Tired, aching, both physically and emotionally, Chaos was feeling his age more than he ever had. The pack he had built for his family on the remains of what he had challenged and bled for was gone and his family once more scattered. Some were going to Sparrow's pack, but he was too old for that and when it came down to it, he just didn't fit anymore. He had grown out of the silly games Ashmedai and his daughter still played. Pirates. Every other pack looked down on their antics - it smeared the reputation Valentine had built with Imperium, a reputation he had tried desperately to live up to. Oh, he had had his Crew when he was young, but when he had set out to make a home for the Imperialis he had set aside that childishness to build something they could be proud of. He would never be able to feel proud to be associated with the Pirates, he would always feel a little ridiculous and knew that they would be viewed that way. Besides, he had another name to uphold.

That's why he was taking his pups to Aerie.

He didn't agree with the Abraxas family's religion, but they had made no effort to push that religion on his children while they had lived there. They were a pack of fighters, didn't indulge themselves in rape and murder and incest and the myriad other things that darker packs tended towards, but they also weren't a bunch of self-righteous holier-than-thou pricks like Valhalla and Abaven.

Besides, his children were there, and he wanted to spend more time with them, teaching them what it meant to be Saxe consistently instead of constantly travelling down to spend time with them. They deserved to get to know their siblings, too, before they all reached yearling age and did their own thing.

Limping to the border, he didn't wait for his children to straggle up from wherever they had gotten themselves to, the ones he had been able to round up. He had left the owls to find the others and lead them here, but they hadn't returned yet so he had no idea of their success. Raising his muzzle he called out for the alpha that he had traded so much of his time for this last year.

At this age it was more obvious than ever that the small, even more gangly than usual for an adolescent male would never, ever reach anywhere near the size of any of his extended family,not even his Saxe grandmother. As he slunk along at his father's heels the furtive little beast looked like a far younger pup than he was, nearly a yearling though he may be. His weird, watchful gaze flickered between his father's familiar form and the unfamiliar lake land he had led them to. The tip of his tongue flicked out as he tested the air for scents. Such a marshy area around a lake must be unusual for this otherwise arid place. So many herbs must grow here that he knew nothing about... The first signs of interest sparked behind that flat lavender stare as he slouched awkwardly to his haunches behind Chaos.

Rhian had heard from one of her father's owls of what he was planning to do. She'd managed to take care of herself well enough after the disbandment of Fireside, wandering around, practicing her hunting some but mostly scavenging what she could. She'd never been particularly close with people, but she could hardly know where Chaos was going and then not follow him. She knew very little about Aerie, but she was excited to be in a pack again. The lone wolf life was fine for some, sure, but it just didn't fit her. She didn't like being alone. Besides, she definitely needed to learn more about hunting and fighting, just in case she ever had to strike out on her own again, or in case this new pack demanded more from her than she could provide.

Fireside being gone was... weird. Rhian wasn't entirely sure if she'd loved the pack -- she barely knew most of the wolves in it -- but it had been her home. But being mostly alone and fending for herself had taught her a valuable lesson about independence. She liked being able to choose what she did all the time. She liked not having responsibilities to impress anyone but herself. But she was done with that now. She had things to do, things to be. She'd begun to aspire to maybe someday rule her own pack. It should have been weirder than anything imagining it now, but somehow it almost seemed to work. She wasn't leader material yet -- she was still barely more than a kid -- but it seemed natural that someday she'd fit into that role like a hand in a glove.

Arriving at the border with her head held high, she found Chaos and one brother -- Daemon -- already there. "Hello!" she greeted them, in her normal boisterous tone, before settling in to wait beside Daemon. Where were the others? She had other siblings; what were they up to?