The trip to Boreas has been eventful to say the least. With at least two more packs on her list to visit before returning home, Haydée cannot allow the attack in the Polar Sound to deter her. Thankfully, the trip to Elysium’s borders isn’t terribly far from where the incident had occurred and she is able to gather her nerve to continue on. Her small form is covered with the thick oxen coat Sirius had gifted her as she comes to a halt a respectful distance from the pack’s invisible boundaries.

Taking a deep breath, the girl tilts her head back to sings a sweet summons for the Alpha of the lands. Bellamy had spoken of Avacyn in glowing terms and Haydée needs to inform her of the shift in leadership within Ethne. Truthfully, she hopes to find a potential ally in Elysium but that is a task for a different day. Right now, she is here to share information and keep the pack abreast of the changes down in Auster.


"Haydée Kedieo"

It wasn't all that often that she was called to the border by a visitor, but it did seem like activity around their borders had ramped up slightly as of late. Maybe it was because of their new neighbors or maybe it was just because she was looking for things to do now more than ever and she was made more aware of the activity around them because of that. Either way, she was grateful for the distraction and the feeling of having a duty to fulfill. As soon as she heard the unfamiliar voice calling out from the border around the rock garden, she was on her paws and moving forward to meet their guest. She had been keeping her paws busy with some maintenance on her armor, but that could certainly wait.

It was a quick walk across the bridge that connected the island to the mainland and she swiftly moved between the rocks that dotted the land on the other side. Eventually she spotted the small, brown and black marked young woman that was draped in a cloak and trotted forward to greet her. As she got closer she caught a mixture of scents from her, but most strongly was the familiar scent of Ethne. There seemed to be a slight hint of the Armada from her cloak as well, but it was easy enough to assume that she had just come from the norther pack. The fact that she was from Ethne was enough to bring a friendly smile to her lips as she approached and dipped her head in greeting. "Hello, I'm Avacyn. Welcome to Elysium." Her head tilted with curiosity as she quickly added, "You wouldn't happen to be Haydée, would you? Your mother mentioned you'd be taking her place the last time we spoke."

"Avacyn Mendacium"

The young Haydée is not left waiting long before a tall, purple wolf appears. Mouth drops open in awe at the beautiful woman who approaches her and the girl cannot seem to tear her eyes away from the regal, galactic cloaked wolf. This is her first-time laying eyes on such an exotic coat and when, Avacyn reaches her, the girl is dumbstruck and in complete wonder of the woman. As she introduces herself and then tilts her head and says the girl’s name, Hay cannot help but continue to stare. Eyes widen in excitement as she realizes the fact that Avacyn knows her name and the girl, joyfully chirps, “Yeah! That’s me!”

A huge, beaming smile appears on her lips as she stares up at Avacyn and the girl’s tail wags a mile-a-minute. Suddenly, the young girl realizes how she must look right now and Haydée does her best to pull herself together. She straightens up to her meager height before dipping down into a respectful bow, like she had been taught, and says, “Greetings Avacyn! I am Haydée Kedieo, Leader of Ethne.” Standing back up, her tail has slowed but still continues to wag as she explains, “My mother, Bellamy, had to step down recently due to health reasons.”

Sadness flashes across her features before the girl realizes it. “My mother told me that Elysium is a good friend to Ethne and I wanted to let you know about what has happened in person.” A second of hesitation before she quickly adds, “If you have time.” True, Haydée has traveled all the way from Auster to relay the information but the girl knows that leading a pack is busy work and, if Avacyn needs her to return at another time, the girl will happily linger around here for a few days.


"Haydée Kedieo"

Avacyn held back an amused smirk at the obvious amazement that was written across her features as she approached. At first she didn't realize what had caught the younger woman's attention, but she quickly reminded herself that her vibrant coloring and unusual features weren't as common place to everyone as they were to her and her family. It had been quite a while since she encountered anyone that found her appearance so striking. Eventually Haydée did recover as she confirmed that she was indeed who Avacyn thought she was in the most bright and chipper manner Ava could have imagined. Chuckling softly, Ava sat back onto her haunches while Haydée spoke, formally introducing herself as Ethne's leader and Bellamy's daughter. Avacyn nodded quietly as she gave the young leader her attention and smiled gently as she mentioned how Bellamy had listed Elysium as a friend. It was always good to hear someone speaking favorably of them.

