Wildfire sniffled, then looked upward and peered disconsolately into the forest. Her life had taken a turn for the worst in a big way. First, Sleeping Dragon had erupted, forcing the pack to relocate and lose a few key members on the way. Then her heat had come and her mate had forbade her from acting on her hormonal impulses. Who knew when or even if it would happen again? She had stolen away because she couldn't bear being around Thuringwethil after that particularly crushing blow. She had crawled home to the caldera in search of comfort, only to find out that both her parents were dead, leaving behind a litter of six newborns. She knew her family—including her prodigal sister, Raven—would take good care of them but Wildfire didn't dare visit and not just because she disliked the idea of crossing the borders. She was pretty sure she would crumble into a thousand pieces if she so much as looked at a puppy right now.
Feeling terribly alone and distraught, Wildfire lingered in the forest just north of Redhawk Caldera. She spent most of her time weeping over Peregrine and Fox and sobbing over the children she wouldn't be having anytime soon. She was a wreck and she knew it, though she didn't know what to do about any of it. Should she forget about her life in Drageda, about the Heda, and try to resettle in the caldera? Or should she go home and try to salvage her life, knowing that it would take a lot of work to untangle the mess of emotions between herself and her mate? She didn't know and so she did neither. She just squatted in Bramblepoint and wallowed in her misery.
It was odd how the Caldera could begin to feel so suffocating by becoming so empty. Liffey stared at her toes as she rested beyond the territory borders, counting on them how many they had lost. Uncle P, Gannet, Fox, Kaizer, and now Whip. The girl gave a sad little whine as she considered counting her own parents and brother in there as well for while Eljay had sunk away from her into the melancholy he always seemed to have, Elwood and Finley had been forced to step up and act as alphas and parents to an empty pack and someone else's puppies. The six month old tried not to feel bitter, but it was hard to help herself. She'd just gotten her moms back. Life was just getting back to normal. And now it was all messed up, and Liffey felt so very alone.
Leaving the Caldera still made her feel uncomfortable, but it was something she was getting used to slowly. Bramblepoint had been where Lagan had run off after the fight, and so it was here that she came more often than not. This place was familiar at least, and it was also big and empty. She could breathe here at least, even when she felt like crying. Having just finished a session of the later, Liffey stood and shook herself off before turning in the direction of home. She hadn't been gone long, but it had been long enough, and the last thing she wanted was for her parents to worry when they had so much else to worry about. Liffey wasn't so selfish as to be unaware of that, at least.
The young wolf had gone less than half a mile before she heard the sound of another. Her brows furrowed when she heard it as the hair along her neck and spine prickled. She wanted to run for it, but what if it heard her and followed? And also... what was it anyway? As usual, curiosity won out and soon enough, Liffey was creeping along towards the noisemaker with her head slung low and ears pinned back with anxiety.
It didn't take her all too long to find the stranger. Liffey peered through the brush at her for a moment, assessing the situation. She didn't know this wolf and that made her uneasy. But she looked sad, and so the young Blackthorn couldn't help herself as she stepped into view, trying to look as non-threatening as possible (though she needn't have worked so hard considering who she was in the first place).
"Hi," Liffey said in a small voice, blinking her large orange eyes at the other girl, "Are you okay?"
being extremely vague about fox + co. and assume he conveniently wandered away right before she died.
Seeing his adopted older sister lurking around the outer territories of Redhawk Caldera did not surprise him. He had been doing so himself, lately, unsure of where exactly he belonged. She, he assumed, was doing the exact same thing, or would have no use in sitting quite dejectedly. Maybe it was Peregrine, he figured. Jackrabbit didn't exactly know if she knew about the death of their father, but by the way she held herself, nothing else held the same weary air than utter and true despair. However, she was not alone. A girl of younger age than him and one he briefly recalled met Wildfire before he could himself, and he shifted, uncomfortable with the notion of prancing on up into a situation where he was a stranger.
He turned to flee, but was held stuck in his tracks, a subconscious nagging that warned him that, should he take his leave, he may never see her again. It tugged at his mind and he found himself turning back to the scene and slowly walking towards the duo. When it was made clear he stood out awkwardly, just standing there, he sat down beside the red woman, ignoring the budding conversation that was destined to start. He was there for Wildfire, and her alone.
