Redhawk Caldera No, I don't have a harp.

"Dunno," he admitted. "Someone said it once." To her insistence that the newest Blackthorns would grow to be worthwhile wolves, Nightjar offered no comment. He'd already made up his mind about them, and he thought loftily of himself. To be trained by him in instinct and fighting was an honour as far as he was concerned, and he offered it to those who were strong. Towhee would have a mentor in him if she ever sought to, though he knew she was doing perfectly well on her own, having even specialized. The Blackthorns, on the other hand, would have to prove that they were more wolf than their soft-headed eldest brother if they hoped to receive any attention from him. But he needn't make that known to Towhee or anyone else.

Only when she pinned him with her eyes and voiced an opinion did Nightjar look back at his younger sibling. He rolled his shoulders. "There are those who leave to follow another, because they will not follow the one who leads them," he said, "and those who leave to better themselves. You cannot be your full self until you can rely on only yourself to survive." He genuinely thought he was in the latter category, though the truth was he had thrown a temper tantrum when he hadn't been permitted to meet his baby siblings before every other member of the pack. He was ashamed of it, but also stood by it. He had believed in the superiority of their bloodline even then, and that sentiment had only grown.

"I followed no other leader," he shared, "and wouldn't, even if it meant death. The only leaders I would follow were our parents, or my own self." But he was not a leader, and he now followed different leaders, albeit in the same pack. Before Towhee could ask about it, he added, "Finley and Elwood have proven themselves time and again to this pack. Our parents trusted them fully. So I gladly follow them now." But the implicit message was clear enough. If they hadn't been such loyal members of the Caldera before, or if someone less worthy had taken over the pack when Peregrine and Fox died, Nightjar would have sought to remove them from their positions upon his return. That he hadn't was a testament to his belief in the two Blackthorns, or so he would claim.