Humbly Meriadoc approached Valhalla's borders again. If he was going to be staying in the West and routinely (hopefully!) visiting his siblings he needed to speak with their alpha. More than that, he needed to apologize to the woman. He still held some residual bitterness towards her and the treatment not only of his mother, who had literally given Valhalla her life, but of him and his siblings. Meriadoc couldn't deny that he wouldn't be who he was today without those events. Besides he owed her an explanation regardless of the feelings he'd had at the time. She had been his alpha at the time and he'd been old enough to make his own decisions so he needed to own the mistakes that had kept him away from home.

He stopped at the border and howled politely for Aurielle. In all honesty he wasn't looking forward to this conversation. Castigating oneself in front of a superior and then falling on their mercy was never a fun thing, but he thought it a necessary step to restoring good relations with Valahalla and its Queen. He would do this for his siblings, for his mother who likely would have insisted he use the manners she'd taught him, for the alpha he'd probably disappointed, and for himself because whether he liked it or not, his mother's teachings rang true here. It was the right thing to do.

Aurielle Adravendi

She’d been grabbing a drink at the stream when the call came. Cairo hadn’t had a chance to tell her about his brother’s return to Boreas. However, something in her recognized the voice. Regrets? Either way, she was swiftly a glowing white blur arrowing in toward the voice flat out. She only checked herself in the last stride, and that was to gather herself to fling the young man into a tight hug around the neck if he hadn’t stumbled back in surprise as the sudden appearance of his former alpha. Okay, so maybe she was more emotional this winter, but there was definitely a choked noise very close to a sob as she released the now grown man and stepped back to look at him. She drank in the sight of the man, reassuring herself that he wasn’t just a rather solid hallucination before naked relief raked a breath from her lungs. “I feel like I’ve failed you so very greatly… I’m so, so, so sorry, Geo.” The words were heartfelt, choked out as she looked at the marks his life had left on him. “Who did this?” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Meriadoc steeled his nerves the best he could while he waited. He wasn't sure what to expect. Disappointment from her, surely, but would she rage at him for the indiscretion? He had no idea what had happened once they'd decided he was lost. Had resources been wasted in a search? Had there been worrying? Knowing his family, his absence had not gone unnoticed and energy had been wasted on him in some way.

So color him surprised when Aurielle launched herself at him. She enveloped him in a hug before he could properly understand what was happening. Out of instinct he lifted a paw and threw it over her shoulder to return the gesture - which is what he would have done anyway had he not been taken by surprise. None of the scenarios he'd envisioned had played out this way. He started to recover only once she pulled away.

That recovery was immediately dashed when Aurielle launched into an apology. He stood with his mouth open totally at a loss for a response until she asked about his scars. Only then did his mouth close so he could swallow before stuttering a reply. "Uh...oh, s-slavers." Okay he could handle this question. "They tried to take me. Did this." He tapped his scarred forehead and gave a soft humorless smile. "But there are good wolves in every corner of the world, it seems. Saved me in the nick of time. Took care of me when they didn't have to."

He studied her face for a second, then offered, "But I should be the one apologizing. I didn't tell anyone where I was going or what I was doing." Technically he had made his intention to stay in Abaven for awhile clear, but seeing as that was part of a deception that he didn't know if Aurielle knew about, Meriadoc was going to omit that from the story for his siblings' sake. Just in case.