Meant to reply right away and got distracted.



    He was here to stay. He had attempted the lone hybrid life and found it unsettling and to be honest, frightening. During his time away though he had achieved some things within his own head that would assist him in becoming a stronger warrior for Inferni. Once the nightmares passed he wouldn't even have trouble defending the borders in the dead of night, something he probably should have mentioned to Gabriel when he accepted his brother back into the clan. Glancing at his mother he let out a small, albeit contented sigh and looked off to the coast and the horizon. "There are times I miss having little whelps around, bothering me. Makes me wonder if I'll ever be a father."


Rather wistfully he kept staring at the horizon, coal dusted golden ears twitching with the normal surrounding sounds. Shaking his head to clear it he glanced back to Kaena, part of him almost seeming shocked to see her there for a moment. "I should have asked Gabe but do you have any idea about the relations between Inferni and the wolf packs I smell? This is rather new to me compared to before."

Nooo worries.


    Her son's train of thought surprised her. She had often thought Molochai would have been one of the first to have children—but even her newest child, Rachias, had puppies of her own, though Kaena knew nothing other than their existence. She longed to meet them, and she wondered how old they were and who they took after. A reassuring smile crossed her sable lips, and she scratched Molochai on his neck gently. "You will be a wonderful father," she said, excited already for grandchildren that weren't even a certainty. Her golden son had dutifully cared for her children, and when he found a woman and made some of his own, Kaena would be certain to return the favor as often as she could. Certainly, whatever brood Molochai raised, he would not do so alone. Kaena would make sure of that.



    Kaena's eye followed her son's gaze, drawn to the purple-black of the night sky. It twinkled with millions of tiny stars, some of them dim and distant and others flaring and close, and the waning moon shoe brightly, though she was half-eaten by the shadow of the earth. The Lykoi matron's sable ears turned to Molochai as he spoke, and she nodded, eager to share her knowledge with Molochai. He was in much the same predicament she'd been in upon her arrival—she hadn't known even so much as a single pack's name. The woman thought she ought to save her son a lot of trouble and introduce the packs—the ones she knew, anyway—and of course, fill him in on the mounting tension between Inferni and Phoenix Valley.



    "Our closest neighbors are our worst enemies, it seems," she said, speaking of the two wolf packs which were the closest to their borders. Gabriel had filled her in on Inferni's past with Dahlia de Mai, and she had personal experience with a member of Phoenix Valley. "Dahlia de Mai is pretty close to us, and Gabriel waged war on them. We're not engaged at the moment but I sure wouldn't call them friendly." There was a pause as she considered Phoenix Valley. She wasn't aware of much happening in the broader sense, but she had a pretty close encounter of her own. "Phoenix Valley is even closer, and bigger. I guess they're our priority for right now," she added.



    The coyote sighed and withdrew her arm from Molochai, though she remained very close to him, her arm brushing against his shoulder occasionally. "I fought one of them a few days ago, the same kid I had chased from Inferni a long time back," she said, hesitant to tell him she wasn't allowing her age to hinder her tendencies for violence and malevolence. She knew Molochai would disapprove, but she grinned anyway, showing bravado. "There's also Crimson Dreams and Cour des Miracles and one more pack I don't know at all. They're farther away and I wouldn't consider 'em too much of a threat," she said, though she didn't know for certain about any of them—in truth, all she really knew was that there was tension between Phoenix Valley and Inferni, and that several different faces had indicated to her that they were the priority.

Love your new avatar.



    When Molochai had been on his own he had spent many nights just staring at the sky and wondering what the other Lykois and de le Poers were doing. He had become rather philisophical about everything with no one to talk to and nothing really to do besides hunt, sleep and think. It was like being in a lonely prison where he could go anywhere he wanted and still have no one to talk to. Those stars had become almost repetitive and even now he only looked at them because he was knew that he didn't have to. Wasn't that always the way? His mother's affirmation caused a smile to trickle onto his features but he shrugged it off in favor of more important information.


Kaena began to explain the wolf packs and Molochai mentally jotted down notes on the names and relations to Inferni. Dahlia de Mai - not friendly. Phoenix Valley - important. He often made notes along with every wolf and coyote he met and could recall most of them quite quickly. "Fighting children now mother?" He smiled and shifted his weight against her even as she withdrew her arm. There was something so warm and comforting to being around her even though he knew of the violence and atrocities she had committed.


"Do you know if they think the same of us? Are they a pack to strike first or one to wait around for us to make the first move?" He wanted as much information as possible about these wolves. Before the fire he had known about the nuances between packs and which would allow an Inferni member within 100, 200 or 500 feet of their borders. Now he had to start with a clean slate and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. Part of him was excited to get his paws dirty again but he wished he had more knowledge to build a foundation upon. "I'm sure it's only a matter of time before both Crimson Dreams and Cour des Miracles join in, these wolves look for any opportunity to get in on the action." He had trained the pups to know that, even if he sometimes wondered the validity of it.

Thanks! <3



    Being locked inside one's own head was often the worst fate for creatures such as Kaena and her son; with no one else around, their own thoughts were often their worst enemies. Kaena often found herself contemplating the things she'd done in the past, though she did not consider herself one who dwelled on the past. With nothing to occupy her mind, however, thoughts quickly drifted to the long, bloody trail of memories weaving and winding throughout her vicious mind. Even so, the Lykoi woman found little regret for most of what she'd done. There were faintly haunting things that echoed through her mind, but she could not find much she actively held remorse for.



    Her golden son pressed himself against her, and Kaena was warmed by her son's presence there, emotionally and physically. It was good to be so close to him—the distance and years stretched between them like forever. Molochai hadn't changed much; there was still all that reverence in his eyes for his mother. Though Kaena would never reject his love, she was more than ready to relinquish the hold on Molochai she had when he was younger. His words brought a smirk to her scarred features, and she shook her head firmly. DaVinci was hardly a child anymore—when compared to her, yes, but he had been a fully adult hybrid, and he'd sure fought like one.



    The coyote shrugged in response to his question. She didn't know much about Dahlia de Mai and its subleader aside from what Gabriel had said and the little bit Anselm shared with her. "I don't know. Anselm told me their subleader is pretty vicious, so I'd be careful of him. Don't know who he is or what he looks like," she said, disappointed she couldn't be of more use to her son. His words were little surprise to the hybrid; though Molochai had most of the appearance of a wolf himself, he held a special sort of hatred for them, hand-delivered by his mother. Molochai had been poorly socialized in his youth; Kaena had occupied most of his time and so had his half-siblings, and the grizzled hybrid regretted for a long moment that she had not allowed him to live more of his own life.



    There was a sad smile gracing her coal lips. "I don't know about Cour des Miracles. I heard their subleader is a wild one, but I met their leader myself," she said, almost hesitant to share her meeting with Jacquez with Molochai. It wasn't as if he was a wolf, though. Kaena was almost hesitant to call Cour des Miracles a wolf pack—she'd met two hybrid canines who resided there, and Jacq had referred to himself as the king of the region, not the alpha. "He's a dog," she decided, wondering how Molochai would take that news. She had told him, of course, of her own dog's heritage and therefore his own. It was an odd thing, those dogs—they were domesticated, but they turned feral readily, and though they were hardly as adept at survival as their wild cousins, they were not completely useless. Jacq himself was a living testament to that—one-armed and descended from domesticated creatures.