Redhawk Caldera Follow the Tracks to Society

AW, but maybe @Finley ?

While Somnia did prefer, as well as need, a bit of solitude every now and then, the instinctual urge to be around others was prevalent after a bit of alone time. After all, she was a wolf. If wolves were meant to prefer solitude, packs would be non-existent. It was that social urge for the company of others that sent Somnia out to look for someone. Anyone would do. Just to see another lupine figure, and converse about something. The conversation could be about anything; pack-mates, hunting and fighting techniques, prey, borders, herbs, love lives, just anything.

Somnia's preferred method to achieving that? Meandering around the Caldera, keeping all senses alert for signs of a pack-mate. For once, she didn't bother tracking any specific wolves down based off their scent. No, that could take longer than finding a random pack-mate.

*rolls in* Hello darling!

Fox's heat seemed to be at an end, although Fin was still feeling a bit agitated. Likely it was a combination of her inability to release the tension of her emotional trauma from her encounter with Finn paired with the struggle of budding feelings for Elwood. She was still completely in oblivious denial over them of course, but keeping herself in the dark from herself was rather difficult sometimes, y'know.

The beta had no direction in mind when she'd begun to wander, knowing only that she needed to get up and do something. Though she was a warrior and gamekeeper by trade as well, outriding was the female's true calling. She was an explorer, perpetually infected with wanderlust and curiosity. Winter kept her confined to the Caldera like a frigid cage and as much as she enjoyed the company of her packmates, being trapped within her pack's borders was another sort of agitation that possibly effected her even more deeply than whatever emotional drama she was caught up in.

Her thoughts were beginning to stray towards trying to discover something new within the Caldera when she stumbled upon Somnia. Their last interaction at the pack feast had been less than amicable, but Fin had forgotten entirely about that (she didn't have the greatest memory). She whuffed gently to call the girl's attention towards her, a smile upon her face as she strode towards over to her.

Nice to have you!
[size=x-small]I was 3 or 4 posts away from getting ahead of you in the crazy writer thing before you posted a lot today.... ;-;[/size]

Somnia turned around in Finley's direction as she heard the noise. How she had missed the Beta's presence while actively seeking it was unbeknownst to her. But it had still worked out in Somnia's favor, so it was fine.

Somnia still remembered their last encounter, which was a bit on the negative side. Finley seemed to have put it aside based on her body language, so she could do likewise. It wasn't like Somnia had been all sunshine and rainbows the last time either.

Somnia met Finley halfway of the gap that was originally between them. "Hi!" Somnia greeted, her tail wagging. She gave Finley a friendly nudge with her nose in as a physical greeting. "So, what's up with you?" She questioned.

Lol, my spidey-sense told me my rank was being threatened so I ran to Wolf to reclaim it..! :P

Fin wagged her tail as the girl approached, reached out with her muzzle to snuffle amiably at her snout. Their encounter had been less than awesome last time, but Somnia seemed to take the same route as her beta and forget the whole thing. They were girlfriends after all, and periodically syncing their bitchiness was simply an occupational hazard of such.

"Hey!" she replied with a smile, "Just looking for something interesting to do. I'm bored out of my mind stuck here..." She heaved a sigh, then realized that such a comment probably wouldn't come off too well to one of the here's inhabitants... "I'd love to get outside the Caldera and go exploring for a while, but with Winter at all..." she rolled her eyes a little as she spoke, as though to say gawd, winter, what a bitch-ho. Her eyes returned to Somnia after a second, "What about you? Up to anything fun today?"

Lol

So Somnia wasn't the only Caldera inhabitant who was going crazy with boredom... Her attention split between Finley and her thoughts as Finley announced that she wanted to go exploring, but Somnia snapped back to full attention when she asked about her. "No... Not yet anyway..." Her voice drawled a bit to give her time to think her new plan through once more before she announced it.

"And who says we can't explore in winter? Sure, the explorations might be a bit shorter, but it's not impossible! I bet you we could get pretty far if we were to try before having to turn around and come back." An unspoken proposal was hidden in there. Although Somnia went out of the borders to hunt every now and then, that didn't count as exploring in her eyes, even if she did discover something every now and then. That meant it was about time to take a needed exploration trip, even if the Gamma preferred to do her exploring within the boundaries.

Although the pack was a main priority, what harm could come to it if two of the members went out for a day, maybe two at the most to explore? Fox and Peregrine could be classified under dysfunctional while Fox was in heat, but wasn't Elwood there should Finley be distracted? After all, if Finley could deal with being a solo Beta for a while, Elwood could do it for a day or two.

It seemed that Sombia agreed with her on the boring front. Not too surprising. Winter was a taxing time of year, not only when it came to preferred hobbies, but to life and survival for a wolf pack in general. It was nice to know that someone shared her sentiments towards it, however. Some were very swept up in the romance of the whole thing. While Fin could suppose that it was pretty and all, she wasn't one to admire her surroundings for their aesthetic qualities.

