Redhawk Caldera sing me spanish techno.

@Elwood or @Orca <3

What a weird-looking bird...

Finley was crouched against the ground with her head between her paws, staring at the large bird seated on the lake's shoreline a dozen or so yards ahead of her. It was both similar to and completely unlike any bird she'd ever seen in her life. It was kind of like a heron crossed with a turkey crossed with a... hell, she had no idea. Whatever it was, it did not give any fucks that she was there, watching it. For the third time, it stretched its large, white wings to its sides and gave them a good flap while opening its beak and twitching its head back with a flap of... she didn't even know, extra beak?? wobbled beneath its chin.

The alpha had been quite convinced that she'd seen everything in her five long years on this planet, but this creature was a mystery to her. She apparently didn't spend nearly enough time on the coast though as it otherwise would have been quite obvious that this was a pelican. What it was doing so far inland was the real mystery, but this went over Fin's head (lol bird joke kind of). Its mere existence was bizarre enough for her, so she just stared in fascination as it went about its pelican-ing.

Took me a while to decide who to throw in here!

She was wandering with no real destination in mind, simply enjoying some time by herself. The sun was warm on her back and Orca paused long enough to watch a butterfly drift lazily across her path. When it was out of sight, she continued on her way, not really paying attention to where she was going.

It was the bird that she saw first, as it spread its great wings. She stopped, mouth opening in a gasp as she watched the winged animal settle itself once more. When she began to creep closer, she noticed that Finley was lying nearby, her body pressed against the earth like she was trying to disappear. Orca slung herself low and prowled towards her godmother, coming to rest alongside her. "What's that?" she whispered, eyes locked on the large avian.

Fin felt the vibrations in the ground of someone creeping up alongside her. Orca's scent filled her nostrils, and so she didn't even turn her head as the girl settled at her side. The pelican had turned its head to waggle its beak beneath a huge wing. It was a very bird-like move for a mostly bird-like creature.

"I'm not sure..." the alpha admitted to her goddaughter as her head tilted from the left to the right, "Seems like its some kind of bird, but not one I've ever seen before." She probably should have felt a little dumb admitting this to Orca. She was trying to be a mentor to the kids after all, and mentors usually gave the impression of knowing everything. Fin was too baffled to consider any of that, though. It was probably better that way too, otherwise she'd have Orca running around calling it a Rodney bird like Phox was still calling certain kinds of rocks "Rodney stones".

"Wanna see if we can get closer without scaring it off?" Fin asked, glancing at her partner in this adventure with a small grin.

When Aunt Fin admitted that she didn't know what kind of bird they were looking at, Orca simply nodded speculatively. As far as she was concerned, her godmother knew everything, and if she wasn't sure what to call this creature it was because it was weird. So in a way, it was the bird's fault -- at least in Orca's mind.

She watched it for a few seconds without moving, admiring its feathers and oddly-shaped beak, and when Finley suggested that they try to get a closer look she nodded eagerly. She didn't want to speak aloud and risk scaring it off. So she crept forward a few inches, then paused and looked to Aunt Fin for guidance.

Orca seemed game, but timidly so. She shuffled forward a little, but it became obvious very quickly that the pup had no intention of taking the lead on this venture. Fin smiled at her before shifting her limbs to push her up off the ground into a low, crouched position. She stalked forward then, passing Orca with her eyes narrowed on the alien creature ahead.

Had Finley realizing that the visiting pelican did not give any craps about the pack of wolves that lived there, she wouldn't have bothered trying to be stealthy. As it was, the bird spied them from its perch, but was not at all bothered. It was unfamiliar with predators such as these, and so viewed them in the same way it might view a deer or a seal. Which is to say, once again, that it gave no craps.

Not knowing this, Fin crept forward only about six yards before she dropped to the ground again as the pelican gave another brief flap of its wings. She thought she was pushing it. Really, the creature was just getting restless. She leaned over to Orca who was presumably crouched beside her and whispered, "Look at that weird.. sac thing under its beak. What do you think that's about?"

Orca followed Finley, moving quietly and holding her breath with each step she took. She kept her body close to the ground. Her eyes were fixed on the bird the majority of the time, though she did shift her gaze briefly to watch her godmother for cues. When Aunt Fin stopped again, Orca halted alongside her, so close that their black and grey fur mingled.

She drew attention to the animal's strangely-shaped beak and the flabby skin beneath it. It looked like it could expand if necessary, and Orca suddenly had visions of the bird gobbling her up whole. "What if it eats us with that?" she asked, her confidence wavering slightly.

Finley busily pondered potential answers to the question she'd posed to her niece. She really didn't have much luck. She'd never seen anything like it elsewhere in the animal kingdom. The closest she could come up with were the weird flaps of skin she'd seen on wild turkeys. Those were on their necks though, not connected to their beaks like baskets. And she defiitely had no idea what those things were for either, so the comparison was relatively useless anyway. Maybe it was just a weird bird thing.

