He was settling in quite well. He didn't think he would feel at home so soon, but he did. Perhaps it was the fact that everything here was...calm and serene as opposed to the chaotic life he lived in both Ruina and his birth pack. The pack he had led for a brief period in his life after he had left his birth pack was somewhere in between, but they were always looking over his shoulder because of a couple other neighboring packs that they were constantly at war with. Ace was glad that part of his life was done and over with...but it would always leave a sore spot in his soul. His first love had been killed during that time, and he never quite got over it. He didn't really show the scars that that wound had left. Or if he did show it, it was probably in the aggressive ways he fought and handled himself at times. He simply just didn't notice most of the time, if at all. The giant male moved through the thicket now, taking a break from digging. He was in the process of trying to make a den big enough for him and the two pups, and it was sort of slow going but had to be done. Ignis and Actaea weren't yet ready to find their own dens and wanted to stay with him. So of course, he obliged them. Muddied paws carried him across the ground, and he noticed it felt colder than the last few days. Eyeing the ground, he could tell that it was perhaps due to the incoming cold. Winter would be approaching soon, and he figured he ought to start making preparations. What did Abaven do to prepare for the winter? Was it mild? Or did it get really cold here? He seated himself among the grasses and beneath a tree, peering over the tallest of them. This place was...odd. Asides from trees and the odd overgrown bush, he had never really been in a place where the grass grew as tall as him, if not taller. It was interesting to the aging man. The occasional bird sung their song, but there wasn't as much bird song as usual. They were most likely already heading to warmer places. He closed his eyes for a moment and listened. "Speak"

It was interesting to realise that the newest member of her pack had been born around the same time as herself. Where had he been, as she had been running through the beaches of Auster, searching for the perfect Macaw feather with her father? He was scarred, and gruffier then she. So much so, that she had been weary in the first moments of their meeting. There where not many wolves that loomed over and Shaye, and no doubt his height had factored into it as well. Over the course of their conversation, she had found herself growing more comfortable with him.

The middle aged man had been tired to begin with, but grew more confident as they spoke. Every sentence had been concern or regarding the future of the pups, and it was clear that his brothers young where his main concern. She wondered who their father was, and what had happened to him and their mother, but hadn’t found a tactful way to ask. Whatever had happened, it was clear that Acere was their guardian now, and he was doing a fine job of it.

She found a scent of him in the thicket of her pack, a territory she only really roamed in to do border patrols and renew her scent. The lands where larger than her pack members could fit, and this territory had been a little neglected in her attention. She liked that he had found his home here. It gave her the feeling that Abaven was growing, spilling out into the other areas she had claimed.

She wasn’t certain if she had intended to follow his trail, but she came upon him even as he centered around her thoughts. The towering, white coated male seemed to be studying the grass around him, listening, and looking through the tall grass. She had no doubt he knew her approach, and she stopped a short distance away. “The thicket? I’m surprised. The sound of crickets is going to drive you mad.” she teased him. She didn’t know him well, so she was surprised that the joke came to her so easily.

The sounds around him soothed his soul. It felt comforting here, something that he didn't often feel near the volcano or the maw he lived at previously. After Elias left, he had been so focused on making sure his niece and nephew were cared for, that he seldom got the chance to relax. As a loner with two young pups, he felt he had to be on his toes or else he would make an easy target. And he had no doubt that a band of rogues or maybe even a hostile pack would have been delighted to gang up on him and rip him to shreds. But now? There was no such threat. Abaven seemed to be the epitome of peace. He had no doubts that they had good relationships with other packs which in turn, made them safe from enemy sieges. Here, he felt like his worries could almost melt away. He didn't have to look over his shoulder wherever they went. He didn't have to stay awake to make sure the kids were safe while they slept. He didn't have to worry so much. And as he slowly realized all of this, he could feel the weight dropping away from his shoulders. He could feel the weariness settling into him. But renewed vigor as well. Acere had always been an incredibly observant creature. So when he heard a disturbance in the grass, his senses flared and his hackles bristled slightly. But he quickly remembered that it could have just been someone that lived int he pack, and not an enemy. So he relaxed again, and as soon as he did, he heard Shaye's voice. “The thicket? I’m surprised. The sound of crickets is going to drive you mad.” He chuckled a bit, a soft sigh slipping past his lips. It had been a while since he could relax enough to laugh, even if it was just a bit. He kept his gaze focused ahead of him, his ears occasionally moving slightly as he listened to the melody around him. "I welcome it. Back in Ruina, there was hardly any sounds like this...no bird or cricket song. While there were plenty of coyotes, I don't appreciate them as much as I do these sounds." He paused for a moment before turning his gaze to her. "And you? Have the crickets driven you mad yet?" He questioned with a light laugh. "Speak"

