Redhawk Caldera Stars Align Perhaps

Feeling the crisp winter air flow through her pure white fur as she walked through the cold snow that piled up on the ground, the sun barely creeping through the clouds provided little to no warmth at all to the she-wolf. Her wandering stopped as she approached a pack border. The she wolf contemplated within herself as she decided whether or not to call for a pack member. She had been traveling for a while and her legs were already growing weary.

Towhee felt rather keyed up lately, what with war on the horizon, and she did her best to work out her energy with near-constant patrols. X kept her company, occasionally winging out of sight and returning. She assumed he must be hunting, though he always returned empty-handed. When this happened again just now, she quirked her brow up at the raptor, who circled tightly overhead. Unbeknownst to her, he let out several shrill cries; Towhee, of course, did not react.

X eventually banked hard and landed in front of her, directly in Towhee's path. "What's up?" she said, a little taken aback and a lot curious. The bird immediately sprang back into the air and the she-wolf pivoted, orange eyes tracking him as he disappeared back toward the length of borders she'd just passed. Brow furrowed, the mercenary licked her lips and followed.

He led her directly toward a white figure crouched near the boundary lines. She barked a thanks to X, then galloped toward the outsider, her head and tail arching as she approached and brusquely commanded, "State your name and business."

The she-wolf looked at the wolf who had addressed her as she lowered her head and body with respect before she spoke. First and foremost she speaks her name. "My name is Kiran and I wish to join." The white female stated her name first as she looks up slightly.

When it came to outsiders, whether or not Towhee could read their lips was a matter of random chance. In this case, she found it difficult. It didn't help that the stranger was keeping her head down, a proprietary move of which the mercenary approved, though it definitely presented a logistical challenge.

"You have my permission to look up at me when you speak. I'm deaf," Towhee said a bit begrudgingly, every muscle stiffening as if to make it clear she wouldn't be lenient otherwise. "And repeat what you just said, I didn't catch it."

Kiran looked up at the wolf. "I apologize. What I said was that my name is Kiran and I was hoping to join your pack." She repeated what she had said the first time. She thought of how she said that she was deaf and wondered how hard that was, it saddened her a bit but she kept her compoure as she waited for the female to speak.

Her ears flicked dismissively in response to the apology, as Towhee concentrated on reading the stranger's lips. This angle made it a bit easier, though there was still something about her speech that made it hard for the mercenary. Biting back her frustration, she did her best to piece together the words. The context—a random passerby stooped at their borders—naturally assisted.

"You're here to join," she repeated back, just to be sure, then asked the obvious question: "Why?"

She nodded her head and thought of her reasoning and began her answer. "I know that it is extremely dificult to survive without the support of a pack." The she wolf spoke softly as she continued. "Food is scarce and I am only able to catch small game, but it's been getting harder and the weather has been unpredictable." The female expressed her current situation to the female.

She did her best to follow along, catching perhaps seventy percent of the words. Her expression remained stony as she listened, though as soon as the stranger finished, she said, "No shit. Why are you alone? And why did you choose this pack?" There was no sympathy in her tone (she didn't even have a tone), nor in her eyes or posture as she shrewdly regarded the white she-wolf.

She let out a sigh before speaking again. "I'm alone because I chose to be. I chose this pack because this was merely the first one I had stumbled upon." Was there a proper reason for choosing a pack. The young wolf was taken back by the response but stood still as she waited for a reply.

"Why did you choose to be a lone wolf?" Towhee wanted to know, squinting judgmentally. Idiot, she caught herself thinking, especially vehemently when the stranger admitted that she had no particular reason for picking the caldera. Towhee always resented this answer. This place was not a charity or dumping station. It was special and she quite frankly didn't appreciate it when stragglers came knocking at their door as if it wasn't.

"Not good enough," she blurted rather frankly.

"I left my pack because I did not agree with my alpha's judgement. He was a cruel man who did horrible things. I couldn't dare to be a part of his chaos. So I left in search for a new pack." The young she-wolf knew not what the other meant by not good enough but reguardless she waits for another response.

Towhee's ears flattened as if Kiran's next words displeased them, though they of course were entirely useless as far as hearing went. She frowned thoughtfully, orange eyes narrowing to a squint. A wolf that defied her Alphas did not make a promising candidate for the caldera. Towhee was pretty much decided on punting this one away from their borders.

But curiosity overruled momentarily. "Like what horrible things?" she wanted to know.

The white female's expression softened as she spoke about her past. "One winter my previous alpha raided a pack for it's territory and he killed many of it's wolves and it included the pups, my mother had intervened and he ended her life as well. That's when I left." She briefly describes what had happened.

"Did you say 'one winter'?" Towhee pressed after about thirty seconds of silence following Kiran's words. "How long ago did this happen? A year ago, two? More? How long have you been alone?"

The she-wolf clears her throat. "I've been on my own for roughly around two years." The white she wolf kept her composure after speaking about her mother, it was very hard to speak of her lately.

"Two years?" Towhee parroted, practically bellowing. "How old are you?" That wasn't really that important though. "Why are you just now joining a pack? What have you been doing all this time on your own?"

"I am currently 3 years of age and I've been living where I can. When I first started out on my own, I thought that being a lone wolf would be easy and for a while I still thought that, but as months went on I realized that I can't do this all my life. My birth lands had packs but they were full, so I started my journey to this place." The wolf finishes and waits.

You may want to update your profile, which says she's 2. :)

In the end, it was something relatively stupid that made up Towhee's mind. She was having a hard time following this wolf's speech. Did the mercenary really want to deal with such a language barrier with a pack mate, when she had the opportunity to avoid it? There were other strikes against Kirin—her strange, lonely history was at the top of the list—but in the end, it came down to the Redhawk's pettiness more than anything else.

"Not good enough," she repeated her earlier statement. "I'm going to ask you to leave now," Towhee added, just to be one hundred percent clear.

The she-wolf nodded. "Sorry to have wasted your time." The white wolf now wondered where she should go after departing from this place. She was not sure but the pack wolf's message was clear and Kiran wasn't going to stay any longer. She walks away until she is completely out of sight