The Angel Comes

He wandered, not aiming for anywhere. He had woken up in a patch of woods, strangely. He had no idea where he was. 

Where am I? What happened? Why am I here? What caused me to arrive here? The russet red and black wolf shuddered, he didn't like being alone like this or having no idea where he was. 

Maybe I can find someone to help me. Maybe then I won't be alone and without a clue as to where I am. He thought on, continuing to aimlessly wander. 

Halo then tried calling out to see if someone was there. "Hello? Can anybody hear me?"
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The morning was pleasant enough, and Valeska found herself laying idly upon the great rock she so often used for sunning. Her fur twinkled in the sun, silver-white, as her sides softly rose and fell with the cadence of her breath; a gentle breeze stirred around her, bringing with it the scent of spring. Fate's Respite was one of the last areas to release winter's chill in the mountains, given its distance so far north. While the little she-wolf was a child of snow and frost, she did find that springtime had its merits - the flowers were lovely, and food wasn't as difficult to come by - and relished the opportunity for a nap.

In the distance, a voice called.

Reluctantly she stirred from her dozing, stumbling to her paws and giving herself time enough for a deep stretch before hopping down to investigate the source.

A red wolf stood alone, looking thoroughly lost and confused as to his whereabouts. She felt a pang of sympathy, knowing well the feeling - she, like many others, had also woken here without a clue as to how. Her world lay far in the past, now, so she had carved out a space in this new one to live out her days.
“Yes, I am coming,” she called as she closed the distance between them, her voice thickly-accented with Russian undertones. “Hello, stranger! I am Valeska, High Priestess of Elysium here. You look... new,” Valeska finished awkwardly, referring not so much to his immediate presence in her territory, and more toward his existence in this world at all.

“Have you freshly woken? It is okay to be confused; it took many days to orient myself, too. Come, have a drink - perhaps it will help.” She motioned to the nearby lake, shimmering and azure in its stillness.

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"Hello, Valeska. I am Halo." He introduced himself, then thought about what she had said after her name. "Elysium? Is that a... pack?" 

Halo... was confused, to put it simply. "Yes, I am new." He nodded at her offer for a drink from the lake, eagerly lapping some up as he was thirsty. 

Halo stopped drinking after a moment, and sat, studying the female. 

"And, if I am in your territory, I am sorry. I had just recently awoken, as you said. I awoke in this patch of forest some distance away. If you want me to leave your territory, just tell me." He bowed his head to show he was sincere about this, not wanting something bad to happen.
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He took her up on the offer quickly, now seeming a little more oriented after quenching his thirst. Then it was all apologies - how they always amused her, knowing herself to be much more lenient than most canines about her space. She smiled good-naturedly and beckoned him to sit.
“Do not worry, I am not... how you say...” she searched for the word. “Possessive? This place is welcome to all who mean well, whether they are members of Elysium or not.”

Valeska's laissez-faire attitude toward strangers had come about back in her first year, while her father was deep in the grip of his madness. He had driven away even his own family after the disastrous fight with her mother; selfish, terrified, angry, hurting; Annika and Harper were banished into the mists, yet he never allowed anyone else to leave. As a result, most of their pack had dwindled and starved, trapped high up in a barren mountain where prey had grown sparse and then ultimately disappeared entirely.

The situation had imprinted itself so thoroughly onto her mind that she swore she would never be like him, and so upon assuming leadership of her own, she allowed all kinds to stop and rest in Fate's Respite as they needed - for what was a world without kindness?

The little wolf sat, too, still drowsy from her nap. “So,” she began, yawning at first, “Do you remember anything of your life before? Some do, some do not. I remember mine, though now it seems like a dream I had while I was asleep.”

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"Oh. That's nice of you, welcoming in anyone that means no harm." Halo sat, nodding his head. 

She really is nice, welcoming in anyone, and not being possessive of her territory... 

"I only remember glimpses of it, strangely. Like how I was in a pack, a pack that treated members like family and friends. And I remember being a healer, the only one in my pack. I was relied on heavily, so my skill increased greatly over time. I remember glimpses of my family, my father black-furred, and my mother russet. My sisters and brothers looked like me, my brothers even more. I was born in a litter of six. I remember being told that I came first and that I was the oldest." Tears started to fall as he talked, sad because he couldn't remember much, and because he missed everyone. 

Hey, mind if I bring one of his siblings in?

---

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He seemed to remember more of his previous life than most, and as he recalled with some detail his history as a healer and valued member of his pack, Valeska found herself more than a little intrigued. He was young, but quite tall for his age, and carried himself with more seriousness than his youth might suggest. However long he had lived previously it seemed that the clock had been reset for him (although Valeska herself was carried over at her current age), yet if what he said was true, then his skills still remained fresh in his mind.

“That sounds lovely,” she said sincerely, offering him another smile. “We do not have a full-time healer in Elysium - Harper, my sister, is more of a general ecologist, and seems to like the things that give stomachaches more than the healing variety - so if you did wish for a new home, we would have a place for you to rest and rebuild.”

There was no pressure for him to answer yet; she let the statement hang in the air, nor would she drive him off for rejecting the offer. She meant every word of what she had said, though she was certain Harper would relish the opportunity to speak of plants with another enthusiast. Valeska only knew of the mind-altering root sort, and did not often trust her sibling not to steer her wrong - they loved each other as fiercely as any family, but that didn't mean they resisted the urge to antagonize each other from time to time.

“Elysium is also very close-knit, and we even would like to turn this into a school of learning for all who wish to hone skills of their trade for passersby and packmates alike - all, I think, deserve a chance to better themselves,” she finished, flicking a glance up at the snow-capped mountains which ringed their home. Aulis might also enjoy a friend nearer his age to train with, given their quest to return him to the celestials - but that was a thought for another day.

