Redhawk Caldera A New Home (My IC Joining Thread)

Somnia sat silently at the border of a pack's territory. Her tail swished rhythmically as she scanned her surroundings. But eventually, she slipped into her thoughts out of boredom.

I wonder what type of wolves run this pack. Will they be power hungry, slave-keeping, war-crazed maniacs? Or maybe peaceful wolves that care about all their of pack members? What if when I finally encounter them, they try to kill me? What if they accept me, but enslave me, and threaten to kill me if I try to escape? What if they give me a chance, but deem me useless, and decide to try to hunt down my parents to kill them for having a useless daughter? Stop thinking about the what-ifs, Nia! You know that what-ifs are often hyperbolized, and almost never happen! Stop being in trepidation! Whether the pack is war-crazed or peaceful, they'll most likely want to have a new ally!

Somnia managed to come back to present, instead of being lost in her thoughts. She let out a sigh. Somnia couldn't know for sure about how these wolves would react to her, but the only way she would find out is by waiting for one to notice her.

(I read in the guide that we have to write third person, past-tense, but is it alright to go into first person when your character is thinking to themself?)

That's perfectly fine! And italicising is usually how people write out their character's thoughts, so it works perfectly. Welcome to Wolf (and RHC)!

Peregrine had yet to return, and Fox's face was still a mess, but at least she had not spotted the cougar since they had chased it off. She had found the meet after their confrontation, and she had realized what had happened. She hated to think of how much worse it could have been, but she was lucky to have gotten out relatively unscathed. Well, not really. Her face was covered in a long gash along the left side, which probably made her look quite hellish. "Good," she thought, "Maybe it will scare off any potential intruders." She had accepted the nursing of her pack-mates' to clean it, but had ignored it beyond that. Thick scabs had formed across the cut, and she did not think it would end in anything but an unwieldy scar. It seemed she would look even more like Tuwawi when it was all said and done.

Which got her to wondering how her old friend was doing. Last she'd heard, she and Njal had moved away from the creek to start their own life. This she had heard from Sveinn, though she had no clue where he (or the Sveijarns) were now. For a moment, she considered trying to track them down, but her life here was too involved, and she knew she could not make the time to do so. Perhaps if they somehow ran into one another again, things would be different, but for now they would simply be left out of the loop of one another's lives.

The young leader skulked along the border, her body and mind tired, but knowing that they needed the protection even more now. They were so vulnerable without Peregrine here, but all she could do was continue to do what she had been doing: patrol, patrol, patrol. Her hackles raised for a moment when she caught wind of another wolf, but she smoothed them down when she realized this was no trespasser. Instead, a loner lingered near their borders, a respectful distance away, and Fox marched toward the girl with purpose. The wound on her face probably made it look like they were a pack of crazed warriors, but Fox would rather that than weaklings.

“Your business here?” she asked, once she was within speaking distance of the loner.

(Thanks!)

The first two things Somnia noticed about the wolf were the unusual, fiery orange pelt, and the seemingly recent gash across her face. The gash put her into what she liked to call 'Alert Mode'. This meant that within half a second she had sprung up to a standing position, looked around too quickly to actually notice if something dangerous was there, and her fur had puffed out a little. Upon realizing that whatever did that to the wolf's face was not in the immediate area, Somnia comprehended the question.

Somnia started quickly talking, trying to explain herself even though she wasn't asked to yet. She always either went into overload, or was at a lost of what to say when she was around strangers. This time, it was the overload. "I wanted to join this pack. I mean, if it wouldn't be a problem for your pack. If it is a problem, I could quickly leave the area. But I promise I'll be loyal if you do let me in. I'm here because the pack I grew up in disbanded, and-"

Shit, manners. It hit Somnia hard. Her family had always been strict on manners and respect, to the point where you always had to be submissive to a dominant wolf before interacting with them. In her hurry to get in a submissive position, Somnia crashed to the ground, shoving her face into the dirt. She raised her face out of the dirt long enough to speak comprehensive words. "My name is Somnia, and I'm sorry that I wasn't in a submissive position sooner." She kept her mouth shut after that, not wanting to make the heat of embarrassment worse.

So much for a good first impression.

Ah, yes, this was one of those talkative types. Fox had never been much of a talker, preferring physical actions to verbal ones. After she'd gone on about something or another (Fox also wasn't much of a listener), the stranger introduced herself as Somnia. Having been a leader for almost a year (which accounted for half of her life), Fox had found that there was rarely a way to tell if a wolf would fit in or not based on first impressions. Bazi had been anything but trustworthy when she had come to the creek, but she had quickly risen in the ranks, eventually becoming Fox's beta. Granted, they hadn't parted on good terms (far from it), but she had been quite helpful for a time.

“At least you were smart enough not to go waltzing in,” Fox mused. “I’m Fox Redleaf-DiSarinno, and this is Redhawk Caldera. What makes you want to join us, when there are plenty of other packs around?” Was this the first pack Somnia had come across? Was she drawn to the landscape? Did she seek the thrills and chills that accompanied the fiery leader and her cronies? Whatever her reasons, Fox wanted to know.