He chuckled at her joke, earning him a smile. She pushed through the tall grass and took a seat not far from him, a comfortable distance for conversation between two near strangers. She liked to get to know all the wolves in her pack, and well those that had been here before she became Alpha where reluctant to sit down with her, she found the newer wolves more accommodating.

"No birds? Where was ruina situated?" She wondered. She knew very little about his pack. She had never met a member from it before him, and had yet to ask what had happened. Her ears perked in curiosity as she regarded him. When he returned her joke, her expression relaxed again, shaking her head in amusement. "At least your giving my sanity the benefit of the doubt, implying I still have some left to lose." She fell easily into the banter, as through he was Rhyme or Vail, instead of a near stranger. She had to nearly crane her head to meet him eye to eye, and Shaye was not a small wolf. She often considered herself a lumbering giant who would benefit from losing a few of those inches. After all, she had more then one nervous member in her pack. This man must have to duck to enter any den not his own.

"My brother laid claim to the volcano and the maw not far from here." His ears laid against his head as he frowned. "In my opinion, they're not the best territories to raise young. But he said it reminded him of home...not sure why he wanted to continue trying to replicate that when our birth pack was nothing but a nightmare." His gaze wandered again, unaware that he had continued rambling instead of just answering her question with the simplest of answers. Truth be told, the more he thought about where he had come from. About Elias. About his past...it only served to rankle him, which in turn caused his lip to curl slightly with hatred and disgust. He wanted nothing to do with that damned religion or uphold what he had been born and bred into. That life wasn't for him. He wasn't some heartless cur anymore. Never had been...why he even decided to continue believing in them after the things they'd done to him was a mystery to him.

But no more.

He turned to her then, appreciating her jokes as they seemed to distract him from his deeper thoughts. "I'm sure you do. I've seen crazy, after all, and you're certainly nowhere near that. Besides, crazy wolves don't make great leaders, and leaders like that don't last very long. I know you haven't led Abaven for very long, but I'm quite certain you'll go quite far." He nodded his head as if confirming to himself that that would be true. Shaye seemed quite capable, after all. Even if he didn't know her that well, it wasn't hard to spot a good leader when he saw one. "So...have you always been a member of Abaven before taking up leadership?" He was curious how she came to lead the pack. Had she been an heir? The daughter of the alpha? A former beta? He was always curious how some wolves came to lead a pack.

He spoke of the territory he had come from, and she looked at him with gentle bafflement. The volcano? She could see it, if she got up high enough to look over the trees. It was practically looming over Abaven, and yet.. And yet, she had never explored it. How had a pack lived so close to her without her realising it. She cursed herself mentally as she regarded him, he had more to explain as he mentioned his pack and his brother. Was this the same brother who had fathered the pups? Shaye couldn’t help but wonder.

As she watched him, she would see his lip curl, and see the frustration, the anger in his expression. Whatever he thought of the pack and his brother now, it seemed to leave a sour taste in his mouth. Shaye’s curiosity grew, and she could only guess at the situation that had landed Ace here, to her.

She had joked about her sanity, but he sounded deadly serious as he replied. He had seen crazy? Her silence remained as she regarded him. He was scarred, a warrior, but there was something wounded about him now, despite his strengths. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to him.