 

OOC: Of course you can!

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Okay! Thank ya!

---

Halo hadn't thought very much about joining another pack, but if they didn't have a healer that knew a lot - no offense to her, of course - he gave some thought to it. And since Valeska was offering, he... Might as well take up her offer! 

"Sure! I'll accept your offer of coming with you. It does sound like fun, after all. And I'd love to be able to care for a pack again! It'll give me something to do." He smiled back at her, happy that he has been given a purpose again.
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She aimlessly wandered, not searching for anything but someone else. She stumbled over a tree root, falling slightly before righting herself. 

Then she emerged into the open and had to adjust to the sudden change of surroundings. She looked around, searching for someone, something. She saw a beautiful azure lake not that far away. But what caught her attention was not that, but the two wolves by the shore. 

One looked familiar. Awfully familiar. She padded a bit closer. Recognition flared through her, blinding almost everything but that wolf. Disbelief washed through her, as she had thought she wouldn't find anyone from her family. She ran as fast as she could over to him, not caring about anything. 

"Halo!" She cried out, almost to him. "Brother!"
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She hadn't expected him to immediately jump for it, but his enthusiasm brought her a little thrill of joy. Their spring festival was overdue, and the more, the merrier - she would have to gather up the rest of the pack to figure out arrangements, but it wouldn't take too long. She delighted in organizing such events and didn't find enough opportunity to do so these days, so a little fresh blood would help keep things light.

“Wonderful! I will introduce you to my sister later; I am sure you will have much to talk about. The dens are at the base of our tallest mountain, I shall take you the-” she was interrupted suddenly by the arrival of a new wolf, a red female of much the same look as Halo. Before she had a chance to open her mouth and inquire further, the stranger shrieked an excited greeting and charged toward what was clearly her sibling.

Grass flew in all directions, birds startled from their trees; she tore a hard path and arrived almost immediately.

“... You know each other! How marvelous!”

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"What- Lani! Sister!" He cried out, disbelief shocking him. "Y-You're actually here! I thought... I thought I was alone! I thought no one else was here! But I'm so glad you are!" 

He hugged her with all his strength, not wanting to ever let go. "Lani! Valeska here offered for me to join her pack! Why don't you too?" 

Halo dug his muzzle into his sister's thick neck fur, relishing in her scent and warmth. He noticed she hugged him back instantly, eager to be with him again.
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It filled her with joy to see the pair reunited, despite knowing little of them to start - but she knew the despair one often awoke with here, and the utter emptiness without a single face around that made sense to you. She smiled jovially and gave an exuberant tail-wag to show her support. “How happy I am for you both! It took me longer to find some of my old pack here, but it is a feeling I could never express,” she said, recalling the fury with which she had tackled Buckeye in the Plains.

Then Harper and Amaranth... the very air she breathed. To find them here brought joy and pain in equal measure, for while she would not have to be alone, it meant that they, too, had perished in the great cataclysm of their life prior. It was bittersweet, but a thought she tried not to focus on too much.

“If Lani wishes, then we will be happy to offer a home for your sister,” she replied gently, still reminiscing.

“I will give you both a tour, but I am curious what interests your sister?” Valeska inquired. “We have Thornweavers, who spend much of their time with plants - Shadowsbane, wolves who choose to defend what is right - Windseekers, scouts and our swiftest hunters - and Spiritwalkers, wolves who prefer to divine the workings of the gods. All start as Acolytes until first training, but it is good to know what interests you early.”

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She broke away from her brother for a moment, thinking about what was said. 

"I would love to be a part of the pack! And, as I am swift and adept at hunting, I would like to be what you call a 'Windseeker'." Lani replies nervously. "As I am sure my brother is a Thornweaver because of his skill at healing, I would like to be a minor one, if that's alright?" 

She was swift, the second swiftest wolf in her old pack. That was a great skill and was demonstrated just a little while earlier. She was also greatly skilled in hunting, though not as high up in that spectrum. 

This'll give us a chance to live our lives like we should! And it will also give us the chance to be a part of a pack again! She was very eager to be a part of a pack with her brother again.
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^^

cameo only

---

Harper was doin’ her usual plant assessment of the herbs in her garden when the wind brought her the scents of which did not belong. At least, scents she did not know, and thus, went to go check ‘em out. By the time she got there, she spotted two rather large figures with her very smol sister.

A cause for alarm, surely, and the amazonian guardian kept watch - from the shadows, and not really making herself known. At least, not obviously known - watching them, and watching her sister, ready to leap forward and chase them off or attack them should things turn south.

Like a possessive boyfriend who didn’t like others talking to his girl - but they seemed friendly for now, and Harper trusted if she truly needed to come to the rescue, Valeska would call for her.

Thus, she picked up her herbs and went back to her garden.

^^
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Lani was exquisitely polite and so uncertain of herself - she seemed to be afraid, almost, though Valeska was possibly the least intimidating creature currently residing in the northern part of the Mountains. She smiled passively, trying to reassure the young she-wolf that all was well.

“It would be my pleasure,” the High Priestess stated, completely unaware of the watchful eyes in the distance. Harper could be notoriously quiet when she wanted to, and thus made herself privy to many private conversations that were None of Her Business - but Valeska was never truly angry about it. She simply assumed her sibling to be a nosy busybody, but if she ever found out the truth how the dark woman was merely keeping a protective watch, she would have been touched.

Not that she needed defending! She was stronk.

“We will be so happy to give you both a home, here,” she said glibly, “Your skills will be most useful, and we cannot wait to see them grow! Come, follow me; I will show you the dens and the food-cache, and then we shall go to meet my sister.”

The latter would undoubtedly pretend this entire situation was News To Her, but she was a good sport.

 

{Exit Valeska}

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