Night fell around the caldera and Peregrine slumped his way to the center of the rendezvous site. He stood there on three legs, looking sort of like an English Pointer, what with his leg crooked in the air and his muzzle pointed sharply at the pile of dozing puppies nearby. They looked so darling and innocent like that.
Fuckin' fakers! Peregrine thought with impish vehemence. He watched them for a moment before turning carefully and sweeping his surroundings for any sign of
@Fox.
They hadn't stolen many private moments lately and he suddenly craved his foxy lady in her little red dress. But he couldn't call her—not without disturbing the boys—so if he wanted to get on her body, he would have to locate it first. He began shuffling slowly toward the edge of the clearing, disappearing into the trees as he searched for his lady friend.
Shrike had been doing his best to keep busy since joining the pack. Though his need to wander took him outside of the pack's borders every now and again, so he could learn about the other territories in the vicinity, the majority of his time was spent hunting small prey to stock their caches with. He kept himself fed well enough, but knew that with the alpha's leg broken- or injured, as he still wasn't sure if Fox was being sarcastic about Peregrine's injury or not- he would need to step up, pitch in and do his best to help the growing family. He'd caught the scent of a partridge and followed it until he could just barely see the tawny feathers in the dark. Partridges were fun- odd creatures, with odd habits, but fun. When he felt he was close enough, he surged forward and the female partridge leapt into the air, beating her wings and creating the signature fwap fwap fwap sound as she tried to get away. Shrike leapt and caught her tail feathers, bringing her back down to the ground.
It wasn't over yet, though, and the partridge did exactly what Shrike was hoping for. Rather than simply taking off into the air, the partridge performed its 'broken wing' routine, cocking one wing out to the side, squawking quietly and shuffling away on foot. This caught Shrike's interest, but not because he actually believed her routine- Shrike knew that if the bird did this, it had young that it was trying to lead him away from, which would be hunkered down in the grass somewhere. Turning a blind eye to the partridge mother, he scanned the grass, weaving this way and that until he found the four chicks, feathery and wide-eyed, tucked into a little nest of grass. They were an easy kill.
He'd eaten one, buried one and carried two in his mouth toward the Rendezvous point where he knew the alphas had moved. Intending to leave the gift there and give them peace, Shrike closed in on the densite but stopped in his tracks when he caught the flash of keen eyes in the dark. They did not belong to Fox, but to a dark male, who was favouring one foreleg. Shrike's mouth opened slightly in surprise, and one of the partridge chicks fell to the ground. He placed the other on the ground and uttered a soft chuff, to catch the alpha's attention, with hopes he wouldn't be too perturbed that his activities had been interrupted.
Painstakingly slowly, he meandered down the slope in the direction of the lake, though he had no intention of breaching the borders. Before he even went too far, he paused between two bent pines and called sotto voce, "Yo, Fox?" He snickered to himself. "Where are you, babe? I could go for a little taste of your firecrot—" A quiet huff and an even quieter thump caused him to fall silent.
"Uh," Peregrine called out a moment later, jade eyes squinting through the dark, "Fox? That you?" But then he spotted the silhouette of a gray wolf with two feathery lumps at his feet. Nope, that definitely wasn't his mate. Peregrine blinked, feeling no embarrassment about his dirty talk but wondering who, exactly, he was looking at. "Can I help you?" he asked a bit edgily.
When Peregrine's voice called out, searching for his mate, Shrike immediately regretted coming, especially when the male called out something that made Shrike feel as though he definitely shouldn't have been present. Peregrine wanted a taste of Fox's something, and he could only assume what it was Peregrine was referring to. He felt quite awkward when he was spotted, and remained rooted to the spot though his instincts told him to simply leave the partridge chicks and go. Obviously Peregrine wanted some alone time with his mate, when he found her, and he definitely did not want to interrupt that!
He gulped quietly and lowered his head in greeting, and felt his heartbeat quicken in his chest; this could possibly be a member of his family. He'd caught a flash of green in those eyes, and the dark pelt was another good indication of who this might be. But all he really had to go off was what Fox had mentioned. "Shrike Redleaf," He said, pausing for a moment to allow that to sink in, if it had any meaning at all for Peregrine. "Brought these," He said, gesturing to the chicks he'd caught, which he then sidestepped away from, as an offering. "You're....Peregrine?" Even the name was a good indication that he might just be who Shrike thought he was.
When the stranger provided his name, Peregrine's eyes widened and his edginess evaporated. "Shrike!" he echoed, as if they were best buddies reunited after too many years apart. "My wife told me about you. Ah, man, I haven't heard anyone mention Redleaf in a while," he mused nostalgically, tail beginning to wave as he took a few steps toward the other wolf. "I am," he added almost as an afterthought as he came to stand perhaps four feet from Shrike.
