Redhawk Caldera Just go get beer.
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#1
All Welcome 
Things were on an upswing lately, in Towhee's books. She felt particularly chipper this afternoon as she trotted back from guard duty, a fat rabbit stuffed in her jaws. It had been quite the opportunistic catch right at the tail end of her patrol. She wasn't much of a hunter, so she felt damn accomplished as she strode uphill toward the rendezvous site, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of the Beta pair.

When she reached the pack's center, she set the hare on the ground and caught her breath after the climb. She saw @Raven off in the distance, shuffling about her badger den. @Orca was there too, perhaps helping their older sister do some early spring cleaning. Towhee watched them a moment, then tipped her snout into the air to try and catch their godparents' scents.

Plucking up her kill again, she departed the rendezvous site and began trotting downhill in the direction of the lake, following @Finley's scent trail. The young Alpha wanted nothing more than to surprise her expecting godmother with this gift of meat. "I need something good to happen," she had said to Finley not so long ago, during their leadership exchange. If there was anything that could top a surprise promotion to Alpha, it was the promise of new life arriving soon in the caldera.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

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Fiadh couldn't recall how she'd gotten home; she remembered waking up with a weight around her neck and the world moving in fast- and slow-motion all at the same time, but there was a large blank in between waking up and getting here. She blinked, drowsy as she ambled unsteadily up the slope toward the clearing where she planned to take a nap. She weaved through snowed over evergreens, and bumped into more than a few as she went along, but her whole body felt so heavy and aimless that she hardly even noticed.

Fiadh's usual bounce was missing. Luckily, it was just the after effect of the tranquilizer and not a permanent mark on her psyche. The collar itself—which occasionally emitted a quick, high-pitched beep that made her ears tick upward and swivel each time it happened—wasn't much of a burden and didn't seem to be affecting her. For now, she was mostly unaware of it besides feeling something around her throat.

She was nearly at the rendezvous when she caught site of Towhee coming toward her with a hare gloved in her muzzle. The sight and smell of food made her feel strangely nauseous, and she sat down heavily to say, in a voice thick still with drunken confusion, "hi, Toooowheeeee," before yawning loudly.
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#3
On the subject of surprises, Towhee stopped in her tracks when she saw someone approaching her at an angle. The glimpse of gray made her think Blackthorn, so she turned to face the incoming wolf in the hopes that it was Finley or maybe Elwood. When she saw that it was Fiadh instead, her jaw spontaneously unhinged and the rabbit tumbled unceremoniously from her mouth. In an instant, the fur along her spine stood on end and she bared her teeth—not at her little sister but at the alien device throttling her.

"Fiadh!" burst out of the Alpha's mouth as she sprang toward the younger wolf, prepared to defend her from this utterly strange attacker. "What—?" Although alarmed and wary, Towhee immediately thrust her muzzle toward the collar, sinking her teeth into it and yanking to get it away from the Pi's throat.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

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She was prepared to spend a little time with Alpha-slash-big sister, if Towhee wasn't busy, but that plan flew right out the window when the older wolf sprang at her with teeth uncovered, dropping the rabbit in the same motion. Her vibrant yellow eyes flew wide as she tried to backpedal, but as much as Fiadh wanted to believe she was a proficient fighter, Towhee was a dozen times better than her.

The Alpha's teeth found purchase on the stiff leather of the collar, and Fiadh choked as Towhee wrenched her head to the side. The thick band pulled taut across her throat and she coughed several times, then issued a series of strangled sounds while attempting to grab at her sister's face with feeble snaps of her jaws. All the while, her feet scrabbled on the ground. Her eyes pricked with tears as she rolled them in Towhee's direction, as though to ask, why are you killing me?

Was this what it felt like to have someone's jaws around your throat?
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She couldn't hear the noises Fiadh made, though nearly the instant her sister began to struggle, Towhee released her grip and stumbled backward. Seeing the pained look on the Pi's face, the Alpha did something rather unusual for her: she whined. Towhee couldn't be sure whether it was the device that was hurting Fiadh or her own futile efforts to remove it. Of course, she could ask, but there weren't many rational thoughts in her head at this moment of panic. She wasn't sure she should touch the youth or the wretched thing around her throat, either, so she just hovered there a moment, sounding like a tire leaking air.

When she finally found her voice, Towhee half-shouted, "Is it hurting you? What is it? Where'd it come from?"
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

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#6
Fin is still far away and moving slow so feel free to disregard her ;)

Damniiiiiiiiiiiit.

She was getting fat again.

Every. Time.

God, having kids was such a bitch.

Fin was moping. It was amazing how quickly the joy over being pregnant could vanish. And then return. And vanish. And return. Back and forth and back and forth, endlessly. This was probably her fifth time that day feeling miserable over being pregnant. So far, she was about ten minutes in, which meant she had another 5 or so left before she was blissfully happy once again. The trick was to wait it out - not that she was actually aware of that little pro-tip. That was just some advice that @Raven gave to everyone that had to deal with her while she gave herself completely over to the whims of her hormones.

