Fleeing the Lore did little to actually soothe her aches, Ava realized. There was no remedy for memory, a truth especially prominent alone or in the dark, and like countless other nights she found herself surrounded by the shade of night and uncomfortable solitude both. Her favorite and most wrenching lesson from her time away had also been the easiest to pick up on:

No amount of distance could stop her from feeling him in her veins.

Night had always been a treasure of hers, a place where she could disappear beyond anyone's eye and feel freedom in her very core. When she could overlook the loneliness the stars would shine her a path and she would follow, so very wild and lawless, if only for a few hours. Such a solitude had become a thing of the past a few seasons prior. Now it didn't matter if she was within the Lore's boundaries or some fifty-odd miles past it - she could not look upon the moon without seeing his liquid silver stare looking back on her too. Originally she had been selfish with the darkness; it had been hers, hers alone. He was her exception; she welcomed his presence, even if he was only with her in her thoughts tonight.

But it was not for him that she chose Bramble Falls to haunt that evening. Ava recalled hearing its roar, sometimes, whenever she took leave of the Mountain. The she-wolf had refused to approach it; there'd always been something more important to do, but this time she was free to satisfy whatever unfulfilled whim she could come up with - and the idea popped into her mind that perhaps a visit to the secluded wonder may have finally found its time. Besides, why would she expect the Guardian to be here of all places?

Given the circumstances, Ava was nervous to seek him out. As a lone wolf Ava had no status at all, but given that she'd abandoned her home and her pack to become one - well, the she-wolf would have preferred being a simple nobody rather than a betrayer. The shame she felt of her actions, however, was not strong enough to touch how dearly she missed him, needed him... loved him.

In her Poisoned time she'd felt the pull equally, her roots set in the stone surrounding the Lost Lake while her heart was taken somewhere down the mountainside. Every time she got even a whiff of the sweet Cedars it would burn inside her chest for anytime from moments to days, nights spent awake and wanting desperately for more than the chaos that had become of her home. Now Ava didn't feel anything at all for the den hidden beyond the trail of nightshade. There was no bitterness, no remorse, no hate nor misery - like she was hollow where such feelings ought to be. In an earlier month she might've dwelled upon it, but the black-furred female was far over digging her own grave. What she'd found in Poison Path had been irreplaceable, sure, but it was long gone. And she knew just where to find a place to make her blood as red as it had been before, if she could work up the gall to do it.

Oh, how her weary heart beat so very differently when he was around.

A noise from down the water's edge caused Ava to lift her head and break her haze. Somehow she'd become consumed by her emotions and withdrawn from reality, leaving a lazy trail of heavy paw prints in the pristine blanket of snow. It had seemed promised that she would be alone to contemplate her thoughts here, but apparently she was wrong. Quietly she averted her course, a vague intrigue shining in her still somewhat distracted gaze. All she had to do was verify if the sound had come from a threat before she could revert inward again. Ava would stop within the surrounding foliage after a moment's travel, for the source's discovery was anything but what she expected.

She saw the moon brighter than ever before, not in the sky but several lengths ahead. There it was again, the immediate gravitation that grabbed her by the deepest of her soul and somehow managed to both stun and hasten her. The silhouette of his strong shoulders, the handsome planes which created his face... It didn't matter how many months passed between their meetings, she would know him anywhere without fail. Anxiety clung to her every hair and yet her body pressed onward. She'd prepared so much and so little alike, anticipating this moment since they'd last parted ways, but Ava could not script how her entirety depended on bridging the gap between them before she could even speak.

Hardly a hare's space did she leave between them before she finally stopped, her ankles shackled by the vague possibility that after all this time he might hate her for staying away so long. Even hindered by remorse she could not lower her amber gaze. Unable to determine how to even begin an explanation she hesitated on a silent second, until a breathless word escaped her parted lips, "Kade,"

For a breathless moment she could not read him, almost terrified he would turn his back on her the way she'd done to the very Lore itself. Cold fear grabbed at her gut while her ears drooped, praying for mercy of the highest. That pale stare was near white-hot, burning down every wall she'd ever put up, until she was stripped clean with no mask to hide behind. And when he reached for her there was no filter over the smile that broke across her face and the unbridled joy that lit up in her eyes.

She closed her eyes and felt the heat, not only of his body but of his love too, pressing her forehead against his chest in relief. She felt his voice like the rolling thunder of a hidden storm, rumbling, strong and comforting. As his head rested upon her neck she stepped closer, slipping her jaw into the groove of his shoulder where it found a perfect fit. Their jigsaw had been long to solve, with so many outside responsibilities that neither could neglect, and yet it only served to feed their flame. The long fall drought had failed to snuff it, and no winter wind could prove cold enough to temper such a fire.

It was never comfortable to accept that one was at fault, but Ava knew the blame for their extended silence was hers. With anyone else the words would've been stuck in her throat, an unswallowable lump of guilt that she would stomach for the sake of maintaining her facade... but for Kade she would bare any burden. Woefully Ava exhaled, "I'm so sorry," feeling the remorse in her heart spread through her veins as it beat hard. The words were heavy, but they were honest - nothing but truth could seep through her lips when she saw the silver-specked man.

She pulled away slowly, reluctantly, her nose trailing from his shoulder to his cheek. Ava moved only so far that she could see his face, her stance firm to lose as little physical connection as she could. "I'm done straying from you," Ava said suddenly, a remarkable amount of assertion ringing within her voice for how anxiously she had fiddled with the words in her head. She met his eyes, seeing herself within the molten silver depths not in reflection, but in realization; he truly did complete her."It's been a long time since I climbed the Mountain - and I've decided I'm not going back." She spoke quietly, for there was nothing particularly gleeful about separating from the family you grew up with. But she would not mourn a broken past with such a hopeful future a hair's breadth from her nose.

