Walk | Talk | Think Rune had taken very little convincing to do as his sister Maia had suggested and gone to see the pack that his aunt had secured for herself. And thankfully his family had been just as quick to agree to it too. They followed close, all three children curious and watchful within his sight and his mate close by. He glanced at her occasionally, wishing he could offer her the smiles that he had started their journey out with. Truth be told, they would have still been present had his sister not pulled him aside to tell him of their brother. He was still trying to wrap his mind around it all. Vixe was dead. He had been north this whole time, had joined Glaciem before the war with Valhalla had broken out, and somewhere during that mess he had died at the hands of a Valhallan wolf. The thought churned Rune's stomach uncomfortably and left a bitter taste in his mouth. Valhalla. He had actually been one of them for a time. Hell, for all he knew, he could have met his brother's killer and never been any wiser. It made him sick to think that he had once tried to make friends with them, that they could have shown him such hospitality while they took his brother's life. As they were nearing on the border now, he tried to set the thoughts of his brother's murder from his mind, drawing in a steadying breath that clearly carried the border marking for the pack. He stopped short, brows drawn together, and spoke to his family. "This must be it. Covari." From the border it hardly appeared as strange as Maia had made it sound, but he supposed there was plenty still hidden from view. Family or not, how did his aunt deal with trespassers? He was in no way eager to find out. The pale grey wolf called aloud to the wolves within, his aunt in particular, hoping that she might be the one to tell his family about the pack while giving him time to catch up with her. And as he quieted he sat, turning to Alamea and finally managing to conjure up a smile for her that he hoped might assure her he had not changed his mind somewhere along the way to the pack's border. OOC: Gonna set this before the challenge for Val, that way Aunt Vi can show. c:

[iThey are here.[/i]]Her brothers call would not go unnoticed. She would push herself to her feet, anxious to greet her brother and his family. It had taken sometime, but in the end, they had all agreed to join Covari. While she was overjoyed, she was a little nervous to see her brother again. She was far along enough in her pregnancy to be showing. Her narrow sides had rounded and filled out, her back slowly beginning to sway under the added weight. But nevertheless, the woman would move as fast as she could towards her brother, long limbs carried her at a trot. It would take her a few minutes to find them, but as soon as her verdant gaze would settle she would smile. They don't want to be here! Her tail would wag as she came to a walk just before the border. "Its so good to see you all again." She would step towards Rune, aiming to press her face into the side of his neck. She would offer a smile to Alamea, she still wasn't sure of her standings with the woman, and didn't want in invade her space if it was unwelcome. Her gaze would drift over the children, smiling at each and offering a gentle "Hello." Her gaze would return to her brothers, excitement written all over her face. They hate you! The voices continued to assault her mind, screeching in protest. She always tried her hardest, but sometimes they were impossible to ignore. But nothing could drown out her happiness for seeing her brother again. Talk like this

So this was Covari. Warja's eyes roved over the place, taking in everything. The explorer in her wanted to see every inch of it. Find all the exciting and yes, dangerous, places and crawl inside. Almost immediately her eyes were drawn to the sad remains of the barn. Curiosity quipped, she almost forgot what she was doing and, out of habit, made a beeline for the structure. What could she say, she liked oddities. But no. There would be time for exploring later. Right now they needed to use their manners and get permission to investigate further. Once that was over with she'd be all over that barn like ugly on an ape. When Maia arrived Warja's head was twisted so far backward that she saw stars. Hulking oddities poking out of the snow had drawn her attention as she walked by and, unable to poke at them because of said manners, the youngling simply stared at them longingly. Soon. With much difficulty she turned her attention to her aunt. "It's good to see you too, Maia." Warja craned her neck to look over her aunt's shoulder. Was there something shiny poking out of the snow over there too? Oooh, there was, wasn't there? Warja shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts of adventuring. There were more important things to consider here. This land could very well be her home in a bit. The least she could do was pay attention. As much as it pained her to think about politics, she needed to place more importance on them in this instance. If Covari's politics were agreeable they could be easily accepted and set aside...and then she could go exploring. Speaking - -Thinking

Walk | Talk | Think

It had taken actually leaving the mountain for Eirik to feel a slight sense of loss over it. Neither parent had outright said it, but it felt as if this trip to visit his great aunt's pack was going to change things for them, and though life at Mount Volkan had been calm and overall uneventful it had been...comfortable. He had no complaints about his time there, even carried with him some memories that he planned to keep close - particularly one involving a leopard - and knew in the back of his mind that it was not gone from him entirely. It would be right where they left it.

