Redhawk Caldera how the hell does a broken heart get back together when it's torn apart.

The world seemed to move in slow motion around her. Inch by inch, it circled. Minute by agonizing minute, it crept along. Finley watched through empty eyes, not seeing a thing and wishing so very badly she couldn't feel anything either.

She had failed. Again, she had failed at being a mother, a provider. She had set out to keep her remaining daughter safe and happy and now she was gone. It felt every bit as terrible as when she had lost Lucy. She had failed to bring her second daughter home. And now, she had failed to keep her first there.

Finley tucked herself into an even smaller ball. She lifted an arm to shift her muzzle beneath it, wanting to block out the world. She had found herself wandering the Caldera aimlessly until eventually she'd come to the den she had first lived in when they'd taken the territory. Her first home. Back before she'd had kids or responsibilities or anything she could disappoint so completely. Fin had settled down in the mouth of her old den, thinking bitterly of her old self. She had been so carefree... And now it had all gone so horribly wrong.

She missed her kid.

What had she done?

Lagan was miserable too.

He'd lost both of his sisters, but it was even worse now. He'd known Liffey forever! She was his twin, he'd loved her so much. Now she'd gone and run off with her Romeo. He wondered if he had told Rannoch back when he met him that Liffey wasn't interested, that maybe the male would've just left without her. He'd remind himself that that was a cruel thought, and that it was Liffey who'd chosen to leave. But he still couldn't help but thinking it.

Even though he hated her being gone, at least he knew she was ok, safe in the arms of her new boyfriend, with a pack to keep her warm at night. He looked on the bright side; he still had all four of his lovely little cousins, he still had his buddy Raven, his mom and dad, and his brother Eljay. Even though he wasn't as close with Eljay as he was with Liffey, or maybe even as he was with the firebirds, he still loved him very much. He still had a wonderful, safe, loving family, with or without his twin. And he promised himself he'd see her again, hopefully soon.

His mom was worse off, she wasn't an optimist like little Lagan. She would go into fits of sadness sometimes, and Lagan couldn't bear to watch. He followed her scent all the way to a small den, her old one. She lie there, looking as sad as he'd been the moment he'd found out Liffey was gone. He stood back, giving her some space. His tail wagging meekly, he gave her a halfhearted smile and said, Hey mom.

Finley blinked a few times to wipe away the haze that had settled in them to better see her son as he approached. He looked so perfectly like his twin, but the mother had never mistaken the pair of them for each other, not even before their eyes had changed. Still, it brought a slight twinge to her heart to see her lost daughter's likeness standing before her. But that slight twinge was nothing compared to the overwhelming guilt at seeing the sadness in Lagan's usually happy eyes and knowing she had caused it.

"Hey bud," Fin said, attempting to offer a smile but not doing the greatest, "You wanna come lie down?" She shifted to make room for him, uncurling and stretching into a sphinx-like position.

There was an air of melancholy around the caldera, originating primarily from the pack's matriarch. Towhee hadn't been close to Liffey and honestly barely noticed her absence. But she was an intelligent, intuitive pup and she sensed that the older girl's absence was the cause for the recent strife. And she wanted to do something to help, though it took her a while to come up with an idea.

When she was ready to seek out her godmother, Towhee asked for Raven's permission to leave the rendezvous site. The medic allowed it, though she insisted on tailing the pup from a distance (Towhee didn't mind). When she managed to track down her beloved aunt, she found both Finley and Lagan moping near an old den.

She slowed to a stop near them, paused for a moment and then said, "Knock, knock." The word was relatively clear, though it lacked any sort of inflection to indicate it for what it was: an attempt to tell a joke.

Lagan could tell how hard Finley was trying to be happy for him, but the smile on her face wasn't one of the happy ones. That was the kind he yearned for, not the fake kind. He wanted to see her smile like she did when Liffey was still here, when everybody was still here. It seemed like so many people had left, people who he thought would be there with him forever. Uncle Pee, Aunt Fox, Stoat then Oriole, all of the other firebird boys, and now Liffey. How could Liffey have done this to them, how could she have left, and without a word to her own twin?

He nodded with a smile of his own, fake like Finley's but a smile all the same. He went and flipped down beside him mom, rolling over to face her. At least he still had his mom. If her, or papa or Eljay left he would be truly heartbroken. Trying to lift both of their spirits, he batted playfully at his Finley's nose his fake smile becoming a sort of grin. A grin was better than a fake smile any day, so the situation was improving already. It only got better when Towhee appeared on the scene.

