Wolf RPG

Nearly two weeks had passed since the locusts had swarmed the Teekon Wilds, and Fox's eye was a gruesome reminder of their brief presence. Well, that and the complete lack of green and their dead bodies still scattered on the ground. She huffed, wiggling her way from beside Peregrine and the pile of brothers and toward the center of the rendezvous site. Truth be told, she hadn't attempted to do much of anything since she'd returned, but at least her health was slowly coming back to her.

In fact, today was the first day a tiny sliver of her eyelid opened. Not much, mind you, but a sliver. She must've looked like a pup on the verge of opening her eyes. Er, eye. Her left eye continued to work as usual, thank goodness. She still wasn't sure if the right one would ever work again, let alone open any more than it had this morning. The red wolf stretched, yawned loudly, and took a peek at where the sun was in the sky. Looked to be close to midday, so she figured now was as good a time as any to call the pack together. She hadn't exactly told Peregrine of her plans, but it wasn't like she needed his "permission" anyway.

The pups were old enough now that Fox had no qualms with the rest of the pack meeting and interacting with them (under close supervision of herself or Peregrine), and it had been far too long since they'd all gotten together. Knowing she'd likely rouse her mate and children from their midday snooze, she let out a long, low howl for all her pack-mates.

The howl jolted Peregrine from a nightmare about his brother, Crete, on fire, his mouth open in a silent scream. He sat up immediately, sending a sleepy pup tumbling, and blinked blearily at the surrounding wasteland. Had a fire swept through here? He sucked in a breath, then reality finally caught up with him. He released it in a low whoosh, then squinted at Fox where she stood in the center of the now barren rendezvous site. She was summoning the pack. The Alpha male swallowed, his dry throat clicking, then gently untangled himself from the pile of rousing puppies as he prepared to stride (read: hobble) over to join his mate.

As soon as he came close enough, he inspected her eye. "Hey, it's sort of open," he observed, head tilting. "Can you see anything?" he wondered. Perhaps he should roll out the red carpet to welcome Fox to the Deadeye Club. Before she could answer, a sound from the pups caused the Alpha to turn, a low woof rumbling from his throat as he summoned them to come stand by their parents.

With an unsuccessful morning of hunting behind him, Elwood was quick to respond to the Alpha female's call. She requested the presence of the pack at the rendezvous site and that was where he headed. He moved so efficiently that he was the first to arrive, save for the six members of the Redhawk family.

As he neared, his gaze fell on Fox's injured eye. He had heard what had happened, but hadn't seen it yet in person. He winced; it looked much better than he imagined it had a few days ago, though he was sure it was still painful. "Hey," he said as he came to a halt and dropped to his haunches a few feet from the Alphas and their brood. He looked from Fox to Peregrine and then back again. "I tried to do some hunting earlier, but no luck," he reported, sharing the small piece of news before the rest of the group turned up.

If he could have even found a mouse or mole or something along those lines, he would have felt better showing up to the pack meeting than he did, showing up with absolutely nothing. He'd watched with disdain as the crunchy critters had eaten away every leaf and blade of grass, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. He'd tried fending them off, but there were too many, and too few hours in the day. It wasn't worth it. The streams and rivers were full of grasshoppers, which he hoped would aid in fishing- if the fish even ate them, of course. His stomach ached with hunger and he did his best to drink more water in an attempt to quiet his hunger pains. 

He answered the call looking somewhat dismal and disappointed that he had to show up with nothing. He was glad, however, to see that Fox had returned, though her injured eye wasn't something he could look at for long- eye injuries were painful, and he hoped that whatever it was that had caused the injury hadn't robbed her of her vision in that eye. He bobbed his head respectfully to the alpha pair as he sat, licking his still wet lips, before he gave a slight smile to Elwood. Quietly he waited for the rest of the pack members to come, and for the pups to make their move if they chose to, but for now he'd keep enough distance between himself and his extended family so that they wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

Ferret was sprawled on his back when his mother's howl went up, balls to the sky and forepaws curled over his narrow chest. He was utterly content, and it was with a grump and a half scowl that he rolled over to his elbows and watched as the first few wolves heeded the summons. One, he did not know, and his eyes fell upon the gray male who was called Shrike. Next victim.

