Corvus wasn't even sure he should be coming all this way, but it'd been ages since he'd seen Ignis and he wanted to know he was alive and well. Abaven had been relatively cut off from the rest of the world since the volcano's eruption, and for good reason; but now that things had begun to calm down, he decided it was safe enough to go take a quick trip up north again. If he was unlucky enough to be passing by Mount Volkan when it decided to erupt a second time.. well, he'd just have to accept his fate. But it seemed no such misfortune was about to befall him. His journey to Winterfell was uneventful, though he made some observations along the way. The sky seemed eerily dark still, especially close to the volcano, and some of the closest lands still lay dusted with ash. He was grateful to redirect himself to the north, and after a journey longer than he remembered it, he arrived at Winterfell's borders. It was just before sunfall, and he was tired from the long trek - hopefully his presence wouldn't be intrusive, at least for a short while. He was glad to be coming under better circumstances than last time, too. Eventually, after a short while sitting at the border, he lifted his head and called for his closest friend.

"Talk" Walk He'd been sifting through some herbs he found in the pines when he heard the call. His head shot up immediately, ears perking as he listened to that familiar voice. All season long he had been dying to go find Corvus, but as one of two of Winterfell's healers in training and one of the few warriors left after some members left, he was needed here. But now that Corvus had arrived, he knew for certain he was safe at least. He left his den and hurried out to meet him, passing his uncle along the way. "Can't talk now, sorry bye!" He said hurriedly as he rushed past. He flashed a quick apologetic look at his uncle who just shook his head and grinned before continuing on. When he spotted the familiar form of his best friend and confidant, he didn't exactly restrain himself when he ran towards him. "Corvus! You're alright!" A broad grin showed as he practically shoved himself into the earthen male and aimed to wrap him up in a hug. He didn't care how this might look, he was just ecstatic that he was okay. "I'm so happy you're safe! I should've come looking for you, and I wanted to, I did! I just...I was needed here, I'm sorry..." He apologized to him, even if he didn't have to but he felt horrible and bad the whole time and he couldn't stop thinking about him.

Getting some time away from home, even if it meant passing by the very landform that had caused such destruction in the first place, was a welcome distraction. Life in Abaven had been markedly dreary lately - both Shaye and Odysseus had passed, the latter affecting him much less harshly, but death was still never an easy thing to grapple with. He hadn't quite figured out if he had properly grieved Shaye's death or not.. he supposed only time would give him those answers, but he couldn't help but shake the feeling that he wasn't grieving properly. As if there was a single way to grieve. He really didn't know. Either way, Ignis would be a good distraction from those darker thoughts. Luckily he didn't have to wait for long before his red-furred friend appeared, and immediately he felt a grin taking hold and refusing to fade. "Of course," he replied with a laugh, returning the rough affection gladly, briefly letting his head fall, bumping his forehead against the bigger male's chest. "You think I'd let something as minor as that take me out?" He chuckled, though it was hard to really muster up as much humor about the situation as he wished he could. Sure, Abaven had been spared from the worst of the volcano's eruption, but he couldn't help but wonder if Shaye would still be around if she hadn't been forced to deal with the stress of it all. The pure and simple truth was that they'd just been lucky things hadn't been worse; it had nothing to do with how strong he was. In fact, lately he didn't really feel very strong at all, but he wasn't about to voice his needlessly grim thoughts. He shook his head quickly as Ignis apologized for not finding him. "I'm glad you didn't. Things were dangerous down that way for awhile - and we moved, anyway. Over to that island that the festival was on. At least for now," Corvus added, unsure what the future had in store of Abaven. He wasn't sure he'd prefer living there for the rest of their days, but that wasn't a decision that'd be left up to him, and he'd deal with whatever choice Theory made anyway. "Don't apologize, really. I'm sure your uncle has kept you busy enough here anyway. How has everything been with you? And the pack?" He'd rather hear about what Ignis had been going through, which was hopefully better than what he'd been dealing with.

