And I'll spread my wings and learn how to fly

The stones, as strange as they were to her, were a place of comfort. The shapes were different from the ones she knew. She spend two days here and she wasn't sure what had happened to her. She managed to take care of herself though. She had found a stream between the grass where she could quench her thirst. Her natural skills as a hunter managed to keep her fed. The matriarch was currently carrying a hare between her jaws back to the stones. Her movements were fleeting. She wasn't relaxed. Valette was on edge. Nothing was as she knew but things also hadn't changed.

The female had touched against every stone. She had jumped against them, maybe one of the stones would fall on her and bring her back. Her heart was broken. She never wanted to abandon Easthollow but she had no way to return. She was trying but clearly she was far away from Easthollow. She had deducted that she was... alive. After all, she would need to eat and drink. With that reminder she sank her teeth in the recently killed prey. It filled her stomach but didn't fill the loneliness in her heart. She lifted her muzzle into the air and howled. Her sorrow filled tones echoed over the plains, a ballad of despair and loss.
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Like a gargoyle hunched above an aged chapel the hardered man stood atop the cavernous edge with a glassy gaze—amber eyes washed with age yet shining bright as any yearling. Softly had the giant trailed her with tepid steps well-placed upon slated rock. Drawn to her song in march of the rapid drumming burried within his breast. It had been long since he felt it—that warmth. That presence.

He wasn't sure, at least not at first. But watching her movements felt all too familiar. Her gate, her posture, her hesitance; All of it like a distant memory beginning to thaw under long-awaited spring.

It was her. It had to be.

Softly he parted his jaws, his rumbling voice hushed in an attempt to not startle her more than she already appeared.

"Valette...? Is that you?" Disbelief still hung on the edge of his voice. But old hips did not hesitate to move, creaking as he scaled down the aged walls of rock with pebbles scattering in his wake only to tumble below with clattering clicks.

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Valette snapped her head around instantly when she heard a voice behind her. A familiar voice. She would recognize that voice anywhere but it just couldn't be. Her eyed confirmed it though. Greyback. She was stunned. Rooted in place as she took him in, approaching. No, this couldn't be. He was dead-- What did that mean she was dead as well? She let out a gasping sob. No--- She hadn't been ready to die. Her children... She had to make things right with Arlette. She---

"Greyback," she choked out. Her eyes looked disbelieving, shocked. She never thought she would see him again. She had buried him, by the father stone. And here he was... She had that vision of the mother stone landing on her. Suddenly her tears lined her green eyes. "Did I die?," she asked, her voice uncertain. Was this the after life? All the wolves she had seen in her visions.... where they here too? She licked her lips. "The stones--- I-- The ground was shaking and the Mother Stone-- It fell!," she gasped out. "Then I was here.... Another circle." She sounded confused.

Though her uneasiness was slowly ebbing away. She wasn't alone no more. Valette took a step forward. Greyback was here with her. She was not alone anymore. Her patriarch. She tentatively moved forward, almost if she was checking out of he was real of flesh and blood. When he did seem a solid figure she automatically fell against his chest. 

Home.
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The gargoyle landed not far from her with a huff, his overgrown claws scraping loudly against the uneven terrain. But now level he was able to see clearly. Valette was shaken, her frame wracked and those emerald eyes welling with tears pained with something he had long missed yet was scared to question. 

As she closed the distance to sink into his chest long-tensed muscles had relaxed. How long had it been since he last held her? A year? 5? A lifetime ago?  A gentle tongue poked out to sooth over the top of her crown.

He dared not cry— not now. Not when she needed him. 

"My heart," he cooed, dark voice muffled within the soft fur of her ear. "Take but a breath, there is no haste." He would explain in time. "Are you injured?"

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Valette's heart jerked when he called her by the nickname she hadn't heard for such a long time. She leaned more against him. She had always been comforted by his long mane she could bury his face in. She did take a deep gulp. His scent was overwhelming. Valette instantly burst into tears. She reminded herself that she wasn't such a sappy emotional mess before, but these last few days had been surprisingly scary. Everything she knew had been ripped from her. Valette pulled her face away from him and willed her tears to stop. 

"I'm unharmed," she assured him. "I even feel... younger? My back doesn't ache the way it did. I wasn't even aware, but now I notice it is gone." Valette then looked at Greyback. His familiar face, so real to her. "Greyback where are we? What happened?"
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He could of spent forever like this—tangled with the soft curls of her fur, sharing one soul, one emotion. Nothing to company except their synchronized hearts. But she pulled away and he let her do so without any resistance, even if it pained him. And as her tears fell swiftly would he seek to wipe them away with a cold dry nose. He would do anything for her. He'd die a thousand deaths just to be by her once more— and perhaps he did. Time was but an illusion here. False, even.

A lip tussled against his teeth, brows pursing as his mind searched for words to say. "This world is not of what we knew. You remember, don't you? Easthollow...Teekon?" Memories burned within his flesh would never leave; The winter solstance, their marriage, her birth. Arlette, Merrit, Clay, West. Each stung along the scattered neurons of his mind. "I believe this is another chance. Another life—A rebirth." for us.

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Valette looked at Greyback when he spoke. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Another world? How was that even possible. She didn't know it was possible. She opened her mouth to speak but then nodded. "I do," she whispered. She remembered it all. Her three litters, all her children even the ones she adopted over the years. The loss and hurt. "You died. You were gone. I watched you as you turned grey.. grey-er," she commented. Until he was too old to stand by her side. Had she ever seen him this young? She angled her head a little.

