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Tiberius was good at dealing with grief. He was a seasoned professional at this point yet when he was alone and patrolling, he felt it. Or perhaps allowed himself to, even if it were only a little bit. The loss of Rin was a sad one and in truth, he had thought that he and the woman were on their way to becoming friends, happy that she was within their ranks and calling their guarded Vale her home -- yet life had chosen a different course for her.

Death had been swift, he thought and that was a comfort. Still the Chief felt like a failure, his inability to protect Rin from an accidental death was not something even he could manage to be skilled in yet it tugged at his sense of responsibility all the same. He suffered a sigh as he rest a paw upon the caribou, knowing that he should perhaps eat but decided against it, instead when he was ready, the titan would draw it back to the guarded Vale.

For the moment the Chief would breathe, the tundra air crisp and fresh in his nose and throat. ^^

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Hope you don't mind if I throw scabi in here! One round out

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On her explorations, Scabiosa decided she would try heading up the mountains next. Of course, there's going to be more land to traverse before she gets there - nevermind the fact that she has to climb it. Rather, she went somewhere cold to look at the mountains and contemplate climbing them with a concerning amount of disdain. She recalls climbing one before, to meet a pack up there, only to leave - but going back just feels like a waste of time. However, there's other things she wants to look at up there, so be it. Not yet though. First she gets to complain about everything else. Like where the hell her brother went and why he didn't end up here with her. Skies above, Scabiosa was going to murder whoever the fuck decided waking her up in the middle of nowhere was a good idea.

Scabiosa likes the tundras more than she would like to admit, but it's nothing like the lake where she used to live - and then where her and Snapdragon traveled after that. She doesn't miss her family - they were gone anyway, and didn't quite understand. Feeling trapped within those borders with almost no-one she liked was probably the worst thing - fixed now - somewhat. With Snapdragon gone, and the stuff going on with his family, she doesn't really have anyone to talk to, or turn to. At least she has free roam here, at least. 

She huffs, and watches the mountains in the distance, unaware that she may be walking in the direction of someone who could be a familiar face.

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"Was 'onoured ta know yer, Rin," he rumbled to the sky, not really knowing what he believed happened to someone after they died but it seemed right in that moment to talk, even if it were just a few words. He breathed in the air, so crisp and sharp and like always, he was reminded that this was his home. Where snow, grass, trees and mountains could exist and work, Tiberius would remain. Certainly it had been a good long while since he had seen rolling hills of green but the titan wasn't bothered.

These lands were his home, it was where his family resided and it would be where he was to stay. Tiberius glanced down to the caribou and rolled his shoulders, giving only a slight pause when something... ghost-like touched his nose on his inhale. It caused his silvery brows to furrow in thought, the scent seemed... well, not familiar persay but it seemed to awaken something -- he would shrug it off, knowing that wolves traversed the snow and so long as they didn't get too close to his Vale, he wouldn't seek to use their skin as a rug to sleep on.

The titan would lean down to grasp the caribou by it's neck, opting to try and drag it back home. The familiar scent was faint and likely imagined and so he didn't seek out the owner. Little did he knew, they were walking in his direction regardless. ^^

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Everything is too much to think about, so Scabiosa tries to push it as far back into her head as she can. Before long, the smell of something dead wafts into her nostrils, and they flare. Either something died or someone's over there. The better part of her brain is telling her to turn the opposite direction and go somewhere else so the potential someone else doesn't get her. She stood still for a few moments debating in her head, but it was another whiff of the scent that got her legs moving closer. That's familiar So familiar, that she can't quite put her paw on who the hell she's trailing. She'd beat herself up about it if she wasn't so focused on other things before waking here anyway. 

As she grew closer, the sight of something very dead and someone faintly familiar crossed her green eyes. Now Scabiosa's even more curious. She marches with a purpose now, trying to get as close as she can to determine who that wolf is exactly, but as she grows closer and closer she still can't pinpoint who it is. And that fact starts to piss her off a little bit. So Scabiosa does what she's done best for a little while, and march her way over. 

"Who're you?" Confident, not exactly aggressive. Probably really fucking weird to this other stranger who's probably going to protect his food with his teeth.

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She appeared and she was strange and that was not because of the missing limb but because she itched his brain, his memories. She felt... familiar. Her scent, her appearance, her voice, it all tugged at his memories and he tried his best to make it out. Who was he? Straight to the point, then. The titan dropped his caribou to the ground at his paws, tilting his head towards her as his molten gaze watched her intensely, still unable to pull it to the surface.

"Tiberius," he rumbled, narrowing his gaze upon her, "an' who tha fuck are yer, then?" he returned the question, the confidence, but held fire on the aggression. It wasn't his fault that swearing seemed to fall from his lips as easily as he breathed, okay. The Auric tribe came to his mind, memories he preferred to keep locked away flocking to him and he frowned, the memories hazy and the voices even hazier.

