Since the return of her stay on the moon

 So far, this place was nice.

 Her first interactions here weren't all that expected, but they weren't negative. So far, she'd met one quite flirtatious woman who had seemed nice enough, though it had been quite a shock to suddenly be face to face with someone who was complimenting her, after the more conservative approaches to affection she was used to.

 It was nice, but not her main concern.

 She had grown tired of wandering and this location, this Fate's Respite... it seemed like a good stopping point, a layaway on a trip that had no true destination. She had no clue the direction of home, nor whether it had survived or not. Honestly, if she returned home it would only be to seek out those few family members of hers that she knew still cared for her. Those of blood and made-family, bonds and friends.

 Nevada missed them, but the peace that washed over her in the Respite was more than enough to distract her from her loneliness. It was so starkly different from the desert valley she had grown up in that she almost didn't want to leave. Yet, she was still a stranger here. Meeting one or two wolves was nice but there was still a lot of uncertainty in her mind.

 So, today, she sat under the shade of a pine tree, eyes tracing the edges of the lake. She had noticed earlier that day, when looking at her reflection, that her eyes were very nearly the same hue as the water in its deeper parts. She pondered their depths, whether they held secrets like the tar pits of her birthplace. Skeletons, corpses, more?

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[narrow width=700]It was hot again. High noon was the worst, the cruel sun beating its ire upon her fluffy and ill-suited back, and she found herself dreading her daily rounds around Fate's Respite in the middle of this heatwave. If drying off wasn't such a pain, she would have happily submerged herself in the lake; unfortunately it took far too long to shake out the heavy dampness from her fur, and feeling it matted against her skin was less than pleasant. She would have to endure.

Valeska rounded the corner of a large cluster of rocks near the shoreline, when suddenly a bumblebee careened into view and nailed her between the eyes with a fat 'plop'. It whizzed back to attention and began circling her head in a confused frenzy, and she screamed in terror as she took off down the slope and flung herself into the crystalline waters of the lake.

A few moments of manic splashing, and she had sufficiently warded off the offending bee. Well, at least she wasn't hot anymore.

Like a great, eldritch sea-beast, the silver wolf schlupped out of the water and hobbled wetly back up the slope, her vision partially obscured by the damp hair that fell in her eyes. She could make out a pine tree just a short distance away; at least she could clean herself up beneath it.

Valeska reached her destination, shook out her fur, and was quite surprised to find herself being watched.

“Oh,” said the sea beast. “My apologies, I... there was, I had...” She grasped weakly for the right words, but failed. “... Incident. Hello. You are... new?”
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 Movement to her left drew her attention to the brush and stones of the shore. Immediately, she spotted a pale, stonelike woman rushing towards the water, apparently running from something. Nevada watched curiously as the shape rushed towards the water, screaming in what appeared to be terror - but there was nothing behind her, the woman noted with a flick of her ear. Perhaps the creatures she had seen swimming in the water or burrowing near the shore had frightened the woman?

 Whatever was chasing the woman appeared to be abated by the water and she came up onto the close shore.

 Nevada stilled her breath as the woman approached, noting that she did not appear to be looking at her just yet. Was she hidden among the needles? No, her coat was far too -

 She was hit by a spray of water as the other wolf shook off her coat.

 With a sneeze (water had entered her nose), she rocked back onto her haunches, blinking droplets out of her eyes. “It's quite alright,” she murmured with a soft cough to clear her throat, “Are you alright? You appeared pursued...?” She would indicate towards the lake with a question in her gaze. “I am, just found this beautiful lake the other day.” She'd kept her head fairly low, except for the one instance of meeting the brown woman, “My name is Nevada, who might you be?”

 Her voice was cool but not in a way that spoke of irritation or disgust, but instead a sort of formal, diplomatic way of speech. Her gaze was intense and calculating and she pondered the woman before her, noting that she was pleasant to look at although perhaps a bit awkward in behavior, though time would tell if that changed. Her way of speaking was also interesting and there was an accent that clung to her voice.

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[narrow width=700]As Valeska sat vainly attempting to air-dry herself, she managed to peel back some of the longer fur from her eyes and actually got a proper look at the stranger before her. The woman was of average height, but slender of form and pleasantly curved, highlighting her femininity further still over the soft tones of her speech. She was very much a lady, and the little wolf immediately decided she liked that about her. As a child, Valeska had entertained broad fantasies of being a fair princess rescued from peril by a strong and shining knight, sweeping away in his metaphorical arms to live ever-after as a delicate noblewoman in some grand home. She had grown up instead to be a rather short, rather bold, and quite a stocky little creature more suited to white-knighting evil herself than being imperiled by it.

This, however, was a true lady before her, and she in all of her elegance brought the soft glow of memory to her mind, and Valeska was happy to entertain her.

