He thought he had recognized the faint call to challenge he had heard coming from the north, turns out his half brother had laid claim to his own pack. He couldn’t help but figure Chaos had set up camp in old Imperium lands, had he been the one to take Abaven he might have done the same. Rhyme felt excited and eager to meet with his brother again. He wondered how impressive his fangs looked now a days, though they always troubled his speech Rhyme had been slightly jealous of his impressive canines. He had no doubt this new pack would reflect more accurately the spirit of Imperium than Abaven ever could. He tried not to let the shadow of jealousy retake him, Chaos was an impressive specimen and his father surely found it much easier to find pride in the son of Cascade than the son of Rhythm. Rhyme banished the thoughts as he approached the border of the range, though he could still feel the tugging’s of darkness at his heartstrings. He sighed heavily, lifted his head and renewed his own pride. He had worked hard, and what he’d made for himself in his uncle’s old pack was worthy of being proud of. Even if it was the last place his father would have wished him to wind up. Rhyme tilted back is head and sent out a call for his brother first and alpha second. He truly was excited to catch up with the man.

Although he'd known that Rhyme was back from his conversations with Valentine, Chaos was still surprised to hear his brother's call. He had a lot to do yet to smooth his pack's transition from the northern ship down to the new territory, but Chaos was still quick to drop what he was doing and go to see what was up.

Upon seeing the vaguely familiar form there, Chaos' face brightened with a boyish grin. "Rhyme!" he shouted gleefully, charging up in an attempt to slam into his half-brother. His forepaws attempted to wrap around Rhyme's neck as he did, and while he was certain that even with the momentum of his short sprint his weight would be too close to Rhyme's to really knock him over, well, if it did he was going down with him.

He found himself vaguely shocked and disturbed by how... old Rhyme was. The last he'd seen him, they'd both only been pups. And yes, Chaos had grown up too, but it had happened gradually and he didn't really notice so much. But having a pup who'd always been such an integral part of his childhood suddenly appear as a huge, scarred, middle-aged adult felt vaguely... wrong. It brought crashing home all the years that had been stolen from them. Everything could have... should have... been different. If Rhyme hadn't been stolen, Rhys would never have tried to track them down and he'd still have his best friend. If they hadn't been stolen, Valentine wouldn't have gone mad and tried to find them, and abandoned his pack and his other children. Angel would never have left to keep Valen safe. The pack would never have fallen apart.

Chaos closed his eyes to hide the rage that swept through him. It was a familiar enough rage, though it had always been directed at the world in general and now had a more specific target, so it was simple enough to stick it back in the little box in his mind it had escaped from, and when he opened the blue and purple orbs again he was able to flash another grin at Rhyme, and attempt to messily lave Rhyme's ears with his tongue.

All tumultuous feelings seemed to melt away as Rhyme laid his dual colored eyes on his half brother’s large form. He felt a grin spread across his features as Chaos came barreling down upon him. He braced himself for the hit but was still knocked back a few steps as the striped Saxe wrapped his paws around Rhyme’s neck. For a moment he was a pup again, ready to tumble away in a fit of teeth and fur. He was reminded at how much time they had lost, and what should have been but wasn’t. He banished the thoughts as he took his half-brother in. Just as huge as their father and those impressive saber like teeth jutting from his lips. They grazed his head as Chaos licked his ears eagerly. It seemed time hadn’t effected Chaos much. "Chaos," he greeted in return, enjoying the name as it left his lips. "It’s so good to see you." He’d missed his brother, he missed all of them more than he would ever be able to express with words. "You’re looking well," he added while under the brute’s weight. "Doesn’t seem like you’ve missed a meal since I’ve been gone." He teased, finding himself easing back into comfortable banter. ""

