He felt torn. His inner compass told him to head north and east if he wanted to find his way back to Marauder's Keep. There was something familiar about this smaller mountain range and he was almost certain his birthplace lay somewhere in the foothills on its other side. But he felt compelled to go in the exact opposite direction too, toward the mountain where Wraen lived.
It came down to living in the past or the present (and possibly future). Tambourine spent several days in the shadow of a glacier as he deliberated, then eventually arrived at a decision. As much as he cared about what had ever become of wolves like Stark, Banner and Silas, he doubted he would truly find closure. And did he really want to revisit the cave where he'd grown up only to be left behind, abandoned?
It was time to fully let go of the past and decide what he wanted to do with his life now. He woke up this morning feeling purposeful. He readied himself with a hearty breakfast of rabbit before setting off on his trek toward Moonspear. He wasn't sure what he planned to do once he arrived there. Just play it by ear, Tam, he said to himself even as he trotted through the same pine forest he had traveled through a few days prior.
This time, he definitely caught the scent of wolves. Yet he was sure he hadn't somehow crossed any borders. Feeling both cautious and curious, he slowed down and crept through the trees until he spotted them: a large group consisting of as many adults as pups, by the look of it. Tambourine licked his lips, eyes catching on a red figure in particular as he noticed the look of turmoil on her face.
blixen is broken out of her self-pitying reverie by movement and the weird sensation of being watched. blinking, she looks and spots the boy amongst the trees. he doesn't look dangerous and they're far enough away from blackfeather that it should be fine but the gona puffs up defensively anyway. she's about to call him out when one of the baby cousins catches up to her, pulling her attention away. "hey squirt," she says, ignoring his mispronunciation of her name, and finally glances away from the trees. she's hesitant to let the stranger go completely, but - the other kids are with their packmates presumably and anyway, she's good at her job. if he lingers, she'll deal with him (and she shoots him a look as she decides this, wondering if he'll call out to her or keep moving). "whatcha up to?" blixen says to -- which one is this, again? she doesn't actually know. let's go with little redhawk one.
Those conflicted eyes met his and Tambourine gulped as her fur began to raise. He took a step backward, pausing only when a childish voice shouted, "Yo, blister!" He watched as one of the pups bounded up to the red she-wolf, the two of them engaging in familial banter. Now feeling more like an intruder than ever, Tambourine slithered backward out of view. He made a point to backtrack quite a ways before moving forward again, giving the group a wide berth so he didn't disturb them further.
when he brushes off the nickname she can't help but laugh, even though she hadn't really been trying to insult him. "well, sure," she says, and sighs, "but it's kinda boring, isn't it?" her eyes flick over to where the stranger had stood. the shape is gone and so she puts it out of her mind for now, instead making a show of crouching next to little redhawk one. "sha," blix says, "sure." why not? she doesn't have anything else better going on.
as far as useless baby cousins go, this one isn't bad. they'd all been pretty scrappy, ready to go fight, and she didn't blame 'em one bit -- she'd been the exact same way. though it had taken mother's kidnapping to wake up that side of her. sometimes she wonders what she'd have been like if mother'd never been taken by blackfeather -- would she have stayed the sort of airheaded naturalist puppy she'd been? just hanging out and looking at the stars? (furi likes stargazing, so maybe that wouldn't be so bad, either.)
anyway. little redhawk one starts a story about a cougar that .. had red fur like her. and - hey! "oh, yeah? i bet he was secretly way cool," she challenges, settling with her paws crossed as he talks.
ugh, this little kid has such a smart mouth! blix is not the sort that can keep up with clever quips -- she's not stupid but she is kind of a dumb jock. she makes a face but doesn't respond, letting him continue his little story or whatever.
he talks about something falling out of the sky and she immediately thinks back to stargazing with furi, when the girl had insisted on stars falling. "stars can't fall," the gona scoffs, "and there aren't like, rocks in the sky, that's just dumb." (of course that she has no idea what she's talking about -- her specialty is plants not the sky -- has no bearing on her firm opinion that little redhawk one is full of shit in this moment.)
stars cant fall! blixen refuses to buy it. she scoffs at the boy but ceases her interruptions, her brows creased as she listens to the next part with a dubious expression. but really, he's testing the limits of her ... it's just a dumb story! "a rock made the weather change?" the gona snorts before she can help herself, then mutters "sorry" hastily lest little redhawk one start scolding her again.
SORRY this is so far back in my thread log i forget about it ): we can wrap up whenever! tegan's about done!
"yeah, hit the ground, big rock, ground, boom, boom is so massive the earth just gets hot. were you listening?" stupid dragon wolf, you'd think with such a cool pack name you'd be able to keep up better? smh, thought tegan. "i don't make the rules," he added with a big shrug, "i'm just repeating the story that's all."
"but so these bears attack, and all the cougars are standing out. it's frickin' nuts, cougars are dying left and right, blood e v e r y w h e r e, but that one cougar is safe cause like? ya know, camo and all that. and so he escapes! and runs far far away where he finds a pack of cougars that look just like him! and it's crazy cause none of them are assholes to him about bein' different cause, ya know, they're the same. and he lived happily ever after."
he thought for a moment, lips pursed. and then, in a matter-o-fact tone and a quick nod, he added, "the end."
although she still finds the entire story unbelievable at this point blixen keeps her mouth shut, not wanting to be scolded again by her baby cousin.
but the ending leaves much to be desired. "that's it? a big space rock kills them -- which totally doesnt happen -- and then happily ever after?" the redhead scowls, unimpressed -- but well, hey, she's not depressed about being stranded out here all alone anymore. sighing, she bops the boy with her snout and says, "thanks, little redhawk one," before picking herself up to do one final patrol and then sleep.