It was getting to be about time that she'd returned to her family. Nearly an entire year of exploring, and what had she found? It certainly wasn't herself. If anything else she'd grown more suspicious, more cynical, in her time alone. Nirvana had been left too much time to think. Left alone with her thoughts... it was a dangerous game. Dangerous, but it had set her resolve into place even more firmly. The ooze had been... an experience. One she wouldn't speak of, but also one she wouldn't soon forget. The scars would be lasting. That was nothing to think about now, though. Those scars would join the others that would come as her life wore on. So it goes. As always, so it goes. Really, she'd meant to return to Manea at the start of the summer, but it hadn't been with any plan or urgency. If she found the band on their travels, she found them. If she didn't, well, then there was that. The girl would make sure that she was with family in time for her second birthday, and that was all that mattered. She'd worked her way up from the south, trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to escape the dog days of summer. The heat was becoming oppressive in the lands farther to the south. It was to the northeast that she caught her aunt's scent on the wind. What she found, well, that was a bit of a surprise. Though Nirvana wasn't really sure why it surprised her. Maybe a bit of delight, too, as she realized-- they'd claimed packlands. Two of them. What a sight. She let go a long whistle, peering out over the rock garden, and the island on from there. Holy shit. Her aunt had hit it big. Congratulations were in order. Still, she was tired, and the midday sun was making her even more tired. In the shade of one of the sturdier looking rocks, Nirvana stretched out and lay her head on her paws. Wouldn't be a bad spot for a nap, even if she was technically trespassing.

Returning to pack life had taken a bit of adjusting for Alastor to get used to. He hadn't been in a proper pack for almost four years now. The rigidity of schedules, duties, tasks... it was all so mundane and boring. But he made due for Manea. He knew it made her happy, and he did quite enjoy the sense of power he got with being alpha male, the title he'd been promised to have by his treacherous ex fiancee, fulfilled by his soulmate and wife. The great black dire wolf had been out amongst the wild lands, investigating the pack due just south of them. He remembered the alpha of Abaven from the pack challenge, where she'd made her allegiance to the seditious pirate bitch well and truly known. As far as he was concerned, Abaven was an enemy of theirs—though whether Manea saw it that way to make it official or not was her own business. Apparently they had rebranded themselves as an educational institute, but that didn't give him any sort of false securities. All he knew was that he didn't trust the dark-furred bitch to their southern borders any more than he trusted the tawny pirate cunt.

Plodding up through the balm of the hot summer day, Alastor stepped carefree past his own scent markers at the border of the garden of stones—only to pause when he caught the scent of someone not from Elysium in the air. He froze, paw held aloft mid-step, and turned to follow the scent. It was vaguely familiar, and yet not one he knew well enough to place right away. But they were close, whoever they were. Dark obsidian eyes narrowed to deadly points as he followed the scent, prowling almost silently like a shadow through the large stones and boulders. He was on the hunt now. And just round a rock he saw his prey. She was a smaller wolf, dark-furred like him, stitched out and appeared to be fast asleep. A trespasser so bold as to nap on pack lands? She either had balls of steel or no brains at all. Well, he'd just have to be sure to crack that skull open and find out for himself.

Lips pulling silently back from lethal pearled fangs, Alastor crept up towards the girl. Just as he got within striking distance and ready to go in for the kill, Alastor suddenly realized why her scent smelled familiar. He saw the flashes of purple on the woman's tail, and memories from a year ago flashed in his demented brain. He saw her as a pup in the cave to the north after he'd met Manea. This was Manea's niece. All the aggression left Alastor's body in an instant, and his rigid muscles relaxed while he stood and finished his approach towards her much more casually. "You know, it's not a bright idea to go snoozing on a pack's territory," he called out to her, his trademark wide toothy smile on his face while he sat down near the young girl in the shade of the rock. "Hello, Nirvana. Remember me?"