Haydée reminded her so much of herself when she was making those first tentative trips to the other packs on her own to introduce herself as Elysium's new leader. The nervousness and the formal, rehearsed greeting were all to be expected. Still, considering Haydée was also younger than she was when she took over from her mother, if she was guessing the other alpha's age correctly, she thought that Haydée was doing well so far. "Of course," she agreed easily as Haydée subtly questioned whether or not she had time to speak. She certainly wasn't going to turn away a friend after such a long journey. Getting back to her paws she nodded toward the territory behind her and added, "In fact, why don't you walk with me? I'm sure you're tired after such a trip. We can talk on the way to the island and you can stay with us tonight if you'd like."

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Avacyn listens to the girl as she speaks her carefully rehearsed words, heart fluttering with nervousness as it so often does when meeting other alphas. Thankfully, the woman does not seem to look down on her for being so young (and small) and even confirms that she has time to talk with her. A warm smile pulls her lips even further up as Avacyn stands and nods to the territory behind her and the woman asks Haydée to walk with her which has the girl eagerly bouncing over the border to join the tall, beautiful Matriarch.

The smile that is ever-present is now huge and her tail wags happily behind her as Haydée says, “Thank you, Avacyn. I would really appreciate spending the night here. I swear, I have walked more since I came to Boreas than I have in my whole life!” Her tone is light and a gentle laugh bubbles out as she finishes speaking. Carefully, she tries to keep pace with the longer stride of the woman, not wanting to be left in the dust simply because she has shorter legs. As they settle into a comfortable stride, the girl softly says, “I don’t know how much my mother has told you but, a couple seasons ago, my father, Bellamy’s longtime mate, Gavroche was murdered not far from our pack lands.”

The smile falters and falls away she speaks of what has happened down in Auster. Sadness tugs at her mind as the images of her dead father once again try to push up to the forefront of her mind. Fighting down the memories, she darts a glance to Avacyn, hoping that the woman doesn’t think her weak for the momentary lapse in conversation.


"Haydée Kedieo"

As Haydée bounced over to join her at her side for them to walk toward the pack's main island, Avacyn smiled and began to walk back the way she came with the new Ethne leader in tow. The difference in height between them didn't go unnoticed, of course, so she did try to keep her pace on the slower side without making it obvious that she was trying to walk more to a pace that would be comfortable for Haydée. She chuckled as the smaller young woman mentioned how she had walked more now than she had in her entire life and Ava nodded in agreement. "You kind of forget just how big Boreas is until you start trying to cross from one end to another," she joked, remembering all too well how tiring the trip to visit a few packs had been. She knew she'd have to make that trip again eventually, but it could wait till she actually had something of note to report.

As they settled into a comfortable stride across the Rock Garden, Haydée brought up the news of her father's murder, bringing Avacyn's gaze down to the smaller woman at her side. The sadness in her expression as she spoke was obvious and hardly surprising. "Your mother did share that news with me the last time we spoke. I'm very sorry for your loss," she replied sympathetically. She was certainly no stranger to grief these days, but she wouldn't pretend to know what it might have felt like to lose a parent in such an abrupt and violent way. "How are you and your family holding up? Is there anything we can do to help?" she questioned with a little tilt of her head. The fact that Haydée was standing here instead of Bellamy did show that the loss had indeed effected the former alpha badly enough to force her to step down from her position, but she still hoped that their family was finding a way through regardless.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Avacyn chuckles at her remark about walking so much and the purple woman offers her a sympathetic ear. It doesn’t take long for the pair to settle into a comfortable pace and Haydée shares the news of her father’s murder. The Matriarch confirms that Bellamy had shared the news the last time she had been here. A somber nod is given as a sad sigh falls from her lips and Ava questions how they are holding up before questioning if they need anything. Wide, surprised eyes snap up to catch the abyssal gaze of the woman, gratitude and genuine awe playing across her features at the mere thought of Elysium being so kind.

Haydée does her best to recover quickly as she lowers her gaze to the ground, watching her paws for a long moment before saying, “Grief… is a strange beast. It strikes everyone differently and… well, my mom kind of… got lost in it.” A shake of her small skull is given as another sad, sigh rolls out onto the air. When she begins to speak again, her voice is filled with remorse, “My mother lost herself to it and… I almost lost her.” Memories flash before her eyes like vivid polaroids; each snapshot a grim reminder of how close she had been to losing everything, completely.