He silently, and almost solemnly, he laid himself down beside his sister to rest his chin on the soil below. He did not break their conversation but his presence seemed to lurk right there, out of the fact anything he could say would probably and accidentally make the mood worse. Afterall Jackrabbit had only met the woman once, back when he had been a total drama queen upon her sharing with him that she resided elsewhere; he had zero experience dealing with her emotions and even less so now that they were totally different people from the months they had never spoken again. He didn't even know the other girl at all.
But that had been of happier times than the ones they equally shared (or that he had been experiencing his whole damn life). Redhawk Caldera had been a brief yet joyus stint in his timeline, breaking the cloud of death shortly before he could run no longer from his curse. Little did he know that yet again, his presence had brought the reaper to their doorstep, and a fact that would surely break him beyond the guilt he already felt for everything idiotic he had ever done. But, after seconds that seemed like hours of his misplaced presence, he awkwardly found himself shimmying his body closer to the older sister he didn’t really know; finding that he couldn’t ignore the weight of anguish that hung heavily in the air.
Her vision blurred as a fresh wave of tears shimmered in her eyes. Wildfire angled her snout downward, letting them drip along her tapered nose and fall to the forest floor. The light snow on the ground melted under the deluge of hot saltwater and she stared, transfixed, at the puddle forming between her little red toes.
Then a noise drew her attention upward. Blinking the tears from her amber eyes, her lips already began to shape her Aunt Finley's name when she realized what was not looking at the caldera's new Alpha female, after all. This must be one of this season's Blackthorn pups. For a beat, the Bandrona simply stared, feeling awkward about meeting in these circumstances. Then she nodded quietly in reply to the young girl's question.
In contrast to this gesture, Wildfire said, "I'm having a hard time with—with what's happened at the caldera." Before she could manage to say anything else, another youth appeared on the scene. Whip? she thought, having heard he'd disappeared. She realized her mistake right away, though, and quickly recognized the grownup Jackrabbit. She didn't say a word as he plodded closer and slumped solemnly at her feet.
There was a mutual feeling of melancholy in the air as Wildfire peered down at the top of his head, then bent down to nudge the tip of one cinnamon ear before she looked to Finley's mini-me again. "I'm Wildfire," she introduced, "one of Perry and Fox's older kids." That would not only explain who she was but also why she was here, moping. "How, um..." she tried to ask, only for her voice to catch around a lump in her throat before she managed to croak, "how are the pups?"
Liffey blinked in surprise at the girl when she spoke of the Caldera, completely unaware of the relation she had to her pack. For a moment, she wondered at how many friends Aunt Fox must have had outside of the pack if near strangers were mourning her death... Unless, this girl was a friend of Kaizer's? Before she could vocalize her confusion, another wolf slipped onto the scene and planted himself against the cinnamon female. She blinked at him in surprise as well. Who was this guy? What was she missing here?
When the stranger introduced herself, Liffey was so very unprepared. Her eyes widened and her jaw fell open in shock and awe. "You're Wildfire??" the girl chirped, the corners of her lips lifting as her tail began to wag like crazy. Wildfire had always been one of her heroes - her favorite of Finley's and Elwood's stories about life in the Caldera before she was born. Actually getting to meet her for Liffey was akin to Stevie and Kat getting to meet Misha Collins (minus the sexual thrill).
It only took a few seconds before the Blackthorn remembered herself. Yes, this was Wildfire and that was so exciting she forgot her own shyness, but that also meant that Aunt Fox and Uncle P had been her mom and dad. Liffey's demeanor sobered quite quickly then and she scrambled to think back to the question her cousin had asked during those seconds of awed gazing. "Oh um.. they're okay..." she replied, flustered and stumbling over her words, "Mom says they're obnoxious like Uncle P."
Liffey winced visibly over the faux pas in the seconds after she realized what a stupid thing to say that was... "..sorry..." she muttered, embarassed.
