The sun was just peeking over the icy ground in the distance. Vereux's pawpads felt the cold wood underneath him. Looking over the land, it seemed like forever ago that he was here. Still covered in wounds, the herbs that Arian put on him were not gone. His skin stretched over his rib cages, the beautiful slate fur matted slightly with the clear visible ribcage. It would take more than a few days to gain his origonal weight back that much was obvious. He found it difficult to breath sometimes, but hunting mice on his own was more difficult than he thought. He had never not been in a pack before, and now he was starting to realize he needed one more than ever or he might die. Not that it bothered him, perhaps he would be better off dead. While everyone still hated him, he sighed lowering his muzzle. His nose picked up scents of fresh blood, wolves often came here to do all sorts of things. He flicked his tail, single emerald eye watching the sunrise as if he expected something to happen. Walking along the deck towards the end of the ship, he looked below where the ground was. How many wolves had been pushed and broken bones from this height. Shaking his head, he wheezed and turned back to the ramp leading to the ice. Stepping on it he walked towards the giant hole in the hull that held old skins like a makeshift den. Those skins were unkept though, dirty and ugly looking. They stunk to, specially with whatever was rotting in there. He scoffed before turning back towards the distance. The direction his life took now was a mystery to him. Once you had your freedom taken, you had a sense of loss. He knew Arian probably was having trouble getting over it, she had a more difficult time than he had where they went. He folded his back legs, sitting down as his tail fluffed up curled around him. Vereux's stomach would growl once more notifying of his dire situation, and yet, he remained completely calm. “I speak”

Athena breathed in the cold air and let it out in a contented sigh, a small smile playing on her muzzle. Oh how she missed this weather. She was slowly beginning to adjust to the warmer temperatures of the East, but this chill was still the climate she was used to. She wouldn't dare breathe a word of missing the North to Amalia though. Her little woman was so happy to be around her family and if living in the East was what kept her happy then Athena would gladly adjust. But, just occasionally, Athena would make a quick trip up to the north, just to visit. She hadn't quite gotten up the courage to go back to the Sparse Pines yet, that place held far too many memories, most of them either bad memories or good ones that had been soiled by some other event. No, she would stay far away from there for quite a while still she imagined. She moved slowly and without much purpose, her steps leisurely and aimless. She had no real destination or plans for the day. She was simply enjoying the cold and the snow. That was until a scent reached her on a cold breeze, one that she had thought she would never smell again. She froze in her tracks, trying to sort out her thoughts as they instantly became a confused tangle. In her searching for him she had thought she had found his scent several times and ran after it till she had run herself ragged, but it had all been a figment of her imagination. She looked around frantically, a sense of panic settling over her. Was he actually here? Was she going crazy? She had been sure that she had finally moved on, that these hallucinations had finally stopped, but had she been wrong? Maybe coming up here had been a mistake, maybe she should have stayed home. "Talk" "You" Think

A single emerald eye would open glittering in the snows reflection. Yet a flash of gray would make his heart jolt and his bones ache. First his son, and now his....previous wife? Had the gods cursed him to make amalia angry, to cause them pain and despair of all kinds. Vereux let out a stifled growl of frustration. He was forbid of seeing them every again, but his heart ached to see her even if it was only for one last and final time. He raised himself with difficulty, cautiously starting to scrape his paws against the icy floor until he came close to her and within view. He was no hallucination yet with his hunger he hadn't even thought maybe she wasn't real. Though there was a new mark on her side, it brought a little bit of curiosity to the walking bag of bones. “Why do the kings and queens of heaven make you suffer so much Athena?” he said quietly. “I am no illusion if you may think so....I am real, but I am dying and I'm better left off dead for causing so much pain for you and for your children. I was not strong enough to escape my captors in time I have no right to be around any of you....that is what Amalia told me. Maybe she's right I'm too weak to be dependable to stick around.” Vereux painfully lowered his head the wounds stung with pain. He would be returning to his home regardless, he didn't know what his life held anymore. Yet he had taken care of Arian that brought a bit of joy to his heart. “I won't ask you to forgive me, I just want you to know I truly love you and still do....but Amalia does not want me around and I doubt you want me around either.” Maybe he was looking for some sort of closure. After all, that would be nice for the man. Wheezing slightly he had to sit down and lean to a side to feel more comfortable. His tail curling around his waist and single eye staring at her. “I speak”

