Redtail Rise I like to think of myself less like an "adult" and more like a "former fetus"

Smash's post titles will feature Anna Kendrick quotes. ;)

She was running faster than she had ever run before, her dark legs a blur as she hurtled across the open plains. Her tongue lolled from her umber muzzle, her panting breaths keeping perfect pace with the thudding of her sprightly paws. Smash felt like she could run like this forever, if not for the mountains rising up to block her path. She passed through a narrow corridor between the first set only to find a larger ridge of sawtooths creating a wall as far as the eye could see, east to west.

Smash put on the brakes, skidding slightly on some morning dew sticking to the grass. "Dagnabbit son of a monkey spank!" she blurted as she lost her balance. Her voice cut through the morning stillness, scaring a few nearby songbirds into silence, then flight. She somehow recovered and stabilized, albeit with her legs splayed strangely. Smash laughed under her breath as she straightened herself out.

After sweeping her surroundings, she spontaneously decided to lope toward a hillock to her right. With each step, the air grew saltier. But another thread of scents slowly overtook the fragrance of sea salt. Curiosity piqued, Smash slowed and peered at the hillock from a safe distance. Wolves! she thought. She hadn't come across a pack in a few days now. She had thought about joining the last one but evidently its leader hadn't liked her style, turning her away for being too insincere. She rolled her tangerine eyes.

"I hope you guys have a better sense of humor," Smash muttered playfully before sending up a howl to try her luck.

I may have gotten a bit carried away... :p

Saena's prolonged absence had continued for close to a week.  Each passing day added to Reek's growing paranoia and worry, and he hadn't slept for days.  A sense of dread had built up inside of the pit of the raggedy wolf's stomach, however, he bit the bullet, and lead like there was nothing wrong alongside his friend and temporary parter in leadership, @Arion.  Damage control was their first priority.  Panic, tends to spread like a wildfire. The disappearance of the Alpha of the rise and her sister, Junior, could prove to be the spark to ignite the powder keg, thus destroying the pack that Reek had worked so hard for.  Keeping the members of the rise in the dark about the situation was hard for for the raggedy wolf... but, it was the only pragmatic choice he had.

Although Reek never felt he was much of a competent leader, being thrust into the position by Saena before she left seemed like a trial by fire.  However, sharks are born swimming, and Reek and Arion were doing surprisingly well by keeping the affairs of the pack running like normal.  Nevertheless, the raggedy wolf's responsibilities had changed with Saena's departure.  Instead of traveling beyond the border and filling his cache with herbs, Reek spent all of his time patrolling the border, dead set on protecting the pack, his pack, from the harm of whatever lurked out there beyond their territory, and from whoever was to blame for the disappearances.  

Reek was happy to protect the pack in anyway he could... but, patrolling the border was just, dull.  Nothing interesting ever happened on patrol.  With every pass, Reek saw the same trees, the same bushes, and the same rocks, over and over again.  It was mindnumbing.  But, it was still important to their wellbeing, so Reek continued to circle the territory and allowed his mind to go blank in order to cope with it's humdrum monotony. But this time around, it seemed patrolling wouldn't be so dull after all.  A howl on the other side of park lands cut through the air.  Following the noise, Reek sprinted across the territory to intercept whoever had stumbled upon their borders.  The howl had sounded friendly enough, however Reek was still paranoid due to recent events.

Approaching the female on the border who sent up the howl, Reek's tail shot up in a display of dominance. However, the female didn't appear to be aggressive or a threat, so Reek adopted a more neutral stance while he gave her the good ol' ocular pat-down.  safe... ish.  "You rang?" mused Reek from behind a lopsided grin.  Finding out what this loner wanted would be far more entertaining than watching the grass grow.

