Several things had kept Fox from interacting with the pack as of late. There had been the departure of Wildfire. There had been the chance of pregnancy (which had, thankfully, not taken). There had been the lingering sinus infection that had kept her down for at least two weeks.
Now, though, Fox was finally feeling herself again. She had awoken this morning feeling better than she had in at least two turns of the moon. Her grey eyes were more alive than they'd been in months. Her ears were pricked forward and listening to the world around her. Peregrine had left the rendezvous site already, presumably to go off hunting or guarding or whatever it was he did these days. Fox felt out of the loop, but she wanted to jump right back in now that she was back on her feet.
First stop: the top of her home, the lake that gave this place its name. Once there, she gazed out over the water for a moment before taking a long cool drink of the water.
When Elwood spotted the bright red figure at the top of the caldera, he at first mistook her for Wildfire. But he quickly remembered that Wildfire was no longer a Redhawk, and realized that it was likely Fox that he was gazing at. It had been some time since he had interacted personally with the petite Alpha female, so he set his paws in motion and began to climb the slopes. It was much easier than it had been a week ago when he was so congested; now he could breathe freely.
When he reached the peak, he moved around the perimeter of the lake, his tail swinging. It was almost like the altitude lifted his spirits; so high above the ground, it was easy to forget about his problems with Finley. "Hey, Fox!" he greeted as he came to a halt, leaning down to take a swig of water as well.
Fox had, admittedly, neglected her friends and family of Redhawk Caldera. (Fox expected to neglect those outside of the caldera.) So when Elwood rolled up and greeted her, she was happy that he hadn't completely dismissed her. Granted, she did have reasons for not being there for him, Finley, and the rest, but that didn't feel like it made things any better. Redhawk Caldera was the most important thing in the world to her, and letting it fall to the side of her priorities was never what she had intended.
"Elwood!" she greeted, tail wagging and ears flattening for a moment in sheer happiness to see him. "How’s it going, bud?" She was allowed to call him "bud," right? Sure, sure she was. He would probably agree that it was better than "Twig."
Elwood slurped down some water, then lifted his head, licking excess droplets from his whiskers. He grinned and bumped his shoulder amiably against Fox's, though he was careful to do so gently -- he had almost forgotten just how small she was. A hard enough shove would send her toppling down the side of the mountain, and that certainly wasn't something he wanted to do.
She asked him how he was faring, and he opened his mouth to respond, though he hesitated for a split second. In reality, he was struggling -- avoiding time alone with Finley because it was inevitably awkward, while simultaneously trying to foster some independence in Eljay by leaving the boy to his own devices. But that conversation seemed much too heavy, so he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind for the time being.
"Not bad. Finally feeling better after all that sinus crud," he said, wrinkling his nose. "Did you catch it?" he asked, wondering if that was partially why Fox had been so elusive as of late.
If Elwood gave any hint that things weren't hunky dory, Fox didn't pick up on them. In fact, she assumed exactly that: that things were going swimmingly with the Blackthorn clan (however small it may be). In fact, he seemed to focus solely on the sickness that had been going around. That was an easy-enough subject, and one that Fox could definitely relate to. She'd been more or less bedridden ever since she and Peregrine had contracted whatever terrible cold had swept over Redhawk Caldera.
"Ugh, yeah," Fox replied. "Finally feeling better, though. Did Finley catch it, too?" Again, Fox assumed as much. They were in close quarters as far as she knew, and there was no reason to think that Finley wouldn't have caught it unless she was extremely careful around the ill lot of wolves.
Elwood gave Fox a sympathetic smile. Although the sinus infection certainly hadn't been the worst thing that could have hit Redhawk Caldera, it had still been debilitating enough to adversely affect many of its members. Some wolves might have chosen to get lots of rest, while others -- like Elwood -- had pushed on, even going so far as to snot all over visitors (poor Lex).
"Yeah, I think she was a little under the weather," he replied vaguely. His comment could have applied to Finley's immune system or to her general state since returning; she had been quiet and withdrawn and showed no signs of improvement anytime soon. Swiftly changing the subject, he said, "So I heard there's a possibility of new firebirds on the horizon...?" Peregrine had mentioned it to him more than a month ago, and he was curious as to when the newest batch of Redhawks would be arriving.
