Hearthwood River in the backdrop

She shrugged. Perhaps it wasn’t all boring like she had initially proclaimed. There was some interesting stuff her father had taught her. She knew he was teaching her boring things out of necessity, as every wolf needed to learn them when they were her age. The basics. I s’pose, she hummed in response as she studied her pale companion, a wicked grin rolling onto her pale features. The older female’s question took her by surprise, earning a perplexed expression from the little Stark. She was stumped. She did not know what she wanted to learn—she wasn’t used to having the choice. Her nose twitched as she shuffled through the snow, her tail swaying gently behind her. I’d like t’learn more about the land, I think, she answered meekly, her chartreuse gaze not meeting Anastasia’s brilliant cerulean pools. I’ve only really explored Hearthwood; I dono much about anywhere else. She did not plan on leaving the Kingswood anytime soon (or ever) but she was curious about what lay beyond the towering cedars.

In all the time that she had gotten to know Lachesis from when he was just a mere boy, she had never been able to picture him as anything near boring. In fact he had likely been the most fascinating individual but it was easy to fall back and see that she was probably just biased. Just as she interacted with one of his two children now she could feel the very essence of him in their conversation even without him being mentioned. "I could teach you some of the packs that your father and I were a part of back in the day," she offers as a means to teach and reminisce of years passed, "unless he's already touched on those." Anastasia didn't have much that she could teach the pale child but she was willing to offer up what she had so that Lavender might feel a little more grounded to Relic Lore.

So far the Lavender was quite fond of the pale wolf before her. She was just as soft and docile as she appeared, her words kind and thoughtful as they tumbled off her tongue into the air between them. Her eyes were a remarkable shade of blue, striking against her alabaster fur. Lavender was a little envious of them, for she had boring green gems placed inside her skull. Sure, they were the same colour as her father’s, but it would have been nice to be blessed with something cooler, like Lilliana.

The dove’s words pulled her away from her thoughts, her chin tipping to the side as she considered Anastasia’s suggestion. Her father had mentioned that they had moved in the past but, at the time, the little Stark had not been interested in history lessons. Today, however, things had changed and the girl was fascinated by the idea. Sure! She chirped, her tail wagging frantically behind her as her forepaws stamped excitedly along the frosted ground. Please! She added, hastily, for she did not want to appear rude. Plopping her hindquarters against the ground she waited for the older woman to continue, her peridots fixated on her pale packmate.

Over the years, Anastasia had come to be familiar with the perception that she was unique and rather exotic to some folks. Even through it all she had always remained humble and didn't see herself as anything more than ordinary. Though, she did believe that her beginning in Relic Lore had really been the highlight of her life even if she had been the one to accidentally set things in the wrong motion. Luckily, the Lachesis clone was more than happy to allow Ana to relive that portion of her life When your father and I first arrived, he introduced me to a wonderful man, Shade Slayer. He was the leader to a new pack but recently lost his wife just after giving birth to two young cubs. We stepped in to take care of them and in doing so became Pitch Pine Trail's first Alpha Female. But, of course, that wasn't something that lasted for too long though who was she to stand in the way of something as important as love? Eventually I relinquished my rank but we moved a while later to a whole new place. Darkwater Rapids. Unfortunately, this is where her story grows a little blurry for she had lived with a slew of folks around that time and wasn't sure where her timeline with Shade blended in with the one that met up with Maksim.

Her chartreuse eyes widened as she waited for the china doll to began telling her the story of her father’s past—the tidbits she did not know about him because he was far too busy to share such boring information with her. Only she didn’t think it was boring. Instead, the little Stark was fascinated about all the things Anastasia could share with her, for she was her father’s oldest friend. He’d even known her longer than he had known momma, which seemed impossible to the girl, but her father claimed it was true. With her chin pointed up to meet the female’s icy gaze Lavender remained tight-lipped as she waited for the words to tumble from Anastasia’s mouth, her tail swaying eagerly against the ground.

Shade Slayer. She wasn’t sure she had heard the name before but it didn’t matter—she was hearing it now! She nodded to show she was listening, her peridots not once wavering from the pale woman’s frame. She was a leader before?! It made sense; she had a sort of regal air about her. But she was less stressed than her father… maybe because she no longer carried the position. She hummed thoughtfully, dismissing her thoughts as the older woman continued, announcing that they had parted ways with Pitch Pine Trail and joined another pack. Darkwater Rapids. What happened after that? She whispered, her eyes even wider than they had been before (if that was even possible). Why’d you leave?

