Ashmedai couldn't seem to stick around in one land or another. Still, he couldn't seem to stay away either. The large man, now dappled with many scars found old heartstrings tugging him away from his gang and into old, familiar territory.

Surely his rag-tag gang of thieves and liars could get along without him for a while. So here he was. Abaven. He only returned every now and then to check on Sparrow. Whenever she finally grew tired of the pack, Ashmedai was sure he'd whisk her away and find her a nice gal to settle in with.

Who was he kidding, that would never happen. All he could settle for were these little crossings where Sparrow would undoubtedly yell at him for being gone. She'd probably lose track of time fretting over all of his scars, checking him over for new injuries. He could almost hear her now.

Despite that, when Ashmedai came, the border was almost unrecognizable. There was a familiarity about some of the scents- nearly forgotten in the years past- but a complete absence of Sparrow's scent. Ashmedai moved around the border, trying to catch any sign of her.

But there was none.

So she finally left, didn't she? Grew tired, finally snapped, and left. Right? A nagging feeling in Ash's gut told him he was wrong. Sparrow wouldn't leave Abaven.

Ashmedai called out to the pack. Surely someone was there. Someone would know him, know Sparrow. They'd explain everything. He'd make them. He wasn't worried. He wasn't pacing. He was fine. Sparrow was fine. Everything was ok.

"Talk" "walk" A voice called out to the pack of Abaven, the sound coming from the Plains, a territory she didn’t frequent as often as the Rapids. She gave her sister a smile, quickly swallowing down the herbs as requested, as her sister quickly finished replacing the wrappings on her leg, and placing a goo on the one above her eye, which was harder to wrap. Her head wound especially was mostly gone now, and she would be left with only the faintest scar, hidden beneath her fur. The leg was taking a little longer, and she rightly knew why. She wasn’t resting as often as she should be, constantly moving, restless energy and responsibilities didn’t make for many breaks. There was only the slightest limp to her leg now, and she gave her sister a quick kiss on the check and made for the door. She wouldn’t ignore a howl at her border, and she was pretty sure Rhyme was out scouting, that left Shaye. Other then the faint bandage, hidden beneath her fur, and the scent of herbs, one could barely tell she had taken a tumble down Mt Volkan. Not one to show weakness, she forced out even the faint limp and evened her stride long before the wolf could see her. She came to a stop at her borders, and looked at the purple, silver flecked wolf. He smelled faintly familiar, though she did not think she recognised him. “Hello.” she said, offering him a polite smile “This is Abaven, and I am the Alpha here, what brings you to my borders?” she got right down to business, with some wiggle room for pleasantries.

Ashmedai wasn't really one for details most of the time. Shaye's wounds went unnoticed and probably still would have even if they were less discreet- probably still even if Ashmedai hadn't been so focused on one thing: Where was Sparrow?

The woman approached and gave her rank as alpha. She didn't look like Sparrow. Or Harmony. She lacked the earthy tones of the Destructions he knew, giving off more cold tones Ash had seen in his family.

"I know this is Abaven," Ashmedai replied, a little too sharply. He soothed himself.

"Does the alpha got a name?" He asked, a slightly forced smile coming to his lips. "Cause last time I checked, the alpha was Sparrow and some Abraxas dude was loomin' around."

Okay, maybe he was being a little rude. He licked his lips by habit and brought another forced smile to his face.

"I'm Ashmedai Imperialis, by the by," he said. "Not that it means anything now."

Maybe he should have said yet. Who knew what his siblings were up to? They could still make trouble in the packs, he guessed.

Sometimes she wondered if the ghosts of Abaven’s past would ever stop haunting her. No matter how many times she had to share the news of Sparrow’s passing, it never seemed to get easier. Her coolness melted away at the wolf asked her name, explaining that he knew Sparrow, and of some Abraxa’s dude, make it clear where his feelings had fallen between the two previous rulers. She took no offense to the snappy tone he had taken when he explained his knowledge of Abavens borders, because she knew, she knew he had to be questioning the lack of Sparrow’s scent. Already his words made it obvious he did not know of her fate.

“Ashmedai Imperialis… you are a half brother to Rhyme, aren’t you?” she said, understanding lighting in her eyes in a flash of curiosity, before dimming once more. “I’m Shaye Destruction. Sparrow… Sparrow was my Cousin, and i’m very sorry to tell you this, but she passed away in an accident. The Abraxa’s do not lead here any longer.” she explained to him, sadness in her eyes, her heart still, still aching.

The woman... knew Rhyme? "Maybe a little less than half." Ashemdai hid his surprise with a joke. "But yeah, that's the Destruction part of the family, I guess."

He still wasn't entirely sure what to make of the whole 'love a Destruction, but fuck Abaven' mentality, but it was almost an innate part of how he was raised. The way Bass was viewed, the way Rhythm was treated...

The way he felt about Sparrow.

The woman introduced herself as Shaye Destruction and Sparrow's cousin. Her next words were unexpected and Ashmedai couldn't hide is disbelief. His expression twisted, darkened into something less civil. His hackles raised slowly. One emotion prevailed: anger.

"What kind of accident?" he hissed. "Did the Abraxas do it?"

“Yeah, Rhyme’s my cousin, and my Alpha partner in Abaven now.” she explained to him, and then the conversation moved down hill, as the death of Sparrow was mentioned, and she could see the man react to it. She tried not to let her own emotions run amuck on her expressions, knowing how much her cousins death still hurt her.

