The journey had been long, the longest he had undertaken with any of his siblings, but they seemed to have made it in one piece. The distant scent of the pack he recognized from the fiasco at the battlefield drifted to him at a distance now, and he brought forth his memory of that alphas appearance. Two, actually, with the similar coloration and markings that spoke of close relatives even without the loud conversations and accusations of impropriety that had been leveled at the pair to make clear, but that was entirely beside the point of this expedition. He was here to see that his brother and sister got the training they deserved.

They hadn't seemed to arouse suspicion - so far - so it was with confidence that Artur strode with his siblings towards Abaven's border. Pausing well out of earshot, he nonetheless was careful to murmur his words for only their ears capable of catching the sound. "Remember, we were sent here by Aurielle. We are supposed to be here. They wont turn us away." He wasnt particularly good at this encouraging thing, but he was beginning to see that there were more ways to get things accomplished than simply smashing it with a hammer, so he was trying subtlety and he was going to learn how to use it, damn it. Setting his own jaw in confident determination he grasped the deer the three of them had taken down earlier and set out once again to a respectful distance from the border before he set it down.

He was surprised at the smell of ash and charring so strongly in the air, obviously a thing some time past but still strong enough to almost taste. There were places in the west that had experienced wildfires that summer season that smelled the same, and he surmised that the same had transpired here though he couldn't tell if it had been bad. Maybe they would welcome the gift of a deer and the offer to hunt more if one of their territories was unhuntable. "Ready?" he asked quietly, leveling a glance at his brother and sister to see if they were, before lifting his muzzle to call - politely - for the alpha of Abaven.

This was by far the furthest Viviane had ever been from the pack, and if it werent for Geoffrey, and Artur's promise of training, she might have bolted back for the safety of home. But the longer they travelled without incident the easier it became, and she was able to relax and enjoy the new sights. The deer hunt wasnt as hard as she thought it might be either. None of them were hunters by nature but their mother had taught all of them to work together by hunting, so it wasnt the first time they had done so. It felt to Viv as though their mother were still there coaching them as they went through the old process to take the deer, and she felt the same surge of pleased pride when they finally succeeded.

But now they were nearing the border and a whole flock of butterflies took up residence in Viv's stomach. She shifted nervously beneath her portion of the burden of furs, but tried to give Artur an encouraging smile when he stopped them to give them a pep talk. Goodness knew she needed one, but she didnt want her brother to think she was scared.

Well, she was though.

They made it all the way to the border, and Viv managed a wan nod at Artur's question. Was she ready? No, not really, but nodding seemed to he the best answer so she settled on that. She swallowed hard as the call went out for one of the alphas, and her knees felt like they were going to knock together, but Viv firmed her resolve as she settled in to wait.

Oddly enough Geoffrey had somehow managed to survive the majority of the trip without getting eaten by nerves. Quite early on in their journey he'd settled into a comfortable state of determination. This was for the best; he needed to go through with it.

It wasn't until Artur howled for the alpha that the nerves struck. Geoffrey shifted his weight from paw to paw and then glanced at his siblings to gauge what kind of state each was in. Artur of course was stoic and Viviane -also of course- looked nervous. He bit his lip and then, knowing his face must of looked a lot like his sister's, tried to smooth out his features. A deep breath had a settling effect on him and while he remained nervous, Geoffrey was able to hid the anxious tics that came with it.

Forcing himself to be still and stoic, Geoffrey waited quietly for the arrival of Abaven's alpha.

The sound of a young wolf howling at the border, caught her attention. She dropped the last of the grass seeds at her feet, and cast one last look at the Thicket. It would still be there for her to work on later, after all, she knew.

She fell into an easy lope as she moved through the thicket and into the rapids, jumping at a shallow point of the stream and making her way with easily familiarity to the border. Her eyes caught the three mismatched colored wolves, and the scent of Valhall on their coats. She was surprised to see three young wolves by themselves this far from home, but didn’t show it. Instead, she offered them all a friendly smile. “Hello, and welcome to Abaven, I’m Shaye, the Alpha here” she introduced herself and the pack first, through they clearly already knew about Abaven, and likely knew the name of its Alpha.

At least now they knew who they were dealing with. “How can I help you?’ she asked, wondering if Aurielle needed help with something. Perhaps she had even heard of the fire, and had sent these three to get some work experience. She eyed them critically as she tried to guess the reason for their appearance.

