Redhawk Caldera Music Walnut

At one of the furthest edges of Caldera Birk had found a big rock with a flat surface and, when he had jumped on it, he had a great view over the vast plains beyond the borders. It was a warm summer afternoon and the wind blew smells from the meadows, creeks and forests in the distance for him to read and analyze. As he did this, he was overcome by the urge to go out in the wilds and be a free man again. 

Redhawk Caldera had been a nice place to live, wolves were decent and treated him with respect and yet he had never really bonded with any of them. First he had thought that it was because he had been on his own for such a long time, but after a while it turned out that, he simply wasn't cut for blending in. Too independent-minded. And as the first crush for Raven had dwindled to nothing but a memory, he had stopped even trying to socialize with others more. 

He stood up, looked back at the forest behind him, then forward to the adventures that awaited him ahead, and appeared to be in the process of making a decision between what was right and what was best for him.

So, here it was. This was the last place she had known her father to live, though his scent didn't stick to the border. That was... disconcerting. Perhaps he and Fox had moved on to somewhere new. She was a little bummed, but maybe somebody who still lived here could point her in the right direction. In fact, she spotted a lone white figure not too far off. Her ears perked up, then she tilted her muzzle up and let out a short, quiet howl for the stranger.

She was still a ways away from the fuzzy border that was the marked territory, so hopefully she wouldn't appear to be a threat to him. And if he came barreling toward her with the intent to harm, she'd hightail it out of here as fast as possible. For now, though, she waited, emerald eyes squinting in his direction.

Birk had never been good at arguing with himself, especially, when it involved a subject, where the sole responsibility for his actions relied on himself. Therefore he was happy to postpone the decision making, when a howl from a distance was addressed to him. 

He quickly located the source - from what he could tell, there was a lone dark figure standing in the distance - and without much thoughts he jumped down from his perch and padded towards the stranger. He was curious about, what would the lass want from him and why. 

Within talking and hearing distance from the other he stopped and sat down. "Looking for someone?" he asked.

The other wolf approached, though with no signs that he was particularly territorial or aggressive (thank goodness). Ty relaxed, licking her lips and averting her eyes to show him that she wasn't a threat, either. Her tail hung limp against her hocks, and she stayed put when he spoke.

"I am! My father, Peregrine, used to live here, but I don't smell him here any longer. I was hoping you might know where he'd gone?" It was a slim chance, but she thought it would be worth investigating. With the way wolves (including herself) came and went, it was entirely possible that this guy had never even known her father.

The moment she mentioned Peregrine's name, Birk's face fell - he hated to be the bearer of bad news. Even moreso, when they had nothing to do with him (no emotional bonds) and he had to pretend to feel sympathy both for the dead and the relative that was left behind. 

But he did not have much choice - did he? Birk could pretend that he had no idea, what the girl was talking about (and it was 99% true, apart from that 1% - he knew the name of the previous alpha male), but that would not be fair. Especially, if this one had traveled far to gain this information.

Therefore - with a heavy sigh - he responded: "I did not know Peregrine personally, but by the time I joined this pack, he was... quite unfortunately dead already." Even after spilling out the truth he felt a tad bit uneasy and felt that he should add something else. "Ah... but there is Elwood and Finley - you probably know them - and plethora of younger siblings here. If you wish - I can call for them."

Her face fell before he broke the news, sensing from his expression that it wasn't about to be good news. Her father was dead. Her mother may as well have been. Perhaps she should have been excited at the thought of meeting new siblings, but they wouldn't even know who she was. Their only tie was Peregrine, and he was gone. She had never heard the name "Elwood," and "Finley" didn't ring a bell, either.

"No, that's okay. Is Fox still around?" she asked. Peregrine's scent was unforgettable, seeing as he was her father, but she'd only ever met Fox in passing. Ty had no real desire to see the red-haired spitfire, nor did she think that Fox would remember her. Pure curiosity drove this inquiry.

"Dead as door-nail as well," only after Birk had said that, he realized that given the nature of the news the joke was not that good and if he hadn't been rude than tasteless - definitely. Having no knowledge of Peregrine's turbulent love life, he assumed that Fox was the girl's mother. Therefore after another moment of thought he added: "Sorry - did not want to be rude to either of your parents."

Both of them dead. That was a strange thought. Ty had never known Fox well, but her father had loved her a great deal. Perhaps it was best that one did not have to live without the other. The other apologized for being rude, mistaking Fox for her mother. "She was not my mother," she clarified, "though I did know her a bit." The two had only ever met in passing, so Ty did not feel grief for her step-mother's fate.

She felt at a loss for words now, wondering if there was anything else she wanted to know. Perhaps not. How they had died did not matter much to her, seeing as it could not be undone. Ty stood for a moment longer, shifting easily from one side to the other. "How long have you lived here?" she asked, hoping that would give her a rough estimate of how long ago her father (and Fox) had died.

