Athena had wasted no time beginning her search for her elusive family. She had started her search just a couple of days after her talk with Amalia, starting with the areas around Fiori, but so far she hadn't had any luck. She wasn't going to give up until she had covered every inch of Alacritis. So far she had avoided going toward Vereux's pack... but if this trip toward the west didn't offer any results that would be her next stop. She loved her brother and after their last talk she didn't hold any grudges toward him, but she still would like to avoid having to ask her former husband if he would mate with her current wife if at all possible. She paused at the lake's edge to take a drink and rest under the shade for a moment. She sighed gratefully at the coolness of the shade. It had been nearly a year since they moved from the north, but she still hadn't quite adjusted to the extra heat. "Burn Baby Burn"

Now that Surreal was finally feeling better he felt like he could safely leave the plains for at least a few moments to help Zuriel in restocking their supply of herbs. Between Surreal and Regulus' sicknesses their herb stores were basically nonexistent so even if he had to carefully venture out of the plains to do it he would help his daughter get their supplies back in check. He padded out toward the wolfpaw lake since he was fairly confident he could find at least a few helpful herbs around here and he was pretty familiar with the area so he was fairly confident he could get around alright. However he wasn't expecting to bump into anyone else out here. As he moved toward the sounds of the light lapping of the water of the lake shore, the scent of a stranger met his nose and his ears perked up, listening for any sounds. His head turned toward the scent, realizing she was actually only a handful of feet away. "Oh, sorry, hello there. I didn't mean to intrude." He really needed to get better at noticing things around him- namely other wolves. Speech Thought Others

Athena glanced up and lifted her head from her paws when a large russet male wandered into view. It looked looked like he was heading toward the water as well till he seemed to realize she was there. When he turned his head toward her she realized exactly why it had taken him a moment to notice her presence. The scarring around his eyes and the cloudiness in his pale blue gaze was quite obvious. He apologized for intruding and she gave a shake of her head before remembering that he couldn't see it. "Oh, that's quite alright. I don't mind." She hurried to her paws and padded closer till she was a couple of feet from him before settling onto her haunches again. "Actually, I was about to go looking for someone that lived around here. I'm kind of in search of some of my family members and I've been asking around to see if anyone might know them. Do you happen to know any Armadas or have you heard of any around here?" With her searching being dragged out so long now she had found herself growing more and more straightforward with her questioning. She looked at the blind man curiously while she waited for him to answer. She knew every inquiry was a shot in the dark, but it was always worth the shot. "Burn Baby Burn"

He was pleased to hear that he hadn't bothered this woman with his presence. His ears perked to listen for her movement as she came closer before speaking to him again. Surprise colored his face at her question and all of the sudden he wondered if more than chance had brought him to bump into her. "Armada, huh? That's a name I haven't heard in quite a while..." He chuckled softly and carefully took in the other woman's scent again. Yes, he could catch that distinctive scent that all of Isardis' children carried on them. It was faint though, buried under the scent of a pack and what was perhaps a significant other. Now that he thought about it, the pack scent was the same that had been on Surreal's family at the big family gathering they had a while back. Even more curious. "Well, I haven't claimed that surname in many seasons, but I suppose I am an Armada all the same. Falk Armada, at your service," he rumbled with another soft chuckle. His tail brushed slowly against the ground behind him at the fact that he was reunited with a member of his family after so long. He had honestly resigned himself to the idea that he may never speak with anyone from his side of the family again, but it seemed fate had different ideas. He wasn't too surprised that he didn't know this woman. After all, their father had many, many children with many different women. Speech Thought Others

She had thought that the best case scenario would be that this man might have heard of or maybe even know of an Armada around here, but she never could have guessed that he was actually one of her family members. After all, most of the Armadas she had met either had the slate blue coloring or were some variation of white, black, and gray. There was very little russet or brown in the family that she knew of, but she guessed that he probably got that from his mother. That was fine by her, it just meant that there would be even better chance of there being pups with red-hued markings like Amalia... if he even went for their plan that was. She really shouldn't jump to conclusions. Taking a breath to calm herself down, she smiled and chuckled. "Wow, I never expected to just find a family member like this... I'm just in shock. I'm Athena Armada. It's very, very nice to meet you, Falk." She laughed softly, suddenly very nervous about asking him about her reason for trying to find her family. Part of her had never believed that she would actually find someone else besides Vereux so she wasn't quite sure how to word her question. "Well, Falk, I was actually looking for some Armadas cause... well..." She cleared her throat nervously and chuckled. "Let me back up a little bit. You see, I'm married to a woman. Amalia Adravendi-Mathis. I love her more than my own life and she has done more for me than I could ever imagine. But... she wants to have children. I have five sons from a previous marriage and Amalia has been their mother almost from day one, but for her it's just not the same. She wants to give birth to our children too. So... I've been looking for some of the male members of my family to be a surrogate father for us." She chuckled nervously again, feeling a little anxious and uneasy about the whole thing. She had just met this man, who was she to ask such a thing of him? "Of course my first choice would be one of my littermates so the genes would be as close to mine as possible, but the only one of my brothers still around I'd just... I'd rather him not be the father if at all possible." She decided not to bring up the fact that her brother was also the father of her sons to Falk. That seemed like a little bit too much information for their first meeting. "I know it's a lot to ask of you on our first meeting and please don't feel like you have any obligation to agree, but I have to ask. I know it's strange... but I just want Amalia to be happy, you know?" "Burn Baby Burn"

To be quite honest he was pretty taken aback by her request. The idea of mating with anyone but Surreal, even if it was just to be a surrogate father, as Athena put it, wasn't exactly appealing to him. However, the more she spoke the more he really did want to help her and her wife. He knew from experience that you couldn't help who you fell in love with and he also knew what it was like to want children. His pups were the light of his life and he couldn't imagine life without them. There was also the little fact of her wife being related to Surreal in some way. He wasn't as familiar with Surreal's family tree as he should have been, but the Adravendi name was such a huge give away that he couldn't ignore it. He was silent for several moments while he processed this before he finally spoke very carefully. "I'm not saying no. I want to help you and Amalia, I do, but I really need to talk to my mate first. Surreal Adravendi is my wife so I think our wives might be related." He chuckled softly at that before going on. "Give me some time to talk to her and maybe I can meet you back here in a week with an answer?" Speech Thought Others

Athena held her breath while she waited for Falk to speak. When he finally answered she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a no. That was more than she could have hoped for. On top of him seeming like a genuinely nice man there was the surprise of his wife being related to her own. That fact made her chuckle. Oh what a small world it was. It seemed like she wasn't the only Armada that had dared to fall in love with an Adravendi. She nodded enthusiastically before reminding herself yet again that he couldn't see her. "Yes, that's perfectly fine. You can take as much time as you need. I'll go back home and talk to Amalia and make sure she still wants this and let you know." She giggled softly, suddenly giddy and excited to get back home. "Thank you, Falk, for even considering it. I hope Surreal takes it as well as you have. You've really given me some hope for Amalia's dream." She giggled again, unable to contain herself, and reached forward to give a friendly lick to his cheek. "I'll see you soon then!" With that she hopped up and started running toward home, more excited than ever to bring her news back to her wife. "Burn Baby Burn"