Wolf RPG

@Raven

His promise was one he intended to keep. Under the blinking stars of midnight, Shrike set out to resume his search for Lucy, knowing all too well that whatever trail she'd left- formerly residing at Neverwinter Forest- had gone cold, as well as that of another pup, Rannoch. This was the fourth pup he'd known who had come under harm of some sort- either through attack, kidnapping or disappearance. Five, he realized, when he counted Jackrabbit. Why this was happening, there was no way to tell- but he shuddered at the thought of ever having this same misfortune happen to him. He remembered, with a pang of pain, what Peregrine had said. One year, he hadn't wanted children at all- the next, he'd wanted to break the Redleaf record. He would never get to do that now, and that thought caused Shrike to frown as he meandered through the dry, brittle grasses. 

There were no fireflies- it was far too late in the year for them, so the area's namesake had forsaken it. He was distracted, however, when the area began to become light, and slightly green in colour. He tilted his head to the side when he saw a strange green light coming from a puddle on the ground, before he realized that the light was not coming from the puddle, but being reflected from the sky above. Tilting his head back, he looked up to see several long, ribbon-like strands of greenish greyish light in the sky above him, causing the hairs along his spine to stand on end. He'd never seen anything like it before. The way the lights moved, it was not like a cloud or a star, but like silvery-green fish in the way they moved silkily across the sky. At times they became dim, and at other times they flared up, the grey turning into a placid, purple colour. 

Wherever she was, he hoped Lucy could see the lights that danced in the nighttime sky.

"You're dumber than a rock," Raven muttered meanly to herself, casting her eyes about in the gloom. She had ventured into Bramblepoint—right next door to the caldera, she mentally hissed—earlier in the day to see if there was anything worthwhile to gather, despite the prior frost. She hadn't found anything and when she had emerged at the tree line and found herself gazing over a lake, she had mistaken it for Lake Rodney and begun roaming around its shore to head home, only to quickly realize the caldera was nowhere in sight.

Now she stood here stupidly, wondering how she had ever mistook this much smaller lake for Lake Rodney and feeling incredibly uncertain about which direction to turn. She was completely turned around now with no hope of guessing the right direction to go. For several beats, she stood there wringing her hands (figuratively speaking) before she clicked her tongue, rolled her eyes at herself and lifted her muzzle to howl to her pack mates in the hopes their voices could guide her home.

Shrike stood, mesmerized by the dancing Northern Lights, eventually sitting down to watch them, turning his head this way and that as they brightened in certain parts of the sky. He wondered what caused it, and if it was a sign for something...Naturally, his thoughts roamed back to the Caldera. Was this a sign from Peregrine?

As if on cue, a voice sounded, calling for someone from the Caldera. Lost? His heart leapt; he did not recognize the voice, which was a good sign. He would not have recognized Lucy's voice. Immediately, he ran toward where the sound had come from, drawn toward the scent of what used to be his home. It belonged to a female so he pushed himself harder. Ahead, the inky gloss of dark fur nearly caused Shrike to trip, but he slowed when he caught a bit of silver in the wolf's eyes. Lucy's eyes had been blue. 

This wasn't Lucy. This was the wolf he'd smelled in the pack, but hadn't met. He realized she might have been spooked, seeing a stranger hurtling her way so he lowered his head and tail- she might have been on orders to find him. "Hullo." He greeted quietly, a bit downtrodden. "You, um...Looking for something?" He asked, prepared to bolt if she was looking for him.

Her eyes squeezed shut as she called for help. When they popped open again, they widened at the strange streaks of colors in the sky. Raven's voice dropped off abruptly as she gazed upward, mouth ajar. She might have stood there for hours if not for the shadowy shape suddenly and noisily rushing at her.

Her black fur prickled apprehensively and she took several steps back even as the stranger halted, lowering his head and tail as if catching himself. Raven eyeballed him, feeling both aloof and desperate, which was quite a predicament. At his question, she bit her lip, then admitted, "The caldera." There was an exasperated note in her voice, which was not aimed at him at all. She was tired of getting lost so easily and wished her inner compass wasn't totally broken.

So she was looking for her way home- Shrike bobbed his head almost absent-mindedly and gestured. She must have been new to the area in general, not just the Caldera, to get lost. She was still in the wilderness, so she hadn't gone too far from home, but far enough to get a bit off track.

"I'll take you." He said, and started off toward his former homelands. Just the scent of familiar wolves about her made him homesick; he hadn't even haf the chance to gather some of the items he'd collected in his den, but there would be no getting them now.

