Towhee now spent a good amount of time parked by her godparents' den, guarding it and waiting patiently for her invitation inside. Today's vigil was marked by a cloudy sky and the occasional snow flurry. She sighed. Winter seemed to be dragging on quite a while. She didn't particularly mind the cold much, though she knew that springtime weather would help the newborns grow and thrive. Hopefully it would be properly warm by the time they were old enough to venture out of the den a few weeks from now.
Biting back a yawn, the mercenary stood and shook out her coat.
"I'll be back," she called to the unseen
@Finley before striding away. She had no particular destination in mind, she just wanted to stretch her legs and maybe grab a bite to eat. She could bring back something for her aunt too.
As she meandered,
@Eljay's scent blustered into her nose. She had bumped into him many times since the pups' arrival but only now did she suddenly recollect her promise to train him. There was no time like the present, so Towhee quickly shifted objectives and began tracking him by scent. She wondered if Nev had ever found him and if the two got on like a forest on fire, like she thought they might. Probably they just stood around making each other awkward, more likely. The Alpha snorted at the thought even as she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of her cousin.
-steals-
if towhee was truly looking for eljay, that's some tough luck, cause tegan had some important business to attend to! and he needed her attention more than good ole elroy did. he spotted her from a distance, her pet flying overhead. knowing he couldn't get her attention verbally, he instead made a loud ass screeching sound to politely* ask the bird if he could get towhee's attention. whether or not it understood or was trying to eat tegan for being so god damn obnoxious was unclear, but it swooped low around towhee and back up. if she turned, the only thing she'd see was a cocky little monochrome iota striding her way, tail wagging and a goofy little smirk plastered on his face.
"tow!" he yipped, and then switched immediately to signing, -i'm back from my mission!-
She didn't think much of it when X appeared, as he often did. Only when he swooped low in a clear bid for her attention did the Alpha react, tipping her head curiously and then following the trajectory of his flight pattern. Towhee's lips twitched into a smile when her eyes clapped upon Tegan's familiar features. She had only a moment to muse over the fact that she considered him a brother, whereas Eljay was relegated to the more distant status of a cousin, before the boy scrambled toward her and made a declaration in emphatic ptero.
Always delighted when her pack mates made the effort to utilize her native language, Towhee grinned and waved her tail as she signed back, -Yeah? And how'd it go?- Then, because he was very much her little brother and she enjoyed pulling his leg, she canted her head and signed ponderously, -What mission was it again?-
tegan made a forceful effort to not roll his eyes as towhee made a comment about his mission. "looking for whip!" he exclaimed out loud, tail waving wildly. he then paused, giving his alpha a look. -i didn't find him-- i think he skrt skrted outta here, which sucks, but i did meet some wolf named seabreeze! there's a new pack to ourrrrrr- tegan took a moment to think about his directions, bouncing once to face the left, then again to face the right in a full 180 -the north!-
he thought this was valuable information, even though he hadn't found out any information about whip. -also she said she ran into some other guy from redhawk but i'd never heard of the guy-- must be new.- tegan didn't say his name because... well, he'd forgotten it already.
"Oh, yeah," Towhee acknowledged. She had come to the same conclusion—a while ago, to be honest—but she definitely appreciated Tegan's effort. "Good work," she added, keeping her sardonic thoughts about deserters to herself.
She didn't care much about outsiders either, though she could see Tegan's excitement and she wanted to show proper appreciation for his commitment to her task. "What's the pack called? How far north is it? What was this purported Redhawk's name?" she prompted him.
yeah okay, tegan's report was wildly obvious. whip had been gone for days but like... he still had promised to do it, even though it took a hot minute. he was just glad towhee didn't comment on that. his gray tail beat behind him, ears pricked. good work, tegan, he repeated to himself.
oh god questions-- well maybe he should've just told her everything from the get go. but whatever, here we go. "sunspire!" he exclaimed, and then switched back to ptero, -they're in the mountains... probably like... a few days travel? seabreeze said some guy named- he hesitated, not knowing the word, "rannoch lead the place." he also didn't know how to say the other guys name in ptero and towhee was using real words so... he was just gonna switch over for simplicity sakes. "naturo? natal? never? i dunno something like that-- i forgot it... seabreeze said he was super freaked out and nervous, which i think is weird."
Some of these names seemed familiar, though Towhee didn't comment. It was good news that they lived so far away, at least in her opinion. She had the niggling feeling she knew Rannoch, or at least knew of him, but she couldn't be bothered to plumb the depths of her memories for a source.
Several of Tegan's attempts at pronunciation were lost on her, though the mention of "Never" immediately flicked a switch in her brain, especially when it was followed by a telling description. "Nev?" she guessed. "He is pretty new," she confirmed. "He talks a little oddly, although who am I to talk?" Towhee smirked at her own self-deprecating joke, well aware that she spoke a little differently than others, even if if the particulars were beyond her comprehension.
-Wait,- the Alpha signed abruptly squinting, -you weren't gone, like, this entire time, were you?- When had she even given him this task? It had been weeks ago. Surely he'd been around; hadn't she seen him? Towhee suddenly couldn't remember and she continued giving him a beady look.
tegan paused for a few seconds to think about this nev guy, but didn't have anything to comment on. seemed bland-- he'd never met the guy personality so ... whatever. he snorted at towhee's comment though, tail wagging. towhee was good at making fun of herself-- he didn't have to do it then.
and then he shook his head. "nah nah, just like three days-- i had to prepare, ya know, get all my plans and shiz straight before i just wandered out into the wild," he told her, but that was a lie. tegan just put it off because he was lazy.
"Ah," she replied, taking his explanation at face value. She paused a beat, then queried, "Would you like to do another task? I don't think this one will take you as far. And it'll be quick." She hardly let Tegan speak up before telling him, "I'm looking for Eljay. He and I are supposed to be meeting for some sparring practice. I thought I smelled him a few minutes ago. But I'm not a particularly skilled scout or tracker, so I'm going to defer to a professional," she finished with a smirk, giving the youth a pointed look.
i'm gonna wrap this up... i forgot about it bc i suck and they're long gone haha
tegan nodded quickly. "bet," he said quickly, taking a few moments to orient himself before nodding towards towhee, "this way! i bet his lazy ass is asleep by the lake." he made sure he was turned to towhee so she could see his lips before setting off in front of her leading her to where eljay was. or wasn't. honestly who knows how reliable tegan really is.