Winter was fully upon them now, but Venom and Ashen were mostly unchanged. However cold the weather was, the heat of the deserts offset the winter chill. Their prey remained abundant, and almost more so with many creatures migrating here for the cool months. Much like their tropical island paradise the Western lands kept them warm and safe.

Venom was still thinking about the loss of their neighbors, tough she wasn’t particularly fretful over the loss. They had always been quiet and kept to themselves, and Venom had done the same. What she was worried about was the next pack to take up those lands. Hopefully the challenger she had seen that day would decide to live somewhere else, but only time would tell.

She hadn’t yet checked in with Chimera this season, and while she herself had somewhat huddled away for the winter she knew the same was not as true for him. "Chimera?” She called out at the entrance of the caverns that housed himself and his ladies. Hopefully not creating too much disturbance as she did so.

"Venom"

A voice called out for him but Chimera wasn't there. Not in the caves, anyway. The black and white brute came up behind his mottled sister, a small growl emanating from him to let her know that he was near. The man was in a foul mood and it showed in his appearance. The white side of him was splashed with blood and clumps of brown fur stuck to him. It was evident that something had been killed and the scent of bear clung to him.

Though in a foul mood, it wasn't directed at his sister. The brute threw himself unceremoniously onto the red stone ground and began licking the blood from his paws and jaws. Mismatched ears shifted forward, his pallid pink eye fixed on her. "Venom," he spoke her name. Surely there was a reason for her visit.

"Chimera Klein"

Venom waited for a moment there at the entrance of the caverns to hear a response from her brother. The sound of his paws and the deep growl within his chest came from behind her instead of ahead as she suspected. Venom was never one to be startled very easily so she cooly turned to meet him there behind her. She could tell even before she turned that his mood was sour.

His fur was disheveled, blood stained the white portions, and a scowl played over his brow. Venom turned to meet him where he lowered himself to begin the arduous duty of cleaning up his pelt. "Hello, Brother.” She greeted him as she lowered herself gracefully to her haunches before his hulking frame. "Just had the desire to check in with you. Seems you’ve been busy.” The Matriarch observed softly.

"Venom"

Venom sat before him as he began to clean the blood from his coat. Black and white ears swiveled to catch her words, but he didn't reply at first, instead focusing on a particularly stubborn swath of blood on his white foreleg. "I'm alive. My family has a home. That should be enough, right?" It obviously wasn't enough for him.

Giving up on the blood, Chimera raised his pale pink gaze to look his sister square in the face. "I'm going stir crazy," he admitted. "I'm used to running an entire pack, not just sitting idly by until there's something to do." There was so much pent up energy in the man that he'd taken to murdering anything that came too close to Ashens borders, hence the blood.

"Chimera Klein"

Venom was a patient woman, she could enjoy a few quiet moments as her voice faded and his attention was centered on cleaning the blood from his fur. She relaxed easily next to him and waited for him to eventually speak. He didn’t look up at her when he did eventually let the words tumble from his lips, and Venom could tell there was much left unsaid. He should have been content where he was, but he hadn’t quite gotten there yet. She didn’t know if he could.

He lifted his dual toned gaze up to her, though only one eye really focused on her before he continued. Venom hadn’t and wouldn’t interrupt his train of thought as he went on. Now he only really had his family to rule over now, and Venom could easily put herself in his place. She had led Ashen since she was a very young girl, and the memories of the two of them in their youth liked to crop up. Not only did he not have as much responsibility, but Ashen had become quiet and reclusive. Peaceful even. And Chimera wasn’t one to live in peace.

"I dare not try and tell you what to do,” she began carefully. "I had hoped you would be able to relax and find peace with your family here in safety.” She admitted softly.

"Venom"

Chimera listened to the words of his sister. She had hoped that he would find peace for himself and his family here. Another low growl pulled from the giants chest. A growl of utter frustration. "It should be enough," he agreed with her, his words still laced with a snarl that was directed more at himself than anything else. "It should be more than enough."

The big man was grateful for his place within Ashen. He truly was. However, Chimera just wasn't cut out for waiting around and patrolling borders. It was driving him mad. "I was made to rule," he informed his sister, as though she didn't know it. Untraditional and odd as he may be, there was no denying that Chimera had been a great leader. His people had wanted for nothing. He had been happy. Now? Now he was just another number in Ashen's ranks.

