White gloved paws carried the Empress over the sand as her nose lifted to the sky. She’d lived on the ocean the majority of her life but this scent wasn’t like anything she’d be held before. The young Empress made her way over the cold beach, though the wind from the south was warm comparatively speaking this was the coldest winter she had seen so far. Despite the weather Ashen was flourishing, more than it had since Venom could remember. Hattori was an invaluable piece of her puzzle, and she didn’t know what she would do if he left come spring. He didn’t make it seem like he would, but nothing in her life was certain.

The Empress tried to shake her thoughts from her mind as she followed her nose. It wasn’t so difficult to find the source when she emerged again onto the beach. Sunset eyes fell on a massive carcass on the sand. She’d seen whales and dolphins from afar, but never one out of the water.

The behemoth was obviously deceased, the smell alone would tell her that. Already the scavengers were having their way, but Venom had a strong feeling byond a quick meal the Empire could make great use of such a gift.

The world stank and he hated it. Chimera had been pulled from sleep by the smell and had fought to shove his face anywhere that might serve as a shield. When Siren began to complain of the stench, the two-toned boy pulled himself from the tiny den that his sister had dug. He moved out onto the sands and began his job of discovering just what smelled so horrid.

Chimera swam from one island to the next. The shifting ocean breeze didn't make the task easy. In time, he discovered the source of the stink. A whale had washed up on the beach. Birds were plucking at its dead body and Chimera wrinkled his mottled nose. The thing smelled horrible. There was no way that he could eat something like that. He decided to inspect the beast, however. Maybe he could find something useful to do with it.

Coming around the edge of the massive head, Chimera was a little surprised to see Venom standing there. Didn't she have Empress things to do? "Venom," he said in greeting. The giant boy simply stood there, staring at his sister with his one working eye. He'd made a promise to serve her in return for power and a home for Siren. He had to be civil.

Venom didn’t often make her way to the island that Chimera claimed for himself and Siren. There was no land bridge and it didn’t fit well in her daily routine. However, the stench from this particular carcass had even the Empress curious and on guard. Thankfully it hadn’t washed up on the remote island and the Empress wasn’t forced to wet herself for such an unpleasant find. Her sunset gaze shifted to the other form across the beach as Chimera approached as well. Her name was on his lips as he looked from her and back to the massive carcass.

This had to be some kind of sea monster surely and her attention was obviously divided. ”Chimera,” she returned her greeting as she tried to breathe through her mouth as she searched for the creature’s mouth parts. Was it carnivorous or were they looking at the ocean’s version of an elephant. ”I suppose the stench brought you here as well.” Venom assumed as she continued to take note of the whale.

The giant boy eyed the beast. It was obviously dead and bits of fleshy skin had begun to slough off. The tail end stuck out into the water still and the waves rocked the back end of the carcass ever so slightly. It was so heavy though that the front end didn't move at all. He'd seen dolphins out in the waves and more than once he'd seen the spout of a whale, but this was his first time seeing the entirety of a whale. He had an inkling that this was what it was, but he couldn't be entirely sure.

Venom's words brought mismatched ears flicking forward. "It smells horrendous." It smelled worse than any rotting meat he'd ever smelled. What in the hell could they do about it though? If the powerful ocean couldn't move the damn thing, how on earth would they do so? Brow furrowing, he looked to his half sister. "What do you want to do about it?" Hopefully she had a plan. They couldn't just leave it here or all of Ashen would smell like dead, rotting meat.

Venom wasn’t quite sure what to do with the situation that presented itself. She eyed the carcass, unwilling to allow the thing to remain here. Within days the smell would take over all of Ashen. Or further into the Empire and she couldn’t have that. What lay before her also seemed like an impossible task. It wasn’t the biggest of whale’s, they could get rid of it somehow she was sure, but the two of them wouldn’t be pulling or making it budge on their own. Chimera spoke much to the same effect, stating the obvious as the air itself offended her nose.

The Empress sighed heavily as he confronted her, offering no ideas of his own. Venom’s eyes looked the whale up and down, surveyed the land around them and accounted for the tide. ”Hmm.” She took a few paces to get a different perspective. ”It is low tide. If we help a little perhaps we could float it back into the ocean when high tide returns.” She offered, still thinking and debating but coming to the conclusion this was likely the only way.

Venom seemed to think about his question for a while before she answered. She... wanted to get close to it? To touch the filthy, stinking water beside it? Would they ever be able to get the stench off of themselves? A low rumble sounded in the young man's chest as he eyed the dead hunk of rotting flesh. This would not be a pleasant task.