She was lounging by the lake during her latest bout of the grumpies when a sound distracted her. Fin lifted her chin from the ground and blinked bleerily across the terrain at the sihlouettes in the distance. It looked like Towhee, and it looked as thoooouuuughhhh... one of those other kids of hers was intercepting her. Aww... her other kids. God she loved them. How great is it that she's pregnant again? OH SHE COULD JUST BURST.

And then, the snarls, and the lunging, and the frightened whimpering that I assume is happening, and Finley was on all fours, galloping awkwardly towards them. She knew that her wildlings liked to rough house with one another and that Towhee often sparred with them, but this wasn't quite the same, and so she shouted as she "ran", "HEY STOP THAT!"

Not that it would do any good, deaf wolf and all. Plus the fact that Towhee had already eased off - something Fin might've noticed if she wasn't huffing and puffing and struggling to get to them already.
 
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She would never admit it aloud—not to her parents, not to Towhee, and certainly not to her litter mates—but as Towhee thrashed her by way of the collar on her neck, fear plunged its icy hand into her heart and plucked out her desire to fight bad guys. It had always sounded so cool, noble and rewarding to be a strong warrior just like Towhee, but that was when it sounded like a knight besting dragons and becoming a hero. The reality was that a fighter was risking this every time they fought, and Fiadh wasn't ready for it.

She was released in very short order and she gasped and panted, finding her breath unimpeded and feeling immediately sobered from her previous state. Her eyes flew to Towhee's face and then immediately filled with tears. As the Alpha's voice built into a whine, Fiadh's fell into a shuddering sob as she cried out, shaken and unsure of what she'd done wrong.
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Towhee's insides curdled like sour milk when she saw Fiadh's face contort. She couldn't hear her cries, yet she could feel them in the very marrow of her spirit. She whined again and took a tentative step toward the crying girl. She wanted to console the youngster, lick her face until the tears stopped, but would Fiadh let her, after what she'd just done?

She was caught off guard when Finley arrived, chest heaving. Towhee jerked, looking a little wild-eyed as she regarded the Beta. "I don't know what it is," she blurted helplessly. She would've wrung her hands if it was possible. "I didn't mean to hurt her. I was trying to get it off. But I can't." The Alpha felt powerless and it was a truly awful feeling.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

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Fin could hardly breathe by the time she reached her kids. She had seen Towhee back off of Fiadh somewhere along the way, and so her priorities upon her arrival changed quickly from stopping the fight to dropping hard onto her haunches and throwing her head back with a lovely GUHH as her breath swept hard back into her lungs. She was panting heavily when finally she looked back at the pair, blinking winded tears from her eyes as she focused on Towhee and set to processing the alpha's words in slow motion.

"Get what off?" she said between huffs, frowning at her niece. She turned to Fiadh a moment later and stared at her, noting the fear that drenched her body and voice. "Fee, what is it?" she said in a consoling voice. She made to move towards her, but belly weight and exhaustion kept her in place. It took a moment more for her to see th source of the problem, but when finally she did, she felt her hackles pirckling along her spine.

"What the crap is that?" she said in alarm, snapping her attention back to Towhee as though her one-year-old daughter would somehow be able to explain this to her when not even she with her six years traveling the world had a clue. "Does it hurt?" she asked without waiting for an answer from Towhee, looking again at Fiadh.
 
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Her ears swiveled and did most of the work where paying attention was concerned, because as Finley came to a screeching halt next to her and Towhee, Fiadh's tears morphed quickly from shock and fear to full-on ugly crying. Her breath came in heaving shudders as Finley and Towhee discussed the thing around her neck. Luckily for everybody involved, she was typically a very resilient youth who bounced back easily from everything, so this wasn't going to scar her for life. Just for the day. Or a week or so. No big deal.

"Nuh-nuh-noooo-ooo-ooo," Fiadh replied through shuddering sobs as tears and snot in equal measure flowed down her face. The collar itself was hardly a problem. If Fiadh hadn't still been on the edge of the wolf equivalent of completely shit-faced after being tranq'd, she probably wouldn't have reacted so dramatically either. But Fiadh very much was the picture of a girl ugly crying at the bar because Johnny Studlynipples had turned down her advances and she was five too many tequila shots in to control herself any longer.
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Towhee could barely follow along, between her own panic and the emotions distorting the others' words and thus her ability to read their lips. This exacerbated the issue so that the yearling felt at a total loss. She just looked back and forth between the concerned (and slightly ballooned) Finley and the sobbing Fiadh, her body otherwise frozen.

Then a thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. Without even consulting the two of them, the Alpha pointed her muzzle skyward and sent up a godawful racket, summoning @Raven to come and make an assessment. The act of bellowing as such was cathartic and helped clear Towhee's head a bit, so when it dropped back down, she took a step toward the crying girl.