A sigh of exasperation left the man and he thumped to the ground on his side, forelegs raising to slid along either side of his muzzle in frustration. "I'm not happy, Venom." He hadn't admitted that to anyone else.

"Chimera Klein"

His frustration was very obviously directed towards himself and not her but that didn’t stop Venom from feeling somewhat responsible for the way his life had turned out. His words said that what she gave him should have been enough for him, and maybe it should have but she wished that she could give him more. She remained quiet as he spoke, allowing him to work through his thought process because she could add nothing to help him in that moment.

Chimera’s genes were strong, he was a true Klein and as such he was made to rule over those who were weaker than him. Venom could not find it in herself to concede those attributes. She too was meant to be a leader, she embodied the role of Klein matriarch through much struggle with herself and the world around them. "Whatever I can do brother, I want to see your happiness.” She offered, void of any ideas as to how to remedy his situation.

"Venom"

Venom spoke and Chimera sighed, rubbing at his face with big paws once more. "I know. I know." Pulling his paws away, he thumped his cheek against the red rock below him. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I lost my kingdom by being weak. I gave into weakness and illness rather than fighting and this is the price that I have to pay." He hadn't been ill since returning, but there was always that 'what if' fear in the back of his mind.

"I just don't know what to do with myself. I've never had so much time on my paws in my entire life." Chimera flexed the very paws that he spoke of, though he barely registered doing so. "I haven't spoken of this to anyone," he informed his sister, though he didn't doubt that Aliana and Siren had figured out his discontent.
"Chimera Klein"

There was really nothing to be done in the present except perhaps try and give her brother more responsibilities to keep him busy. He spoke about having experienced his own weakness and losing the pack he had once ruled. Venom frowned as he spoke, knowing how much support she had needed when she had broken her leg, or when her sight had disappeared. Chimera hadn’t had that, so he had fallen and failed his family. Now he was here, subject to her rule once more.

"I have no real solutions for you.” She returned softly. Not really at least, none beyond try and take another pack for himself. "I’ve very much appreciated your presence here though. Your constant patrol and vigilance has helped to make Ashen safer and more secure than it has ever been.” She knew praise would help nothing, but her words were the truth.

"Venom"

Again Venom spoke and again Chimera sighed. He knew that there was nothing that she could do about this. He was simply complaining like the spoiled prince that he had always been. Nothing was ever good enough. No one was ever enough for him. He always wanted more. He couldn't be content.

"It's not your problem to fix," he informed her. "I am proud to be making Ashen a safer place. It's not that..." His gaze locked on her face and a sardonic little smile tugged at his maw. "It's like going from a king to a peasant. It's... not easy to swallow." Would he always feel the tug of leadership? Chimera believed that, yes... he always would.

"Chimera Klein"

Chimera sighed heavily, and she knew that this was not her doing. There was no talking him out of his slump, and she could offer no solutions for him either. Sometimes you just needed to complain and get things off her chest and if that was all she could offer Venom hoped that at least his burden felt a little lighter.

"Well you’re certainly not a peasant.” She chided softly, but she knew what he meant. Samurai was not near the level of rank he deserved after how much he did and the skill level he possessed. "Would you have interest in being my second in command?” She offered tentatively. Of course there would be much more than a simple statement to go over, but perhaps the prospect would get him thinking further.

"Venom"

Venom remarked that he wasn't a peasant and the dire brute snorted softly. "Not in blood, but in deeds. In failures," he muttered. A king without a crown was just one of the rabble. There was a fierce desire in the man to strike out and forge a new kingdom, but he couldn't keep upending his family for his own selfish desires.

As he lay there in a big pile of fur and defeat, Venom suggested that he be her second in command. Chimera knew that she was trying to help, but that wasn't what he wanted. One big paw reached out to settle upon one of his sisters more delicate appendages for a moment. "Thank you," he rumbled, and left the rest unsaid. With a sigh, his head thumped back to the earth, the action pulling his paw away from hers. He was just so... dissatisfied with, well... everything.