The boy was growing into a limber body, but without any of the elegance. He got to his feet in the same awkward and rushed fashion as a calf trying to stand for the first time and proceeded to march toward this new comer, bold and brash as always. His head was high and his ears forward, though his black-tipped tail dragged behind him and made no effort to rise. He was not dominant.

Ferret came to stand and stare up a mere foot from Shrike.

Panther had been stalking a hare when the call sprang up, throwing his concentration and also effectively costing him a meal. Really, it had cost the kids a meal, since he had intended to bring it to them at any rate. He had recently been able to snag himself a mouse, so was able to put aside his peckish thoughts for a time while he hunted for the others. It was difficult though, because everything was starting to feel a little desperate, and his mouth would start watering at the mere thought of the word "prey". Made it difficult to daydream some days, and this fact, coupled with his failure to bring something to the meeting, made for a very gloomy Panther when he arrived after most everyone else.

Blue eyes traveled to his older sister, whose eye looked better... maybe... and then his gaze washed appreciatively over Peregrine before dropping fondly to the gathered children. One of his nephews, the ravager of the bunch, had already chosen his target, and Panth was suddenly grateful for his slower arrival. Taking seat in a position that would make him the least likely next target for Ferret's "affections", he turned a quiet eye on the adults, not caring to mention his failure to bring them that rabbit.

It had become more common for Peter to experience the uncomfortable feeling of hunger in his tummy and, though he still got to eat something every day, it did not feel quite enough. Out of all four puppies he was still the smallest and retained the fluffy, slightly out of proportion looks of a puppy younger than his actual age. He had also become susceptable to cold again and there had been at least three days, when he had not joined his brothers in playing games and exploring, but spent them sleeping by his mother's side. 

He was looking a bit down, when he walked over to his father and seated himself next to him, giving him a mournful look that clearly told that something was wrong and at the same time asking his dad to do something about it.

"Eh?" she remarked when Peregrine mentioned her eye. "Naw, still closed shut from this side." She wasn't sure if that was just because it wasn't open enough or because she was never going to see out of that eye again. Already, she was beginning to get used to the handicap, even though she missed having eyesight in both eyes.

Elwood showed up first, and Fox nodded politely to him. She noted the wince and smirked in response. There was something delightful about grossing others out, even though she wouldn't redo the fiasco if she had the choice. "Thanks, buddy," she replied when he mentioned his hunting failure. It was better than not hunting, that much was certain.

Shrike arrived next, and Fox offered him a nod as well. He had a good head on his shoulders, and she was happy to have him around. Ferret seemed ever-so-interested in Shrike, and Fox wondered if the little shit would try anything with a stranger. But her attention was quickly drawn to a black beast, her brother, who seemed to be settling in at least to some degree since he hadn't left the caldera yet. "Hey bro," she greeted with a wag of her tail and a blink of her eye.

Notably absent were Eljay and Finley, and Fox cast Elwood a questioning glance. They would most certainly hear the news second-hand, but she was a little miffed that they hadn't shown up yet.

Peter made his way over to the gathering while the other two remaining kids slept soundly. He seemed a little bit... bummed, and Fox made a mental note to spend some time with him afterward.

"Hey everybody," she began, realizing they hadn't called an official meeting in quite some time. Fox didn't really think that introducing the puppies counted. "Obviously, my eye is fucked up. That's probably not news. In other not-news, those bugs tore apart everything green, and our food went with it. With Peregrine and I injured, we need all the help we can get from you. I'm hoping there will be enough food to sustain us until things start growing back, but if not, we'll do what we have to do."

Her eye turned to Peregrine, giving him the floor in case he wanted to speak up about anything else in particular.

While the pack's adult members trickled into view, Peregrine glanced at the two pups who still hadn't joined the gathering group. The Alpha male glanced at the recent arrivals, then plodded back over to where the two middle children still flopped on the ground. "Up," the father commanded simply, using a broad paw to shake the lazy twosome awake. "Come over here," he instructed, waiting for Gannet and Whip to stand before leading the two sleepyheads over to join the rest of the pack.

