His armor and flail were for once stowed away in his den and he moved though the pale trees around the Alabastrine Shrine with less motivation or focus than he typically carried. There was no patrol to attend to and his training was at least briefly put on pause. He very rarely let himself not be working on something, but today had a different sort of task in mind. He knew that settling back into the pack and finding his place took more than just making himself useful and bolstering his own skills. He was slowly beginning to accept that just being confident and skilled were only helpful in battle. There was a time and place for those things and that was certainly where he felt his most comfortable, but there had to be more. He needed there to be more. If it wasn't for the emerald of his eyes and the irregular splashes of black and brown that marred his pale coat, he felt confident that he could blend into the unusual forest like a ghost. The light bark of the trees and the light coating of snow that covered the ground cast the world in an odd silence and a blankness that left too much room for his mind to wander. He was very aware that he was currently living with the consequences of his own actions, his decision to hide himself away to better himself. At the time it felt as if he was preparing himself to rise to the occasion of his family and their needs. Now it felt like that had been the tipping point and the choice that had severed the closeness he once felt with them. But how much of that was reality and how much was just his own paranoid perception? That's what he wanted to know. When he left his den that morning he hadn't been sure who he wanted to seek out, but when Toxicity's scent pulled his attention he had his answer. With a flick of his ears he shifted his path to follow the trail that would bring him to his sister. She was easy to spot, feeling like a dark beacon among the light background of the world around her. The crunch of his paws through the snow was sure to give him away well before he actually reached her, but he also wasn't trying to be subtle in his approach. "Toxicity," he rumbled with a simple greeting, his emerald gaze lifting to hers. Talk

Toxicity had left the four pups in the shrine with Obi for a brief moment so she could go out, eat, get some fresh air, and do her prayers for the day. Most of those things were done and now she was simply enjoying a moment to herself- she thought. When she heard another approach, she assumed it was Hattori yet again and she turned to regard him, but was surprised to see Plague just as he called her name. She dipped her head to him, a little cold towards him as she felt he had sided with Venom, making the gap between them larger than the nearly nonexistent relationship they had had before. "Plague," she said evenly. "What brings you out here?"

The coldness in her response certainly didn't go unnoticed by the observant male. It only confirmed what he had sensed as he lived out his daily life around the pack. He knew that perhaps Toxicity in particular wouldn't enjoy his presence after the stance he had taken the last time they were together, but he had to face the hardest of his opposition at some point. Living on the fringe of existence wasn't a real life at all and most certainly not the life he had craved when he returned. It felt like this was the trial that had been put in front of him that had to be overcome to get the life he wanted. His comfort zone was meeting the world with tooth and claw - instead he was forced to deal with the far more delicate art of mending and creating relationships. "I want to mend things between us," he replied when she questioned his presence, settling onto his haunches across from her. "Not just between you and I, but with our family as well." It was hard for the normally quiet, stoic man to find the words he needed, but he was determined to try. As uncomfortable as it made him to be vulnerable in any sense of the word, he still felt like perhaps his sister deserved to know where he was coming from - weather she was willing to hear him out or not was a different story. "I've spent so much time training and physically preparing myself to be useful to the pack that I forgot to put attention and energy into our relationships as well. I want to make things right, I just... don't know where to begin." Talk

Toxicity's gaze stayed distant and level as her brother spoke. She wasn't so fast to believe his words, wondering if Venom may have sent him. She regarded him carefully, "How... much of our family?" she asked, eyes narrowing. There were many relatives whom she did not consider family at all. She was not willing to buddy up to dogs or inbreeds or fallen members.

Plague said he had been so busy, he had neglected to connect with family. It was a sentiment Toxicity could relate to all too well and her eyes found themselves glued to her paws. "I- uh- don't know where to begin... or where to go." Toxicity finally brought her eyes to his, "I don't even know what relation I'd want with family. Have we ever even seen a normal family, Plague?"

He wasn't sure what she meant by her first question at first, though after a moment of thought he did consider the fact that they did have quite a few half siblings, cousins of various degrees of relation, and others in the twisted, gnarled tree that was their family. All of them were "family" in some way in his eyes, but he wouldn't put nearly as much thought into the well being of any of them outside of he and his litter mates. If he never spoke to his more distant family again he wouldn't lose sleep over it, but not having that bond he craved with his siblings was doing more than just keeping him from a good night's sleep. "You, Venom, and Calamity," he replied without a waver in his expression, clearly certain in his decision weather it was what she wanted to hear or not. Even though he still wasn't certain on Toxicity's decision to attack Pestilence the way she had, he understood that Pestilence could no longer be considered their family. If he could just mend the relationship with his remaining sisters then he could be content. Plague listened to her comments that showed her uncertainty about their family and what she would even want for that relationship. A "normal" family... the thought was enough to make him scoff softly and give a small shake of his head, glancing down at the ground between them. They were fragmented, torn, and scattered - the farthest from a "normal" family that he could possibly imagine. But then that begged the question of weather they needed a normal family. Could the four of them not be enough alone? "I don't suppose we have... Though is it better to focus on what we do have rather than what we don't?" he asked in response, glancing back toward her two toned gaze. "It takes strength and dedication to still forge ahead despite all our family has been though. We can define what normal is for us." Talk

As Plague listed the remaining siblings, Toxicity nodded along. Good, so they were at least on the same page there. A small smile curled onto her maw, pleased at least with this outcome. "Good. I have little desire or energy for those outside of that bond." She wasn't entirely sure where Plague stood on anything and she wasn't really one to pry or her mouth would froth and bubble over with the sheer amount of questions she held within. Some things were better not knowing and others worth not even questioning.

He laughed lightly at her observation of a normal family and noted that maybe they didn't need that type of relationship.  She nodded at his sentiments and thought on them for a while, "I thought I wanted Venom as a close ally. I wanted to be her right paw. I see her whims towards Hattori and I worry it will be another passing of leadership like our mother and Sirius," she shook her head softly. "But it's not really my business. It's... less complicated to simply have her as my empress these days and not give thought to whatever familial ties and thoughts may bond us." She didn't care to pry and it was easier to keep her sister at a tail length away so that if she did succumb to her unholy desires and make a mess, Toxicity could remove herself from the situation. She imagined Venom felt similarly with her towards her actions involving Pestilence. Though Toxicity had wished to be allies walking side by side, perhaps it was best for them to just not get in each other's way.

At the thought of forging their own normal, Tox laughed dryly, "Well our father's brother killed him and our mother's brother fucked her, so let's try to avoid that with the remaining siblings."