Maybe he was going crazy. ^^

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A moment passes and then the caribou hits the grass. Scabiosa's eyes stay on the dead animal laying on the floor for a moment, before turning back up to the dark guy. The familiarity of his fur still is latched into her brain in a way it's hard to ignore, like walking through a doorway and suddenly forgetting what you were supposed to be doing. Like meeting someone you used to know after a long time. His stares only make Scabiosa stare back, confident. Maybe she'll figure out who the fuck this guy is if he gives her the time of day. 

Tiberius. Yeah, definitely not a name she knows off the top of her head. 

 "Scabiosa." Perhaps not giving her real name would have been ideal, but Scabiosa isn't known to make ideal decisions anymore. 

It's why she doesn't leave, despite not having much to say. Well, she could think of one thing.

"Have we met before? You're.... Familiar" She laughs a short sound before muttering "This place is strange as fuck." It really is. Too many weird things happening here. She shouldn't be dwelling on it.

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He hadn't been expecting to hear a name from his past. A ghost, an almost, an image of what could have been had she come with him that night. Tiberius stared at her, mangled ears alert atop his crown and he realised then that she wouldn't know him. Not by the name he presented her. He had changed his identity soon after joining the Dominion, shredding his past in every way possible. At her question, he wondered if he should tell her. Despite the base of him remaining the same, he was much more mangled now than he had been when they were children, when she would have seen him last.

Parts of him were missing, long gone and she had only ever known him when his body was whole.

"It don't get no more normal," he grunted, assuring her that these lands would remain strange as fuck even as she started to call it home. He stared at her, wondering, thinking whether or not he wanted to face his past. Part of it anyway, a better part of it -- she had been on his side and defended him against the cretins that had been his siblings. Namely his brother, especially that one day. Tiberius' tongue snaked across his mangled lips to his teeth, disappearing back into the depths of his mouth as he suffered a sigh.

He wasn't a coward.

He wasn't running.

"Caden," the Chieftain allowed. "Yer know m'as Caden." ^^

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Scabiosa grunts when he says it's not going to get normal. Doesn't seem like it, but she's not sure if she wants it to. Being away from her brother is a bitch, but otherwise… there's not much she could want by going back to the place she used to call home. The tribe was gone when she went to go see her family again like she promised, and scabiosa didn't have the heart to travel the lands looking for them. Plus, snapdragon had a family waiting for him whether it was good or not. Even if she hated his kids she wasn't going to displace that.

The silence is driving her insane, what could this guy possibly not want to say this bad? She opens her mouth to say nevermind and leave, but then he pulls out the fucking big guns.

"Caden," "Yer know m'as Caden."

What the fuck. This big muscle man is that bastard? Thinking about him brings his mother to her head and scabiosa grimaces in her head. He probably doesn't want to hear about her. Maybe he won't ask about if she left willingly or not - who knows.

Scabiosa finally closes her mouth because she feels her tongue drying.

"Holy fuckin' shit!" her tail flares up behind her. "I wondered what happened to you, you fuck!" mind her language, universe.

At least he knew what he wanted before he was stuck with the tribe for years. Scabiosa hates that Caden's mother was the thing that broke her loose. Or maybe it was the restrictions in the pack in general.

"How's it been???" she's got her energy back now, at least.

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She's a little different to what he recalls but then again he was sure he was, too.

They had been children then.

They were adults now.

Tiberius watched her as the realisation settled and he steeled himself for his past to meet his future, though she didn't seem angry. Surprised, sure, but angry? Not really. He snorted, knowing full well where they had both learned their language from. Kneph wasn't the most well spoken bloke, was he?

How's it been, she asked and Tiberius rolled his shoulders, watching her. He hadn't... he hadn't expected to see anyone from the Tribe. They were all together, often, never truly straying far apart yet on her fur they didn't linger. Her fur... it told him she was alone. "Fine," he grunted, "found a 'ome back in tha valley. Got taken from it ta be 'ere, like others." Like her, in the end. She hadn't chosen to be here, he was sure, because no one so far had. It had all been out of their control.

Tiberius wondered how much he should divulge to her. She wasn't -- she wasn't the girl who had been on his side, not anymore. They were different now. Then again, who did she have to tell, anyway? "Like I's said, shits weird," the titan rumbled, quirking a mangled brow. "Git a family, got a 'ome, git a pack. Creatures depend on me," he revealed, because no one from his home land would have expected it of him. Gale? Probably. The quiet boy who didn't understand emotions? Not a chance.

He eyed her.

"Yer ain't smellin' of tha Tribe," he stated. "Ain't wha' I expected, Scabs." The name fell out by accident, old habits die hard -- he fell silent once it passed his lips. ^^

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He'd found a home and this place took it from him. Would be familiar if Scabiosa found a place she wanted to belong. She never found it, doubted she ever would. The plan had been to visit as many packs as they could before, but it quickly slowed into them chilling near a sanctuary of wolves Scabiosa didn't really care about. She never joined them, and didn't plan on joining anyone after leaving the tribe. Not after how she'd reacted before. At least Caden found somewhere he could call home here too, based on the lingering smells on his fur.