They weren't left waiting long before the alpha from the battlefield approached them, introducing herself as Shaye. Artur drew himself up with the full dignity his gangly sharp-edged yearling form could afford him. "I am Artur Adravendi, and these are my siblings Geoffrey and Viviane. We are apprentices in Valhalla." And that was the easy part. Artur didnt take a deep steadying breath, as much as he wanted to, to keep from betraying his nerves at the high stakes they were playing with. He had to get Geoffrey and Viviane training. It was his duty. The Abaven alpha had to agree. "With our only trained healer occupied, my siblings have been unable to get training in the healing arts, so Aurielle has sent us to Valhalla's allies in the hopes of trading for training. I was sent as protection, and to offer my services as a warrior and hunter to your pack as part of any possible trade agreement." He cut his gaze over to his siblings, offering them the stage. No doubt Geoffrey or Viviane would be better at the haggling bits than he was.

Even the short wait seemed unbearable to Viv, sitting there nervously waiting to see who would appear. When the alpha did appear, Viviane recognized her from their unpleasant trip to the battlefield and chewed at her lip, remembering. But the alpha, Shaye she said her name was, seemed to be really nice, and Viv found herself caught between relaxing and feeling even more guilty that they were lying to such a nice lady. We aren't cheating her out of anything, she reminded herself firmly. We'll make a fair trade. Artur immediately introduced them and began the process of convincing her they were genuine, but then he stopped and glanced at Viv and Geo. She blinked at him in consternation but shyly took up the thread of the explanation. "We brought you this deer as a gift and to show you our skill at hunting," she said in a soft voice, eyes darting between her brothers. "We are able to provide for ourselves outside of your pack lands and wouldn't be a drain on your resources, and would hunt outside your lands to provide an agreed on amount of meat for your pack as a possible part of any trade." She glanced pleedingly at Geoffrey to continue, so she could shrug out from under her portion of their furs and unroll them.

Geoffrey found himself nodding minutely as his siblings spoke. He would have been content to let them speak, but the significance of his sister's gaze wasn't lost on him. Alright, it was his turn.

He took a step forward and smiled up at Shaye. "Forgive me, but I couldn't help but notice the ah, the smell." Though the fire had long since died out, the air still smelled a bit crispy. Geoffrey glanced at his siblings and then back at Shaye. "At first glance perhaps it would seem we've come at a bad time, but I choose to believe our timing is perfect. As allies we should help one another so I think it would be reasonable to help however you may need it at the moment. My sister and I might not be fully trained, but we can follow instructions and I think I can speak for the both of us when I say we would be happy to assist your healers."

Hopefully that would be enough to convince her. Though the thought of shiny, oozing burns made him a little queasy, Geoffrey meant it when he said he would help however he could. "I also know a bit about plants," Not local ones but he could adapt. "I might be able to help with reforestation efforts." If there were any. He was taking a leap here, but he figured if they threw out enough options Shaye was sure to bite on at least one.

She looked from one face to another as she considered all three pups at her borders. The first, and more outspoken one, Arthur explained how his siblings needed training - but interestingly enough, not himself. She glanced at the deer they offered, rather impressed that these three small creatures had managed to kill it and drag it here. They tried their best to make a compelling case, each one stepping up to explain what they could offer and how they would help her.

She was fighting to hide her smile, if these little mites had known her, they would understand that they hadn’t needed all these promises, but she still loved them for it. They were trying very hard, and seeking the training they needed. Even if they hadn’t come from a pack she was aligned with, she would have taken them in.

She did wince when Geoffrey mentioned the fire, well the healing of the land was coming along, she had thought the smell gone. Perhaps she was simply immune to it now. “You are, all three of you, welcome, of course” she promised them. “I will work out apprenticeships for the both of you shortly, and you, Artur, did you want an apprenticeship in any skill?” he might have been a yearling, not a pup, but that was still a very young age to not need training.

Artur bowed his head to the alpha, partly to acknowledge her acceptance and partly to hide the flare of triumph that rose in him. "Thank you, lady Shaye," he said with careful gravity. "I would of course be grateful if any of your pack see fit to spar with me to improve my skills, but it is healers Valhalla is lacking, not fighters, so I have had some training." His training had all come before he'd turned a year old, when his mother still lived, and what he'd done since he had done on his own without Valhalla's assistance, but the Abaven alpha had no need to know that, and there was no wisdom in whining about the situation at all let alone to a stranger, a stranger who was allied to Valhalla at that. He had taken care of himself, and now he was guiding his siblings to do the same. That was simply all there was to it.