The solemnity of her features disappeared quickly, a softened smile appearing as she felt the solace of her next words: "I want to be with you." It was no doubt something Ava had always known, but it'd always been qualified: in the future, when the time is right. Now the gleam in her gilded gaze was clear: she'd had enough of waiting. Their time was now.

Still, just in case, she held her gaze steadfast. He'd not rid himself of his duties as she had. All she could do was wish so ardently that he reciprocated her desires.

As she looked upon him his brilliant eyes reverberated with a vigor so powerful she felt it right through her core. The words that flowed so sweetly from his tongue were sworn to truth by the magnitude of his gaze. Until whatever end. She shut her eyes and smiled, running her nose from the nook behind his ear to the bottom of his jaw. It was the kindest of reassurances, that no matter what times came to pass she would be free from loneliness, but it also brought her a sort of fortitude she'd never experienced before. They would be together and this was fact, independent of outside opinion. His words did not melt her, but mold her into something better.

Nevermind the end; this was their beginning.

Her time away from Relic Lore had wiped any wolf from her fur. She had returned a clean slate, free of the unwanted mountain and poison that had once buried so deeply within her skin. It could not have worked out more beautifully that Kade would be the first of any mark to be found within her black roots. Her essence caught the silvers in his handsome coat and she welcomed with her entire heart the brand of the Attaya. They were family.

His remark of the Mountain wolves' loss drew forth a chuckle, casting her stare on the full moon above as though in lament. "It is quite a shame. I suppose I'll never teach their children my secrets. Whereas my children will be champion divers, trained by the best," she retorted with a delicate coyness, mischief flickering within her amber eyes as though the familial name of her dark little brood was still a mystery.

Ava did imagine that the idea of little dark cubs with remarkable diving ability was a thing of dreams, the sort where they lived on a crystalline pool of water that was the right shade of blue, glistening in the moonlight where they kept a cozy den that never felt unsafe. Yet her cynical undertone had disappeared somewhere around the time she'd locked eyes with her love; was a dream really so far from reality? She could picture it so easily, a family of shadows, and at the head of it all man of rugged muscle, dusted in starlight and just as magnificent. Right beside him would be Ava's place, a pedestal to never be taken from her.

She turned her eyes from the winter sky and simpered at him from the corner of her eye. If this chance meeting was of any indication to her future, she had no problem putting faith in dreams. Their new union could easily turn a reverie to reality.

The ghost of a smile remained in her features, her amber eyes forever alight however quiet she remained. Beside Kade she could feel what blood ran in his veins ran in hers, vivacious and red like no rapture had ever been before. What a potent concoction they had, one which she imagined would breed children the likes of which the Lore could not imagine. A strong, dark brood that would no sooner arise than it would leave the forefront of Ava's mind. Somewhere beyond the bastard of Winter lay Spring, which held the power of change like snow did not allow.

It would have to wait, Ava accepted, and turned her head upon her mate's call. In a fluid motion she followed his command, and together they walked the frozen scene that had become of the Falls. Winter had created unrecognizable those monuments that should have been easy to discern, water turned to glass etched with patterns of snowflakes and stone and grass alike hidden by snow. It really was a dreadful winter; they were as blessed as two shadows could be to find one another here and now. The ascent was tricky, yet ever by her side was her love who never faltered, even when ice failed to give her paw grip, even when the night wind blew upon their faces and taunted her ability. But it made no difference how many ice particles grabbed at her delicate pads or scratched at her nose. She'd follow Kade anywhere, at whatever cost.

When they came to a stop she ran her body tenderly along his, bumping her forehead against his cheek with a blissful sigh. His tongue felt like fire upon her brow and as she closed her eyes and smiled Ava considered what a privilege it would be to be burned by him forever more. No world full of icy crags and dangerous precipices could threaten her so long as she felt the beating of his heart as an extension of hers. Ava opened her eyes against the frigid air and watched the stars twinkling in the reflection of the frozen Falls. "It's beautiful here," she commented easily while her amber stare slowly found its way back to those silver eyes, "but it is beautiful anywhere with you."

Ava smiled to herself, knowing his devotion was true. It was an honor greater than she could have imagined, to be given a place in the Guardian's heart, to be protected and loved by someone who could do both so well. The black-furred female knew she could want for nothing given such a charitable spot in his life, one which she would cherish until her dying breath. There was so much gratitude she could not express with only words, so when his nose tapped her onyx lip she tenderly snaked but the tip of her tongue from between her teeth to lay a single kiss on the side of his muzzle, warming the cold for the briefest moment.

Beneath the moonlight his words felt magical, charming as always but even more so beneath the pallid blue light that fell from the winter sky. Let me make everyday beautiful, he asked of her, and she could not stop herself from beaming. "As if I could stop you," she uttered back in hushed tones, genuine and in awe of the effect the man had on the world around him. If there was any part of him that remained broken, any part of him that felt still that he was unworthy of any request, Ava denied it. She would heal any wound, mend any seam, she would make him whole the way he had completed her.

Weary as she was, she did not depart even a little from their moment, but instead prompted, "Do you believe your Hollow has room for help?" Clarity shone in her amber gaze that she'd not spoken rhetorically earlier. Ava had every intention to make a home with him, wherever that might be, but she dare not pry him from his roots. After all, the Cedarwood could make a lovely place for them if she just gave it a try - who knew? But one thing was certain, she would not spend another night away from his side if she could help it. The world was frozen, but beside him she melted, absolutely, every time.