The girl is so lost in her own memories that silence falls between the pair and she momentarily forgets the offer of aid that had followed.


"Haydée Kedieo"

Avacyn offered Haydée a kind smile as she looked up at her with surprise at the questioning of how her family was holding up in the wake of their father's murder and her offer of assistance should any of them need it. She knew that Ethne and Elysium were not allies–at least not yet–and she had only just met Haydée so maybe it was surprising for her to be so willing to help, but she had always been one of the more empathetic members of her family. She couldn't just see someone going through something so unimaginably difficult and not at least see if there was something she could do to make that burden a little less difficult. She had a feeling that if the roles were reversed then the new Ethne Leader would give her the same kindness.

There was a lull of silence as they walked before Haydée finally shared the strange nature of grief and how it impacted some differently than other–which she of course knew well herself–and how her mother had gotten lost in it. She frowned a bit with concern at that. While she had only spoken with Bellamy once before, the woman had been kind to her and nice to speak with so it was hard to hear that the weight of her mate's death was impacting her so dramatically. While Haydée didn't share any details of how it had impacted Bellamy, seeing the younger woman start to drift off into her own thoughts at the mention of how she had almost lost her mother to her grief told her enough. There was a silence that followed as they walked a bit further, but eventually Avacyn stopped Haydée with a gentle paw on her shoulder.

Once she had Haydée's gaze on her again, Ava gave her another small, sympathetic smile. "Make sure you're taking care of yourself as well, okay? Your mother is lucky to have children like you looking out for her through this time, but you've taken on a lot for her and for your family... I've done a poor job prioritizing myself at times for the same reason so don't make the same mistakes I've made."

"Avacyn Mendacium"

The kind smile that Avacyn offers her when she turns her surprised face up to the Matriarch has Haydée’s own lips pulling upward. The pair walk and talk, well she does most of the talking, before she loses herself to the memories surrounding the terrible events that have led her here; reliving every single moment in all of its horrible glory. A gentle paw on her shoulder pulls her from the moment when she was holding her mother in the rain, the older woman thin and barely hanging on and the girl turns her misty green eyes up to Avacyn. Sympathy is offered in the woman’s smile, her kind eyes, and gentle words.

Haydée feels immature in that moment, a child left to fend for herself in a world of adults, and a soft sniffle fills the air as she gazes up at the Matriarch, the tears slowly sliding free. They dampen her cheeks and she offers a wobbly smile while asking, “Avacyn… can I tell you a secret?” Throat pumps as she casts her gaze around the area quickly, afraid that someone might overhear her confession and strike her down for even thinking it. Leaning up closer to the purple woman, she softly whispers, “I feel so unprepared.” Fear shines in youthful eyes and she takes a step back, lips wobbling into a frown as she wonders what the Matriarch will think of her now.

But, now that the flood gate has been opened, Haydée doesn’t stop there, “I am trying to hold my pack together, to be strong for everyone but I feel like I am failing at every turn. I barely know how to take care of myself let alone a whole pack! Sometimes, I am angry that I wasn’t taught about leading more and, and…” the girl visibly wilts, shoulders drawing inward as her head falls and she whispers, “sometimes I hate my dad for leaving us.” There, she had said it. The most horrible secret she has been keeping close to her heart now has seen the light of day. Oh how she hates herself for even thinking it.


"Haydée Kedieo"

As she reminded the girl to take care of herself through this impossibly hard time, she could see how truly young and unprepared Haydée really was in the shine of tears in her eyes. It was obvious even just from appearance how young Haydée was, but up until now she had done a fairly good job of playing the game of a respectful visitor and alpha. Now Avacyn really got a glimpse at the insecurity and stress Haydée was feeling and Ava's expression softened even further with understanding and empathy. She listened quietly while Haydée shared the secret of how unprepared she felt and how hard it was to hold everything together when she hardly knew how to take care of herself–and the anger she felt about not being taught more about leading and toward her father for leaving them. All while she spoke Avacyn left her paw on the girl's shoulder, never interrupting and letting Haydée speak everything that had obviously been weighing on her.

When it seemed like she had said what she felt needed to be said, Avacyn stepped around to stand in front of her before sitting back on her haunches so that she could gently wipe away the tears on Haydée's cheeks and rest her paws on both of the small young woman's shoulders, holding her gaze with a deep understanding. "Would you like to know my secret?" she asked, giving Haydée a small smile. "I was trained to lead since the day I was born and even now I feel so vastly unprepared. I'm still making up everything as I go and just hoping that I'm making my parents proud. No amount of preparation or training or experience will ever really make you feel prepared. So I don't want you to feel as if you are any less of a leader than any other alpha, okay? All that matters is that you are willing to do the work and that you care about the members of your pack. That's it. And I can tell that you have more of both of those things than most."

