Just as promised, Bass had finally made his way home. He was limping pretty badly from walking so far, some minor wounds has reopened and had further stained his coat. He was still slightly damp from the light rain that had fallen this morning, but it had stopped now. He eyed the plains, he was so close now that he was starting to pick up the scent of his border. He stopped, falling back on to his rump as he longed to be off his paws. Tipping his head back he let out a call for a healer, also stating that he was home. Would Wren come as well, or was she still curled up with the kids? It was near noon though, she might be up trying to wrangle them together. That thought brought a small smile to his face as he waited outside his own border. Bass was a proud man, but he knew that he was already over his limits. He had pushed himself chasing after Rhythm right after the battle, but he wasn't going to let her be taken away. And then she chose to stay... His heart clenched painfully in his chest, head hanging down as those horrible things he had said came rushing back to him. His throat felt tight as he swallowed, blinking several times to try to push the pain away. His wounds didn't hurt nearly as bad as his heart did, he felt so dejected and... oddly alone. He knew that it wasn't true, he had his other siblings, a wife, and five perfect children. Why then did he feel like he was so completely, utterly alone? Shaking his aching coat he tried to focus on the horizon, seeing who would answer his howl first.

Harmony had been calmly relaxing in the sun, away from all the others, unfortunately. Ever since her arrival, she had tried to give herself a break from all the drama, so she fixed herself a new little den that was isolated from all the other's in Abaven. Of course she would run to anyone who needed her assistance, or comfort her siblings if they needed it. But...considering she was quite far away, the news of everything that had been going on hasn't reached her own ears quite yet. When she found out...it would sure put her into a very shocked, uneasy state. When the familiar sound of Bass' howl erupted in the air, Harmony instantly rolled over and sat up, ears pining forward with concern. If he were to be okay...his howl would have sounded less exhausted. Maybe he was just...tired? Or maybe he got into a nasty fight? Just in case, the dame raced into her strong-smelling den of piling herbs, pulling a large portion of them onto a long leaf and wrapping them up like a little bag. Then, she turned and sprinted out of her den, leaping over the many obstacles that tried to slow her down. It took a while for her to arrive, but once she did, she was horrified. Bass looked awful. He was a bit muddy and obviously wet from what looked like rain. But worse, she could spot wounds on his shoulders, some reopened and some taken care of by a previous healer. What happened?! It looked like he had just been attacked...Harmony frowned and set her bundle of herbs down, moving toward her brother and nuzzling his damp cheek. "What happened to you..." She murmured, twisting her head to the side so she could get a better look at the puncture wounds. Personally, she thought that moving him some place comfortable would have been great. But reopening more wounds didn't seem too great. So she could just start on him here. Maybe Nona would come help her? Either way...they needed to be cleaned and patched up before they became infected. The dame shifted aside and looked over the reopened wounds, cleaning them off the little dirt that caked them and applying a small portion of horsetail to patch them up. It seemed that most of the other wounds were taken care of...fortunately. She moved back and pulled a bit of lavender from her collection, sitting in front of him and dropping the smelly purple herb before him. She nosed it toward him, gesturing that he eat it. "Chew on a bit of this, it'll ease the muscle pain from your bruising." She said directly, wishing to hear what had happened to him, but instead focusing on her work to make sure his shoulder wounds were patched up nicely.

It was a beautiful day. The weather had been perfect, the sun was shining...ah, it really was something. But instead of being out and about, she was curled up in the den with her five pups, sleeping. Napping away all the stress and exhaustion that they have dealt with for a while. Practicing Italian, lessons of hunting and healing...the week had been busy for them. Especially for Bass, who was unfortunately off somewhere unknown to her. He had disappeared to the battlefield and had yet to return...and it left her worried. She couldn't help but wonder if he was challenged for something...or maybe just attacked. Either way, she'd remain as patient as possible. Bass was strong. He'd come home... Wren curled herself around Finch and nuzzled into her fur, sleeping a dreamless sleep and enjoying the comforting warmth of being so close to her children. When suddenly, the familiar howl of her husband assaulted her ears. He sounded wrong...different. But he was back! Her eyes slowly peeled open, jaws splitting into a yawn. She slowly and carefully crawled over her children, looking back into the den before racing off toward his longing call. Once she arrived, she was relieved to see that Harmony was already here, assisting him. But he looked hurt. What in the world had happened to him? "Bass..." She hummed, moving toward him and sitting beside him. She nuzzled his cheek gently, while avoiding the puncture wounds that littered his shoulders. "Are you okay, love?" She asked with a worried breath, tongue drawing over his closest ear tenderly.

