Being free from the pull of a pack was a strange feeling for Ara. For years now she had called Fiori home - even when she'd briefly drifted away from the group, she always found her way back to it, finding comfort in the familiar terrain. Those lands were laden with memories; it was a place where she had once found safety and comfort for her wife and sons, but now that both they and the pack were gone, nothing held her there any longer. She'd found comfort in Athena lately, a quiet agreement between the two of them to travel together and eventually find somewhere to settle down.
It was a companionship she appreciated, one with no demands and with no expectations - and one she found herself grasping on to more strongly than she'd expected to. Neither of them seemed like wolves that were good at being alone, and the life of a rogue was not something she was meant to settle for. At least if they could settle somewhere, she might feel like a semblance of her formal self.. might feel like someone useful, someone who could contribute, rather than a ghost drifting on the wind. Finding a pack to call home, together, seemed like a natural progression of things. They'd both gone through too much to pretend that either of them could be alone any longer.
Ara slipped away from the nook that she and Athena had been nestled in, finding comfort in the quiet solitude of early morning. Though she'd gotten used to traveling with another, she still enjoyed those brief moments of respite away from her companion from time to time. It was easy to find herself lost in her own thoughts then, wrestling with doubts and fears that had plagued her since her wife and sons had disappeared. Her wife, she hoped, was home in Ahlon by now - perhaps there were family there she needed to tend to. It was increasingly harder by the year to convince herself that Novel would ever return to her, and while she didn't worry so much that her mate had found someone else - if she had, she only hoped that she was happy and cared for - but instead she worried something terrible had happened to her. Perhaps she might never know, but it didn't stop her from considering the possibilities regardless.
She was so deep in her own mind that a familiar scent almost went ignored by her. Occasionally she saw a glimpse of something she thought she might remember, or caught a scent trail that reminded her of her family; upon further inspection she always noticed it was jut a trick of the mind, so it was hard to give such signs much thought. But as she slipped through the rows of trees, navigating through the dense morning fog slowly, the scent grew stronger, and she wondered if she wasn't imagining things after all.
Once she placed the scent to Hymn she felt her heart lurch in her chest. Was it - could it be? Ara had never worried for her sons quite as much for her mate - they'd always been restless souls, wanderers deep down, though they always found her after their travels. But itd been so long that she'd nearly given up hope of seeing them again, and she felt hot tears burn her eyes as she caught hold of the scent and followed it. As soon as she saw Hymn, she swore she felt a sob wrack her chest, rushing forward to wrap her neck around his in a tight embrace. "Hymn, is it really you?" Her head was spinning, and she had to pull back to get a better look at him to make sure she hadn't finally lost her mind.
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