"Well, I guess it was chance that I stumbled upon this pack instead of any other." Somnia had no explanation on why she chose this pack over any other. She hadn't even known there was a pack here until she conveniently stumbled upon the border.

Her goal was to join a pack, and hopefully she would meet that goal soon. But why did she want to join a pack? Somnia had always been more of a submissive follower, happy to oblige to almost anything for those she cared about. What could she do if she had no one to care about, except for memories of the past?

Fox could hardly say that she had been any different... at least when joining Swiftcurrent Creek. Living at the plateau had not been her choice, exactly, but it certainly had made sense to move there, rather than go anywhere else at the time. Leaving Blacktail Deer Plateau and founding Redhawk Caldera had also been a choice made for her, rather than by her. So far, though, she liked it the most out of all the places she had lived. That was attributed to the fact that it felt more like her own and she loved those that had joined her and Peregrine.

But just because Fox had not been any different did not mean that the girl was a shoe-in. “What skills do you have?” she asked. Proving them would be another matter, left up to time and observation, but Fox at least wanted to get a feel for how Somnia would fit in with the rest of the caldera wolves.

Did Somnia have any useful skills to offer to Fox and Redhawk Caldera? She knew how to hunt and fight, but she never considered herself to be exceptional at it. She had a "talent" at messing up in front of strangers, but she didn't think that counted. Maybe running counted as a skill! Somnia had been the fastest wolf in her family pack.

"I know how to hunt and fight, but I'm pretty sure most wolves know how to do that. I was the fastest in my old pack, if that counts as a skill." Would Redhawk Caldera still accept her if she had few skills? What if they already had wolves who could hunt and fight much better than her? Could she still be of use if they had no use for her?

Somnia could just sit in the bottom rankings of the pack, as she had done in her family's pack. They had used her to do small errands while they went out and had fun. Once, one of her brothers had asked her to find and drag a small bush to him. When she asked why, he snapped at her for asking questions when it was none of her business. He ended up using it, along with dirt, to try to block her in her den that Somnia was using that night.

Well, Somnia was used to it, so why not do what she used to do here? She would work to keep this new pack well-fed and happy, even if no one acknowledged her. She would help pack members out with the little things they needed help with, and would then hunt for food in her free time. Somnia was making a conscious decision to join the pack, and if they accepted her, she would be in debt, for they would have given her a home. So what better way to repay that debt than doing what she used to anyways?

That was if they accepted her at all.

Hunting and fighting were about the most useful skills Fox could think of. She had never cared much for healing, stargazing, or other "frilly" abilities. She fancied herself a chronicler only because she loved to amaze others with the history of the Teekon Wilds (from her perspective, of course) and because she had been around long enough that she felt she could. Her other top two abilities, being a warrior and warden, were directly related to fighting. Fox was a physical beast to her core. The caldera had need of wolves who knew how to handle themselves during conflict, especially considering how new, young, and fresh they were as a pack.

“Very well,” replied Fox, stepping forward to abruptly rub shoulders with the latest recruit. “My mate, Peregrine, is the other alpha here. You’ll also want to get to know the others when you’ve had a chance to rest and recover from your travels.” Peregrine would be back soon, Fox knew, and Somnia could take a day or two to rejuvenate herself from the pack's caches.

“Before you do that, though, do you have any questions for me?” Integrating new members into the pack was part of Fox's job as a leader, and she wanted to ensure that Somnia would feel at home as quickly as possible. The sooner she felt that way, the less likely she was to wander off and abandon them.

(Should we end the thread with your post? Fading out I think someone called it in another thread?)

Somnia felt the excitement course through her as Fox rubbed shoulders with her. She was now part of Redhawk Caldera! There were so many things she wanted to do to quickly get settled in. Somnia would have to find a den for the upcoming winter, she would have to get to know her knew pack-mates, she would have to eventually meet the other alpha, Peregrine, plus, she wanted to help her new pack and prove her loyalty.

Somnia stayed silent for a moment when Fox asked her if she had any questions. When she found the border, she had a thousand questions about what the pack would be like. But now, she wanted to experience the answers to her questions firsthand. It was like assembling an object without using the instructions. You know you should read the instructions so that you don't mess up, but instead, you think you got it, and either mess it up or succeed. Not that Somnia could read... But from either success or mistakes, she'd still learn about the pack.

"I think I'd like to experience my answers firsthand. Learn the answers from either mistakes or success, you know? Thank you for letting me join, Fox. I'll make sure to prove my loyalty as soon as I can." And with that, Somnia stepped over the border, into her new home.

Yep! Sounds good. I'll go ahead and archive it. :)

Fox nodded, understanding the girl's wishes. The Redleaf-DiSarinno was all-too-familiar with the idea of seeing what worked and what didn't through the reality of things, rather than taking the advice of others (let alone asking them for their advice). Somnia headed inward, toward the heart of the caldera, and Fox watched until it looked like she was well on her way. Left to her own devices once more, the torn leader continued with her patrols.