Albion was both fruitful and failing in his task to bring Siren home. She was alive, yed, for now, but she had refused to return home with him. Not for anything the pack had done, but because of her own fear of protecting them. Albion showed no sign of infection, and had been made to stay away from his mother as she told him of the ill that had befallen her. Siren had what seemed to be an incurable worm, and Albion was powerless to change that. If she couldn’t rid herself of it, he had no hope of success.

So the Klein prince returned to Obscura’s borders empty pawed. Or mostly, as Fiametta hadn’t left his mind at all since they had found each other out in the wilds. She was high on his list of concerns, but first was to alert his sister of the news. As he found his way to the border he realized he would be telling his father the difficult news as well. Chimera was here as well.

A heavy sigh fell from pale lips as he meandered into the trees and tried to gather his thoughts before he summoned his kin.

"Albion Baskara Klien"

Scylla didn't quite know why Albion continued to abandon her, but at least he always returned, right? That was supposed to make everything okay. She'd acquired a pack for the lot of them. A home. Maybe it wasn't good enough. Maybe she was being fussy and selfish. Still, the fact remained that there was a little chip on her shoulder when it came to her brother.

Surprised she was when she caught Albion's scent. Her first instinct was to ignore it. He could come and find her first. Ah... but she was a Sovereign now. A leader. What kind of example would that set?

Scylla adjusted her path, following that of her brother until his pale form came into view. She wanted to fight him. Wanted to bite him, knock him around a little and ask him why he wouldn't just stay home. Cerberus was doing a great job of being there, so why couldn't he? Fighting her instincts, Scylla simply stopped a good distance away. "You're back again."

"Scylla Klein"

The Klein prince never had any intention of abandoning his sister, the world just continued to pry him away from her. The tasks at hand he performed so that those he cared about would not be put into danger. He never intended for that to offend his sister, and he wouldn’t have suspected that fact either as he awaited her arrival.

She didn’t offer a warm greeting when he turned to face her. A small smile on his lips and a wag of his tail to show his happiness of seeing her. She seemed cold and.. Upset. His features fell as she proclaimed the obvious, and he wondered if she would have preferred he never returned from his mission.

"Of course,” he returned softly. He had always had ever intention of returning. "Empty pawed though, I’m afraid.” He went on, wondering if she had forgotten the whole reason for his absence. "Mother refused to return with me. She said she had been infected, but wouldn’t elaborate further. She just sent me home with her love. I don’t know if she believes she will survive, and she didn’t wish to bring our family to danger.” He finished, his heavy heart obvious in his voice.

"Albion Baskara Klien"

Albion spoke of their mother and the fact that she didn't want to return with him and it took everything within the cobalt and cream fae to not stomp her foot like a petulant child. Scylla didn't care if their mother returned or not. If Siren didn't want to be with them, then that was her prerogative. Scylla didn't need Siren. Not like she needed Albion. Not like she needed Cerberus.

"I don't want you to leave again," she informed him sternly, brows drawn together. "I don't want you or Cerberus leaving again." She wanted to be with them. Did they not want to be with her? It felt that way sometimes. Really... who in her family loved her as much as she loved them? It was something that she still had to come to terms with.

"Now that you're back, I plan on raiding. I need you and Cerberus to get the rest of the pack in order. Get them trained up. Get everyone ready for battle."
It was easier to talk about business than it was to talk about how dejected she felt.
"Scylla"

Albion hated that he had returned without their mother as he had promised to. He had found her, but hadn’t been able to return her here, though he had also found something else. The way that Scylla looked right now, mentioning Fia was the wrong choice. At first he thought that she was disappointed he hadn’t been able to rescue their mother, but as he quieted she put him right, not even mentioning Siren.

He wasn’t to leave again, he and Cerberus had to stay here, stay close to her. Albion’s ears fell to his skull as he felt like he was being chastised for his mission. What had happened in the time that he was gone that she felt like he couldn’t leave again? "As you wish,” he answered her solemnly, wishing that she would explain herself further. They apparently did not have enough communication and this wasn’t producing any solution. Before he could press the matter Scylla went on.

They were raiding, and she needed he and their brother’s help in training up the pack. Albion gave a quick nod in acceptance. "What is our base line? Are most of our members on their way towards mastery or will we be fighting an uphill battle?” The question was about raiding as much as their soldiers.

"Albion Baskara Klien"

In the end, maybe it wasn't Albion and Cerberus at all. Maybe it was her. Maybe it was something in her blood that made her edge towards the feeling of insanity when she was parted from her dear brothers. The further they were from her, the more her mind wandered, becoming thin, brittle... ready to snap.

Scylla could see the flash of hurt in Albion's eyes, but she couldn't do anything about it just yet. She needed a moment to settle or she'd come undone. Her brother asked after the troops and the Sovereign gave a little shrug. "We're lucky to have many that are quite skilled. Others need work. I'm mostly concerned about the fighters needing a good warmup." Aside from defending themselves in a raid, the warriors hadn't done much.

Now she could control herself, she felt. Scylla moved towards her brother and pressed her forehead into his chest, sitting down before his hulking form. "I'm sorry," she murmured into his pale fur in a moment of weakness that was very un-Scylla-like.

"Scylla Klein"

Albion wasn’t easy to offend, especially when it came to his brother and sister. Despite the not so well hidden hurts, the Klein prince had no doubt the two of them would fully smooth everything over eventually. Since he would not be out and about near as much there would be plenty of time. He would worry about Scylla until then, but he also knew his sister was good at keeping herself taken care of.

For now the pair of them could focus on the task at hand. They were blessed to have more than a few skilled warriors. His job wouldn’t be so difficult as to just getting the troops stretched and warm. "An easy task then.” He agreed as she quieted, before watching her take a complete left turn.

He raised his brow unexpectedly as she closed the distance between the, pressing her forehead into his chest and offering affection they hadn’t shown each other in a long time. The corners of his lips pulled up in a soft smile as he wrapped one large heavy paw across her back. Holding her closer as she muttered into his alabaster pelt. "Don’t be sorry. You are my Sovereign, and sister, never be sorry.” He muttered to her and he nuzzled her pale ear. "You can tell me what is wrong though.” Albion sent on softly, obviously concerned over her.

"Albion Baskara Klien"

As even tempered as always, Albion brushed away her apology and embraced her. Scylla felt like such a shit that she refused to remove her face from his fur just so she didn't have to look him in the eye. He asked what was wrong and she didn't know how much to tell him. He obviously realized that something was wrong so she couldn't just deny it and brush it off. In the end, she just decided to lay it on him.

Pulling back just enough to hesitantly meet his gaze but not enough to rid herself of his embrace, the striped woman spoke. "I go a little crazy when you two aren't around," she admitted somewhat sheepishly. "My mind doesn't feel quite... whole." Scylla's brow furrowed and she wrinkled her little pink nose. "I do bad things, but I do way more when you and Cerberus are out in the world and I don't know where you are. It's almost like... you take the part of me with you that cares." So now that he knew she was one step away from insanity...

"I know you need to lead your own life and I know I can't keep you chained to me," though she wished she could, "but I'm less without you." So... so much less. She'd kept people in a pit and drugged them while her brother's were away. Who knows what it could have escalated to had they not resurfaced?

"Albion & Scylla"