Suddenly he would come into view and her wide, vibrant gaze would lock onto his form, absolutely frozen in place. It felt like her breath was caught in her chest and her heart was pounding wildly and aching painfully all at once. It wasn't till he spoke and his all too familiar voice reached her ears that she truly believed he was actually there. He was so thin and ragged she barely recognized him. She listened to his words even though her thoughts were racing so badly that she was barely able to comprehend them. It was like she was looking at a ghost. She had written him off as dead and yet here he stood. It hurt to look at him. The heart ache was so intense that it felt like someone was ripping out her heart or biting into her throat. He spoke Amalia's name and her ears twitched, distracting her momentarily from her heart ache and distress. Amalia had spoken to him? When? He stopped speaking and settled on his haunches with obvious pain in his movements and trouble with his breathing. She turned to face him fully but refused to let herself go near him. She kept a wide berth, honestly afraid she might break down completely if she got any closer. "I searched for you," she breathed when she finally got up the courage to speak. Her voice was hushed, the pain clear in her face and voice. "I searched for you day in and day out... I missed so much of our boy's early childhood because I would wake up, spend all day searching for you, and come back late at night. Because I was searching for you." Her breathing was short and pained, right on the brink of sobbing. Suddenly, mostly irrational anger flared up in her gut and her tone grew more serious. With her emotions already running high as it was it was easy for her anger to be misguided. Besides that, in her eyes Amalia was still that frial girl she had found in the snow all that time ago and she still felt the need to protect her little, innocent Amalia even though she had proven time and time again to be able to stand up for herself just fine. "Amalia saved me. Don't you dare think or speak anything negative of her. Don't blame her for keeping you away. She's trying to protect me and the boys... She saw how your disapearance destroyed us. If... If you run into our sons don't make them think that any blame should be on her. It's not fair to her. She has done nothing but love me and the boys... She stood up for me in front of Epiphron and convinced her to let me and our sons live in her pack after Roman died and Drashiel disbanded the pack... even though Isardis killed Pip's brother and despite the fact that she hates the Armadas." She sighed, tiredly sitting down on her haunches and staring at him with a tired, pained look. "We're happy now, Vereux. Well... I hope we can be happy there. I really think we can be. I'm happy there and the boys are adjusting." She hesitated, the silence gripping the air for a moment before she went on, "Please, find yourself a new pack. Take care of yourself. Get help. I... I do still love you. You're my brother and the father of my children. I... I could never live with myself if I left here today only to find out you died because I couldn't take you back to my pack with me." "Talk" "You" Think

Vereux watched athena and listened to her words. His worst fear was coming alive I. Those moments, but it was the closure his heart desired. The male made no indication towards her of anger passively listening to her words. No he didn't hate amalia in fact he was rather glad. "No, it was not amalias fault it was mine I already told bacchus that when he found me. The boy wants to see his father and I would like to visit when I can. I just, it hurts to know amalia hates me." Vereux would sigh he nodded his head. A small smile grew on his face. "I am going to the territory in which we were born. Im just happy to know you will be okay." For Inc he felt small tears fall from his face. Confusing him as he tried to wipe them away.

"I thank the gods for this. Athena we may not be together anymore but I want to visit you when I can if you will allow it. I want to be part of my children's lives. But if you don't eant this I will not see them. I cannot so anything to harm you guys anymore." Vereux breathed. He knew that he was begging for a lot. But he would get over it if he was rejected. He raised his head stopped his crying and took in a deep breath. He was goong to get stronger so that he wouldn't cause anyone pain anymore.

Athena listened to each of Vereux's words even though she suddenly felt incredibly exhausted. These ragged emotions were draining and now all she wanted to do was crawl home and curl up next to her wife and sons and sleep for hours. It was a relief to hear that he had not swayed Bacchus out of Amalia's favor when Vereux saw him. She knew she was going to have to bring her boys together and talk to them about all of this now. Yet another jolt for their lives, but hopefully this could be a happier one. He requested to see their sons and be a part of their lives and for a moment she hesitated. They had all already been through loosing their father once. It had taken all of them so long to move forward after that and now finally they were beginning to and now this happened. But, with a sigh, she realized that it would be horrible of her to keep Vereux from his sons. She only had to put herself in Vereux's shoes to realize how unfair it was to her brother to do so. "I do not mind if you see them. However... I would rather you not come to Fiori's borders. At least not for a while. I still feel like I'm on thin ice with Epiphron as it is, I don't need more Armadas showing up at the border. Just... give me some time to break the news to all of the boys, even though I'm sure Bacchus has at least already told Tiburtius. Once I've done that and talked it over with Amalia maybe I can bring all of them to see you up here." A small smile tugged at her lips. "They're all growing up so fast, Vereux. They're growing into fine, strong young men." She hesitated, tears welling up in her eyes. "Our sons are so good. They really are. I know they're going to be great one day." Speech Thought

He could feel that she was tired, never had a moment passed when he didnt consider their feelings. After all he disregarded his own most of the time. His tail sagged slightly, talk with her wife. Maybe siblings weren't mean to be together after all. But now it gave him a chance to be a brother rather than a lover. Suddenly arian came to his mind. "I wont but, when I was gone athena. Amalias sister, arian, was with me. Im happy to have brought her to her mother and I ask you treat her kindly. She is a fragile broken soul im not sure how I would have gotten out without her." He mused the same thing he told bacchus, he just worried about the russet cripple. At a slow rate his heart was returning to its normal state.

"Ill say it again. Im sorry. Bacchus has grown finely and i have no doubt he will be strong. Eventually.... even if it takes a year. Id like to start being your brother again." Vereux looked at her. "You should go home get some rest i need to hurry otherwise the crows will have my bones" the sooner he got to a pack the sooner he would get better. Hehad learened a long painful lesson. Wait......roman was dead. His ears pulled back. "Im sorry about roman" he muttered for a moment. He couldnt spend much time mourning he did need to get better or die.