His father's call was different this time. It was audible in his voice, even as Lark slowly roused from sleep, feeling his mother move from his side from where the family had been napping. Despite the fact that they were nearly yearlings, they were a close group, unabashed in how tight-knit they were as a family -- and to find them sleeping peacefully together in the family den was nothing surprising. It took a long moment for him to fully come to himself, blinking wearily as he saw his mother move quickly from the den and disappear from sight. The call of his father had not been normal, though he couldn't quite place what was wrong. After a long moment he managed to pull himself to all fours, gingerly stepping over his sleeping siblings to direct himself after his mother's frantic steps. He hadn't expected to see his father, clearly injured and in need of help. His pace slowed as he drew up to the small group, his brows furrowing in distress as he eyed him. "W-who did this?" came his rushed question, feeling something like panic building in his chest. How could his father be hurt? Who had done it? Whoever it was, they had to be punished, for this wasn't right...

Harmony was the first to show, nuzzling his cheek and asking what had happened. "There was a fight..." he started, even though that much was evident. He flinched slightly as she cleaned the mud from his wounds, a grunt sounding in his throat. He was pretty much already numb from the cold and from being wet, but it still stung. More than anything though, he was tired. He wanted to sleep, and sleep for years. He paused when he picked up the coming scent of Wren, eying Harmony softly. He would explain when both woman were here, he really wasn't in the mood for repeating himself. And then all of the sudden he was eying down the same damn purple flower that had been offered to him back at Imperium. He scowled down at it, huffing in its general direction as he turned his nose away. He didn't eat it last time, and he damn well didn't want to eat it now. It brought back some memories though of the last fight that he was in. when Harmony basically had to shove herbs down his throat to get him to take them. But that didn't mean that he was taking them. Nudging them away, he just pretended that they weren't there.

Wren arrived next, nuzzling his cheek as his sister had and placed a tender kiss along his ear. Bass smiled at his wife, nuzzling into her carefully. He was trying not to move too far, as Harmony was still bustling about his frame, looking him over for more wounds. It was kind of hard with him being so muddy, he sure hadn't make it easier on himself. "Sto meglio ora che sei qui." he said softly to her. He was about to open his mouth to explain everything when Lark came tumbling in. His golden eyes shone with more pain at the sight of his son, he didn't want his kids to see him like this. There was concern in the boys voice, almost something akin to panic. It broke his heart, to see Lark react like this. He just wanted to hold him close and tell him that it was okay, that there was nothing to worry about anymore. "I never caught his name, Lark. But they have taken your Aunty Rhythm," there was a bitterness in his voice, and he trembled slightly.

Gaze was cast on the three wolves gathered, a sigh rushing out from his lungs. "Someone called for me, and the black brute challenged for Rhythm. He was a monster, and was able to beat me..." he regretted that, that he was able to be beat down. He was supposed to be the protector of this pack, and he couldn't even keep his sister safe. "After the fight I followed the man to where he came from, I was not going to let them keep her. I was going to fight him again if that it was it took. I didn't even stop after the fight, just followed their scent trail. It led to Imperium, and I called for their alpha," he said in a growling voice. He had blamed it all on Valentine, but that is not what had happened. "I had thought that their alpha was spineless, sending a pack mate to challenge for my sister. But in fact, he knew nothing of it. He went to go and collect Rhythm, offering me the assistance of his healers. But when he came back..." Bass choked up at this point, so many emotions blocking his throat. He swallowed hard, shaking slightly as he looked at the three of them. "She came back and said that she wanted to stay. With them. Even after I had put my life on the line to keep her safe, she decided to stay with them. So... I acted rashly." His ears fell back against his skull, his head hanging low. "I told her that she had made up her mind, and banished her from coming back to Abaven."

The boy's gaze shifted to Harmony questioningly, wondering what else she would do to help her father. His stare was almost pleading; though his father's injuries certainly were not fatal, they weren't good either and the thought that someone could've done this to him was thoroughly distressing. And they hadn't just hurt him -- someone had taken his aunt Rhythm, too. The initial panic that had filled his chest had calmed slightly, instead replaced by something like anger. "Oh," was all he could breathe. If someone could so easily hurt his father, and take his aunt, it pained him to imagine what else they could do to his family if they wanted. The thought of his siblings or his mother being in danger made him feel afraid -- an emotion that he was unused to feeling. The rest of the story was surprising. Rhythm had decided to leave Abaven, of her own accord? Why would she ever want to do that? And it seemed that his father had banished her from coming home. It wasn't a surprise. Why would she decided to leave, when Bass had put his life on the line to keep her with them? He felt his lips pulling back in a sneer. Already he didn't like the sound of this Imperium, and he couldn't help but wonder why Rhythm had decided to stay there after what they had done to Bass. He felt his limbs quivering slightly as he stared at his father, feeling that this all was so wrong and wanting to somehow avenge him... though he knew there was nothing he could do to help.