Redhawk Caldera Love and great buildings will survive
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Ooc — Kim
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All Welcome 
Time to move to the rendezvous site! All are welcome to join us! I'll be powerplaying some of our PPCs! :) @Finley @Clover @Fiadh @Tegan

The last two months had flown by. Elwood and Finley no longer had a foursome of tiny, squirming infants; the babies had grown into adventurous, inquisitive young wolves. Thus, it was becoming increasingly harder to keep them near the whelping den where they had been raised. They needed more space to explore and continue to increase their independence, so the parents decided to facilitate a move to the rendezvous site.

"Come on," Elwood said, nudging the hindquarters of @Lucca. The boy moved in the direction his father had guided him, but only for about three steps; then, something else caught his attention and he veered sharply to the left. Luckily, Elwood had enlisted the help of both @Lagan and @Orca. The latter swiftly moved to corral the wayward pup, and Elwood thanked her with a laugh.

He hoped that @Towhee and @Phox would join them, and as he stepped in front of the group of puppies, he sent up a howl for the young Redhawks. Then, exchanging a glance with Fin, he looked down at the little Blackthorns and spoke quickly, before they became distracted. "We're moving today, to a place called the rendezvous site! You'll have lots of room to play, but you have to follow me and Mom, okay?" he said, clearing his throat loudly as Lucca made another bid for freedom. Lagan caught him this time, expertly returning him to the others.

Elwood suspected it might be a long afternoon.
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Ooc — Stevie
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Finley felt a melancholy kind of excitement as they gathered the pups and announced that it was moving day. Her tail wagged steadily at her haunches as Elwood explained the rules, spying each of their little faces to see how they took the news. In the back of her mind was the memory of the last time she'd moved her litter to the rendezvous site. It had been a somber affair, tainted by the loss of Lucy and the then recent argument lingering between her and Peregrine. She never wanted to have such a moment bespelled with sorrow again, and so she put on her happiest face for her kids in spite of the heavy weight of Eljay's absence still set upon her heart.

Determined to make a happy memory for her little potatoes, Fin stepped forward as Lucca was herded back to the other four. "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum!" she barked enthusiastically, calling them each out by their unique nickname, "It is time to follow Mum!" She laughed at her own rhyme and spun to start off, planting a quick kiss to Elwood's cheek as she passed. Hopefully they would know she was 'mum' - a little doubtful since she'd never actually called herself that before.
 
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Ooc — Chelsie
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The promise of an adventure had enticed Fiadh to follow Elwood and Finley from the whelping den. It was a life-altering day for the youngest members of the Caldera, as they soon would be rehomed to a site that would accommodate the family of six comfortably, and even though she was unaware of just what was going on, she was committed to whatever her parents wanted to do. 

Once the gaggle of children lined up, they received the news of what was going on. Though several aspects of the information confused the girl, namely the strange word that Elwood had used to describe where they were going, Fiadh met her father's words with excitement. After all, he had mentioned playing!

When her name was called, Fiadh stood quickly and regarded her siblings with a sweeping glance. "Let go!" Fiadh encouraged before she turned away from them to leap after Finley with a wagging tail. Though she was still in the dark about the gravity of this situation, Fiadh was up to do anything that her parents wanted to do as long as she was involved.
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Ooc — Kat
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#4
Towhee stood at the far edge of the rendezvous site, aware that her godparents would be moving the pups here and waiting to greet them when they arrived. As she stood there among the longer, swaying grasses that fringed the clearing at the heart of the territory, the Xi squinted contemplatively into the distance.

Their ranks had thinned considerably since the food shortage had begun. Towhee didn't much care about most of them, though her thoughts lingered on Nightjar. Evidently he had gone blind not long after the eclipse. The youthful guardian scuffed a heel in the dirt as she quietly mulled his fate. He had left of his own volition, probably recognizing himself as a burden. The Xi likely would've chased him off eventually and she was privately glad it hadn't come down to that.

But she didn't want to dwell on her ill-fated older sibling any longer. The nearly grown she-wolf shifted her gaze in the direction of the Blackthorns' distant den, eagerly keeping an eye out for the incoming caravan.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

I archive threads if my partner goes inactive and/or there are no new replies for several weeks. I'm more than happy to continue an archived thread if you're interested. Just revive it (via maintenance) and tag me in your next reply. :)
hey, motherfucker!
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tegan had no idea who 'mum' was, but as finley sped away-- fiadh right on her tail-- tegan made a general assumption that he should be following along! he was a smart boy. tegan yipped along as he followed his mother, tail wiggling and his fat puppy feet drummed against the earth. what a ren... rende... whatever that was, tegan didn't know, but elwood said they'd be moving there, and tegan was plenty okay with more space!

from a distance, tegan spotted his favorite older sister(or cousin, didn't make a difference to young tegan)-- towhee! towhee told stories, and tegan had grown really fond of those stories. he gave a few yips when he spotted her and continued along after his mother and siblings-- forgetting that towhee couldn't hear his yips. 

when they arrived to the assumed rendezvous site, their new home, tegan padding right up to towhee and gave her another yip, his tail wagging. glancing to finley, the little blackthorn's mouth parted, and he expressed a loud, "i won!" 
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Ooc — Kim
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@Lucca, feel free to hop in as well! I was initially PPing him, but we would love for you to join!