Rhyme was able to take his charge without much problem, only falling back a couple of steps under the onslaught, and Chaos was able to thoroughly slobber on his brother's ears. His muscles tightened perceptibly, though, when Rhyme jokingly mentioned him not having missed any meals, because Rhyme very likely had. Any slavers cruel enough to blind and rape a little thing like Rhythm wouldn't have had any qualms about starving a strong young male like Rhyme to keep him malleable. Chaos wouldn't usually trouble himself with anyone else's business when it came to keeping slaves, but the thought of someone having starved Rhyme woke the fury in him all over again. It didn't do any good to keep bringing it up in conversation though. He forced a grin that had more than a hint of feral wrath hiding behind the toothy grin and mismatched eyes. "I see you've gotten a little taller," he said, casting a mock critical eye over his brother. "But your fangs still haven't come in right. Don't be too embarrassed, I hear it's a common problem," he added teasingly, rubbing the flat, smooth side of one of his own fangs against Rhyme's ruff as though polishing it, before dropping back to his haunches and just leaving one paw comradely on Rhyme's shoulder.

"So what have you been up to, Rhyme? Dad told me you were back, I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to track you down to catch up, I've been a bit busy." His nose twitched, catching the scent he'd initially missed on Rhyme. Abaven's pack scent, of course, though that was no surprise to him given what Valen had said about him going back and forth between Abaven and the Range. It still seemed strange and... well... weird that Rhyme would want to join Abaven when growing up in Imperium they'd had it consistently impressed on them that it was an unimpressive specimen of a pack at best, and observation since then had not improved Chaos' impression of it. Destructions had always been so far from living up to their surname that it was baffling that an Imperialis would want to join them, regardless of their blood ties. Chaos certainly wasn't going to ever go track down and join his mother's family, given what he knew of them, so he couldn't understand Rhyme's own motivations and chalked it up to the trauma he'd had as a pup at the paws of slavers. Just one more thing to make them pay for.

Rhyme missed the wild look in Chaos’s eyes as he joked back, though similar thoughts plagued him as well. He was slowly returning to himself, he thought less about his captivity now and he had much else to keep him busy besides. ”My one true regret,” he added as his half-brother polished his sabers on his scruff. He let his gaze fall on Chaos as he sat back down, releasing Rhyme from his bear hold. He was asked what he’d ben up to since his return and he’d accept Chaos’ apology for not seeing him yet with a grin. ”I completely understand,” He started, knowing about the being busy thing. Abaven had been exactly what Rhyme had needed, something to focus his extra energy on. ”Long story short, I’m ruling Abaven with my cousin Shaye now.” He came right out and said it. Rhyme knew very well how much his uncles pack had been looked down on while he was younger, and he had no doubt it was still held in the same regards. Especially going off of Valentine’s reaction. ”I know you’re going to laugh, but it’s been exactly what I need. I have goals now, and whipping the ol’ relatives into shape has helped me… not think so much about what me and mother have been through.” He tried not to delve too deeply into the time stolen. ”What about you though, was that you I heard challenging for a pack?” He asked curiously, finding it easy to switch the topic from himself and back to Chaos.

Chaos snorted, shaking his head with clear amusement. "Yeah dad told me you'd gone there. Didn't know you were an alpha, but that doesn't surprise me. Good luck with that, though I don't know why you're bothering since none of them are going to amount to much in the long run. Shaye, though, eh? The kid who used to waltz in here to visit with your mom all the time? Whatever happened to Bass and his spawn?" He'd delighted in giving the old man shit every time he'd encountered him in his time as alpha of Crew, especially since he'd blamed Rhythm for taking his siblings away from him and the rest of the Destructions were a suitable surrogate for his anger. One of them was basically as good as another anyway, they were all so forgettably alike. Though he did have to give Bass credit for having the balls to siege another pack, and that his morality had been looser than the rest of the stick-up-the-ass group of them - at least enough to make a deal with Imperium letting them take slaves in exchange for their help in that. Somehow he doubted any of the current crop was going to be approving of Legion any time soon. Chaos grinned sharkishly. "Yeah, I went up north and challenged for the pack that was there. Bringing them back down here soon and taking over some of Imperium's old lands. I kind of like the setup the old alpha had going on, a sort of pseudo-guild setup for training but some real mafia, gray-man stuff built in. A little less loose than my old setup, sure, but having rules sure does make it a lot easier to justify coming down hard on some of the useless types who aren't living up to the pack's standards. The old man was a bit too much on the quiet and secretive side though - that's not my way. Boreas is definitely going to know we're here." He grinned again.

