She did not intend to drop by the caldera again for a few more days, yet when Wildfire's hunting endeavors led her into Bramblepoint and resulted in landing a fat groundhog, she spotted the opportunity and decided to take it. By the time she drew up at the borders of her former home, there was a crick in her neck from dragging the heavy carcass all this way. She dropped it with a grunt, then rolled her head and shoulders to work out some of the kinks. Once she felt a little less stiff, Wildfire tossed back her head—her neck cracked audibly—and howled for someone, anyone, to come fetch her gifts.
She was also keen for some pack news, of course, hopefully the good variety. While she waited to see who might show up this time, the young ambassador slipped onto her haunches and stared absently at the caldera, amber eyes only sharpening to a focus when she spotted movement.
Making some assumptions here! If anything's incorrect, just poke me. :)
As far as Elwood knew, Peregrine and Fox had patched things up. Luckily, the Alpha male had regained his sense of smell and Fox's faith in him had been restored. He knew there was likely much more to the story, but the intimate details hadn't been shared with the Beta pair. Elwood, a creature of habit, was simply relieved that daily life at the caldera had returned to normal. Raven and Pan were still missing, but they had recently gained some new members, and Fox would deliver the newest batch of firebirds in just a couple of weeks.
When he heard Wildfire's voice wavering near the borders, Elwood loped down the mountainside to meet her. She was a bright spot against the pale winter landscape, and his gaze was drawn to the large carcass at her side. He slowed his pace as he coasted across the snow-covered foothills, giving her a welcoming smile as he drew to a halt.
"Wifi! Long time no see! How are you?" he asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder with his nose.
She immediately recognized her uncle. Wildfire remained seated until he approached, then stood, black tail sweeping swiftly to and fro as she bumped her smudged snout beneath her godfather's chin. "Uncle El! It's so good to see you," she said genuinely. After a moment, she slipped back to give him a subtle once-over; he looked happy and healthy, which she took as a very good sign.
"How're Finley and Eljay?" she asked. As her aunt's name tumbled off her tongue, it rung strangely in her ears. She had always been Aunt Flea but now that Wildfire was grown up and living her own life, it felt too puerile or something. Shrugging it off, she added, "And mom and dad?" Surely Elwood knew they were the primary reason for her visit.
As Elwood's snout brushed the fur along Wildfire's sharp shoulderblade, his nostrils were filled with the smell of other wolves. It was still strange to think of his goddaughter belonging to another pack; but all of the evidence was there, woven into her reddish coat. He wanted to ask about her new family, the wolves of Moonspear, but as they each stepped back and quietly appraised each other, he decided to wait. She had obviously traveled here for a reason which needed to be addressed first.
But before getting down to business, Wildfire asked about Finley and Eljay. Elwood smiled, giving a nod of his head. "They're good. I can't believe Eljay's getting close to the adult ranks; it'll be just a couple more months," he said. The older he got, the faster time seemed to move; hadn't it been just yesterday that Wildfire was nothing more than a little pipsqueak herself? "Finley's planning to take Eljay outriding soon," he added, knowing that bit of information would pique the young scout's interest. When she shifted the conversation to inquire about her parents, Elwood obliged her promptly with an answer.
"Your mom and dad are doing better, I think. Your dad's got his sense of smell back. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but he decided not to give up his Alpha position after all," he said, relaying the general details to the Alphas' daughter.
Her amber eyes widened slightly when Elwood mentioned his son joining the adult ranks and possibly even getting involved in some scouting. Really?! her expression seemed to say to both. Time had flown! Somehow, she couldn't picture Eljay willingly leaving the caldera, even with his mother, but as soon as they covered some other, more pressing topics, Wildfire would be sure to urge Elwood to get them to come pay her a visit at Moonspear.
Something in her chest loosened when the Beta offered up the good news, a knot she hadn't even realized had been tied there. "Oh," she veritably sighed when Elwood informed her of her father's restored sense of smell. "Thank goodness." She didn't understand how he had gotten it back any more than she understood where it had gone in the first place, nor did Wildfire feel like questioning it. "That's great news. Exactly what I needed to hear," she said as tension continued leaking from her muscles.
Feeling significantly brighter now, her smile grew and she revisited their earlier topic of discussion. "So, Eljay? Outriding?" She chuckled a little, still feeling a bit of disbelief, although delight was clearly etched into her reddish features too.
