Redhawk Caldera Houston, we have a problem

By some miracle, Wildfire had somehow avoided collecting any pine cones for her collection. It was an entirely unconscious omission. She simply hadn't come across one. But the rendezvous site featured several evergreen trees, so it was only a matter of time before she snatched one up to carry back to the badger den. She had quite a hoard going there and this strange object would make an awesome addition to her treasure trove.

Before she reached the den, Wildfire found herself pausing and scrunching up her face. Her mouth opened to drop the pine cone. There was a hot sensation creeping over her face. Even the inside of her mouth felt funny. Her gums tingled. Her eyes were beginning to water. She had by now experienced a bee sting and abruptly it felt as if there were a thousand of the mean little insects stinging her face. Only, there were no bees.

"MAMA!" Wildfire cried out in distress and alarm. "DUDDY!" Abandoning the unknown culprit, she spun on her heel and began to run, her face swelling up like a red balloon. She thought she was going in the direction of the rendezvous site's main clearing, but her eyes were watering like crazy now and the whole experience was so disorienting that she didn't realize she was actually making a beeline away from her destination.

This would be a fantastic opportunity for any potential Healers (including someone outside the pack, as we can say she's getting close to the borders). She's allergic to pine cones and is having a moderate anaphylactic reaction. :)

Healer threads are hard to come by!

Pulling himself away from Redtail Rise had been a difficult thing, especially with Reek's new wife waiting back home for him. However, a promise was a promise, and the ragged wolf wished to make good on his word to his good buddy Pants, plus, he had so much information to fill him in on. Pantaleimon had given him a name of the pack he wished to join, Redhawk Caldera or whatever, but did little to divulge the location of the territory. All Reek knew was to head south. Thankfully, Saena had pointed him in the right direction.

The walk had been long and tedious, but the thought of seeing his friend again kept Reek going with a hurried pace of excitement. Upon nearing the scent markers of what he believed to be Redhawk Caldera, Reek took a seat under the shade of a tree to rest and call for his friend to meet him. However, before Reek could lift his muzzle to the sky, the cries of a pup caught his attention.

Normally, Reek wasn't the heroic type. Caring for the ills of others was not usually something the ragged wolf concerned himself with, or viewed to be of use to his valuable time. But, he had a soft spot for children; mainly because he was planning to become a father himself. The child's cries became louder and louder as she sprinted toward the border, and Dr. Douchecake sprung into action as he crossed into a strange pack's territory in search of the pup.

It was only a matter of time before Wildfire stumbled. When she tripped, she went hurtling down the mountainside (previously thought to be the rendezvous site's sloping clearing). She yelped only once, then grunted half a dozen times as she rolled and bounced, then eventually skidded to a halt near the caldera's base. For a solid half minute, she just sprawled there, her eyes streaming, her nose bleeding and her entire face simultaneously itching and burning. A small whimper escaped her.

When she heard the sound of footsteps pounding toward her, the puppy's eyes lifted. She thought it was her father and cried, "DUDDY!" in a plaintive voice. She launched herself at Peregrine... only to realize it wasn't her father at all when she got up close. Reeling backward, the bashful puppy tucked her tail between her legs and shrunk close to the ground. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest as she felt dismay and apprehension wash over her.

      Reek followed to pup's cries all the way to the base of the caldera, only to spot the tiny figure of the pup tumbling down the mountainside in a panicked roll.  Upon reaching the bottom of the mountainside, the pup laid motionless... the only sound escaping it's lips was a dry whimper.  Poor thing.  Drawing closer to the pup, Reek gave her a quick glance over to asses the damage: she was battered and bruised, a little bit bloody, but most notably, possessed a swollen face.  Anaphylaxis? 

      Fuck.

      The little one picked up her head and spoke to Reek thinking it was her father, to which she obviously realized her mistake when she tucked her tail down and pulled back.  "'Fraid not, little one," said Reek, shrinking down to the pup's level.  A warm smile spread across his homely face as he tried to console the scared child.  "But, you're gonna be just fine.  Reek's gonna patch you up and make you good as new."  His tone remained calm, however panicked he felt. Her reaction didn't seem to be extremely severe, however Reek couldn't have been any less prepared to handle this sort of situation, seeing as his medicinal herb-cache was far, far away back in Redtail Rise.  All he could do is make sure her air-way didn't close up from the swelling and keep her relaxed.  Panic would be the worst possible thing for her.    