Looks like we have Allie's blessing to skip Jack. (Allie, just face-punch me if I'm wrong about that!)
"Yes," she affirmed. Wildfire might have smiled at the girl's tone, under different circumstances. There was no way she could get her facial muscles to cooperate right now.
"And this is Jackrabbit," she added when the agouti adolescent remained mum. The Bandrona wanted to ask for her name in turn but she was sidetracked a bit by the offhanded comment.
Although she did feel a brief, brutal flash of sadness, she also felt some of the tightness in her chest loosen just a little bit. She still couldn't manage a smile but she shook her head at the Blackthorn's apology. Peregrine
had been obnoxious; it had been part of his charm. Although it was heartbreaking to think that she would never get to hear his potty mouth ever again, Wildfire definitely didn't want to forget this part of her father's legacy.
"It's okay," Wildfire said, wishing she could riff off the remark but not feeling up to it just now.
"What's your name?"
Wildfire didn't seem too upset by her comment. Actually, Liffey sensed that it had lightened the weight of gloom around her, just ever so slightly. The girl perked at this, relaxing as her cousin reassured her and then asked for her name.
"I'm Liffey," she answered, pausing before adding, "Elwood and Finley are my parents, so we're cousins." Liffey smiled, but restrained her prior excitement, realizing now that it was inappropriate in that moment. She bit her lip awkwardly before settling down onto her haunches, glancing briefly at Jackrabbit before looking back. "I'm sorry about your mom and dad," she offered in a tiny voice, her ears falling back.
Jack's gone inactive, so I'm continuing!
The family resemblance was really uncanny, so the news of their kinship came as no real surprise to Wildfire. She tried to smile at the girl, though she just couldn't coax any life into her lips. She did shoot her what she hoped was a kind look. She wished they'd met under different circumstances, though she truly appreciated Liffey's condolences.
"Thank you," she replied quietly, glancing at the motionless and silent Jack for a moment before looking back to Liffey.
"I assume your mom and dad have said good things about me?" Wildfire tried to inject some lightness into her tone to make up for her lack of a smile but she wasn't entirely sure she succeeded.
The boy at Wildfire's side remained quiet, which was momentarily distracting from the mournful tone of the encounter. She wondered if perhaps he was mute and began to wonder about how he'd become so and what his life had been like being unable to speak. But Wildfire distracted her with a question, and her ears perked at the sound of her voice.
"Yes," Liffey confirmed, offering a small smile as her tail began to wag, "Mom and Dad have told me all kinds of stories about you and Raven and Nightjar growing up at the Caldera - the tornadoes, you and Ninja getting lost in the cave, when you climbed that mountain with Mom and she had to pull you out of a hole." She paused, unaware that she'd slowly abandoned her somber tone with each word and now there was wonder sparkling in her eyes, "You've done so many cool things. I like the stories. It'd be cool to have adventures like that."
Her eyes glazed a little bit when Liffey mentioned the various stories her parents had shared with her. She knew Raven was back at the caldera—her presence there was instrumental to the newborns' survival—but where was Nightjar these days? Wildfire thought of the last time she'd seen him, when he had taken it upon himself to push her from the pack's ranks. Her lips pursed at the memory, though she couldn't really fault him, even now.
Liffey's enthusiasm wasn't exactly contagious in her current mindset, yet Wildfire welcomed the distraction. "Your mom is—or was—a scout. I'm a scout and ranger myself. Will you follow in our footsteps?" she wondered.
Liffey forgot herself. She was too excited at the prospect of talking with Wildfire - a wolf she had idolzed for as long as she could remember. It didn't matter that they'd never actually met. It was because of this that it took her a little too long to notice how her cousin's eyes spoke of her distraction, and how her response was lacking the same level of enthusiasm as Liffey's - though that would have been a stretch to expect.
"Yeah," Liffey said with a smile, though her head caught up with her soon after and she hesitated, her excitement falling slightly, "I mean. I think it'd be cool. I don't know that I'd be any good at it, though." She shrugged, her expression becoming contemplative as she considered. She wasn't nearly as brave as her mother or Wildfire, and she wasn't all too good at tracking or ranging. She lost herself a lot in all of the sights and scents she came across. Her mind would wander as curiosity and imagination took it, and soon enough she wouldn't know where she was at all. Not exactly a great thing for a scout. "I get distracted," she admitted, glancing away from Jackrabbit's gaze.