“Err, no” she said as the conversation was directed back at her. She was still considering his compliment, and her answer lacked finesse. My Uncle ran the pack when I was child, I left for some years, and I returned shortly before Sparrow passed away. I kept the pack, because I could not bear to see what had once been my family's, disappear. In the days of my childhood, my family was prominent here. Now… there's almost nothing left from the old days.” she hadn’t meant to let her voice get so wistful, or to say so much. “How did you end up looking after the kids?” she would turn the conversation back to him.

She explained to him about how she came to lead Abaven. He was surprised to know that she hadn't been back long before the former alpha died and that she decided to take over. In his world, it wouldn't have been that easy. There would have been much scrutiny and definitely some trust issues about just allowing someone that had been gone for so long to take the lead. But if Abaven had been led by a single family, and if she was related to that family, then it made sense. Unfortunately, that family also seemed to be dying off. Or at least, everything that used to be. "I see..." He wasn't quite sure what to say about it. After the crap he had been through in his birth pack, he never looked back after he left. And he was a fool to think that his brother would be different from what once was.

She asked him then, how he came to care for his niece and nephew. And the answer to that came rather easily. "Their father was Ruina's alpha for a short time. He was also my brother...not a very good one, but a brother nonetheless. He wasn't really the most...sane wolf. He hurt a lot of people, both family and strangers alike." Crimson gaze turned to the ground as his brows pulled together. "And his most recent victims? His own children. I had taken Ignis with me for training purposes for a few days, and when we came back, there was no trace of Elias, or the pack. The scents were already fading, and there was no word about any of it. Ignis and I found Actaea still there, however. Left to the coyotes. Had we not gotten there when we did, she wouldn't be here." He took a deep breath as he thought about those events. Actaea could have very well been killed, no thanks to his brother. "They have more siblings, but I have no clue where they are. Everyone else was just...gone. Ever since then, I decided I would take them and care for them."

His gaze turned to her for a moment, softening a bit as he spoke about them. "I'm all they have left. Granted, they have older siblings, and their mother...but I don't even know where they are. They all just disappeared, almost as if they, and Ruina, never existed in the first place." He cursed them all in his mind. Elias. Zuriel. Drakan. Every single one of Ruina's old members. When he thought about it, everyone in Ruina was pretty much in it for themselves. Elias expected everyone to rise in reputation, perhaps to see who thought they were the biggest, baddest, wolf there. But Acere never cared about any of that. His mission had always been to teach, and train, and be a mentor for those who needed it.

His answer was brief, trailing off, and the hesitance of it was enough to bring her gaze back to him, curious at what was going on behind his deep crimson gaze. What did he think of the way she had come into power? She hadn’t desired it, she had only done what she thought best. The older members of the pack where still terribly quite, faces she almost never saw and scents she hardly came across. The newer members of the pack, virtually everyone she had accepted since becoming Alpha where progressive members of her pack. They made the effort, and she was grateful for it.

She wanted this to be a home for everyone, but sometimes she wondered where she had gone wrong with those that had been here before her…

She shook her head, finding Ace had begun to speak again. He explained about their father - her guess had been right, he was the Alpha of Ace’s old pack. He also questioned the sanity of his brother, and she realised why he had sounded so serious at her joke. He had hinted at knowing wolves that weren’t all there.

“I’m sorry.” Shaye said softly, soubly glad he had found the children, and that he had brought them here. She wanted to give them a real shot at life in Abaven. Not to mention, Abaven needed young life, and she was grateful that there were two pups to nurture, to mentor, here.

“If you find their other siblings, I would like to meet them. Shaye said, without context on their age and nature, that was the best she could offer him. But, she did want to give them a chance here too, in Abaven. “What are their names?” she would ask, wondering if she should ask members of her pack to keep an eye out for them. If they had been abandoned like Actaea, perhaps she could find a way to help them.

“I’m glad you came to Abaven, Ace. sounds like it hasn’t been an easy path to get here… but at, i’m glad it brought you to me.” she offered him a smile, almost shy as she looked up at the white coated warrior.

