Redhawk Caldera Two large gulps of free-range oxygen

Osprey felt that an explanation was needed for her change of heart. It was true - the last time she had resisted, not feeling too well herself. She regretted it now and wanted to make amends by being by her brother's side, when the happy event was going to take place for the second time. "I missed it last year, Perry, and I am grateful that you have allowed me to be there this year. It means a lot to me," she told him.

"What are you going to do, if one of the kids resembles an Osprey?" she teased him lightly about his choice of names. "That's interesting - the last and only time I spoke with Fox, I was left with an impression that she didn't put much importance in names," they had discussed the very same thing and she recalled, how eager she had been to prove that the name you chose for your kid mattered a lot. "Don't tell me that you have no idea, how you are going to call them? No second names?"

He'd actually forgotten that Osprey's absence had coincided with the birth of his first litter. He said nothing in reply, merely gave her a warm smile. She was forgiven for her prior absence and welcome to make a cameo when the pups came. He would make sure to beg Fox to allow it, in case she seemed hesitant. He figured she would be their only real visitor from outside the pack.

"Oh, god, wouldn't that be ironic?" he replied with a chortle. "Actually," he admitted in the next breath, "I have lots of ideas. I'm just trying to meet her in the middle, you know? But one thing I'm pretty certain about is this: I'll be naming one after Atticus. It'll be a middle name. Atticus if we give it to a boy, Attica for a girl."

"That's nice, Perry," Osprey remarked. It seemed like it was years, since Atticus had disappeared from the plateau, even though it was few months. A lot had changed during this time and the empty place in the hearts of those, who had loved him and cared for him, had gradually become smaller and smaller, there would be moment, when it would not exist anymore. Life happened, people came, went and moved on. Nothing ever stayed the same.

She wondered, should she mention this to Peregrine, but it would probably only bring back sad memories. "Aren't you going to name any of your kids after our mom? Wherever she is - if you leave her out the second time - I am pretty sure that she will come back and haunt you, me, everyone around..." the idea of her ghostly mom appeared to be rather amusing.

Osprey demanded to know when he planned to name one of his progeny after their mother. He began chuckling and admitted, "I always assumed you, Atti or Crete would lay claim to hers and dad's names." He was the youngest of their litter, after all. "Crete's forfeited that right as far as I'm concerned and..." Well, he had long since made peace with the fact that Atticus was gone for good. Peregrine was certain he was dead, therefore not off reproducing somewhere. "Are you sure you don't want it? If you don't, I'll reserve it. I'll reserve them both," he added because why take mom's and not dad's?

He paused for a moment, then mused aloud, "What exactly does a March Owl look like, though, and how will I be able to tell if my child looks like one?" Peregrine's lips twitched. "Does it look the same as a February Owl or an April Owl?" Anyway, he and Fox didn't plan to name all their children based on the convention. "If we get a white one, I'll for sure consider calling it Mo," he assured his sister.

Osprey was a little surprised to hear that Peregrine had thought of sparing names of their parents for his siblings. It was odd to think that they could belong to someone and therefore couldn't be used by others. Besides there could always be variations - March Owl, for example, could always be Mo or simply owl or the name could be split up for twins. The same went for Aether.

"Speaking of Crete's forfeited role of a father - why didn't you tell me that he had offspring in the neighbourhood? I met Gunnar recently and it was quite a newsflash for me," she cast a questioning glance at him, but there was no ill feelings there. He had had a lot going on at that time. It probably had skipped his mind.

"I always thought that March Owl was not a bird species that actually exist," she spoke her opinion about this. The name was pretty unique, it almost seemed that someone had thought of it as a good joke. Though she had never told this to her in person. "Someone thought that simply owl wouldn't do for a name."

He didn't quite know what to say when Osprey asked about Crete's bastards, mostly because he couldn't remember why he hadn't told her. She didn't seem overly perturbed about it, though he could only imagine what it had been like for Gunnar to show up on her doorstep. Actually, he really could empathize. It wasn't that different from the situation with Bones and Atticus, really.