“Nevada - is beautiful name. Is soft name, but hints at great strength,” she said wistfully, enunciating the woman's name very carefully. She was as unusual in her appearance as much as her manners - pure white with a stark contrast of navy, almost a slate grey running along her spine, and piercing eyes the deepest color of the lake that lay before them. The languid way she moved, even something so barbaric as a sneeze, was downright mesmerizing.

“Ah! Yes,” Valeska returned to attention. “I was pursued by flying menace. Small things that sting. Did not have them in mountains from the old world, find they are bothersome here. I run, they catch me. This is third dunk in lake this week. Unfortunate,” she said, lamenting her usually-fluffy white coat that now sat plastered to her skin like a drowned rat.

“Oh, forgive, was rambling. I am Valeska, shepherd of Elysium. We are working toward making this home - we had one before, but then everything went dark and woke here. Have reunited with old friends, made new ones. So many interesting wolves here - accents I do not know, cultures I offend by accident. Is wild ride, but quite fun. Have you seen anyone you know?”

There was a faint scent about the woman that managed to illicit some recent memory, but she couldn't place it, and chalked it up to too many encounters in too short a time. Perhaps she was going nose-blind - so many passed through these days.

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+2 Formation Points

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 The snowy lady settled in before her, taking some time to look the blue-and-white woman over. Nevada allowed it, taking a moment to inspect the other's features, despite how waterlogged they appeared. She was a small, stocky woman but she was pretty all the same, features reminding her fondly of home.

 Of the better parts of home.

 She smiled at the compliment of her name and dipped her head - “Thank you.” She had no part in her own naming, unlike some others, so she could not exactly take credit... but it was a nice name. Had she knowledge of a realm far away, she would have found the irony of her name quite amusing: She had been born in a pack known to outsiders as Death Valley, which was a location within the human state of Nevada.

 The wet lady continued on about the nature of her pursuit and Nevada nodded somberly. “Bee or wasp perhaps?” She would offer a slight smile, thinking back. “If it is a bee, they produce a substance within their nests which is quite sweet and sticky,” she caught herself as the influence of both her mate and best friend nearly caught up to her. The two of them had been herbalists, healers, and she had absolutely heard of the medical uses of honey before. Not wanting to be recognized as a healer - a job she never quite felt attuned to - she would resist the urge. “If it is a wasp, they live to torture those of us who happen to be in their way.” A humorous smile. She had found the papery remnants of a wasp nest once and had found it all too lacking in honey... and all too flush with very angry insects.

 If she had been allergic, she would not have lived to see another day.

 Elysium, Valeska. “Valeska also speaks of strength, and Elysium is also a wonderful name.” She did not wish to infer on the nature of their people, though from the way the woman spoke and the attitude, she was fairly certain it was a much different place to that which she had once called home. They seemed... peaceful. Friendly. She felt a pang of longing deep within her. “This place would be a lovely home.”

 Something else caught her attention and she looked at Valeska with sharp eyes, “Forgive me, you mentioned the world going dark and then waking here?” She would tilt her head. “I had a similar experience, but the few wolves I've met since hadn't mentioned it. Is it common?” The final question the silver wolf gave was pretty much answered by her own question.

 Frankly, she'd been worried she had brain damage to cause what she had assumed was memory loss. The strange pair who she had first come across had worried for her health but had not mentioned any such strange waking.

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[narrow width=700]Nevada's description of bees held great fascination for the silver she-wolf, and her head tipped curiously to the side seemingly of its own accord. What kind of bizarre creature produced something sweet and edible? Surely the buzzing menace that had terrorized her earlier was not one such a beast? It was so small, she couldn't fathom how it produced much besides that awful noise.

Wasps, however, were clearly the creation of the great Devil Wolf himself. Valeska uttered a prayer under her breath in rapt attention. They lived solely to torture, and for no other reason than existing in their path - perhaps the thing that had chased her was such a monster from Hell.

She couldn't help but think they ought to be a bit scarier in appearance (you know, eight feet tall, covered in poisonous spikes and flailing claws and six rows of teeth), but looks were, as she had come to understand, often deceiving. She considered herself lucky to have escaped with her life.

As the conversation drifted back toward the more formal side of their discussion, Valeska caught the faint, almost wistful look in Nevada's eyes, and leaned forward with a silly grin on her face. “Is elegant lady tempted?” she teased good-naturedly. “You are welcome to stay, if like. We are not very strict, as packs go, but consider all like family - if you might be interested.”

She would let her new acquaintance marinate on the offer. Seeing how her ears swiveled forward with heightened interest at Valeska's description of how she came to be here, she hesitated for just a moment. One or two other recent encounters had ended this revelation in hysterics, screaming at the top of their lungs knee-deep in her beautiful lake, and she didn't relish the idea of a repeat incident.

