Wolf RPG

The caldera's Beta female had been missing for somewhere in the neighborhood of four weeks now. Although it was impossible to put too many resources toward locating her—what with pups to raise, a pack to rule (and feed) and winter approaching—Peregrine carved out some time today to address the issue. He knew Elwood, Elwood Jr and even Wildfire were beside themselves with worry at this point. The Alpha male shared their concern, of course, and he missed Finley's presence around the caldera.

He decided to drop in on the remaining Beta and his son today to check on them and see what else could be done and where to go from here. Would they eventually have to accept she was gone and move on with their lives? If so, when? And how? Finley had been with them since the beginning, since before the beginning. Peregrine struggled to imagine Redhawk Caldera without her. It was an extraordinarily painful thought.

And he couldn't begin to imagine how her mate and child felt about it. "Elwood?" he called out when he roamed close to the Blackthorns' den. He sensed that it was currently vacant, though he padded closer just to be sure.

Like it or not, Elwood had settled into a routine without Finley. He didn't have much choice; not only was he a father, but he was now the pack's single Beta. While he wanted to mope around and sleep the days away, he instead flung himself into caring for his son and the group of wolves he called family. He was convinced that Finley's prolonged absence would have some sort of negative effect on Eljay's development, but he did everything in his power to simulate a normal schedule for the boy. Of course, he wasn't always successful, but he was learning to deal with Eljay's emotions and teach the boy how to cope.

He was returning from a miniature hunting session with Eljay, intending to put him down for a nap. They had done nothing more than follow a slow-moving possum for about half an hour, but it had been sufficient to teach Eljay how to use his nose and creep quietly behind his target. The activity had been enough to distract both father and son from their troubles for the time being, and Elwood hoped that Eljay would be ready for at least an hour of rest.

As they drew nearer to the den, Elwood spotted Peregrine lingering nearby. He perked up slightly, although there was a seemingly permanent wrinkle in his brow and his smile rarely reached his eyes. "Hey, Peregrine," he greeted, coming to a halt and glancing down at Eljay. "Look who's here, pal," he said, his tail giving a little wiggle.

Learning stuff was difficult, but it kept Eljay from obsessing over his lost mother. There were days that Eljay wouldn't stop crying, it seemed, and nobody could make it stop, but today was one of his better days. Daddy had something in store for him and even though Eljay missed mommy terribly much, he also loved his daddy. And if he was at home crying with Raven, Wifi or Pan, then daddy was out there, running the very real risk of vanishing into thin air just like mommy had. So Eljay figured he may as well protect daddy, even if he still had tantrum-filled days where he would say he hated everyone, as though they were personally responsible for taking mommy from him.

"Hi Uncie P," Eljay greeted softly, following after daddy, his tail making a similar gesture as his dad's. Eljay wished that there was some good news, but he could tell by the look on Peregrine's face that there wasn't gonna be any.

They weren't home, though they were on their way. Peregrine turned to face the pair as they approached. He knew they would have to discuss logistics at some point, though he would hardly open with that, especially with Elwood Jr tagging along. Peregrine offered father and son a soft, sympathetic smile, lowering his great black head to nudge the youngster's cheek affectionately before lifting it again and offering the elder Elwood a bump to the side of his snout. The Alpha then seated himself, making it clear he intended to spend some time here with them.

"How're you guys holding up? Is there anything I can get you?" He spoke primarily to his Beta, though of course he included Elwood Jr in his inquiry too. Peregrine shifted his face to one side to better see them both, his single jade eye lingering primarily on the pup. He looked like both his parents, though the fact that he resembled Finley so much suddenly put a lump in Peregrine's throat.

Eljay said hello to Peregrine, even managing to wag his tail a little bit, but his expression was quite similar to his father's. Even when he smiled, there was evidence of stress on his face, but Elwood was glad that this afternoon had been tear-free so far. Hopefully it would stay that way.

He looked back to the Alpha, who had lowered himself to his haunches. Elwood did the same, wrapping his tail around his forepaws and sitting a little stiffly. He could tell that this conversation wasn't necessarily going to be a pleasant one, though it wouldn't be Peregrine's fault. There were things that needed to be discussed, and they had been on his mind almost constantly. The dynamic of their family had changed, and it was likely that the pack would feel a shift, as well.

