Redhawk Caldera A Single Spark

Nevouku had been waiting a while. He had no idea how long he was meant to have waited, but it had been a while for certain. He had waited nearby, not wanting to trail too far off. Occasionally, the nightmares and panic attacks got worse. Nothing was helping. He didn't know of anything that could help him, no herbs or self actions that could help him.

Finally Nevouku had come back to Redhawk however. He howled out for @Finley, the one he had told that he would be back to meet with. And there, he waited for her, or any others to come to meet him.

Finley felt like a planet, and she was completely positive that she looked like one too. She had long since stopped looking at her own reflection - there was never anything good in it. Half her face covered in scars, all her fur going white, and now looking every day more and more like her mother had been a hot air balloon and her father a blimp. Her reflection was not her friend and she didn't need to glimpse it to know this. She was just a big, fat, big.. big old... GAH.

When the call sounded, Fin stubbornly pulled her massive belly up off the ground and stomped off to answer it. She had reached that odd place in her pregnancy where she was completely in denial about how carrying puppies might limit her ability to do certain things, or make it unwise for her to do others. Greeting strangers at the borders was one of those unwise things, but Fin gave none of the fucks. She might technically have been helpless to fend off an attacker if the stranger calling happened to be a serial killer or any other villain, but she refused to accept this as fact. She had a withering glare that would make even Ithrik beg for forgiveness at her paws. That was all the defense she needed.

And besides, she knew that voice.

"Welcome back," Fin said to Nevouku as she waddled into his presence, smiling. She had hoped that he would be back. Considering how uh.. off Sebastian had been since returning from Blackfeather, she was hopeful that his family might be able to help.

Nevouku waited for some time and soon his call was answered by the alpha female. And she looked...different. "Uh, h-hi" he said, though the smile was reassuring. Gave off a more friendly look towards him. "Is the w-war over? And y-y-you are looking l-lovely today" he added, as he was one to give compliments in the politest of manners. "B-Better I mean...I mean s-since the last m-m-meeting, and...I'll just be quiet" he finished with.

He was an odd one, this.... oh fuck, what's his name? Maybe she could find a way to sidestep that whole thing in this conversation. Anyway. Fin found herself immediately annoyed with with his stutter, but she swallowed it, knowing he probably couldn't help it. It reminded her a little of Peregrine's old lover... What's his name. Good lord, she was bad with names. Wait, what was he saying?

"Hm? Oh, yeah. War's all done," she said, "We ran them out. We're home, I'm knocked up, the world is back to normal again." Fin paused then before asking, "Hey.. you haven't seen anything of Lucy, have you?" She didn't hold much hope that he had. Her daughter was actually a lot like she had been when she was young. When she got spooked, she always put as much distance between herself and her troubles as possible.

Nevouku tipped his head a bit, she seemed slightly distracted. He was glad to hear the war was done however. And her being 'knocked up', that explained a bit about her. "C-Congragulations on the pups" he said politely. Then she asked a question he couldn't think he could answer. 

"I...no, I h-haven't, sorry...but she h-h-has Skwol." And Skwol most certainly seemed quite tough, yes. "She will b-be fine with him, I am s-sure of it."

Fin smiled at his congratulations and gave a little shrug. She was pleased to be having more kids, but considering it was their fourth litter, it kind of already felt like old news. When she was a child, she had always thought that she would hate to be like her mom - just a glorified baby factory. Now that she was older and she had like seventy kids, she understood the draw. They were pretty darn cute. And they were always catching food for her. It was seriously awesome.

Her hopes fell slightly when he admitted he hadn't seen Lucy. She hadn't expected him to say yes, but still. She thought of the white wolf that had gone after her and did feel somewhat comforted. He seemed a capable enough young man. And besides which, Lucy had made it this far, and that told Fin she had inherited her mother's knack for survival. She would be alright. She had to be.

"I think you're right..." Fin replied gently. She sighed then, changing tracks. He hadn't come here to talk about Lucy, after all. "Well, I suppose you're here to join our ranks? Walk with me this way," she directed with her muzzle before beginning to stride not-elegantly along the borders, not waiting for him to confirm if that truly was his intention, "I'm not actually alpha anymore. I gave the job to my niece and she'll have the final say now. Trick with her is we can't call her here. She's deaf, so we have to find her. She's usually patrolling the borders though, so I'm sure we'll come across her, and you can wow me with an explanation of all of your skills until we do." She smiled.

