He knew that he had been gone too long for everything to simply go back to normal. The Long Night, his niece's death thought to be at his fangs, and his subsequent exile had likely shaken the pack's faith. Faith in him, faith in their family, their pack, maybe Abraxas himself. He couldn't imagine that his deific forefather would be particularly proud of him, if he had been following Eligos' disgrace. But somehow even knowing all that it was a shock to come back to see the pack lands so... Silent. So still. They had a feeling almost of abandonment, which was only fitting since he had abandoned them when they needed him most. He had never thought he would be here again, except to die. It was surreal, them, to be sitting here outside his cave-den once again. Like nothing had changed. He needed to make up for lost time, pull his pack out of hiding, but for the moment could only sit, and drink it on as the sun rose to paint the canyon in fresh color.

Proserpina She was returning from scouting one of the lands beyond Aerie when a scent hit her like a brick wall. She nearly stopped on a dime the moment she smelled it. Eligos. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of him for a while...much like the rest of the pack. She felt like she and her children had been the only ones left. Everything and everyone had been so quiet, and with Eli's absence, it almost felt like Aerie was ceasing to exist. Her faith in Abraxas had been waning ever since the Long nights...since her first litter had been cursed. Since she felt their god had forsaken her. Her entire life, she had devoted herself to the Fallen One, and his repayment had been to cast a shadow upon her and his devoted followers... Surprise had turned into slow anger. So many feelings had bubbled up, but anger was the more prominent one. Her lip lifted in a silent snarl as she tracked him down, following his trail until she found him sitting outside of his den as if he had always been there. Like he hadn't been gone. Like everything was normal. She stood a couple of yards above him on the incline, pale blue gaze glittering with anger that she was struggling to keep at bay. Fixing him with a cold, hard stare that she had never really had before, she spoke. "So you've returned? Was it guilt that brought you back? Or did our dear God tell you to return?" Her voice carried a cold edge to it. While she had hoped Eli would return...she hadn't exactly prepared for the moment...

It seemed that he wouldn't need to seek out his problems, as one tracked him to his doorstep. He focused his eyes on the approaching form to see his cousin there, the one he had been closest to, save Thalia, and to say that she appeared unhappy to see h would be an understatement. His claws scraped the rock as Eligos slowly stood to face her, his eyes narrowing at her words. "It was guilt that kept me away, Ina, or were you so caught up in your own family that you hadn't heard? You were in hiding long before my exile." His voice matched her icy tone as he stared down at her. If she wanted to confront him with prejudice them fine, they would air all their issues at once. He was not going to fall back into being conciliatory when his elder cousin was to blame for their estrangement as much as he was. "You certainly made no effort to tell anyone in the pack that you were pregnant. You whelped in secret, never called for me as alpha of the pack that they were born into or as leader of your family! Their family! I called for you long before I left pack lands to discuss this, but you never came. Why is that, Proserpina? Why act now like you were abandoned when you hid yourself from me before I ever left?"

Proserpina He stood to face her. And for the first time she noticed some changes about him. They were subtle, but still changes all the same. Whether it be the way he carried himself, or his demeanor, she knew he had had a pretty rough time of things, same as her. But still...the anger she felt at feeling abandoned by him and even moreso by their God...hurt. She kept telling herself she shouldn't care, but when she had devoted her whole life to the Abraxas...what else was she to do? "It was guilt that kept me away, Ina, or were you so caught up in your own family that you hadn't heard? You were in hiding long before my exile." Her ears flattened back as she bit back a retort. She vaguely knew of what had happened, but she didn't know the full story. All she had to go off were whispers through the vines. "I admit, perhaps I was involved with my own dealings. Whereas yours I had only heard whispers of. The Long Nights were hard on all of us...I was afflicted by a strange sickness that left my mind in shambles, as well as my body. By the time I recovered..." It had all been too much. Only recently she had finally gotten over the remnants of the effects that had plagued her. "You certainly made no effort to tell anyone in the pack that you were pregnant. You whelped in secret, never called for me as alpha of the pack that they were born into or as leader of your family! Their family! I called for you long before I left pack lands to discuss this, but you never came. Why is that, Proserpina? Why act now like you were abandoned when you hid yourself from me before I ever left?" Her teeth parted in a silent snarl, pale blue eyes narrowed as she felt offended. "I did not know I was pregnant until it was far too late! I thought it was the effects of whatever strange mushroom sickness had been going around! I hid away out of fear and embarrassment, unable and unwilling to show the weaknesses that had cursed me! But even on the dawn of my birthing when I cried out for help, your precious little mortal healer," She spat the words, the anger difficult to quell. "Never showed her face. Not once did she ever check on me or the pups despite my tortured cries! Instead, I was spared enough that a healer who bore no ties to Aerie was the one that saved my life, and those of my three remaining pups! Were it not for her, I likely would have died on our own border and been buried with the two that didn't make it!" She was not trying to garner sympathy from her beloved cousin. Though she couldn't help but feel the sting of tears in her eyes when she relived the day she truly felt abandoned by Abraxas. "Asmodeus told me that his mother dared to insult our God. He was the only one to see me ill during the Long Nights...am I to believe he didn't bring his wrath down on us because of her doing? Or perhaps it was our fault for not being stern in our ways and teaching her? An insult to our God is an insult to us. And for that, he has cursed us! She snarled. She struggled to keep her emotions from boiling over. She still didn't know what Eli would do when he came across Ono, but she would address that when they got there. She firmly believed Riva's blasphemy had caused the ill fortune that had settled upon their family. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but for the moment, she held her tongue and allowed silence to hang between them until either he or she decided to speak.

Proserpina's words awoke a rage in Eligos like few things could. If she hadn't been his cousin - more, if she hadn't been his friend, and one of the few who had always stood by him - he would have gone for her throat. As it was he barely held himself, quivering, back from it, and a savage snarl tore from his chest. "Don't be a fool, Proserpina. You were not the only one to experience that illness. Riva herself was sickened with it. You think she chose not to help you? She was locked away for her own safety!" His own words dredged up the memory of that day, unwillingly, of when he had dragged Riva and Pyrrhic's daughter to the cave Pyrrhic had been guarding Riva in. He closed his eyes against that pain, though it did nothing to banish the memory. He growled low in his throat. "For the Fallen's sake, Ina, her CHILD died of this disease. How could you accuse her of having brought this on us?" He opened his eyes again to stare coldly down at his cousin. "If blasphemy from someone not even of our blood could have driven the Fallen to punish us with such an event, every one of us would be dead by now as surely as the sun rises. Our own UNCLE was a heretic, and his blasphemous bloodline still walk our lands spreading their lies, yet it is a single comment from Pyrrhic's WIFE that would nearly destroy us? I thought you were better than this petty jealousy, Ina."