Every moment that they stood still was a moment wasted, so Chimera moved forward, wrinkling his nose in distaste as he came closer to the whale. Wide paws began scooping away sand on one side as he made a channel that they could roll the sack of meat into. If the tide didn't take it out, he was done with this task. No doubt he'd never be able to get this smell out of his nose as it was.

Chimera gave her a dirty look and Venom couldn’t help but commiserate. She was already feeling dread at the task, but instead of complaint or protest Chimera stalked forward and made himself work. Venom was stunned for only a moment. She expected something out of him but he was more agreeable than even she could have ever predicted. He took his oath seriously, and Venom silently commended him for it.

The woman wasn’t one to assign a task that she herself would not do, so she too made her way forward to begin work on the trench. She wasn’t sure that the smell could get much worse, but being right beside it had a special funk she was sure came from the darkest pits of hell. This was one thankless job that the pack would not know about, but would have thanked them if they realized what was being prevented here.

Hattori was going to love her when she came home later. The thought made the corners of her lips pull back amusedly, and knowing he would have to suffer just being with her helped surge her efforts as the trench quickly enlarged.

The stench was revolting. It burned into his nose and made his stomach roil. Chimera, for all of the enjoyment that he found in blood and gore, had a somewhat sensitive nose and stomach. This situation wasn't ideal, but he refused to let himself throw up. No matter how tempting it might be... Paws continued to pull away the sand from beside the rotting whale. Already the chasm was deep. It needed to be deep enough for the whale to sink into and drift back out to sea. Chi would admit that he was a little worried that the damn thing might topple in on him, but they couldn't stop now. The faster they got this gross, stomach churning mess away from Ashen, the better. As it was, Chimera wasn't sure how much more he could take. The water was slowly coming in and the waves were jerking the rear end of the whale around. It wouldn't be much longer. Motion in the waves caught the brutes attention and he looked up. Shark fins showed over the white caps and Chi growled low, motioning for Venom to look as well. The wolves of the sea were waiting for their meal, it seemed. The stench of rotting flesh must have traveled through the water to the hungry beasts. Well... Chi was more than happy to deliver their dinner. "Chimera Quill Klein"

Venom was going to stink for a week she was certain of it, her pale white paws wallowed in the rancid drippings as she dug with her brother. Thankfully the sea was indeed coming in and it seemed every moment more and more water moved in. The extra ocean water didn’t help her nose, and breathing out of her mouth didn’t help anything as she tasted the stench instead. Venom had a deep sense of determination but even this task was wearing on the Empress and her resolve. They weren’t finished yet though, and if they didn’t complete their work the end result would be even worse than what they were experiencing right now.

Venom was reluctant to look up when Chimera growled, but her sunset eyes shifted to the open water. She caught the glimmer of fins rising up from the water. Well at least she knew the carcass wouldn’t last long once they actually managed to get through their task. The sight was enough to encourage the Empress and she averted her face to take the semblance of fresh air as she renewed her efforts in digging.

At this point she needed to be even more careful as the carcass began to tip. The ocean was coming in and beginning to lift the whale. With the situation becoming precarious Venom lifted herself from the disgusting water and moved to the other side. ”Watch out,” this was almost as bad as the water when Venom slammed her shoulder into the carcass.

Again and again they pulled sand away from the hole. The whale was perched precariously on the edge and little landfalls of sand were falling away from beneath it. As the ocean ate up the land, he hoped that it would take the carcass back out to sea with it. The sharks would make short work of the small whale and they would be rid of it forever. That was the plan, at least.

He'd removed himself from the hole before Venom did. He looked down at his sister with one pale, pink eye. It would be so easy to just push the carcass on top of her, he thought. So easy to make it look like an accident. He refrained, however. Chimera had swore an oath to match Venom's own. He wouldn't try to kill her unless she broke her side of the bargain.

Once his sister was out of the pit, she came around to the other side of the whale where he stood. Her words were pointless since he was obviously watching out. As she slammed her shoulder into the whale, he placed his paws against the melting flesh and pushed. Strips of moldering skin and blubber came off beneath his paws and Chimera wrinkled his nose. He turned, instantly wiping his paws in the sand and surf. The big brute didn't mind being covered in blood and gore, but this rancid mess was something entirely different.

The ocean came and went, taking its prize with it. Chi had had to wade out a bit and give the whales face a push to get it over a sand bar, but it finally made it past the point of no return. The jiggling and jerking of the dead beast indicated that the ocean wolves were indeed doing their job. They would be fed and the land wolves would be rid of their burden.

Back on the shore, Chi grumbled and looked at his filthy coat. He would gladly smell like a flower rolling pansy in lieu of smelling like rotting whale flesh. He'd have to find Siren, or someone, and get some well scented soap.