finally replied with a small smirk. "One condition–give me a bit of time since we'll have so many new borns running around for the next season or two. Winter or Spring, your choice. Then I'll throw in a dinner for the winning side as well." Since they resided much further north than the Raiders perhaps their familiarity with the cold would give them some sort of advantage, but only time would tell if they decided to visit sooner rather than later. She grinned and added, "I'll be looking forward to seeing you," before she turned to head back to Elysium. She'd have to give Saracyn a heads up so he could begin putting the pressure on their fighters–though perhaps she'd keep the why as a surprise for everyone else.

"Avacyn Mendacium"