"Chimera Klein"

Venom really couldn’t do anything to help her brother or his downtrodden mood. There were no words nor any offerings that could cure his damaged ego and his heart. Maybe he hadn’t always been meant to be a leader, but he had grown into the title and now that it was gone the man was incomplete. Venom could relate to a point, but her quiet pack here hadn’t faced the trials that Chimera’s had. Perhaps a side effect of being so withdrawn from the rest of the world. She created no drama and none came to find her and the peaceful pack. She wanted to refute his words about his failures, but she knew he wouldn’t hear it. He had kept his family together, and that was a big success in her mind.

His paw covered hers as he thanked her for her offer, but that position was not the one that he needed to take on. Chimera sighed and returned to a sullen position. "You’re a strong, capable man, Chimera. If I can’t help you figure everything out I know you’ll be able to alone.” She offered him confidently as she leaned forward to place a small kiss on his forehead.

"Venom"

Venom, ever the stoic woman, sat tall and told Chimera what he needed to hear. It didn't really help the overall problem, but he appreciated her thoughtfulness nonetheless. As Venom leaned forward and kissed his brow, the dire brute wrapped his forelegs around his sister and pulled her to the ground with him, giving her a fierce hug and a return kiss on the cheek. Rather thank sulking, there was a playful smile on his maw now. Venom was always so regal and businesslike. It would be nice to see her be loose for once.

Chimera ruffled her fur, essentially giving the smaller wolf a little noogie. "We've come a long way, haven't we?" It was more a statement than a question. They'd once hated each other. He had the scars to prove that she'd beat his ass before. He'd been banished from Ashen, little bastard that he was. He'd deserved all of it. Now, he was just glad that Venom had forgiven him. Chimera placed another kiss on his sister's cheek. "Thank you for giving me another chance," he spoke softly, giving her a little squeeze before loosening his hold to let her free if she wished.

"Chimera"

As Venom leaned over to give her little brother a gentle kiss on his brow the man took his own prerogative and wrapped her up in his thick arms. Knowing she was in no danger Venom allowed him to take control of her much thinner frame. A grin overcame her own features as her sulking sibling seemed to shed the coat of melancholy while he dragged her down to his level. He was not wrong and knew her well, Venom was ever the stiff monarch and few were given a glance of the softer underside that she could possess. There was good reason for that of course, it was her natural defense mechanism.

He ruffled her fur and put a smile on his face, at the very least the conversation they shared would not lead to the end of the world. Like a good sister should, she was there to listen to his worries. Even if there was no real solution, she was there for him. As he was for her, a stark contrast to the relationship that they once shared. The two of them had been entirely different wolves in their youth. Now their bonds were much stronger and reliable. She nodded at his statement and let him kiss her cheek a second time as he thanked her for his second chance.

"We were both young.” She insisted, knowing that blood was thicker than water under the bridge. "And we both know how much a wolf can change.” They had both experienced such drastic changes. Chimera himself, as well as Venom watching her first husband slip away from her.

"Venom"

He hadn't expected her to fight him and, when Chimera wrapped his sister up in his arms and playfully pulled her down with him, she didn't do so. Both of them had a little chuckle about it, in fact. Despite his initial mood, having Venom even try to assuage the tumultuous feelings within him helped. He was thankful for her

Venom spoke of wolves changing and Chimera made a growl of contemplation. Wolves did indeed change and they'd been witness to that. His father, for one. Hannibal had pretended to adore Deathbelle, then promptly vanished. The fish lord had changed as well, abandoning Venom when she needed him most. Chimera was still ready to tear into the bastard if he ever saw him again.

Chi loosened his hold upon Venom, allowing her room to escape if she wished. "Without the trials and troubles that we've suffered, we wouldn't be the wolves that we are now." Was he convincing both of them with his words? Yes, he probably was.

"Chimera"

Venom didn’t take much convincing to enjoy a little rough housed affection there on the red floors of the cavern. At one time she never would have imagined having a relationship like this with her brother, but here they were. Making up for lost time when they were young and stubborn. Still, had they not been at odds once she never would have sent him packing and he wouldn’t have grown into the King that he was.

Venom resumed her own balance as he loosened his grip on her. He echoed vocally much of what and where her own thoughts had gone. Had what happened not happened they would never be where they were today. "You’re not wrong. No matter the pain we had to go through things would be much different if our lives had not seen the challenges they have.” They were only now getting into the prime of their lives, there was still so much they still had to go through together. Like figuring out where Chimera ultimately belonged.


"Venom"