The trip to one of their closest neighboring packs had truly been long over due, but at times it was difficult to step away from her family and pack even long enough to go across a couple of territories for a brief meeting. With her daughter's birth, the festival, the arrival of Ikigai and her brother, the departure of her other brother and his mate, her son's injury... If it wasn't one thing it was another. However, she needed to go south to speak with Chimera on a few different matters so she figured that now was the perfect opportunity to stop by Habari and finally introduce herself properly.

It was the first time that she was traveling alone since she and Alastor became mates, but with Saracyn still on the mend she wanted him to stay home with their family just in case and instead set out on her own to make the trip to Habari and then to Fenmyre. It was a bit later in the day than she would have normally begun a trip like this, but with the strangely violent storms they had been having she had to wait till it passed before she could head out and that put her leaving the pack in the late afternoon. The sun was still high enough to have a good amount of light by the time she reached Habari, but it would likely be below the horizon within the next hour or two.

Manea stopped at the edge of Habari's territory, peering past the border at the mountainous, volcanic land beyond. It was an interesting choice for a pack to keep as one of their lands and it made her curious about the reason behind living in such a place, but she wasn't here to question their choice of home. She lifted her head and let out a call for their alpha before settling back on her haunches to wait with her tail curled neatly over her paws.

"Manea Mendacium"

Recluse Ithuriel-Klein Recluse wasn't getting any sleep this day anyways, Eraithus and her pups were doing their damndest to show her how it was done but she just couldn't seem to stop her brain from running with some anxiety about the saftey of her family and so while maybe she'd managed a few fitful minutes of sleep here and there, maybe even an hour she wasn't really getting anything restful. The call rose up and the woman sighed, jostling Lilith who wasn't sleeping but rather soaking up the warmth of the stone as the sun was creeping closer and closer to the horizon. The viper moved up to her usual place draped on Recluse's to help guide the woman through her light blindness. Luckily it seemed they wouldn't need to make their way to the nook, instead moving around the mountain and then towards it's base, Recluse did her best not to squint as a purple shape rose up towards them, Lilith hissing a better description of the woman that stood at her borders than what Recluse could see with her own eyes, at least right now. "Hello." Recluse called out while she was still a little bit away, though close enough that her greeting wasn't left with an awkwardly long pause before she would speak again. "I am Recluse Klein, Habari's Seraphim. How may I be of assistance." There was a pack scent to the woman... A vauge familiarity... Oh? The woman her Pirate King had won her crown against? So the woman hadn't let her loss in the north stop her, well... That certainly got her attention, though she kept much of her musings hidden behind an easy diplomatic but not overly friendly mask. "Speech"

Art by Sirinsong

Manea waited patiently for her call to be answered and her gaze wandered over the landscape while she waited, drifting over the rocky landscape and the tree line that seemed to stop at the bottom of the mountain. Eventually the sound of paws moving over the pebble strewn surface made her ears perk and she turned her aqua eyes back toward the center of the territory and spotted a pale figure walking toward her. Her first attempt at securing power in these lands was far enough behind her now and far enough back in her memories that she no longer remembered every face that had been in that busy crowd, but this woman's unique appearance with her albino traits and the interesting, gray, vine-like markings did stand out in her memory. Luckily there was no significant pin point in those memories to sway her opinion of her one way or the other like there had been with Theory, but she at least made note of the fact that she had been present at the challenge at the very least.

Once the Habari alpha drew close enough to speak comfortably, Manea smiled softly and stood to greet her, dipping her head politely to the fellow alpha as Recluse introduced herself. She had vaguely known that there was a tie of some sort between Habari and Ashen, but once Recluse gave her name Manea was able to put those pieces together easily. "Recluse. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Manea Mendacium, I'm the Matriarch of Elysium. My pack is just north of here in the Rock Garden and Firefly Lake and since you're our closest neighbor now that Abaven is no more I figured it was high time I at least come introduce myself." She chuckled softly and settled back onto her haunches. "I apologize if I've bothered you in any way. I wouldn't usually come calling this late in the day, but these troublesome storms delayed my trip a bit. I'm just on my way to visit Chimera and Venom so I didn't want to miss the opportunity to stop by here as well."

