Shadewood Do these tacos taste funny to you?

The rain plagued them as they continued trekking north. Towhee grew extremely frustrated with the inclement weather, which prevented them from picking up a proper trail. They caught a whiff of Screech here and there, yet the rain had washed away most of it. They were more or less wandering blindly through the wilderness. They would find nothing in these conditions.

While the group took a rest, Towhee decided to try sending X out into the storm. Even he was impaired by the rain, yet his eyes were still sharper than theirs. "Go west or even south," she instructed him, "just in case. We've got the northeast covered. Be careful out there, bud." She reached out a paw to stroke one of the hawk's wings before he took to the rainy sky.

She turned back to rejoin @Niamh, @Tegan and @Colt. They had been searching endlessly in the torrent. Despite her weariness and a growing sense of futility, the Beta proposed, "Maybe it's time we split up to cover more ground. Niamh will come with me and we'll head east. You two go north until you hit the coast. Howl if you find anything or need help." Towhee paused, scanning the three faces. "Sound like a plan?"

It had been difficult, trying to find traces of Screech’s scent in the wilderness on the isle, where the rain had washed away the majority of Screech’s scent. Any other day and they would have had better luck- she and Ceara had only left him 24 hours or so before, and in his state, she couldn’t have imagined that unaided, he’d get very far. There was always the possibility, though, that some good samaritan had found him and helped him along.

Splitting up was their best option, and Towhee sent X off on his own to scout. She split them up, sending Colt and Tegan off on their own, if they chose not to argue, though she had a strange, nagging feeling about going toward the coast. She peered in that direction, somehow drawn that way by some inexplicable feeling.  She glanced at Towhee, though, and didn’t want to go against her suggestion, no matter how much she wanted to go North.

tegan was whet. like, seriously? come on. he looked a whole mess all soggy, he wasn't impressing niamh one bit. not that she was looking, especially on this heavy of a mission. when they stopped tegan was forced to stand and stare at towhee as she split them up into two groups, which sucked a little bit cause now tegan really wasn't gonna impress niamh. but, again, that wasn't the most important thing going on. and besides, he really liked uncle colt. 

"coast sounds good," tegan told his beta, ears flicking forwards. with a narrowed gaze, tegan took this moment as the most experienced scout to add, "we don't have much else to go on with all these scent trails washed away."

Colt didn't mind the split, though he still worried what being with Towhee might do to Niamh if they found him.  He wasn't about to come out and say it, though... she was an adult, she made her own choices, and she seemed damn set in her choice.  Still. Colt couldn't imagine watching someone kill Qui, or Raven, or any of them.  Screech must have done something truly shitty to have fallen this far, and Colt assumed he'd only heard the minimum.

"Same to you," he actually signed, almost without thought, before casting Niamh one last look and walking to stand by Tegan; he'd let the ''master" lead the way of course.  Tegan was right, though.  Not much to go on in this mess.

No one argued with her, nor proposed an alternative course of action. Tegan did point out the futility of their search and Towhee sighed. "I know," she acknowledged, trying and failing to hide her frustration, "but I still th—" She cut off abruptly, her head turning very, very, very slowly in Colt's direction. It probably would've been a comical sight, if not for the heavy circumstances.

"Did you just...?" she eventually found her voice, then blinked hard and tried again in ptero. -You know ptero?- Towhee didn't even give him time to react. Although it was not the time, nor the place, she suddenly whacked him (companionably [but probably harder than was strictly necessary...]) on the shoulder and simply signed a very sincere, -Thank you.-

But they needed to focus on the hunt now. Their prey was almost certainly going to give them the slip but, "We have to give one last push. If we don't find anything, we'll reconvene in a day or so, then decide what to do from there. C'mon," she tacked on, turning to Niamh and motioning for her to follow before pausing to sign, -Be careful,- to the boys.

Their bleak chances were highlighted by Tegan, and earned a swift flick of the tail from Niamh, who really didn’t want to waste time on yet another of his interruptions. Next time, she decided, if she had a time sensitive mission, she would insist that Tegan be left at home. She felt she’d been right when she first doubted he’d be a good choice- but he’d been given a chance.

She too looked at Colt with surprise when he signed to Towhee, and though the distraction was a delay, this time she didn’t mind it. Something glimmered in her eyes for just a moment when she looked at him, as she was pleased he was trying. Towhee was her best friend, after all...And considering how she’d begun feeling about Colt as well, he’d need to win as many brownie points from her as possible.

when they split up, though, she was silent- but cast a meaningful glance to Colt, to show that she too was grateful he was trying.

all he did was point out that their plan of action was their best bet-- so tegan wasn't doing anything wrong... not really. he was being mildly pessimistic, i guess, but, seriously? did these wolves think they were going to find him? grow up. at least, that's what he would've said if niamh would've voiced her frustration-- she was being petty. instead though, all he got was a flick of her tail, which he hardly noticed (if he did notice he really didn't care), and therefore no further outbursts occurred.

tegan overlooked how meaningful colt signing in ptero was and was just quiet as towhee then commanded them to head off-- and to be careful, lmao, whatever that means. he ducked forwards to quickly nudge towhee on the shoulder(cause he loves her :/ ) before skrting back towards colt and heading off.

