Ylwa learned that there were actually two factions within the Companions. There were those Nords who lived at Jorrvaskr and bemoaned the fact that they had thus far missed out on Sovngarde, and there were those who embraced their beast blood and had no intentions of leaving Hircine's Hunting Grounds. Apparently, a few generations back, this difference of values had caused enough friction that both sides decided that they could no longer coexist. So the group that loved the Hunting Grounds had departed, and apparently spent their time in a much more nomadic fashion - hunting and exploring their eternal home. While most of the members of the Companions who loved the Hunting Grounds had someone in the other faction that they had been close to during their life, there was great resentment overall for their having been, in their mind, expelled from Jorrvaskr. They felt that Jorrvaskr was their heritage as much as it was the others', and were quick to express that opinion when they came around to visit their shield-siblings.
One of the individuals who came and met with Jergen, Hildegarde, and their contemporaries was Accaila, who was there when Ylwa first met Jergen. One day she brought another woman with her who shared not just her fiery red hair streaked with white, but also her demeanor and movements.
Must be a relative. Ylwa thought.…maybe be a newly-arrived relative. She added to herself, as she saw the woman picking her way through the crowd a short time later, as if seeking out familiar faces. Once she is done seeking out friends, I will have to go and find her to see if she knows anything about my boys.
Some time later, Ylwa was startled from her thoughts by an unfamiliar voice coming from someone who had paused behind her. "You're their mother, aren't you? Are you Vilkas and Farkas's mother?" Ylwa turned, and saw Accaila's relative standing there, observing her with the appraising look of a predator that has cornered something delightful.
"You know Farkas and Vilkas?" Ylwa asked.
"We practically grew up together." The woman responded. "I am Aela. I assume you probably know my mother, Accaila. I arrived at the Hunting Grounds not too long ago. You are related to them, then?"
"Yes. They are my boys. My name is Ylwa." Ylwa replied, heart suddenly full of emotion. "Are they well?" Ylwa was not prepared for the shock of the answer that she would receive.
The look on Aela's face turned to one of wonder, as if she did not truly expect the woman before her to be her friends' mother that they grew up knowing nothing about. She could see the deep love for the brothers in this woman's eyes, so she considered her response carefully before speaking.
"Vilkas was well when I departed. He and his mate have several pups, and even some grand-pups now. All of them are good, honorable men and women. You would be proud to know them. Vilkas was one of the best that the Companions had. He is a wonderful man." Ylwa's head began spinning. This was more information than she had wanted. How long had it been since anyone new arrived from the Companions? It had been a very long time, and she had thus far been able to get by with just learning about their well-being and then moving on. It felt as thought this woman had ripped her babies away from her and told her that she would never have them back. In her mind, Ylwa knew that, as time passed in its strange way in the Hunting Grounds, it must also be passing on Nirn, but in her heart, Farkas and Vilkas were still the small children that she held and rocked to sleep as they stared lovingly and trustingly into her eyes. Her pups were gone. She had missed their childhood. Her pain and distress must have been visible on her face or in her scent, because Aela said, "How about we go sit down?"
Ylwa ignored Aela's question and gentle nudge towards the nearest bench, and instead said coldly, "What of Farkas?"
Aela paused for a moment, before responding, "Farkas lived a full life and brought honor to himself and the Companions. He also had pups. But he passed on before I arrived." Aela ended softly.
Ylwa was drowned in a wave of devastation, but then hope. "He is here?" Ylwa asked, hoping it was true, but knowing deep down that it wasn't.
"He wanted to be cleansed of the beast blood so that he could spend his afterlife in Sovngarde."
Ylwa wanted to collapse then and there and cry for the sons that she may never see again, and certainly would never hold or take care of. All of the years that they didn't get to spend together - the lifetime that those boys had on Nirn without her - growing up without a mother, joining the Companions as their father had, finding a mate, raising pups, growing old, and dying - all while she spent her time here, having accomplished nothing of any use and still physically the same age that she had been.
Ylwa nodded wordlessly at Aela, who was staring at her, concerned. Aela quietly disappeared, and Ylwa hurried off to her room downstairs to be alone, trying not to draw any attention to herself as she did so.