The air was heavy with steam from the springs, creating an atmosphere thick and humid. The vibrant green foliage that spilled towards the steaming pools grew vigorously in such ideal conditions and shaded the pools from direct sunlight. An idyllic place for a band of wolves to reside, and Larisa knew this; she had tracked the familiar scent of her family here.

Larisa had stayed put for some time following Manea's rise to the position of matriarch, but had eventually needed her own space to work through feelings of resentment and disappointment at having ceded power to her niece. She had never intended to permanently leave, and her loyalty to the Mendacium family meant she would always return to support her blood how she could. During her period of absence she found ways to repress her anger and replace it without outward calm and apathy. Although deep-seated feelings of ill-will towards her niece remained, her commitment to the pack outweighed her ambitions for herself, and thus she felt she was ready again to return to the fold and submit.

Larisa settled herself on the rocky edge of one of the pools, and dipped one of her paws into the water. She delighted at the feeling of heat on her skin, and melted her body to the warmth of the stone edge. Although she knew she should stay wary for the certain approach of wolves, she could not help but shut her eyes and relax instead. This was family, after all....

Manea was beginning to finish packing up the few things they had spread out through the dens that had been abandoned around the hot springs so that she and her band could begin the trek further down to Auster. Avacyn had been lending her a paw here and there when she wasn't being drug into some adventure with her brother—usually at the paws of Naráca. She tossed the last of the furs onto the cart and stood back with a sigh. She was ready for the day that they would no longer need to travel, for when they could finally settle into the home she dreamed of as a pack, but that day wasn't here yet. One day soon, she hoped, but not now.

With most of her work done and her children off training with their father, she moved toward the springs themselves to relax for a bit and take advantage of the springs while she had them. Since the Hot Springs were not theirs to own, only to borrow, it certainly wasn't the first time she had caught the scent of a stranger by the pool—but it was the first time it was someone she recognized. It made her pause, her aqua gaze scanning through the mist to confirm that she wasn't imagining things. Certainly enough, her eyes landed on the grayed form of her aunt and a little twitch of a smile pulled at her lips and a chuckle escaped her. Of all the wolves in their family she thought she might reunite with, she certainly hadn't thought that Larisa would be one of them.

She stepped around the edge of the pools and made her way around to where her aunt was resting, settling down near her with a contented sigh. "Such a lovely place to relax, isn't it?" she asked nonchalantly, eyeing Larisa curiously. One of her large paws swayed through the water absent mindedly and she raised a brow at her aunt. "Have you decided to rejoin us then?" she asked, "Or are you just passing through?" Her aunt's resentment was no secret so she wouldn't have been surprised if Larisa's answer was the latter, but she would let her aunt speak for herself before she jumped to conclusions.

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

The sound of paw-falls brought Larisa out of her reverie. She opened one eye to gaze at her intruder, and looked up to see none other than her niece, Manea. Her eyes narrowed but she returned the grin, and righted herself so that she was supine. Manea looked mostly the same as she had before Larisa had yet, but the stresses of leadership leave none untouched, and she looked and older and wiser than before. Still, she seemed strong and in control. Larisa's lips twitched. "It is, it is, a fine place to relax" she replied, stretching her forelimbs to displace her irritation. She caught Manea's eye, and spied the raised brow. She braced herself for a quip, but willed herself not to bite back. Now was not the time, and there was no need to anyway - she had overcome those feelings.
    "Just passing through? Ah, you have no faith in me, niece," she said with a wink and a grin. "No, I have come back to rejoin the family - not that I left, really, in the first place." She looked away, gazing at the clearing, thinking of her next words. "It was merely a...brief sojourn in a distant land, is all." She stood up and shook out her coat, although it was so damp with steam that merely clumped again. She looked back to Manea. "My question is, will you accept me back? After all, that responsibility falls on your shoulders now."

Manea chuckled as Larisa spoke of having no faith in her at the mention of her just passing through, her tail brushing across the ground as it came to curl around her hip. Age was certainly starting to show on her aunt's features and there was a small part of her in the back of her mind that wondered what state her mother was in these days. Was she still alive out there somewhere? Was she still with that man that had tempted her away and stolen her from their lives? She shoved the brief thought away as Larisa surprised her by going on and saying how she was indeed here to rejoin their family and how she had never really left—only temporarily stayed away from them. She scoffed softly at that, but she didn't comment. They had all scattered to the wind in one way or another after her mother's exile so she couldn't necessarily blame Larisa for spending time away from them, but when Poe and Naráca didn't have any information on their mother when they reappeared in her life she had written Larisa off as going off on her own for good. Apparently she had thought wrong.

She watched Larisa stand, considering her for a moment as she was asked if she would accept her aunt back with a mention of how that responsibility fell on her shoulders now. Manea smirked and rolled to her feet as well, replying, "That it does." For a brief moment she considered denying Larisa's request. After all, would it ever benefit her to have someone who doubted her and held a long simmering resentment against her among her ranks? Would it be better to cut out the poison before it began to spread? But in the end she knew that if they were going to continue to rebuild their family they would need every piece of it they could find. "If you truly want to return then I will not stop you," she replied after a moment, thinking of Poe and Naráca more than herself in that moment. She was sure her cousins would have some strong words for her at the very least if she had denied entry of their mother to her band.

