Redhawk Caldera shout! for my love

@Elwood @Finley

Bouncing toward the border, Dottie hummed a pleasant toon under her breath. Her feet were plenty crusted and scarred from the rough terrain which she had been forced to cross, but it was nothing in her mind. After all, she wouldn't have to go much farther to find what she was looking for. Nearing the clearly marked domain, she sniffed around for a bit to see if she could get any clues about the pack she might be getting herself into before falling too deep. Dottie lifted her head upward and called for the Alphas in the territory, then fell into a submissive stance almost immediately. Nonetheless, her song never managed to die.

Towhee had accompanied the adults on several patrols by now and had quickly come to enjoy them (to absolutely no one's surprise). When Elwood informed everyone he was going to do a late morning round and then grab some lunch to bring back later, the Pi tracked her godfather's every movement with her eyes. He hadn't even needed to sign for her; she had read his lips.

Raven was working with her on pronouncing words but Towhee hadn't made much progress yet. She had figured out how to make various sounds in order to attract attention. She intended to make just enough noise to get her uncle to turn but, naturally, Towhee wasn't very good at managing volume yet. She ended up barking so loudly and sharply that everyone present at the rendezvous site cringed.

She didn't notice; she had eyes only for her uncle. -I want to come with you,- she signed hopefully when Elwood faced her. The instant he nodded his assent, Towhee's face bloomed into a grin and she bounded to join him, staying attached to his hip as the Alpha led the way downhill toward the territory's outskirts.

Towhee didn't hear the howl that rose up in the air but she immediately noticed her godfather's reaction to it. -What?- she signed, prompting him to turn and say one simple word: "Outsider." The pup's smile vanished, her eyes glowing like embers as she hastened to follow him toward a brownish gray shape in the distance.

Elwood was pleased when Towhee expressed interest in accompanying him to the borders. With her trotting alongside him, he planned to make it a relatively quick trip, but their plans changed when a howl sounded. He stopped, listening carefully, then explained the situation to Towhee with a single word: "Outsider."

He was a little worried about bringing Towhee face to face with a stranger -- especially considering the girl's dislike for anyone outside of her immediate family -- but also didn't have time to drop her back off at the rendezvous site before attending to the caller. So he moved ahead, keeping an eye on his partner's smaller figure as they approached the lone wolf.

The agouti she-wolf appeared to be in good health and was waiting patiently just outside the caldera's territory. Elwood came to a halt and indicated for Towhee to stop, too, hoping that she wouldn't be too aggressive. The last thing he wanted was for her to get herself into unnecessary trouble; they didn't know this female and couldn't predict how she would react to a youth's hostile behavior. He caught Towhee's gaze and said sternly, "Watch me," then turned to address their visitor. "Can I help you?" he asked, chin tilted up and posture straight and tall; he was nonthreatening yet assertive, mostly for Towhee's benefit.

This took forever! I'm so sorry guys :(

Soon enough, Dottie was greeted by a pair of pack wolves. She lowered herself accordingly, even going so far as to crouch down to the younger lass's level. Her ears fell a bit and her eyes squinted nearly shut, though Dottie made sure to keep her eyes on the older male. I was looking to join your pack, she cooed, her voice carrying a soft lilt. I haven't been properly trained yet, but I'm looking to get a trade as soon as possible. I'm Dorothy, but most people call me Dot.

Elwood commanded her to watch him and Towhee nodded, lips pressed together as they closed the distance between themselves and the stranger. The pup eyed the unfamiliar she-wolf with open disdain and slightly prickled hackles. She glanced at her uncle, studying his body language for a moment, then turned back to the stranger. Her own tail lashed upward as she braced her forelegs and tried to look as intimidating and unwelcoming as possible.

She blinked when the woman instantly lowered herself, prostrating herself before the pair of pack wolves. Although Towhee's expression didn't change much, she licked her lips and shifted her weight. She didn't want to approve of this outsider but she instinctively welcomed the submissive behavior. It pleased her, even, though the young Xi mentally fought it.

The she-wolf spoke to Elwood and Towhee squinted at her mouth, trying to make out words. She missed a few, yet comprehended enough to fill in the blanks with context clues. The word "trade" was still relatively new to her, though it was one of her favorite concepts as of late. She knew that her adult relatives thought she would make a good mercenary, which was just one of several trades. Before she could get too caught up in that train of thought, Towhee realized with a start that she recognized the word for the stranger's name.

-Dot?- the child signed, looking up inquisitively at her godfather rather than Dot herself. She didn't understand why this woman would be called something so silly, though did any names really make sense?

Elwood split his attention almost equally between Dot and Towhee. The she-wolf was quick to adjust her posture accordingly and introduce herself, and he eyed Towhee for her reaction. He was looking at her when she signed a question about the female's name. -Yes,- he motioned back simply, not feeling a need to elaborate right then. There would be time for explanations later, and his awareness was already divided.