Fin's ears perked at her friend's next words, her head canting slightly. She was tempted to quip back that common sense said they couldn't explore during the Winter, but truthfully, that was just her sour mood speaking. She had spent about a month as a lone wolf during the Winter before, so she knew well that the elements didn't completely keep one from exploring. But she was a beta now and the alphas' privates were glued to each other, so she couldn't exactly afford to take the sort of excursions she preferred.

Somnia's claims were tempting, however... So after a moment of thought, Fin allowed a smile to creep slowly across her muzzle. "I suppose if we made it back before too long it would be alright..." she said, "Did you have anything in mind, my dear gamma?"

Somnia smiled as Finley decided it would be alright. "I'm sure Elwood could handle the pack by himself for a little bit." Somnia added in, trying to reassure Finley that things would be alright without her for the length of their adventure. After all, it wasn't like any nearby packs, or wild animals for that matter, were plotting to overthrow Redhawk Caldera the moment it was at its weakest.

"I thought you were the Outrider; the one with experience with this type of thing!" Somnia joked, before adding in a more serious tone, "I'm alright with anywhere." She really didn't mind. Anywhere could hold anything in store for them. As long as it was outside the border, it would do.

Somnia mentioned Elwood and Fin couldn't help but give her a slightly skeptical look. Sure, she was rather fond of Elwood, but he was so sweet and doofy. Could he really hold the pack on his own like Fin obviously could? It was desperately hypocritical of her to think. After all, given the right circumstances, she would let a massive pack of coyotes overrun the place simply for the fun of exterminating them all. But we didn't need to mention that to anyone who might let the alphas know.

"Well yeah, but I dunno!" Fin barked back with a small laugh, "We are pretty close to the Western border. Let's see what we can find that way, eh?" The beta quirked a brow at her packmate. Assuming she was perfectly content with the idea, Fin turned and set off at a steady lope to the West.

The idea of heading in the direction of the Western border was proposed. "Okay." Somnia replied, but Finley was already off. Somnia ran until she caught up with Finley, but then let her pace match Fin's. Somnia wasn't sure if Finley was expecting to find anything west of the caldera, but at least it was a start, and everything had to start somewhere, whether it was interesting or not.

When the beta had set out, she'd fully expected to take her packmate outside of the territory borders and into the wilds beyond. What ended up happening actually turned out to be much different. The pair had run together for less than a quarter of an hour before Fin had slowed to a stop to peer curiously at something that struck her interest.

They had begun to traverse very rocky terrain on their way up and over the Western edge of the Caldera. It was a space between these rocks that caused Fin to stop in their travels for it was just that, an empty space. Forgetting momentarily that Somnia was even then, Finley trotted forward to stick her head into the dark hole. It was large enough for a grizzly bear to enter, so she had no trouble at all fitting though were she with a large wolf, the two of them might have had an issue. She peered curiously into the darkness and what appeared to be a set of natural stairs carved out of the mountainside.

"Would you look at this..." she said softly, remembering suddenly that the gamma was with her. Fin took a step back so that she could turn her head towards her companion, wondering what she would make of the discovery.

The terrain got rocky, and Somnia stopped a moment after Finley did. Curious as to what she had found, Somnia drew closer until the hole caught her eye. Her mind automatically went into scientific mode, wanting to know all about the hole. What had made it? An animal that wanted to make a den there? Or what if natural forces lined up in a perfect way to make such a hole over time? Another question on her mind was how big it was. She refrained herself from going inside of it, so that Finley could have the first look. It was a matter of respect for her rank, as well as courtesy, as she had found the hole.

When Finley spoke to her, Somnia took this as the cue to share her opinion. "Did it have any scents in it? It could be a den! But it could also be something insignificant. Did you get a look at the inside? Did it stop at being a small hole, or was it a tunnel?" The tunnel remark brought her expedition with Elwood to mind. "It could connect to other tunnels under the caldera! Right? Were there any stalagmites? Two of the tunnels I've seen under the caldera had stalagmites!"

Somnia then looked at Fin, realizing that she might of lost her with all the questions. "Sorry..." She said sheepishly. It would be up to Finley to decide what to make of her bombardment of questions and comments.

Apparently Somnia lots and lots of thoughts about their discovery. She stared blankly as the girl went on asking about holes and scents and tunnels and stagmittens or whatever. Fin did not have a very scientific mind, nor was she typically overwhelmed with curiosity about anything that didn't potentially spell trouble. She didn't look at a stalagmite and think "OMG I wonder how it formed!". Her thoughts went more along the lines of "OMG I wonder if I can throw it like a JAVELIN!".

"I'm gonna go with..." Fin started ponderously, "....okay!" A smile flickered across her muzzle as she shook her head. The girl's unbridled curiosity was endearing, but she wasn't going to get anywhere posing those questions to the beta. She decided then to back up completely, leaving the opening to the darkness completely clear. She then motioned towards it with her muzzle, giving Somnia a significant glance as she said, "Have at it, Som."