"Practice makes perfect, especially in this field," Wildfire said softly. "You should definitely travel with a buddy, so you don't get lost. Ask Raven about that." Her lips twitched ever so faintly. "I bet your mom would be willing to play tour guide until you learn the ropes. You two could even come visit me..." She trailed off awkwardly when a lump formed in her throat. Would she even be going back to Drageda after this?
Swallowing a few times, Wildfire went in a slightly different direction. "I'd love to scout with you sometime. It's not the best time of year for it but, maybe come springtime, we could meet up and go on our own adventure? Just like your mom had with me." She had no idea what her future held, yet if she had something like this to look forward to, maybe it would help Wildfire survive the uncertainty of the coming days.
The excitement Liffey had felt was beginning to settle as the conversation continued, though it flared again when Wildfire suggested she and Fin come to visit her in Drageda. She canted her head, curious about the name. It was so different, and that interested her. Truth be told, Wildfire could have suggested they come see her in Buttsville and Liffey would've been all over it. The fact that her cool cousin Wildfire lived in a cool place called Drageda just made the prospect all the more enthralling, and she nodded her head vigorously to show her intention to see her there one day.
Wildfire's next offer was even more exciting than the last. Somewhere, the usually very attentive, sensitive girl was perfectly aware that her cousin was fighting back tears as she continued, and she probably too heard her voice struggling past the lump in her throat. But the idea of actually getting to go on an adventure with mother fucking Wildfire????? There were no words.
"That would be..." Liffey said, shaking her head on awe, "I would love that." Her mind began darting along then, picturing different scenarios, weighing options, considering what sort of adventures would make Gannet like her the most. Most of these things she didn't voice, but she did offer up one fact at least. "I'll be almost a year old in the Spring," she commented, her tail wagging proudly. She would be a grown up. Now that had to impress Wildfire, for some reason.
Liffey's excitement was like a balm for Wildfire's aching heart, even if she couldn't manifest these little scraps of gladness in her expression. But then something in her crumbled when the girl mentioned her birthday. It shone a spotlight on Wildfire's heartbreak. She shouldn't even be able schedule a trip like this at all. She should have been barefoot and pregnant, then rearing her pups, come springtime. It felt like someone had taken an ice scream scoop and hollowed out her insides when the realization of her broken dreams washed over her for the nth time.
Her lower lip was quivering and Wildfire could feel the tears building up behind her chestnut eyes. "Good," she whispered a little inanely, trying to maintain control over herself. She knew it was a losing battle. "I will see you then, Liffey. Right now, I gotta..." It was probably pretty obvious why the red she-wolf was abruptly turning away. In fact, both Liffey and Jackrabbit probably saw the first splash of tears roll down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she was able to snuffle before retreating toward the far edge of the forest, seeking solitude in her utmost grief.
Liffey could have stayed there all day to plot her adventure with Wildfire. There were so many things that were running through her head - where they could go, what they could do, what they would see! Ideally, she wanted to think of a place that Wildfire had never been to before so they would be able to discover it together. But since she had no idea where her cousin had ever been, that seemed unlikely. Plus, in her naive fantasies, Wildfire had already seen the whole world.
But, it seemed that further plotting was not in the cards for that day. Her smile faltered when she was dismissed and fell completely when her cousin turned away to leave. "Yeah, it's okay," Liffey replied, trying to keep the disappointment from her voice, "I'll see you soon." She smiled at Wildfire's retreating form, but it evaporated once again. She paid no heed to the boy as Wildfire left, only looked after her forlornly until she was gone.
Only then did she glance at the boy and offer him the glimpse of a smile before turning and departing herself. On the way home, she could analyze the conversation and see all the ways she had been insensitive and inappropriate. For now, she needed to run. The sun was sinking towards the horizon and she was going to be in so much trouble if she didn't get home before dark.