"I'm Elwood, Alpha male, and this is Towhee," he said, gesturing towards the young girl. He then added, "What can you assist us with, then? We don't need to take on any trainees." Their ranks were not overly full and there was room for one more, but most of the adults had their hands full raising the quickly-growing firebirds. The puppies would be learning about trades and responsibilities sooner rather than later, so assisting Dot would be a low priority.

Since Dottie went inactive, I'ma nudge her outta here so we can continue... :)

Whether or not he realized he was doing it, Elwood angled himself so that even when he addressed Dot, Towhee could still read his lips. She followed the conversation easily enough and when the Alpha indicated that they wouldn't be taking on any trainees, Towhee shot Dot a deeply scrutinizing look. Did they really need her? No, the girl thought to herself with a shake of her head, though she did the equivalent of keeping her mouth shut by carefully freezing her limbs to avoid disrupting the exchange.

In the end, it was decided somehow that Dot wasn't a good fit for the caldera. Elwood urged her on her way. Towhee smiled at the stranger's back as she retreated, a sense of satisfaction welling in her chest. She was no leader but she was deeply protective of the Redhawks' inner circle and it would take a truly exceptional wolf to gain her acceptance. Meeting Dot had been extremely underwhelming in that regard.

When Dot fully disappeared into the distance, Towhee looked hopefully at her uncle. -What now?- she signed eagerly, hoping it wasn't time to head back yet.

After having what seemed to be second thoughts about committing to a pack that wasn't exactly welcoming her with open arms, Dottie made a quick exit. Elwood watched her go with an impassive expression, his tail sinking to rest against his hind legs and his yellow eyes following her until she was out of sight.

He turned back towards Towhee with a shrug, but was pleased when she appeared to want to continue their adventure. "Want to help me patrol?" he asked, making a marching motion with his legs that was the equivalent of signing "patrol." He grinned down at her, waiting for the questions that he was sure would come as soon as they started walking.

She bobbed her head eagerly at her uncle's question, complementing it with an emphatic, -Yeah!- As the pair of them fell into step, Towhee found herself wondering if they would come across another outsider. Perhaps the next one would be less docile and submissive than Dot. She kind of hoped they would cross paths with someone a little more aggressive, so that she would have an excuse to try to kill an outsider.

But nothing much happened as they strolled along. Although it was difficult to carry conversations with her feet so busy plodding this way, Towhee managed to ask, -Uncle Elwood, what's the difference between a warrior and a guardian?-

They fell into companionable silence as they began to trundle along the outskirts. It was really a shame that Elwood couldn't read Towhee's thoughts -- he would have enjoyed hearing her musings about trying to kill an unwelcome entity. But he kept his eyes and ears focused on their surroundings, just in case they did come across another wolf of unknown origin.

He almost missed Towhee's question, since he was looking all around and not necessarily at her, but a change in her stride alerted him to the fact that she was signing. He paused in his step and caught the tail end of her question, then pieced together that she was asking about the similarities between two trades. Since he was not as skilled in sign language, he came to a complete halt in order to answer her with his fumbling motions.

"A warrior is someone who fights. But a guardian's job is to protect the pack -- and that can be by fighting or simply patrolling the borders, like we're doing right now," he said, his gestures matching his words as best he could. He probably managed to sign something along the lines of, -Warrior fights. Guardian protects family and walks the borders.-

When he stopped to respond, Towhee halted in her tracks too, focusing on the movements of both his lips and limbs. She bobbed her head in acknowledgement, her own expression growing thoughtful as she parsed his meaning. They seemed to overlap and she found appeal and merit in both offensive and defensive approaches.

-I can be both, right?- was her next question. -I want to fight and protect!- she declared with as much enthusiasm as she could inject into her own signing. -I want to kill all the outsiders until there are no outsiders left,- she added, semi-jokingly.

"Yes," Elwood replied emphatically, not feeling the need to sign that word -- the nodding of his head was enough to accompany his positive response. She could be whatever she wanted to be, including both a warrior and guardian. He gave a chuckle at Towhee's ambitious proclamation. Her dislike for "outsiders," as she consistently referred to them, reminded him of her parents; and while he wanted her to stay out of trouble, especially considering her handicap, he could already see that her feisty nature would lend itself to both mercenary trades.

"I'm just a guardian," he added. "I don't do a lot of fighting, but I can defend our pack and our territory if I need to." She would see his ferocity in action in just a few days, when the wolf from Blackfeather Woods trespassed into their territory. Tilting his head as he looked down at her, he asked, "Do you want to practice fighting?" Then, realizing he had been neglecting his sign language and forcing her to only read his lips, he made the gesture for "practice" and gave a questioning lift of his eyebrows.

