The spar had left her...aware more than anything. She had been remiss in her duties as an Abraxas, hell, as an empirical servant. It was as though she were failing her pack, had besmirched the name of her father - and by extension Malleus, her brother. While she had taken the last few seasons to heal from a particularly nasty and painful excursion out to a place she came to understand was Spider Cove. Multiple spider bites had put her down, and she had been largely ignored by the healers of the pack. Had she been strong enough, she would have gone to them. All she had been able to manage was a pitiful wobble back to her rooms within the castle once she woke to find the meeting she barely remembered over and the cavernous room empty.

How they had missed her was beyond her understanding. Too much going on, she supposed. As a result, Aaliyah felt it was best to either slough off somewhere and succumb to the spiders' venomous bites or, if she survived, to make something of herself that was unquestionably valuable to the empire. Aaliyah was still unsure how much time she had taken in recovering, but she had survived. She decided she would use her life for something, their god seemed to demand it from her. She would become the spider. Weaving her webs of contacts and learning the secrets of the land under masks and aliases. She would ensnare the enemies of her packs and descend on them with the wrath of the empire. In this, she would be great.

Tilting her brindled crown back, Aaliyah howled for her half brother and leader. She was ready, finally feeling fully healthy and eager. There was a purpose for her, and she would fulfill it.

"Talking." * Walking. * You.

One ear swiveled around as his sister's call rose up over the garden. He was surprised to hear her call for him. Aaliyah had been rather quiet as of late and as far as he knew she'd been keeping to herself. The reasons for this were beyond him, and while he'd thought about seeking her out and seeing what was up, in the end he'd decided to let it alone as Aaliyah struck him as independent and largely self reliant.

"Aaliyah?" he queried as he approached with Pascal riding high on his back. "Is everything alright?" This was unusual for her. She looked well as far as he could tell, but looks could be deceiving. Malleus hoped his little sister was as well as she appeared.