Lake Rodney sleep don't visit so i choke on sun.
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When had she gotten so pale?

Finley's brow furrowed thoughtfully as she gazed at her reflection in Rodney's gently rippling surface. She turned her head from one side to the other, studying her own face. She hadn't remembered the pale fur on her underside creeping so far up her face, nor could she recall ever seeing the strands of white peppering the dark charcoal over the bridge of her nose or down her back. Come to think of it, since when was the black streak along her spine so faint? She cringed as she looked at the scarred side of her face - long ago scarred by that porcupine's quills. It had always been unsightly, but never had it appeared quite this grizzly. Somewhere along the line, Fin had gotten old, and the thought made her feel oddly empty inside.

She gave a tired sigh, shutting her eyes tight as her stomach rolled again under the weight of the memory of all that had happened. She'd been feeling nauseous ever since leaving Blackfeather's now empty borders. They had won, and now they were safe. They had accomplished what they'd set out to do, but still. Finley took a deep breath to steady herself and push the thoughts aside. Dwelling did not help. It was time to move forward.

The alpha turned and walked slowly back towards the Caldera, taking her time. Her leg ached fiercely still from the fight, so really there was no option for her but to move slow. In retrospect, it was stupid for her to have left the borders at all, but she had needed time alone to think. Ironic, since she'd spent most of the time trying desperately not to think at all.
 
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The Blackfeathers had gotten a few rather good licks in, but eventually, he and the other two wolves had sent them fleeing.  He hadn't given chase; they were gone, that's all he cared about, because that was all he needed to care about.  They now knew not to bother the Caldera again (he hoped), and his newfound home would (hopefully) retreat back into boring peace.  

It was a warm day, relatively speaking, so Colt had submerged himself somewhat in the lake water.  It felt good on his stiff wounds, and besides that, he still felt dirty from rolling about in the muck of the woods over there.  Eventually the cold of the water did begin to deep in, however, so he heaved a sigh and pushed himself from it, the motion sending water cascading from his back and dripping on the shore.

As he turned, he saw a familiar figure a ways around the lake, on his way back, conveniently enough.  He'd been more gratified than he'd been willing to let on to see her come back in one piece; it'd suck to have made up only to have it cut short like that.  "Hey, Fin!" He called out, trotting over.  "Wait up!"  She was walking back, but slowly, and he wondered if she had time for a chat with her favoritest brother in the world.
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Fin heard her name being called and paused to look around with a frown. She saw Colt on the approach and a smile slid across her lips in spite of her dour mood. She was glad that he had made it out of Blackfeather alive, and also that he didn't seem at all resentful towards her for getting him into that mess in the first place. And if she was going to talk to anyone right now, she was glad it would be someone she was generally incapable of actually having a serious conversation with.

"You really needed me to wait up for you with this limp?" Fin chided as he came nearer, "You're old, dude." She narrowed her eyes slightly as she began to study him as well, trying to see if he was looking just as shitty as she was these days. Probably not. The bitchface.
 
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He laughed.  "Correction; we're old."  He picked up his pace, though, somewhat stiffly, as he continued to approach.  "Old as you, but twice as pretty."  He goaded, slowing a bit when he came in close in case she took the words to heart and decided to pummel his ass for them.  Had happened before.

"That was a tussle, for sure.  I hate to say this, sis, but it may be time to retire to minor scuffles."  He raised a paw as if thinking.  "Perhaps, perhaps, the occasional tiff.  If we're feeling lucky."
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Fin scowled at his correction, but had nothing to say to refute it. Being littermates did technically make them the same age, though she did prefer being superior to him in every way she could. There was one thing she couldn't just let go unanswered, though. "Good to see the voices in your head are still being nice enough to compliment you, full of shit as they are," she told him, hoping it would be sufficient to shut him up. They both knew who the pretty one really was, after all.

Conversation turned to the war, and Finley flinched inwardly. Colt skirted the outside of the topic though, and the alpha was determined to stay there. "I'm not a fan of agreeing with you about anything, but you might be right," she told him, pausing as a pensive look crossed her face, "You know, I can't even remember the last time I tried to harass a bear. That makes me kinda sad." She smiled as she said it, so clearly not too sad. I'm a little sad too, actually. But then again, I do remember the last time she harassed a bear.
 
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"Every day, thrice before breakfast."  He agreed, unfazed.  "Keeps the ol' confidence up."  Nothing wrong with bein full of yourself, so long as you weren't an ass when it counted.  And it so rarely counted.  Most of the times the one that Colt was interested in being friends with had the wherewithall not to take it personally.

"You even get bears around here to harass?" he asked, genuinely curious.  He wasn't aware if these parts had larger predators roaming or if that was mostly other regions.  "But same.  Believe it or not, I slowed down a bit ago."  He paused for a minute, shifting, before he went on.  "Yours is sadder though.  I don't have kids who need to learn the ropes on what it means to be a Blackthorn.  Who's teaching them to wrestle mountain lions?"
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Fin considered her brother's question for a moment before answering. "There are definitely bears about, but we don't see them much unless we seek them out," she answered. She used to run into bears all the time, but that was when she was an idiot and she taunted them for fun. Now she avoided them - a way less interesting pastime, but probably the better one for a mother of like... twenty.

"You? Slow down?" Fin responded, looking at him with raised eyebrows and a smirk, "Well shit. I was thinking since you showed up, you could be the one to teach them. You always were a suitable punching bag, if a little mouthy."
 
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Colt laughed.  "I was only a punching bag half the time.  You really think I'd let any kid of yours show me up?"  He stretched his forelegs expressively, lifting his brow at her.  Then he switched it out for a slightly more genuine vein.

