Things had been quiet in Avalon for way too long. Corbie admitted a large part of that was her own fault - she simply had never been a pack wolf, and the quiet had suited her well enough, and she hadn't really noticed it. It was an easy trap to fall into for her. But the quiet wasn't healthy for the pack, or the wolves who had joined her there, regardless of how comfortable it was. The complaisance they had fallen into despite the raid that had taken from their livelihood was exactly what had led to them losing the raid to begin with. She'd thought appointing a wolf to their defenses would have helped, but she'd been foolish when she'd done that. Not the assignment itself, but in that she'd simply set aside those worries because there was someone else to deal with it. She was the alpha - when it came down to it, everything in the pack was her responsibility, and she was ashamed to say she'd been shirking that again.

Her paws had taken her on patrol automatically while she rolled these thoughts through her head. She might as well do something useful while she mulled the issue over, after all. But though she ghosted around the pack lands and reupped the markers until her paws ached, she came to no real solution except that she needed to be active herself and could only hope it stirred her pack into their own activity. She wasn't the kind of wolf, or the kind of alpha, that would scold and bully and put ultimatums in place even if she wanted to. Sighing, she stretched a moment before continuing on the patrol.

Even though Avacyn was perfectly content with the number of allies she currently was happy to call Elysium's friends, that didn't mean she enjoyed knowing that there were packs out there that were completely unknown to her. She had passed by the borders of this particular pack quite a few times in her various trips across Boreas on her way to Auster, but had yet to actually stop and find out more about them. Usually it was because she was in a hurry or was already tired from the trip down and was on her way back, but today her trip was a bit more leisurely and it was only midday when she neared the unknown border. Usually the pack seemed fairly quiet and as she stood near the fringes of the orchard it seemed that today was much the same, but she very quickly realized that the scent markers were very fresh. Someone must have just been by recently. Well, that was a good sign that someone was home at least. She tipped her head back and howled for the pack's leader, her tone easy and casual. There was no real purpose for her to be here other than to introduce herself so she didn't want their leader to feel rushed. Sitting back onto her haunches to wait, she peered across the border at the fruit trees on the pack's land curiously, wondering what kind of fruits they may have growing here.

"Avacyn Mendacium"

Corbie paused midstretch as a leisurely call for her sounded from the border not far away. She didn't recognize the voice at all, and curiosity banished much of the tiredness from her step as she retraced her steps to where the call originated from. The younger woman there was faintly familiar looking, though in a more familial way than someone she'd actually met. Between that and the pack scent, she thought she was vaguely familiar with them from one of the big intrapack dramas or other. "Hello," she greeted, polite and friendly. "I am Corbie, alpha of Avalon. What can I do for you?"

She wasn't kept waiting all that long before she spotted a monochromatic figure moving toward her. Assuming that this was the alpha she had called for, Avacyn got back to her paws to greet the other woman properly. She appeared to be fairly similar in age to herself, though a good bit shorter and more simple in coloration. Ava did admire the emerald green of her eyes all the same. As Corbie introduced herself, Avacyn offered her a friendly greeting of her own, dipping her head politely. Now that she had a name to go off of–both for the pack and the alpha–she was reminded of the challenge that had brought Avalon into being. It was not something she had attended herself, but word certainly got around and her mother had made sure she was well informed of every pack interaction before she handed over her position.

"A pleasure to meet you, Corbie. I'm Avacyn, the Matriarch of Elysium," she said in return, settling back on her haunches now that the more formal pleasantries were out of the way. "I was passing through and noticed that the markers were fresh so I hoped I would be able to catch you to finally introduce myself. With as many packs as there are it's hard to get around to all of them," she explained with a chuckle. With a glance past Corbie at the fruit trees she had been admiring before the Alpha appeared, she added, "This is a lovely orchard you've claimed. For all that our island and surrounding lands have to offer, fruit is a bit of a rarity. Does your pack do much trade?"

"Avacyn Mendacium"

The other woman introduced herself as the matriarch of Elysium (she did recognize that name, at least, under a different alpha, so that was where she knew the scent from then) and for a moment she thought it strange that a wolf of such similar age to her would be called "matriarch" as it seemed to be a name for someone so much older before she wincingly remembered that oh yes, she was actually getting up to the middle years wasn't she? Oof. "It can be difficult to keep up with all the packs," she agreed with a smile. "I don't think I ever did make it around to all of them when I first became alpha, and so many have changed paws since then that I'm sure very little is the same now as then." She glanced around at the orchard as Avacyn indicated it. She'd been far more used to open grasslands and prairies, growing up as she had following the sheep, so the wild business of the orchard had been new and almost strange to live in, but she was proud of what they'd claimed there, and the bees had thrived there as they never had as grassland nomads. It was... pretty wonderful, actually, and her smile softened as she took it in through a stranger's eyes. "We do trade, actually, though I don't think we've yet had anyone interested in the fruits here. We trade sheep and sheep products, handicrafts, and mead from our bees from here, mostly. Some wines as well but it's not what we specialize in, not like they do down south."