Her eyes widened at Elwood's invitation. She wanted to say yes, absolutely, but a few questions cropped up in her mind. -Yes, but will we have to hurt each other?- she asked, concern etched into her youthful face. -What if I accidentally kill you?- she added with a slightly cheekier look, knowing it was highly unlikely she could overpower her godfather enough to do any kind of real damage. Still, she wanted to be sure she grasped the concept of practice fighting before they started.

He couldn't help but chuckle at Towhee's concern as he lowered himself to her eye level. "No, we'll try not to hurt each other. And if you do almost kill me, we'll just call Raven to patch me up," Elwood said with a wink. He straightened and took a few steps back, contemplating just how he would begin this sparring lesson for his deaf goddaughter.

"I'll show you how to block an attack first," he said, speaking slowly so that she could read his lips. The vocabulary he was using was out of his own range of knowledge of sign language, so he did not gesture as he spoke. "Try to bite me," he invited with a grin, then added, "But not too hard!"

Elwood seemed to appreciate her joke, though he answered sincerely nonetheless, laying her worries to rest. Her eyes followed his movements as he winked and took a few steps backward. Towhee felt anticipation building in her nerves and muscles, stiffening them in preparation for what was to come.

He indicated that he wanted to show her how to block, so Towhee braced herself even more, prepared to field an attack. But her godfather instructed her to come at him instead. Unfazed by this turn of events, she merely bobbed her head, then squared up and bounded forward. Elwood hadn't said where to bite, so she made a split second decision and attempted to snap (close-lipped) at his left ankle.

Elwood took a few steps back as Towhee readied herself. He lowered himself slightly, his stance defensive with his shoulder turned out toward her. Although she was small and this was her very first practice, he kept his gaze trained on her as she coordinated her approach. He wanted to be able to show her properly how to deflect another wolf's attack.

She leaped towards him and made a sudden movement towards his left leg. He was able to withdraw quickly, pivoting to give his flank the brunt of what would have been his attacker's offensive maneuver. Because of his size advantage over her, he was able to move away swiftly. He straightened up and grinned. "Good job! Did you see how I turned away from you?" he said. He hadn't exactly "blocked" her, but he had prevented her from sinking her teeth into his foreleg. He hoped that she would understand his intentions.

He wanted to explain more, but for fear of being too wordy, he bit his lip and waited to see what Towhee had to say.

She caught nothing but empty air as Elwood deftly maneuvered, flicking his foreleg away from her mouth and swinging his entire body broadside. She was impressed by his swiftness. Towhee hadn't even really come close to biting him. It was actually a tiny bit frustrating, feeling that ineffective, but mostly she just felt respect for her uncle's skills and an eagerness to learn from him.

He was speaking to her, so Towhee concentrated on his lips rather than her thoughts, then nodded. -I want to learn to move that fast,- she told him with a little grin before her expression grew serious again. -Can you show me how?-

"Sure," Elwood replied gamely. He was glad to see that Towhee was so interested in picking up a trade at such a young age. His own children had taken longer to decide what jobs would best fit them, but Towhee certainly had her parents' ambition.

"If you want to turn fast, just dig your feet into the ground and use that to propel yourself," he said, taking a moment to demonstrate. He loped forward a few paces then veered sharply to one side, exaggerating his movements so that she could observe them. "It's called a pivot," he added, though he didn't know the sign for that particular word.

It sounded so simple, though it was a little more difficult in practice, if only because focusing on digging in her heel tended to slow Towhee's established momentum. She carefully followed her uncle's instructions, however, and bit back her frustrations as she pivoted again and again. It probably looked quite strange to any onlooker who happened to pass by but the Xi was too busy concentrating on perfecting the movement to care one whit about who might be watching her.

She exhausted herself quite quickly, though after nearly twenty minutes of practicing the motion repeatedly, Towhee felt rather like she'd gotten the hang of it. Plopping lopsidedly onto a hip, tongue lolling, she signed, -How am I doing, Uncle Elwood?- But before he could reply to that, she emphatically added, -I'm STARVING! Can we find something to eat?- Even though she was still a little breathless and wobbly, she hopped right back to all fours as she gave the Alpha male a hungry look.

Feel free to wrap it up for us! :D <3

Elwood stepped back and watched as Towhee practiced. She was determined, just like her mother, and she tried the maneuver over and over again. He offered small suggestions here and there, but mostly allowed her to figure it out herself. By the end of it, he was pleased with the progress she had made.

"That was great!" he praised, grinning down at her. "You worked up an appetite, huh? Let's go get something to eat," he said, and with a nudge to her shoulder, he began to lead the way back towards the rendezvous site.