"A rebirth? But-- Greyback, what of our children? Of Easthollow," she questioned. "Who will be there to take over the pack? And-- There was so much left unfinished. Things were not going well--," she admitted and bit her lip. She sucked in some air again, trying to calm herself. It helped, a little. Perhaps she had died. Perhaps there hadn't been a choice for her, but there had been a chance. Another chance with Greyback. "This is a lot to process," she admitted. "But-- I'm so happy to see you again. That I get to see and speak with you again. How-- How long have you been here?"[/b]
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A small, sad smile formed within the lines of his dark face. "That's true, isn't it?" He breathed, realizing she had been left alone. Scared. To fend for herself in a world so firm paw'd. He wondered if she took someone else, had more children, how her fate had been met. "I'm sorry, my heart.  You were the last one I wanted to leave, to suffer without me." It was no easy thing to hear his pack—their pack, had fell into hard times but such was nature in it's course. Packs would rise and fall like the sun, lands relinquished and fought for. Arlette would lead, no doubt. She was strong, capable, the eldest. 

"Some of us are here, some aren't. Those who remember count themselves lucky. Only time will tell, I believe." It seemed she had forgotten her last awakening here. Where she broke his heart, where Steady had stood. He hadn't seen the man for some time, perhaps he was dead.

"I've been walking 2 years now... Searching for you." His voice hung onto those last words, suspended in greif. But she was here, they were here.

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Valette realized that it was strange, and probably something completely unique that she was able to talk about her experience on the death of the one she was currently talking to. She shook her head lightly. "Please do not blame yourself or feel bad. Your death was ... the easiest. I saw it coming and it was..." She paused. "...peaceful," she hummed. She looked at Greyback. "I missed you, a lot. But it didn't feel as if you were ripped from me. I was prepared. It was lonely without you by my side, and it was difficult. I would have wished we would have gone together but--- It hadn't been my time then." Her green eyes didn't look angry at all. She had accepted his death. He had been so old, and so tired. 

"Who is here?," she asked curiously. There were others that made this journey? That also got this... rebirth? She was confused about it but was slowly coming to accept it. It was then when Valette felt quiet. She was a little shocked at the reveal. She almost felt guilty that he had been looking for her for so long. She hadn't known. But would she have left Easthollow for him? She didn't know. But-- she had been brought here now. She stepped forward. Perhaps him longing for her was what had brought her here. Valette stepped back against him, her face moving through his fur. His love. His loyalty. Him. She had missed him so much. "If I knew you had been looking I would have been looking too," she whispered to him.
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He did not speak more on his death—he couldn't. Despite Val's words nothing could shake away the cracks formed within an aged foundation. They were deep, cavernous even. Something that would take time to fill, to heal. This world had done it's best to—he had done his best too, but it was folly to assume a new life, a new chance would fully solve old guilt. This he knew. Maybe she would too.

When she stepped back to him a large paw came up to hold her close, his head down to wrap around her; A reassurance he would not leave and maybe a promise he wouldn't let her go.

"Ira, I hear Leta and West are too..." but he had not gone to visit them yet. The fear of them sharing the same fate as his daughter felt too heavy to bare. "I'm a grandfather now," he chuckled softly. Such a pride that warmed his heart. "Ira has been busy though it's been challenging. Her memories have yet to surface, I fear they may not." 

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Valette noticed that Greenback hadn't really responded to her talking about his death. She then realized that it might not be very pleasant for him to talk about. She dropped the subject right way, not continuing. Especially when he spoke of other wolves being alive as well. West? Leta? Even Ira! Wow. "Truly?," she gasped. She had not seen West in a long time, Leta the same. "I hope we can find them one day. I wish to see them." Her babies, her children with Greyback. Though she couldn't fault him on how he was with her other children. He practically raised Arlette as his own. 

"Oh-- wait. So it could be possible that Leta and West don't remember me?," she asked. That was shocking, and hurtful. They wouldn't remember her? She hoped selfishly that it would be different from her, that they would remember her when they would go and meet them. 'This is all so strange," she admitted and shook her head a little in disbelieve. "How about you? Are you fed? Well rested?," she asked, giving him another good look just to be sure she hadn't missed something.
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A lot of difficult questions—Some of which had difficult answers. The giant was hesitent to say, his tongue two-folded as he imagined Valette's reaction. He did not wish to cause her distress, to see marks maim that beautiful face of hers. She had been through so much—they both had, but holding back thruths had never been of his nature, and as much as he would like to deny the tired lines clinging beneath her eyes, it was evedent she was already exasperated.

"Most wolves won't remember. Theres a low chance Leta and West will," It was something she would have to come to terms with, hard as it may be. Even He had yet fully accept it. He couldnt help but look down with worried eyes to observe her.

"Don't waste your worry on me, my love. I have managed so far." With a belly full and coat thick he had done well for himself these past moons. "Why don't you follow me? I have a den not far we could rest at.."

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Sorry for the delay!

---

Valette frowned lightly when Greyback told her that her children might not remember her. How could they not remember? Little did she know that she also didn't remember a time where she had been here before, also meeting Greyback. The woman sighed and shook her head almost in disbelief. "This is all so strange," she admitted. It still felt as if she was hallucinating, speaking with Greyback. Was this the after life? Maybe she shouldn't think about it too much. She had Greyback back into her life.

Valette dipped her head. "I'd... I'd like that," she admitted. She would happily follow him. He was like an anchor for her now. It was someone she knew in this strange and different land. "Can you tell me more about your life here?," she asked, while she followed him to his den.
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