With One Fel Swoop She had been on the hunt. Searching for lost family after the brutal thrashing that the volcano had given the land. Her hunt had been in vain and, unfortunately, Fel was coming home empty handed. She had searched far and she had searched wide. During this search she had come upon the remains of many wolves claimed by the volcano's hunger. She decided that none of the skulls had held the familiar shape of her mother or sister, and so she continued her search. For months she combed the land, searching high and low, but there was hide nor hair of her quarry. There were no tales of their passing. Though the woman was fiercely determined, after a while even she was forced to give up the chase. Fel would return home to Auster in defeat. Having come from the far northern point of the world, she made her way down the center of the land. Curving around Redwater Rocks in her pursuit of the landbridge that would take her home, she searched for water by scent and was surprised to find a different scent that was much more interesting than the water. Family. The rich scent of her kin soaked into the dark fae's nares and she closed her red eyes as she absorbed them into her skull once more. It had been too long. Far too long. Passing the well marked border, Fel found the water that she'd initially been searching for. After drinking her fill and washing the dust of the road from her throat, she tilted her muzzle upward and released one clear note, beckoning her kin to meet her. The woman was thinner than she had been; her pelt a little worse for wear. Dirt and dust clung to her and her paw pads were rough from use. Her claws were chipped and cracked. Her months away hadn't been spent idly and it showed. It didn't matter to her how she looked. Not now. Not when she was so close to being in the presence of family again. Wherever they were, she was home. "Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Aureus meandered toward the lake, a spear resting lazily in his mouth. Kali had convinced him to try spear fishing. Aureus thought it was a terrible idea but the jaguar seemed so enthused he figured he'd at least give it a good hearted try before leaving the fishing to the big cat. Aureus didn't really care for fish. Too cold, too bony, too full of scales. Yuck!

At that moment a familiar call rang out. Aureus stopped. It couldn't be. He dropped his spear and raced full force toward the lake. As he neared he spied the familiar form of his sister. He thought both his sisters and his mother had perished in the volcano and the site of Fel caused joy to erupt in his heart. "Fel! I can't believe it!" He dove toward her seeking to throw his arms around her neck and lick at her face. It was a miracle!

With One Fel Swoop Red eyes caught sight of a wolf approaching quickly. The woman rose to all fours and watched the brute come into view. In an instant, Aureus was upon her, arms about her neck, bestowing kisses upon her. The dark lady smiled and pressed her forehead against that of her brother, releasing a sigh of relief. Blood orange eyes closed as she absorbed the touch and scent of her sibling. She'd been gone far too long. Pulling back, she searched the pale face of her sibling. When she spoke, her voice was soft, a whisper. Always a whisper. "Aureus. What are you doing here? What are we doing here?" By the thick layer of scent upon this place alone, she knew that this was a commonly traveled area and thus was most likely the place that they now called home. It was a bit of a shock to the dark dame. This place was new to her. She would have to learn it if this was where they were to stay. "Tell me everything." She would tell him of her travels, but first she wanted to be updated on all that had happened in her absence.  The sooner she knew, the more at ease her mind would set. She could begin formulating her plan for this place. A mind like her own was best not left idle. "Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Fel pulled back and Aureus settled down, sitting quietly in front of her, his tail wrapping around his paws. There was so much to say but where to start? Aureus decided to just give Fel a quick summary and let her ask questions from there. Maybe by then Eligos would show and could inform their sister more of the changes in the pack and get her officially accepted. He supposed he should have had her wait on the border but he would take the blame for this. Aureus was too excited to see his sister to just wait with her on the border.

"Well, Pyrrhic has stepped down and Eligos has taken over leadership of the pack. He's renamed it Aerie and moved us here. He has a good, serious mind for leadership." Aureus smile faded for a moment."I take it that since you returned alone you weren't able to find mother or Amaris?"

Eligos hadn't seen his sisters for... quite some time. Malleus' death had in some ways overshadowed the disappearance of his mother and Amaris, but Fel had walked away from the Risen Empire on her own volition as well. It had hurt not knowing what had happened to his mother and Amaris, but Fel's leaving had, because he knew it had been by choice, felt like she had deliberately abandoned them when the pack and her brothers had needed her with them.

He wouldn't have said that out loud.

Now he stood on the border, with her scent hot in his nose where it crossed the border and went deeply into their territory, and he couldn't not think that. Her call dragged him from his contemplation of the invisible signs of her passage, and the visible but subtle ones. Sighing out a faint puff of breath he left the trail and forged his way out towards the sound. He found Aureus there with her, but judging by their manner he hadn't been there as long as she had, which bore out what he had already known from the border. "You're lucky no one came across you trespassing before we came," he said with deceptive mildness. "Not everyone here would recognize you."

