Uncertainty was not her strong suit, and Belle was beginning to worry that Hannibal was gone again. She had tried to usher him away from the battlefield to help and see to his wounds. She’d hoped they would regroup and begin work on rebuilding the Empire. She hated it, but Deathbelle was beginning to doubt the heir. Decorated paws carried her to the lands she was told had held Erovare until very recently. The scents were becoming stale, though the presence of wolves was still strong. This was one of the last places she had a clue to look.

She hadn’t found Hannibal’s children or the woman who whelped them. That had been a disappointment, but she hoped the little ones found their way to family. Maybe they remained here? The Klein women's ivory splashed for slipped through the dark forest, even here the heat weighed down on her dark form. She made a note to return to her habit of travelling by night instead of day.

”Hannibal?” She called out, mismatched ears perked as she hoped for some kind of answer from the forest. Belle’s alabaster tail hung limply at her ankles as she stood silently, hoping her brother’s call might be returned to her. The feeling of defeat was hard to overcome when she had been battling for so long. A soft sigh escaped her lips as her shoulders fell and her haunches lowered to the ground. She knew the Klein Empire must be rebuilt, but she didn’t want to do it without Hannibal. Would they need to start looking to Roman to lead them? Would her siblings accept one not of Yvonne, was the real question. Was Roman ready was the second, if he wasn’t capable might she have a chance?

When Archon heard Hannibal's name on the wind, he immediately was interested. Who was it who called for the fallen warrior? The man who spoke of such betrayal and conquering? Then man Archon had thought might one day be a strong ally or a worthy opponent.

He sought the voice out and found a woman marked with slashes of white and black. Maybe it was just because she was calling him, but she reminded Archon of Hannibal. She was at the challenge, wasn't she? She had been the one to come to Hannibal's side when he fell. So who was she?

"He has not been here," Archon said. "And yet, you are. And you also were at the challenge." Archon shifted himself slightly. He was aiming to calm any display of intimidation so his next question wouldn't come off as threatening. "So, who are you?"

Belle made attempt to lift herself back up as the wolf appeared from the forests beyond. He was not Hannibal, but he was recognizable. She didn’t know him, but he had been at the challenge. He also easily spoke of her brother, and made mention that she would not find her sibling here. She held herself with pride as she hid how much that fact bothered her. Was Hannibal really gone? The man confirmed that he had seen her where she recognized him from before finally asking who she was.

”I could ask the same.” She started, her amethyst eyes looking him over from her slender nose. ”Deathbelle Ravage Klein,” Her full name rolled off her tongue easily. ”Hannibal’s sister.” She didn’t know how well the dark man knew her brother, and doubted he cared that they did not share a mother.

"I could as you the same," the woman said.

"You may," Archon permitted.

A sister of Hannibal's? Well that was interesting.

"What an intimidating name," Archon mused. "I am Archon Abraxas."

He let a silence pass between them for a moment. To him, at least, it wasn't awkward. It allowed their thoughts to settle and for them to figure out what to say next. When Archon was ready, his voice lifted again.

"Hannibal is missing, I presume." Archon wasn't sure what to make of the information. He didn't know a ton about Hannibal to begin with. He only knew the man felt under utilized and that he wanted to make his own pack. "Where does that leave you?" Was she entirely lost? Angry? Did she have anyone else to return to? Archon wondered. She didn't owe him any words, but then again, Archon wasn't certain that even she knew the answer to the questions yet.

She wasn’t sure what to think of the man quite yet, though her first instinct was to be weary. She wasn’t one to make snap judgements. Magenta gaze didn’t leave him as he offered his observations on her name and gave her his own. Belle wouldn’t disagree with his assessment. ”Well met.” She offered with a slight nod. Hannibal had seemed to respect this Archon, and with only that Belle could offer a bit of her own. As he fell silent she allowed herself to look him over again, but found his forest eyes as he spoke.

His words stung, but it was only because they were true. Her stare grew hard but she nodded in affirmation. He had left her. ”Where does that leave you?” Why did Archon care about her status in the world? He was an unknown to her, what did she owe to him let alone answers to questions such as these? She had no desire to deny him them however.