Wildfire's relief was palpable, and Elwood could understand why. He had felt the weight of the uncertainty of the situation as the pack's Beta, but it must have been worse in a different way for Wildfire. She was away from home and unable to really do anything to assist, which surely would make her feel helpless. It was clear that Elwood had put her mind at ease, though, because she quickly returned to the topic of Eljay and outriding with a quizzical grin.
He chuckled and nodded his agreement. It wasn't what he had expected when Finley approached him with a plan, and at first he had been a little wary. But the idea had grown on him, and he now thought that maybe it would be good for Eljay to experience the world a little bit. "I know, right? It was Fin's suggestion and she hasn't talked to him about it yet, I don't think, so who knows how he will react," he said fondly. He raised his brows. "Who knows, he might surprise us all and be the next Wildfire!" he teased.
It seemed his parents hadn't floated the idea past Eljay yet. Wildfire's lips twitched as she imagined how her little cousin would react to Finley's idea. Initially, she pictured him vehemently declining the invitation; he was just such a homebody. But perhaps if the suggestion came from his beloved mother, he would go along with it...? Either way, she wished she could be a fly on the wall during that particular conversation.
"You'll have to let me know how that pans out," she quipped. "I mean," Wildfire continued in the next breath, recalling her earlier thought, "maybe they can come visit Moonspear? Maybe he'll be more open to it if involves visiting family?" Although she was only assuming some coaxing needed to be involved. Perhaps he would embrace the idea of travel and didn't need the extra encouragement. Wildfire stood by her idea, though, if only because she would love to entertain a visit from them.
Since her godfather had shared a bit of news about himself—well, his family—she decided she should tell him a little about her goings-on. "So, I've switched up my trades a bit since leaving the caldera. I'm a hunter now." Her amber gaze dropped to the groundhog carcass, then back in the direction of his face. She couldn't quite bite back a proud grin. "Still scouting too, of course, though I gave up my warrior status. Just wasn't cut out for it in the long run. And I put the naturalism on the back burner too," she revealed.
Elwood nodded his head at Wildfire's suggestion. He knew, even without talking to Eljay himself, that the boy would not be eager to take his mother's suggestion. A huge portion of his development had been influenced by Finley's time spent away from the caldera and her subsequent injuries. Eljay, like his father, had no desire to take those risks.
But perhaps if he knew that Wildfire was waiting for them at their destination, he would be more willing to give it a chance. Although Elwood didn't necessarily want his son to become a scout who roved far and wide, he at least wanted him to overcome his fear of the outside world. "You know, I think I'll suggest that to Fin. I know she and Eljay would both like to see you," he said, making a mental note to discuss the topic with Finley.
Wildfire then began discussing her trades. He wasn't necessarily surprised to learn that she had given up her duties as warrior or her interest in naturalism; it wasn't because she lacked talent in those areas, but because she was young and still establishing herself in the world. It was natural for there to be some change in her life. "Good for you," he praised with a bob of his head. As a gamekeeper himself, Elwood was glad to hear that she had pursued the job. "How is life at Moonspear, anyway? Tell me more about your new family," he said amicably. No one would replace her parents and siblings, but she was obviously happy with her packmates on the peak.
Uncle Elwood commended her on finding her niche—well, niches—and then inquired about her new family. She immediately thought of Floki, of course. Wildfire felt a rush of warmth sweep through her chest, along her neck and up onto her cheeks. It was a happy sensation, with just the slightest twinge of shyness. Briefly, she wondered if her godfather would simply be happy for her, or if a more protective side might come out of him.
"They're all pretty great," she began, aware of how vague that sounded. "There's sort of a core family there, the Lodbroks." Wildfire didn't actually know if they all shared that surname, though that didn't stop them from being a tightly-knit (if a bit dramatic) family, not unlike the Redhawks. "I'm fitting in well with them." In fact, something occurred to her for the very first time and without even thinking, she thought out loud, "I might become one, one day."
Realizing there was no way Elwood was following her, she coughed and fought a smile as she said, "I'm sort of involved with one of them. His name's Floki. He's actually one of the main reasons I moved there." There were others, of course, and Wildfire liked to think she would be part of Moonspear, Floki or no Floki. But he had definitely been part of the draw during her decision-making process, and they were definitely entangled now.
