Blacktail Deer Plateau only time will tell

This thread takes place right after Fox has an encounter with Jinx.

Since she was already out and about, Fox followed the Whitefish River north toward Blacktail Deer Plateau. She wanted to give another head's up to Perry; this time about Jinx's apparent ball-busting of any wolf that came within the surrounding areas. Considering Perry's pack practically bordered Silvertip Mountain, he may have already known this, but Fox still thought it a good idea to let him know. It was cooler today, cloudy, and it left a gloomy feel over the entirety of Teekon Wilds.

Outside the bounds of Blacktail Deer Plateau, Fox called for @Peregrine, hoping to meet him on neutral ground for a more relaxed discussion. Surely that would be better than showing up on his doorstep like she had in the past. The yearling brought no gifts this time, but she did not think it would matter. She brought the gift of information.

Peregrine, Hawkeye and Kisu were making a team effort to bathe their four rowdy offspring when Fox's call arose into the air. Although the Alpha male felt guilty leaving them at two to one odds, he was a bit relieved to have an excuse to make an exit. He was getting incredibly frustrated with the pups and didn't want to take it out on them by shouting at them. He didn't want to be that kind of father.

The tension in his shoulders eased as he made his way toward the borders, loped down the slope leading into neutral territory and approached Fox. He remembered his peculiar feelings during their previous encounter and he found himself admiring her, though having just parted ways with his mate helped him stay focused and not let his thoughts stray too far into treacherous territory.

"What do you want, weiner?" he asked brusquely, albeit with an impish glimmer in his eye.

"I've got more news," she replied, completely oblivious to the way he admired her then and there. Fox had never been a romantic, and since they lived in two separate packs, that thought had never even crossed her mind. It would be a disgrace to be involved with somebody outside one's own pack. Even Bones's involvement with the plateau and her father was perplexing to the yearling, though she did not hold it against the juvenile.

"The wolves on Silvertip Mountain are being a little overzealous. My scout was in a nearby neutral territory, and I was told she would be 'punished' if she got close to the mountain again." If prey had been scarce, Fox would have understood. But this was springtime, and there was plenty of food to go around. The neutral grounds should always be just that: neutral. "Has Bones come to visit you?" she asked, leading the conversation in a different direction.

Peregrine sighed impatiently, though the news Fox delivered actually did interest him this time. His eyes narrowed and he laughed incredulously. "Just like with all bullying, it's a sign of insecurity and weakness," he opined, saying nothing more but keeping this information in mind in case it became an issue. Silvertip Mountain was already too close for his tastes and Peregrine simply wouldn't stand for it if they started acting as if the surrounding territories belonged to them too.

When she asked about Bones, Peregrine smiled and quipped, "Aye, I've finally met my brother's crotch fruit. Evidently, we're harboring another one too. Anyway, why do you ask?"

"Bones wants to be in contact with her father, though I still don't understand why, and I wanted to make sure she had cleared everything with you. I don't want us to get in a tousle over that." If Perry had a problem with Bones visiting, she would either have to stop seeing her father at the plateau or she would have to join him. The creek was thankfully strong in numbers now, but Fox did not wish to lose one of her more longer-standing members.

"You have one of Bones's siblings?" Fox asked. From what she remembered, they were all dead. Then again, her memory was not particularly reliable. It was, in fact, quite the opposite, and she often found herself forgetting this or that. Fox wondered if this news would make Bones wish to move to the plateau after all. She seemed hellbent on being in touch with her blood family, although Fox clearly thought Swiftcurrent was vastly more important.

"She's my brother's kid," Peregrine said in response to both of her concerns. "They're very happy to be reunited... or united in the first place, I guess. Anyway, I wouldn't even think to bar them from seeing each other. They usually stick to the borders and flat lands anyway," he added. "She seems to be a nice enough kid. She has quite a mouth on her." He smirked appreciatively.

"Yeah, it appears a youngster I recruited about a month back is her brother. His name's Kraken. I've been meaning to mentor him but I'm busy with my own kids, so... it hasn't happened." Peregrine shrugged. "I don't know either of them well but, like I said, they both seem like good kids. And since inter-pack relations seem so important to the rest of the world... I guess they'll be good little ambassadors between our packs."

It was unlikely that Fox would ever understand this obsession with blood relatives. Perry and Bones seemed adamant about drilling it into her head, but it went in one ear and out the other. Fox's opinions were based on her experience alone, and considering she was not close with any of her family, it was hard for her to see the significance. Perry mentioned Bones's language, and Fox couldn't help but grin. The girl had a tendency to rattle on and on, and Fox tended to tune it out about four words in.

Perry mentioned Kraken and Bones being good ambassadors, and Fox rolled her eyes at the word. “Did you know Northstar Vale showed up on our doorstep with four or five of their strongest? That was their version of being ambassadors.” It had been outright threatening to Fox and her lot, especially considering she had only just taken over the creek at that point. “I don’t care what Bones does in her spare time if she's doing her duty to the creek, but don’t think for once that we are forming some kind of”—Fox mock-gagged for effect—“alliance. Circumstances change far too quickly for that.”

The yearling paused, letting that sink in before adding, “That said, you are quite a ways away from Swiftcurrent, so it’s unlikely we would run into one another unless we were looking for trouble.” Just as Fox had been on the day that they met.

"No," Peregrine replied dryly, "and they'd better not do that here." He gave Fox a dark look, which wasn't intended for her. "What did you do?" he questioned before adding, with a cheeky smirk, "Don't worry, Lil' Weenie, I don't have any interest in forming alliances with anyone, even you." He paused, then quipped, "Maybe especially you..."

He nodded at her next statement. "Indeed. We will always be rivals by nature but we're so far away that there's no competition for resources, which is why I don't wipe you out every time your adorable little face pops up on my border like a bad rash." The Alpha male smirked again. "I think you could call us frenemies."

Fox paused at the question, and she would have scratched her head if she'd had a hand. “We showed them our numbers, and they backed down,” she replied, remembering the events as the fog lifted away from her memory. Xi'nuata had come to the creek at least once more after that, seeking some form of peace, but Fox would have none of it. She did not forgive easily, especially to those who posed a threat to her. Even Njal, one of the wolves she was quite close to, had torn a rift between them by allowing an outsider to cross the boundary into their home. Granted, the final outcome had been a very good one, but the fact that he had done such a thing still burned.

“I’d ask you to make the trek out to the creek in a few weeks for any updates, but something tells me you’ve got yourself busy with little ones,” she said. Fox didn't mind leaving the creek in the hands of her trusted and able comrades, and getting out and about had been her pastime before she had become a leader. “Tell Kraken he can come by and visit Bones whenever he'd like, so long as he doesn’t step foot onto creek territory.” They could meet on neutral ground easily enough.

“I should be getting back. I’ve been away from the creek for a night, and I don’t wish to come back to a mutiny,” she joked. Her followers were actually quite good about making the right choices about how to handle things.

Although he liked Fox as much as Peregrine could like an outsider (and even though he was attracted to her, a fact which he wouldn't admit even to himself), the thought of visiting the creek had never really crossed his mind. When she proposed it, he pulled a face, though he didn't cross it off the list of possibilities.

"I'll let him know, if I see him," Peregrine rejoined. "And maybe I'll pop up at the creek someday, like a giant festering boil. Then you'll know that it feels like." He smirked, his tail giving a lash. "Off you go, then. See you, Fox."

After watching her turn and leave, Peregrine faced the plateau and began trekking up the slope. As he walked, he suddenly wondered if that was the first time he'd ever used her given name.