Darkened paws stepped closer to the mountain, the one that the man had spoken of almost a year ago. Bi-colored gaze looked towards the top, watching as ash drifted around him like snow. This was the place, wasn't it? The fire mountain he was told about? He wrinkled his nose at the stench of ash and sulfur as it nearly masked the scent of the pack that lived here. Among those smells, he was able to pick out the scent of that man. He recognized a couple of other scents too, however. Both vague, but with much effort and thought, he recognized the scent of his niece and the male that had kept watching him and his brother, Ty. So, the man had found Nuada? He hadn't seen his brothers children since the packs disbandment...or at least, he hadn't seen Nuada since. He was hesitant. Unsure of what he was even doing here. But it had taken him nearly a year to muster up the guts to come. He couldn't just turn back now. Still unsure about what he was going to do, he tilted his head and called for him. Walk, "Talk" Think

He had just been leaving the Maw to come to check on the health of the altars more or less left abandoned near the volcano for most days. Though they were mostly well hidden behind peaks of volcanic rock, he still made it part of his daily routine to ensure that none of his pieces were missing. The skull and the knife of Ruina's first day still laid on top of its bed of goat hides atop carefully placed boulders. Elias admired the bleached look the sun had given the skull throughout the days now as it stood there.

One of his paws tipped it over slightly, weight holding on to the top of the skull as he inspected it. It had not been used, though the bloodstains of the past ritual still remained along the underside of the skull. He set it back down carefully and inspected the dagger, precisely running the bottom of his paw pad along the blade to test its durability. He had always been a bit of a masochist, truth be told, the knick of the blade bringing a smile to his lips for two reasons; the blade was still good, and it filled him with the delightful taste of pain he craved every now and then.

The howl rang incredibly close and the titan lifted himself immediately, withdrawing from the altar. He made himself visible from around his rocky hiding place and cautiously made his way to answer it. It didn't take long for him to spot the pristine white fur and it's apparently glowing presence atop such dark foundation. He hadn't recognized the howl, but he recognized the wolf before him. He recognized those eyes.

He held himself up with a little more pride as his pace quickened, droplets of blood left from the fresh cut to his paw along the rocky surface.

"Curiosity finally setting in?" He smirked, his voice thick and healthy as he warmly welcomed the man before him.

"I am glad you came." No matter how much time it took Cloud to make his way here, no matter what reason, he could claim this statement as true.

It took a lot for him to keep his paws glued to the ground he stood on. He hadn't really come up with a plan, or a potential dialogue. He thought he had at least something figured out for when he finally got here, but the moment he saw that figure come towards him, his mind went blank. "Curiosity finally setting in?" Cloud's ears fell back against his head. He wasn't quite sure what to say, so he gave a small nod. He had remained on his own for quite some time now, never really thinking about where to go next. He didn't have a solid plan at the moment, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt to test the waters and see where he might end up. "I am glad you came." He looked up at the male, tongue seemingly unable to work. He didn't understand why he was being so...weird. If it was Ty in this position, he knew his brother wouldn't falter so much. Cloud knew he wasn't like Ty, at least not completely. What reasons did he have for being so quiet? Nerves? Shyness? No, probably neither of those things. It was probably due to the fact that he was standing on his father's doorstep. A father he knew nothing about. Someone he didn't know about until last year...and yet, it felt like he was meeting him for the first time all over again. Bi-colored gaze stared at him, not quite sizing him up or scoping him out, but more like studying him. "You never gave me your name when we met the first time." He uttered, not too confidently but also not too quietly. His voice was monotone, masking whatever he might be feeling. "You smell like my niece...and like the tall scarred wolf that lived in Dauntless." Was it possible that the man that stood before him, was also related to the dire wolf he had lived with for a short time in his brothers pack? He never did get around to learning his name, but...had he lived with someone who was related to him that whole time? He had so many questions, but he didn't know where to start. Walk, "Talk" Think

The body language and the monotone voice that carried the words of the wolf before him spoke of uncertainty, Elias immediately became a bit warier. One of his ears came back and downward, scanning the area around them while the other remained attentive to the language coming out of Cloud's mouth. For someone who had just admitted that he was curious, he held a surprising lack of questions. Though, the statements he made were sort of questions in disguise, were they not? Perhaps Cloud didn't want to admit his curiosity quite yet, perhaps he simply didn't know how to open this chapter of his life.