”To pick up the pieces he has left behind.” She told him honestly but vaguely, the Klein name was destined to rule again. However, the leader meant to step up was not as clear. ”To regain my true title.” They were pretty words, but she had much work to do before they came true. ”Why do you ask, Archon?” Deathbelle asked suspiciously, perking a brow and tilting her head curiously.

The woman said she was here to pick up the pieces and regain her title and asked why he was inquiring. He didn't have a very specific answer for her, but he could try to summarize his thoughts.

"I know Hannibal had... troubles with the pack he was in. This is what ultimately led to his willingness to challenge."

He wasn't in a position to know where Hannibal might be or what might have gone down with him and anyone else, but it wasn't a far leap to guess that maybe someone had come after him due to the challenge.

"It could have led to trouble for him- and possibly for you," Archon said. "Now, I'm also interested in knowing where Hannibal went. He's a free man and I had hoped we would come to an agreement of sorts in relation to his ambitions."

Archon glanced around himself as if expecting Hannibal to come out at any second. He couldn't say they were friends. Archon had claimed him as a bargaining chip, but they had been able to talk well and come to a deal in the end and Archon harbored no ill will towards him. In fact, Archon we perhaps even a little worried about the scabby man.

"Are you going to keep looking for him?" Archon asked. Either way, he wondered if she would be... accepting to an offer... a friendship? An agreement? Archon wasn't sure what to call it yet or what to think of the woman, but he felt there must be a reason she was brought to him... or that he was brought to her. Curiosity nagged him. He wanted to know where this was going.

Deathbelle watched Archon carefully as he answered, and he seemed courteous as she had been in offering the truth. She couldn’t know for certain, Hannibal hadn’t explained much before his disappearance. Archon took his chance to explain briefly their relationship, and his suspicions about her brother’s whereabouts. She couldn’t say that she doubted the possibility either. He hadn’t allowed her beside him every second of every day. She couldn’t be held responsible if it were some kind of abduction.

”I’ve been looking for him for a long time, it’s not fair to myself or my siblings to keep delaying.” There, the decision was finally made. She would start to gather what siblings remained in Boreas. The Klein name would rise once more, just as they had with her father before her. ”With or without Hannibal, I’ll see my family in power again.” They were meant to rule, and Deathbelle had as much right as either of her brothers. She wasn’t normally so bold with her plans, especially around a wolf she had only just met. However, she enjoyed Archon’s fixation on her and the plans she was laying.

Well she didn't break into a sobbing puddle when Archon hinted that something bad may have happened to Hannibal. That was good- it meant she had probably already thought of the possibilities. Either that or she was in shock.

Deathbelle announced that she was done looking and that with or without him, she would see their family to power again. There it was- the interesting bits. Archon nodded in affirmation to her declaration.

"We have similar goals," Archon said with a slight smile. "I seek spiritual power through the lands. For everyone to know the name of The Fallen God, Abraxas. Hannibal and I had planned on using our... similarities to benefit each other..."

Archon hoped he could see where she was going with this.

"A mutual enemy had bound us, but it would be a shame now to let that dissipate."

Mismatched eas were perked eagerly in his direction as he offered a nod and explained further his intentions. Belle wasn’t as sure about his speech about a god, but mutual benefits.. allies, might have been hard to come by. She peered at him as he extended his offer, she hadn’t missed the god’s name was shared with Archon’s last name. She hadn’t been raised with the knowledge of a higher power, and had a high apprehension of them now that she was an adult.

”How can I benefit your god, Achon, and more importantly, how will he benefit me?” What was she getting into? Was he the real reason Hannibal was gone? Archon and his.. religion? cult maybe? could have been the ones to have made him disappear after he had lost the challenge. Would they do the same to her? She hid her darker accusations, relying on her trust of Archon’s honesty up until this point.

Deathbelle asked all good questions and Archon was sure many others lingered beneath the surface.

"Your brother and I hadn't shared many details, and I recognize that you are not your brother, but we had decided that in this way, The Fallen Band would offer a place for him if he needed healing or wanted to recuperate. In the same, if he were to get the pack he challenged for, he would move it away from the shrine I desired."

