Big Salmon Lake Blood stutter

@Lasher? :)

He found himself back at the lake shore, tracking another herd of deer. They were many this time and, like before, he wasn't hopeful about making a kill. There would be no repeat of last time's serendipitous fortune, either. Peregrine didn't mind, though. Practicing tracking and observing would help him maintain his mastery over his hunting skills.

Actually, he was currently trying to see just how close he could sneak to the herd before they noticed him. Presently, he was perhaps two dozen yards away, slinking along on his belly in stops and starts. There was not much brush to screen him out here and the land was flat. But the wind blew in his favor, at least, and Peregrine was a master of patience and precision.

likewise had taltos come down for the hunt, but not to bring back meat to his pack. he had skulked forth to wonder at his skill in finding one of the pests tonravik had mentioned, and perhaps visit her in a neutral location. she was pregnant, guarded carefully by a zealous mate, and fiercely loyal unto the spine, but he felt that they would be able to speak affably enough.

she would not make a good ally, for ultimately tartok was self-serving and savage in its inner circle, but he would suggest it all the same. he would visit silvertip once dante had been consulted about fitzdutiful's offer -- he felt it would be prudent to accept, especially with young ones in the mutual fold and a new threat unleashed upon the land.

the movement of grazing deer caught his eye, and the beta lowered himself instinctively. though he had not intended to hunt, the urge was there all the same, tempered with mild hunger. murkwater eyes scanned the herd, assessing for a potential kill, and very unaware was lasher that his former paramour was just beyond in the grasses to the other side of the herd.

Forward he crept, inch by painstaking inch. He drew in shallow breaths, trying not to make even the least disturbance to his environment or draw attention to himself. But the closer he came, the higher the chance of being spotted. Alas, he came within half a dozen yards when suddenly a pair of beady black eyes observed his statuesque form hunched low to the earth. The scout gave a cry of alarm and the herd was suddenly thundering away from the lake.

Peregrine stood upright but did not give chase. He simply watched as they bounded away toward the east. They left a cloud of dust behind them, which lingered in the air a moment before settling back to the earth. That's when the swarthy wolf spotted his company, who was likely already aware of him, considering the wind's direction. Peregrine's eyes narrowed, then widened again when he recognize the other wolf. He remained motionless for the moment.

too late did taltos scent peregrine -- the surprise narrowly left him enough time to avoid the sudden thunder of hooves which carried buckskin bodies toward him. tongue lolling in the dust of their wake, lasher trained his eyes upon the painfully familiar form of peregrine. their last meeting had been rife with anger and confusion, but he still carried within himself the remembrance of their last beauteous night.

still, the ecru beta stilled himself and did not approach. he had been beneath threat of attack before, and had no intention of mangling himself for a wolf fully weak and operational beneath the chaotic whims of the red bitch.

The telling moment had arrived at last: he would face someone who was simultaneously a loved one and an outsider in no man's land. Peregrine braced himself for a growl or at least a filthy look. Perhaps Lasher might even turn and walk away without a word. Or might he even attack, verbally or even physically? Yet he remained frozen, just like Peregrine, as the two stared across a chasm much wider than the stretch of open grass between them.

"Lasher," the Alpha called at length, still not moving. "I'd like to give you an explanation now, if you'd like to hear it." He didn't feel he owed one, yet his reticence on the matter was gone now. He would gladly explain what had happened and, furthermore, stand by his actions. More likely than not, Lasher and his ilk would think him a murderer but Peregrine knew he had done what must be done, and not because he had enjoyed it.

peregrine's words were unexpected -- lasher drew in his breath. an explanation was quite welcome, but a worm of dread inched its way into his belly. stiffly, he forced himself to approach the caldera male, hackles bristling somewhat with apprehension.

when he had moved closer, taltos paused. gaze flickered over the well-loved features of his former love, presently loved if the earthen servant was truthful. stress and age had harried the man's face -- lasher worried for him.

but he was silent. waiting.

Ultimately, it was Lasher who closed the distance. Peregrine received his approach with an entirely neutral demeanor. He paid no mind to his former flame's bristling hackles, though he reassured calmly, "You are nowhere near the caldera, so I have no intent to attack you." He thought briefly of his conversation with Tonravik and Kero not so long ago, yet did nothing to act upon it now. They would only need to take that step should the problem of outright trespassers persist.

"You aren't going to like this," Peregrine prefaced his story, pausing and taking a breath before plunging right into it. "I lied to you before, when I identified the intruder that attacked Wildfire as a he. It was, in fact, a she. It was Junior," he delivered flatly. He hated saying her name anymore. "She arrived at my borders with a message of forgiveness and goodwill. I took her at her word, which was a horrific mistake. Wifi nearly paid for it with her life. I took her to meet her half-siblings. I will never forget the way she greeted them—cheerily, not at all like Junior—and that's when I knew. It was all a farce. I led the lion right to the lambs.