Once it appeared that the puppies were ready to go, especially after Finley called them by their nicknames, Elwood turned his sights toward their destination. He grinned as Finley glided past him, delivering a kiss to his cheek, and then he moved to follow her. Fiadh and Tegan obediently trailed behind their mother, Fiadh with an excited shout.

"Come on," Elwood urged, giving @Clover and Lucca a nudge before bringing up the rear of their little Blackthorn clan. In the distance, he could see Towhee waiting for them, for which he was thankful. Orca and Lagan fanned out to either side, ensuring that none of the puppies could veer off the path towards their new home.
'cause i'm a hopeless wanderer
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Ooc — Chan
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Clover wanted to let Tegan get a headstart. It was only fair, given the fact that he, in her mind, was the slowest of them. Clover considered herself a speed-demon, and once she felt he had enough headway she galloped right off. Clover knew she did not beat him in the end, though would never admit it then and there. He got first by the hair on his chin and so Clover declared: no, me!!!! with a huff. Of course, she did not know that they weren't there yet. Not knowing that they had a specific destination to arrive to, Clover whirled around and made to attack her fathers foot. Play now??
dayvan cowboy
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Ooc — Laur
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As evident by his multiple attempts to "escape", Lucca had no idea of their upcoming adventure. He had heard the word his father had said, this weird rendezvous word, but it had no meaning to the boy. Instead, he chose the direction he wanted to go in and followed that path instead. Unfortunately for the pup, his older brother was quick to herd him back to his fellow siblings.

His endeavour was quickly forgotten though, once he heard he and his littermates' nicknames being called out by Finely. Immediately, Luca's ears perked and he beamed, bounding after Fiadh as she let out a yell of encouragement.

Despite occasionally trying to wander off on their trip there, upon reaching the new den site, Lucca was brimming with excitement. Unbeknownst to him, he had lost Tegan and Clover's competition on who was there first, focusing instead on sniffing around their new environment with a feverishly wagging tail.
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Ooc — Stevie
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The puppies seemed sufficiently motivated by her first sound off, so Finley fell back to stride alongside her mate with a grin. Lagan and Orca could manage well enough to keep the gaggle herded together. With a pang, she considered how happy Eljay would have been to see this moment. But her eldest was gone to who knew where, and Fin was pushing the thought from her mind before it could get any further. She contented herself to bump her shoulder against Elwood's, offering him a smile.

"At least we know they'll sleep well tonight," Fin said as they arrived at the rendezvous site, "Eventually." The excitement would likely keep them going for a while still, but once they stopped, she was confident that they would be out like little lights.
 
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Ooc — Kat
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Had she been able to hear, Towhee might have known they were getting close long before they actually arrived. But the world remained silent for her. And while she intended to keep her eyes peeled for any sign of the pups and their parents, she was distracted by a rustling motion in the long grass by the fringes of the rendezvous site. She instantly made a beeline toward it, ready to squash anything that might threaten the pups.

It was just a turtle, shuffling slowly through the overgrowth. Towhee blinked down at it, watching it struggle through the carpet of grass for a moment. She then bent down, opened her mouth and plucked it off the ground. She cantered back into the clearing and plopped it down on the much shorter sedge there. The turtle reacted by immediately withdrawing its head and limbs. Perhaps the pups would enjoy playing with it but Towhee didn't have time to loiter over the peculiar creature.

She moved back toward the edges of the rendezvous site and began prowling along them, wary of anything other than approaching wolves. And as soon as they began arriving, she halted and lifted her head to bark at them, then loped over to greet them properly with a wiggle of her tail.

-Hey kids, there's a rock over there with a face and legs,- the guardian quipped as she approached.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

I archive threads if my partner goes inactive and/or there are no new replies for several weeks. I'm more than happy to continue an archived thread if you're interested. Just revive it (via maintenance) and tag me in your next reply. :)
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Ooc — Kim
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Wrapping this up! Thanks for the thread, everyone! :)

Their rag-tag little group made their way towards the rendezvous site, some moving faster than others. Clover raced Tegan at the head of the group, while Lucca and Fiadh bumbled along behind them. And upon their arrival, they all had their own reactions. Elwood fended off the attack on his foot by Clover while watching out of the corner of his eye as Lucca began to studiously investigate their new home with his nose.

Towhee gathered the fleeting attention of one or two of the pups -- in all the excitement, Elwood honestly couldn't tell who it was, since there were grey blurs everywhere -- and showed them a turtle that had moseyed into their vicinity. Feeling successful, Elwood sighed happily and nudged Finley's shoulder. "Mission accomplished," he said, watching as his children explored the rendezvous site.