Redhawk Caldera Into jungles, into hell

aw but also @Raven

After the tussle with the stranger, Gannet walked with a little extra lift.  It didn't matter that, had Whip not shown up, likely the fight would not have gone well for him.  They had triumphed, had protected their home and prevented anyone else from disappearing.  He was proud!

The scrapes on his neck itched some, and he had a couple of bruises from the ordeal, but all in all he'd made it out unscathed from the first fight.  He was in no way aware he'd actually chased off a willing recruit, but still he hadn't told his mother of the fight.  He'd handled it, just like dad would have wanted.  For the first time in a few days, he felt a little ray of happiness breaking through.

She made it to back to the caldera in one piece. Resolving never to step foot outside its borders again, Raven dashed uphill to check on her mother at the rendezvous site. En route, she crossed paths with an unfamiliar wolf. The yearling slowed, studying him. He had white fur and, curiously, black feet. She stared at them as she padded closer, trying to figure out if his fur was actually dark or just dirty on his lower limbs.

But when she came closer, she forgot all about his strangely-colored peets feet. Her yellow eyes fixed on the scrapes on the side of his neck. Already she was flipping through a mental catalog, comparing and contrasting it to the few herbs she had available in storage. She should find him something to stave off fever and infection. Raven should also make a salve to help with pain and itchiness.

First, though, she needed to find out who he was and whether he even wanted her help. "Hello there," she said as she waved her tail. "How'd you get those?" she wondered conversationally, gesturing at his neck before adding, "I'm Raven. I'm kinda new, sorta old." She smiled softly.

He was stopped by another stranger, dark and friendly, but by scent he knew immediately who it was; Raven, the sister he had never before met.  He'd heard she was here, but hadn't felt much up for seeking her out.  

Now, though, he gave a happy wave of his tail in return to her hello, smiling at her. This was turning out to be a good day, follow up to a good night.

She asked about the cuts, and he just smiled a little bigger, proud of his and Whip's success.  "Intruder," he said.  "We chased him away."  

He liked her name; Raven, Gannet, and Whip-poor-will.  All of the remaining firebirds were literal birds, and for some reason that fact made the boy happy.  A sibling connection, not that he needed more reason to like her.  If you were a packmate, chances were Gannet was enthusiastically fond of you.

He didn't offer a name in turn, though he did explain how he had gotten his abrasions. Although Raven's stomach lurched a little bit at the idea of such a young wolf warding off intruders, he seemed pretty proud of himself and she couldn't help but smile indulgently. She had a suspicion this was her other younger brother and that automatically endeared her to him. Hopefully it worked the other way around as well.

"I'd like to take a look at them, if you don't mind?" Raven said, eyeing his neck again and inching closer but not closing the distance until he gave his consent. "I can clean them if you like, then give you an oral medication that will prevent them from getting infected."

Gannet thought only a minute before nodding.  He felt ok and didn't much see the point, but if she wanted to, he didn't mind at all.

While he waited, he wondered at where she came from.  If she was his sister, why hadn't she stayed? But then, neither had Wildfire.  Then maybe the question was, why come back?  Maybe she, like him, didn't find the world outside that much better than what they had here.  Here he had family; out there it was just him.  Fun to travel, but not much fun for too long.

Taking his nod as permission, Raven came close enough to study the wounds. They were neither large nor deep, luckily. After meeting his eyes briefly, the yearling pressed her tongue against his flesh and fur and began to clean them. When she was satisfied, she stepped away and motioned for him to follow as she began trotting toward the rendezvous site.

"I keep my medicines in an old badger den there," she explained as they walked. "Will you tell me more about what happened?" Raven then asked, her tone genuinely curious about the details of the altercation.

When she moved to look, he lifted his head so that she could better see, and better clean them.  It stung a bit, and he grimaced, but he didn't complain.  He knew the cleaning at least was important; instinct said infection was a danger, and he couldn't really reach them himself.

He followed compliantly, but didn't immediately answer her question, if only because it perplexed the boy.  More about what happened? He'd already told her plainly.  Maybe she didn't hear.  "We chased him out," he repeated, head sliding to tilt sideways a bit when he looked at her.  Why all of the sudden did it seem no one understood the danger of intruders?

There was a subtle note of impatient disbelief in his voice as he repeated his earlier statement and Raven's face went blank before her lips began curving into a smile. Catching his eye even as they kept walking, she said, "No, like... tell me the gory details. Who is 'we'? How did you get him to leave?" There was a slightly conspiratorial tone to her own voice, as if she was genuinely impressed and intrigued (she was) but knew she probably shouldn't be encouraging such a young wolf to beat up trespassers.