He rolled back over to face her, still nestled in the crook Finley had made for him. Towhee paused for a moment, like a nervous actor would at the beginning of her show, then she said, "knock knock." Lagan understood immediately that this was the set up to a joke, even though she lacked any sort of inflection. He knew a joke when he heard one. A big smile lit up his face, Who's there? He replied.

In spite of how awful she felt, Lagan still managed to bring the tiniest hint of a smile to her face with his antics. He was so like his brother in many ways - youthful and child-like, but with far more confidence and light-hearted joy. She wished Eljay could find some ofLagan's self-assuredness, though she wouldn't change his quiet, gentle temperament that made him so very Eljay. She reached to nibble affectionately at the plush fur at the base of his ear, attempting to return the comfort he was clearly trying to impart on her. It was clearly heartbreaking for all of her boys that Liffey had left the way she did, and with that thought, Fin found herself once again sliding back into her misery.

It seemed, however, Lagan had a shadow. Finley wasn't completely surprised at this considering how attached all of the firebirds were to their older cousins, and so she set her gaze on Towhee with another pang of guilt. Liffey had never taken to her younger cousins, and Fin had never encouraged her to. Maybe if she had...

Knock, knock.

Fin blinked at her goddaughter, her head tilting slightly. Had Elwood put her up to this? He was the only one she knew who ever attempted to comfort her with knock, knock jokes and other pun-related humor. She glanced at Lagan as he responded before settling her gaze back upon Towhee expectantly.

Both gray wolves looked at her, though it was Lagan who replied, "Who's there?" Fighting against an urge to smile idiotically, Towhee deadpanned, "Huh? I don't know. I'm deaf." And therefore hadn't heard the knock. Get it? She shrugged casually as she delivered the punchline, still trying to tamp down the goofy grin that wanted to bloom across her face. She paused, then bit her lip and looked expectantly at the older wolves, wondering if her joke had landed. She was more than a little proud of it, having come up with it herself, and Towhee felt hell'a clever for it. But would they agree?

Whether or not the pair found her joke entertaining, Towhee slithered closer, rubbing up against each of them like an overgrown cat. She could be such a grumpy cat, especially when outsiders were involved or business was at hand, but around her closest loved ones, the Xi had no qualms letting her inner soft kitty warm kitty show.

LMAO this is a great joke, I sat there for a minute rereading it and not understanding and when I got it I snorted xD

Lagan stared at Towhee, a look of anticipation on his face. It remained there for a couple seconds even after the joke, while his brain searched for what it meant. Finally it clicked; she didn't know because she didn't hear the knock! It was funny, but also kind of sad. He sometimes tried to imagine what it would be like to be deaf. He imagined that he wouldn't like it, but then reminded himself that Towhee had never heard sound, thus probably didn't really understand what she was missing. He started laughing, a laugh that started out with a loud snickering snort.

Nice one. He said as she walked towards them, and when she got close enough he butted his head into hers affectionately. He unconsciously did exactly what his mom had done for him moments before, stretching out and curving to create a little book for Towhee to cuddle. They would be like a precious wolf sandwich.

Fin too was slow to understand the joke. Not that she didn't get the joke, but more so it was simply so surprising to her. For a brief moment, she wondered (quite idiotically) - how does she know she's deaf?? But that was driven out of her head quickly enough as Lagan began to laugh and Towhee moved forward to nuzzle up against them affectionately. She shook her head lightly in wonder, watching as Lagan moved and Towhee (I'm assuming) curled up beside him.

"How is it you two are growing up so fast?" Fin asked softly, looking at the pair of them fondly. "You used to be that small," she said to Lagan, gesturing to Towhee. She then looked at Towhee before she continued, "And you used to be the size of his head." She bopped her son's head lightly with her nose to illustrate, smiling wistfully. If only they could just stay small... It was a lot harder for them to run away when they couldn't move on their own.

She finally let her grin run wild when Lagan complimented her, though Towhee was soon too busy cramming herself between the two larger wolves to pay attention to much else aside from situating herself. By the time she settled and looked up at Finley, she belatedly realized she must have missed something. "...used to be the size of his head," she saw her aunt say. Towhee blinked and glanced over at Lagan, trying to sort out what the context might have been but eventually admitting defeat with a shrug.

There was a wistful smile on Finley's face now and Towhee made a point to keep her eyes there as she slowly inquired, "Did my joke help?" Although she neither said nor signed it, the "Are you still feeling sad?" was implied in the look in Towhee's eyes.

