Since she had made the trip from the north west corner of Boreas where Elysium made their home to Auster in order to meet with Artorias, she figured she might as well use the opportunity to visit with the other packs that called Auster home. It was a very short trip for her to leave The Hallows and find herself at Ethne's borders. She knew from what her mother had told her that the alpha here was named Bellamy and her mom spoke favorably of her fellow alpha so Avacyn felt pretty confident coming to speak to her even though she had yet to meet her. She stopped at the border, not wanting to intrude or be impolite, and called for Bellamy or any other pack members that wished to greet her if the alpha herself wasn't available. She didn't come to Ethne with a particular agenda in mind the way she had Ashen or The Hallows, but she felt like it was still the right thing to do to introduce herself and get to know some of her fellow leaders. She settled down onto her haunches to wait patiently, peeking out over the lush Auster landscape in the meantime.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

There was a heaviness, a weight since Bellamy had lost Gavroche that had settled over the Leader of Ethne. But, at the same time, he was still here, wasn’t he? Bellamy hadn’t been able to believe it when she laid eyes on Lucette and Bae-Syl’s lastborn. He was… he was just like Gav. It only felt fitting that Lucy had named her in honor of her father. He even seemed to have the potential to grow wings, as wild as that was. It was a blessing in disguise. She knew rebirth could occur, if the Divinities felt a spirit deserved it, and surely there was none more deserving than her tiny mate, but… Gav wouldn’t hold any of his previous memories. He would be a new wolf, so to speak. That was a hard pill to swallow, but Bells needed to accept that her mate had passed on. That he was no longer in any pain. Still… the grizzly state of his body haunted her. How someone could do such a thing to her beloved… she would never know. A call sounded for her at the border and Bellamy rose from her resting place. Her paws were still healing so going far from the pack right now was difficult, but she was curious about the one calling for her. She did not recognize the owner of the voice yet, at the same time, the caller sounded a bit familiar. Perhaps the family of one of the wolves she’d already met? All the more reason to hurry along and meet with them, right? Bells would arrive at the borders to find a purple dame, though not one she recognized. Rather than Manea this wolfess was younger, but she stood with purpose. Manea’s heir, perhaps? She smelled of Manea’s pack, Elysium. Bellamy offered her a smile, dipping her head as she came to a stop and lowered her rear to the ground, hoping to encourage the other woman to get comfortable as well. “Welcome to Ethne. My name is Bellamy, the Leader of the pack. You are from Elysium, correct? Manea’s daughter, perhaps?” Bells was straight forward but polite in her asking of the question. Shame the girl had come during Auster’s winter. Auster would have looked much better in the continent’s spring. At least, for the moment, the snow had melted away. "Speech" 'Thought.'

Avacyn waited patiently at the border until a dark-coated woman emblazoned with white markings appeared from further within the territory. While she hadn't been the one to meet and speak with Ethne's leader previously, her mother had given her a description to follow in case their paths ever crossed. It just so happened that the crossing of paths was more intentional than perhaps Manea had originally envisioned. As Bellamy approached, Avacyn dipped her head politely to her fellow alpha, offering the older woman a smile. She waited until Bellamy settled onto her haunches before she did the same as she nodded in agreement to confirm Bellamy's assumption with a soft chuckle. "Yes, you guessed correctly. I'm Avacyn Mendacium. It's a pleasure to meet you, Bellamy."

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me. My mother spoke fondly of you so I wanted to make sure I came and introduced myself as well. I have recently taken the role of Matriarch for Elysium and I figured a change in leadership was big enough news to warrant a visit." A slightly amused smile pulled at her lips as she added, "And, before you ask, my mother is perfectly fine and healthy. She stepped down on her own accord to enjoy her retirement. Everyone that I've spoken to so far was concerned about what happened to her, so I wanted to go ahead and make sure that was covered."

