Redhawk Caldera I don't sweat under any circumstances.

The air had grown considerably cooler lately and Towhee appreciated the break from the blazing summer sun always bearing down on her back, especially when she was patrolling. She wrapped up her most recent foray around the borders, then began climbing upward toward the rendezvous site. On her way there, she stopped to munch on a rabbit in one of the caches, one that bore Phox's familiar scent.

After she finished eating, the finished the trek to the pack's heart. "Hey guys!" she shouted (much too loudly), hoping to gather the pups together for a bit of story time under the pleasant September afternoon sun.

@Clover @Fiadh @Tegan @Lucca :)

Clover had just been wrestling with @Lucca when the overly-loud voice of their elder sister, Towhee, sounded off. Clover removed herself from the other Blackthorn and bellowed just as loudly, not seeing anything wrong with that, TOWHEE!!! She responded, running toward her with a waving tail. Clover reared onto her haunches and attempted to place them on the nearest foreleg to her, grinning toothily at her. What's doin'?

tegan didn't really understand that towhee was deaf, since she spoke real words and she always understood his own real words too. it might've gone over his little head anyway. so, it typically bothered him when towhee came in screeching-- couldn't she hear herself? didn't she know that she was being so loud? 

clover didn't seem to mind, but that didn't surprise tegan, considering how loud clover was herself! his siren of a sister screeched and bounded over, earning a dirty look from the eldest blackthorn potato. but, enjoying towhee and her fun gestures anyway, tegan waddled himself on over and plopped down in front of her, tail tip-tip-tapping against the earth. he wanted to learn something new today, surely towhee had something fun up her sleeve. all at once, tegan repeat clover's "what doin?" while similtaniously signing the motion he'd learned previously-- -towhee-.

Two of the four pups came bounding over to her. Towhee greeted them by dipping her head and wagging her tail. "Where's @Fiadh and @Lucca?" she asked them in between affectionate nips to their ears. "I want to tell the four of you some stories," the Xi added to answer their question.

Motioning for them to follow, Towhee led the way to a comfy, sun-dappled spot in the grass and sat. She peered around for the remaining puppies before focusing her attention on Clover and Tegan. -I want to tell you a story about my father, one of the founders of the pack along with my mother and your parents,- she began.

Towhee's initial question was answered with a glance over her shoulder. I bet Lucca's smellin mouses butts, she said before giggling, finding herself incredibly funny, and not knowing that when she turned around Towhee would not be able to know what she was saying. She swung her face back toward Towhee and thought of Fiadh. Fiadh would probably want to be here. Feeling bad for Lucca, too, Clover hollered: FIADH!!!! LUCCA!!! STOP SMELLIN' MOUSES BUTTSES AND COME HERE! She hollered at the top of her lungs. 

Clover bounded after Towhee as she directed them, moving now and then to nip hellishly at her heel before retreating with an impish grin. But when Towhee signed, Clover watched with apt interest. -Founder???- That Towhee had another dad was totally missed by her. That this did not make them siblings obviously was also missed by her; Clover fully considered Towhee to be their big sister.

"HEY!!!" bellowed Fiadh from a distance in response to Clover's call, "I'M NOT SNIFFIN POOPY BUTTS!" No, that was gross baby stuff! Fiadh was a big girl who did big girl things. To clarify just what she was doing, and confirm her big-kid status, she hollered, "I'M COMING!!!" Unlike the others, Fiadh had been farther away from the heart of the packlands and, unlike her siblings, she was working with much shorter legs than they were. 

Using Clover's words as motivation, Fiadh picked up the pace until she arrived. Once she did, she greeted them all with a lifted tail and a sunny smile, as she was happy to be included. "-What's up?-" she signed to their older sister once she sat at Tegan's side and her sides heaved as she attempted to catch her breath.

Unfortunately for him, Lucca had been sniffing around in the dirt when Clover's call came. He jerked upright, grey muzzle streaked with brown that looked very much like something that came from a mouse's butt. "WHAT?" he hollered back, ears swivelling as he heard Fiadh's voice ring out too, denying their sister's claim. It registered that he was being summoned, but he had just found the coolest clump of dirt here. Lucca looked back at it, clearly conflicted on whether to spend more time with it or with his siblings.

When Fiadh yelled out again, the boy decided that whatever they were doing would probably be more exciting. Probably. "WAIT FOR ME!"