"I'm sorry, it must have slipped my mind... that, or I didn't know you didn't know. Especially back when I first found out about it, I didn't like to talk about it. It's been nearly a year and I'm still angry with him. Anyway, Crete's no father. Those kids are one hundred precent Ragnar's." Their brother had donated sperm and that was all.

"Huh," he said in response to his sister's logic. "You're probably right. Mo actually told me it wasn't a real bird, come to think of it. She would know," Peregrine mused fondly. His mother's encyclopedic knowledge of birds had always impressed him. "Did she ever tell you how she came to know so much about birds? She said she went into a coma and when she woke up—bam!—she was like a walking bird encyclopedia. How strange is that? I miss her and dad."

Peregrine fell silent for a few beats. Then a thought drifted through his head and he said, "On the subject of passed relatives... did you know Pied could see ghosts?"

"I don't argue about that," Osprey agreed with Peregrine about the fact that these kids were Lothbroks through and through, yet it didn't seem right to deny this branch of their family entirely. She was glad that Gunnar had accepted her offer to be his friend and that he felt no resentment towards her, for whatever Crete had or hadn't been to him. "It just seemed odd... as if I hadn't known my own brother as good as I thought. I always saw him as someone like our father - quiet, intelligent, noble, caring... At least he was like that to me. Now this... I don't know, what to think," she was confused in this matter, because she didn't want to taint the fond memories she had of her mute sibling.

"Yeah... that's a wierd story," she chuckled at this statement. "If I was in conspiracy theories, I would say that she came up with that just to mask the fact of what a strenous effort it took to learn all of it. But since it's me and I know that mom would never lie..." her voice drifted off, as she shared moment of silence with Peregrine, remembering her deceased parents. "Did she?" Osprey asked curiously, because, since she had had so many relatives around that she hadn't been able to get them all too well. "Boy, I am glad I don't possess that kind of gift. Seeing dead people... Seeing some living people is scary enough already..." she shuddered.

He pretty much sympathized with Osprey's confusion on the matter. The Crete of present (or, well, a year ago) did not reconcile with their image of the gentle, mindful brother they'd grown up alongside. Unlike her, Peregrine had some pretty strong opinions on the matter. He didn't bother sharing them in any detail now. It was already pretty clear how he felt and there was no need to sit here and badmouth their absentee brother.

Osprey didn't seem at all skeptical about Pied's gift, though that didn't surprise him somehow. "Yeah. I didn't believe at first... but the evidence was tough to explain way. Not long before she died, she said Mo visited her. Mo and Tyrannus, actually. That's how we found out that they'd passed away, though at the time, she fibbed and said some passerby had told her." His voice grew soft, then he chuckled at her remark. "I'm with you there," Peregrine agreed.

"Hey, I don't mean to change the subject abruptly but do you know any good stories I could hold onto for when the pups get here?" he queried next. "Maybe something hot off the press?" he quipped.

"Did they really?" Osprey lifted her eyebrows and cast a suspcious glance over her shoulder, as if the aforementioned ghosts had somehow managed to appear here and now. It would be awkward and unsettling, if they did. "You didn't tell me that either," she nudged her brother's shoulder with her own to show that she was not entirely satisfied to hear these news months after they had been "hot topic". "So Tyrannus is dead then? What happened?" she asked, wanting to hear the story, but not willing to believe it entirely. Ghosts and their messages were tricky to say the least.

"I may have, but what about you making one tale specifically for them?" Osprey offered. She knew that her brother was not that much in to story-telling business, but she would like to see him try. "I could help you out with adding plot twists and evil characters, some unicorns and dragons?"

"Oh, man," Peregrine murmured when it turned out Osprey hadn't heard about this either. "Everything must have happened while you were away that one time. Um... from what I remember, Perseus and Echo got sick of Tyrannus's behavior, overthrew him and killed him. They took over as Alpha and Beta, though don't ask me which is which." He rolled his black shoulders. Flightless Falcons was probably back to being a great family pack with Tyrannus's dictatorship over. Peregrine could probably even go back there, though he had long ago made his peace with the fact that he would live out his days here, not there.