"We're doing okay. We were out practicing hunting today," he said, hoping that maybe Eljay would pipe up and give a little explanation of their lesson.

Uncle Peregrine sat down in front of them, and daddy followed suit. Eljay sat down next to daddy, touching his fur to daddy's as he lightly leaned into him. Peregrine asked how they were doing and if there was anything they wanted, and all Eljay bitterly thought was, Mommy. He didn't say this, however, because Peregrine was obviously not here to bring back mommy, so it was pointless to ask that of him (even though Eljay felt that the pack as a whole could do a little more looking-for-mommy and less going-on-with-their-lives).

"We're not okay," Eljay said, an angry frown on his face as he looked up at daddy — an accusatory look on his face, as though his father had lied about something terrible. "Hunting was stupid. I didn't catch anything." Today had been pretty good so far, but Eljay felt resentful towards daddy and uncle Peregrine for pretending to move on with their lives (too young to understand that he was moving on himself by going hunting and other places with daddy). The hunting was mostly just scary, but being away from daddy was scary too. Eljay hadn't done very well, clumsy and too loud to catch anything more than a spider, and while he hadn't taken it too harshly at the time, in hindsight it seemed pointless; particularly now that the boy had been reminded of the missing mommy-shaped hole in his heart.

The Elwoods contradicted one another. Peregrine knew the father was trying to put on a brave face for his son (and him), yet he took the youngster's response as more truthful. He smiled softly at Elwood Jr's uncensored opinion on the matter, holding back a chuckle at his sulky declaration. He had been such a quiet, easygoing pup before Finley's absence. Again, the Alpha couldn't and didn't blame him for acting out to some extent.

"I'm a Master Gamekeeper, which means I'm the best hunter in the whole wide world," the swarthy wolf replied with a playfully pompous grin, "and I still only catch maybe one out of every five critters I go after. So don't beat yourself up too much." He winked his sightless eye, which was sort of a peculiar experience.

He paused and took a steadying breath before deciding to bite the bullet. "I was thinking about doing another sweep for Finley. Wildfire's down for the count, so I was thinking of going myself and possibly taking one or two wolves with me." He met Elwood's eyes, trying to convey the subtext to his Beta without having to say it out loud, lest he upset Elwood Jr. This is our last ditch effort.

If he went out there and couldn't find her, nor any trace of her, he would return to the caldera and treat her absence as official and permanent. They would be down one of their loyalest members, not to mention their Beta. But they had officially arrived at the point where they would have to move on with their lives, because lingering in purgatory forever was no way to live.

Normally, Elwood might have found Eljay's ornery response humorous, and would have had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Given the situation, however, he grit his teeth with frustration. It seemed like he couldn't do anything to improve his son's mood; not that he could blame him. But after day in and day out of being the sole parent to handle Eljay's behaviors, his patience was running low.

He sighed, then forced a grin onto his face as Peregrine spoke briefly on being a master gamekeeper. "It just takes practice, like I said, buddy," he added with a glance at Eljay, though he didn't make any further attempts to placate the boy. He probably would dislike hunting and other such activities until Finley returned -- if that happened. Elwood felt less and less certain as the hours slipped away.

Peregrine then addressed the real reason for his visit, which was, of course, related to Finley. Elwood nodded, his smile fading slightly. He was glad to hear that the Alpha himself was willing to go look for their missing packmate, but he could hear the implication behind his words. Wildfire had already been injured while searching for Finley, and there was only so much time and energy the pack could expend on this particular task. If it weren't for Eljay, Elwood probably would have taken to the wilds himself -- and refused to come back until he found her. But that just wasn't an option for the single father.

"Thank you," he said, yellow eyes meeting Peregrine's green briefly to express his true gratitude. "Who do you think you'll take?" he asked, feeling guilty that he couldn't go along.

"Whatever," Eljay muttered with a roll of his eyes. He didn't want to be unhappy, but it was just like these adults didn't get him at all, and they didn't try to either. Uncle P tried to make him feel better, but it didn't really help at all. "I bet mommy could teach me right." Eljay wasn't actually unhappy with daddy — heck, mommy getting lost only made him more attached to daddy and he wanted to be around him forever all the time — but everything reminded him of his missing mom. He just wanted her back.

Ears perked up with interest when Uncle P mentioned looking for Finley. Daddy asked who he'd take, and Eljay was quick to say: "Daddy and me can come." He was tired of letting all these wolves who couldn't even find mommy (or didn't look hard enough) look for her. They could do it themselves.

