It was possible that this meeting should have taken place sooner, but she couldn’t have helped it - first the long winter, and just as the snow melted, the horrific, never-ending night. And so the neighbors had peacefully co-existed. With the long overdue visit now in order, Theory made her way to the base of Mount Volkan. It was a strange place to make a home. Even now the volcano loomed above her, casting a long shadow across Boreas. Her gut clenched. This peak had taken so much from the land. There were days when she felt uncomfortable simply living in its shadow - she couldn’t imagine making a den on the side of the volcano. Yes, certainly a strange place to make a home. Theo hoped it didn’t say too much about the wolves who had chosen this place. Trying to stuff down any judgments, Theo cleared her throat and cast her muzzle to the sky to summon its leader. This was about uniting in the name of education, not casting stones before she’d ever greeted anyone.

Kali had never had much interaction with their eastern neighbor, seeing as they weren’t part of the Empire and didn’t seem to offer much. But, when their leader’s call rang out into the air at their border, the Cherubim saw no need to let it go unanswered. Plus, she was quite happy to flex her heir placement. So, the svelte girl took off at a quick pace toward the portion of the border where their ‘guest’ was placed. She arrived within a few minutes, her posture tall with erect auds but relaxed tail. Her bi-colored gaze roamed the figure of the woman, larger than her and quite fetching in appearance. “Hello, my name is Kali Klein, heir to Habari. To what do we owe this pleasure?” she asked, an impish smirk on her lips.

Talking

Recluse would concede that she probably should have reached out to Abaven some time ago but some part of her had been curious to see how long they'd hold out. She'd attempted at first to contact The Hallows when they'd shared a border as well and she was maybe curious to see just how long she had to hold out before someone fucking else took the initiative in her life to reach out. But maybe her reluctance had only gotten stronger when she'd left that child with Beat, she had no desire to even be in the child's life and certainly wasn't eager for Beat to discover he had other children she had kept from him. Still when she heard the call come for her the woman would not deny the caller. Recluse was pleased to find her daughter was already greeting their visitor. The woman stepped up beside Kali and dipped her head towards the black and white woman. "And I am Recluse Klein, her mother and Seraphim." She would not reiterate her daughter's question, instead she would expect the answer to it. "Speech"

"Hello to you both," she demurred as the pair of women approached, one younger and darker furred followed by what looked like a phantom. They introduced themselves politely enough, but there was a certain aplomb with the way they conducted themselves that told Theory to be patient, pay attention, and listen to subtext. She straightened up and introduced herself. "I'm the Headmistress of Abaven. We've shared borders for some time, but unfortunately this past year of weather followed by the long night..." she rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "It kept me from making this meeting sooner, and I regret that." She paused for just a moment to collect herself before launching into the more long-winded explanation about Abaven's new focus. "My pack has long been a family-oriented pack that took care of its own - but my focus has since expanded. We're dedicating ourselves fully to education, especially youths, but wolves of any age or alliance will be welcome to study alongside our professors." Theory surveyed them for any inkling of a reaction then slowly sat down. "I just wanted to spread the word and let you know what our intentions are - you're welcome to send anyone who's interested."

Her mother was quick to respond despite it being daytime, the fact surely hurting the albinistic woman’s eyes and skin. The girl hoped that the interaction would go quickly so that Recluse could shelter herself back into the confines of the mountain cave she’d claimed and get the rest she needed. The woman began speaking, offering a quick greeting before getting straight to the point of her visit, a fact she quite appreciated. Kali could be quite conniving, but in general affairs she preferred to be quick and to the point. And what she proposed piqued Kali’s interest.

However, she was skeptical. It seemed too…altruistic. Surely no one did something so nice for nothing, and if they did they were a fool. But at the same time, they wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. They were a pack of spies after all, and it seemed that kids from all regions would filter in to be taught. Kids who were loose lipped and might slip out a family secret or two. The Cherubim put on a charming smile, her bi-colored gaze crinkling at the corners as she looked to Recluse, who she was sure was thinking along the same lines. “Well, that sounds amazing. We value education in Habari as well, don’t we, Mom?” she offered, tail tip twitching behind her lithe frame.

Talking

While she and her daughter were of the same mind when it came to the potential for their young spies to catch tasty snippets of information but more than that Recluse was very aware of the lack of training some of their younger members had, particularly in regards to her young cousins who wanted to learn the healing arts, for all her sympathy for her aunt and her situation it was also frustrating to her that the young of the pack, some of whom were her aunt's own damn children were being left in the dark, she did not have the knowledge to help them herself, but she did not share this frustration with Kali, not yet. Maybe this was the answer to the problem for now, until she could finally work up the courage to face her aunt properly. Recluse nodded thoughtfully as Kali spoke. "We do, and diversity of thought is especially important and perhaps even missing." She paused for a moment, closing her eyes, really it was to give them a brief respite from the too-bright glare of the light on her sensitive eyes but she knew would give her the appearance of being deep in thought. "Do you mind if I ask how you imagine the curriculum to go? How long would our youth be on loan to your school? How easy would it be for me to get in contact with my members if need be?" How much of a risk would she be taking on getting rid of the young blood that were currently the most active members of her pack outside of herself and Eraithus? "Speech"

Theory took in Recluse's concerns, watching the minute exchanges of body language between the two women. They seemed of one mind on the matter, so at least that made it easy. It would be nice to have another friendly presence nearby. Their carefully schooled expressions had her fooled, if only because of the ease of their agreement to her proposal. Theo wasn't used to being suspicious, especially of strangers - perhaps it would come back to haunt her, but kindness had always served the alpha well. "Yes, I'm glad you share the same sentiment," she replied, shooting Kali a warm grin. "And I agree, Recluse. Too often a young wolf goes almost their entire first year - sometimes even on through their second year - without seeing many wolves outside of their own pack. It's a shame, really." She pondered the Seraphim's second question for a moment. "Curriculum is really up to whatever you deem most useful for your charges, just let me know what skills you'd like to work on. I welcome wolves for any length of time, but young ones might do better for a season at least. Enough time to get their bearings again in a new place and really learn," she gestured back towards Abaven lands as she finished speaking. "As for ease of communication, you're in luck that we're in such close quarters. My pack has long used ravens to communicate and I'm sure you could contact us quite easily."