He — with his slightly longer legs and faster gait — arrived at the same time as his sister, but bounded right past her with a loud, "hi, Towhee!" Coming to a tumbling stop in the grass, the boy fell into a heap beside Clover and looked up excitedly at their "sister", who he regarded as much as a sibling as he did Lagan. What did she have in store for them today?

pleased with clover's words-- though the screaming was unecessary-- tegan let out a fit of giggles. "fi sniffs mouses butts," he echoed with a few taps of his tail against the ground. what a nerd! he'd never do that. 

fiadh came tumbling in, falling into place beside him. tegan gave her a quick nip to the shoulder, just because he could, and then focused inon towhee-- who was going to tell them a story! he fell silent, tail still wagging, excited to hear what she'd have to say.

Towhee had no idea of the comically loud exchange she was missing, though her brow quirked in amusement when she noticed the pups were shouting among themselves. She rolled her eyes with the greatest affection, patiently waiting for all four to come to her and settle. Although she was not a patient wolf, generally speaking, she seemed to have infinite patience for the puppies.

-Settle down,- she instructed with gentle movements and a cool gaze. She then nodded to acknowledge their greetings and questions. -I want to tell you a story about Peregrine, one of the founders of this pack. That word means that he was one of the wolves to start the pack,- the Xi patiently explained. -Now, I never met him myself, nor his mate and my mother, Fox. But wolves like your mom and dad, as well as Raven, Lagan and some of the others, knew them well...-

She paused there, hoping she'd managed to capture their attention before Towhee got into the meat of the story.

Her summons worked, and Clover giggled as she overheard their shouts. She looked conspirationally towards Tegan and whispered knowingly (despite their distant protests), they sniffs mouse butts, with an impish expression on her face. Seconds later Lucca literally rolled up, and Fiadh was right beside him actually. It was to Lucca she looked when she said, henlo stinky, her own tail beating against the earth, tapping to the same beat as Tegan's. 

When Towhee requested they settle down, Clover listened. My mother Fox, Towhee explained. Of course, Clover didn't know her own mothers name. And the meaning of that went over her head. Though Towhee sought to teach an important lesson, most of it went over her head. 

It was difficult for Clover herself to keep engaged—not because of her lack of interest, but because there was a brilliantly colored butterfly dancing around Towhee at this very moment. Clover's eyes followed it, and it was easy to see that she was distracted. Antsily, Clover shifted her weight.

Skipping Fiadh as she's gone on PPC <3

At Clover's greeting, Lucca blew her a raspberry and slipped in a quick, quiet, "no, you're stinky!" before Towhee began with her story. The thumps of all of their tails hitting the ground provided a pleasant, if not slightly off-beat, rhythm. Lucca wiggled as he sat, undecided if he wanted to rest his head on his paws or sit upright and so constantly changed position as their sister relayed information that the boy didn't entirely digest.

He perked up at the mention of Raven and Lagan, two of the few wolves that Towhee spoke of that he actually knew. The eagerness that he displayed suddenly shifted to the creature beside the adult's head, though, at the same time as Clover spotted it. His orange eyes darted to it and watched with fascination, also not even trying to hide his obvious inattention.

I'ma conclude this for us. :)

-Peregrine grew up in a land far away from here,- Towhee began when she was reasonably certain she had captured her audience's attention, -in a place called Seahawk Valley. When his parents grew old and died, his older brother rose to power in their pack and kicked out all the other males—boys,- she clarified, uncertain as to whether the pups would know such a clinical term.

She paused there, noticing Clover's and Lucca's eyes moving, their little snouts pointed somewhere beside her face. Towhee turned just in time for the butterfly to bump into the moist leathery flesh of her nose. She sneezed abruptly, sending the insect swirling in the air before plastering Fiadh square between the eyes. The little girl went cross-eyed and then began to squeal. Towhee couldn't hear the noise but she could see it happen nonetheless, unsure whether Fiadh was delighted or frightened or both.

-Let me,- she signed but now none of the foursome was paying her any attention as they all began to giggle and scream over the butterfly, which was promptly torn from Fiadh's face. Towhee watched bemusedly, waiting for an opportunity to draw their attention back to her story, before ultimately deciding to give it a rest. She would wait until the pups were older, when they could better understand the importance of this tale, and pick up where she'd left off today.