Corvus returned his affection and honestly, seeing his best friend alive and well made him feel a lot better. He seemed to try and reassure him in his own way, which Ig couldn't help but grin and chuckle at. "Nah, I mean, you faced fire once and got through it, I'm starting to think fire just avoids you now." It felt so easy to joke with him, even when they were both faced with grim circumstances, they tried to make light of them anyway. Ig didn't want Corvus to dwell on all the bad stuff, after all, and it seemed Corvus tried to do the same for him. Even with this whole volcano thing going, the pair did their thing without fail. Ignis decided to pull away and sit back, ears perking as he listened to Corvus. "I'm glad you didn't. Things were dangerous down that way for awhile - and we moved, anyway. Over to that island that the festival was on. At least for now," He nodded along, frowning slightly at the news. "I almost went, but my uncle wouldn't let anyone go that way because of the danger. So I guess it's sort of a good thing I didn't just run over there to try and save ya cuz you probably woulda already been gone and then I'd be the one that needed saving," He took on a serious look as he said it, but then quickly broke into humor again, "And if you guys had moved in my time of need then my knight in shining armor would've been nowhere to be found eh?" He winked and chuckled.

Man his jokes sucked.

But he didn't really joke with anyone lately because of everything going on. "We've been busy. Or at least, some of us. The pack's gone a bit quiet lately but I think that has to do with the whole volcanic explosion or something, I dunno. But um...listen, I do gotta tell you something though." He sucked in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. "I dunno if you heard about the market that this viking-something-or-other band had sometime ago, but my uncle struck a deal to save my brother Ty's...i dunno, boyfriend or something? And one of those deals was raiding in their name." He started to fidget, wondering if he'd get in trouble for telling him this. But...then again, Abaven were friends, right? His uncle wouldn't mind if he tipped them off...right? He did say after all, that there would be no serious bloodshed or anything. To see it as training of sorts. "I uh...my uncle told me that the leader of the band wants us to raid Abaven, and another pack." He glanced at him, "But don't worry," he added quickly, "My uncle said to see it as training. We're not maiming or taking hostages or anything like that so I think...we should see it as an opportunity to test ourselves? I mean, when I lived in Abaven it was kind of...I dunno...maybe this is a chance for the pack to find its spark again?" He was hesitant to appear optimistic about it, only because he wasn't sure what Corvus thought about it yet.

A lot had changed, but Ignis had a funny (and comforting) way of making him feel like nothing had changed at all. At least between them, no matter how much distance or time separated them. He didn't have to let the heavy weight of his responsibilities, or his future, weigh on him quite so heavily when around his best friend. Almost immediately he let those feelings fall from his shoulders, at least temporarily, beyond glad to see him. "And to think you look like the one who could walk through fire," Corvus teased lightly, a grin breaking out over his features. He wasn't so sure he was as invincible as Ignis might like to believe; and he wondered, too, if his lack of fear might be foolish. They couldn't let fear rule their lives now, could they? His father had warned him of lots of things, of the rapids, of wolves from faraway packs - he'd never warned him about the volcano and it had proved to be the thing they should've feared the most. There was too much unknown to really dwell on it, and he was happy to make light of it, even if the things they were joking about were pretty serious things.

He laughed at Ignis's jesting, though he couldn't help but feel a spark of warmth at his admission. Would he really thrust himself into danger to look for him? Corvus had no doubt he'd do the same for Ignis, but hearing the opposite confirmed made him feel strange - in a good way, but still strange. He had plenty of wolves who cared for him like that, back in Abaven, but unlike them Ignis wasn't bound to him by kinship or duty, and that made his unwavering loyalty that much more special to him. He didn't have long to dwell on those thoughts though, snorting at the thought. "If you ventured into that mess just to look for him, and put yourself in harm's way, even if you made it out alright I would've killed you for being so stupid," he was only half-serious. He knew Ignis had responsibilities here, to his pack and his family, that would've made such a rescue mission completely foolish... but he appreciated the thought nonetheless.

Ignis was quick to give him an update on what all had been going on. They'd been busy, but more importantly... they were going to raid? Not just anyone, but Abaven? His nose wrinkled. It didn't really sound like just training, even if they weren't trying to actually hurt anyone. Training was always good, wasn't it? The thought wasn't settling well with him. They'd lost so much in the last season or so that he had a hard time believing everyone in the pack would take such a thing as good-spirited. "Not taking hostages, but.. then what's the point?" His voice was careful, though it had lost its former playful tone, and his expression was furrowed and slightly confused. He was glad Ignis had told him, but already he was grappling with his thoughts of how he should feel about this news - let alone what to do about it. "I'm sorry, that's just.. a surprise," Corvus finished dumbly, giving Ignis an almost apologetic look.