Still, Nevada seemed collected enough. “Well, I say went dark,” she began, “More like, huge earthquake destroyed home, and I fell down in deep chasm and hit head so hard I died. Just remember waking up here. Some claim they only went to sleep. Is hard to say, but I think it is purgatory of some kind, if not just The Next Life.”

Valeska's ears moved back almost imperceptibly as she braced herself for the reaction, if there was to be one.

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+1 Formation Points

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 An existence without bees or honey... well, it wasn't unheard of. It was unfortunate, though. If there were bees here, she would surely find combs nearby and would try to figure out a way to retrieve some honey for the lady before her.

 She realized with a start that she was thinking as if she were staying.

 The offer came moments later and her lips slipped into a smile. She gave a soft laugh, “I think my home is lost, and this seems like a good one to replace it.” The fire and war that had consumed her old home was so different from this place that she almost had whiplash. If this place was as laid back as it appeared, then she could leave if it did not fit. “If you will have me?”

 The lady before her seemed a bit concerned when she went on to explain the death. Death... to have died and come back. Nevada considered this for a long moment, thinking back to what she remembered. It was definitely possible that in her fleeing, she had met her end. Perhaps a wolf had claimed her from the side, taking her throat before she had a moment to process. Perhaps, too, a flaming tree branch had fallen upon her and crushed her before she could think to escape.

 How pitiful, to not even remember one's demise.

 “Then, if this is truly the afterlife...” she mused after a long moment, looking back at Valeska before turning her eyes to the sky. “This does look like Valhalla.” She looked to Valeska. “Are you a Valkyrie, then?” With her name, it fit. Valeska the Valkyrie... yes, it made sense.

 She hoped with a bitter chill that the rest of her pack would not find their way here.

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[narrow width=700]A small sigh of relief escaped her seeing that Nevada would not fall into hysterics like so many others at the thought of death. She never understood it herself - the fear. Dying didn't frighten her so much as the pain she might feel leading up to it, but since she assumed she already had, it had lost much of its terror and mystery. The lady in front of her seemed reasonable, stable. Valeska appreciated it greatly.

“Oh,” she said softly, registering what Nevada implied by her statement. Her home was also destroyed. Elysium had fallen in a great splitting of the earth, all crumbling stone and uprooted trees turning to rubble in the end, and Valeska herself had perished in its wake - she could only guess how the stranger's own home had been lost to her. A flood? A fire? A plague? Whatever the reason, she didn't want to risk being impolite by asking further.

“You are most welcome to stay,” the silver wolf replied, ears perking up. Another to invite to the feast, she thought excitedly. She had not forgotten her promise to hold Eventful Horizon a banquet to celebrate their new alliance - an alliance forged even before Elysium had dug deep its roots into Fate's Respite, before their collective howls had filled the air with their song. They had even more reason to throw a festival now, and she beamed at the thought. “Consider this home, for as long as you wish. Come, meet others - there are eight of us, now nine, Nevada-friend!”

“Besides,” she added, turning to glance at her newest Acolyte before leading her toward the den site. “We will hold celebration soon, and is better to know names beforehand than constant saying 'hey, you'.”

The lady continued her pleasantries, complimenting the view and referring to it as something like... Val-halla. She also referenced Valeska as a Val-ker-ee.

“Those are... your names for afterlife?” she asked quizzically, testing the words on her tongue. Valhalla. Valkyrie. They sounded good, whatever they were; then again, they were close enough to her own name, they already felt familiar in her mind. She shrugged and made a note to inquire more about it later. She held her beliefs quite firmly, but she also understood that many wolves had different words for the same things - and she didn't mind learning them, especially if it meant achieving a greater understanding of the gods and their ways.

She might learn a lot from this woman.

“Coming?”



[Exit Valeska]

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 Nevada would surely tell Valeska of her home's destruction, given time. She was still working on processing it, though from the last of her memory she thought she understood what had happened. At least... it had been foretold. The fate of their kingdom, the Ragnarok, it had all been spoken of for her whole life and beyond all odds, it seemed to have come true.

 She was accepted.

 Nevada smiled, tail waving gently. “Thank you.” The silver queen seemed excited to have her, ears perked and eyes lit up. “I can't wait to meet everyone,” Eight wolves, nine. That was a miniscule pack compared to what she was used to... but it was nice. If all the wolves here were as friendly as Valeska, it would feel much more like a family than the massive group of strangers she had once lived among.

 Valeska was moving away and Nevada followed, trotting at her shoulder. “It was a name for it, yes. We spoke of the impending apocalypse - Ragnarok - and it was said that we would awaken in Valhalla after the end of the world.” She hadn't ever been so sure if she believed it, but now? Perhaps there was some truth to it, even if her gods had abandoned them. “Valkyries were the warrior-women that were said to lead us to Valhalla.”

 She looked forward to this new chapter in her life.

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End!

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