"I'm sorry..." Ace's ear flicked towards her, acknowledging her words, though he didn't know what to respond. The thoughts he had were heavy, and he didn't want to drop his burdens on her. His problems were his own, after all. He shouldered as much as he could for his niece and nephew so they wouldn't have to worry. They were young. They shouldn't have to worry about things like this. They shouldn't have been put through the situation that his damned brother put them in. She told him that she would like to meet the others, and what their names were. "Dominus, Domina, and Casso." He shifted a bit as he thought about them. Had Elias taken them with him? He hadn't found any trace of them after he returned with Ignis, so it led him to wonder if his brother had taken the other three or left them behind and the coyotes had gotten to them first.

“I’m glad you came to Abaven, Ace. sounds like it hasn’t been an easy path to get here… but I’m glad it brought you to me.” Her words dragged him from his worried thoughts, catching him by surprise. His mind began to race. Turning her words over in his head. Did she mean something by that? Or did she just mean that she was glad he came because it meant more numbers for her pack? Whatever the case, he nodded and allowed a slight smile to show. "I'm glad I'm here too. Abaven seems quite...peaceful. Something I haven't experienced in years. And I'm sure my niece and nephew will come to appreciate that in due time as well." He breathed in deeply, almost as if he were emphasizing the truth in his words. While he wouldn't stop looking over his shoulder anytime soon, he could at least rest properly, and not worry so much. "So uh...you said you had been part of Abaven before, and just recently took up leadership. What happened to your uncle? And I don't mean to be rude, but who was Sparrow? I'm...curious, about Abaven's history. I've never spoken to anyone from this pack, and I've always been interested in pack history."

He would recite the names of their siblings - a big litter, or more then one? She wasn’t sure, but she ensured the names where committed to her memory. Perhaps when she made her way over the Volcano to explore it, she would also keep an eye out for them. Hopefully they would have a hint of Ignis and Actaea’s scents on them, being siblings. She was letting her thoughts wonder again, a thoughtful expression on her face when Ace spoke again. She blinked up at him, craning her neck once more to look into the eyes of the towering beast.

“I hope you all get that chance. Speaking of the pups - I wanted to talk to you about organizing apprenticeships for the both of them.” she would explain. She had already hinted at this idea to him, but wanted to hash it out now that she had him here. “Ignis clearly wants to be a fighter, but I was thinking I could get Actaea into pack politics, negotiations, that sort of thing." she would explain, lighting up a little as she spoke about the pups and apprenticeships - this is what she had wanted for Abaven, a place for young to grow and learn.

He would ask for a history lesson in Abaven, and she curled her tail about her paws, looking past him, into the distance for a few moments as she thought. Her history wasn’t the happiness, she didn’t know the fate of most of them, and she missed them terribly. Still, she could see no reason to keep him ignorant. “There haven’t been many wolves to tell me the story [/i]” she would explain “But from what I understand, my Uncle adopted some children, and when they went missing, he left to find them. He passed the pack on to a woman named Vali, whom I had never met. I’m not sure how the pack passed on to Sparrow, but perhaps it was because she was Bass’s child - my Cousin. She passed away looking for herbs in a freak accident involving a bear.” she fell silent a moment, swallowing that reminder with a mix of frustration, sadness, anger and… regret.

“At some point in Sparrow’s reign, the Risen Empire had put their paws into Abaven and put an overseer in charge, keeping Sparrow as more of a figure head. When Sparrow died, and there wasn’t many members of the pack left. Well, he decided to dump the pack for a loss and leave. Instead, I stepped up and took it over, and have been doing my best to revive it. Which pretty much leads us here, to you and the pups joining.” she offered him another smile, a little sadder then it had been before, but still a sparkle of her bright nature in her eyes.

