She had to know. She just did. Alena had been wondering about what had happened with Bane and Nako ever since Loccian had come to speak with her and so far she hadn't seen the gray Seracian since. Curiosity gnawed at her till she finally just gave up and set off on her own to find him. She followed the river down toward the south, knowing it led right to the Seracian territory... assuming Bane was still in Seracia. Her violet gaze took in the scenery around her, noting with mild surprise that the last time she had seen this river was when she had left with her children. That felt so long ago, looking back on it now. Now Nako was somewhere in Seracia, Jian and Lel were with her in Amenti, and Calix and Tocan... well, who knew where they had run off to. She sighed, lifting her nose to the air once more to try and catch some of the familiar scent of her pup's father. Where could he be? Speech Thought Others

Bane lay curled up in his hole that now substituted as his den, side expanding and relaxing with each breath the elder wolf took. A leg twitched and his brow softened as a pleasant thought passed through his sleeping head, one of pride and happiness. The pelt of Tahlia soft as he brushed his nose against her cheek and a quick feeling of fur clinging to his tongue as the sign of affection was given. Each pup was then picked up from their mothers side, meat rubbed with milk of the poppy given to them as a trick to say that they could eat trimmed meat for the first time. The antler was then readied as they slept the forced sleep. In the jaws of a well practiced wolf it could take naught but a moment. The sleeping elder was a well practiced wolf, the sign of his pack having been carved into the trees surrounding his den.

The elder wolf roused himself bleary eye'd and shuddered at the thought at what he had to do to kill the infection that set in the vacant cavity in his skull. It took a day and the utmost self control to not go darting into the river. The fly was only allowed to lay a few eggs before being shaken away, and the young that hatched were used thoroughly clean the dead flesh. They were all downstream now. And thankfully his eye no longer oozed foul smelling liquid, a bloody curtain having hardened under his eye. Bane strode out of his den and lapped up his fill of water before tilting his head to wet the left side, a heavy sigh leaving him. A stretch was given and he felt his back pop multiple times, the aged twice banished planning on pacing the neutral zone of Seracia again.

One day a family member would come, when they were ready, but for now he let his pups be pups and his mate... struggle to raise them by herself. Tahlia had been failed, and now she was probably only known as the female who mated with a freak and an outcast, and had an adopted bastard. A loose howl was given, a far too distant attempt to communicate with her. But love knew no bounds.

Just when she was about to start moving toward Seracia again the oh too familiar voice of the father of her children met her ears from a short distance down river. She stopped, wondering if she really wanted to see him after all this time, after what he did... But she knew there would be no stopping her from seeing his fate now. She had traveled too far and was far too curious to pass up seeing what had become of the old brute. She started her move forward once more, her pace an easy lope, and soon enough she saw his gray, scarred form come into view. The last time she had seen him her wound had just been healing and he had been disappearing into the trees with one of their children. And now here she was, her wound healed and a huge scar running across her right shoulder, and he was... missing an eye?! Alena almost couldn't believe it. As she got closer she saw the empty hole where his eye used to be and from his scent she could tell that he wasn't a member of Seracia any longer... So this was his punishment then? Banishment and a lost eye? Alena couldn't deny the small satisfaction she got from it all as she approached him, stopping a few feet away from him. "Well well... Hello, Bane." Speech Thought Others

Bane sipped the early winter river water, loving the taste of the soon-to-be-no-longer melting mountain streams from which the seasonal skyfall blankets the hills during a preseason'll storm. He never noticed it when he just drank a moment ago, but the aftertaste that came with it was a good change of pace that was to be savored and remembered in the summer months. Snapping branches brought his attention to the treeline, whoever was coming not wanting to sneak up on him apparently from the sound of things. The water was still sipped as he rolled it about in his maw before spitting it out. Like iron rich blood. Bane wiggled his paws into the gravel mixed sand to kneed the smooth pebbles between his toes to loose the joints. A few pops emanated from the forepaws, Bane releasing the stones along the shore... and behold, it was Alena stumbling about through the forest Bane's gaze softening upon seeing the she-wolf.

"Well, well... hello Alena, lucky jobs skirting the pitfalls between the trees, don't want an antler or stick in your paws." Bane laughed at her smart remark, in good cheer by the fact that somebody had at least stumbled upon him, even if it was his once-mate whom he stole a pup from. She would probably still be pissed, and that was fine, Bane having dealt with pissed females before. The elder wolf lay his head across his left foreleg to compensate for his missing eye as she took to standing a large stride away. "You come to me in cold water this time?" Bane laughed from where he lay despite the unknown feelings she had towards him, his one good eye fixated upon the massive scar across her right shoulder, and a rumble of anger bubbled up from his throat. "Who did that to you?"