"Manea Mendacium"

Recluse Ithuriel-Klein Recluse did her best to keep her gaze fixed on the fuzzy shape of the purple woman, even though they desperately screamed to close and let her sleep, she knew it wouldn't be coming, even if they ached. She listened as the woman spoke, as so that's where they'd settled then. Recluse nodded as Manea spoke, sliding the name away for the future, and couldn't help but chuckle slightly as she apologized for how late in the day it was, the albino woman shaking her head. "I actually tend to be nocturnal." She spoke lightly, an amused tone to her words. "I was awake early today however so no harm done." Recluse adjusted herself slightly, letting herself recline onto her haunches. "I apologize myself for not making contact before this moment, I have pups and handle Habari largely on my own, as you can imagine it leaves me with little time to make many journeys." It was true enough, she knew she'd largely be one of the less social alphas on Boreas, but it was true she had many things on her plate, not to mention on her mind right now. Recluse had clearly noted the mention of her cousin and half-brother. It was no surprise to her that Venom was a social butterfly but Chimera? She hadn't really known her half-brother to give much of a shit about anyone but himself... And their sister, but last she'd heard of either of them Chimera's behavior towards their sister hadn't exactly been what Recluse would have called... Acceptable. Violent maybe but she certainly had laid into him for his abuse. Beyond that, she knew little else, so it did surprise her somewhat to learn this woman had any sort of relationship with her half-brother to speak of. "Your visit is much appreciated, especially if you are already on friendly terms with my cousin and Chimera." No need to open the can of worms that was her fucked up family tree, and though she had no strong feelings about her half-brother not mentioning him would have been too conspicuous. "If there were any matters in particular you wished to discuss I am certainly open." It was an open statement, an easy lob of a ball back to Manea's court. The woman's relationship with her cousin, though not explicitly stated as friendly was enough so for Manea to "visit" so an easy assumption at least as far as Recluse saw it, but Recluse would only keep it in mind as they talked, she made no promises either way. "Speech"

Art by Sirinsong

Manea had never heard of someone being mostly nocturnal, but it did ease a bit of her worry over bothering the woman so late. It would be a good thing to remember if she ever decided to come calling on Recluse again. It was always hard to say how a new relationship was going to go, but as long as Recluse proved herself to be pleasant company then Manea didn't mind making a accommodations to make their meetings more favorable for her. "Well, in that case, I'm sorry for not coming later then," she joked lightly with a chuckle. Manea gave a wave of her paw to brush away the apology Recluse gave for not approaching her and her new pack earlier, citing the number of things that were keeping her attention currently. "Of course, don't worry about it. The only reason I'm able to make this trip now is because my mate is looking after our young daughter and my first litter is old enough now to help look after the pack in my absence. Trust me, I fully understand." It was difficult to be a mother and the alpha of a pack. She always had more respect for others that followed the same path as she did of having their family, tending to their children, while still pursuing the power and influence that they desired. It was one of the reasons why she had come to respect Venom so highly.

Manea smiled again and nodded as Recluse mentioned the appreciation for her visit and the tie she seemed to have with Venom and Chimera—confirming what she had thought about Recluse being in the same family as the other alphas. It certainly seemed like their family had quite the tendency to aspire to leadership and seemed to be doing it well. It made her wonder about the history of the family and where it all began, who was the first to tip the scales and set them on this path, but perhaps that was a conversation to have with Venom at some point. The Habari alpha opened the floor for her to bring up anything in particular she wished to discuss and Manea chuckled softly, replying, "I was mostly just interested in meeting you and introducing myself. There's a few packs in Boreas that I have yet to have interactions with and I like to know who my fellow alphas are. Like you, I don't often have time to step away from my pack so it felt like I should take advantage of the opportunity... While I'm here, I can at least give you a proper invitation to Elysium's festival. We tend to hold it in the later part of the fall, perhaps in the beginning of winter. You and your pack would be more than welcome. Perhaps it would give us a chance to get to know each other a bit better." Even though the connection Recluse had to one of her strongest allies did make her a prime candidate to request an alliance with as well, she didn't want to jump to any conclusions and liked to be more familiar with the wolves she offered such connections to. This was a good first meeting and hopefully it would be far from the last.

"Manea Mendacium"