Wolf RPG

Wildfire had spent a few nights at Peach Tree Landing, having decided it was no longer appropriate to share a sleeping space with @Floki, even if they were (best) friends. When she woke on this particular morning, she stretched until her legs felt limber, then began to descend the mountainside. Instead of mingling with her pack mates, the scout headed directly toward the borders. She had decided it would be good to get away from Moonspear, at least for a few days, although she didn't intend to go far. Actually, she had decided it was the perfect time to drop by the caldera to check on her parents and their new pups.

The trip took much of the morning and she arrived in the middle of the afternoon, amber eyes lifting to the familiar smokestack of a mountain. Wildfire's lips twitched when she recollected her last visit here. Hopefully Elwood had kept his promise and not mentioned it to anyone. Trying not to worry about it, she gathered a deep breath into her lungs, then threw back her head and howled a friendly greeting to her Redhawk family.

Most of the time when he plodded around the caldera's borders, he thought of his mate and pups. Currently, his thoughts lingered with Lasher and their spontaneous tryst. He enjoyed replaying it in his head, rewinding and fast forwarding. When a howl rose into the air, he felt a bolt of anger at the interruption of his daydreams. Then he recognized the voice and his emotions did a one-eighty. Peregrine had to stand there a moment and will himself into a more appropriate state of mind.

When he came upon her a little while later, Peregrine smiled broadly at his fieriest child. "Wifi!" he called out to her, tail high and wagging. He hadn't seen her since before her departure, though he had heard bits and pieces of her life from various sources. "I see you've realized the error of your ways and returned home!" he bellowed as he came to a stop before her, winking his good eye. Who could resist a terrible dad joke every now and then?

The sight of Peregrine was a welcome one. Wildfire dipped her head, black tail writhing on the ground at her rear as she waited for him to come closer. His casual, friendly greeting gave her a measure of relief. Elwood had kept his promise, then. As soon as he came within reach, Wildfire touched her muzzle to her father's chin and rumbled an affectionate growl.

His words had a funny effect on her, which she promptly ignored. "I came to ask about the pups! And mom! And you! How is everyone?" Her head tilted. Peregrine had gone through some rough stuff over the past few months, she knew, but everything appeared to be going well on the surface. She hoped her family's fortunes were even deeper than that.

When Wildfire brushed his chin with her smudged snout, Peregrine leaned into the gesture, then skimmed his nose along her brow. He then looked her over with a critical eye. She looked happy and healthy, more or less, although he noticed a few new scars which made him frown slightly. He wondered how she was doing over at Moonspear, how things were going with that boyfriend of hers.

But she beat him to the punch. "You have four brothers," he announced with pleasure. "We call them Ferret, Gannet, Whip-poor-will and Peter Pan. They're about four weeks old, give or take." Peregrine paused. Taking Wildfire to see them was an impossibility. He severely doubted she would pull a Junior, yet he would never take that risk, nor would Fox. "Mom and I are both doing well," he added.

"And you? How's life at Moonstick?" he quipped, unaware that he wasn't the first (nor probably the last) to make that joke.

She repeated each name in her head and badly wished she could meet them. Wildfire knew there was no way she was getting past the borders, though, and she would never ask. She would return when the puppies were old enough to come closer to the borderlands. She would just have to be patient in the meantime.

"Makes me happy to hear that," she said fondly. She stilled a little when Peregrine turned the question back on her, then forced a smile that just barely reached her amber eyes. "It's all right. Did mom tell you I'm a hunter now? And I've really kept the outrider badge polished too," she said, shying away from mentions of her personal life.

"Is Nightjar still here? I know Rave's gone," Wildfire said in the next moment. Every time she came to visit, she half-expected her brother to show up and shove her away. She sort of hated that she hadn't seen him since that day. She missed him. She had forgiven him and one day hoped to reconnect, if he was open to it.

She didn't even comment on his clever joke! Peregrine huffed. But the mention of her hunting skills distracted him effectively. "Your mom mentioned that," he replied with a grin. "I mean, you know I'm thrilled you ended up following in my footsteps. And I'm not surprised the scout thing stuck. I know you like to live a bit of that gypsy life," the father teased affectionately.

The Alpha bobbed his head. "He is. And Rave did disappear a while back." His lips twitched downward. "She made a cameo at a pack called Donnelaith. Are you familiar with it? I recently ran into an old friend who mentioned she had come and gone."

Her eyes widened, then narrowed, at the news about Raven. She did know about Donnelaith, including its ties to her family's ancient history. It surprised her when Peregrine mentioned meeting with a friend. "You have friends?" she asked in mock disbelief. "Outside of the pack, I mean?" she added with a touch more sincerity. She had thought there was a lot of bad blood there, though maybe time had bridged some of the gaps there.