After staring at him a moment, the Alpha male sat, ignoring his earlier primal urges now that he had an opportunity to chat with his cousin (or whatever he was). "So, who are your parents? Grandparents?" Peregrine pressed curiously, wanting to see exactly how they were related.
Peregrine came closer, and Shrike gulped. Now it was obvious that Peregrine's leg was quite badly injured if not broken, but he wasn't sure, now, if Fox had been telling the truth about the fact that one of their newborns had caused it. He didn't feel inclined to ask, but did keep in mind her warning, just in case she had been telling the truth. If one of their pups had caused that to the alpha, they could probably do even more damage to him. Shrike had little to no experience with pups, and had had absolutely no idea that one could cause that sort of pain to a fully grown adult.
Nonetheless, though he was injured, Peregrine seemed quite pleased to meet him- Fox had mentioned his name, then, leading Shrike to assume that they were in fact related through the same Redleaf family. He'd already come to one conclusion, just based on the information that Fox had given him as well as what he'd learned from his grandfather. He smiled softly, though, pleased that he might have reconnected with a very important part of his family- after all, Osprey had said nothing about March Owl that he hadn't said with a great deal of love, respect and affinity. If this was one of her children, Shrike felt it was mandatory to feel the same sort of respect and admiration.
"Dad was Bobolink," He said. "Got a bunch a aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings," He said, but then went straight to the point he thought would matter most. "Grandfather was Osprey. Born DeMonte, adopted Redleaf with his sister, March Owl." He said. Given the age that Shrike presumed Peregrine was, he madethe final connection. "She your mother?"
Although he would have fit right in at Flightless Falcons, it turned out he was from a further branch of the family tree. The swarthy Alpha blinked at the name Bobolink (but refrained from commenting), then began grinning again at the mention of Osprey. That was his sister's namesake, of course. He hadn't thought about the family's true surname (DeMonte) in a great while. He knew March Owl had shed the name like dead skin when much of her birth family had abandoned her as a youngster. Uncle Osprey, though, he'd come back.
"Yes, Mo was my mom," Peregrine replied, jade eyes twinkling. "It's cool that you're descended from the original Osprey. My sister is named after him. And, ah... I had a daughter called Osprey too." He didn't typically acknowledge Junior and it felt very strange even now, so he skipped on ahead. "What brought you to Redhawk Caldera though? Where did you live before?" Unlike most newcomers, Peregrine was actually very interested to hear all about Shrike's birth pack.
There it was- the smile on the alpha's case was enough to confirm that he knew the name March Owl, and that Shrike had hit the nail on the head. It was an odd thought, knowing that he was now looking at a cousin of his. He wasn't exactly sure what kind of cousin he was, or how many times removed he was, as he'd never quite grasped that whole family tree business, but Peregrine was family nonetheless. He didn't look much like what March Owl had look like- or what Shrike had been told- apart from having green eyes. But then again, he'd also been told that March Owl's mate, Aether, had been dark-pelted, as had many of wolves in the family before Osprey and March Owl.
Shrike was pleased to hear that March Owl had named one of her children after Osprey- a daughter, though, which caused a smile to come to Shrike's face. He knew, as well, that Peregrine had been named after a wolf of the opposite gender, and he was glad to see that March Owl had chosen to acknowledge her sister. He wanted to ask more about Osprey- both of them- but refrained, as Peregrine sought information first.
"Stellar's Jay Falls." He said. "Osprey founded it, with his mate, Alouette. Lots of stuff had...Happened where he grew up. Kidnapping, maiming, war." He said, reflecting on the fact that Osprey himself had been blinded in one eye, and could hardly walk due to the fact that his feet had been chewed in an effort to keep him from escaping the hostage ordeal. "Still loved March Owl very much. But wanted to see the world a bit, at his own pace. Met Alouette, 'round the time his legs started getting bad." He said. Walking on toes that had been cut short by savage teeth had, naturally, effected the way he walked to the point where his bones and muscles had begun to pain him a great deal. "Had little to no toes...Duno how much you know about that whole thing, him being a hostage and maimed so he couldn't leave. But it pretty near crippled him." Shrike admitted. Had Osprey's legs not been so bad, he often said he would have returned to the Flightless Falcons- but as it was, the trip would have killed him.
"Set up shop in a nice valley, an' had tonnes of kids and grandkids. Said it was his obligation." Shrike said with a slight smile. "'Parently wanderlust runs in the fam. Went off on my own, wanted to find my own place. Kind of like that I bumped into more family," He said, with a pleased smile.