"Oh," she added before he could presumably indulge her questions, facing forward again but bending an ear in his direction, "and what's your name, by the way?"

Still he didn't understand.  In Gannet's mind, it was so simple.  He wasn't one for description or feeling the need for more words than necessary - storytelling was not in his future.

But he was nothing if not patient, so he benignly repeated once again how they'd gotten rid of the stranger.  "We chased him."  The other questions were too much at once, so he ignored them.

A name he could do, however.  He cocked his head and smiled.  "Gannet."  A bird, just like her! Without pause, and completely on a whim, he asked the question he'd before wondered at.  "Why'd you come back?"  There was genuine curiosity to it - usually family didnt come back, from his experience.  Why (and how?) had she?

Raven wanted details and he gave her exactly three words, which were already redundant. She raised an eyebrow at him, studying his face, and decided he wasn't withholding for the sake of it. Perhaps there really wasn't anything more to tell. Although she still really wanted to know who else had been involved, she decided to drop it. She was a medic, not a dentist, and didn't feel like pulling teeth.

The conversation moved onward, with the youth gladly offering up his name, then questioning her about her comeback. "I never meant to leave. I wanted to be here this whole time. I went to look for someone and got lost," Raven explained, regret threading through her tone. "It was a really dumb thing to do. It took me all this time—more than half a year—to find my way back," she admitted, sheepishness now coloring her voice. "I'm really sorry I missed so much. I never meant to."

He felt like she might think he didn't like that she was gone, but he wasn't sure why that was.  After all, he hadn't known, right? So the apology surprised and confused him.  She came back, right? He didn't really care about much else.

"Where?" He asked, even though it was unlikely he would have been there.  He was a wolf of the world now!  He'd been out and seen (in his mind) a good chunk of things.  So he was interested in hearing about more.

They reached the rendezvous site even as Gannet asked, "Where?" Raven didn't answer right away, motioning for him to follow her as she led the way to the badger den. Once there, she stopped at the doorway and considered her meager options. When she turned around to face her younger brother, there was a leaf in her mouth, the stem held carefully between her lips. She set it gingerly at his feet.

"Chew and swallow this. It'll help prevent infection," she instructed, gesturing for him to take a seat even as she planted her own hindquarters. "As for where I went... everywhere except here, it felt like," she replied belatedly. "I went in search of someone, unaware of just how big the world was or how awful I would be at navigating it." Her mouth dipped into a frown. "I missed so much, including you being born. But I hope I can make up for it now," she finished with a tentative smile.

When they arrived and she gave him instructions, he did them without hesitating, compliant despite the bitter taste of the leaf.  He chewed it while he listened to what she said, though again the last made no sense.  Leaving seemed to be a thing everyone did, and so he saw nothing to apologize for. Maybe she was just sad about it?  He hadn't missed her, but maybe she'd missed them?  No, that made no sense either.  She hadn't met them.

He tried to suss it out to no avail, then gave up.  "Make up for what?"  He asked, genuinely curious.  "Did you find them?"  He had some grasp on how big the world was, though he doubted he would ever get lost in it.  Whether that cofidence had merit or was simply youthful ignorance would be something he'd likely find out someday.

"Lost time," she said with a light shrug, "and no, unfortunately, I never did." Perhaps if the pack hadn't experienced a tragedy so recently, Raven might have told Gannet about Pantaleimon, that sweet and gentle soul. Another day, she would definitely have to tell her younger brothers about him. It just didn't seem like the right time right now.

"I recommend a nice long drink to wash that down," Raven said, noting the slight twist of his features at the plant's bitter taste. She favored him with a sisterly smile. "Would you like to walk to the lake with me?" she invited, thinking of the territory's main landmark. They could walk and talk some more. Raven very much wanted to get up to speed on all things Gannet.

Wanna fade 'ere? :)

Sure! I gotta get gannet some updated ones :0

Hmm.  So she'd gone away to find someone and not found them.  Gannet tried to imagine finding a single wolf even in the territory they'd explored with mom.  Yeah nah.  Not surprising.  

If his strange sister wanted to apologize though he guessed that was ok, even if he still didn't get it.  Letting that drop, he nodded to her suggestion, then followed alongside.  She wouldn't get a lot out of the taciturn boy, but he would enjoy the time and company, even if showing it vocally wasn't one of his strong suits.