I'm guessing you don't have any plans for what it is? If you do, I can always edit. And stagmittens... Lol :)

Finley had been completely lost with her bombardment of questions. The Beta didn't answer a single one of them. It was a little disappointing. That was until she told Somnia to go explore. Then, it was awesome. Everything was so much better when you got to see it instead of hearing about.

The entrance to the hole was as regular as a hole could get. Ground, supporting walls, ceiling. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to see the darker insides. The insides weren't too impressive.... Just a tunnel... Which could be exciting in its own way, but her attention was on the immediate area. Excitement for the tunnel would have its own time and place. There weren't any animal scents. Nothing special about the immediate area. Now time for tunnel excitement.

"Hey Fin! Come check out this tunnel I found!" Her tail made a thwacking sound as it hit the wall of cave/hole/tunnel thing.

I sure don't! :D I'm good with whatever you come up with!

Fin watched as Somnia crept into the hole to explore. For a moment, she was struck with the notion of how wildly funny it would be if she shoved the girl straight in as hard as she could. Considering the fact that neither of them really knew what was down there, it could prove to be hilariously entertaining. But then again, the gamma could somehow die. And that wouldn't be very funny at all. So, Fin held tight and did her best to wait patiently for her companion to tell her what it was.

When the gamma's voice came echoing out of the tunnel, Fin ducked her head swiftly into the darkness to see. The space inside wasn't all too wide, so what with it being dark and with Somnia blocking much of the view, Fin wasn't entirely certain what it was she was looking at. "Does it go down very far?" she asked. Her body was half in and half out of the cave. Slowly, she lowered her front half down onto her elbows with her rump still held high in the air, tail swishing eagerly back and forth.

Plot twist: It leads to to the ice rink Finley found in the other thread. Jk, unless you want it to. My initial idea was to have it be a dead end. xP

Somnia heard Finley ask if it went down far. It must've, as it got darker the further down one looked. "Seems like it. It just gets darker. Shall we check it out?" She took a tentative step forward. No matter how badly she wanted to check it out, if Finley said no, she wouldn't.... At least for right now. She would seek it out by herself eventually, and explore then.

Somnia took another step forward, so that Finley had room to stand inside it with her. She was pretty sure that Finley would agree to exploring. After all, fighting bears had to be a lot more scarier than exploring tunnels.... Unless you had a fear of the dark.

Haha! I'd be okay with that, but I'd have to figure out why in the other thread, she doesn't remember it xD

"Fuck yeah we shall!" Fin replied almost instantly. She was not one to bat an eye at a potentially dangerous situation, nor did she have any qualms about venturing into a pitch black tunnel that lead who knew where. It would probably end up getting her killed one day, which Finley was well aware of, actually. In truth, she had plans to die in the most magnificently thrilling way possible, which varied from daydream to idle daydream. Not that she often dreamed about her death. That would be weird. Right?

As Somnia moved to the side, Fin shuffled in next to her to peer into the inky blackness. She breathed deep to taste the stale air that spoke little of what they could expect, which just excited the Blackthorn even more. Her intention was to let Somnia lead the way, but now infected with the spirit of adventure she strode forward into the deep without even waiting to see if she was ready to go.

We could always say that this thread takes place after the other one?

This would be Somnia's second adventure through tunnels under the caldera. The first time, she had Elwood as a fellow adventurer. This time, it was Finley. It was easy to see the difference between the two in personality. Elwood agreed to follow her, but he seemed a little reluctant at first. Finley on the other hand, was more excited about it than Somnia was, with nary a thought of the dangers.

When Finley exclaimed that it they would be doing, and started moving further as well, Somnia moved out of the way to let her pass. Once Finley was ahead, she got behind the Blackthorn Beta to follow her.

Eh, would probably still cause more confusion with timelines than its worth. BUT! I has idea, you wanna fade this and I'll start us a new one?

Fin strode boldly into the darkness, her ears twitching momentarily backwards to note the sound of Somnia's pawsteps echoing just behind her. Her mind began to spin with thoughts about what could possibly be awaiting them up ahead--inner mountain waterfalls, a magical grotto, A ROOM FULL OF ANGRY BEARS MAYBE?

In the end, Finley's fantasies were destroyed by a sudden hard THUMP as she walked face first into a flat, stone wall. "Mother FUCK--" the beta barked as she staggered backwards, shaking her head in shock. She'd been too busy dreaming about what they might find to realize that she was walking right into a dead end. What a bummer!

Sure! Whatever you want. :)

The large thump as well as Finley's language signaled a dead end. Somnia hadn't been right on Finley's butt the whole journey through the tunnel, so she wasn't in the way when Finley staggered backwards. "You alright?" She asked as she turned to start leading the way out. Not all adventures worked out, but didn't it make those that did even more special?

Once Somnia was sure that Finley was alright, they made their way out of the tunnel. Nothing else in the area was interesting, and they had wasted too much time in the tunnel to find and explore anything else. The adventure had ended on a more depressing note, but surely next time they would find something interesting. If not that time, the time after that.