You are an amazing writer. Reek is one of the main reasons I had to bring another character into RR. :)

While she waited for a response, Smash relaxed onto her haunches and began licking her paws, which were a bit weary after her long morning run. The instant she heard approaching footfalls, however, she sat upright, orange eyes squinting at the dark silhouette moving rapidly in her direction. Gradually, the figure took on the features of a wolf: a very ugly wolf. If this son of a bitch didn't have a sense of humor, Smash would eat her left paw.

"Howdy!" she greeted him when he drew closer. Her tail thumped on the dewy grass but she did not rise, nor in any way adjust her posture. Smash simply forgot. "I'm Smash and I'm looking for a place to call home. I thought I'd give this place the good ole college try. Wh—oh, snap." Abruptly realizing her faux pas, she splayed her dark chocolate ears and lowered her head. "Sorry about that. Anyway, um, what's your name?" she wondered with a crooked but cheeky grin.

You have no idea how much that means to me! You're amazing!

Smash.  What a peculiar name.  However strange it was, Reek wasn't really one to talk when it came to odd names or titles.  The name he sported himself tended to turn heads in mixed company, so the raggedy wolf decided not to push it and instead, listened intently to her introduction.  This, so called Smash was quick to rattle off an explanation of why she had ended up on the borders of the rise.  However, her explanation tapered off in place of social formalities.

"Don't. No, seriously. Don't do the thing," sputtered Reek, gesturing to the other wolf for her to stand.  "And don't apologize, you haven't done anything wrong... well, yet."  The raggedy wolf flashed the sitting loner a friendly smile.  Acts of submission were never necessary in the ragged bastard's company, nor were they ever really wanted.  

"Call me Reek, Reek Redtail," he introduced in a playful tone. "I'm the temporary... er, grand poobah of this neat-o establishment."  Quite frankly, Reek was unsure of what his proper title even was in this sort of situation.  Saena hadn't left him with much information before she left... just that he was to lead along with Arion and make sure the rise doesn't burn to the ground.  Thankfully, knocking on wood, the latter hadn't happened yet.

So, she was looking for a home.  Redtail Rise would always be a place for new beginnings, Reek knew that first hand.  But most importantly, the members of the rise were his family.  And with a perceived threat lurking behind the borders, Reek wasn't entirely sure about just letting a stranger, who hadn't proven herself as trustworthy, into his family.  However, he was torn, because the Rise need all the able bodied wolves it could get.  Leadership, why so hard?

"I'm gonna cut right to the chase.  These wolves, they're my family," continued Reek, his jovial tone turning slightly serious. "What do you bring to the table, Smash?  Why should I let you in?" 

Truthfully, if this sort of thing had happened before he arrived at Redtail Rise, Arion would have abandoned his post as temporary leader and fled somewhere else. Perhaps to another pack where they knew not of his treacheries, or perhaps deciding to submit to his wanderlust and once again become a traveler, wandering from one place to another with no apparent purpose. But something had changed within the ebony dusted Greek when he joined the Rise and swore loyalty to Saena. Something clicked inside him and the spirit that had once been subdued and locked up was released, the spirit which had only been alive when he was in Cerberus's Pavilion. To the former heir, it was a miracle, and this time he wasn't going to let it go to a waste.

Each passing day without Saena's return added to Arion's worry and restlessness, his usually terrible insomnia grew worse and he was afraid to take poppy seeds for fear he might actually get hooked on the drug once more. He could not do that, not when his leader had trusted him to co-lead the pack in her absence. Tiredness plagued him everyday, but like his friend and partner, he placed on the mask and acted like everything was in control. There had to be no panic, no one, other than Reek and himself should know of what happened. It would be too dangerous. It came naturally to the warrior when it came to deceiving and lying, but this time there was no joy in it, these were his packmates after all.

Arion was not a wolf who liked responsibilities, but he when being thrust into jobs like this? He was responsible enough. He patrolled the borders daily and even after them, he lingered by the scent line and paced, honey eyes gazing into the distance as if any moment their indigo eyed leader would reappear in the horizon. He kept an eye out for dangers too, intruders, trespassers, any unwelcome visitors. The warrior had been extra brutal, nearly killing a loner for taking a few steps into the territory, but these precautions were needed. For they did not know who or better yet, what, had kept the sisters from return.