He found as he traveled with his family that despite the little sense of homesickness he was actually quite excited for the trip as well. It helped having the whole of his family close, mother, father, sisters, so that really when he thought about it there was little he was leaving behind and so much more to gain. He had been much too young to understand just what he had been missing when he left Valhalla, trading pack life for life as a rogue, but the prospect of seeing how a pack was, appearance, structure, and otherwise intrigued him. And if he stuck around Warja enough he was sure to be introduced to even more interesting things that he had not even thought about.

In what felt like very little time, they were where their aunt had claimed her pack and his father was calling to let those within know they had visitors. A glance at his smallest sister told him easily enough that she was already scouting out the interesting parts of the place, and for a moment he even thought she might give way to curiosity and set off on her own. But she stayed, and good thing too. Maia arrived, looking...larger than he remembered, but she smiled and greeted them nicely so he smiled and nodded his head politely in response. It was nice to see a familiar face on their arrival. He hoped the rest of the visit, at least all the beginning formalities that required him to stick around, would go as well.

Alamea had not failed to notice Rune?s sullenness, after all it was in contrast with his mood when they had first set out, but the woman also knew her mate and wasn?t going to push for a reason. Offering instead her silent support for whatever it was that was on his mind. Their children trailed behind them, more or less silently. Every once and while she turned around to see if they were in fact all still there; it wouldn?t have surprised her if one of them had caught sight of something that intrigued them and wandered off to investigate. Luckily they all seemed inclined to follow rather than run off. Elliot was flying some distance behind them, not too happy to be up at this time of day but knowing it would be hard to try and track the small family when night rolled around. They seemed to be nearing the border a strong pack smell reaching her and Rune was beginning to slow. Her mate spoke and Alamea nodded, pressing into him for a moment, she was still a bit uncertain? But they had both agreed a pack would mean safety for the pups, and Rune?s family was here, by extension the pup?s family was here as well. As they waited for someone to meet Rune?s call Alamea shifted nervously. She felt a slight weight drop onto her back and claw its way up to between her shoulder blades where Elliot then nestled, leathery wings tucked to his side. It didn?t take too long for someone to show up, and the white woman was glad to see it was someone she recognized. A small smile spread across her features as Maia drew closer, she was still unsure about her but if she was Rune?s family then she couldn?t be all that bad. ?It is good to see you too.? Alamea offered in return, glancing quickly towards her mate then turning her attention to her children. Any doubts she had now she would press down, for better or for worse they were here. Alamea speech Elliot speech BG ? EssenceOfPerception on DA Flying Fox stock ? MadSDesignz on DA

Walk | Talk | Think With his children sticking close, Rune cast another glance at the little white wolf pressed against his side and had to do a double take upon noting the dark patch against her back. It was only her bat, the odd little companion who appeared determined to follow her around for whatever reason. He still thought the creature odd but could not deny his usefulness or willingness to help the wolf he had taken as his mate. The creature had already helped once during the chaotic, stormy night of their pups' birth, and that had been enough to earn him Rune's respect. Even if he still thought him weird. But his attention was eventually set ahead again, expectantly waiting, and through the territory came the familiar figure of his sister. He smiled the moment his icy blue eyes alighted on her, his tail wagging just faintly behind him, but as she drew nearer he could see that she had changed since he had last seen her. She was...bigger. Not as if she had put on weight, but as if... But that could not be right. She had said nothing about finding herself a mate when they had talked, had never mentioned anything about even having found a male that she fancied. If she had found the time to tell him about Vixe surely she could have told him that. How could she possibly be pregnant? The smile about his face slowly smoothed, and his brow began to furrow in the middle. What exactly was he missing? Either she did not notice that her new condition was throwing him for a loop or she did not care. Maia approached with a wag in her tail and a smile upon her lips, stepping close to greet him with a nuzzle as if nothing was at all the matter. Rune stood a little rigidly, still staring at her with his confused, dumbstruck expression even as she pressed her face against his neck. Well, at least he could not say that pregnancy had changed her any. If only he had been given a little warning! It might have been nice to see her too, and he might have had the sense to say as much if he had not been taken off guard, but it took a considerable amount of brain power just to stammer out a single question, the one that seemed the most important and in need of clarification, even though he was already certain without a doubt. "Maia... Are...are you..?"

