It was nearly midnight when a dark figure pulled itself from an abandoned den long since left behind by one of the previous packs that had once resided here. The moon's presence loomed overhead illuminating everything with a ghostly glow. Stars sparkled radiantly overhead and yet the creature's crimson gaze wouldn't give them a second glance. She had far more important things to focus on than letting her head get lost in clouds. Nature was the least of her concerns. Eliana had tried so hard to allow her brother to leave like he'd wanted. She'd come to the resolve that she'd stay behind to help care for the pups in her dead sister's wake. She found that she couldn't just simply abandon their family in their time of need, but she understood his reasons for needing to leave. After all the events that had transpired, the horrible deed he'd done, she knew him staying was nearly impossible and nothing she could do would change his mind. That had been a week ago. All it took was a few days for her resolve to crumble into dust. After three days she'd felt stir crazy. Her mind constantly drifted to Elias and by the next day she'd already decided to leave. Without any notion as to where she was going, she took off after his fading scent trail. She couldn't be without him and she highly doubted he could be without her. Who else was going to look after him when his beast unleashed its havoc on the world? No - she couldn't allow him to be alone in the world. She was close to him by now. It's take her three days of starving herself and traveling far past the limits of her body to be able to catch up, but she was getting there. Every day his scent grew just a little bit fresher and each day her hopes of finding him increased. She wasn't sure what lay in her future, but she didn't mind the looming darkness of it. So long as she was around him it didn't matter. His scent led to an ashen place with a mountainous terrain and a volcano resting right in the middle of it all. Her crimson gaze rested on it as she came to a halt at the base and she observed as smoke billowed from the top. Tiny flecks of ash rained down like freshly falling snow and coated her with them giving her an amusing appearance. She hadn't been around the volcano before to know that it typically wasn't like this so she thought it was as natural as a passing rain storm. She turned away from it and then headed towards one of the poisonous streams that traveled though the mountain range. Lia knew better than to drink from them so they were ignored as she followed his scent. It was here that they became mixed up and confused and her nose wrinkled at the scent of another female. Had he come into contact with someone else? Whoever it was they didn't seem to be here now. On the other hand, Elias' scent seemed to be plastered all over the place and she couldn't make heads or tails of which direction she should take. So she paused, letting her rump lower to the ground, as she sat an an intersection of scents. Indecision consumed her as she stared at the invisible trails and ultimately she was lost. Where did she go from here?

The woman that he'd met had been interesting enough, but there were other thoughts that overwhelmed his mind far greater than a brief encounter with a female. His sister had not been forgotten, not at all, and he often wondered if she truly forgave him for leaving. How could he expect her to? She understood why, she understood the madness that corrupted his fragile mind and that he was sure of. He was a danger to himself, but he had also become a danger to others and Katar's death was evidence of that. Eliana and Katar had never been close, but the death of a such a sweet woman was a tragedy- and knowledge that her brother had been the murderer had to be so hard on her. It was difficult to fathom what she must be going through now without him, without the only voice that could truly speak the words trapped in his sister's brain for her, but he had to leave. He would not let himself become the villain for his nieces and nephews, he would not let himself become a mad king.

He'd traveled around Mount Volkan's borders repeatedly as if some sort of gravitational pull kept him in it's limits, and that pull was the nostalgia of the home they'd grown up in as young pups. The home where him and his sister had taken their very first howl, the home where they'd laid their father to rest. It was in a volcano as active as this one, under a sky as veiled as this one. He could not be around them for their own sake, but that did not mean he wanted to forget them- quite the opposite, he wanted to live on in remembrance of them and to always know the love he had so that hopefully he wouldn't stray too far from it. He would never admit these deepest thoughts to anyone, he would never let them see the pain that secretly lied within the wolf seemingly made of stone, but Lia would always know of it whether he admitted it or not.

As he made his rounds yet again, he thought perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him when he'd picked up the scent of his sister. He didn't even lower his nose to the stone of the plateau to seek it out, he tried to dismiss it while his mind began whirling in it's usual battle. When it didn't fade, but in fact.. grew stronger.. he finally gave in to the possible illusion's temptation and let his long limbs steer in it's direction.

Then, large paw prints disturbing the light layer of ashen dust that covered the terrain signaled that her presence was quite possibly real and his nose lowered, her scent thick. She was close, he could practically feel the warmth left behind on the stone. It was Eliana. His heart raced within his chest as the giant erupted into a run, nails grating across the slate until he'd finally caught sight of her. Her familiar black and tan coloration nearly made a whine bubble from his throat as the feeling of love moved him with a force. "Lia," he called, his words nearly choked though he remained tall and strongly statured, his chin lifted as he looked on to her and slowed his stride.

"You've... come after me? Is everything alright?" Though he was undeniably relieved to see his sister in his presence once again, he couldn't help but show concern for what they'd both now left behind. Did she come seeking help, or did she come seeking him?

"Lia," The voice almost seemed unreal to her. She turned her head towards the sound and her spirits soared higher than the heavens. He seemed to have had some sort of internal beacon that led him to her. It seemed as though she needn't have worried if she'd find him or not. Instead he'd sought her out and here he was striding towards her. She took in his familiar ashen features and a rare smile tugged at the corners of her lips. He surely was a sight for sore eyes. She'd already realized that she missed him, it was why she'd left after all, but she wasn't aware of how much that was true until she saw him now. She rose to meet him and eagerly helped close the gap between them. The minute he was in range she forced her head to his chest and burrowed in it for a moment. Had she been able to, a whine would have escaped her larynx. Even the short week had felt like an eternity without him and she could do nothing but re-familiarize herself with his scent and the feel of his short fur against her face. It wasn't until she felt like she'd properly greeted him with a loving embrace that she pulled away to stare up at him as she spoke. She noted the worry that laced his features and the skin around her eyes would pull together in a worried sort of way. She could see the relief in seeing her within his gaze and then her face relaxed. He was worried that something was wrong, but everything was beyond perfect again. She shook her narrow head as she tried to reassure him that everything was alright. She wanted so desperately to be able to tell him that she'd just missed him too much to be able to stay within the pack without him around. The grin threatened to come back and spill over her features. She pressed her nose to her chest once more before her eyes lit up with something akin to glee. She was making it painfully obvious that she'd come after him. She was his other half and he was hers. There was absolutely no way in hell she could force it to remain that way any longer than it already had. They still had siblings back at home to help take care of the pups - she was sure she wasn't needed and if she was... well that sucked cause there wasn't a force in the heavens or on earth that could make her change her mind. This was her decision and she was here to stay.