Worry coursed through the normally emotionless and stoic warrior's veins as he hunted at the far side of the territory, with pure luck, his jaws clamped around the rabbit's neck and killed it. But Arion wasn't hungry and simply deposited it in a nearby cache and sighing softly as he sank down onto his haunches, lost in thought. Then a howl rang through the air, immediately, the Greek was up on his paws and sprinting across his home to intercept it, normally he would have casually trotted towards the direction of the call, but shadowy dangers lurked beyond his home, and the pack needed to be well defended and protected.

Relief filled his eyes for a moment before regaining their calculating look, Arion trotted forward silently so he was beside his temporary partner in leadership, his posture neutral but proud at the same time, signifying his current position as he watched and listened with intelligent honey eyes.

The homely wolf seemed uncomfortable with her display of submission, which surprised but delighted Smash. She snickered at his plea, then nodded and adopted a comfortable, relaxed posture. So far, so good. She decided she already liked him, so now it was just a matter of making sure he liked her.

He introduced himself and Smash politely let him finish, though her orange eyes went a little wide at his name. How... unfortunate. "Reek?" she repeated incredulously. He probably got that all the time. But wait, there's more! "No way! My brother's name is Reek. I never would have thought there would be two of you out there in the world," Smash quipped, bright eyes dancing. Of course, there was no such brother. She did have a few of those, though none of them called Reek.

The two-year-old nodded vigorously when he spoke of his family. Smash wanted to ask him what in the world a grand poobah was and where could she sign up to become one? Before she could, another wolf slid onto the scene. He was easier on the eyes than Reek, though there was a stiffness about his demeanor that caused her to lower herself slightly again. She was a lighthearted wolf, though she wasn't dumb, nor did she lack instincts.

At the same time, she pinned her eyes somewhere in the vicinity of the newcomer's broad breastbone. Having noticed their resemblance, she said, "Howdy! I'm Smash, your long lost twin come to find you..." She complemented her joke with a friendly thump of her tail. The dude had a poker face, so Smash couldn't guess how he would react to it. Perhaps he would agree with the guy who'd dubbed her too insincere. But Smash wouldn't change her ways for anything or anyone.

Here we go again, thought Reek as soon as he heard his name in a questioning tone.  It seemed like every single wolf he met begged for the story behind it, and the explanation had become tired, trite, and just boring to tell. However, the prying questions never came.  In their place was only an exclamation of familiarity.  Although the probability of Smash's brother being named Reek was slim to none, this Reek, was just thankful for the change in subject.  And who was to say she was wrong?  What sort of parent names their kid Smash?

"Well shit, small word," quipped Reek in reply.  "My brother was named Reek too... and my sisters!  ...As you can already imagine, things we're very hard to keep straight in conversation."  It wasn't exactly a lie, more of a half-truth.  Reek's siblings had all been given the same title at birth, however, the rest died before they could even speak.  Tough tittys.

Before the newcomer could explain her usefulness, Arion had made his way to the border and planted himself at Reek's side.  Poor, poor Smash... now she was doomed to listen to smart-ass in stereo.  "Arion!" Reek exclaimed, happy his partner in command had made it the party.  "You have to remember your manners.  Say hi to the newbie."  Reek then turned his head back to Smash to flash her a quick smile.  "Say it with me buddy..." he paused, hoping Arion would get the idea and speak in tandem with Reek. "...hi newbie."

Shaking the silliness from his tone of voice, Reek then went back to business.  "But seriously Smash.  Give me a reason to let you stay.  A good one.  If you do, by all means, by the power invested in me, temporary hoosawhatsit of Redtail Rise... er, uh, one of us!  But, spill it, because I can't chat at the border all day. 

