**Set a couple of days after the fight with Ignis**

He didn't have the energy to go very far after the fight with Ignis. He was bloodied and bruised, and his age didn't help. After the ordeal, he had gone to rest in the nearby mines before finally feeling strong enough to put more distance between him and the pack. He knew his eye needed treatment still, and so far all he'd done was try to keep it clean with water. His face was still somewhat swollen, and he still felt sore and unwell, but he couldn't stay here nor seek help from the pack mates he left behind in his condition. He had hoped to catch up with Drifa before she got too far, but by the time he and Ignis were done fighting, plus his passing out the moment he got across the borders, he had lost her trail.

He didn't know where else to go, nor how far he might make it with untreated injuries. His foxes led him along, helping him where they could though none of them spoke much. They moved wordlessly, though the further they went, the more he somewhat started to recognize the terrain through his one good (albeit blurry from exhaustion and pain) eye. Finn and Lumi were leading him straight to Abaven, and while he knew he needed help, he was unsure about seeking theirs. After all, he did betray them because of his stupid deal with Hjarrandi. And for what? To save one, ungrateful wolf from the clutches of potential slavery? While he thought it a good idea at the time, it hadn't been worth it.

He slipped towards Abaven's borders as he followed behind the fox pair. They'd been moving nonstop since he left the northern mines, only stopping to rest for short bits at a time when he got too tired to walk. And it seemed just as they were reaching the borders, his strength gave out again. He collapsed just outside the borders of the pack. Worried but knowing they were potentially within the grasp of help, both Finn and Lumi began to yip and call for help.

"Speech"

Foxes at her border? She supposed stranger things had happened. Not sure what to expect, Theory sent out a quick call for Corvus. It was dusk and she simply didn't want to bother Rhyme - not to mention that, as time went on, she felt as if she needed to consider more options for Abaven's beta position. Her siblings were just about a year old and Rhyme and Samara were more in love than ever. It didn't take a genius to guess that he may soon be preoccupied with another young litter and Poem was blissfully enjoying her first months of motherhood. The only wolf without children on the brain or the ground was Corvus, and he had always been reliable, Trustworthy. One of her closest friends. Upon arrival she was greeted with a sorry sight. Two foxes danced around a fallen white wolf, keen for help. Her eyes narrowed for a moment and then she sighed, long and deep. Theory didn't hold a true grudge. At the end of the day, she pitied the man. Acere had proven to her that he not only failed to control his pack - she wouldn't soon forget nor forgive the attempted maim that had occurred during the raid - but he had failed his own family.  His daughter had been unceremoniously dethroned and his nephew was razing what little respect Winterfell had ever curried into the ground. Looking over her shoulder to Alouette roosted in the trees, Theory sent her to retrieve her healer's kit. "Come on now, let's get you over here," she murmured, stooping to offer her shoulder and take the broken man over the border and towards relative safety. What had Drifa said? That Ignis would hunt down and kill anyone who helped her? Do I fear the threat of a mad man? Ignis was unpredictable, but was he heartless? Once Corvus arrived they could figure out what to do, but she wouldn't turn away an injured wolf, especially one that she had once considered a friend. "Speech"

Theory's call made his hackles instinctively rise, a dark sense of dread slowly creeping through him. As far as he was concerned, with how things were going lately, no news was good news - and hearing her call to him at such an unusual time was a sure sign of bad news. He quickly answered her call with one of his own before making his way across the plains. He had no clue what to expect, but he certainly didn't expect this - wasn't that.. Acere? He looked far older than he remembered, though Corvus supposed it'd been awhile since he'd seen him last, and he'd certainly been in better shape then. He picked up his pace as the two wolves and the pair of foxes came into view, nearly panting by the time he reached Theory's side.

Instinct immediately kicked in, briefly dulling the panic that threatened to overtake him. Things were bad - very bad. If Ignis had done this, Corvus wondered what exactly he might be capable of. Corvus couldn't imagine harming anyone in his family at all, let alone.. this badly. Was Abaven safe from his former friend's wrath, or did they really need to be prepared for the worst? "Theory?" He moved to Acere's other side, trying to help aid in carrying him to safety. They'd have to call for a healer, but first moving him somewhere to rest seemed a priority. "Do you know what happened?" He wasn't sure Acere was in any state to explain anything, and it'd likely be best if he saved his strength regardless.