Shrike's recollection of the original Osprey's history sounded vaguely familiar to Peregrine. He knew March Owl had been fond of her brother; that's why she'd named one of her children for him. But he also knew her entire birth family had abandoned her. Osprey had been the only one to come back to her. If he recalled correctly, Mo hadn't forgiven him easily. Somehow, though, they'd struck up an unbreakable bond and it appeared both of them had build quite a legacy.
"We're prolific, aren't we? I have a dozen kids myself," Peregrine said, which was still hard to believe sometimes. "I'm glad you found your way here too. Do you intend to settle long-term, though?" If it was wanderlust that had brought him here, it would likely be wanderlust that eventually took him away too. The Alpha didn't like it but he accepted it as a fact of life. Nine times out of ten, the wolves that joined the caldera—including blood relatives—did not end up staying there for good.
Shrike's silverish gaze sharpened when Peregrine spoke about having children. It was true- the family had always valued finding a partner in someone and having children, and rejoiced whenever the family got larger. His brothers and sisters had likely already begun having children, and who knew when they would eventually end up poking around this way and bumping into their extended family, the same way he had. Shrike, though, was quite aware that he was the peculiar sort, and that he'd likely have trouble finding a mate. 'Detached' was often a word that was used to describe him, but he didn't mind so much. He was as attached as he needed to be, to the wolves he needed to be attached to. He cared fondly for his family, and now he had found more. Peregrine had just given him a few more cousins, so in his mind, leaving Stellar's Jay Falls and coming here hadn't been detaching himself from his family at all.
To the question, though, came an immediate nod. "Yes." His answer was curt, but quite genuine. Unless something came up that pulled him away, he would stay here as long as he could. It felt like home already. "All your kids live 'round here?" He asked. "What're their names? Is Osprey still here?" He asked, though he hadn't referred to which one.
Shrike answered without hesitation, which surprised Peregrine somewhat. He was expecting something a little less noncommittal, for no real reason. He filed away that answer, ears splaying to the sides at the other wolf's question. He no longer had much of an emotional reaction to mentions of Junior, though he still didn't much like talking about her.
"My sister, Osprey, lives in another pack not too far from here. But her namesake is no longer with us," Peregrine answered simply before moving on and adding, "Her litter mates are off doing their own things as well." He thought briefly (and fondly) of Ty, Saena and Pura. "Their mother was Hawkeye. As for my kids with Fox, well, our first batch is just over a year old. They've all dispersed. Now there's the four little guys. You'll meet them soon enough, I'm sure. And there'll be plenty more where that came from." He and Fox both still had several fertile years ahead of them and if history was anything to go by, he might even wind up having more kids than his parents.
"But I'd like to know more about you, now that I have you here," Peregrine said next, despite his earlier intent on finding and banging his mate. "What sorts of trades interest you?" was his first question. "And what're, like, your dreams and shit?" Did he aspire to leadership? Hope to find a mate? Have a family?
As Peregrine told him about his extension of the family, Shrike tried to envision the whole family together. From what he gathered, March Owl had been quite a whirlwind, so he envisioned that most of her children had been, as well. Osprey's, on the other hand, had mostly garnished his gentle, docile and family-oriented disposition, save for Shrike who'd always been a bit cooler and more distant. He could easily see some of his siblings becoming fast friends with Peregrine and their other cousins, especially his brothers who were sociable, talkative and, in general, easy to get along with. Shrike was well aware that he was a bit of an oddball; not quite as friendly as the others, though it wasn't because he was a misanthropist. He simply liked his space.
He was a bit thrown back when Peregrine shifted the conversation to him, and wasn't sure what to say. His silvery ears flicked this way and that as he considered the question, obviously slightly anxious about having to speak about himself. Talking about his family was one thing- he had plenty of good things o say about his family...But switching the topic to himself was another deal altogether. Fortunately, his first questions were fairly easy to answer. The dreams and hopes one, however, stumped him.
"Good scout," He answered, returning by default to his clipped manner of speaking. "Guardian. Traveller." He said, listing some of his strongest assets. "Don't...Know, for dreams. And stuff." He confessed. "Wannabe in a pack. Working, helping." Naturally, Shrike did not mention leading as it wasn't in his nature to be an alpha- a beta, he could manage, as long as he was still in a supportive role. "Family, someday, maybe." He said, though truth be told, he didn't really envision that for himself, either.