He really should have expected the mini rant that left Chaos’ lisping lips, none of the Imperialis side of him encouraged fraternizing with Abaven and the Destructions within. Though nowadays Abaven seemed so much different. Of course his vision was askew from being within its borders. Not many of those who lived within during his mother’s day remained. He shook his head at Chaos’ question. ”As far as I know Bass just disappeared one day. Only one of his sons remains. Sparrow passed recently and the rest are quite a bit younger than us.” It was kind of like the saying about the ship. If you replaced piece by piece its components could you still call it the same ship? He managed to smile broadly at Chaos’ boasting of his newly acquired pack. Rhyme could tell his half brother held great pride in his accomplishment and the plans he had for his new pack. It was heartening to know how well his long lost brother was doing. ”Sounds like your style,” he commented. He had no doubt Chaos would stay true to that word. Where did he go now though, transition into pack business? ”Have you gotten your alliances settled? That was one reason I stopped by, though seeing you again was my main priority.” Chaos was obviously healthy and seemed happy in his new role.

Chaos gave only a vague grunt in reply to the news of the Destructions. He didn't know or care who Sparrow was, so news of their death didn't really effect him at all. 'Oh well, there's a fucking trillion more Destructions who were probably exactly like them ready to take their place' probably wouldn't be as funny to Rhyme as it was to him, so it was more tactful to just not say anything at all.

Rhyme went on to ask if he'd set alliances yet, and Chaos grinned, giving a sharp bark of laughter, then schooled his expression into a playfully offended one. "Rhyme! Alliances?!" His horrified exclamation was accompanied by a paw pressed to his chest, as though he were pained by the very idea. "You know me better than that! Why, whatever would my mother think if she knew I'd stooped to making alliances with other packs? She'd be rolling in her grave." He stopped, his breath catching with a very real pang of grief for a moment in the sudden knowledge that his mother never would get to see him lead like his father had before him, but he pushed that grief aside because what is healthier than bottling up your feelings and pretending not to have them?

He shook it off, and forced the grin back on his muzzle. It was easier to pretend not to feel anything when he was smiling. "It's hard to feel particularly inclined to make alliances when there's not a pack around that I feel it would benefit my pack to ally with. It's not 'mutually beneficial' if they're the only one getting anything worthwhile out of it, and if it's not mutually beneficial is it even worth considering?" He shrugged, casually callous at the idea of not making any effort to help someone else if he wasn't getting anything out of it.

Again he should have been anywhere near as surprised at the answer he was awarded for his question. Disdain was a light word for how those of the Imperialis name were supposed to feel about Abaven and the Destruction side of his family. Rhyme was again an odd one out, but it was better to make your own decisions. He was confident in his rising pack, that they were not the same as they once were. Rhyme grinned at his half brothers answer and shook his head. Chaos still held to the old beliefs, but Rhyme planned on making Abaven that pack. It would also be easier to juggle their current standings with the other packs if he made no promises here to Chaos. He realized then what Chaos had mentioned about his mother, Cascade had passed into the Void. He felt his ears fall as he offered silent condolences, Chaos quickly continued before Rhyme found anything appropriate to say. ”Ah well, probably better that way.” He’d begin, knowing Abaven would have to prove itself before it was ever accepted as anything more than a joke to his father’s side of the family. ”You know where to find me if you have need of your brother, though.” He offered a personal promise. He’d been gone far too long, but if he could do anything for his half brother all effort would be expended to accomplish the task.