Careful not to touch her, Towhee signed, -It's gonna be okay, Fi. Raven's on her way. Everything's going to be fine.-
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

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Fiadh's distress was enough to make the exhausted mother get back off of her ass. She closed the distance between them with a consoling whine and pulled the girl near, worrying her ears with affectionate sniffles and kisses. She took the opportunity to take a closer look at the odd growth around her neck. It didn't smell as though it was infected, and while she'd never seen a tumor grow that quickly, there was nothing else she could come up with. Unless this was some sort of giant, ring-shaped tick. Didn't smell like that either. It didn't smell like anything she recognized at all.

Fin gave a nod of approval when Towhee called for Raven. The medic had spent time away from the Wilds as well, so maybe she would know. It was all they could hope for at this point. "We'll get it off of you, don't worry," she said, not even knowing if it was get-off-able but sensing it was probably what the girl needed to hear, "It's going to be okay. I won't let it hurt you." She shot a glare at the collar as though warning it. For all she knew, it was actually alive and it heard the menacing undertone to her comment. It didn't let go still, though... Bold little bitch, wasn't it.
 
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As Towhee crowed out a call for Raven and Finley moved close to comfort her, Fiadh's crying slowed to a stuttering sob. She buried her face into her the fur of her mother's neck, feeling like she was two months old again. The youth was normally pretty unflappable, so it felt weird to seek Finley's comfort like that, but in the moment she only wanted to hide away.

In response to all of Finley's concerns, Fiadh shook her head. "Nuh-no," she said through a hiccough, "it d-doesn't hurt, it never hurt me. Just..." Her gaze slid to Towhee then and her ears pulled back. She didn't want to make her older sister feel like shit or anything—Fiadh loved Towhee and though she was shaken and frightened, she didn't blame Towhee for it, exactly—so she turned her muzzle sidelong to Finley's ear in hopes of hiding her lips and quietly admitted, "Towhee attacking me over it just r-really scared me, mom."
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She wanted to believe her own words, although only Raven's assessment would put her at ease. Towhee frantically scanned the horizon for any sign of the medic's approach. When she didn't immediately spy her, her orange eyes looked to Finley and Fiadh, desperately searching for any sign that Raven might have called back. Instead, she found Fiadh gazing up at her in distress, her ears pinned backward. The sight made Towhee's stomach tie into knots of anguish and guilt.

-I'm sorry,- she repeated. She couldn't hear what the girl was saying but she was more adept at picking up body languages and expressions; Towhee could tell just how shaken her sister was. -I...- she continued, only to stop abruptly when Raven finally appeared, electric yellow eyes wild and her tongue lolling from her maw as she immediately darted to Fiadh's side.

Towhee retreated out of the way even as she breathed a sigh of relief. Not wanting to upset Fiadh further, she even walked away a bit. She kept an eye on things but kept her distance, making a note to seek out Fiadh later, after everything had calmed down a bit, and make sure she hadn't ruined their sisterly bond somehow.

This is my last post; feel free to continue and control Rave, of course! :D
-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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Fin was relieved to know that whatever the creature around her daughter's neck was, it wasn't hurting her. She could sympathize with Fiadh's fear, though. It was still a foreign ...something... and it freaked Fin out as well, if she was being honest. She couldn't admit that, though. She didn't want to scare her daughter even more.

But it turned out, Fiadh wasn't nearly as upset over her latest accessory as she was over Towhee's attack. Fin shot a glance at her deaf daughter who was signing her apology and shaking with guilt and misery. Apparently there were two girls to comfort here... But Towhee would have to wait for the moment. She nuzzled her cheek against Fiadh's soothingly, crooning low in her throat. "It's okay, I know she didn't mean to scare you," she murmured, "She was just trying to protect you from this.. thing. She wasn't trying to attack you."

She gave another accusing, sidelong glare to the collar, but was interrupted from offering any further words of comfort by the sudden arrival of Raven. Fin planted a kiss on Fiadh's crown before stepping away to allow the medic to begin her inspection, explaining as calmly as she could what they knew so far of the strange, circular animal that had latched onto her daughter. Fin glanced over at Towhee as she lingered in the near distance. She lifted a paw to sign to her goddaughter -It's alright, she'll be fine- in hopes of lending some comfort to the other girl as well. But for now, she had to turn away and continue to focus on Fiadh, praying silently that everything really was alright and that she really would be okay.

you wanna fade out or keep going? I'm game for whatever! :)
 
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Fiadh, too, knew that Towhee hadn't meant to scare her or attack her. The Alpha's teeth had deliberately pinched only the collar, and she wasn't so melodramatic as to believe her older sister meant her any harm. It was more of a shock than anything, yet it was sudden enough that it would take her at least a day or more to warm back up to Towhee, as sad as that would make both of them for the time being.
She didn't have a chance to really respond to Finley or say anything else on the subject, for Raven was prompt to arrive as always and set about inspecting her. She asked a lot of questions, poked and prodded with paws and nose, and made Fiadh move her head every which way to show all sides of the collar. Raven did everything she could, but in the end, even the practised healer couldn't say what the collar was, leaving Fiadh and family with more questions than answers. When the healer's assessment was complete, Fiadh requested some quiet time to sleep off the whole ordeal.

I'm cool with fading and having something more up-to-date when we get to new home!