Northstar Vale memory

For @Ibis! @Reiko and anyone else from UG/RE is welcome to come as well! Backdating before he goes to AK and meets Nefris. Note, he is not crossing any borders, but he's close enough to be in eyeshot!

The male had come back to the same place he had mat Wintersbane, though his name was unbeknownst to him. He was not as aware a pack had established its keep here. The mingling scents of wolves did not elude him, but he was rather interested. Some smelled familiar, in an eerie way. It was soothing, like a child's nursery smell they chanced upon by accident. The stricken Edelgard had come to the conclusion he had lost his memory, rather than be born from the river. from what he had seen these past few days, it made more sense.

He had no idea about the family he once despised, the friend he had lost days and days ago . . .

gonna hop in, if u dont mind that is C:

Vespera was making her usual rounds, or trying to establish usual rounds, for the words of Yuudai stuck in her memory like an annoying tick. The samurai wolf advised her once more about herself, how he said that Reiko trusted her enough to give the rank of Duchess. The woman looked to the horizon with determination, she knew that she couldn't fail Reiko, this was her home now.

But as she was making her rounds, an unfamiliar scent fluttered to her nose which made the girl's ear's shoot up and she stopped in her tracks which made her almost trip over her paws. Vespera wasted no time to investigate what that new scent was, so with an adamant trot, she followed her nose to the point where she could see the stranger. Slowing her pace, her face looked more relaxed than usual, but her expression still lingered on an slightly irritated face. 

The stranger was wise not to cross the border, but perhaps he was with Kaistleoki? No, he didn't have the same scent as Hiero, "can I help you?" She managed to work on her anger issues to the point where her tone wasn't snappy or snarky, but she still addressed the wolf with a firm voice.

@Alheis Jitter is current very sick, so I'll hop in now instead of Ibis :) she's hoping to be back soon to get more active again!

It was by chance she was walking by to see Vespera's gaze off in the distance. Curiosity took the young Empress and brought her to walk over to the Duchess' side, before words could be spoken through parted lips, her eyes glanced off into the distance to spot just what Vespera was looking at/talking to.

Awol? With a tilted head she stepped forward, toward him and away from the Reneian Duchess. With a sway of her tail, she looked on at the grey male, a smile on her features. He too was from Uaine. Looking back at Vespera excitedly briefly, Reiko began to close some distance between herself and Awol, perhaps stopping only a couple wolf lengths away in hopes she too would be recognized.

She and Awol were not very familiar with each other, once or twice they spoke but he was close to Ibis and that's all that mattered. Ibis would be happy to see him. Awol! You found us! I'm so happy to see you again, Ibis would be too!

Looking at the male she took note of various old wounds... what could have happened to the Uaine wolf during his time away?

I heard about that a day after I put this up, ha. Hopefully they'll get better for the sake of themselves before returning! <3

The stricken snapped his head up in realization he was not alone once the girl had addressed him. A scar ran down one of her eyes, the flesh contrasting from her sleek, ebony fur like a white rabbit in the sahara. She had the intention to be firm with him, not at all what he had experienced with Mahler and Wintersbane's first conferences, or rather because they were under dire circumstances and Mahler just possessed a kind nature, one which he was accustomed to. Unsure of what to say, he dipped his head, somewhat groveling at the ground beneath him nervously. 

Keen on leaving, he slowly backed opposite of the Enpire's claim until a white female shouted to him. Who's he? Awol? Edelgard raised his head, for the voice and name were familiar to a degree, but not enough. Uaine? What language was that name derived from, he wondered. Certainly not the one he and Mahler shared, he stayed quiet and low, encased in delicate confusion. The tilt of his head was rather innocent when she commented about seeing him again. He didn't remember seeing her ever, not even once form the depths of the river and his journey forward. 

Ibis. 

❝ . . . The bird? ❞ he inquired idly, curious to her claims. He had forgotten something in that river, he knew it. But still, it hadn't returned to him, and it mattered less to nothing. He was fine as he was, although lonesome but a traveler, seeing the wild for what it was. Unbeknownst to him at that time, but the trivial happenings of his past might ruin what he had been content with living in.

The look of a powerful warrior was hot in Vespera's eyes as she glued her glance onto his, watching his movements just in case if he were the one to act out in aggression. But much to her surprise, the man didn't say anything, in fact, he dipped his head to her and started to back up without saying a word, to this, Vespera let it slip that her eyebrows raised a little in surprise for she wasn't used to this type of gesture. Now she was starting to feel a little bad, was I too hard?.... Nah, this is as soft as i'm gonna get, the woman reconciled with herself for she was making and excuse for her attitude. But just as he was backing up, Vespera's ear seemed to act on her own and turned to the sound of an approaching wolf. The cloaked woman's eyes and muzzle soon followed with her head turning to the oncoming Reiko who addressed the male as Awol, someone that Reiko must have known. Vespera blinked at Reiko with a slightly confused expression, then her eyes tracked the male with a more calm deminer, but she was just more confused than anything.

The Empress explained that this man was part of a pack that she had never heard of, nonetheless, Rei knew him so he really wasn't any danger at all, "oh, I see," she said to the Empress with her eyelids half-open and her brows raised, she was trying to hide the fact that she was a bit embarrassed. Relaxing her shoulders, the cloaked woman watched as Reiko's attention turned back to the male, and knowing Reiko at this point, she was not afraid to hide her excitement. With a casual expression, Vespera turned to Awol as he began to spoke by saying the word bird, bird? where? The Duchess thought as she tried to sneakily look around the area to see if there really was a bird with her eyes while keeping her head in place as to not make it obvious. Or.... Is that how you are addressing Rei... Fuck....  The Duchess felt a little hot with embarrassment for she so stupidly tried to see if there was a bird.

The look on the man's face was of pure and utter confusion. Surely Reiko could be forgotten from their lack of interaction, but Ibis too? Something was strange indeed. No silly, your friend. Softly she corrected, hoping to jostle something up in that head of his and see if she could possibly bring out that ping of enlightenment within him. Did something happen to you? Concerned, she prodded a little to hear more from the lost man.

So many had up and gone since the Emberwood, is Awol truly did forget all about them, was that something she should tell Ibis or would that upset the small woman too much to be told such news? There was already so much bad news out there... that this, was it worth it? Was it worth her heartache after losing already so much within the past little while?

Alheis cocked his head. He didn't really understand what the woman was describing to him, but it did sure as hell sound like interesting. But he opted to put whatever he had lost in that river in the past — it was empty there now, where he didn't mind never seeing his past life again. It was much easier to forget and forgive whatever was done then and move on, right? Still, he stayed out of blatant curiousity, what else would it be? There wasn't much adventure in the life of pure survival, a good story is good now and then, even if he didn't understand a word that flitted from her mouth.