Even though they had only just met one another, Avacyn felt like she knew Haydée better than a vast majority of the wolves even within her own pack. Their paths were different but still so similar and she couldn't help but feel a desire to guide and support her fellow young, female leader. She leaned down, slipping a foreleg around Haydée's shoulders to pull her into a hug. "If you ever need someone to listen you can always come to me. Your secret is always safe with me."

"Avacyn Mendacium"

As Haydée talks, her vunerability and youth comes out and is on full display which has Avacyn’s expression… softening. Perhaps it is the fact that the young alpha has felt so isolated lately that causes her to spill her deepest, darkest secrets to the kindly Matriarch but, as she looks up into those dark, kind eyes, the young woman can’t help but feel… seen. The weight of responsibility has rested on her small shoulders since she took over the pack, causing her many sleepless nights and upset stomachs, yet she hasn’t shared her worries with anyone. It has always felt like these are her burdens to bare alone and the old adage of, ‘it is lonely at the top’, has never been felt more keenly than by a child forced to yoke the worries of the world far too soon.

Tears fall silently down her cheeks as her body pulls in, the words she thought she would never utter out loud falling in the space between the two women. Haydée’s breath hitches and she closes her eyes, shutting out the world as she begins to quietly berate herself for even thinking such a horrible, vile thing as Avacyn’s steps around in front of her. Small body trembles slightly as she clenches her teeth together, refusing to allow any sobs to break free from her throat. The gentle touch of a paw to her cheek has the girl’s eyes flying open, her fear-filled, bewildered gaze finding the sympathetic dark eyes of the Matriarch. As the paw wipes away her tears, she automatically leans into the touch that suddenly reminds her so much of her mother.

Paws come to rest on her tiny shoulders, the youth’s frame still quivering from the force of the all the emotions that run rampant. At the question of wishing to know Avacyn’s secret, Haydée nods uncertainly, wondering what kind of secret this confident, powerful woman could possibly be hiding. The news about being trained to lead since she was born has the young woman’s ears falling flat in sadness in preparation for the following words, ‘so I don’t understand what this is all about’. Heart drops into her toes as the frown she wears deepens, her gaze filling with dread for the briefest of moments… until the words that follow aren’t about not understand but about how Avacyn herself feels unprepared.

The dread gives way to disbelief as the Matriarch goes on to explain why and Haydée blinks, wondering what wonderful force has brought her to the one woman who seems to be able to ease her doubts. A small smile wobbles her lips at the confidence the woman has in her and, as Avacyn leans down to slip a foreleg around her shoulders to pull her into a hug, the young woman warmly enters the embrace. Suddenly, the girl doesn’t trust her voice as she slides her short legs up underneath the older woman’s arms, face pressing into the purple fur on her chest as she hides herself away from the world so she can gather herself together. At the offer that is given, Hay nods her head against the fur, still not ready to give words a try.

Haydée stays there for several minutes, Avacyn’s hug hiding her away from the troubles that plague the youth and she is able to slowly pack them away. Taking a deep breath deep, she finally pulls back, breaking the sweet, tender moment in favor of meeting the Matriarch’s gaze. The tears are gone from her emerald eyes now and the smile that she beams up to the woman is genuine, heart-felt, and filled with gratitude as she says, “Thank you Avacyn. I don’t know what to do or say that could remotely come close to showing you just how much I appreciate what you have given me. But… thank you.”

With a small, content sigh, she bashfully casts her green eyes down to her paws as she shuffles them, saying, “I… I hope you don’t think less of me or my pack because of this. It has just been… difficult. But, I am learning, growing, and doing everything I can to make sure Ethne is safe and welcoming to all those who seek us.” Once more, her gaze lifts, finding those black eyes that many may have thought of as scary but that Haydée thinks are beautiful and kind and the young woman adds, “I am going to take you up on the offer to listen. Just be warned! I can talk… like a lot.” A giggle bubbles out into the air as the corners of her eyes crinkle in joy, a small paw lifting to cover her mouth as she looks up at her new, wonderful friend.


"Haydée Kedieo"