"Oh, believe me, I'm going to crank out a hundred stories for them. I was hoping I could pass one along from their Aunt Osprey, though," he said, his eyes warm as he caught and held his sister's gaze.

Now that was some news - if you could believe, what Pied had said. It was quite possible that she hadn't seen those ghosts for real, that she had been subconciously affected by all the negative information about the situation in Flightless Falcons and that her mind had simply come up with a solution. If it was true, then it was a pity that Perseus and Echo had to take the throne at that kind of price. Even if Tyrannus had been a total jerk in the end, did he really deserve to die? Wouldn't banishment be enough?

She would never know though - Flightless falcons belonged to the past she didn't wish to return. Her road led straight ahead. "Alright - and what kind of story you want them to hear? I have plenty to choose from, be at least that helpful and show me, which stash should I look through first," Osprey gave in, because you never had to ask her to tell a story twice.

The easiest answer was dragons, though he didn't reply right away. Peregrine pursed his lips, giving it some real thought. He wanted a story that would come with their Aunt Osprey's personal touch. After a moment, he came up with an idea and a conspiratorial smile slowly crept over his face. It wasn't likely she had just such a story in her stash, so it might require some impromptu creativity on her end.

"How about one about a peregrine and osprey that team up to fight dragons... only they discover the dragons are their ancient ancestors? Or something like that. Something about an osprey and a peregrine having adventures together, at the very least," he said with fondness in his eyes and voice. "If you don't have anything like that in your inventory, you don't have to come up with it right now. You could always think on it and get back to me."

"Don't underestimate my inventory - it is full not only of stories, but useful details. If only you could see the mess I have inside there..." Osprey told her brother with a cheeky grin. Of course, there wasn't that kind of story, with that kind of characters there. But with bits and pieces of her knowledge and stashed ideas she would come up with something.

"Hmmm..." she said thoughtfully. "I have a better suggestion - what if we make a story together. I will play the role of Osprey and you will be Peregrine. Or... we can switch the roles for the story to have more fun," she offered.

Instead of coming up with the story on her own (now or later), Osprey proposed they collaborate. Peregrine blinked and licked his lips. "I'm not too good at this kind of thing," he said, "but all right, I'll give it a whirl..."

He lapsed into silence for several beats, his eyes scanning vaguely over his surroundings as the wheels and cogs in his brain spun. Finally, his dusky jade eyes lifted to the sky and he spoke, staring into the distance as if seeing something beyond the blue heavens.

"Once upon a time, there was a peregrine named Grin and and an osprey named Prey." His eyebrows waggled. He'd said he wasn't that creative. "Their flocks were enemies, always fighting over, um, airspace and food. But they were the best of friends, sneaking away in secret to talk and fly together for hours.

One day, dragons attacked both flocks, forcing them to join together to fight their common adversary. Grin and Prey came back from a fun day together to find their families having the fight of their lives..." Peregrine trailed off and his eyes dropped. He gave his sister a look as if to say, It's your turn.

Perry told that he was not good at story-telling? If there was a person, who could make "Romeo and Juliet" a thriller/action/adventure story, then it was him despite the names he had chosen for the main characters - Osprey would have chosen something a bit more original. Then again it was her brother after all - here she rolled her eyes at him, as if saying - you are never going to stop teasing me about that, are you?

"Of course, they joined in without much hesitation, but too soon did it turn out that dragons were too much for the birds to take. They were bigger, they were stronger, they breathed fire and they ate some of the unlucky ones. And then something terrible happened - Prey was facing a certain death at the jaws of one big and very fat dragon, who had opened his mouth and was sucking all air in, when Grin flew, knocked her out of the way, but got swallowed instead.