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Bellamy’s hunch had been correct. The woman before her was Avacyn, Manea’s daughter. The Leader would dip her head in respect to the young Matriarch, a small smile touching her lips. [color= #fffeee]“A pleasure to meet you as well, Avacyn.”[/color] It had only been a matter of time before they crossed paths after all. But that did raise a question in Bellamy’s mind. Why was Avacyn here instead of her friend? Training, perhaps? Bellamy would draw in a breath, not wanting to jump to conclusions as she gave the younger woman a chance to speak. Ahh, so that was it! Manea had decided to retire and let her daughter take the reins. A small smile tugged at Bellamy’s lips. “I do appreciate you letting me know your mother is well, though I wouldn’t suspect her to be someone to easily be dethroned by anything other than her own choice.” The woman would curl her tail around her paws, her smile faltering. “I am sure you are capable as well, Avacyn, but I must ask that you be on your guard when you take your leave. A killer has made their nest near our borders and…” Bellamy drew in a steadying breath. “He chose to take the life of one of the tiniest and sweetest wolves I’d ever met. A healer… my mate...” Bellamy shook her head, her gaze falling. Even as she tried to keep her proud stance Bellamy felt barren before Avacyn, showing every sign of weakness, showing the desperately hurting soul that was inside. “I wish I could speak to you on better terms… but if I were to not pass the information along and you got attacked on your way back, regardless of the outcome, I don’t think I could forgive myself.” The woman’s ears fell against her skull and she brought her gaze back to Avacyn. “This… has brought my own state of Leadership into question. If it could be time to step down. If I do, you will want to seek out Ethne’s heir, Haydee. My daughter is a good balance of Gavroche and myself, and I’ve no doubt she would seek to carry our values. Change in leadership or not, I consider Elysium and Ethne to be on friendly terms and welcome for trade, should you feel the same.” "Speech" 'Thought.'

Avacyn chuckled softly as Bellamy mentioned the unlikely nature of her mother being dethroned by anything besides her own choice to retire. That was also quite true, but stranger things had happened in the world. There was many dark hearted individuals out there and predators that could get the upper hand if given the right circumstances. As if reading her thoughts, Bellamy went on to warn her to be on her guard, making her frown with concern when she mentioned a killer having been at her borders. There was a heavy pause before Bellamy shared that the individual that had been taken by this killer was none other than her mate. Ava's gaze widened with shock, her ears flicking back as sympathy creased her brow. "Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss, Bellamy," she replied softly. If they hadn't just met she would have reached out to embrace her, but instead she settled for just resting her paw on Bellamy's shoulder for a moment.

"Of course, I appreciate the heads up," she said in reply to the fact that her fellow alpha had wished to speak on better terms, but had wanted to warn her of the danger regardless. Lowering her paw as she continued to listen, nodding with understanding as it was shared that her daughter, Haydeé, could potentially take over the reigns of leadership if the loss proved to be too much for Bellamy to bear. She could certainly understand. If something were to ever happen to Saracyn she highly doubted that she would be able to carry on and keep everyone else's needs front of mind while trying to process one of the hardest losses one could go through. "Absolutely. Your daughter taking over will change nothing as far as the relationship between our packs is concerned," she assured her with a gentle smile. "In fact, please let Haydeé know that if she needs any help to just let me know. As a young leader myself I feel like the two of us can look out for one another."

"Avacyn Mendacium"

The shock was something that should have been expected, yet, though Bellamy felt grief at bringing it up, she was only just grazing the surface of what was to come. The she-wolf dipped her head as Avacyn rested her paw upon her shoulder. “I am too.” The femme confessed. She had known for a long, long time that there were varying shades of wickedness in the world that they lived in but she never suspected in her darkest nightmares that those tendrils of darkness would take someone so full of light. The world had been cruel to her since she was a child, and just when she had truly found happiness, starting to fight back against her demons, they came back to remind her of her place in the world. Gavroche had been shown mercy in his death, being reborn without the memories of the hurts he’d endured throughout his life… but she had to live with those memories instead. She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to get lost in her head. Avacyn hadn’t come to Ethne to bear her burden… and Bellamy needed to think of her pack before herself. She would force a sad smile. “That reassurance is all I could ask for, thank you.” That reminder that they still had those who would help them, friends, brought that feeling of her mate’s light back to her. Gavroche had strived to show Bellamy that she wasn’t alone. No creature could shoulder the world alone… and packs were meant to help each other. It didn’t mean that you would be friends with everyone, but Ethne had become what Bellamy had longed for. A stable home, a place that could help and be helped, trade… She wouldn’t have anything to worry about when it was time for Hay to take over. “I will encourage her to visit regardless.” That sad smile shifted a little, a bit of warmth filling her heart once more. “I think that you are right, Avacyn, in your abilities to learn from each other. I am sure you are both strong in your own right, and building each other’s strengths will only benefit you both.” She just hoped that her daughter wouldn’t need to come seeking help. Divinities forbid that Ethne ever fell into such a bad place… “You’ve traveled a fair bit of distance to come here, I think it would be best if the two of you met face to face.” She needed to shift the subject and, perhaps, she could convince Avacyn to rest a short while before making her way back to Elysium. Tilting her head back the femme called for her heir, knowing that Hay would be along to see what was going on. Hay had already handled meeting Dread from the Armada well, and Bellamy hoped that in this meeting she could offer more support as a more experienced leader rather than her little one taking the wheel without guidance. A blessing, perhaps. Hay had a good head on her shoulders. She would settle back, gaze shifting to Avacyn. “She won’t be long.” "Speech" 'Thought.'