He spoke to her in a calm, reassuring voice that did little to quell the little girl's fear. Between her sense of stranger danger and her allergic reaction, Wildfire was a mess. Everything caught up to her suddenly and she began to cry, quietly at first. But then she was bawling, like a throwback to her early days as a colicky infant. It was a noise of fear, pain and utmost distress.

But she didn't move. She just just flopped to the ground and wept. Vaguely, she noticed that the warm tears sliding down her face brought some measure of relief. The crying kept her eyes and face puffy, though, and she looked as miserable as she felt.

        Obviously, Reek had a lot to learn about dealing with children.  The little pup had begun to bawl, and the ragged wolf didn't have the slightest idea of what to do to calm her down.  Treating an illness was easy, but calming a scared child was another story.  "No, no, no, goddamn it, no.  Don't cry," consoled Reek desperately.  If her wails alerted any wolves from her pack to Reek's location, it could be detrimental to the poor pup's safety... as instinct would dictate to chase the healer away without a word, especially this close to a pup.  That would be a total disaster.

       "You're having an allergic reaction," he explained, unsure if that would hold any bearing to the young pup... or even if she kew what that means.  "I can help.  But, you're going to have to listen."  Reek put his head down on top of the crying pup gently to try and listen to her breathing.  Good.  The swelling hadn't closed her throat.  All she needed was to be watched and time to recover.

       "Lemme get all that nasty blood off of you," he continued with a friendly smile as he began to clean the pup's nose with his tongue.  

Despite the stranger's words of comfort, Wildfire shrank beneath his ministrations. But she didn't pull away entirely. She simply didn't have the wherewithal to put up a fight or otherwise withdraw. She remained like a floppy rag doll, allowing him to place his ear close to her to monitor her breathing. Wildfire flinched slightly when he began to lick her nose, though she soon grew still again, save for the slight trembling that accompanied her sobbing.

Gradually, she began to feel a little better. Her eyes stopped streaming, dripping instead. The painful stinging on her face subsided. The helpful stranger had removed the blood caked around her nostrils. Wildfire hiccuped, then sighed, her crying tapering away and then ceasing altogether. She still shivered somewhat, especially when her golden eyes took in her helper's appearance properly for the first time. She was too young to be judgmental, yet his shabby looks disquieted the young child.

"Where's mama 'n' duddy?" Wildfire asked when she finally found her voice. She frowned, fighting against an urge to begin crying again. Why hadn't her parents come to rescue her? Why hadn't anyone but this homely stranger come to her aid? Feeling abruptly bereft, she began to whimper, then wail again.

It seemed Reek's desperate attempts to calm the sobbing child down had had an effect, albeit slight.  Her wails subsided into nervous silence while Reek cleaned her off and assessed her condition.  Perhaps he wouldn't be too bad at this whole parenting thing, whenever that time eventually rolled around.  Possibly before winter, that is if Saena made good on her word to the ragged wolf and his blushing (if wolves could blush) bride.  

The pup broke the awkward quiet with a query that Reek didn't quite know how to answer.  Surely, her parents wouldn't have let her wander this far off without proper supervision.  However, no one but Reek came to Wildfire's aid when the she cried.  Some family, eh? She had more than likely ran far out of earshot in her panic, however, Reek's sentiment was unchanged.  

"I— uh, I dunno kid," responded Reek in a gentle tone once the pup began to wail again.  "I need to watch you for a little while.  But after I know you're fine, we'll find 'em together. How 'bout that?"  Traipsing trough a strange pack's territory accompanied by a pup seemed to be a death sentence, but Reek would have said or done anything to calm the poor kid down.  Something about a child's cry caused Reek's generally unsympathetic heart to break.  Perhaps handing her back to the safety of home would do the trick.

As he prowled along the borders, a strange scent suddenly tickled Elwood's nostrils -- effectively chasing all thoughts of Finley and her mystery illness out of his mind. Seconds later, he smelled Wildfire, as well, and with a frown the Beta accelerated, following his nose. What was Wildfire doing so close to the edge of the territory?