"Though I was thinking I could show them a thing or two.  Since I'm going to be around, and all."  He couldn't come right out and say it, but hell if he wasn't stoked to hang with his nieces and nephews.  See what sorta wolves his sister had raised up.
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Fin snorted in a very lady-like way at Colt's comment. She was pretty sure that if her kids decided to take their uncle on, he wouldn't have a choice except to be shown up. Her latest four were a fiesty bunch and she loved it. She and Elwood had yet to discuss their next litter, but Fin had hopes that they would turn out just as fiere as these last, though she would enjoy a nice, cuddly Lagan-type again.

The idea of Colt sticking around and teaching her children was still an odd one, but a welcome one. She and her brother had honed their fighting and trouble-making skills together. She knew there was no one better for teaching her kids the same than Colt. Hence, her misgivings. "And what exactly would you be showing them? Or more specifically... what would you encourage them to do for practice?" she asked, giving him a shrewd glance. She knew what they used to do to practice their fighting... She wanted her kids to be skilled little warriors, but they were not going to learn the way that she and Colt had - taunting bears and bobcats and rutting stags like dumb asses.
 
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"Why, how one becomes a 'suitable punching bag', of course," he said, enjoying the dubious look she wore immensely.  Looks like she was one of those moms who didn't let her kids make the same dumb decisions.  How much fun was that though for the poor squirts?

"I don't seem to recall our escapades doing too much harm," he prodded with a shrug, as though he were talking of a walk in the woods and not enticing kids to chase bobcats.
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Fin snorted with laughter at his comment. Her kids would never be punching bags like Colt had been, she was determined. They would be the ones doing the punching, always.

At his retort, she paused and gave him a wide-eyed Are you kidding me?? stare. "Uhhh need I remind you about Valkyrie? she asked pointedly, quirking an expectant brow. Surely he would remember Val... I mean, his player won't have a clue wtf I'm talking about, but Colt surely would!
 
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#12
y u do dis XD

"Valkyrie!? As if you think I could forget!"  He laughed at the rememberance, because Starr has no idea but I'm assuming even if it was terrible Colt would laugh.  He's a cocky loser like that.  "How can you say that wasn't a great learning experience for everyone involved?"  Character building.  She hadn't turned out too lame for it, and he was fucking amazing, so maybe her kids needed a little Valkyrie in their lives.  (Whatever the hell that meant jeeze Stevie)
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Fin smirked at her brother as the memories came to him, allowing them to seep into her own mind. Typically, this would be the point where I would describe said memories. But because I'm a horrible, horrible person, I'm not going to. LUV U STARR.

"As I recall, her parents weren't too pleased with us for getting her into that learning experience," she commented, "As I recall, they were actually pretty pissed. And, as I recall, we were finding ourselves a new home the second after the little blabber mouth ratted us out to them."
 
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((RUDE))

"My point exactly!" He said, flicking his tail at her with a matching smirk on his own face.  "Important lesson learned; don't trust outside the family, cuz they are probably a snitch". Was she going to deny her offspring the important life lessons such experiences had left them with?

Though now that he said it, that lesson might not be the best to be imparting to a kid.  This was why he never got involved; don't raise a kid and you don't have to worry about ruining them.
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Finley smirked at his comment, finding little flaw in it. It seemed that only Blackthorns were really up for the kind of shenanigans Blackthorns were capable of getting into. The escapade with Valkyrie had been evidence enough of that, though the pup had not been the only outsider to get caught up in their games before. She'd just been the youngest. And her being the only child of the alpha pair had also not helped... They'd learned to pick their targets better after that.

"You know I ran into her a while ago?" Fin commented, "She was passing through the Wilds here and I happened upon her, all grown up, but still oddly bitter about it. Some people just can't let shit go, I guess." Yeah, that run-in had been brief. Probably for the better.
 
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"No shit?"  This place really did attract their kind, didnt it? Seemed like everyone came through here.  "Pity.  We could have reminisced on old times.  Maybe gone for round 2."  If round 2 even makes sense because Starr has no clue what's going on here.  The thought gave him a wicked bit of pleasure and he was sure Fin probably felt the same; she wasn't the only one who didn't always let shit go, though Colt wasn't bitter about it.
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Finley grinned at her brother's suggestion. "I'm good with that, but we're definitely not sending any pups of mine to steal eagle eggs for us," she commented, "Not unless we make sure to kill the mother eagle first this time. That was probably our first mistake..." Ah well, live and learn. There Starr R U HAPPY??
 
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YES STARR IS.  Colt however mused on this because this story came as no surprise and he knew what the plan had been before all along.  "How about we send your kids in as bait for the parents and steal the eggs ourselves?" He asked with a bit of a smirk, knowing the answer but unable to resist wheedling her.  Truth was, he'd have a harder time sending them into trouble than he had when he was young and the wolf in question was a random (extremely annoying) friend.  Extremely annoying family nonwithstanding, he would behave.
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LOL. Fin gave him a skeptical look at first, but after considering his suggestion, it did seem to have some merit. "I dunno... They might not be ready for bait duty yet," she replied, "Although... For an eagle to abandon its nest and go after them, they'd have to pester the hell out of it and I can attest to how obnoxious they can be. We just need to channel it into something useful, like this." She was warming up to this idea actually... Hopefully in a minute or so, she'll remember she's suggesting using her children as bait so that she could steal some eagle eggs. And she actually hates the taste of eggs. A lot.
 
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"Next time I spot a nest, I'll keep it in mind."  He laughed, enjoying the mental image quite a bit of pups harassing an eagle.  Of course, in his mental image, there was no danger... reality would probably be a bit less funny.

He stuck around a little while longer, shooting the shit with her and remembering old times.  It almost felt like no time had passed; he'd missed this.  A lot.

scrapes cobwebs off and archives. :')