With One Fel Swoop Dark ears pricked forward, listening to all that Aureus had to tell her. She had just opened her mouth to reply when Eligos approached. She could tell that something was wrong and it wasn't something that she could or would blame him for. His words proved it. She would make no excuses for her departure. Knowing that those left behind were able bodied made her mission easier. A mission that she had ultimately failed in, but it was something that she had to do. It wasn't just for herself; it was for all of them. She had wanted to either bring her mother and sister home or bring her brothers some sort of closure. "It's good to see you too," the smaller woman spoke with muted sarcasm, though she meant the words whole heartedly. Now she addressed them both. "I did not find them. I scoured the continent for any sign, but there was nothing." No scent, hide nor hair of her family had been found. "I was on my way back to you when I smelled you in this foreign place." Fixing her red gaze upon Eligos, she spoke once more. "Would you deny me a home here with you and our family?" She hoped to god that he would not deny her. What else did she have left in this world but them? No doubt he was irritated, but would he go so far as to exile her? "Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Before Fel could reply Eligos appeared. Aureus turned to look at him, grinning sheepishly. "That's my fault Eligos, I lead her across the border." He didn't normally make a habit of lying to family but he was eager to have them all together again. He was tired of pieces of their family fracturing off at every turn so if he could smooth this over just a bit he was more than willing to throw himself under the bus.

His smile fell abruptly as Fel stated she had seen no sign of Serene or Amaris."Dammit," was all he had to say followed swiftly by a sigh. He couldn't really say his hopes had been that high but on seeing Fel for a moment it seemed possible the whole family would be reunited. He looked to Eligos. "Please, Eligos, let's reunite our family. The border crossing was just a mistake."

Eligos flashed Aureus a hurt look, disappointment in his eyes as he glanced over at the blatant lie. He knew that Aureus' scent hadn't met Fel's at the border to invite her in, and it hurt more than a little that his brother would think to lie about something so easily disproved. "I wouldn't have expected to find them," he said instead, turning his head away from them both. "It wasn't the first time Mother had walked away from us with claims that the Fallen God was giving her visions. I only regret that she pulled Amaris away from us with her mad quests for answers." His words had a more bitter bite to them than he'd intended, or thought they would ever have had. Perhaps he had more hurt and bitterness there than he'd thought, buried beneath the ache of his father's death. Why would the Fallen God have given her visions? She wasn't an Abraxas, merely the mother of Malleus' children. Her visions had divided their family as much as Malleus' death had. He turned blood-red eyes that had more than a hint of ice in them towards his two siblings. "Did I say I would turn you away, Fel?" he said quietly. "I have no more wish for our family to remain divided than do you. But it isn't healthy for any of us - Abraxas, or Aerie - if you join us only to abandon us when next a whim takes you. If you want to join Aerie, it needs to be to stay." That was unfair of him, he knew. When Malleus had died he too had walked away from the Empire when the grief had been too much for him. But he didn't want to be fair. He wanted her to know how abandoned and hurt he had felt, and then for her to just walk right through their border and make herself at home without even a thought of the pain she'd caused by vanishing without a word... He couldn't help but doubt that she'd not just walk away again. He needed more than "hey guys I'm back where's the fridge I'm hungry" from her, family or not, to reassure him.

With One Fel Swoop The woman's red gaze softened as Aureus tried to fib for her. She knew that Eligos would catch it, and he surely did. Still, her heart warmed towards her gentler family member. Eligos, on the other paw, was hard and unmoving. Yes, she knew that her departure would have hurt him. Hurt them all. There hadn't been time to tell them of her intentions. As an after though, she should have tried harder to let at least someone know that she was going on a quest. A whim? "It wasn't a whim. I needed to know. We all deserved to know." She became a little defensive for a moment, but a sigh washed it all away. "And yet nothing came of it. It would have been better had I just let them go and assumed them dead." Raising one paw, Fel rubbed the spot between her bloodied eyes. A dull thump was beginning to sound within her ears. "Regardless of how you feel, I missed you. I missed all of you every day." She had wanted to bring at least her sister back to them. It had been her intent to do this one thing for the family, but her quest had been in vain. "Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Eligos shot him a look of disappointment but he simply stared back. He was ready to have his sister back and he'd had enough of this posturing. It wasn't like Fel was one of their more psychotic relatives. In his opinion Andras should've been dispatched years ago, but this was different. This was their sister. He looked between the two as Eligos spoke. In truth he shouldn't have been surprised at the tension. There'd been tension between all the siblings after Malleus' death and with so much to do they'd never really had a chance to talk or socialize. It was from one task to another. Maybe that's why he'd sought refuge in love, in Eliphas.