Had Elias not already met so many of his other bastard children, he might be just as nervous. This was beginning to feel familiar to him which.. was not something he was proud of, but he was coming to terms with the way things were- coming to terms with his past and how to deal with it now in the present. He watched Cloud carefully for a moment before he mirrored the same nod he had been offered. Cloud seemed far less warm and welcoming than Elias had been initially, which made Elias wall up his heart once again. A stern look overcame his face as he prepared himself for poison-laced words, perhaps another circumstance like Kane's.

"My name is Elias Praetor," he said apologetically, answering the first hidden question his son offered.

"I found her in the wild, she is here.. she's not too happy about it, but she is safe. The man you speak of is likely my brother. He told me about you, about the pack that one of my son's led. Did he happen to be black and white, not much unlike yourself?" Elias raised his chin, wondering how that knowledge might settle in Cloud's mind.

Elias Praetor... So...this was the man who was missing from his life? He was certainly something to look at, and in a way the man reminded him of his brother. It made sense now. Ty seemed to take after their father more than their mother, while Cloud seemed to sit right in the middle. He thought back to the day that Elias told him about the demons that plagued his mind, so Cloud had done everything he could to try and suppress it. To keep them from coming back...he had managed to avoid an incident since, but it also meant he was forced to suppress his superior hunting skills. It made him unhappy, but he didn't know how else he could control it. Then Elias explained to him that his niece was here, and Cloud's gaze seemed to show a bit of relief. At least she was still alive...though he didn't know if she was safe. He didn't know his so called "father" well enough to determine that yet...and while he didn't have a relationship with his niece yet, it was something he had planned to do until Dauntless faded. "Your brother hm? If he was our uncle, why didn't he ever tell us? It would have been nice to know beforehand..." He frowned, though he kept his voice neutral. "Or maybe keeping secrets is what your side of the family does," Bi-colored gaze stared into that crimson gaze. He didn't mean to offend, but if he did then oh well. Why hadn't they been told before? The more he thought about it, the more he became loaded with questions that he wasn't sure he wanted to ask. "Speak"

art by Risketch

Cloud may not have let the tone in his voice altar, but the bitterness in his spirit was something Elias read through the choice of words that he used. For a moment, Elias was unsure of how to explain to someone who had no understanding of the weight of responsibility that fell on their shoulders just for having this blood in their veins. It took everything within him not to fiercely defend the honor of his family.. the only thing stopping him was the knowledge that this was family, too. He could argue that Storm kept the same secret for the very same reason, to protect him.. though.. he didn't.

"He never told you because he found you before he found me, as I was lost at the time. He wanted to make sure you were safe, safe from me. Those demons that you heard that day, the ones that made you rip off the head of a capybara..? Those demons haunt our blood, some stronger than others. They seem to love us though, don't they?" A low grumble resonated in his chest as he continued.

"If he told you right away, you would have questions, you would have new curiosities. You would go searching for me, and he wasn't sure what exactly you would find. I was not ready to meet you. You can hate me if you want, if that is what you came here for, but it is the truth. I am bound to the service of the Apollyon and at the time, I was not obeying them. I was not fulfilling my duties, and they would not let me rest." He was done talking about his schizophrenia, done talking about the chains shackled on to his ankles. He would answer questions, but he decided to leave it at that until the man wanted to know more.

"What secrets we do have are not secrets to you, but in order to learn you must be present. I am here to teach you if that is why you are here. I can teach you how to live among demons, how to handle those voices in your head. Or, you can turn away.. run off.. and be wild and fueled by your own senseless rage until you answer to them. The choice is yours, but while you are here you will remain respectful of these lands and the blood that was shed in order to secure them. I understand your doubts, but leave them here and open your mind so that you may learn. Are you capable of that?" One 'brow dot raised, lip slightly slanted. It was quite obvious Elias had his skepticism. This wouldn't be the first son of his that he'd turned away if they seemed incapable of loyalty.

