Truely, the young wolf sat up at night thinking about how she'd lied infront of her friend about Ashen and it's intentions. Sure, she was only lying so that the stupid she-wolf Valdis wouldn't force her to go home, but that didn't change the fact that Alarr had heard it all. Was he having nightmares about the Klein-Abraxas wolves sacrificing others to the volcano? Did he think she was a bad choice of friend because she was bound to fall into the pit of religion one day? Pestilence had to clear some stuff up, and for that she snuck out of the territory once more to look for her Legion friend. It was much easier to go looking for someone when you knew where they lived, and so she went as close to Legion's borders as she dared so that her song might not set off alarm bells with any of the Kleins who surely would be paying attention. Her head tipped back gracefully and she let out a call. It asked that Alarr meet with her...  with an emphasized 'please?' in it's tone.   "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

I'll tough it out, I won't give in

Álarr lingered in the remnants of the Orchard, marveling at the young plants that were coming up, fueled by the summer sun and the earlier spring rains. It helped to soothe his thoughts. He worried about Pestilence and what was going on in her pack. Did she get a hiding like he had? His rear was still sore not to mention it was terribly embarrassing. He hoped his siblings wouldn't find out. Álarr couldn't wait til Pesto was a yearling and then maybe they could work something out. Part of him debating going to Chaos and telling his brother about everything but he didn't really have any evidence. It made it even more confusing that the alphess of Ashen had denied everything. Valdís was good at reading wolves and had stated her belief in the alphess' words. Still, Álarr couldn't shake his doubts.

A surprising call rang out and he immediately recognized it as Pesto. Álarr was on his feet in a second and racing toward his friend's call. Valdís might've heard and she could be along any second though hopefully she was patrolling at the southernmost region of the pack. "Pesto, you're ok!" He raced toward her and attempted to wrap his front arms around her neck in a hug.

Alarr's form bounded out of their borders springing towards her, and to Pestilence's surprise he grabbed her in a hug. His relief was palpable and it only made the girl feel worse for making him think she was about to be sacrificed to a volcano. She returned the larger boy's hug with one paw, needing the other to remain upright under his weight. "I'm in so much trouble." She admitted with a groan. "I'm gonna be grounded forever."

Pestilence had come to meet her friend to admit to him her lies, to tell him how she'd exaggerated so that Valdis wouldn't make her go home. It was much harder to even consider that now, and her ears pulled back sadly as she wondered if her friend would reject her once he'd heard the truth. She decided for now to enjoy his welcome, and to approach the subject of her lies later.

Álarr pulled back and settled on his rear, offering a sympathetic look as she stated that she was going to be grounded forever. "Yea, Valdís said I have to remain inside the pack lands for the rest of the season. Though I can go to neighboring lands for herb gathering. Which is stupid!" He had to take advantage of the summer to help the pack get ready for the fall and winter. He had to stock pile herbs. True, the Legion pack lands had a wide variety of herbs but the volcano had really taken a toll on everything.

"How long are you grounded for?" Surely, she didn't really mean forever. "Did your mom say anything about allowing you to visit us?"

It made Pestilence feel a little better that even the older boy had restrictions placed on him, but then it also made her feel worse for getting her friend in trouble as well. She sighed, turned her head and glared out in the direction of Ashen. "Until next season. The good news is that when I'm a year I'm allowed to leave. Do you think Legion would still let me come back with you, then?"

Regardless of her dedication to the Klein name and her heart-to-heart with her mother, Pestilence still yearned to get out. It was comforting to know that even if she did wander, that she'd still be able to call the Empire home. "I'm allowed to visit as long as I have someone with me. My mentor will probably take me to see you, he's cool." She still didn't like the idea of being babysat, but at least if it was Hari she knew he'd not do anything to embarrass her.

Álarr was relieved to hear that Pesto was only grounded til next season. It would suck to wait but at least that wasn't too long, although… was she breaking her grounding by coming here? He'd hate to see her get in more trouble and be grounded even longer.