Lagan looked up from Towhee to look at his mom upside down. He shrugged and smiled, and when she said that he'd been Towhee's size once, he looked down at the pup. He furrowed his brows, unsure how he had ever been that small. He didn't remember his bones stretching and growing, so when had it happened? Growing up was a marvel both mentally and physically it seemed, one that he'd rather just let happen than try to explain. He chuckled when Finley said that Towhee used to be the size of Lagan's head; that he did remember.

So you used to be like super tiny too mom! Towhee, imagine mom lookin like a baby. He directed the last part toward the pup, snickering as he said it. Then Towhee asked if her joke had helped or not, it seemed she had sort of missed the rest of the conversation. He nodded, glancing back towards Finley then back at Tow. You helped me, that's for sure. What about you mom? He asked, a content smile on his face.

Fin watched the pair of them thoughtfully, wondering what it would have been like for the two of them to be so small at the same time. She was actually rather thankful that Lagan had had Liffey as a counterpart. Her son was a sweet boy, but she suspected that he might have been plenty more mischievious had the circumstances been different and he'd had someone to influence him so. Even now with their age difference, she still had a feeling they'd get into trouble together one day. And it would probably be Towhee instigating...

Finley smirked at Lagan's comment, but said nothing as nothing really came to mind. She gave a nod to confirm that the joke had helped her as well, but really it was just having the two of them there with her that made the terrible ball of misery in her chest loosen its grip. "Do you have another?" she asked, wanting to keep them talking with each other so she could just lie there and listen.

Her little joke seemed to have spread some cheer. Towhee grinned, happy to hear (or whatever) it. Lagan sort of had a joke of his own, coaxing the Xi to picture Finley as a puppy. The pack's matriarch probably would have laughed to know that Towhee simply couldn't picture it. Her godmother was too wise, strong and queenly to have ever been a puppy. The thought was really sort of absurd, actually...

The woman in question scattered Towhee's thoughts by requesting another joke. She blinked, momentarily stumped, then smiled again and asked, "Do you know what sound a dinosaur makes?" She enunciated the strange word carefully, breaking it up into about six syllables somehow. But she quickly plunged onward, not even pausing before delivering the punchline, which was just a ridiculously loud and annoying screech.

She had made this sound once, during a speech lesson with Raven, only for the caretaker to clap her hands over her ears and scream, "Stop it with the pterodactyl screech!" This had naturally led to a thousand questions and really quite an interesting conversation about gigantic ancient lizards, some of them with wings.

Finley asked if Towhee had another joke, and Lagan nodded encouragingly, hoping she did. Even though her first had taken him a moment to comprehend, it'd been funny, and a sweet gesture, and it had definitely drawn Lagan's thoughts away from Lif. Lagan watched Towhee intently as she started to speak. He was about to say, 'I don't know tell me', but he was cut off by a loud ass scream that reminded him of Titmouse.

He lifted a paw and chuckled, Up high! He said, hoping for a high five from his little pal.

I'm thinking we can fade here unless you guys want to keep going without me? :)

Finley couldn't help but flinch at the wild sounds that came from her goddaughter's throat. She thought for a moment something had bitten her, but suddenly Lagan was laughing and giving high fives and there were wagging tails all about. Fin smiled gently at the pair of them and laid her head down between her paws. Her gaze shifted from them to some distant point and began to fade as what she was seeing was not actually what was in front of her. It was possibly miles and miles away, getting her heart stomped on by some guy that Fin would probably never even meet...

The alpha sighed and shut her eyes.

The screech ended in a fit of laughing and coughing, during which Lagan offered her a high five. With a goofy grin, Towhee slapped at his paw, then faced her Aunt Finley to offer the same. But the Alpha had withdrawn. The pup's ears flattened immediately, wondering if her noisiness had upset her godmother rather than amuse her. Sheepishly, Towhee mushed herself against the woman again, falling absolutely quiet as she snuggled against Finley.

She shot Lagan a guilty, quizzical glance, then put her chin on her paws. Her entire body was pressed against her godmother's, a warm and hopefully comforting presence. The deaf girl was pretty good at silences, so she was happy to linger there as long as Finley needed.

aww Stevie! You melted my heart! I'll archive this <3

Towhee happily accepted his high five, and everything was awesome, until Lagan turned to see how his mom had reacted, and found that she had looked away. Her eyes were closed, she just looked tired. Towhee glanced at him quizzically, and he gave a light shrug. He didn't know what'd happened, maybe Finley had been reminded of Titmouse too. Whatever it was, both Lagan and Towhee were eager to make it better. Seeing as the joke thing was over, Lagan snuggled up next to Finley and Towhee again, and closed his eyes as well. He fell asleep quickly, the rise and fall of his grey pelt became a calm and steady pace.