He hadn't actually thought that far ahead yet and he opened his mouth to let Elwood know that when his mini-me spoke. Peregrine's mouth opened wider, then clapped shut. Elwood Jr was young but not too young to venture outside the pack's boundaries with an adult escort or two. Perhaps it would help him cope if he was actually part of the search-and-rescue effort. The Alpha opened his mouth again to reply, though before he said anything, he glanced at the Beta male, silently inviting him to address his son's suggestion first.

Elwood chose to ignore Eljay's further comments regarding hunting. He had long since learned that most of what the boy said these days was driven by emotion that he didn't know how to handle, and that he wasn't truly trying to be offensive. It wasn't worth an argument; Elwood had quickly established the importance of picking his battles in Finley's absence.

But Eljay piped up again a moment later, requesting that he and Elwood accompany Peregrine on his search. Elwood's brows raised with surprise, although he shouldn't have been at all shocked. All Eljay had wanted to do all along was find Finley and bring her back, so of course this option made sense in the youth's eyes. But Elwood had to weigh the risks of such an undertaking. He had already lost Finley, potentially forever -- did he really want to take the chance that something could happen to Eljay, as well? Even with he and Peregrine as able-bodied chaperones, Eljay could still become injured, get lost, or even worse.

He glanced at Peregrine, hoping for some sort of indication one way or the other, but the Alpha kept his countenance carefully measured. Elwood could tell that a negative response would just send Eljay into another tailspin, so he made a suggestion of his own. "It can be really dangerous out there, but what if we go now, just past the borders, and see what we can find?" he offered. It likely wouldn't be all that effective and if Peregrine really wanted to look, he would have to go another time without Eljay's knowledge -- but maybe being included in the search would be another way to help Eljay cope in the long term.

Eljay hadn't expected any of the adults to agree with him, but to his surprise they did. At least daddy said they could go and look for mommy. All of the 'maybe's and objections were forgotten. It didn't matter how far or not far they'd go. He would stay close to daddy and everything would be okay, and they'd bring mommy home. "Okay!" Eljay was quick to accept, and he waited for the adults to lead the way to the search, as he had no idea where to go or how to look.

Elwood appeared to chew on the idea a moment before proposing they venture just beyond the borders to look for Finley. Of course, they wouldn't find her there. He knew it. Elwood knew it. But it couldn't hurt to comb it over anyway, Peregrine supposed. And Elwood Jr didn't seem bothered that they wouldn't be going far at all. The Alpha could see that the whole thing enthused and heartened the boy. It was worth the effort for that alone.

"You know about tracking prey, right?" Peregrine said. The pup and his father had been hunting just previously, so it was more or less a rhetorical question. "The same skills apply here. Use your eyes, ears and nose to search for any signs of your mother. Just don't eat her if you find her," he added lightly, winking his good eye. The Alpha wolf then exchanged a glance with Elwood Sr over Elwood Jr's back, then started to move.

After they spent a few hours searching (fruitlessly), he would gather up a genuine search party, making one last sweeping effort before calling off the rescue effort and asking the pack to accept Finley's fate.

The boy brightened up immediately, and Elwood felt a mixture of relief and guilt. He and Peregrine both knew that there was almost no chance that the three of them would come across Finley, but it would at least lift Eljay's spirits for a little while. He was already kind of dreading the inevitable crash when there was no Finley to be found; he would just have to deal with that fallout later.

"Let's go," he said once Peregrine had taken a moment to explain the skills Eljay would be using. He then fell into step with the Alpha, motioning for Eljay to walk between them.

Eljay was glad that Uncle P and daddy agreed to go look for mommy. It was for the first time in a good while that positive energy filled Eljay. They might even find mommy if they looked hard enough! He listened attentively to Uncle P as he was given instructions of what to do to find her, and the pup nudged daddy's leg hard when he was ready to go after instructions, to indicate he was ready to go.

They searched for a good while, staying mostly close to the Caldera but going all the way to its borders, but unfortunately found nothing. When Eljay eventually was forced to give up and dragged home by daddy — though he didn't want to go home at all, for he wanted to look for mommy more — he was in an even worse mood than after the hunt, and sobbed and wailed for hours and hours before tear-stained eyes eventually closed and he drifted off into a fitful sleep.