"Alastor Mendacium"

Balls of steel, what an excellent way to put it. Nirvana didn't care for the trappings of politics, or really any other trappings at all. Freedom... tightly clutched to her breast. It wasn't much, but it was all she had. No, that wasn't quite true. She had her freedom, she had her name, she had her mother's blood as it ran through her veins. It was enough. She had the drive. That was enough too. Confident in who she is, and who she's going to be. The girl, shit nearly a woman now, could rest on her confidence and sense of self. There was no need to impress anyone. Sleep had come easier here than it had anywhere else. Just over the boundary of packlands, she could be confident that she was safe here. It was a promise that came really nowhere else. The nap was restful, and her batteries were allowed to recharge in the sunlight. Damn, some kind of plant or something. Nirvana could be pleased with that. She didn't catch Alastor's scent on the wind, or hear his steps-- he'd been a silent predator. But her eyes peeled open to his voice, ultraviolet gaze dancing across his face. It had been a long time since they'd seen each other, but it was true they were family all the same. Nirvana climbed to her feet in a singular, fluid motion. A rakish grin drew across her face as she stretched the sleep from her muscles. "Maybe not, but it worked out this time." The girl's gaze glimmered with mischief, maybe a bit of a contrarian streak. A girl can have her follies, after all. "Uncle Alastor, how could I forget? It seems that congratulations are in order," she gestured broadly with her muzzle. There was comfort in him appearing as he did, here. Though he hadn't been a part of her life long before she departed, he was important to Manea. To see that he'd made it through the long night in one piece... it was good. Her beloved aunt couldn't be too worse for wear either, if she'd taken the lead of a pack. She settles to a comfortable seat by his side in the shade, glad to be in the company of family at long last.

A rumble of chuckling laughter echoed deep in the dire brute's chest while his niece-in-law quipped back with all the sarcasm he expected from someone of Manea's blood. Nirvana remembered him; that was a good start. How long had it been since he'd last seen her? A year? Two? No, she didn't seem to have quite hit adulthood yet, but she wasn't far off. What had the girl been up to since she went off about on her own? At the very least he was happy to see she had survived the Long Night. Manea would no doubt be ecstatic to see her niece alive and well once more! Nirvana mentioned congratulations being in order as she rose to sit beside him, both wolves gazing out over the expanse of field dotted by large rocks and boulders—and just off the coast in the distance, Alias Island, the jewel of Elysium.

"They are, but not for me," replied Alastor with a beaming grin that to anyone besides a Mendacium would no doubt be read as intimidating and unsettling. Those that knew Alastor knew the demons that plagued his fractured mind never threatened them, however. Nirvana was one of those wolves. "Your aunt put a tremendous amount of work into making her dream a reality. A lot of time, blood, sweat, and tears went into building her pack. Oh, and a bit of semen too." He grinned and nudged Nirvana's shoulder with his own. "You have cousins now. Our little ones, Avacyn and Saracyn. Although I suppose they aren't very little anymore, since they'll be yearlings in less than half a season." Gods, how the time flew by! His two little blessings, both hitting their first birthdays...

Alastor turned obsidian black eyes back to his niece with an appraising look. She didn't look too worse for wear, given the world had nearly ended just a season ago. "Manea is going to be overjoyed to see you're all right, Nirvana," he said, then tilted his head curiously. "What have you been up to since we saw you last? Couldn't have been too much trouble if you're still sitting here in one piece."

"Alastor Mendacium"