She went for Wildfire's throat, so my wolves and I had no choice but to go for hers. She badly injured Wildfire but we were able to pull her off and dispatch her before she could kill her." Peregrine's eyes narrowed, not at Lasher but at the memory. "Fox immediately demoted me to the bottom of the ranks for my total lack of judgment and declared our borders a red zone. She also decided that no one outside of our ranks—least of all my other children—could be trusted anywhere near our home, hence our reactions... particularly Fox's toward Saena." He still didn't understand what had compelled Saena to fight back rather than retreat but knew it was wiser not to speak of it.

Instead, he stopped there, giving Lasher a chance to react. His posture shifted only slightly, his muscles tensing as he prepared for a perhaps verbal if not physical onslaught.

not in any imagining could lasher have expected the revelation peregrine provided. the man listened with shock blanching his face beneath the dark fur. while he was wholly surprised that junior had tried to kill one of her younger siblings, he was more perturbed by the utter lack of emotion the devil displayed as he spoke of executing junior -- his own child.

tears slid unbidden down his cheeks suddenly, tracing the tension of his clenched jaw. whatever affection he still held for peregrine had been burned away with a fiery flare of pure rage. this monster had abandoned his children, made no effort in his eyes to maintain a relationship with their vulnerable souls, and ultimately slew one of them.

junior's foray into the caldera had ensured she would be surrounded by fox's own -- to punish her, perhaps, would have been warranted. even a mauling. but death outright, knowing how affected junior had been by her father's actions.

and to let fox throw him below her -- lasher was sickened, and his lips twisted with vehement rage. this had been her vision, he fervently believed, to remove the remnants of peregrine's seed until only her own remained.

"may all of your children be scattered, peregrine, and may you die alone and blind," lasher hissed, his mouth trembling with leashed weeping. "you are unfit and have no worth; you deserve only hatred and death. no," he sobbed breathlessly, "death is much too kind."

he backed from the man then, and wept unabashedly for junior and the tormented short life she had experienced before an untimely demise at the hands of her own father. but upon the heels of his tears came further anger.

"i will tell saena and tytonidae and pura of junior's murder. they must know that the man they once called father is no more; a weak and wicked creature has sprung up in his place."

he desired to wound peregrine, to tear him, to shed his blood. he was cut off from the plateau indelibly now. "i will not stop what occurs now, and i will not move to speak on your behalf if vengeance comes for junior. she was one of our own, and you have murdered her."

he met the other's eyes with heaving sides; the spine; tonravik knew him, and fitzdutiful. he would seek to trap the caldera wolves here. and the plains enemies massing -- lasher would lead them to fox's very throat.

let peregrine speak now. he would be bereft of his sisters, his children, and eventually fox herself would tire of his weakness. the devil would be left alone, as was fated.

Lasher lived up to his name, lashing out with ill will that went far, too far, into the realm of heartless cruelty. Even though Peregrine expected some backlash, the level of wicked hatred poured upon him took him by surprise. His former lover threatened all manner of horrible things upon the swarthy Alpha. Peregrine might have agreed that he deserved all of this, not so long ago, although for different reasons: while Lasher blamed him for Junior's death, Peregrine blamed himself for Wildfire's close call.

"Lasher," Peregrine spoke sharply, "why do you threaten me? Do you think I wanted to harm Junior? That day, I hoped to do whatever it took to earn her forgiveness. But then she tried to murder an innocent babe." His eyes shimmered with anger. Why didn't Lasher seem to care about that particular detail? Why did he jump so quickly to the defense of an actual murderer, a would-be child killer?

"I never claimed to be the best father. I'm not. And I only did what I had to do to save an innocent life. What would you do, Taltos, if Junior had come for your children? For Constantine? For Casmir? For Eilidh?" he demanded, beginning to shake with his own justified wrath. "What would you do if someone went for your baby's throat?"

But he answered Lasher's question for him. "I have no doubt you would do whatever it took to protect them, no matter the stakes. And no one could hold it against you if you killed a trespasser who tried to harm your family. So why should you wish such horrific things upon me? Threaten me? Call me a murderer? Put yourself in my place before you cast judgment, Lasher!" he barked with a deep scowl, fiery jade eyes boring into the ocher brute.

im so sad

peregrine responded with ire, and taltos burned with his own as the man spoke. he did not remove junior from an unknown assailant -- they were not one and the same, and his ears fell back to cup his skull as the other's words gained gravelled wrath. "i would slay them, peregrine, and this you know well! but i would not murder one of my children. i would not be in the position you find yourself, for i would not turn my former litter against my second. i do not fault you for attacking junior, i hold you responsible for her unnecessary murder."