The added sound of Wildfire's wailing spurred him on, and soon enough, two figures came into his line of sight; one familiar, and one very much the opposite. He stiffened, his hackles rising slowly as he released a sharp bark to announce his presence. It was hard to decipher the context of the situation, but all he knew was that a strange, ragged-looking wolf was accompanying Wildfire -- for what reason, he couldn't fathom. Either way, it was unsettling.

"Wildfire," he said sternly, his gaze first roving over the pup. Her face looked swollen and there were tear tracks running down her cheeks, but other than that, she seemed to be okay. He then looked to the dark-colored male at her side. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice wary as he assessed the situation. He halted in his path, not wanting to come any closer in case it would mean danger for the Alphas' pup.

She didn't hear his answer, nor his reassurances. Big, fat tears leaked from Wildfire's eyes as she cried loudly. It really was a miracle that no one in the pack heard and came running. Everyone must have been on the other side of the mountain, or else away from home altogether. Unfortunately, the pup was too young and distraught to consider the logistics.

But, at length, someone did come to her rescue: her godfather. When she saw the familiar gray shape moving toward them, Wildfire blinked. His image shimmered through the thick tears in her eyes. She blinked several more times, then sniffed, hiccuped and bounded toward him. She couldn't find her voice for the moment, though she made a relieved whimpering noise as she clutched at his left foreleg.

It would have been immensely helpful if she'd had the presence of mind to tell Elwood how the stranger hadn't done her any harm. He had, in fact, helped her. But Wildfire was still too fraught to say anything. She buried her face in Uncle Elwood's armpit, his soft pewter fur soothing against her hot, damp cheeks.

As if a crying child wasn't enough to deal with.  The bark on the horizon made Reek's stomach coil and tie into knots.  Obviously, Wildfire's cries had called in the calvary, since a grey wolf who Reek didn't recognize approached with hackles raised.  If only it had been Pants that had heard her cries instead... if only life were that simple.  

Before Reek could even muster a reply to Elwood's question, the pup and patient had already ran into his embrace.  The raggedy wolf made himself low and nonthreatening.  Rolling and submission wasn't really his type of thing, however, he knew where he was not welcome.  "Er, Reek," he began, throat scratchy and dry. "And this, uh, this is not what it looks like." He wheezed a weak chuckle as he tried to diffuse the tension of the situation.   

"I came to see Pants... Pantaleimon.  He's an old friend of mine from back before he joined up with you guys.  I came to bring him some news." Reek shifted his muzzle toward the whimpering pup as if to point. "But, I heard this little one crying when I was by the border.  She was having an allergic reaction to something-or-other, and I figured I should do something... you should really keep an eye on her.  She'll be fine though, could have been worse."  

As soon as Wildfire spotted her uncle through her bleary vision, she ran for him. Elwood pulled her close with a protective foreleg, taking a moment to bow his head and kiss her between her ears. She still seemed to be somewhat distraught, but his presence was enough to calm her for the time being. By the time he readjusted his gaze to the grizzled male, an explanation was being provided.

Elwood's expression remained solemn as the wolf -- who quickly introduced himself as Reek -- revealed that he had intended to visit Pantaleimon when he heard Wildfire's distress. The pieces of his story seemed to line up -- and Elwood affirmed this by sneaking a glance at his niece's still-puffy face, noting that it wasn't just her sobbing that had caused the unfortunate swelling -- and he nodded quietly before addressing Reek.

"An allergic reaction," he murmured; he thought he remembered Peregrine mentioning something along those lines, though he couldn't remember what the Alpha male had said the allergen was. Perhaps it was multiple items. "Well, she's lucky that you found her when you did. Thank you, Reek," he said with a bob of his head, his lips pressing together in a thin yet grateful smile. He didn't want to think about the consequences had Pantaleimon's friend not come along at that very moment. Giving Wildfire another reassuring squeeze, he then asked, "I'll get her back to her parents here in a minute. You're a friend of Pantaleimon? Would you like me to pass a message on to him?" Although he was grateful for Reek's attention, he wasn't about to let the stranger go traipsing through the territory, even if he was an acquaintance of a subordinate.