Elwood, Shrike and Panther now accompanied Fox, Ferret and Peter. The Alpha bobbed his head at each of them, his jade gaze lingering a second or two longer on Panther than the other two. He then squinted and licked his lips, gazing beyond the gathered wolves as if searching for any sign of Finley and Eljay. When they didn't materialize, he shot Elwood a questioning look. He couldn't help but wonder if the Beta female was absent due to morning sickness or something like that; was she expecting yet? He wanted to be happy at the thought, though all Peregrine could guiltily think was, Just more mouths to feed.

Then his mate began to address the pack and his attention shifted to her. "...we'll do what we have to do." They hadn't discussed it officially, yet Peregrine read between the lines and knew what Fox was implying. Their gazes locked and he nodded minutely as an understanding passed between them. If it came right down to it, the pack would uproot from the caldera and move elsewhere, where the locusts hadn't devoured all the greenery and chased away the herds.

Fox's silver eyes glanced at him, passing the proverbial mic, and the Alpha male's attention returned to Elwood. "Is Fin...?" he wondered aloud, aware that it was sort of a personal question. But it was not only important but relevant to the conversation at hand. If their Beta female was pregnant, that would play into the Redhawks' fate and, of course, weigh into whatever decisions the Alpha pair was forced to make for the good of the entire pack.

"We appreciate all continued efforts to find food," he said after giving Elwood an opportunity to answer, "and we'll do our very best to hold out." Peregrine paused, letting out a low breath and meeting Fox's eyes again as he spoke to the group, "But if the herds don't return within a month, give or take, we won't be able to stay here. I want you all to be aware of that reality. Like Fox said, we'll do whatever it takes to keep our family safe and healthy, especially the pups." His jade eyes trailed over the Firebirds and swept over the single present Blackthorn, who represented his expecting mate. "Even if that means leaving the Teekon Wilds."

Notably lacking the speed of light, Eljay hurried as fast as he could to get to the meeting when Aunt Fox called. Yet when he arrived halfway through her explanation of what had happened to the Caldera, he realised right away that he was late anyway. Ears folded back apologetically and Eljay's tail hung low at his hocks as he looked at Uncle P and Aunt Fox as the news of the bug infestation was shared.

Eljay's heart raced when Uncle Peregrine mentioned that they might have to leave the Caldera — he didn't want to leave; he'd never left the Caldera and he never really wanted to. Well, maybe eventually... But not yet. Some day. But not now. And not while mommy was pregnant, on top of all the other things going on. He frowned as he listened, but didn't pipe up, just trying not to panic.

As it so happened, Finley was in fact puking her guts out when the howl sounded. For the life of her, she couldn't remember being so sick when she was pregnant before. It was a fact that likely contributed to her complete obliviousness to her first pregnancy for the first couple of weeks. And as she dry heaved over the drying carcasses of the locusts, she rather missed that state of being. How nice to have no symptoms to worry about, and to be completely unaware that she was carrying puppies in such a desperate, dangerous time. But no, not only was she to suffer the belly ache of hunger, but of likely pissed off infants that were hopefully not starving within her. Apparently reproduction was just always going to be a bitch for the Blackthorn family.

When finally she managed to get to her feet and head towards the alpha's call, she was very pleased to find herself only a short distance from the gathering pack. Finley approached on shaking legs, oblivious to whatever was being discussed as she sat weakly beside her mate. She leaned on him for support, willing her empty stomach to shut the fuck up for a few minutes until she could go back to being sick and frightened as hell about it in private.

As other wolves gathered, Elwood became more and more aware of the absence of his mate and son. He glanced around, searching the landscape for their familiar figures, and turned an apologetic and bemused shrug towards Fox and Peregrine when they did not materialize.

The Alphas began to address the pack, but Elwood was only half listening as he continued to look for Eljay and Finley. Fox urged the wolves present to put in extra effort to hunt and he nodded. When Peregrine spoke, his first question was unfinished and directed towards the silver Beta. Elwood snapped his gaze up sharply, quickly catching onto the implication in Peregrine's query, and replied with a silent nod of his head.

The next piece of news was not wholly surprising, but still caused Elwood's stomach to drop. The last thing he wanted was to leave Redhawk Caldera, but he knew that if it came down to it, the pack would need to relocate. With Peregrine's words still hanging in the air, both Eljay and Finley suddenly arrived; the former looked embarrassed to have been late, while the latter simply appeared to be nauseous. Elwood gave an encouraging nudge to his mate and chuffed quietly at his son before returning his attention to the Alpha pair.