Oh, he was as full of smartass comments as ever it seemed. Her ear flicked, the only outward sign of her annoyance for the man as she took a step or two closer before sitting back on her haunches, her tail neatly wrapping over her paws. It was clear from the look in her violet gaze that she was unimpressed with his comments and still quite angry with him over what he had done, but seeing him in his current state helped cool her anger a bit. Though not much. "I'm sure you wish I was," she commented dryly to his remark about the water. At his question her gaze flicker from him to her shoulder and back again. Her scar? Ah, yes, he did have a thing for scars. She remembered that much, though unwillingly remembered. But, it wasn't the look she was expecting in his one remaining eye. She could have sworn she saw anger in his expression, but that didn't make any sense to her. "Some bitch named Canttina. She challenged me for Amenti and won and this is the souvenir I got from the fight." Alena paused, her memories flickering back to that day, all the pain and loss she felt. She gave a gentle shake of her head before her gaze settled on Bane once more, pushing the thought away. "She's dead now though. Threw herself off a cliff or something. Not that I really care. I'm just glad she's dead." She sighed, enjoying a cool breeze as it came through and ruffled her thick, ivory fur. Even though it was almost winter it was still much warmer here than the northern temperatures she was used to. She looked at Bane seriously, asking, "How is Nako? Honestly? Is he okay? Does he like it here? And don't you dare lie to me. If I hear any different from what you say I will personally kill you." She waited for his answer expectantly, as both a vengeful and worried mother. Speech Thought Others

The she-wolf advanced closer and the elders tail wagged in the dirt in unease. "Ohhhh say it like you mean it Alena," Bane gave a wiggle and rumbled in an excited tone. "If only I were not mated to my mate right, Nako still with you and my being still belonging to a pack, both of us with good standing together and I had my left eye, then I'm sure we could go a few rounds for old time sake." Bane loosed a laugh with a jittering shake of his head. "But no, we're better than that, better to know what comes with such sexual actions besides pleasure and a night to remember if I do say so myself." Bane's eye widened upon hearing that Alena had a pack at one point. When exactly was that? But then her usurper commuted suicide...

"Shameful..." Bane sipped his water again and hummed contently at the refreshing taste. "Are you all set for winter?" He inquired with concern. Dirt rubbed into the fur of his legs as he brought his paws underneath to stand and nervously crawl just into bite-range while she asked about Nako's well being, his ears kept forward to listen and respond when she was done. "Nako... Nako was fine before I was banished as far as I could tell..." Remaining eye was downcast and looking at her white paws as he remembered that day. "I never got to say goodbye... and I now know your pain Alena... not being able to say goodbye... I regret it... a lot." A sneer of hatred was given at his impatient actions, Bane continued answering Alena's questions. "I failed as a father and once-mate, but my worry was that they would grow comfortable living with you, and never come see me, let alone stay in Seracia. And when I now lay in the den I can still almost smell the sweet smell of pup fur." Bane ended quietly and wanted nothing more than to slump into her and go to sleep, to take away his worries for the night just feeling wanted and warm against another.

Alena rolled her eyes at his comments, sighing softly. She was starting to wonder how she had ever seen anything worth being with in him, with his rude comments and twisted way of thinking of things, it was probably good for him that she hadn't gotten to know him before their night together. If she had she would have walked away and not looked back. "We'll be fine," she replied simply to his question about winter. Honestly, why did he care so much? It's not like they ever had some kind of relationship. Alena just didn't understand. She would understand if he was concerned for their pups since he was still their father, but so far all of his comments had been directed toward her. He finally answered her question and even though it wasn't all that enlightening to Nako's condition, it eased her worries slightly. As he continued, Alena felt no sympathy, but she could understand what he was feeling. She gave him an unapologetic look, saying, "You could have visited. You could have asked for me to bring them to see you. I swore to Maverick that once they were a year old I would let them choose if they wanted to live in Seracia or not and you should have known that I would bring them to Seracia before then. I wouldn't just let them make an uneducated decision about it. There is no excuse for what you did. None." She sighed and stood, giving him a hard stare. "Why couldn't you have just left well enough alone. You had your own mate and I'm going to assume that you've had pups with her as well. Why couldn't you just be happy with that? I had my pack torn away from me and the very day I get to see my pups again after that you show up and steal Nako away. Her violet gaze softened slightly as she continued, "I didn't care if you wanted to see them. Hell, if you had spoken to me first, I probably would have even let Nako at least go visit with you. Or any of them that wanted to go visit for that matter." She shook her head and looked away from him, out across the river. Speech Thought Others