Shrike answered honestly and Peregrine could appreciate that, even if his responses made the Alpha already start preparing himself for the inevitable goodbye. Maybe he would stay a week, a month, a year... but if he liked to travel and wanted a family of his own one day, chances were he would not be living in the caldera for the rest of his days. He didn't seem particularly decisive about the latter bit, though Peregrine decided to steel himself anyway. Maybe if he knew this kind of thing up front, it wouldn't suck as badly when the inevitable happened.
"Guardian," the Alpha repeated, cherry-picking the term from Shrike's reply. "You should focus on that. Are you more of a warrior or warden type?" If the subordinate didn't know what he meant by that, Peregrine would be happy to explain the difference. "Either way, that would be the most useful if you want to prove... well, useful," he continued lamely. "I don't begrudge those who like to travel but I don't see how scouting provides that many benefits, myself," he finished with a slightly apologetic shrug. He didn't mean to shit on Shrike's hobbies but the man deserved to know his Alpha's opinions on these matters.
It seemed that part of his answer had pleased Peregrine, though when he asked specifics, Shrike's head tilted to the side quizzically, but when the options were presented- warrier versus warden- he nodded abruptly in understanding. "Warden." He replied. Shrike could fight, and had the temper for it, but wasn't really built for brute force. He vould hold his own, but against a large wolf, he would need backup. Shrike was built for speed, as had most of the wolves in his immediate family, which didn't necessarily leave him carrying weight that he could sling around in a battle. "Don't mind a fight though." He added, figuring it would be best at least to admit that he wouldn't be frightened of engaging in a fight should one arise. "Chased off an intruder not long ago. Woulda torn him up. Ashmedai intervened." He admitted. He paused for a moment before he continued. "Fox showed up. Chased the loner off; told Ashmedai off for gabbing with the loner." He said. He wasn't sure if Fox had relayed this occurrance to her mate or not, but he felt it was important that he prove himself. "I don't tolerate thieves. Intruders." He said in a low voice, quite pleased that he shared the same sentiment as Fox.
Peregrine didn't seem to see the benefit in having a scout, but Shrike could see a reason why he might feel that way. "The Caldera likes to keep to itself?" He asked. If scting wasn't of much use, it must've meant that they weren't terribly concerned with their connection to other packs, or finding information about new packs. "I'll stay close to home. But if I meet others...Where to we stand?" He asked, wanting to know if they had enemies or friends in the area that he should know about.
Shrike mentioned an altercation which sounded vaguely familiar to Peregrine. Fox had most likely told him about it at the time. Obviously, it pleased him to hear what Shrike had done on the pack's behalf, though what was up with Ash's intervention? It sounded like he'd have to have a word with him about it, if his mate hadn't already gotten to it. It was nice to know Shrike himself didn't need to be reminded of how to behave like a proper wild wolf. The Alpha's lips curled into an approving smile when he reiterated that he didn't tolerate trespassers.
"Good," Peregrine replied simply, his tail switching as he considered Shrike's follow-up questions. "Yes, we keep to ourselves. If you want to socialize with wolves outside this pack, that's up to you. Just don't do it anywhere near the home base," he continued with a shrug. "We are naturally rivals with other wolves but we're not about to dictate what you do on neutral territory." He paused. "I generally don't mingle with outsiders, though I make a few exceptions myself."
That made him think of Lasher and it wasn't long before his thoughts naturally segued back to his original conquest: Fox. "I'd love to continue getting to know you, though I was actually looking for Fox when we ran into one another. I'm gonna go find her. But we should catch up s'more later, maybe meet up for a patrol in the morning?" The swarthy wolf shifted his weight, glancing at the partridge chicks between them, but made no move toward them or away as he awaited any last words from Shrike before calling it a night.
The rules seemed simple enough to follow. He could do what he wanted, but obviously shouldn't be socializing too close to the packlands; it might encourage others to come by if they assumed the Caldera wolves were the type to let their guard down and fraternize with visitors. Shrike wasn't terribly inclined to make friends on the borders anyway- he'd much sooner chase someone off then try to have a conversation with them. He was a naturally defensive wolf, perhaps a but too much so, so he decided that should he feel the need to socialize- which didn't happen often- he'd go elsewhere so he didn't have to worry about the natural instinct to defend his pack.
Peregrine wanted to resume the task at hand- finding Fox- so Shrike gave a quick nod and stood up, tail waving gently between his ankles. "Sure thing." He said with a nod, "Morning patrol," He added, deciding that he'd seek Peregrine out in the future and shadow him on a patrol. He saw Peregrine's eyes track down to the partridge chicks he'd nearly forgotten about, and nodded, stepping back from them. "For your family." He said, aware that it wasn't much, but it was something. "Until next time," He said, giving Peregrine one more appreciative nod of his head- and a small, familiar smile as well- before he turned and trotted off.