"My mate and I have accumulated a band of wolves and we will be traveling to the southern continent at the turn of the season," she informed her aunt, giving a small nod of her head back toward their camp. "Poe and Naráca have been traveling with us along with Antonia's daughter Imperia. You have a niece and nephew to meet as well." There was a pause as Manea looked at her aunt with a calculating look before she added, "I hope that we can put the past behind us, Larisa." Perhaps if this meeting had happened earlier in her journey, before she found Alastor and had her children, she might have reacted more rashly, but having a family of her own beyond her more distant relatives and siblings had certainly put things into perspective.

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Larisa watched as Manea stood, and had to crane her neck upwards to face her at full height. Larisa was quite short as far as her family was concerned, and her niece had grown to be quite tall. Although strength & size did not a leader make, it definitely made for an intimidating proposition, and Larisa could not help but step back slightly from Manea, if only to make it more comfortable to look up at her. She flicked her tail uncomfortably at Manea's pause, and for the first time it occurred to her that her request could be denied, and she could be turned away. For all that had happened, Larisa still assumed there would be a place for her on her return; although of course, times change and wolves change and leaving abruptly and without warning was not the best way of maintaining good faith with family.
    Manea's reply came as a relief, however, and Larisa felt her body relax. Although she was hardly being welcomed back joyously and with open arms, she had her place and a home again, and she could not help but wag her tail at the thought. Everything else could come later. Larisa half listened to what Manea was saying regarding their plans, but at the mention of her children's names she perked her ears and tensed up. Although she had kept such things from her mind while she was gone, she could not help but wonder where they had gotten to while they had been separated. She had raised them to be ambitious and industrious, and although she was not maternal and nurturing with them, she was proud of them and expected big things. Larisa wondered if she would be pleased or disappointed on their reunion. However, before she could process her feelings of her children, Manea gave her news of her own. A niece and nephew.... Things had definitely changed since she had left, and she felt an uncharacteristic pang at the thought of all she had missed. Maybe these were the sorts of things you suddenly cared about in your later years. "Oh," she said dumbly, at all the news, but recovered herself to continue, "The family is growing then. This is good news, a chance to rebuild. I like forward to seeing them, and...all the others, too."
    Larisa nodded at Manea's final remark. "Yes, I hope so," she said in response, but knew that just saying it did not mean anything. She knew she would have to prove herself to Manea, and to herself, that she could move on from the past and embrace her new role in the family. Maybe it would be easier said than done, maybe she would rise above, or maybe it would all end in disaster. Tearing herself away from these thoughts, she looked to the next steps. "When do you plan to move to the south? Is there some way I can help?" There - step one to reconciliation.

Manea was always curious to see her family's reaction to the news of her children when they found out for the first time about the twins. There had been a bit of mixed feelings or distrust at first from some until they actually saw the twins and saw their glowing markings that they shared. She understood the disbelief and the criticism she opened herself up to in making the call on her own as the Matriarch for the validity of her twins in fact being twins, but it was incredibly hard to deny once they were actually presented with the evidence and any concerns had been quelled pretty quickly. Larisa luckily didn't say anything of the sort and Manea smiled softly as she spoke of how she was looking forward to seeing them as well as the others. She was even more pleased when Larisa easily agreed to the idea of leaving the past in the past, though they both new only actions could truly back up those words.

As the attention was turned to the quickly approaching move Manea nodded in agreement to the offer of help. "Of course," she agreed easily, smiling a bit more easily. "I'll take all the help I can get when it comes to this move. I'm hoping to start heading out in a few days, but it will depend on how quickly we prepare. The hunting was pretty scarce for a bit because of a strange illness that a lot of the animals around here had contracted, but it's since cleared out so I've been working on replenishing our store of cured meats for the trip." She gave a nod toward the campsite she had walked away from and beckoned Larisa to follow, bringing her over to the cart they had been using to transport most of their supplies. There were a few bags that some of them had been carrying separately with smaller items like basic herbs and the like, but the furs, meats, and larger items they had collected along the way all went onto this cart. "Any help you can give with hunting or gathering food items would be appreciated. Or perhaps if you have a better way or organize this stuff to make it a bit easier to travel with... I'm all ears."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Larisa followed Manea away from the hot pools towards the campsite. "Yes, I also had some difficulty with prey not long ago, although feeding one is easier than many. Things seem to have returned to normal now, though. It should not be too difficult, if you have good hunters." As Larisa finished, they drew up to the cart, and they inspected its contents. "Ah, I need not have said anything," she remarked, as she saw that they had indeed been busy. The smell of meat drifted down and made her mouth water, and they were well stocked with furs for bedding. Strewn about the cart were other numerous bags and items, but Larisa could see that the main bulk of the band's belongings were loaded for easier transport. To Larisa, the cart seemed bulky and heaped haphazardly, and it seemed like it would be difficult to move around...but perhaps she was being too picky, for the sake of it. "I think- that...it looks ok to me." Despite Manea's invitation to provide advice, Larisa felt it was too early now to step on any toes, and bit her tongue before she could say what she really thought. "I can help in building up food stores. I have not hunted with a pack for some time now, but I can be of assistance, if there is one planned soon. How much more you can carry and how much you need, I do not know; but I'm sure you have some sort of a plan." Larisa felt pleased with her offer, even if it was delivered with a hint of passive-aggression. She felt purposeful again, to be ensuring the developing strength of her family, even if it was from an altered position.