This was a turning point and both peregrines and ospreys gave up and fled, while the dragons feasted in their lands for several days to come. Prey mourned her friend, realizing that she was never going to see him again, and got herself busy in helping the hurt and injured, in order to forget the pain.

But... in the meanwhile, in the dragon's stomach - a bit ruffled, covered in saliva and mucus, but very much alive lied Grin and thought..." she finished her part there and let the Peregrine continue. She was grinning - get out of this one, brother!

Osprey took up the tale, quickly killing off Grin, which made Peregrine frown playfully at her. Only, it turned out that the story's second main character wasn't dead at all, just stewing in the dragon's foul belly. Evidently, this was the point where Osprey would turn the story back over to him.

"Grin thought, 'well, what now?' He didn't have to wait long for his answer. The dragon took a massive dump, delivering the peregrine in a turd the size of five adult wolves," Peregrine continued, naturally seizing the opportunity for some toilet humor. "He wiped the feces off himself and took flight, just in time to get back and see that the two flocks had formed an alliance and were working together to rebuild...

After a happy reunion, Grin and Prey were nominated to lead the new combined flock. Now, this is where you expect the 'they lived happily ever after!' right? Well, not long after taking over, the pair's leadership was tested when the Alpha dragon rose up out of the sea and came to take down the birds, once and for all, simply because the scaly, webbed beast was jealous of their beautiful feathers..."

Osprey's smug grin disappeared, leaving her first with a "mouth agape and eyes wide" expression, then she chuckled and after that - furrowed her brow and asked: "Forgive me for interrupting - but are you really going to share that part of the story with your kids? I am all for realism and such, but..." She shook her head, wondering, if Fox got Peregrine's well meant jokes and would she be fine with the fact that kids ran around asking people, whether they ever had passed through a dragon's digestive tract just like the awesome Grin had once done? Just imagine their faces...

"...and because despite all of the baths and swims Grin had taken, he had retained the specific odour of a dragon. He stank a bit, but since the birds' sense of smell is weak, no one minded. However, the sea dragon did. Because once he caught scent of Grin, he forgot all too soon about his destruction plans and decided to catch him and take him to the sea. The dragon king thought that Grin was one of his own kind - a feathered one, therefore all the more better.

He knew that he was too slow to catch the small Grin, therefore he decided to be sly. He caught Prey instead before Grin's eyes and dashed back to the sea, splashing big "lumps" of water everywhere and then he disappearer underwater, eager to return to his castle and wait for Grin to come himself."

In response to her question, he gave her a playful leer that clearly said, Are you kidding me? Of course he would tell his kids about the dragon that shat out a poo-covered peregrine! He could picture it now: his tiny tots shrieking with laughter over it. Oh, yes, he would definitely not skip that part. Into every life, a little (or a lot) of poop must fall, even in storybooks.

"Grin knew it was a trap but he wasn't about to leave his best friend in the whole world in the dragon's clutches, so he dove into the sea after the dragon. Of course, Grin couldn't swim, but several PENGUINS saw what was happening and helped him. They raced to the bottom of the sea, where yet another epic battle ensued between Grin, the penguins and the Alpha dragon. Many bubbles were used as weapons, some originating from someone's back end..." Again, Peregrine could just hear the pups giggling madly over this part.

"In the end, Grin was able to rescue Prey while the penguins distracted the Alpha dragon. The penguins saw that the dragon didn't mean to be so mean; he was just lonely and all he wanted was some friends. They offered to stay down there and keep him company, so the Alpha dragon let Grin and Prey go. Well, they told the dragon he was welcome to come above water and visit sometimes if he wanted. On peaceable terms, they swam to shore, wrung out their wings and flew home."

Osprey listened to Perry weaving his part of the story and couldn't keep herself from smiling and chuckling all the time. Toilet humor - after all - was a classic and for reasons unknown very few stories had these natural needs included. Theirs probably was the first and most likely the only one too. Not many people would get it, having been used to stories being too proper and right.