Without hesitation—without even an introduction on either end—he offered to take her home. Although still wary, Raven felt a rush of relief. She did wonder if he would lead her astray, preying on her inability to tell what direction she was going at any given time. But what choice did she have? She would have to take the risk if she wanted even the smallest hope of getting back to Redhawk Caldera. If she attempted to get there on her own, she wouldn't find her way back for another eight months...

"Thank you," she said quietly. Before she took so much as one step, though, she wanted to at least exchange names so they weren't strangers. "I'm Raven, by the way."

Without question, she accepted his offer and began walking with him. Shrike didn't intend to say much to her- or go very close to the Caldera either, lest this be a trap, but as soon as she mentioned her name, Shrike turned his head and got a better look at the girl. She was younger than him, with a dark, dusty pelt and eyes he had seen before. The likeness almost made him stop in his tracks, and something weighed heavily in his stomach when he realized that this girl, Raven, was likely a relative of his. Of course she was- she was named after a bird, and she looked just like Peregrine. He felt confident that this was one of his daughters- and could recall, as well, having been told the name Raven one day when Shrike asked the names of Peregrine's other children. 

"Shrike." He said, only realizing shortly thereafter that he ought to have used a pseudonym, lest Raven return to the Caldera and tell Fox that he'd led her home. "You're one of Peregrine's," He said, less of a question and more of a statement, as he was quite sure he knew roughly who she was. He didn't mention Fox, figuring that the mention of her father was enough. His features turned sullen. "I'm very sorry for your loss." He said. "He was a great man."

Although he knew the way to the caldera, his familiarity with her father took her by surprise. Since when did Peregrine associate with outsiders? That gave her pause; perhaps this man had been part of the pack once. Come to think of it, he smelled a bit like home and even Fox. Raven blinked, not exactly sure what to make of these details, but before she could start piecing the information together, Shrike said something that necessitated a reply.

"Thank you. He was, though I didn't know him as well as I would've liked," she admitted, a wave of grief piercing her momentarily. She waited for it to ebb before adding, "How did you know him?"

Raven was one of the children Peregrine had told him that had left the pack. Wanderlust was in their blood, apparently, and he was not surprised that Raven had been among the few who had gone back to the Caldera to see her family. Of course, there were likely many others that would pop up now and again- cousins of his he'd yet to meet, as their family was quite prolific. Usually named after different kinds of animals- particularly birds- a relative of his wouldn't be terribly hard to spot, especially if they resembled one or both of their parents. 

She asked how he knew Peregrine, and knowing that Fox was her mother, he decided to hide the truth from her about why he'd left the Caldera. A disagreement, he'd call it, if she asked. "He's my cousin. So I guess you are too." He said, with a shred of optimism in his voice. He didn't know much about Fox's side of the family- but he did have an affinity to those who were directly related to him. "Your grandmother, Mo, was my great aunt. My grandfather's name was Osprey." He said, knowing that might ring s bell in Raven's memory. He was aware that Pergrine had fathered an Osprey, but that she had died.

"Oh!" the yearling said with some surprise when he identified himself as a blood relation. She blinked, then smiled. "Do you live at the caldera?" she wondered, voice tentative, unaware that she was asking a loaded question.

But before Shrike could even answer that, the flickering in the night sky drew her attention and Raven said, "What are those?" She licked her lips, yellow eyes sliding sideways to her companion's face. "And should we be worried?" The shifting lights were pretty—beautiful, really—but Raven knew that peculiarities like this sometimes predicted inclement weather, like the summer storm during her childhood.

Obviously, the scent of the Caldera had at least begun to fade on his pelt, otherise she wouldn't have had to ask if he lived there. Fox was her mother...So he did not want to puther under any undue stress. It wouldn't be fair for her to lose her father and then doubt her mother's sanity, all in one fell swoop. Shrike had opened up to several others- Allure, October, Elwood- but to save the girl shame on top of her grief, he knew better than to simply confess everything to her. "I used to. Going to find another pack before winter," He said, steering relatively clear of dropping Neverwinter Forest's name, just in case Raven was spying on him for her mother. 

She looked up and he was reminded of the lights in the night sky. He shrugged, lips pulling into an expression of puzzlement. "Dunno." He answered blithely. "Don't think so." He said, assuming it was just some strange weather pattern. "Might just mean a change in the weather. Like sun dogs." He said, referring to the short snippets of rainbow that tended to form a circle around the sun right before a weather pattern change. This was likely something related to that, he figured.