Orca's question brought a thoughtful frown to her face - one that quickly morphed into a grin. She prodded the pup gently  in the temple with her nose. "We can take it," she said confidently, "Most birds don't have  anything to defend themselves with besides their beaks. Birds of prey have their talons also, but this guy has webbed feet like a duck, so all we'd have to worry about avoiding is that beak." Which did look a bit formidable... but if Fin didn't stand down before bears, she definitely wouldn't for some big, mutant duck. She was determined that no kid of Fox's and Peregrine's would either.

She was reassured by Aunt Fin's words and nodded to show her understanding. Her gaze lingered briefly on its feet, noting the webbing there that Finley had mentioned. Really, the bird looked fairly harmless, save for its sheer size. Its beak did not look sharp enough to cause any real damage, and it didn't have any talons. Feeling a little braver, Orca exchanged a quick glance with her godmother then began to creep even closer.

She moved slowly, watching the bird as it shifted again, its feathers ruffling. It was clearly aware of the wolves' presence, but didn't seem to be overly perturbed by them. "I wonder if we can touch 'im," Orca whispered, eyes wide.

Fin took a brief moment to switch her watchful gaze from the pelican to Orca, wanting to see how her god daughter was handling this encounter. She felt the shift of the girl's movement and couldn't help but grin. Orca seemed to be the quietest of the three remaining firebirds, but she was pleased to find that this didn't necessarily mean she lacked the boldness of her siblings. For a second, Finley imagined she was seeing Lucy creeping forward instead of the black and white firebird. It was almost a perfect match - the dark fur, petite build. Only Fin had never actually seen her little Spot when she was this age. Maybe Lucy didn't look anything like her at all.

The alpha shook her head, pushing the memories gently away. There would always be a special place in her heart for her wayward daughter, and the thoughts of her would never stop drifting in and out of her mind. But now was time to send it back away and focus on the children she still had within her reach. "He doesn't seem to mind us being here at all," Fin commented, stalking along in her wake, "It probably wouldn't hurt to try." At least, she hoped.

Aunt Fin's gentle encouragement was all Orca needed. She cast one last glance back at her godmother, then continued moving forward to close the gap between herself and the bird. She inched closer and closer with Finley at her heels, watching the pelican for any sudden movements. When she was near enough to stretch out a foreleg and touch it with her toes, she sucked in a breath excitedly.

But before she could brush her paw against its feathers, it gave another flap of its wings and rose into the air. It only drifted a short distance away, apparently perturbed by the wolves but not enough to leave the vicinity. Orca's ears drooped with disappointment, but she then clenched her jaw with resolve and began prowling toward the bird once more.

Orca seemed emboldened by her encouragement. Fin watched her prowl forward, pride stirring in her chest. She herself tensed slightly, ready to spring in the event she was completely wrong about the bird and giant fangs suddenly popped out of its beak once her daughter came close enough. It really didn't seem likely, but then again, it had never seemed likely that such a bizarre creature would visit the Caldera like this.

Finley took three quick steps forward when the bird opened its wings and took flight. She settled down when it did nothing more than fly a few feet away and land again, looking a little more irritated than before. Fin frowned, but before she could offer her goddaughter any reassurance, the girl was moving forward again. Fin smiled, feeling another flush of pride as she watched.

I freaked out the dog I'm watching by looking up YouTube videos of pelican sounds, haha!

This time, when Orca drew near to the bird -- not quite close enough to touch it, yet -- the animal decided it must have had enough. It opened its large mouth, and the movement was startling enough to stop Orca in her tracks. It lifted its wings again, as though preparing to take flight, but first it made the strangest sounds she had ever heard. There was a low squawking that caused her ears to press forward and her own lips to part in surprise.

With that, the bird departed, giving a few flaps of its great wings. It swooped across the surface of the lake, barely skimming above the water, and landed haughtily on the other side. Orca frowned, then looked back at Finley and shrugged.

Fin watched as Orca made another attempt at reaching the bird. By now, it was starting to look irritated with them, so she wasn't enormously surprised when it spread its wings wide and took to the sky. The bizarre, bellow-y sound it made was surprising, and the alpha cringed a bit to hear it. Her goddaughter didn't seem too bothered by the bird's departure, shrugging it off with an amount of ease that made Finley smile.

"Ah well," She said, mirroring the shrug, "You win some, you lose some. We should go tell your siblings about it. Lagan will probably freak." She grinned at the thought of how her easily excitable son would react to news of the monster bird's visit.

"Oh, good idea!" Orca chirped. She already couldn't wait to tell everyone about their adventure, and knew that Lagan would be just as excited as Finley anticipated. "Let's go now!" she said, dancing in place. As her paws beat a soft tattoo on the ground, she cast one more glance at the bird -- now with its back to them -- and then began to trot away from Finley.

"Come on!" she encouraged, and began to sprint down the slope towards the rendezvous site.