"But, yes, I know of it. I'm on friendly terms with Dante, Lasher and—oh—your sister too." She smiled as she thought of the whimsical Osprey. "I only met her the once but she was pretty darn memorable. Wonder why Rave went there? And why she didn't come back?" she mused in the next breath.

The only reasonable response to Wildfire's question was to stick his tongue out at her, so he did. Wildfire made a valid point, though. Peregrine simply didn't have a life outside of the pack. And that didn't bother him one bit. Of course, he didn't live in a total bubble, so wolves like Lasher (and even Wildfire herself) would bump against the edges every so often.

"No idea, kiddo," Peregrine breathed in reply. "She went missing around the same time as Pan—you knew about that, right?—but I'm not sure where either one went." He was convinced Pan was gone, yet he didn't feel the same about Raven's fate. He figured she was just meandering somewhere, maybe finding a greener pasture. "Peter's named for him," he mentioned in a murmur.

"Would you like me to call your mom?" he queried in the next breath. "Or anybody else? Maybe your aunt and uncle? Eljay?"

Wildfire nodded silently when her father mentioned Papa Pan, her lips curling into a fond smile when he pointed out that they'd named Peter in his honor. That was a touching tribute, though she wished the sweet while male hadn't just vanished into the ether. Same with her sister. Why did some wolves just leave without a word, without a trace, some of them never to be heard from again?

Peregrine offered to call for Fox, her godparents or her cousin. "I'd love to see any or all of them. I'm guessing mom's sort of tied up, though? And the others would have heard me howl," Wildfire pointed out with a smile. "If they come, they come, and if they don't, they don't." She shrugged to show she understood that not everyone could drop everything to visit with her, Fox especially. "I'm sure you'll tell them I said hello and whatnot."

She pictured her mother curled around four tiny puppies, only she realized she had no idea what any of them looked like. "Tell me more about them," she requested. "What do they look like? I want to make sure my mental pictures are as accurate as possible."

Fox could have arranged someone to watch the pups for a few minutes if Wildfire wanted, though Peregrine supposed she had a valid enough point. Maybe one of the aforementioned wolves would drop by at some point before Wildfire took off again. In the meantime, the Alpha couldn't say he wasn't happy to have his wayward daughter all to himself.

"I mean... they look the same as they did when you left, more or less," he drawled, playing dumb. He then cracked a smile. Of course she wasn't talking about her older relatives. She wanted to know about the four pups. "Ferret is the oldest and biggest. He has sandy fur with black markings. He reminds me of a raccoon but he evidently resembles a weasel more. Gannet is white with black socks. Whip looks almost exactly like Nightjar. And Peter is smol. He favors his older brother a bit as well, aside from that."

She narrowed her amber eyes at his quipped response, her facial expression clearly saying, Oh, you. Fortunately, her father then obliged her, describing each of her little brothers in turn. Now her mental picture definitely took on more detail. Wildfire supposed it was more or less accurate, though she hoped Peter Pan wasn't as small as her brain made him out to be, otherwise he wasn't much larger than a standard hamster.

"Hey," she blurted when a thought occurred to her, "your daughters have left home but all five of your sons are still here." Wildfire forgot about Peregrine's other children, her adopted and half siblings. Junior pretty much didn't count and she had never met Ty or Pura. She did eventually think of Saena but her statement still stood. Obviously, she didn't live here either.

He quirked an eyebrow at Wildfire's random observation. Technically speaking, he had seven sons: Pura, "Derp," Nightjar and the latest four. He hadn't though of his eldest and adopted boy in a long time. Peregrine wondered if he was still with Saena, though he somehow doubted it. Pura had always been a bit... strange. He might not even be alive. That thought should have bothered him, yet Peregrine felt disconnected. Thinking about "Derp" didn't hurt, either, though he had never truly known him.

"Indeed," he replied, unsure what else to say about it. "Feel free to ditch that trend anytime, though." He winked his good eye. Peregrine had no reason to believe she would ever leave Moonspear, unless something drastic happened. He didn't want anything to disrupt her happy home life there. He sighed fondly as he added, "But I'm sure things are good enough to keep you there? How are things?" Had he seriously not asked that yet? No, wait, he had... but Wildfire had skated right over it.

It was heartening to have her father remind her, however indirectly, that she would always have a home here in case things didn't work out at Moonspear. Despite being friend-zoned by Floki, she didn't have any intentions of leaving. She swallowed when she realized she had never gotten to tell her family about her mate-ship. She and Floki probably held the record for the shortest marriage in the Teekon Wilds. Her heart squeezed.