It was far easier to reminisce now about her past than ever and she could feel herself growing desperate to go back to that time. A time and place where she had everything lining up for her and nothing had ever seemed to go wrong. Everyone seemed to come to her and want to become her friend, rather than her feeling as though no one really knew she existed. Then, all she had to do was think about the things that Lachesis had in front of him and the going back in time wish disappeared. There were a lot of things - including one standing in front of her - that might not exist if things had been any different. Anastasia longed to be what she had always unknowingly desired, but she wasn't obsessed and she wasn't a home-wrecker either.

The Trail was falling apart and I met someone that inspired me, so Lachesis and I followed him to Darkwater Rapids. We unfortunately didn't stay there long due to a massive flood that wiped through so we relocated again to Cut Rock River. They had followed Maksim for so long and her thoughts on all the changes was enough for Anastasia to feel her face get red and hot, bothered by her dismissed emotions regarding the Baranski. Everything was fine until one of Shade's children, Karpos, grew quite unhappy with the two of us and after expressing his discontent he left. Immediately your father and I went into the mountains to search for him but we grew separated...

Lavender hoped that she wasn’t making her new friend sad by making her talk about the past. Sometimes her father’s (and mother’s) eyes glistened when they spoke of their past, which meant they didn’t really like talking about it. Or that it was painful. Although her curiosity drove her to ask questions the little Stark knew when to shut up and keep her words to herself. She waited patiently for the blue-eyed dove to continue, his lips pressed tight as she decided to keep her other questions at bay. It was rude to interrupt and she didn’t want Anastasia to lose her train of thought by Lavender constantly interrupting her. A flood!? That had happened in Hearthwood too! Boy, her father wasn’t lucky when it came to packs! Cut Rock River. She had heard that name before. She nodded once more, eager for more as the woman continued … your father and I went into the mountains to search for him but we grew separated … Her jaw dropped open, a soft oh! sound dripping off her tongue. Oh no. And… and then what happened? She whispered, her ears cupped forward as her heart began to beat faster. She hadn’t realized so much had happened in her father’s past! And here she was thinking her father was old and boring!

Despite feeling a lot of things while retelling the stories of her past, she wouldn't stop simply because she felt things. Her emotions only made her feel more alive and she could find herself happy that she could feel these things at all. These events were a heavy part of her and without them, she'd simply fall away. Lavender, sweet girl that she was coming to be in front of Ana, was wound so tight around this trail of breadcrumbs that it made Anastasia wish that she had more to offer but eventually the rope would end. It took me a year to find my way back, she notes somewhat sadly but she was disappointed that she hadn't known her way back as easily as she would have thought. When I returned, I immediately found Karpos - the boy that your father and I had been looking for in the mountains to begin with. He took me straight to him and while I vowed to myself that I would never ever leave again, but I was weak. She takes a breath and shrugs, her eyes ridden with guilt but powering through, So much had changed and I felt out of place so I left, thinking that things would be better without me.

She was absolutely hooked on the story. Obviously the blue-eyed dove was okay, despite getting lost, otherwise she would be standing across from her telling her the tales of her father’s past. But it was still frightening, knowing that she had gotten separated from her father! For a whole year?! Her jaw dropped even lower. Anastasia didn’t divulge any further into her absence, maybe it was too painful to talk abut, and quickly reverted back to the main story. Karpos. She would have to ask her father about this mystery cub later, for he had mentioned in passing as well. Clearly this Karpos fellow had left an impact on the duo.

Lavender nodded in silent understanding as Anastasia confessed that she had left shortly after returning. It made sense—a whole year had passed by! Which meant loads of things had changed in her absence. But you came back? She asked, her voice still soft as a small smile tugged at her lips. And she had stayed… which was a good sign, right? Lavender hoped so. She could see why her father had spent so much time with the blue-eyed dove. She was super nice and the little Stark hoped she wouldn’t leave again. She knew it would upset her father, too, especially since they seemed to be so close.

There was good and there was bad but there was never either/or. Relic Lore had always been home and she would always come back to it no matter what the situation called for but it was so much easier to run away than to stay. This time she had a lot more strength to fight back and more of a need to stay put. Whilst feeling like Lavender and Lilliana should have been versioned that she and Lachesis had made, she felt that even if she wasn't their mother that she wanted to be a part of their lives. Anastasia needed to feel like she was needed again and not by someone that she could no longer grow old with in a romantic sense.

So, the young girl's question was met a solid nod of confidence. Yes, she responded with a firm nod, and I plan on staying this time. I don't want to run anymore. It's really, really exhausting. The pale dove just wanted to feel alive again and have a plethora of friends at her side and over time she had begun to cope with the fact that Hearthwood River wouldn't be Pitch Pine Trail, Darkwater Rapids or Cut Rock River; it was as it was now but that didn't mean it couldn't be even better.