Wolf RPG

Wildfire made good on her word pretty much right away, well aware that her mother and the rest of Redhawk Caldera could use the support right now. She woke at the butt crack of dawn, spent the wee hours of the morning hunting, and then made her way toward her birthplace for the first time since leaving it in October. Despite her small size and the relative brevity of her experience as a small game hunter, she did not come empty-handed; two fat hares dangled from her jaws as she arrived at the borders.

Naturally, she respected the invisible fence. Tucking her catches against her feet, Wildfire stood a moment, breath catching in her throat a little bit as she laid eyes on the caldera, up close and personal, for the first time in months. She then inhaled and let out a low howl, calling for her father, her mother, her brother, her godparents... anyone that wanted to come see her, accept her gifts and maybe exchange some words of comfort.

She was greeted by a total stranger instead.

An older woman wended her way into the open, moving with the calm and poise that only a woman of a certain age could manage without falling into 'strut' territory. A pair of sharp, silvered eyes studied the visiting youngster - the fresh catch at her feet, the tension in her brow. Though she toed the line, the howl had not been a stranger's call - and no doubt there were more suitable wolves in the Caldera to answer it. Until they arrived, however, Shar-Kali would keep her company.

"You look a little perturbed," the ghost-white woman said. Her voice was gravelly but kind, and brought forth the image of someone who was in the habit of peering over their glasses.

It didn't bother Wildfire when it was a stranger that appeared to receive her. Her family members were understandably preoccupied. It did make her feel a little peculiar, realizing there might be several wolves she wouldn't recognize living here now. She pushed that thought aside as she bowed her head, ears splaying deferentially as the unfamiliar she-wolf came closer. She was older than Wildfire's parents, by the look of it, with stoic but not unfriendly mannerisms.

"Just thinking of my mother," the young adult replied without going into detail. She didn't think Fox would have aired her personal business all over the place. "I'm Fox's daughter. One of them, anyway. I brought these for her. Have you seen her this morning, by any chance? Oh, and my name is Wildfire. You can call me Wifi." She felt a little rambly and scatterbrained. She chalked it up to the duress of the situation.

The visitor turned out to be a young lady of unimpeachable manners. She was the Alpha's daughter (obvious now that she had said it), and could easily have thrown her weight around - instead, she treated Shar-Kali with all the respect and deference due from a visiting wolf. "Shar-Kali," the older wolf returned, and found that she was smiling. "I have not. She hasn't been well these past days - pregnant, as I'm sure you know." Or did she? Wildfire no longer belonged to Redhawk Caldera, though she seemed to live close by - something Shar-Kali found most peculiar. "You can come in, of course, and look for your mother. I must say she has raised a lovely young lady."

If the woman—Shar-Kali, as she introduced herself—noticed that she was being a bit dippy, she didn't mention it. In fact, she acknowledged Wildfire's good manners, right after inviting her into the territory. The young ginger blinked and shook her head. Much as her mother loved her and even needed her right now, Wildfire knew she wasn't welcome beyond this invisible boundary line.

"I trust you to take these to her," she said lightly to Shar-Kali. "Has she been sick?" she asked because, of course, she knew about Fox's mental and emotional issues but they hadn't had a chance to touch on any physical ailments.

Wildfire did her best to breeze past the issue, but Shar-Kali was not convinced. Something was afoot in the Redhawk family, and it wasn't as simple as a daughter severing ties and striking out on her own. She was here, wasn't she? Bearing gifts, no less. "I fear.." the elder began, pretending that the whole thing was very vexing indeed. "..that your mother would not be best pleased to find that I had denied her an audience with her daughter. Stay - please. Let me find her." Shar-Kali offered an apologetic smile - a flawless replica of the real thing.

Shar-Kali didn't answer her directly, instead insisting that Wildfire stay here while she went to search for Fox. The young she-wolf shook her head. "Thanks, Shar-Kali, but that's really not necessary. I just saw her yesterday," she explained. "She's probably just busy and that's okay," she continued. She had howled, after all, and if the Alpha female hadn't come—which she hadn't—then Wildfire knew there must a very good reason for it.

She paused for a few beats, then said, "Honestly, I hope she's resting. That's what she should be doing right now. And if that's the case, then I want to bother her even less." There was also the possibility that she was hashing things out with Peregrine even as they spoke, which would explain why neither parent had shown up here. Whatever the case, Wildfire knew better than to take it personally. She knew things were trying right now; that was the whole reason she was here in the first place.

"I just saw her yesterday," Wildfire insisted, and Shar-Kali could not think of another angle that wouldn't just be pestering. She nodded her assent and stepped forward, stretching to take the gift. She arranged the sizeable hares in a pile at her side, and asked without re-establishing eye contact, "I've seen your brother. Will he follow you out of the pack, do you think?" Was such a thing custom? Shar-Kali could no longer imagine that Fox had booted her daughter from the pack; they still spoke, and Wildfire was clearly not an obstinate little shit.

Still - had it been Shar-Kali's family, sons and daughters that thought they could do better would not be welcomed back.

The mention of Nightjar took her by surprise, though not in a bad way. He hadn't showed up either, which was surprising not because she expected him to welcome his sister at the borders but because of the opposite, actually; he had always taken his guardianship of the caldera very seriously. Not that she needed the reminder—clearly—but why wasn't he here, reminding her that her blood ties didn't mean she could go tromping freely around her old stomping ground?

Then she remembered that Shar-Kali had asked a question. "Oh." She shook her head slightly, apologetically. "No. No way. I can't see Nightjar ever leaving the caldera." A frown drooped on her lips. "Although I never thought Raven or Pan would leave either," she murmured, probably too quietly for the older woman to hear.

Louder, she said, "I'll let you take these to my mother." Wildfire pointed at the carefully collected rabbits, then made a motion to leave. "Tell her I'll be back with more where that came from, in a week or two." She figured that was a good time span. Maybe everything would settle down by then. And even if she had to continue making bi-weekly visits, it wouldn't take too much time away from her pack duties—especially because they did include inter-pack diplomacy, as an aspiring pack ambassador.

Raven and Pan. Sisters, presumably. Shar-Kali would never, ever have guessed that Pan was in fact a gender-confused, biologically male ex-lover of Peregrine - facts that would disgust her, and almost certainly ensure her departure from Redhawk Caldera. It might actually end the old woman to know that Fox was of similar ilk, and that she was in fact serving under two heathens.

"Alright. Safe travels," Shar-Kali replied rather more succinctly, still eyeing Wildfire with the sharp, inquisitive stare that was her trademark.

"Thank you, Shar-Kali," Wildfire said, not meeting that stare out of respect, although she felt its weight on her back as she began to turn. She sucked in a deep breath, suddenly wishing she had seen one of her family members, but she knew the rabbits were in good hands and that they would be delivered to the ailing Alpha female. Keeping this thought in mind, she hastened back toward Moonspear, already looking forward to the long nap she would take when she got there.