Northstar Vale i used to know, but i'm not sure now

tags for ref

Lilitu had stayed for a time with @Easy, helping her prepare her whelping den and engaging herself in any other tasks the mother-to-be needed for settlement. When the woman's call went up, signaling her departure for a time on an errand, she returned the howl with one of her own:

Heading to the mountains—thank you for your hospitality.

Her stay had always come with an expiry date.

After a few days of slow, careful travel through the snowy peaks, Lilitu finally made her way down to the place of her birth, blanketed in white and dotted with verdant conifers. She lifted her head, breathing deep.

Wolves had settled here more recently than the Empire's reign, but now they, too, were gone. The vale was empty.

Perhaps, she thought, she could find her own mother's den. She followed a small, slightly gurgling stream—current too quick to ice over—attempting to summon from the depths of memory the old lay of the land here.

He continued to prowl, lured from home by the season's call. While he'd detected no scent if a receptive she-wolf since the pair by the lake, Viinturuth knew from experience that females also roamed in search of a mate.

He would not find a wolfess to share in his company by lounging by the creek.

It'd been a long time since he'd crossed into the vale where his brother first attempted to raise a family, and there was a wariness in his stride as he tested the air and earth for any suggestion of claim. Only the scent of snow and pine filled his nostrils, however, and as far as he could tell the land remained vacant.

When it became apparent that he was not alone in his wanderings, the pallid ranger paused to regard the lean she-wolf who followed the stream up ahead. He blinked, inhaled, and twitched a whisker as he considered how she could seem so oddly familiar.

Eventually, their paths crossed. A silver man, nine or ten seasons her senior, hawkish eyes upon her with some inquiry.

Lilitu lifted her one-eyed visage and smiled, with an amicable mien.

Hello, she said. Can I help you? I don't live here—just exploring where I was born, is all.

She hadn't expected to run into anyone else, and it was unnerving her slightly—but she kept a brave face, and froze said face while she waited for a response.

She noticed him, too. Viinturuth regarded her quietly, his gaze kind but curious. A single yellow eye stood out against the ash-and-dust shades of her face and her hide was littered with scars. He wondered what stories might be attached to this wandering she-wolf, what sort of beast she'd managed to escape.

Hello, he returned smoothly, tempted to venture closer to test the scents she carried, but he did not want to intrude on her space.

Viinturuth pricked a white ear at the announcement of her intention in the area. It was of great interest to him that she'd been born to the vale and, considering her maturity, there was a strong possibility that she could be one of Akavir's wayward daughters.

She'd been so little when last he'd laid eyes on her. Viinturuth inhaled a deep, trembling breath and dared to hope:

Lilitu?

Her name from his lips froze her in place. She looked him over, lips slightly agape, trying to find some semblance of familiarity in his features.

You know me, she said rhetorically, obviously in wonderment. Are you. . .from the Empire that was here, when I was born? Or—

Family. But who? Related to Ibis, or Akavir? Lilitu steadied herself, tail swaying slightly behind her, and prepared for the answer.

He knew her, a long time ago - and she did not know him. Viinturuth conjured the memories he'd held of her over the years: the mischief in her eyes, the curve of her smile and how it so resembled that of her mother. The ranger's heart skipped an uncomfortable beat to think of Ibis and his stomach lurched. Lilitu, despite the marring of her hide and the absence of an eye, would forever be beautiful to the uncle who'd long regretted leaving his family.

He should've gone looking for Arielle, not Akavir. He should've been their sword and shield.

How very different their lives would've been if only he had stayed.

I am your - the white wolf paused, very nearly declaring himself "uncle" when he'd never earned the title, your father's brother. I was there the day you were born.

She let out a small gasp, a tiny breath of laughter, in complete disbelief that she'd found him here. But then, she was bound to find family if she looked long enough—right?

I think. . .I think I remember you, Lilitu replied. Her yellow-green eye kept scanning his pale frame. My father's brother. . .uncle. . . Yes. I think I do remember you.

She chuckled, then, shaking her head, then remembered her purpose in coming north. Papa, she said, face growing insistent. Is he still at Swiftcurrent Creek? I've come to find him again, and that was where I saw him last.

But even if he wasn't—what a link! Surely this man knew where Akavir was, right?