Shrike sat quietly, attention flickering from one wolf to the next as the others showed up. He had a few expectations- just of the wolves he'd met before, but found himself somewhat surprised. Neither @Allure nor Ashmedai showed up, which stirred very different responses within him. He wasn't displeased whatsoever to see that Ash didn't show his face- in fact, he felt somewhat satisfied in seeing that the male had probably moved on, going elsewhere where wolves didn't care about properly patrolling the borders. He was disappointed, though, to see that Allure did not show up. She was pretty; he'd wanted to get to know her better. 

But his disappointment drifted away when the curiously marked pup- Ferret- came up to him and boldly sat no more than a foot away from him. He was lanky, with a long body and narrow frame, and would probably be stuck in that awkward phase for a while. Shrike cast the boy a glance, unsmiling, and allowed his gaze to linger on the brazen pup for a moment, as though any moment he might growl or shove the pup away. But before that plain gaze could last, it broke- he smiled, clicking his teeth together quietly in an amicable greeting to the pup before turning his attention to the pup's parents. Even if the kid had broken his father's leg, he couldn't be all that bad.

As it turned out, Shrike's worst suspicions were confirmed. The herds were gone and the greenery with them. Peregrine mentioned that they might have to leave the Caldera, and he nodded. If there wasn't food, they couldn't stay- what Peregrine said made sense, and Shrike would, of course, do his best to help the family out. It was with surprise and perhaps a slight shade of disdain that Shrike turned to look at the female who joined them shortly after Peregrine finished speaking, leaning heavily on Elwood. It might not have occurred to him before, but the fact that Finley was pregnant meant that there were more mouths to feed- and that she herself was in danger of being malnourished. He frowned- but he was not disappointed. Instead, he felt the stirring of determination in his chest. He would do everything he could to keep both the alpha and the beta families healthy and at the present, it looked as though Finley needed as much care as she could get. He made a point of introducing himself to Finley and Elwood as soon as he could, and offering his aid whenever he could.

Ferret paid no mind to the rest of the pack as they gathered, nor to the ominous words his father imparted upon them. His bold gaze remained levelled on this Shrike character, lingering long after the gray wolf had greeted him. Eventually, the pup decided that this one was okay, and he turned and plodded away from him without biting him, or headbutting him, or otherwise pestering him. No one else got any special attention, except for poor Peter, whom his brother decided to sit beside. But of course, he could not just sit beside him, instead he leaned his weight heavily on his sibling.

No one paid any attention to Peter and, since he had neither understanding, nor interest in, what the adults were discussing, he sank even deeper in his misery. His stomach began growling again and after casting a sad glance at his side, he lied down, thus making the sounds less loud. 

After a while he got company in a form of Ferret, which the little boy greeted with an mildly annoyed grin. He was in no mood for games, therefore he let out a low growl and scooted away from him, closer to his father.

She had been thinking it, but hearing Peregrine say it out loud cut through her core. Fox had never been particularly attached to a place until she had come to Redhawk Caldera. (Sorry, Swiftcurrent Creek, she's just not that into you.) This was the birthplace of her children, her home and Fox didn't want to give that up. But she knew, when it came down to it, she was more interested in being alive than holding on to sentiments.

The sight of Eljay was a relief, as was the arrival of Finley. At least nothing serious had happened to either of them, although Finley looked like she was about to yarf. No envy there, sucka!

The others remained silent, and Fox one-eye glanced around at the gathered faces. "One more thing before you're free," she said, letting her gaze rest on Shrike and Eljay for a moment longer than the others. "If anybody wants to volunteer for puppy-duty, Peregrine and I would be most thankful. These little shits are a handful. Come talk to me if that's something any of you would like to do." She trusted both of those wolves, and hopefully they could lend a helping hand.

"That's all," she announced with a note of finality.

Under normal circumstances, Peregrine would have ribbed Finley endlessly for showing up late, even green around the gills. And he probably would have shot his nephew a disapproving glance. But when they joined the gathered group, he only blinked at them, relieved, and let out a thin sigh. The weight of his words hung around his neck like a yoke. He hated the thought of moving, for both practical and sentimental reasons, and sincerely hoped it didn't come down to that. But he needed the Redhawks to understand they would not put a patch of ground above their members' lives.