"It wasn't a whim. I needed to know. We all deserved to know."

Aureus nodded lightly to himself. It was a question that had long haunted him and with Fel's return he felt ready to let them go. "I understand. I wish you'd said something before you left but I'll be honest, if I'd known I'd have been tempted to let you go. I don't want to give up on them but if we haven't seen mother or Amaris by now I doubt we ever will. The volcano likely took them, just like our father." He didn't bother mentioning Archon. He didn't consider the man an Abraxas and it was a small blessing amidst the disaster that the volcano dispatched him.

He looked to Eligos. "Eligos please, take Fel into Aerie. If you want to hang the responsibility on me feel free to do so. If she should commit some heinous act or vanish again without a word you can take the payment in my blood."

He found no sense of reassurance in her words, and Eligos turned away from both siblings and sat heavily, his paws digging into the dirt as he stared over the pack lands. He was silent for a long moment after Aureus spoke, his jaw clenched. Finally when he spoke it was in that same quiet voice, distant and cool and emotionless. "Aureus," he said, and despite the tone it was gentle. "I am not going to hold you responsible for the future actions of a grown adult. Fel's decisions are her own to make and her own to take responsibility for. To demand you do so would be to assume that Fel does not have the ability to do so. So." He turned his head, just his head, to take in their erstwhile sister. "There's nothing wrong with having gone to look for our family. But you abandoned your responsibility to us and to our father's pack when you did so without a word and without a thought of when you would return. You walked right into Aerie's borders as though there were no question of your right to be here, as though you had not left. And I still do not know that you wouldn't simply do so again."

He turned to glare back at the pack lands spread out before him. How many hard decisions was he setting himself up for in the future? Fel, Saren, any other Abraxas who had wandered only to return hoping for a pardon that he couldn't not give, that he could only hope wouldn't vanish again just as they had when Amon left, or when Malleus died, or Pyrrhic turned the pack over to him. "I can't let anyone get away with putting aside their responsibilities simply because they are Abraxas. Every member of Aerie must contribute equally to the best of their ability, Abraxas or not. Sister, or not." He thought bitterly of Torin of Lirim, accusing an Abraxas of the rape of his dead sister, and of his uncle Archon's heresy and it's results. No, he'd learned that lesson well. Demigods or not, the Abraxas were as prone to faults as any mortal being, and letting them do whatever they want ended only in tragedy and conflict. "I will accept you into Aerie if that is what you want - I want our family to be together as much as either of you - but it has to be with the knowledge that you are here to stay. That you intend to be a part of Aerie, and not just here for a free ride until you leave again." His ears flicked back, but he didn't look at his siblings. "If you can promise me that, you are welcome in Aerie."

With One Fel Swoop It seemed that, no matter what she said, Eligos would think poorly of her. She understood why he was upset but she had expected a little happiness at seeing her. Instead he was closed off and distant. Well... at least Aureus wasn't terribly upset with her, though she knew that he as well hadn't approved of her leaving without a word. When Aureus spoke up, offering to take the punishment should she leave again, Fel gave her skull a shake in the negative. Reaching out one dainty paw, she tapped her siblings much larger appendage, letting it sit there for but a moment before retracting it. The touch showed how much his words meant to her as did the softening of her garnet gaze. "I would never let you take my punishment, but thank you." Looking back to Eligos, she continued. "Besides, there will be no reason for punishment. I belong with family. The fallen god led me to this new place, and you, for a reason." They were the reason. Fallen god or no, she would have found them. "Should I swear fealty? Would that ease your mind?" What could she possibly do to get Eligos to at least drop his walls a little? They were family yet he was treating her like some kind of outsider. Wasn't he at least a little happy to see that she was alive? Had the volcano not erupted and eaten half of the land, she never would have strayed from the pack. It wasn't in her mind to do so ever again. Fel knew that she belonged with family. That was her purpose in life: to keep the few that she cared for healthy and alive. "Speech"

TIED TO WHAT IS LATE, AIN'T YOU NOW

Though he could often be a bit bullish, Aureus did know when to close his mouth. He settled down between his siblings not wanting to make things worse for Fel but still anxious to get on with things. He wasn't sure where the impatient streak came from, had he always had it? He fidgeted on the sidelines as Eligos laid out what he wanted.

Ok, excellent. So all she had to do was promise not to leave again without warning. Easy enough. He grinned at Fell, tail wagging lightly for a moment. It'd be fun to go patrolling with his sister at least once. They probably wouldn't be able to often though. Aerie was still so small that patrols often needed to be one wolf to make sure they were keeping on top of potential trespassers. Especially with the coyotes and bears more active with the coming of spring.