Finley smiled, and he tried to smile back. It was a bit of a nervous smile however. She assured herself in saying that Nev must have been right, about Lucy being okay especially with Skwol having followed her. 

Then the conversation shifted to the reason he had come. He started to follow with her, listening to Finley as she spoke. A deaf alpha? He found that to be rather...unusual. To pass the time, Finley gave a suggestion.

"W-Well...I can hunt, ex-exceptionally well. And can t-t-track well." He was good at those things. His mate had taught him a lot...before everything happened. He had a good teacher. And Sebastian had been a good teacher too. Speaking of which, "Sebastian, h-he taught me a lot."

Hunting and tracking. Well, if a wolf was going to be good at anything, it really ought to be skills like those. Finley didn't have much use for astronomers or bards. She didn't hold it against anyone who excelled in any of the softer skills, but she did much prefer they have a talen she could make some use of. So, score one for this guy. Damnit, why couldn't she remember his name... Hopefully they'd run into Towhee soon so she could watch him introduce himself to her and learn his name that way. Lord knows she wasn't coming up with it on her own anytime soon.

Ah, and they were back to Sebastian. Fin bit her lip softly, thinking. Should she tell him? If he was going to live here, he would find out soon enough anyway... "Hey, about Sebastian..." she said with a resigned sigh, "He uh. Hell, I don't know how to say this. Something's not right with Sebastian since he got back from the battle. He's..." She frowned at him thoughtfully, then huffed in frustration at her inability to come up with the way to explain, "He's just.. kinda messed up. Mentally, I mean. I think maybe it's really good that you're here. I think you might be able to help him. Maybe..."

Hopefully. Otherwise the guilt she felt over his condition was going to eat her alive. But let's not think too hard about that yet.

Nevouku looked over Finley for a reaction to his skills. He assumed since there was no eye rolls that it was something they needed...or she didn't really care or mind. Then the subject was to Sebastian.

"Wait, s-something is wrong with h-him?" Was he injured? Did a wound get infected?...Was he dead?! He thought on this as Finley frowned. And even started to panic, but she spoke again before the real panic set in. "That's...not like the S-Seb I knew..." He wanted to help Seb, like Seb had helped him those many months ago, before he left. Then he thought...how would Seb react to him returning?

hopefully I'm articulating correctly what Fin would know about the situation at this point...

"No. No, it's not like him at all," Fin answered promptly, considering, "He lost someone very close to him after the fight. I don't really know what happened to her, but he came back without her. Though, he seems to somehow have it in his head that she's still alive. He talks about her as though she's still here. He talks to her like she's right next to him, but she's not."

Fin looked at her friend's brother, knowing she was not hiding the helplessness she felt from showing on her face. It was a bizarre situation. She didn't know how to handle it, except to follow @Raven's instructions, whatever they may be. For the most part, they had just let the poor guy go on with his delusions. But it felt wrong.. Almost as wrong as it would've felt to break his heart by telling him that Andalusia was gone.

This...this was not Sebastian at all. Talking to someone no longer there? He definitely needed help. And while Nevouku was plenty broken... "I-If I manage to g-get in, I will do wh-what I can...so, your n-n-niece, do you kn-know where she might be?" he asked to Finley. He was beginning to worry for Seb. And anymore worrying would cause panic to rise.

Gonna wrap this up for us! Welcome to the 'Dera :D

Fin smiled at his words, even though she still wanted to smack that stutter out of him. She hoped that his presence here truly would help. The guilt over what had happened to him was terrible when she let herself think about it. He hadn't wanted to go. He had been reluctant even when he'd agreed. She had tried to spare Andalusia for him by sending her away, but she had come anyway. Even her best intentions went to shit...

"We'll find her," Fin said confidently. She tossed her head back then and gave out a howl - not for Towhee, but to see if anyone was close to her and could call back to give her location. As her call faded, she paused to wait for an answer. When one finally came, it was @Orca's voice that directed her. Fin smiled - bless that girl. "Alright, that's Towhee's sister. We're going the right direction," she grinned, then made a decision, "Look, Towhee will get the final say, but I'm really confident that you're in. Just be respectful, tell her of your intentions and I'll take care of the rest. We just need her to meet you so that she doesn't try to run you out if she comes across you and you haven't been properly introduced. She can be delightfully feisty like that."

Fin smiled, then started off again - this time at a quicker pace since she knew now where they were headed. When they eventually reached @Towhee, all went to plan. The guy was nice, Towhee was trusting of Fin's judgment, and Fin finally learned his name. Job well done!