"They're really okay," she fibbed. "I'm the pack's Gamma and, uh, I'm close with all the leaders." She shrugged and forced a smile onto her face. "I feel like I've made myself into a really valuable member." Her black tail switched as she thought of what else to say, considering her father was still gazing at her expectantly. "Ummm... Floki seems to think I'd make a good Beta. I'm flattered but I don't think I'm good leader material." Then it hit her that Floki probably didn't want that anymore, since they weren't a pair. That was probably a good thing, yet the realization made her mouth and stomach go sour.

The mention of leadership caused him to quirk a brow and smile. "Why not?" he wondered, trying to keep his voice light. He was proud that other wolves recognized his daughter's worth and potential, though he sensed she didn't want any more pressure on this topic. "Nothing wrong with that, though. I never entertained thoughts of leadership until I came here to the Teekon Wilds." Peregrine rolled a black shoulder.

"How's Floki anyway?" he wondered next, his single sighted eye resting on her pixie-like features.

"Because," she began patiently, "it's not really something I want for myself, for starters. And it doesn't really line up with my interests or trades." Wildfire nibbled at her lip, shrugged, then nodded at Peregrine's indirect reassurance. "And maybe that'll happen to me: I'll grow into it when I'm older. It's just not in the cards right now."

He wanted to know about Floki and she winced inwardly. "He's doing just fine. He's the Beta male, in case that wasn't clear. And he's even younger than me! But he's doing a really good job." And that was true enough. She even managed a genuine smile as she thought about his accomplishments, though it faded slightly when she heard his voice in her head, murmuring two words: best friends.

Wildfire paused, her tongue pressing against the back of her teeth, as she considered coming clean. Could she admit to the end of their relationship without letting her father know what had truly caused it? She didn't want to lie. But hadn't she lied already, by omitting the truth? She sucked in a quiet breath, almost deciding against mentioning it. She didn't want to bring her dad down, not when everything seemed so hunky dory with him.

But this was her dad, so Wildfire looked him straight in the face a moment, then dropped her eyes as she admitted, "He and I... we didn't work out. But I'll be okay," she made sure to add in a quiet voice.

The Alpha accepted her answer without further question, then tipped his muzzle downward and watched her like an old man peering over his glasses as she answered his question about Floki. He was already a Beta, which surprised Peregrine. He had seemed so young when they'd met. But he didn't get to linger long on this thought before Wildfire broke some significant news. His head tipped upward again, eyebrows lifting.

"Do I need to kick his ass?" he asked, his voice ominous and flat.

Her father's knee-jerk reaction surprised a quiet huff from her. "What? No. It's not... like that," she explained haltingly. Wildfire drew in a breath. "We've just decided we'd be better as friends," she told him, trying to sound casual and like it had been a mutual decision. "I'll be all right," she repeated, and she meant it. She could survive this, somehow.

"Anyway, I should probably be heading back that way soon." She looked around but saw no signs of other Redhawks come to greet her, so she figured they were busy. "Tell everyone I said hey, mom especially. Oh, and don't forget to tell the babies all about me. Mom promised."

He could tell Wildfire was trying to be strong but that this development hurt her. "Sorry it didn't work out, kiddo," he said, his voice softening. "You will be," Peregrine agreed simply, opting out of offering arbitrary platitudes. He did reach out to touch his nose to the side of her head, giving her temple a light kiss.

She declared it was time to leave and he tipped his head as if to ask, So soon? It probably only felt like they'd been here five minutes. He sighed but nodded, grinning at her. "'Course we will. We already do. We tell them thanks for not being as screechy as you were at that age!" he teased.

Wildfire was already turning to go, so he reached out again, resting his chin between her ears a moment. "You'll be just fine," he said to himself as much as to her as he hugged against her. "Take care. And don't be a stranger. Come back here in a month or two and we'll be able to bring them to see you." He pressed his snout against her head in a second kiss, then slowly drew back to his side of the borders to watch her leave.

She closed her eyes and leaned into both of Peregrine's kisses. Then something struck her like an electric shock. Wildfire didn't mind her father's proximity whatsoever. She hadn't even thought of shying away from it. It made sense, she supposed, though it still took her by surprise. How come Peregrine could touch her without consequence, while she couldn't seem to let Floki into her space much at all?

Wildfire shot her father a smile and echoed his, "Take care," and added an affectionate, "See you, dud." She slowly turned away to depart, her heart feeling heavier with every step she took away from the caldera. She couldn't seem to let go of the fact that Peregrine had been able to enter her space, touch and kiss her, when she wouldn't even give Floki that chance. Bitterly, she realized it was really no wonder he only wanted to be friends.