"I think he just wants you to promise not to leave again. That shouldn't be a problem right?" He glanced to Fel, interjecting before Eligos could reply. Ahh… so his patience would still need work.

Eligos sighed. "No, Fel. I don't want anyone swearing fealty to me." Though he supposed that the idea of fealty to him personally had some merit in general, if only to keep family members from running amok and refusing his leadership of the family... but no. It wasn't his way. He'd never even intended to be a leader - he'd always thought that when they'd all grown up, it would be Pyrrhic or Aureus leading them, never expecting that circumstances would thrust him into the very spotlight he'd spent their childhood avoiding. He studied their sister, so like him though silver where he was gold, and gentled his tone. "It will be good to be together again." Though a heavy reminder that their father would never be returning, and that their mother and sister were unlikely to be alive either. "If you are staying," he emphasized, "do you know what you wish to do within the pack? What path you wish to pursue?"

With One Fel Swoop Aureus clarified what she already knew and Fel actually grinned as she brought her gaze to him. "No, I'm not going to leave again." Her mission was complete. Or as complete as it could be. Their missing family members would never be found. Most likely they were dead and gone. Eligos sighed. She knew that she was exasperating sometimes. Especially now simply because she didn't know where she stood with him. He was angry at her and she understood, but she still loved him. Loved all of them. It wasn't pleasant to be on the receiving end of his disappointment. Eventually he softened some and admitted that it would be good to be together again. It sparked a bit of hope within her and she nodded. It was already good to be together. When asked after her path in the pack, the marbled woman tilted her skull first to one side then the other, contemplating her wishes before voicing them. "I wish to be your council, if you'll have me. I fight. I hunt. I have no qualms doing the unsavory things that others might turn from. Whatever gap you need me to fill, I'll do so." She was open to anything. Fel wasn't stupid. Any skill that was required of her, she would learn and hone for the progress and prosperity of the pack. "Speech"

Eligos made a non-committal noise and made himself settle. "The pack has changed a bit since you were here," he began. An understatement. It didn't much resemble the Empire of old at all, except in its warlike nature and the Abraxas' own cherished beliefs. He passed Aureus an apologetic glance, knowing that he was making his brother sit through a lecture he already knew when he no doubt just wanted to spend time catching up with their prodigal littermate. "We are mercenaries now, and in many ways we may resemble a collection of guilds for the different paths we may choose to train and contribute in. These Paths - there are seven. The Path of Fang, our warriors. The Path of Antler, our hunters. Leaf is the Path of our healers, and Earth is our crafters and traders. The Paths of the Sun and the Moon are our negotiators and record-keepers, and our priesthood respectively. Lastly is the Path of Shadow, that of the spies, thieves, and sabateurs." If Fel had been anyone but an Abraxas and his sister, he wouldn't have spoken of the last with someone who was not a fully committed member of the pack yet to reduce the risk of the rank's purpose being spread about, but despite his hesitation and doubts she was an Abraxas, and she was his sister, and he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that she'd actually betray them. Abandon them again, maybe, but not spread the pack's secrets. He pushed aside the thoughts that troubled him, and kept his attention on Fel. "Following more than one Path is allowed, particularly for the Path of Shadow, but it's more difficult to keep up with the duties of more than one, even if you have the skills for both. I leave that up to Aerie's wolves to decide if they are willing to progress through more than one Path. Regardless of which they chose, everyone - even the adults - begin as apprentices in that Path until their skill and maturity within that chosen craft are proven." He let his voice die away, giving Fel the chance to absorb what was likely more information than she'd expected to have dropped on her all at once.

Fel considered Eli's words as he listed the various jobs. He was so stuffy. So... sterile. Where was his feeling? Where was his emotion? Had it not been for Aureus, she felt as though he wouldn't have allowed her here at all. She'd deal with it for now, but eventually the pair would have to have it out. Fel wanted to love her family and be loved in return. What was the point of being somewhere when she wasn't really wanted or trusted?

After listening to the options, the silver streaked woman gave a little shrug. "Secrets and intrigue are my specialty, so I suppose I'd choose shadows. I can fight as well, so why not do both?" Again, she shrugged. Fel preferred to pick up slack. She preferred to fill a place where there were less wolves contributing. If Eli wanted to make her choose though, then those were her choices.

Sidling up to Aureus, the dark lady leaned against her much lighter brother. "It's good to be back with you. Would you like to show me around this new place?"

(Done, maybe?)