She blinked over at him but did not say anything further on his allegiances, at least for now. Shrike didn't seem to have an explanation for the celestial phenomena happening over their very heads, though he threw a few guesses out there on the table. Sun dogs? Raven repeated in her head, even mouthing the words.

"They're pretty, whatever they are," she murmured, then lowered her gaze somewhat and queried, "If you don't mind my asking, why'd you leave the caldera? And what on earth are sun dogs?"

"Mmm," Shrike agreed, tilting his head back to look up just in time to see a ribbon of light split, and turn a purple colour. Beautiful. Something he wanted Allure to see- maybe it would happen again, and he could take her for a walk. There was something romantic about their beauty, and though he felt it was somewhat wasted, given he now had a task to do and couldn't just abandon Raven, he kept his hopes high that the lights would come out again so he could show and impress Allure. 

Naturally, the curious woman asked why he was no longer with the pack and he regretted telling her he used to live there. "It's tough to really explain." He said, rolling one shoulder in a way that he hoped would hint that he didn't want to talk about it. If she ever asked Fox, what would Fox say? Would she be honest and say 'look, daughter, I was horny and tried to force Shrike into banging me and when he refused I kicked him out'? He left it at simply being difficult, and would leave the proper explanation to Fox, should she ever ask. 

But the topic was switched, thankfully. "Looks like rainbows. Just...Little pieces of them, usually two or four. Kind of make a circle around the sun." He said. "More of a winter thing I think. usually means a cold snap is coming." He said. "Like a halo." He added, finally finding a better way to describe the light around the sun.

For a split second, Raven thought he didn't know how to explain sun dogs to her. Her brow furrowed, then she realized the truth: he didn't want to talk about the circumstances surrounding his departure from the caldera. Her yellow eyes flicked shrewdly to his face, then away again. She hoped he hadn't been kicked out for bad behavior, else she might get in trouble, especially if she returned home with his scent on her black pelt. She wanted to ask, yet it was abundantly clear he didn't particularly want to discuss it. Maybe she would inquire once back home, after making sure to groom his scent from her coat.

He sidetracked her by describing a halo around the sun. Raven couldn't say she'd ever noticed such an event, though she also didn't stare at the sun very often. Something about the story niggled at her, though, and made her think of her mother. Hadn't Fox used to tell them stories about the sun, moon and stars back in the day? Knowing she wouldn't really remember, even if she concentrated, Raven didn't bother thinking too deeply on it.

"Wh—" she began to say when she saw a familiar shape loom out of the darkness head of them. "Oh, thank goodness," Raven breathed in relief as she smiled at the caldera's shadow.

He was glad that Raven hadn't pressed him any more on why he'd left the pack. Had she done so, he would have become incredibly uncomfortable. Perhaps the only reason he was even slightly comfortable with her was the fact that she was part Peregrine, and thus a blood relative of his. The fact that she looked mostly like her father was a godsend, as he wouldn't have been nearly as tolerant of a Fox lookalike. He side-stepped when she spoke suddenly, as though frightened she might do something very much like her mother, and lifted his head to view the looming figure of the Caldera in the distance. 

He stopped, and gestured toward her homeland. She could definitely make it home, as long as she headed straight toward the Caldera. "Home," He said, to her, not in reference to himself. He had a good distance to go to get home now, as close to a home as Neverwinter Forest was. "Safe travels," He said quietly, in part wishing he could return with her.

Raven wished Shrike could walk her home properly or that she knew something helpful and hopeful to say to him. All she could come up with was, "Thank you for taking the time to help me," and then, "Good luck." He had mentioned finding another pack before winter, which was coming up on them fast. She frowned thoughtfully. She barely knew him but if her parents had once vouched for him, then he must be worthy. And although they had only spent half an hour together, Raven could see that he was a decent man.

"Thanks again, Shrike," she repeated softly before gliding toward the caldera, refusing to look away lest she somehow get turned around again. The lights shifted and glimmered above her but she wouldn't even look at them, at least not until she was safely parked back at the rendezvous site.

Shrike bobbed his head non-chalantly when he was thanked. He couldn't have simply let her wander, it wasn't in his nature to be so cruel. It surprised him that she'd managed to get lost, but perhaps she simply wasn't as much of a tracker as he was, and he had a sort of internal GPS that had never done him wrong. 

"You're very welcome," He said, surprising himself with the warmth in his voice. He did it for Peregrine, he decided, and watched her trot directly toward her home before he turned and made his way back toward his.