I got my desk set up in my bedroom and it's so good.
"Not in the immediate future," Fox replied. And thank goodness for that.
"Peregrine was upset that it didn't take, but... it wouldn't have been good for them if they'd been born in the middle of winter." Fox was relieved on multiple levels. The last thing they needed was a needy group of pups to suck her attention away from the pack. She felt as though she barely knew a large portion of their members, something that definitely needed fixing.
"Come springtime, though, if nature permits." Unfortunately, Fox's body kinda did what it wanted to in that department. The pre-winter heat had been strange, to say the least, and she could not really explain it. Hopefully, it would come back when the time was right. And if not, well... there wasn't a whole lot they could do about it except wait for the next chance. Even then, she'd be more careful if she went into season so close to winter.
"I'm assuming you and Finley will be having another round?" she half-asked, half-stated. Elwood Junior would surely like that, right? Poor kid had to have a lonely time growing up with no siblings.
Nice! *thumbs up*
Elwood nodded. He had suspected that she wasn't actually pregnant; there would have been much more commotion had that been the case. And he had to agree with her logic -- bringing a new litter into the world in the middle of winter posed its own set of risks, and he knew that the Alpha pair would want to ensure that the next generation had the best chance of survival.
Fox mentioned spring, but it was her next comment that surprised Elwood into silence.
"I'm assuming you and Finley will be having another round?" she asked, and he blinked. It obviously wasn't something they had discussed recently, after Finley's disappearance and subsequent injury, and he found that when he was presented with the topic he wasn't sure
what he wanted.
"You know...we haven't talked about it," he replied evasively, turning his gaze out over the landscape below.
"But I'm sure we'll do a better job planning this time," he quipped, attempting to gloss over the subject with a joke -- though there was truth to his words. There certainly would not be another accidental pregnancy in the Blackthorns' future.
Fox smiled. She would be happy to allow Elwood and Finley another litter this year, provided they didn't interfere with the second round of Firebirds. That was, of course, always a stipulation. The children that she and Peregrine had would always come first, no matter how close they were with the beta pair. On some level, Fox wondered if that would be the downfall of their friendship, but she would not have it any other way. She was fiercely protective of her family, and not even her best friend(s) would be able to change that.
"As you should," was her only reply to his comment. "I have a feeling our next litter will be either easier than the first one or much much more rowdy." Either way, the Redhawk clan would make do. It wasn't as if the first litter had been a cakewalk. One of them had not pulled through, and Wildfire had screamed her stupid head off for a majority of her infancy. At least Raven and Nightjar had provided some sense of peace and calm.
"I was thinking of heading out to do a loop around the territory. You wanna tag along?"
Now that Fox had planted the idea in his head, it would be something that hovered in the back of Elwood's mind. Would he and Finley want to have another litter? On one hand, the Alpha female was right -- it would be nice to give Eljay younger siblings. But at the same time, things between Elwood and Finley had been so rocky that he wasn't even sure if they would still be together come spring. That was a thought that frightened him and chilled him to the core, so he shook his head gently and refocused on what Fox was saying.
"My vote is that they'll be rowdy," he said teasingly with a twitch of his tail. Wildfire had been colicky the first few months of her life, but other than that, the Alphas had gotten off easy with the collective personalities of their first brood. Nightjar was quiet and stoic, while Raven was shy yet dedicated. They had quite a well-rounded bunch.
The petite Redhawk then suggested a patrol, and her second-in-command agreed readily. "Sounds good," he said, even as he turned to begin descending the slope alongside Fox.
Fox swiped a jesting paw at him, but she did not make contact with her trusty beta. "And I hope yours will be rowdier," she added for good measure. That was, of course, assuming that Elwood and Finley would have another litter this coming season. Fox expected nothing less, oblivious to their relationship problems.
Elwood seemed open (if not somewhat-enthusiastic) about the idea of patrol, to which Fox grinned. Fox had always been closer to Finley than she had been to Elwood, but that didn't make him any less of a friend, and spending time with him would be a good way to get back in the groove. Perhaps she would chase down Finley afterward and throw questions at her.