All of her nieces and nephew would greet her eagerly and pleasantly, along with Alamea. But something was wrong with Rune. His body had tensed, and he didn't return her embrace. She would pull back with a frown, her brows furrowing in confusion. And then came the question. Her gaze would drop for a moment before she peered back up at him. "Interesting story, but yes." A faint smirk tugged at her features as she would step away from him. Her gaze would flicker of him and his family. "I'm happy you guys decided to join. Vi is around her somewhere." Her words were soft and friend, though she didn't hold Runes gaze for more than a few seconds each time she looked in his direction. He hates you. Voices would hiss to ear, snarls echoing in her skull. She hoped that Vi would arrive shortly, she felt so awkward standing in front of her brothers confused gaze. Haunches reclined towards the earth as she settled into wait. Her gaze would shift down to her nieces and nephew, a small smile gracing her features. "If its ok with your mom and dad, you guys can explore a bit, Vi won't mind, but don't go to far." She could only imagine how impatient they were to go and explore their new home. Talk like this

What? This aunt who she barely knew was pregnant? Maia suddenly had Warja's full attention. Paws down, pregnancy was the oddest mystery the pup had ever considered. How did that even happen? Did Maia just decide one day that she wanted puppies and whooop! TADA! PREGNANCY! There's no way it could be that simple. Her eyes narrowed. Or maybe it was. The world was made up of all kinds of simple, yet magnificently complicated processes. In any case, having pups wasn't high up on Warja's to-do list, so she didn't have to do much considering. The conversation quickly turned back to why they were there and as it was mentioned that they were joining, Warja's eyebrows went up and her eyes darted to her father's face. They weren't joining this very minute, were they? It wasn't that she was opposed to joining, she just hadn't decided that's what she wanted to do yet. There was so much to consider still! She had so many questions that had to be answered first! Almost in the same breath, Maia gave them permission to explore and Warja's mind immediately snapped out of question mode. Her eyes flicked between her parents' faces. Could she? If they gave her permission she'd be gone in a flash, heading for the sunset or whatever caught her eye at the speed of light. Speaking - -Thinking

Walk | Talk | Think

A quick glance at his father turned into a double take, and he knew after a few seconds that something was up. And it all stemmed around Maia. Aunt Maia. It was because she had grown, right? He continued to peer between the two, watching their exchange with puzzled rosy eyes and said nothing despite his confusion. Oh well. Likely it had nothing to do with him, and really Eirik did not care to get caught up in whatever his new aunt had gotten into. There was a good chance he would not like it. But it was rather entertaining to see the way his father reacted, almost catatonic with surprise. Maybe whatever they were talking about so cryptically was actually more interesting than he had thought.

More was said that was even more interesting, and as he heard the statement and fidgeted a little in his seated position the pale grey boy had to stop himself from yelling out, I knew it! Had he not sensed as they left that something big was coming from them leaving the mountain, something that meant things were changing for them? They were joining their great aunt's pack, this place called Covari, and suddenly as he turned his pink eyes on their surroundings it was as if he was seeing it all for the first time. Was this home? Could it be home? He really would have to explore in order to decide.

And it seemed as if he was going to get that chance before he knew it. And ear turned and flicked absently toward Maia as she spoke to him and his sisters, in a sense setting them free from the tiresome, tedious formalities. Brows raising, ears perking, in surprise and anticipation, he finally turned his attention wholly upon his aunt to check that he had heard right and then set his gaze on his parents with a sidelong glance at his siblings. Could they really go?