The meeting drew to a close and Peregrine peered blandly at Fox as she addressed everyone a final time, requesting help with sitting the pups. He nodded as if to agree with her words, then slid closer to her. He looked at her bad eye again, then muttered, "I'm going to go hunt." He was well-rested, after all, despite that strange and barely remembered nightmare. And though it was a probably futile endeavor, he would never stop trying to provide for his family, not until he was six feet under.

"Elwood?" he called as he began to glide downhill, exchanging a glance with his Beta, inviting him along. Peregrine glanced at the other able bodies gathered but there was no large game to hunt, so why bother expending so much energy? No, he only wanted the other father (to be) with him for this particular go. Not waiting for an answer, he looked ahead and loped away.

Finley probably should have noticed the looks she got from the other pack members as she sidled in, but she was oblivious as she sank against her mate. She did her best to pay attention to their words though, but since there wasn't a chance that she'd be volunteering to puppysit in her current state, it didn't do her too much good. She looked over at her son after the request was posed, expectant that he would be one of the first to volunteer. He already pretty much had the job, or so she assumed. The thought made her smile, but then another wave of nausea came and away the expression went.

She felt dizzy as she stood suddenly and turned away from Elwood. Her back arched as she spread her jaws wide and heaved upon the ground for all to see. There was nothing to empty from her system, so fortunately there was no big pile of gross to look at after her minute or so of bodily torment. But still, it was not a flattering moment, and she was completely happy to have been excused just before it had happened.

"On... on that note..." Fin said breathlessly, giving a glance around at the pack before turning away. Her gaze caught Elwood's last, but there was nothing expectant in the look. He'd been summoned and there was nothing he could do for her anyway. Without another word, she left to seek her solitude. And maybe some water, mostly out of the desire to give her poor tummy something to toss so that it wouldn't get so desperate that it began expelling her own organs.

Eljay looked at Fox when she continued to speak, listening to what she had to say. She asked if others were willing to take turns on taking care of the pups, and Eljay nodded eagerly. He watched them quite a fair share, because he enjoyed spending time with them, and he was also glad to finally have found something he was at least moderately good at. "I can take more turns watching them," said Eljay, and he glanced over Peter and Gannet, then lil' Bandit and Whip with a fond smile. "Then others that're good at hunting and tracking can focus on gathering food." Eljay wasn't super at that, after all — he tried, but that was pretty much as far as he got. Maybe once the prey returned (it'd better — he definitely didn't want to leave Redhawk Caldera) he could pick up his gamekeeper duties again, because he did want to make everyone proud by being a successful gamekeeper, but for now he thought it best to relieve other hunters off puppy duty so that they could contribute to mommy's and the pups' health and make sure everyone got some food at least.

Eljay looked worriedly at mommy next as she started to heave again and padded to her side, nosing mommy's shoulder gently even though there was nothing he could do to help. He wrinkled his nose at the smell when she was done, but didn't leave mommy's side. Daddy was summoned away and mommy turned to leave too, leaving Eljay a little torn on where to go and what to do. He then looked at the pups and decided he was probably needed most helping look after them right now, especially since Uncle Peregrine had departed to hunt with daddy.

As usual, Fox was punctual in delivering her message. She concluded in her next breath, inviting the pack members present to help keep an eye on the firebirds. Elwood gave a nod of his head, glancing over at Eljay and knowing that his son was already a reliable babysitter for the Alpha pair.

Then, two things happened almost simultaneously -- Peregrine indicated for Elwood to accompany him on a hunt, and as the Beta male took to his feet, Finley almost lost her cookies next to him. Her body convulsed, but there was nothing to expel. He grimaced, feeling extra bad for her; he couldn't imagine how it felt to be starving and nauseous at the same time. He stepped towards her, but her expression wordlessly told him that it was okay for him to go with Peregrine.

"I'll come check on you later," he promised, calling after Finley's retreating figure before moving to follow the Alpha male. A last glance at Eljay revealed that the boy was likely going to stay with Ferret, Gannet, Whip, and Peter, so Elwood flashed him an encouraging grin and then trotted off after Peregrine.