He's got a family here too? How much time has Scabiosa missed of this place? The two of them are around the same age - the most she can do is blame it on how fucked this place is compared to home. Even if she didn't want to be there anyway, at least it made sense. Maybe it's a good thing here doesn't have any sense, since it brought her away from her faults. The mention of the tribe has her mood shifting a little bit.

"Ah…" how much can she say? That she attacked Wenda's new kid that she replaced her old ones with, and got the whole fucking tribe on her tail? Or that Oleander vowed to kill her if he ever saw her again?

"I left them a long time ago." weary. "It didn't feel like home anymore."

She leaves it at that, he doesn't deserve to hear what Wenda did, or what Scabiosa did because of it. She'd been a dumb kid at the time, didn't understand what it felt like to be that low, but she still. Mostly. Stands by what she said.

"So I hear you got kids now? And a pack? Do I not get to meet them?" she is very much pushing in here but she does not care. Let her be curious.

"Didn't think someone could get you to buckle down." a laugh.

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He noticed the shift once he brought up the Tribe. Tiberius' molten gaze watched her in thought, though she explained herself -- albeit shortly, vaguely. He nods, because he understands. Tiberius had left because it hadn't been home for him either. "Righ'," he rumbled, giving her a shrug of his shoulders. "Shit, ain't gitta say more, I get it." More than anyone else might, he reckoned. He supposed he had seen it coming, to a degree, his surprise only momentary and fleeting. Scabiosa hadn't been as castaway as he had in the eyes of the tribe but she had been quite a bit different, too, what with her spicy fire.

Tiberius snorted at her, a mangled ear twitching as he watched her. She wanted to meet them. She wasn't necessarily asking, her words not a true question but more of a: I want to see them. "Buckle down," he rumbled as he shrugged a thick shoulder, "life didn't go as planned." It hadn't, really, but he much preferred this. "Alrigh', Scabs. Yer can meet them," the titan nodded, feeling somewhat... well, he had intended to leave his ghosts in the past, in the valley. One stood before him now but she hadn't been one of torment.

She... reminded him of what his home could have been.

"Yer stayin'? Or yer meetin' an' leavin'?" It was there, the invite. If she wanted it. ^^

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Thankfully, Scabiosa's short explanation was enough to sate the questions. At least for now - but he was right, he did probably get it. More than some others would, if she ever ran into them. Scabiosa is relieved that she won't have to live through the disappointment of the tribe again. It's why she never really joined a pack after leaving too - more wolves around meant more eyes on her if she did something fucked up. Not that she was trying to do anything like that - but before it could have been an issue if she let it fester. She could've become dangerous. More than she already had. 

Clearly it hadn't gone as planned - maybe. Scabiosa didn't really know what happened to Ca- Tiberius after he left, but he really did not give her the vibes of someone who would give up his freedom to be tied down to someone else. Then again, neither did Snapdragon and he still did it. Maybe Scabiosa is the weird one here. She grinned when the dark guy said she could meet his family though. She wasn't expecting it, considering they'd just met one another again. But perhaps she's doing it just so she can shove her way back somewhere familiar, even if this familiar is just as strange as when she left the tribe the first time. Just less emotional. 

"Ill be nice." She kept grinning. 

The invite shouldn't have caught her off guard as much as it did. Scabiosa quite literally pushed her way in without giving much of a choice to Caden, but he still could have chased her off if he really was feeling that protective of his food. 

"If you'd let me stick around" Her eyes travel back down to the carcass. "You want help bringin' that back?"

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He regarded her for a moment after he nodded, "'course. Wouldn't turn yer away, Scabs." The titan mused as he glanced down to the kill and once more nodded, "yeah, go on then." Though Tiberius paused as he looked at her for another moment, molten gaze calculative and he cleared his throat, "do me a favour, Scabs. Keep m'old name between us, yeah? I ain't said much about... about tha Tribe."

Tiberius didn't reveal much about himself to anyone though Olive had certainly been the one he revealed the most to, the titan wasn't sure if he had ever told her his old name. It wasn't something he fancied coming out before he was ready to reveal it, though, and looked to keep it between them until the day he was ready. ^^

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We can fade here if you like!

---

Scabiosa wasn't sure what she expected if she was being honest. Now she's got a pack to meet, and well, stick around with. She wonders if she'll regret it. Hopefully not but... She's never really been good with sticking in one place. Maybe she could remain with them and still wander - a thought for later. Sometimes it's hard to remember - even now - that she doesn't have to rely on old pup-rules. Scabiosa went to grab the kill below their feet, but words caught her ears first. 

"I won't tell anyone." Nodding. She hadn't planned on speaking with anyone about the tribe at all - maybe Snapdragon, but other than that... They're all pretty much dead weight in her brain. 

Maybe taking a new leaf and forgetting about them would be nice, here. Away from her stress and worries. 

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