Above her, the two males conversed. Wildfire didn't listen. She kept her face buried in her uncle's fur, as if he was just a giant, furry security blanket. Gradually, her tears dried, her inflamed face cooled and her breathing became even. By the time she finally turned her head to peek backward at Reek, she looked more or less like a normal, calm wolf cub.

At length, she shifted to slip into the space between Elwood's forelegs, facing their guest. She licked her lips quietly, then began to chew on them. There was part of her that recognized Reek had been trying to help her. He had offered comfort to her, a strange child. Wildfire tried to smile at him but the bashful youth couldn't get her mouth to cooperate. She ended up just staring at him like a doe.

It took Peregrine longer than he would like to admit to figure out how to carry today's catch—two dead mallards—simultaneously. Eventually, he managed to stuff both their heads into his mouth. Ignoring the feeling of their flat bills poking the sides of his teeth, the Alpha male loped away from Lake Rodney's shore and back toward the caldera. His mate and pups would certainly enjoy the plump, fatty duck meat.

As he came closer to the foot of the misshapen mount, the Alpha saw figures near his borders and hastened his step. He almost immediately recognized Elwood. It was his daughter's presence so far from home—and so near a shabby looking stranger—that caused Peregrine to break into a gallop. He reached the trio quickly and spat out the feathered carcasses quite unceremoniously as he pressed close to his Beta.

"What's going on here?" he asked after glancing down at his child's tear-streaked face. "Who the fuck are you?" he barked, assuming the worst as he suddenly moved toward the homely stranger.

Pardon the douchebaggery!

Letting out an audible sigh of relief, Reek relaxed as he straightened himself back out on his paws.  Elwood's demeanor had shifted positively after the raggedy wolf provided an adequate explanation to his trespassing.  Hell, he even thanked him for it and offered to take his message to Pantaleimon for him.

"Thanks, but that won't be necessary," Reek said curtly and with an air of finality, taking one last glance at the pup beneath Elwood's feet.  She would be fine, and now that she was in the paws of her pack, Reek's work was done and he no longer feared for her safety. "I'm just going to go back to the border and howl for him there.  What I have to tell him needs to be in person, it's— er, it's big." An excited smile spread across Reek's muzzle... and even thinking about the news made his tail wag behind him.  

However, before Reek could leave on pleasant terms, he was approach by whom he could only believe to be the patriarch of the caldera based on his forceful and rude tone.  The raggedy wolf had begun to feel like a broken record, constantly having to repeat himself... and if there was one thing the ragged bastard didn't like, it was redundancy.  "I'm gonna make this real quick," retorted Reek with an annoyed huff.  "Name's Reek. Friend of Pants.  Came to visit, traveled all the way from Redtail Rise.  Heard pup crying.  Found 'unsupervised' pup having and allergic reaction.  Kept her calm until it passed, well... at least tried.  Yadda, fucking, yadda. Now I'm getting questioned by a self-important douche-canoe. Tell me, do you want a fucking play-by-play?"  Reek paused for a moment to catch his breath and shot the little pup a friendly grin before reverting back to his scowl toward the presumed alpha.

"Lovely pup you have. Sweet girl," continued Dr. Dick, now resuming his motormouthed and monotoned rant. "I assume she's yours right?  You're the alpha, of course.  I can tell that sort of egotistical swagger from a mile away.  You know, you should watch her better. That way, this sort of shit can be avoided... for you're daughters own safety."  

Wildfire shifted, positioning herself between Elwood's front legs, and he glanced down at her. He was sure that she was ready to get back home, so he prepared himself to move on once Reek decided whether or not he wanted his message to be passed on to Pantaleimon. Reek came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be necessary -- that he would prefer to speak to Pantaleimon himself -- and Elwood nodded his head in understanding. He started to nudge Wildfire to her feet, when suddenly Peregrine burst onto the scene, skidding to a halt and dropping a pile of carcasses next to Elwood.

The Beta's ears splayed slightly as the leader questioned the presence of the outsider. He couldn't blame Peregrine for his concern; he, too, had been wary of the situation upon his arrival. Rather than intervene, Elwood pulled Wildfire close with a forepaw as Peregrine moved towards Reek. His expression darkened, however, as the other wolf replied.