Arion's calculating gaze swept cooly over the newcomer's form as she lowered herself slightly and offered a joke along with a friendly thump of her tail. "Twin named Smash eh?" the Greek said in a stony voice. "Gotta tell dad he's got another bastard born then," everything was said in a serious manner, though in truth, the ebony dusted male was joking and he made it show by the crooked smirk that was planted on his snout. Just a joke, he mouthed. As a bastard himself, he had been frequently insulted, but he found out that it was useful to stop the teasing by joking about it.

"Manners have no use with me," Arion muttered with a roll of his honey orbs. "They're fucking annoying, like you," he bumped his partner's shoulder in a friendly manner, but with a good amount of strength which might have knocked him slightly off balance. "Oh fucking hell," the Greek swore as Reek proceeded to ask him to say it with him. Stubbornly, the stallion kept his mouth shut, and glared playfully at his friend. "How d'you know she's gonna make it in anyways?" After all, this Smash was no newbie unless she was in.

Arion tilted his head in a curious, birdlike manner as Reek asked for a good reason to let the girl stay. "The power invested into us, idiot," the warrior corrected and straightened himself, awaiting a reply from this Smash. "Seriously though, what do we call ourselves?" he whispered to his partner in a soft voice, so soft that the newcomer would not be able to hear what he said.

The way the two of them bantered with her as well as each other made Smash suddenly certain she wanted to shack up here. Not only did these two have senses of humor, they didn't seem all that worried about manners and posturing. This was important to her not because she minded those sorts of things but because she didn't mind them—as in, she rarely thought about any of it, which could spell disaster around the wrong company. Reek and Arion seemed to be exactly the right kind of company.

Smirking at the pair of them, Smash replied, "Well, I'm pretty awesome all around but my best feature is my attitude! I am sickeningly upbeat," she reported with a smirk and a wink. "I'm really good with people wolves of all ages. Any social task: I'm your girl! I'm a quick learner, so any skill I don't already have I can get. When I commit to something, I throw myself into it five hundred percent, so that's what I'd do for..." Pause. "You said Redtail Rise, right?"

Something occurred to her then and Smash's eyes flashed with an impish light as her expression became suddenly quite conspiratorial. She shifted slightly closer to Reek and Arion, lowering her voice. "You guys aren't really leaders here, are you? Do you even live here? Are you total impostors? ...can I be an impostor with you?!" Smash whispered sotto voce, tail giving several mischievous flicks.

Fade out soon?  We should totally have another!

"You're no fun," chirped Reek, playfully bumping back into Arion after he refused to play along with Reek's shenanigans.  Arion leaned in to whisper about their proper title, to which Reek had no idea what they actually were. "No clue, just roll with it," he whispered back.  Sure, Saena had left them in charge of the ridge, but the raggedy wolf didn't even know if he had the proper power to accept a new member.  But, whatever, fuck it.  This one seemed alright enough.

Smash quickly rattled off a few reasons to stick around and Reek grinned while he listened.  In part, he had already decided that she would be a good fit for the Rise.  Their personalities synced up quite nicely, and Reek was already anticipating the shenanigans that would ensue once normalcy was restored with Saena's arrival. "I like her," he said turning to Arion after Smash had finished. "What do you think buddy?"

The newbie leaned in close and began to jokingly question the two somewhat-leaders.  Feeling mischievous himself, Reek decided to humor her.  "Damn!" He exclaimed to Arion.  "She's figured out our sham!"  Reek then turned to the new, potential recruit with a wide grin spread across his muzzle.  "But, seriously though... We're in charge.  For now at least, well, until our Alpha, Saena, decides to come back."

"Tell you what, I've decided!  You're in," continued Reek, making the decision to accept Smash into their pack.  "Unless, Mr. Grumpy-pants has anything to say about it." 

one more round and archive?