It was more or less that simple. They were a Band, not a pack, sure, but that made them a good tactile unit for retreat and for rest since they couldn't be pinned down to one location like packs could.

"If one day, we found each other in pack positions, we wouldn't use it to prey upon each other, out of respect for the prior support of one another. That was about it, as vague as it is. We weren't willing to detail out a plan for a future we weren't sure would come."

He wondered how much more family she had and if she would go for an agreement, or see him as a threat and use her goals to try to crush him.

"However, the decision is yours entirely despite how much I desire to keep an agreement between wolves of similar hopes for the future."

There was little Archon could specify, he and Hannibal didn’t seem to know one another well. They just happened to be thrust together, and they had made the most of the situation. Ultimately, their plan faltered. Deathbelle had seen the defeat with her own eyes, Hannibal should have won. Resisting the urge to furrow her brows at the memory Belle focused on the terms Archon had shared with her brother.

There was little substance in his words, all of their future hopes rested on her brother’s victory. Much like her own family. Archon wanted a specific territory, but couldn’t claim it because he only led a Band. In all honesty Deathbelle had her doubts that she could challenge for said pack at the moment. It was much like her childhood. She had to ride from her mother’s shadow, slowly and small at first.

”I can’t promise you a shrine, Archon.” She warned him as he offered her the floor to speak. Her own plans were only just whisps of ideas floating in her head. She still wasn’t sure how fully she could trust the massive wall of a wolf. ”A simple agreement of neutrality is easy.” Her amethyst stare turned hard again. ”The whisper of potential to secure your chosen land is all you ask? If I make it to the point where Hannibal was, and If I happen to win and take your shrine we will agree not to work against each other.” It seemed mostly fair, they would offer aid while she promised some far off half alliance.

”What future do you see?” She didn’t know Archon, and despite how small the agreement was she wasn’t about to jump in. He admitted she had the power here, and she was sure to use it. Hannibal may have been under duress when negotiating with the Abraxas Lord but she was under no such control.

Deathebelle told Archon she couldn't promise him the shrine, of course. How could she at this moment when she herself was but a loner lost without her brother's presence?  He nodded along as she reasoned to herself about the implications of their agreement. "We can always negotiate further down the line when you and I are in better positions to do so," he said.

She asked him about what future he saw and Archon took a moment to think to himself. The future he saw was one of many possibilities. There were so many small intricacies that could drastically change the future. But the future he hoped for...

"It is my honest desire to see all wolves in these lands know of The Fallen God. That those on par with his splendor will rise to the top and that those who oppose us will fall," Archon said, his eyes seeking hers. "With your brother's tenacity, I thought his family and his pack would be some of the ones to rise to the top and have their names etched in the minds of anyone who resided in these lands. We don't always succeed at first, but it seems by your presence that perhaps it is still meant to be."

He spoke honestly and at length. In the current works, he had nothing particular to lose, but the prospect of an ally and an agreement gave them everything to gain.

They could agree to further negotiations after they had more to leverage with, Deathbelle had little to nothing to her name and she knew it. All she could offer was her word. Really that was all the band leader could do as well. She watched him, and dark green eyes met her own magenta stare as he spoke of the future he sought. His words seemed coaxed forth only for her, and she didn’t miss how much he focused on her familial involvement in said future. He seemed honest, and Belle allowed herself to give him the benefit of her doubt.

”Playing to my ego, Archon?” The princess asked him with a coy smile. ”I can agree to your alliance,” there were no big promises offered, only mutual benefits to working towards similar goals. ”For a future at the top.” He grin never left herr, and her eyes remained on Archon’s gaze. He towered above her, but she still held herself proudly feeling her spirit.. renewed. The Kleins would climb their way to where they belonged.

”Tell me about your god,” The ivory splashed she wolf stepped a bit closer to the Abraxas titan. ”And how he will come to be known over the whole of Boreas.”

She asked if Archon was playing to her ego and Archon let out a small breathy laugh, "If only I were so cunning, I'd have infiltrated every pack by now."