"Oh, but, when they returned to the place, where their flock lived, they were shocked to find out that all of their family members had been turned into mushrooms. And not any kind of mushrooms - but covered in feathers and perching on tree branches. That's, how Grin and Prey knew that something bad had happened.

They flew through the forest and met some tree and ground dwellers, they asked, whether they knew, who would have done such a horrendous deed. None knew, until they met a wise old hare with only one eyes. He was old as the world and not entirely in his right mind, because, while he explained, that an evil hag was behind this, he kept cackling and swirling around.

Equipped with the knowledge, they now had to find the place, where the hag lived, which was not an easy task, because..." she left the sentence unfinished, eager to hear, what would be the bizarre next episode in the series of "Prey and Grin's unbelievable adventures".

"...they decided to eat some of the mushrooms on a whim, which made them hallucinate and made finding the hag next to impossible." Never mind that this definitely wasn't child-friendly material! He'd once tripped 'shrooms with Tytonidae, although that had been an accident. "They quickly grew very sleepy and both of them passed out... only to wake up and find out that the whole thing was some really long dream and both Grin and Prey were still unhatched chicks in their eggs! And they were actually cuckoos. The end."

Peregrine grinned and winked at Osprey, then asked, "So, what do you think? Will the sprogs like it?"

"I think you will have to revise in some places," Osprey said after having a little thought on the matter. It wouldn't be funny, if any of his kids took a bear for a dragon by a mistake and decided to intentionally go down it's digestive tract. OR the mushrooms - come on - grown ups got the message and found it to be hilarious. Kids would take it as it is - and would go around and actually try the shrooms. With all this in mind she suddenly chuckled at the irony - who was the serious parent to be and who was the childish one.

"And you cut it too short and too early. Kids will demand you to know, what happened to the witch - regardless of whether it was just a bad dream or not," she pointed out at the fact that Perry had taken the easy way out. "But other than that - it's a decent tale," she finished criticizing him. "We will have to meet another time and try this out again."

"Yeah, I think it can use some fine-tuning," he agreed with a laugh, then bent an ear her way when she offered some further constructive criticism. "I'll come up with an alternative ending. What we just did, that was the abridged version." Peregrine chortled. "Thanks, you know I'd love that."

Osprey's words implied that she was probably ready to get going. For the first time in an hour or more, Peregrine became aware of their surroundings. It was very dark; the sun had set a while ago now. The pair of rabbits lay cold and stiff at his feet. Hadn't he caught a rat of some sort? Oh, yeah... that peregrine had stolen it from him.

"I'd better get going. Fox's supper is already pretty late," Peregrine said a bit regretfully as he climbed to his feet. He placed a kiss on his sister's cheek. "Will you come by again, maybe in a month, to see them?" he wanted to know before he'd let her go.

"I will try - but I don't promise a set date," Osprey said. Far too many broken promises in the past to make one now. She had learned that it was not that easy to keep your word once it was given and she couldn't give any guarantees about her life tomorrow or in a week - anything could happen.

"We will have to try to improve that story after all," she gave him a light peck on his cheek. "It was nice seeing you and good luck with everything!" she wished him and then got to her feet, ready to go. It was quite dark and she would probably get back to the plateau by sunrise. She stopped, however, to hear, if her brother had anything to tell her, and after that she began her journey home.

AAHHH... just short of 50, lol. Great thread!! :)

He shook his head. "No set date on the birth either," he reassured her with a smile. "Just come by whenever you have a day to spare for us, maybe right around the time the weather starts getting warmer." He waved his tail, already looking forward to that rendezvous.

"You too! Love you!" he said to her, watching as Osprey turned and took the first few steps on a long journey home. Like with most visitors, he watched her until she vanished, which didn't take long considering the darkness. He stood a while after that, just in case he might catch another glimpse, yet she had disappeared into the distance.

That had gone much, much better than he had expected. Still smiling, Peregrine plucked up the two rabbits by their ears and began trotting home. He knew Fox would understand the late meal, once he told her about this wonderful opportunity to catch up with his beloved sister.