He perked up and looked at her when she mentioned organizing apprenticeships for the pups. He was mildly surprised when she seemed to be getting his input on it. Were it his brother, he would have just taken straight control and assigned the pups where he wished. But here, Shaye was giving them the opportunity to choose their path, and him the chance to be involved. Though that was most likely due to the fact that he was the only one the two pups trusted the most, and they were still getting used to being here. What surprised him more though, was that Shaye wanted to get Actaea into politics and such. That was certainly an interesting field of choice. He wondered what Actaea would think about it. He kinda hoped she would go for it..."I think that is an excellent idea for Actaea. In Ruina, that sort of thing was solely reserved for the higher ranks...like me. I was The Judge. All the higher ranks - save for the Demon Mother - were solely reserved for males. Unfortunately, if Actaea had wanted to pursue that there, I doubt my brother would have let her." He shook his head and took a deep breath, "My brother had some outdated views...but, it was his pack. Not mine. He wanted to continue the ways of our birth pack, and nothing good ever came from that." He allowed himself to smile a little when he thought about Actaea's chances of going far here, "I think they have a real chance here in Abaven. To just be...kids. And maybe discover where their true calling lies." He listened to her story then. Telling him a little bit about how she came to be the alpha. He listened quietly, allowing her to finish before he said anything. It seemed abaven had been through a lot, from shifting leaders and losing them, to being dominated by another pack. He had heard of the Risen Empire...wasn't that the pack that believed themselves to be some sort of Gods or something? He'd met one or two of their members, but he never really cared much to learn more about them. "I'm sorry. It seems Abaven has gone through a lot and lost a lot. Though I'm sure they're grateful to have you here to stabilize them now, along with Rhyme I'm sure." His mind touched briefly on what she said about Bass going and looking for some missing pups...could that have been Elias' first litter with Storm? Didn't he mention something about that a while back? He knew Ty and Cloud were around, but he couldn't recall meeting any others. Shrugging it off, he put that on the backburner to think about later. And instead, decided to just try and think normal thoughts and enjoy Shaye's company. "Speak"

Shaye still didn’t know as much about this new pack as she would like, so she listened when Ace began to speak of it. She wasn’t surprised that woman could not rise through the ranks, she had gotten hints of this here and there already, in the mannerism of the girl among other things.

She wasn’t sure what to think of the rank ‘Demon Mother’ that he spoke of. Certainly this pack sounded like a strange place, so different from what she knew. “I would like that for them both, to be kids, and find what they want in life.” that’s what Abaven was, she was discovering what the pack was going to be, still. It was a place where people could be safe, no matter what they were fleeing from. A place where they could be themselves, they could learn and grow. “We need warriors to protect them, those that are still innocent, or lost and hurt. Abaven is the place for them, and that means we need fighters. So i’m glad you joined too, Ace. Abaven needs wolves like you.” she explained softly.

“Everyone here has, Abaven has needed stability for a while, so I’m doing my best to provide it.” she explained.

He nodded along in agreement. He was glad that his niece and nephew would have that chance, and he wanted to forget about Ruina. It was hard, however, for him to simply forget. Especially when it was his own brother that had so much to do with why they were here now. He pushed those thoughts away for now though. He wasn't going to allow his brother to ruin things while he wasn't here. He would get his dues, Ace would make sure of that. He listened to Shaye. Telling him she was glad he had joined. He nodded again, a small smile lifting his gruff features. "I will try my best for the pack. It's been a long time since I've lived in a place like that..." He glanced at her, "A place that's...not so chaotic, is what I meant." He added, just in case she thought he meant something negative. "And I'm sure the world needs more leaders like you. I've known you a short time, however, from what I've witnessed you seem to do a fine job." He exhaled deeply, almost as if he'd been holding his breath for reasons he wasn't sure of. He had had so much weighing him down, but now...now he could drop it all. Or most of it, at least. He looked over the tall grasses, watching as the grassed swayed gently in the breeze. He hadn't had small talk with many others for a while and found that he was probably making things awkward now as silence sat between them. "Ah, by the way...I'm willing to help the pack however I can. So...don't hesitate to ask for my assistance if you need it." He knew he wasn't an alpha, nor the second in command. But he had held positions like that or similar before, and old habits died hard. "Speak"