Elwood listened attentively as Wildfire began to describe the wolves of Moonspear, namely the Lodbrok family that made up its core. Even her brief explanation reminded him of the Redhawks; no matter who came and went among their ranks, Fox and Peregrine and their children were the glue that held the pack together. Although they didn't share the Redhawk surname -- and he knew that they could take it up at any point -- Elwood liked to think that he and Finley were an extension of the wolves at the heart of the caldera.
But his brows raised when Wildfire's tone changed slightly and she indicated that she was, perhaps, romantically involved with one of these Lodbroks. As her uncle and godfather, Elwood's first thought was -- how is she old enough to have a boyfriend? Wasn't it just yesterday that she was a colicky infant? He gave a slow shake of his head with a fond smile.
"What's he like?" he asked, genuinely curious to learn more about the boy that had captured Wildfire's interest.
He seemed a little taken aback by the news, though a fond smile soon carved across his sterling silver features. Wildfire didn't know what the gentle shake of his head meant, though she returned his little grin with one of her own as she pondered how to even begin describing Floki and her relationship with him.
"He's handsome and charming and he likes all the same things as me," she began, maybe a bit breathlessly. "He's really, really sweet and—oh!—he's the Beta of the pack. But he's still really humble," especially in contrast to his brother, Charon. "We're together, though not... officially, I guess? We're not mates. We're not rushing into anything, although we definitely want the same things out of life. So that's good. Right?"
He was her godfather and his opinion and approval meant something to her, Wildfire realized. She peeked at him from beneath slightly fluttering lashes, wondering what Elwood would make of this boyfriend-of-sorts of hers now that he knew a bit about him. Even as that thought crossed her mind, she abruptly recollected aloud, "Dad's met him. I'm pretty sure he likes him."
Her excitement was contagious as she described her beau. Elwood found himself thinking back to the early days of his courtship with Finley. He was well-acquainted with the feeling that Wildfire was experiencing, and he was genuinely happy that she had found someone to share her young life with. He was especially glad that he seemed to be a nice guy with a good head on his shoulders.
"He sounds great," he agreed with a nod of his head. "Your Aunt Finley and I took it slow, too," he shared -- it had been painstaking at the time, and he certainly hoped that Wildfire and Floki wouldn't go through the level of drama that he and Finley had, but in the end it had all worked out. Despite various bumps in the road since then, he loved her just as much as he had the first day they met.
His brows raised when Wildfire mentioned that Peregrine had already met Floki. "I'll have to ask your dad what he thinks," he teased, although it already sounded as though the young Beta had passed Peregrine's test.
Her uncle only had good things to say, of course, but he rounded it out with a joke about Peregrine. Her father's (and her godfather's, for that matter) approval didn't matter on a purely practical level, yet it meant something to her that he had seemingly given Floki a pass. She felt a little flicker in her gut as she wondered if, perhaps one day, her younger siblings might get to have a play date with her own children. How strange would that be? But not entirely implausible, either.
She had delivered her gift and received the good news she'd hoped for in exchange, so now... "I should probably head back. But it was good seeing you and catching up, Uncle El. Please tell everyone I said 'hello.' And make sure only mom gets this," Wildfire finished lightheartedly, sweeping a paw over the large groundhog carcass. They were no longer part of the same pack, yet they would always be family, and it heartened her, knowing she had contributed to the pups' livelihood in this small way.
"Take care!" were her last, emphatic words before she nibbled at her godfather's chin and turned to begin trekking back toward Bramblepoint. She hoped she came across another small animal to kill on her way back. Technically, she had just cost her pack a groundhog's worth of meat, though she didn't regret it; the chance to act as an emissary and strengthen the intra-pack bonds was worth the price.
"It was good to see you, too, Wifi. I'll deliver this to her personally," Elwood said, promising to take the groundhog directly to the pregnant Alpha female. The visit had been short but sweet, and he was glad to have seen with his own eyes how well his goddaughter was doing. Peregrine and Fox would be happy to hear it, as well.
He inclined his chin slightly as she delivered a swift nip to his jaw, then watched as she turned and loped away. Once she was out of sight, he gathered the hefty carcass in his mouth and set his paws towards Fox's whelping den, knowing that he would find her there or at least close by.