"No Alena, I couldn't... not with my mate so close to giving birth. My family died the last time I was away. To visit would have taken up time that I was afraid I didn't have. Tahlia needed me." Bane's tone growing more firm as he voiced his retort. "And do I honestly look like I could last another year to teach them everything? Alena, I am old, and I'm gonna say what I said to my mate before I was cast out into the cold." Bane stressed these next words. "I was always a compulsive wolf, and lacking what I always wanted had driven me to extreme measures. One of our pups were the solution, and I felt that of I didn't have one in my presence that they would die because my past five, and mate, died while I was away. You were away Alena, you were away..."

Alena stood and his ears pinned against his head shamefully. "We were still a few days away from having our own. And I didn't know Alena... I didn't know you had just came back... and are with a pack now that your usurper is dead?" His head raised and saw that Alena was looking away from him out across the river. Bane gave a tired blink of his remaining eye and decided to just let the silence speak for her if a reply was given to him. Words didn't really matter at this point in their once-relationship, and if the ground decided to crack a divide between them it would be most fitting.

Alena suddenly felt tired. Very tired. Tired of arguing, tired of worrying, tired of wanting revenge. With a sigh she sank back down onto her haunches and looked down at her fore paws, not wanting to look at him just yet. Somehow revenge wasn't near as sweet as she had hoped it would be. Seeing him like this, cut off from his pack and family, missing an eye... It was exactly what she had wanted to happen, and yet it was much less satisfying that she had hoped. Without looking at him, she spoke softly, her voice showing how defeated she herself felt. "Almost all of the pups are gone. Nako is in Seracia for good I suppose, Tocan and Calix ran off and I haven't been able to find them, Lel hates me for moving him to the new Amenti, and Jian... I don't know. I haven't seen her in a few days... I'm afraid she's run off too." She paused, her ears folding back against her skull and her violet eyes finally lifting to meet his one remaining eye. "I've failed. I've failed over and over again. As a mother, as an alpha, as a mate..." She gave a short shake of her head and looking down again. She wasn't sure why she was telling him all of this. There was really no point, but he was here and he was listening, which was more than she could say for most of the wolves in her life now. "I won't forgive you for what you did, to Nako I mean... But I will thank you for him being safe. I feel like I should have brought them all to Seracia to begin with. Then maybe they would all still be with me..." She lifted her gaze to him once more, watching him silently for a few moments, before finally leaning down and placing a small kiss on his cheek. "Good luck with the rest of your life, Bane. I hope it's as comfortable as it can be, given the circumstances." And with that she would stand and turn back the way she came, starting the long trek back to her pack, not feeling any better than she had when she arrived. Speech Thought Others

Bane's heart went out to his once-mate as she spoke of how her litter, their litter, had scattered amongst the lands and that Nako didn't really seem to have a good family to go back too. So conditions would determine that he would stay in Seracia. Alena had been struck down it seemed, the way she held herself, how her ear pinned back and her violet eyes he once gazed into with lust now only looked tired. The past few season hadn't been kind to either of them it seemed, Bane finding that he could only nod along with her words despite how lukewarm they seemed.

"Nako will be fine, I can only hope that he is making a good impression with packmates with actions that I hope don't remind Seracians of how I behaved. But the old saying 'like sire like son' didn't come about due to good behavior." The joke felt empty as Bane didn't even so much as smirk. Alena mused about how she should have stayed in Seracia, the elder wolf didn't say anything and only though of the possibilities for Tahlia and Alena and if they would've got along. The white she-wolf reached over and licked his cheek, Bane feeling a smoldering of lust overcome him but stamped it out one he saw her leave with a few kind words given for him. "You too, I'll manage somehow..." And with his one remaining eye he watched her go into the tree-line and disappear after a few moments. The twice-banished gave a curious sniff of his water and lapped up a maw full before swallowing again. Tasty... and he didn't have anybody to share it with.

-Bane is alone-