He didn't know the sign for 'don't make it a thing' so he just shrugged, but he did crack a smile when Towhee thumped him (hard).  Maybe they weren't hopeless... but he'd die before he admitted he had learned it to make nice with her.

Then he set off withTegan, giving his favorite nephew a nudge and a wink.  Should be a good time, hunting a ghost in the rain.

I figured you and I could continue this a bit, Jess? :D

The two males soon disappeared into the hazy downpour in the direction of the distant seaboard, leaving Towhee to turn toward Niamh. -Come on,- she signed before swiveling and heading due east. The trees of Shadewood offered some shelter from the rainfall, though soon they were leaving the forest behind and facing a passage choked with crooked trees and creeping vines. It looked impossibly dark ahead and it was tempting to seek another path and go around the slough.

But Towhee turned to Niamh and asked, -If you were Screech, wouldn't you think this might be a good place to hide?- Shaking the water from her eyes and ears, she motioned for her cohort to move in close beside her even as they entered the dreary swampland, the potent odor of it quickly filling their nostrils.

sure!

As Tegan and Colt left, she watched them go for a moment, before she turned her head and walked forward into the rain alongside Towhee. The weather was disgusting, and certainly didn't help with tracking. Even when they were sheltered by the woodlands, the rain fell a bit less on them, but when water did hit Niamh it was in great, wet droplets, created by the water that collected together on the leaves before falling down in a massive raindrop. She winced and squinted whenever one landed squarely on her muzzle, sending a little spray of water into her eyes. This was miserable.

Towhee made a fair point, and she nodded in response. -Sure would, if he's thinking ahead that much.- She signed. Screech hadn't been himself- and she wasn't entirely sure how much conscious thought he was capable of anymore. In a moment of vulnerability, she ashamedly continued signing. -I just don't get it though. How did he end up like this, but I'm fine? I mean, he hit me as hard as I hit him.- She said, frowning. It simply didn't make sense- she'd gotten off relatively easy, even if she had suffered days and days of headaches. She hadn't gone into a coma, or suffered brain damage- but he somehow had.

Her friend's remark reminded her that Screech wasn't in his right mind. Towhee's lips pursed as she considered this, her orange eyes squinting through the rainfall as Niamh signed something else. The Beta's expression darkened.

-Probably because he was partially braindead all along,- she replied. -Let's assume instinct is compelling him even if he isn't properly lucid.- "Lucid," she added out loud, in case Niamh didn't recognize the sign, before continuing in ptero. -I don't want to split up, just in case. But let's spread out a little so we can cover more ground and maybe surround him if we find him. Just stay within sight.-

After giving the other she-wolf a moment to comprehend this, Towhee embarked into the slough, dropping her nose to begin combing the damp, dank ground for any sign of Screech's damp, dank scent trail.

Towhee’s remark didn’t make her feel any better- as Niamh doubted Screech had been braindead before...But if her friend wasn’t going to waste time dwelling on how unfair it’d all been, she didn’t need to either. She struggled with it, but tried to tell herself to concentrate on the task at hand.

She agreed with Towhee’s plan and began searching for Screech’s damp, dank stank as well. (Hahah). She kept Towhee in her peripheral vision, but zig zagged this way and that so she could cover more ground, and hopefully not miss any signs...But nothing was jumping out at her.

I thought I'd do a segue, so this'll be my last post!

The boggy conditions eventually gave way to a dryer forest (relatively speaking—the rain continued to pour) which Towhee would have found relieving if she hadn't felt so frustrated by the lack of a trail. She stopped at the foot of a rocky outcropping planted in the midst of the trees, teeth clenched. Maybe where they were coming up with nothing, the boys were faring better, although Towhee doubted it.

She heaved a great sigh and turned to locate Niamh's golden pelt through the dreary gray curtains of rain. She moved her forelegs to sign something to her friend when something caught her eye, lifting her orange gaze skyward despite the downpour. Towhee bit her lip as she watched X sail nearer. She hastily moved to an opening in the trees and barked to grab his attention, causing him to bank and begin descending.

"Did you find him?!" she blurted as soon as his talons touched the wet ground.

X simply looked at her a beat, then shook his head. There was another pause—Towhee felt her stomach sinking—before he mentioned the name of another sibling entirely: Orca. He conveyed the word for "dead" and she squinted the rain out of her eyes, sure she had misunderstood. But when commanded to repeat it, X slowly repeated his message: "Orca is dead."

She heard the high pitched cries from X before she even saw him, and moved alongside Towhee to greet him- eager to see the news he had for them, but when he replied, Niamh’s heart sank. She didn’t know what he’d signed afterwards- but his negative response about Screech was as clear as day. 

They took off, then, the teo wolves hurtling through the rain, following X who would guide them toward the mountain where their deceased packmate lay.