Although he had been relatively pleasant and polite no more than five minutes ago, Reek's demeanor changed abruptly in response to Peregrine's actions. Elwood stiffened; he could understand Reek's annoyance, but he very much disagreed with his tone and language. He clenched his teeth together, eyeing the two dark males as the situation played out. Whatever the case, he would back Peregrine.

Skipping myself so I can post Wifi's reaction after Perry's post. :P

Peregrine stopped perhaps six inches from the stranger's face, eyes narrow and suspicious. He froze, giving him a window of opportunity to explain himself. The Alpha male's ears twitched in response to the first annoyed huff, a muted growl of warning bubbling in his throat. He didn't make a move, giving the homely stranger the benefit of the doubt as the words allergic reaction set off bells in his head.

At that moment, Peregrine might have backed down from his defensive position, explained his protective reaction (as if a father needed to justify such things) and thanked the male for his help... but then the wolf decided it would be a good idea to begin mouthing off to him. Peregrine's earlier growl suddenly spiked into a savage snarl of anger and disbelief. He didn't hear the completely unnecessary vitriol dripping from the stranger's lips past the words self-important douche-canoe, as he made a lunge at the other wolf's face.

He didn't bother with words. If he had, Peregrine might have threatened to rip his disrespectful tongue out by its roots and shove it up the stranger's ass. But he would let his teeth speak for him.

Wildfire didn't even see Peregrine coming. All of a sudden, the Alpha male was just there, a pair of dead ducks at his feet as he moved close to Reek. The puppy sensed the tension in his body language and reacted by dropping to the ground, golden brown eyes wide and watchful. She blinked several times as her father snapped at Reek, who then retorted with plenty of foul language and name calling. The youth swallowed thickly, her large ears flattening against her head. She wanted to clap her paws over her face when her dad snarled and lunged at her would-be helper.

Stop! she thought but the word didn't make it to her lips. It died in her throat. She backpedaled instinctively, popping out at Elwood's rear as he surely moved forward to assist Peregrine. Wildfire then whirled, looking over her shoulder the entire time as she bounded several yards away. She didn't flee the scene, only put some space between herself and the skirmish. She then flattened to the ground again, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she watched the argument escalate to blows. Part of her wanted her father to lay off Reek—he had only been helping when no one else had come—but a larger part felt loyally indignant at the way Reek had spoken to the black king.

Tiger had been a ways off, but hearing the commotion came nearer to the scene. The Blackthorn looked to see the girl backpedaling, Wildfire, and then to Peregrine and Elwood. She herself moved to stand protectively over the hiding Wildfire, not knowing that Reek had just saved the little girl and that he had done most of the saving. Tiger knew none of the incident, at all. Just that this wolf was here, smelled of the outside, and Wildfire appeared scared.

Her yellow-gold eyes were watchful, and she was observant to the cubs movements, ready to usher her away to her mother if need be. Tiger wasn't sure of puppy protocol here, but would let nothing happen to her if she could help it.

Reek's indignant nature had a tendency to lead him directly into trouble's tight grip.  He had been born without a filter and spoke his mind freely without inhibition, but perhaps his acerbic speech had gone too far. The gaunt wolf ended up being splayed across the ground in a raggedy heap of skin and bone, with the caldera's swarthy alpha swiftly imposing above him, gnashing at Reek's face with his teeth.  Peregrin's teeth had cut deep into the bridge of Reek's snout, tearing bit's of flesh away like knife cutting through butter.  As if he weren't ugly enough already.

Despite the urges to fight back, Reek refrained.  He wasn't really the fighting sort anyway, so what good would that do but deepen the hole that Reek had already dug with his words.  His first instinct was to flee, however Reek was greatly outnumbered and his chances of making a clean escape were slim to none.  Instead, he just took it.  Splayed across the ground like a rag doll, Reek attempted to make himself as small as possible by tucking his face down into the dirt and rolling his shoulders forward to protect his neck.  It was a poor strategy, but it was all he had up his sleeve.  

Things escalated quickly. Peregrine wasted no time in forcing Reek to the ground with his teeth, slicing his muzzle and leaving open wounds. Simultaneously, Wildfire slipped out from under Elwood, maneuvering between his back legs and receding a few steps further. He turned back to look at her and spotted Tiger approaching; when his sister-in-law made to comfort the pup, Elwood pivoted and closed the distance between himself and the wrestling wolves.

