Moving directly from where Rhythm had called him to her, Valentine moved with purpose towards the last place he'd scented Chaos. Rhythm was eager to be in Abaven and with no packing to do there wasn't much that needed to be done before they left besides bring Chaos up to speed and maybe eat a meal so they didn't have to travel hungry.

After reaching the spot he thought his son would be in and not laying eyes on him immediately, Valentine woofed in the hopes of flushing out the saber-tooth titan. He couldn't have gone far, but Valentine wasn't keen on searching around more. Besides, he had to be close by still and what did it hurt to make the younger man come to him instead of the other way around? Valentine was happy to use his senior citizen card whenever it suited him and right now...it suited him. "Chaos?"

Rhythm followed after Valentine in silence, her pace a bit slower with much more limping. She was still in a daze, shocked at the news she never wanted to hear. Her heart hurt and she felt herself being torn in pieces again. Always her heart seemed torn between Abaven and now Legion. She loved Valentine and his children, but knowing the cornerstone of her family was gone she had to go and be with them.

Maybe she would come back, but with her advanced age there wasn’t much likelihood. She’d spent the first year with Valen’s youngest litter. Now she would spend a few of her last days with their grandchildren. She hoped that maybe she would see the reconciliation of her son and his father before she died. At the very least she would form a bond with her descendants.

The old woman caught up to Valen as he called out for Chaos. She leaned against the titan’s shoulder for strength, a soft sigh leaving her lips as she sat back slowly on coiled haunches.

Chaos was, in fact, nearby as Valen had expected, curled up in the grass for a nap. He was quick - if groggy - to answer his dad's call though, after a quick stretch to wake up. His grin of welcome faded into wariness at the sight of his dad's mate and the pair's aura of seriousness. His eyes flicked between them, taking in Rhythm's dazed expression - well, moreso than the usual vaguely dazed expression of someone who couldn't focus on their surroundings, anyway - before zeroing in on his dad with sudden alertness. "What happened?" he asked them quietly. It didn't look... urgent in the 'someone's going to die if you don't hurry' sort of way, but things definitely looked serious.

With his thoughts fixed firmly on the "mission" ahead Valentine very nearly replied with 'nothing' when Chaos asked what happened. No, he reminded himself. There was more to this than getting Rhythm from point A to point B. It was in his best interest to be more sensitive to her loss and he needed to be more self aware. Valentine feared causing Rhythm to backslide. She was doing so well and with the loss of Shaye to contend with he was afraid of being the thing that might push her over the edge.

"There's been a loss in Rhythm's family. Her niece Shaye has passed away and she wants to go to Abaven to be with them." Short, sweet, to the point and with nary a trademark pithy comment to round it out. It felt incomplete, honestly, but this wasn't for him. "I'll be taking her there...just wanted you to know what was happening so you wouldn't think your two old fogies had fallen into the river or something." The loss of an alpha was something Chaos needed to know of as well.

Rhythm was holding herself together better than she expected to, still even beside Valentine’s huge frame she felt a bit lost. Chaos was quick to make his appearance, she perked slightly at his arrival as he questioned why he was being summoned. He held more of a serious tone than he normally might, the mood was easy enough to read.

Valentine took the lead, which she was thankful for. Hearing him utter those awful words made her lean against him more heavily but she remained steady. Her breathing remained even, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel the hurt of loss. As the message was delivered Rhythm’s dark ears lowered to her head slowly and she remained quiet beside the old alpha.

Whatever Chaos might have been expecting - fire, flood, famine, who knew at this point? - it wasn't that. "Shaye?" he repeated, rather stupidly. He stopped glancing around as though expecting danger, and slowly sat. He hadn't particularly liked Shaye - she was a Destruction, for one thing, and a large part of him still blamed that family for ripping apart his own, and while she had more of a spine than most of that family she had still been a nosy do-gooder in the most eyerolling manner - she had been alpha of Abaven for longer than he'd been alpha of Legion and she'd been something of a fixture in his early life as well thanks to her consistent visits to Rhythm after Rhys and Rhyme were born. Hearing that she'd died didn't exactly tear a stone out of the foundation of his life... but it did make him feel suddenly, alarmingly old, and press upon him that if he was old, if his generation was dying, where did that leave the fossils like Valentine?

"Of course," he said automatically after a moment. "I'm sorry to hear about your niece, Rhythm. I absolutely understand wanting to spend your time with her children." His skin practically itched at the need to say something dickish about Shaye's kids also being Rhyme's kids, but he forced himself to refrain because it was really really not the time. "Anything you need, any time, just send me a message." He turned his attention to Valentine. "It's a long way, and the predators are particularly dangerous this year. I know you're a capable fighter, but would you accept an escort? The kids are really coming along as fighters, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the opportunity to say goodbye." Tyrian, Torrent, and Alarr had been partially raised by Rhythm, after all, and having three strong backs to do any heavy lifting would give Valentine help hopefully without making him feel like he was being coddled by a younger and stronger warrior. Besides, they could use the experience of that sort of expedition.

Chaos parroted Shaye's name and Valentine had a "yep, he's mine" moment. Valentine gave Chaos a knowing look and then nodded a little as he tried to nudge him in the right direction. That's right. Her niece, Shaye, mother of Rhyme's inbred kids, and all around typical Destruction, had died. The old king willed his son to behave. The mouth nearly every member of their family shared liked to pop off at the worst of times - which was usually great, honestly - but this time was a little different. This was Rhythm. Valentine was relieved when it seemed to click and Chaos launched into a polite answer.

His eyes narrowed and his lip twitched at the mention of an escort. Now it was his turn to be polite. He didn't need no damn escort. Period, full stop, etc. Valentine was also tired of being treated like an old man. Yes he was of a rather ah, advanced age, but he was still capable and his mind was still sharp enough to recognize that some of his kids were continually trying to scale his ventures back - to peel open his hand and take the car keys out, so to speak - and he hated it. Maybe he was wrong, maybe Chaos would have made the suggestion for anyone, but he'd started the request with the caveat that he knew Valentine was a capable fighter which led Valentine to think his son had an ulterior motive for asking.

Valentine sucked on his teeth for a moment, the displeased sound audible, and then nodded stiffly. "Yeah, they can come along. It'll be good for them." He was not going to use the word escort, nope. Turning to Rhythm, he nudged her shoulder and asked, "Since we need to give the kids some time to get ready and we have some time to kill, are you sure there's nothing you want to bring with you?"

Choas showed more kindness than she expected. She may have been a fool but she wasn’t blind. Well she was blind but not to the subtleties of social interactions. She knew the discomfort her son and niece caused with their decisions and knew very well the displeasure of their kin. What they’d done was wrong, but no matter what Rhythm wouldn’t love them or the resulting children any less. She needed to be with them.

The old woman nearly started crying again but she held herself together. The unexpected loss hurt her to the core and made her age so much more obvious. Life was fleeting. ”Thank you, Chaos.” She returned softly through her broken voice. He matured into a respectable man, and his tact during her difficult time was greatly appreciated.

Surprisingly Valentine accepted the ‘escort’ and Rhythm was glad for it. She would like the extra time with the youngest of the Imperialis children. She would miss them dearly. ”Maybe, maybe a little extra relief for my arthritis.” She returned softly to Valentine’s question. She was so caught up in getting to Abaven for her grandchildren she hadn’t thought much about her own care.