The boulders sprung up from the ground as if they'd been planted-- how strange. How genuinely strange. Still, it wasn't bad strange. Much like the Mendacium bloodline itself and everyone who shared it. Strange bunch, but not bad strange. Well, not bad barring the... the genuine badness factor. There were also questions like is bad always evil? but maybe that's a bit philosophical for the girl. She's still trapped somewhere between being a girl and being a woman, a confusing spot to be in. A spot that made her feel like she had her back up against the wall, fighting and clawing to get out. No matter. At Alastor's words, Nirvana let go a dry chuckle. "She didn't have to do it on her own, thanks to you and the rest of the family." It's all she'll say on the matter. Wait-- semen... ew, but the chuckle breaks into a bit of a giggle. She knocks her shoulder against her uncle's, her eyes catching a bit of light. Cousins... plural. Avacyn. Saracyn. Twins! What an incredible occasion, actually. Her tail couldn't help but thump a bit behind her in the grass, and she looked from the landscape spread before her to Alastor. "I want to meet them." It was a simple statement, but there was clear excitement in her features. Family. Family. There was nothing more important. "I'm glad that you made it through okay, too." There was a seriousness that hung over her words, that colored her gaze. The long night had aged her in ways that she couldn't even begin to describe. "I've been learning everything I can about the land, and I've been getting stronger too," really, Nirvana wanted to turn herself into something that both her mother and Manea would be proud of. There was no way to voice that though... she wasn't looking for affirmation. She didn't need anyone else to know her motivations. Nirvana wanted to be proud of herself too. It was hard to tell which would be the most difficult to please, in all of this. "I caught some bug that was going around, ended up with crystals growing through my joints, eventually passed though." There was no use dwelling on that. She'd nearly died. Nearly doesn't count. "Unfortunately it seems like trouble is in short supply lately," a grin, a wink. Maybe they had trouble for her here. Nirvana still didn't even know if she wanted to stay, but it would be nice to see everyone. "Children, the pack, is there anything that hasn't changed in the year I've been gone?" The question was maybe a bit rhetorical, but hell, maybe he had an answer for her.

Alastor had suspected that his cheeky comment about what Manea had put into founding her pack would earn some sort of reaction from the girl, and Nirvana's bewildered and confused grimace of disgust brought a bellowing chuckle from the dire brute, joining her own laugh with one of his own. He was all too happy to nudge her shoulder back with his, careful not to knock her over with his excessive size or bulk. Nirvana wanted to meet Avacyn and Saracyn. "And you will! They're just turning into young adults, so they'll need to get to know the rest of the family some more." There would be no doubt that she would meet her cousins as soon as she came into the pack proper. Avacyn and Saracyn were both such bold personalities, he didn't imagine either would avoid meeting their cousin—least of all not his little princess. She was just like her mother, that Avacyn...

Nirvana's genuineness brought a rare smile to Alastor's dark lips as he regarded the smaller woman with obsidian eyes. "I'm glad you made it through okay also, my dear," he replied. He knew how much Nirvana meant to Manea, especially in the wake of her sister's passing on her birthing bed. Knowing that her niece was alive and well would do wonders for his wife. She explained what she had been doing over the past year, to which Alastor nodded his head. "Your aunt and I have been doing much of the same. We had our twins, then began scouting lands suitable to build the pack. We made connections with a couple packs, started a few scraps here and there. Gathered the other roving Mendaciums about." Really, the last year had been spent in nonstop preparation for the achievement of Manea's ambitious goals. Alastor still found it hard to grasp the notion that he was a father and a leader of any actual substance now, and not just some manic wolf having a good time at someone else's expense or misfortune.

The next thing Nirvana said made the smile slowly slip from Alastor's features. She had caught the mysterious illness during the Long Night as well. "Avacyn and I contracted it as well," he said, dark eyes growing distant as haunting memories returned to him of fireflies and glowing ooze. "She began to sprout mushrooms. I was vomiting up glowing... I don't even really know what it was. Manea and Saracyn thankfully were fine, and we both got through our sickness unscathed." The prospect of Nirvana seeking out trouble brought a wide, toothy grin from a mischievous looking Alastor, who turned that grin towards his niece-in-law. "Now you're speaking my language!" he laughed. "We've had a lot of changes, yes, but you know what hasn't changed much?" He smirked and leaned in closer to the girl, as if going to tell her a secret, and added, "The family." Once Nirvana saw Manea, Poe, Naraca again, it would feel like old times for the Mendacium clan.

"Alastor Mendacium"