Luckily, it looked as though Reek had simply given up; in Elwood's opinion, that was the smartest move he could have made. Incensing an Alpha on said Alpha's home turf was bad enough. Engaging in combat with Peregrine would have only ended poorly for Reek. Since it didn't look like the skirmish was going to go any further, the silver Beta simply stood behind and to the left of Peregrine, his ears pressed forward and his tail lifted -- though not as high as Peregrine's would be -- and glared down at Reek.

His fangs told quite a cautionary tale as they sank into the stranger's face, slicing the thin flesh of his muzzle. He went down quickly after that, scrunching into a ball on the ground. It was this absolute submission that prevented the enraged Peregrine from executing him on the spot. Responding instinctively to the proverbial white flag, the Alpha stood over the other wolf, teeth bared and a growl still churning in his breast.

"Get out." The words grated out of him. He would give his daughter's helper exactly five seconds to make himself scarce. He blinked over his shoulder, his body language commanding his subordinates to stand down, not that such a message was needed. He then faced forward to watch the homely trespasser scurry away from the caldera.

Before he could get very far, Peregrine snatched up one of the slain ducks at his feet, then turned his head and snapped his neck, hurling it at the stranger's back (where it hopefully smacked him right in the ass because that would be funny). It was a somewhat twisted and sarcastic way of thanking him. Whatever true appreciation the father might have felt had been almost completely evaporated by the man's totally unnecessary trash talk.

"Are you all right, baby girl?" the Alpha asked, turning his back on the situation. He exchanged quick, grateful glances with Elwood and Tiger, though his eyes quickly fixed on Wildfire's still teary face.

Tiger appeared to stand over her but Wildfire scarcely noticed her. She was too busy watching the altercation unfold. Fortunately, Reek submitted to Peregrine before he could get himself deeper into trouble. Wildfire gnawed on her lip as her father commanded him to leave, then hurled one of the mallard carcasses at his retreating back. She didn't quite understand why he did that, but then she didn't really understand much of what had just happened, beginning with her allergic reaction and ending with her father looking down at her with utmost concern written all over his swarthy face.

She bobbed her head, then slowly rose and slunk to press herself against his leg much like she had done to Elwood's moments ago. Wildfire said nothing of the day's events—that would come later, after she'd had some time to process everything—but instead asked, "Go home now?" in a small voice. She was exhausted and thirsty from all the crying. She just wanted to curl up, go to sleep and forget about all of this.

It was all very quickly taken care of. Wildfire seemed to absorb what was happening in front of her, but if she understood Tiger did not know. She, too, was thrown off as to why Peregrine had thrown a perfectly good meal at the other... and glanced to Elwood to see if he was, too. But Peregrine was quick to come to the duo, and his daughter was swift to go to him. Tiger nodded to him, and withdrew, then trotted toward Elwood.

"Wanna get some eats?" she suggests, tilting her head, her bright eyes not looking him in his own (that would be a challenge to him) but at his forehead. It seemed everything was taken care of.

Last post from me! Thanks for the thread!

Get out. The directions were clear, and Reek held no intention of causing any more trouble for himself.  If this was the group Pantaleimon had fallen into, that was too bad, because Reek sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to find out and chat. Well, not anymore at least.  When the alpha male withdrew from over him, Reek rose to his paws and shook the dust from his pelt.

"Whatever man," spat Reek with bitter vitriol toward his assailant. Dropping his bloody muzzle back down to the pups level, he flashed her a warm and amicable smile. "Goodbye little one. Stay safe,  alright?" After addressing the pup for the last time,  Reek took off toward the border, stopping only when the mallard that Peregrin had chucked hit him square in the ass.  The raggedy wolf's maw turned into a sly simper as he hiked his back leg over the duck and sprayed it with urine, leaving it to lie in Redhawk territory as a final insult.

After Reek had finished his display with the mallard, he resumed his sprint toward the border without looking back.  Upon reaching unclaimed lands, Reek stopped to howl for his friend @Pantaleimon , giving him the location of the rise and telling him to find it if he wanted to talk.