His ears perked up as she mentioned that she was allowed to leave when she became a yearling. He grinned. "Sure! If you're free to leave Ashen then I don't see why they wouldn't." Álarr was terribly excited by the idea of having a friend of his living in the same pack as him. Apart from his companions and his siblings he didn't really have anyone that he considered a 'friend'.

Pesto went on to say that she'd be allowed to visit if she had someone with her. Álarr glanced about. "So, do you have someone with you now?"

Alarr seemed convinced that Pesto would be allowed to come live with him when she turned one, and that was enough said for her. After all, what alpha would say no to a member's buddy coming to live with him? She wondered what it would be like to live somewhere away from the empire, and whether or not she'd be able to handle not being a princess anymore. The thought made her a little sad, but she shrugged it off. It would be worth it to get away from the Abraxas wolves, even if she was abandoning a crown. "Good! Then as soon as I'm allowed to leave you gotta come get me. It'll look better if I show up with you instead of all by myself. Sometimes alpha's are jerks to intruders. Is your alpha a jerk?"

Her friend glanced around and Pesto followed his eyes, looking a little embarrassed as he asked if she had an escort. "No.. but, I don't think anyone saw me leave." She admitted. "This was too important I didn't want to have anyone else around." That brought forward her next train of thought - the reason why the visit was important and why she'd come alone. Her ears fell, and she looked down at her paws in shame. "Alarr, I came to tell you. I lied about the volcano. My dad did die there, but it wasn't my pack who was to blame." It hurt her to tell him, worried her that he'd hate her for her lies. "I didn't mean to lie to you though, I swear. I was just trying to get Valdis to let me stay. It was her I was lying to." As if that made it all better.

Álarr laughed a bit at the idea of Chaos being a jerk. Jerk wasn't exactly the word he'd use but Chaos certainly wasn't going to opening his arms wide open to anyone who just wandered into the territory. "I wouldn't say a jerk necessarily, but intruders are supposed to be attacked and maimed on sight so it's better to wait outside the border or have an escort when you first show up."

His ears perked up, wondering what was so important that she'd risk getting into more trouble. Then she stated that she lied. He stared at her for a moment, one ear flicking back as he tried to process what she was telling him. Why would she lie about that? Álarr frowned but Pesto continued to explain but as she did he could kind of see where she was coming from. "Ah… well… I think I get it. Just, maybe don't do that again. That's really serious and you had me so worried. I haven't been able to sleep over it."

Pestilence's worry flooded away as Alarr claimed to understand. The relief showed plain on her face, though her expression was still apologetic. "I know it's serious, I'm sorry. I wasn't kidding about the religious fanatics though, the Abraxas really are nuts. Just, I'm a princess and supposedly a God so even with their crazy they'd probably not sacrifice me. I do gotta get out of there though." She felt like she could finally breathe, so pleased that her friend was not upset with her. "I'm glad you're not mad." The near-yearling said aloud, giving him a cautious smile. Hopefully come next season she could meet with him again, and have him lead her to his alpha so she could finally escape Ashen's hold.

Álarr nodded. "Yea, I don't think my family thinks much of them. I heard about some crazy nut at a pack challenge one time who was an Abraxas. He did not leave a good impression." Valdís hadn't talked too much about them in depth, she only warned him not to get swept up in the mythology of other wolves and to be careful around them as some had terrible egos. Álarr glanced at the position of the sun then back at Pesto and grinned. "I hope to see you soon, definitely come back and visit some time. I should probably get back before I"m late for training and I don't want you to get grounded even more." They only had a season to go and while it might feel like forever he knew the time would fly by and he couldn't wait.

Pestilence didn't know how it made her feel to hear of how other packs saw her bloodline. While it confirmed her own feelings on the matter, she couldn't help but feel a little disgruntled that the judgement might pass to her as well because of her stupid shitty blood. "Hopefully I didn't leave a bad one." She remarked quietly. Had her meeting with Valdis soured any potential for her to be accepted into Altarr's pack? She shook her head to dismiss the thought - it was still a season away, she'd deal with it when it came. "You're right, we should go." Pestilence didn't necessarily want to go, but as long as she followed the terms of her grounding she would be able to leave. The near-yearling sighed, searching Alarr's face for a moment before turning away. "See ya later."

-exit?-