"the attack upon your child is upon your own head. you abandoned the plateau, suddenly, abruptly. you removed yourself far from your children and placed the responsibility of maintaining a familial relationship upon them. junior took the brunt of it -- she was deeply troubled. i do not fault her for finding your new brood as usurpers, for that is what you did; you pitted the children of hawkeye and kisu and pied against those of fox."

his eyes burned and his teeth flashed in a snarl; lasher was past all care, and trembled with the deepening urge to rip a rent in peregrine's throat. "you are a murderer; i shall not mince words with you! junior was not an unknown attacker who sought the life of your child, peregrine, and that is why i do not see her as deserving of death."

his tail lashed catlike at his heels; a growl rose in his throat. "many wolves have you at your service; she walked into your midst. what true threat had a thin, scarred bantling posed unto you? beaten her, yes. rent her flesh unto the point of death; thrown her from your borders. but let her live! she was your blood, your child, and the one to whom the reins of the plateau's leadership would have been passed, had you remained and not run in hot pursuit of a girl barely older than a suckling child."

his lips thinned into a grim line. "my words stand firm. you will reap the consequences of your actions, peregrine. whatever justice you believed you meted to junior will fall twofold to you. that is the way of things. you have cut your last tie with the family you maintain at the plateau, and may you dare not drift close unto us if you value your life."

he tensed, hackles fully raised now; he would defend his words with tooth and nail if peregrine saw the need to lash out. murkwater eyes burned stolidly, silently, into the emerald orbs he had once loved.

He let Lasher pour out yet more vitriol, despite a growing urge to reach out and throttle the words from his former flame's throat. He didn't stop, even for a moment, to consider Peregrine's take. No, he just ranted... and ranted... and ranted. Some of the words he used, the Alpha couldn't even hope to comprehend. But he understood quite well the gist of it.

He wanted to throw words back, accuse Lasher of being the weak one, the terrible father, if he would let someone off the hook for trying to kill his children just because of their relationship. Oh, to be such moral perfection! Yet Peregrine bit his tongue. Let Lasher think what he wanted. Let the entire rest of the wilds think what they wanted. He stood by his actions, his mate's actions and his pack's actions. He had not enjoyed killing his own daughter, yet he would not apologize for it either.

"When your child's life is at stake, you do not stop to think about who is trying to kill her. You don't hesitate. You just act. May you never find yourself in that position, Lasher." For your children's sake, he thought with an internal shake of his head. But he didn't aspire to cut down the man before him, much as Lasher seethed with hatred and insulted him in every possible way.

"I've made mistakes in my life, lots of them. I'm not perfect." Like you, he thought pettily. "Thank you for calling my attention to it. But I take responsibility for my actions. And you know what? I would take the same actions against anyone who threatens my home or family, no matter who they are. Because all I want is to protect the caldera. That's what I did and what I will continue to do." His nostrils flared as he issued the thinly veiled warning. "Despite what you or anyone else thinks of me, I do not seek to harm anyone. But if someone seeks to harm me or mine..." Well, the caldera would do to them exactly what they'd done to Junior.

peregrine thought him perfection -- taltos thought him a cruel fool. he listened, but he did not heed -- he cared not what the man had to say, one who admitted to his failures as a father and justified them. the panther may well believe that the caldera would withstand the brunt of revenge, but if it came, lasher did not believe they would.

his lip curled; when peregrine had finished his rant, lasher shook his head. he needed say no more; he was exhausted suddenly by their interlude. hard eyes focused on the devil and he was silent; he would remain still and resigned until the caldera male departed.

If Lasher would attack or anything, I can post again! Otherwise, this will be my last. <3

Lasher made no reply, finally resting that poisonous tongue of his. Peregrine did not deign to speak either. He thought he had made his point pretty clearly: if Lasher, or anyone, threatened the caldera, they would be dealt with accordingly. If they minded their own business, they had nothing to fear. The wolves of the caldera were not out for blood; they merely wanted to live among one another in peace. They would only resort to violence if pushed. And with more than a dozen warm bodies, all of them training to fight, they had nothing to fear.

The other male did not appear ready to budge. Although this was Peregrine's neighborhood, he did not care what Lasher chose to do with himself, so long as he did it away from the Redhawks. The Alpha climbed slowly to his feet, then turned his back on Lasher and walked away, one of their previous conversations echoing dimly in his head.

"We should do this more often. Get together, I mean. I haven't seen you in months. I know we lead separate lives now and all but, well, I want you to always be part of mine, and me of yours."

"I would enjoy that very much."

Peregrine had meant it at the time. He still might have meant it now, if Lasher hadn't refused to give him any credence at all. But Lasher was determined to hate him for his choices, choices he had made for himself, his mate and his future. Never again would Peregrine and Lasher mingle in romantic, nor even friendly, manners. Peregrine had been forced by circumstance to choose his new family over his old. He stood by those choices, and would until the day he died of old age, his wife and children at his side, in the heart of Redhawk Caldera.

<3

a plan formulated in his mind, churning in the remnants of his grief and fruit of his anger. the caldera's insistence upon seclusion would be their undoing -- lasher would avenge junior if he alone came to it. he watched until peregrine's retreating figure dipped from sight; then at length his muzzle dipped, and he wept bitter tears into the dust for the forlorn girl who had but craved her father's love, and the death of his own warm feelings toward the panther.

it was with a stony visage and heavy heart that taltos departed for his home; he drew in shaking breaths and steeled himself as he crossed the borders, moving straightaway for the comforting embrace of blue willow.