"Oh, okay, no harm done then," Birk added with and awkward smile and, since after that he was at a loss of how to drive the conversation further, he sat down and scratched the side of his neck. 

"Hard to say... I arrived early this year," it had still been very cold with a lot of snow. Memories of his frostbites were not the most pleasant ones and he shuddered thinking about the rotting and bleeding wounds that had been so very difficult to treat.

"What about you - where have you been?" he asked out of curiousity, because it seemed that most of the former alpha's children were very territorial and preferred to stick around the caldera.

He had not lived here long, it seemed. She realized she didn't know his name, but now it felt too late in the conversation to ask it of him. Maybe on her way out. The question of where she had been was asked, and she shifted uneasily on her feet. "I went south with—with a friend of mine." Summer had been, of course, more than a friend, but she wasn't even sure they were friends now. Things had not worked out between them. She had been unable to produce his legacy.

"Now, I plan to start a pack of my own. I suppose I had come here to tell Peregrine." So that he would be proud of her? So that she could let him know she had finally "made it?" She vaguely recalled telling him of her foray into hunting, but that wasn't even her area of expertise anymore. It had taken a back burner to exploring, scouting, and now recruiting for Bhediyon.

"Are you happy here?" she asked, wondering if the death of Peregrine and Fox had caused any rifts in Redhawk Caldera.

"Happy? That is a very odd question," Birk replied - no one had ever asked about happiness to him and therefore he had never really given it a thought. He was content with the life as it was - he was safe and he was not hungry - what was there more to ask for. 

"I am fine, I guess," he shrugged. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

Was it an odd question? Tytonidae had asked herself that question so many times over the course of her life, it was a bit stunning to hear that Birk seemed perturbed by the inquiry. Birk's answer wasn't terribly... conclusive, but she figured he must be at least somewhat content if he was here. But was "content" enough? Ty had always strived for more.

"To find out the answer," she replied with a goofy grin, but that wasn't a real reason. "Truth is, I'm seeking recruits for a new pack, and if you weren't happy here, I was going to see if what I'm doing appealed to you." Ty saw no harm in whisking away wolves that weren't living out their full potential in the current homes. She wanted those who followed her to grow and change.

"Fair enough," Birk replied with a grin of his own, suddenly wondering if she had found his answer smart enough. He was not so eloquent with words as some people were. 

So, she was collecting unhappy wolves in a pack. He was reminded of his old and grumpy aunt Ida, who had been an epitome of "anti-happy", and multipled people like her with 10. Did he - who was a fairly cheerful guy - want to be a part of that kind of pack?

But then again Peregrine's daughter looked nothing like Ida, so it was more likely that he had misunderstood her and therefore more questions had to be asked. "What does your pack consist of and where do you reside at the moment?"

"I've got a few pledged members," she replied, "Not sure how likely they are to stick around. Wolves are fickle when it comes to things like this. We've been staking our claim on a plateau by the ocean. It's got a great view and plenty of prey, though I don't intend to stay there forever. I quite like the idea of migrating a few times a year to follow the more abundant prey."

She was, of course, still sorting out the kinks in this plan. Ty wasn't sure how things would shake out when and if somebody had puppies. She assumed they would need to time their moves, or put them on hold, once that particular predicament came along. That wouldn't matter until spring, though.

"Yeah, fickle things, indeed," Birk agreed, thinking of his own recent doubts about his place in caldera. With two litters to take care of, blending of two packs and return of few other former members, prey had become scarcer in the area. And, though he had not approached the leaders directly, none of them had expressed any wish to relocate to a place, where there was enough food to sustain them all. 

And this was just one of the reasons he did not feel quite in place here. "That sounds reasonable," he replied in response to Tytonidae's idea of relocating now and then. Reminded him of his life in the Arctic. "Perhaps I will join you," he said after a pause.

Last post for me. :)

His response was not really what she had expected. Birk actually seemed to want to join her. So maybe he wasn't so happy here after all. Perhaps he was just content. "Yeah?" she asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question than anything. "Well, you'll know where to find me. Give it a few days to think it over. No sense in rushing it, eh?" Tytonidae aspired to be a laid back leader, though she had no intention of letting others walk all over her.

"I'm gonna head back to camp and check in on the others. Hopefully I'll see you around!" And if not, it was no biggie. Ty knew that those who joined and stuck with her would be the wolves she would value the most. She wouldn't begrudge those who didn't, though she would be more wary of their loyalty. She gave Birk a final good-bye nod, then headed toward Ocean's Breath Plateau. She hoped that, once he'd thought it over, he would come find them.

"Hopefully," Birk nodded and watched the young leader disappear in the distance. He sighed and returned to the rock he had found earlier, lying there deep in thoughts for a long time.