“No.” Shaye said softly, understanding the man’s grief, and taking no offense to his anger. “She was getting herbs to aid one of the members of her pack, with another member, when a bear appeared. She distracted the bear, allowing the other to get away. She gave her life for a member of her pack.” Shaye’s voice was very quiet, she hadn’t been there, and she hadn't seen it, but she had heard what had happened. She very much wished she had been, her and Rhyme both. Perhaps they could have saved her. Maybe. Sparrow hadn’t been a warrior, she had been a healer. She had been good natured, and wonderful, and she had not deserved her death. Shaye took a soft, slow breath, knowing her own anger would rise up if she let it.

A Wild Santa Paws Appears!

What's that? Is it Lil Ardy dressed up as Santa? No, silly, it's Santa Paws!

Already in the Christmas spirit, Lil Ardy - err, Santa Paws, can be seen dragging a large bag of gifts behind her. As she approaches Ashmedai, she rummages through her things and tosses a bundle of gemstones at him.

100 Gemstones have been added to your credits!

Shaye spoke about Rhyme, but Ashmedai dismissed it. He was more worried about the task at hand.

The alphaess explained that Sparrow had been getting herbs for another pack member and that she gave her life for her packmates. Ash let out a dry laugh, tears stinging at his eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds like something she'd do," he said, his voice cracking a little. His legs trembled, but not so much that it was visible. He wasn't sure how to handle the news. He wasn't ever sure how to deal with serious subjects when they affected him. Sparrow was the type to complain about not trusting anyone then throwing herself into trouble to save them.

He should have taken her earlier. Ash could have taken her when Bass left. She was shaken, she might have left with him if he had just pulled a little harder. But no, in the end she died for a pack she never truly felt loved her back.

She probably did it gladly. Maybe she even smiled, knowing her fate would save someone else. What a dumb, heroic thing to do. That's why Ash never played the hero.

"Did she ever... find anyone? She always wanted a big family."

He had to ask. Sparrow was... whatever she was to Ash, she was important. If she had kids, Ash would have no qualms protecting them for her. Not like a hero or anything. Just... as a protector.

He swallowed a lump in his chest, "Even if the Abraxas are gone, don't trust them."

Ash tried to clear his throat. It was important.

"There's a lot of them. Probably different factions too. Don't trust that what one says applies to all of them. They're 'gods' so they can do whatever they want, right?"

He wanted to warn her. If Sparrow died for this pack, he didn't want her to die in vain.

She could see the emotional turmoil in the man, see the pain in his eyes and beyond his laughter. Blast, but she hated this part of her job. It wore on her, but she stood up here, every time someone came seeking Sparrow, she would tell them the story. She would let herself grief again, and try not to let her heart break. It seemed many loved Sparrow, even those that knew her only by reputation.

“I don’t believe so” Shaye said, honest, if a little without detail. “I was gone for most of her life, but she had no partner at the end. But.. you are not the first wolf to come to these borders, seeking her fate. She was well loved, and respected, well beyond these borders.” Shaye told him, her voice soft as she thought of the others who had followed his path, called to Abaven and waited to hear this news.

“I dont trust them.” Shaye promised the man. “I went to them immediately after taking the pack, knowing to do otherwise would be unwise. I made a treaty with them, that gives Abaven its freedom. But trust them, I do not.” she might not be wise to speak of that to others, never move against us politically the dark man had said. Still, she felt he deserved to know, this man who knew and respected Sparrow.

‘I’ll bear that in mind, thank you. Did you.. Want to step into Abaven, take a moment to.. Mourn?” She asked, gently.

Shaye said that she didn't know of anyone Sparrow may have been with. Ashmedai clicked his tongue by reaction, his eyes casting to the ground. Shaye assured him that many had come asking about her and it did comfort him a little. He couldn't help but feel like it should have been him checking in on her, however.

Sure he had his band and all. They didn't really need him here or there- they were pretty self sufficient after he roped them all into living around each other. But he should have been able to do more, shouldn't he have? His gang could have gone bear hunting, after all.

Ashmedai was having trouble controlling his emotions and the waves of anger that rolled over him. Shaye explained that she didn't trust the Abraxas. That was good, at least.

She invited him in the pack to mourn. Ashmedai's stomach rolled and twisted. He fought off the sudden urge to puke with a wrinkle-nosed smile.

"Nah. Hard pass," he said, sticking his tongue out between his canines. "My involvement with Abaven has always been for Sparrow's sake, anyway. Without-"

His voice cracked. Why was his voice cracking again?

"Without her here, I don't have any reason to be here either."

Actually, more than anything, he wanted to leave. To pretend he had a nice talk with Sparrow where she told him that he couldn't keep disappearing like he always did. She could tell him about this wonderfully boring and stoic man she had fallen in love with. Reveal she had some pups- and no, he couldn't pretend to be their uncle because he's a bad influence.

She could tell him to stop visiting. To let her live her life with her vanilla little family of earth colored wolves in a pack that never seemed to change.

That was a nicer alternative.

Ashmedai turned away from Shaye.

"Tell Rhyme I said hey," he said coolly, attempting to disconnect himself from the whole ordeal. "And... because you're Sparrow's cousin. Just call if you need something. I've been around. I'll probably still be around if you need me."