"Sounds good to me," Arion muttered and turned his attention back to the girl who wished to join the pack. Truthfully, the Greek did not know if he, or Reek for that matter, had the power and authority to accept someone into the pack that was...not actually their's. Saena had told them to look after and take charge of the Rise but accepting? He didn't know if she wished for them to accept new wolves to her pack when she was gone. But then, when had the Greek actually listened to authority when it blocked him for doing what he wanted. No, he mostly told them to piss off. Saena might be one of the wolves he truly respected, but he was his own man in the end. For now, at least.

Arion listened intently, but with a bored expression on his face as she spoke of her 'good' reasons to be accepted into the Rise. She seemed like the kind of wolf he was, and even though he had just met her, he decided he liked her and would be a good addition to the ridge. "I like her too," the ebony dusted warrior smirked. "She's our kind of wolf," he drawled, honey eyes gleaming with amusement.

It was nice to see Reek acting like himself once more, stress had gotten into the man without Saena and he had been working his butt off. Seeing his friend joking once more was enough to bring an almost genuine smile to his lips. "Oh well, guess it would happen sooner or later, but yeah, we've got the reins to the pack for now," he shrugged with an mischievous glint in his honey eyes. "I have agreed to our decision, Mr Dickhead." he playfully growled to the homely wolf. "But seriously, Mr Grumpy-pants? Is that the best you've got?"

Reek ran with the joke for a moment before sobering slightly and formally accepting her. Arion concurred with his superior's decision and it looked like she was now part of Redtail Rise. Smash wanted to wag her tail, maybe send up a few happy barks to celebrate this moment. They had just formed a lifelong friendship, after all, hadn't they? But, of course, she wasn't done with the joke yet.

"Yeah, uh-huh, all right, okay. I believe you guys," Smash said, waggling her brows at them. "Just give me the description of this Saena chick so I know to run for my life when she shows up demanding to know who the hell I am," she quipped half-seriously, before motioning toward the hillock behind the two males. "Now give me the grand tour before the three of us are thrown out on our asses for being usurpers!" Smash cried, sending up those barks after all as she dove past her new pack mates and began her first scaling of Redtail Rise.

Last post for me!

Mr. Grumpypants concurred, and Mr. Dickhead couldn't be anymore pleased.  This whole acceptance thing had been a whole lot easier than initially expected. Everything went without a hitch, however, it seems Arion hadn't been too keen on his new nickname.  "Shut-it, genius takes time," chided Reek in a joking manner to the greek, before shifting his gaze back to the newbie, who was still firing off questions left and right.

Fortunately for Reek, Saena was an easy wolf to describe.  Like Caiaphas, his alpha before Saena, her appearance had been quite unique, and Reek had yet to see another wolf who looked similar.  "She's hard to miss," he began.  "She's like, whitish with red tips and stuff... you'll know her when you see her.  Ohhhh, wait, she doesn't have a tail either!"

Smash then turned toward the territory and began to bound inside.  Turning to Arion, Reek asked, "Can you show her around for me?  I need to finish my patrol."  And with that, he left the two to scale the ridge while Reek went back to prowling the borderline. 

"Yeah, whatever you say," Arion rolled his eyes as Reek told him to shut up and that apparently, genius takes time. Wrong. Coming up with the nickname of Mr Dickhead took only about less than a second and that..that was real genius. But no one would understand that, not the gods, not the mortals, except perhaps Apollo and Hermes. Those two would totally get it.

"She also has indigo eyes," Arion added to Reek's description of their Alpha. She was easy to describe because her features and markings were rather unique and even though he had traveled a long way, he had never seen someone who's appearance was as weird as Saena's. No offense to the Alpha of the Rise of course.

Smash bounded inside the territory and his partner in leadership asked him if he could show the newbie around and that he needed to finish his patrol. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and left. "The nerve of that guy," he muttered under his breath. "Honestly, like I don't need to finish my patrol," technically he hadn't been patrolling but whatever. "Thought we were supposed to be 'partners'. Not leader and his sidekick."

"Dickhead dumped us and ran off," Arion called to his 'twin' as he made his way towards her. "Guess I have to show you your new home."