She offered an agreement and Archon's smile lifted slightly. She had hopes for a future at the top, and so did they. Then she asked about God. Archon could go on for hours- days- months even about God, but he would try to summarize, hoping this sister's intentions were close to her brothers in that they would align with some of God's malice.

"God, upon becoming too powerful, was thrown to this mortal realm by other gods who teamed up against him. He makes his return through us, his descendants. We are The Fallen Angels, purposed with spreading God's wrath, and restoring our lineage." Archon explained. "It is my aim to spread his name to all who oppose him with the utmost wrath and pain my mortal body can bring to them. Having a holy place such as the shrine is one such way to give him power among the other mortals."

Archon looked at the woman and searched her face for a moment, "Have I lost you yet? I believe the ability and desire to be at the top and crush those that oppose us puts us in the same vein."

She couldn’t help her amusement at being able to pull a laugh from the rather stoic man, laughter was a good sign. Being amused together was one of the strongest builders of bonds. He mentioned infiltration of packs as well and she raised an off white brow at the mention of it. He seemed to light up at her next question, and there was little doubt she could keep him speaking on the matter for hours. A fact she filed away for potential use later.

The woman lowered her haunches gracefully, pulling her ivory tail around her decorated paws as Archon began. Mismatched ears perked as she listened. His conviction was obvious, but she still wasn’t certain she could believe in higher powers like he spoke of. However, she could find herself allying with such a deity. Belle also had no intention of opposing Archon, even if she didn’t believe in his god she had no issues with him spreading his theology.


”No, Archon, you are crystal clear.” her vocals were silky smooth as she answered him. ”I believe you are correct.” Maybe this god was real, and if she could grasp some supernatural power to further her own gain she would. She let her gaze linger on the Abraxas giant, still not completely trusting of him but she was coming around to the benefits of an alliance.

It was reassuring that the woman seemed to be on the same page as him and that she agreed with him- at least at face value. Archon took a moment to think of the potential their bonds could have and what fruit they could bear.

"You know," he started slowly. "If you wish to rise in the way that Hannibal did, I believe the best target would be a pack."

Archon knew a little of the packs and had met a few of the alphas in passing.

"The method, I leave up to you, but I believe the most fallible pack- the pack most crippled by its own willingness to accept and help those in need- is Abaven in the East," he said. "Their desire to be a hero to those in need- to anyone in need- is their biggest flaw and what I believe will be their downfall."

Archon let a smile capture his features, "I'm not saying you have to, but I do believe it is your best bet, whatever method you may choose."

The ivory splashed she wolf was all ears as Archon continued, and the Klein woman was sure he was more conniving than he let on. She had little doubt he was a dangerous wolf to cross, but she was becoming more impressed with him the more time they spent together. He called to her attention Hannibal’s path, targeting a pack. Belle’s light brow perked as he went on. Archon gave her no smaller details, those were for her to workout. However he made known to her weakness that might be used to destroy or take the pack known as Abaven. She smiled as he made known to her that she could do whatever it was she wanted, but the information was hard to pass up.

She and Banshee could easily pass as mother and pup, her husband recently disappeared and she couldn’t raise a child alone.. The story already began to form and the corners of her lips pulled back into an amused smile. Infiltrate a pack, bring them to their knees. Rebuild the Klein Empire. ”I am not my brother, the art of.. subtlety is more my style.” She chuckled softly. ”Taking them from within, instead of taking to tooth and claw.” Like her brother. Maybe subterfuge would heed more fruitful than outright challenge.

Archon could almost see the woman forming a plan in her head and his smile deepened. Eventually she claimed that she, unlike her brother, was more of a subtle type. Archon chewed the inside of his cheek while he listened, wondering what on earth she could be coming up with. Still, Archon knew that almost any sign of distress could work against the soft wolves of Abaven, so he wasn't particularly worried.

With a sharp smile, Archon nodded curtly. He was curious about her plan, but also felt like Deathbelle needed the space to act of her own accord. They were partners at this point, so it wasn't in the scope of Archon's position to be dictating what she did or how she did it.

"I'll leave it to you, then," Archon said. "If you succeed, or if you need to reconvene, I will be here."