As she filled the space between them, he watched with a rare yet wide smile spreading across his features normally masked with anonymity toward the brain within. For his sister? He couldn't even hide a smile well enough to hide the yellow of his teeth, because he simply did not want to. He let his emotions soar, he let the feeling of her embrace overwhelm him and to her whine he let a reactionary, happy growl escape him. He licked the top of her snout and nuzzled her hard, greeting her with nothing but the love that had always remained a constant between them.

When she finally pulled away, he'd instinctively sought out her eyes so that he might read any means of communication she had to offer. The smile on her face, shake of her head, and paw to his chest was more than enough for the man to understand and that smile of his only seemed to grow stronger. His rubies shimmered, and if he'd been able to cry he just might've. The emotions that had run their course through his body over the past few weeks were overwhelming, and being around his sister put his world back into the motion of normality once again. He was no longer lost.

He outstretched the bulk of his neck in an effort to curl it around the nape of Eliana, his nose nuzzling up to the back of her ear and side of her face as he wrapped around her smaller figure. He tried not to hover, he knew she appreciated her space, but he also knew that the bond they shared was possibly the only exception to that. He lifted his skull and looked around the dead of the lands that surrounded them. He wanted to offer her a fresh kill and a warm place to sleep but he had neither of those, he wasn't even sure what he was doing with himself out here alone. Suddenly, however, his plan for day-to-day living started to form in that brain.

"It is so good to see you, and I know how hard it must have been for you to leave them but I understand fully why you did.. and.. I promise that together we can make it work out here. I must correct my mistakes, Lia. I must figure out how to control this thing inside of me, and how to recognize the appropriate time to unleash it. Now, enough about me- I can only imagine how quickly you traveled to catch up with me. Did you stop to eat at all?" The rumbling bass of his vocals was present even in these softly spoken whispers, concern filling most of their content while they fell on only her ears. He waited for her answer, but the shorter pelt the two carried often gave away the answer to that whether or not either of them liked the idea of it.

"We will not be able to hunt here, but I am sure we can find a place near by where we can. Up for a bear, or a cougar maybe?" His black lips pulled back into a teasing grin once again as he lowered his ears and narrowed his eyes slyly. She'd been there for both of those fights with him, though he knew what she thought of his tendencies toward recklessness.

"I am kidding. Let's find something to eat."

It felt refreshing to wash away the facade of aloofness and wariness and replace it with something with a bit more feeling to it. Elias was indeed the only exception and she relished the opportunity to be close to him again. It had only been a week, but even that had been too long for her. It'd been strange not having him around and in the end she knew she wouldn't regret her decision. If this new life on the road to redemption was what Elias wanted then this is the path she chose as well. They'd face it together. Her own crimson colored gaze would peer back at her brother as he studied her face for the emotions she gave him. With a stranger communication like this would not have worked, but Elias seemed to know her like a well worn book. She was as open with him as she could allow herself to be so he seemed to easily understand her meaning. He seemed accepting of the idea which pleased her. She couldn't foresee her brother casting her away to go back home and if he had... well he hadn't so she wouldn't dwell on the matter. She allowed him to envelop her once more with his larger frame. Leaning into his short chest fur she enjoyed the brief moment of closeness as he wrapped his neck around her nape and nuzzled her gently. She exhaled softly and the breath fluttered out of her nose in a soft whisper. She'd missed this - missed him far too much. She pulled away to stare back at his face as he spoke. Ears flicked forward and she tried to pick up on any more emotions coming from him. He seemed stable, at least for now, which pleased her. She could only hope that her presence would serve to soothe him in some ways and that maybe he might find it easier to tame the other side of him. It would take some work, but she had faith in him. His promise to make this work between the both of them was enough for her. So long as they both worked at it, together, they could do it. Eventually he would learn how to control himself and she'd be with him every step of the way. He could do this. She wouldn't accept anything else but his best and she expected him to do the same with her. While she didn't possess the same affliction she was going to do whatever she could for him. So she nodded in agreement to his words. Her face spoke volumes - she wasn't going anywhere. The conversation shifted and she flattened her ears and gave him an almost sheepish look signifying she hadn't stopped to eat at all. As if to add in its own opinion, her stomach let out a rather loud grumble. She had stopped focusing on her hunger and needs and had instead ignored it to focus on finding him. Now that she had she realized it had been quite a few days since she'd had a good meal. Lia glanced around at the terrain around them. This place didn't seem very hospitable, as most volcanoes tended to be, and she realized that this wouldn't be the ideal hunting spot at all. She didn't mind putting in a little extra work for their food and what was a little bit more traveling after already going for days on an empty stomach? Her head traveled back to him though and she glared at him at the mention of a cougar or a bear. Surely he was jesting? Her features softened as he admitted he was joking and she grinned softly. Good. He had been kidding. She would have had to smack some sense into him if he wasn't. She was certainly ready for a good meal so she rose to her paws eagerly indicating for him to lead the way.