He stared unblinking as Elias spoke, even bringing up the capybara incident. That wasn't something he wanted to remember, but it seemed these kinds of things would haunt him forever. He still thought about the very first incident with the porcupine when he was a pup... all the blood and carnage...and then the time with a deer, a hunt that he didn't know he was being watched by Acere that day...he felt himself shiver at the thoughts. "It seems so..." He responded in a way like he didn't want to admit it, but it seemed like it was true.

He continued talking about things that Cloud did not quite understand. His curiosity was certainly piqued, but he held it back. Reserving that curiosity and judgment for later. He wouldn't admit it, but he wanted to know more. And he didn't know if that was good or bad. What would his mom think if she found out about this? Would she be disappointed in him? Would she hate him for getting interested in such matters? He didn't know. He almost seemed to hold his breath as Elias continued, and Cloud listened to every word.

So...he could learn how to control them? Or at least...the voice he heard? One was enough to deal with, he couldn't imagine having to deal with more than one. But he wanted to learn how to control it, or at the very least...coexist with whatever he had inherited in his soul. "And what if I'm unable to control it...? What if it ends up consuming me? What happens then?" He questioned with a mix of fear, hesitation, and uncertainty. But he had to try...

As he waited for Cloud's response, he wanted some sort of confirmation that Cloud was willing to let go of his doubt so that he could become better. Elias had a bad habit of jumping to assumptions and following his gut, he knew this... but being hit with the sound of concern and almost blatant fear in his son's voice put things about Cloud into a different perspective for him.

His gaze softened, lighter marked 'brow dots raising slightly as his muscles visibly loosened up. His weight even seemed to pull away from Cloud a bit as he relaxed and thought over his question. His question was personally painful for Elias, and not one that he had been expecting to hear. Stone visage turned away from Cloud slightly as his memory flooded his mind's eye with haunting circumstances of his past; Katar's bloody and cracked open skull, the painful memory of the family of wolves hiding in the jungle of his youth that he murdered, Zuriel...

Every evil crime he had committed, he knew he could blame on his own irresponsibility for not fulfilling what was expected of him in this life. His chaotic and ongoing rampage had been due to his lack of embracing the demons his father tried to warn him about. His squared maw motioned slightly in jerky movements as he had to strongly will his attention back to Cloud. Brilliantly red gaze scorched the boy as they stared at for a moment while he gathered himself.

"When demons are hungrier than you are eager to feed them, they consume you. Their souls are an ancient strength and they will take what they need when you stray from your fated path. It is avoidable, Cloud... you can learn what it is that they need." At least, this was a new truth he was telling himself since his claim over the Maw. So far, he'd had no incidents... though it seemed a lot easier to stay out of his own mind with so much demanded of him. That isn't what Cloud asked, though.. so he refocused.

"Though if that does happen... if they take control and you can not stop it, that is when you trust in Ruina. I nor any of the wolves sworn to my blood will allow you or your demons to drown on your own. When you can't sate them, we will.. until you are free from their control." Freedom came in many ways, though the grimmest forms of it weren't something he was referring to however he couldn't stop it from coming to mind right now. Elias could recall the mad wolf his father took care of when he was a child. Some part of him always knew that his father killed that wolf, though he could not be certain. All he knew was the funeral held for him and that his soul was now resting with the rest of Ruina's fallen in an honorable death. He had to shut his eyes for a moment as he thought of his own son being in the position of that wolf. He could not let that happen. It wasn't even that long ago he was asking Acere to take care of himself, and had he complied with his wishes.. well, Elias wouldn't even have the opportunity to help Cloud.

"I won't let them keep you, Cloud. If you are asking me this, it must mean that things.. are bad. Let me help you," his voice was almost at a plea, which was uncommon for Elias. He'd turned away the Ancora boys at first when they were uncertain, but something about Cloud told Elias that he needed his help. Elias was likely the only one to truly understand what was going on with him. He needed him, and Elias did not want to have to watch him part ways with him again.