Wolf RPG

The mountain lake was just fascinating and Duty had never seen anything like it. When he had agreed to followed Peregrine here, he had never imagined it would be anywhere like this. The lake was huge and surrounded by mountain tops on either side. Land was scarce to come by on the lake shore but that wasn't a huge issue for FitzDutiful, he had never minded the water.

That's where he was when dawn broke on this fascinating day. Redhawk Caldera was his new home and he was more than happy to make it here with Fox and Peregrine and anyone else that so happened to join them.

Duty took a step closer to the edge of the mountain to survey the scene. This was such a defensible position as well - not that anything or any one should attack them, but being above the attackers was always a preferable thing. The trail that led to his destination was windy and twirly but from his position he could see varying points of it back down as it twisted through the slopes greenery.

As much as he had loved being on the Plateau, this felt right.

Peregrine had returned in a surprisingly little amount of time. Trailing behind him were Finley and FitzDutiful. Fox hadn't seen either of them since they had come to Redhawk, assuming that they were busy securing the borders. Fox had been mostly restricted to the small, level spot of land near the caldera. Several days had passed since she had been injured, though, and she was growing more and more restless by the hour. So, she (perhaps stupidly) thought to try and travel up one of the more gradual slopes and do some exploring for herself.

She managed to make it a decent distance before she paused on a cliff that jutted out from the mountain's side. Fox made damn sure it was a rock cliff, too. That was the last time she would ever mistake ice for stone. A familiar scent drifted toward her, and she scanned her surroundings to see Fitz standing not too far off. She began to inhale, hoping to howl for him, but decided against it. It seemed every time she took a deep breath, it made her rib ache even worse. As an alternative, she waved her fiery red tail in an attempt to grab his attention. She didn't think her voice would carry that far.

A red flicker caught his attention and for a moment Duty thought nothing of it - there was probably a red plant there, or maybe something was caught in the wind. When the wind changed direction and brought Fox's scent along with it, it suddenly made more sense as her rust coloured tail. With a bound, a joy and a spring in his step, FitzDutiful rushed over to her overjoyed to see her moving around.

After greeting his soon to be alpha again respectfully, FitzDutiful motioned towards her ribs, "How is the injury?" he inquired, his concern obvious on his face. When Perry had come to explain that they were no longer calling the Plateau their home, one of the main reasons for Duty to leave had been Fox. She had trusted him with her problems and he hoped that he had earned some rapport with her for his handling of it.

"This place is so beautiful" he mused softly to himself.

"A pain in the rib," she replied, though she was clearly in high spirits. Her foot still hurt if she put too much weight on it, but she had a strong feeling that it was going to heal more quickly than her side. Perhaps she was wrong, especially considering most of her injuries before this one had been external rather than internal. But she couldn't just not use her ribs, unlike her foot, of which she had three perfectly good ones.

When Fitz commented on the scenery, Fox's own gaze locked on to the landscape. "Yeah," she said wistfully, "We thought so, too." The girl returned her gaze to Fitz, smiling as she did so. "I'm glad you decided to come along." Fox's departure from the creek had been a lonely one. Not a single member of her pack had stood up for her. At least here, at the caldera, there were familiar faces.

Fox mentioned her feelings about Duty coming along to the caldera and there wasn't a seconds pause between her words and his. "There was never a doubt. You and Peregrine are here. Where else would I be?" It was true, one hundred percent true. There was never any other hold for him at the plateau and never any views like this one that would keep him captured for, probably, the rest of his days.

He turned to Fox, and caught her smile, before continuing along the pack formation conversation. "How are we doing for new pack members?" he asked. There was no wondering who the alphas of the new pack were going to be. FitzDutiful wouldn't accept any one other than Fox and Perry, but he was curious as to who his other pack members might be. Right now, all he knew was that Finley had also followed Peregrine here. That was just, from all other Plateau just the two of them had followed.

Duty supposed that made sense, the others had ties to the plateau and it was possible they were restricted by family or commitments, more than one wolf that questioned how Peregrine and Fox could leave with their commitment. None of that mattered to FitzDutiful - packs moved, life changed.

It seemed that those who had followed them were truly dedicated to their cause. For that, Fox was thankful. Instead of having half of their members dislike one of their leaders, the caldera would benefit from a solid foundation of devoted followers. That, she had to admit, was a serious help to their cause. She could not boast such things of the plateau when she had been there, or even the creek. It only solidified her view that this was the correct path to be on, rather than staying at the plateau.

"Just you and Finley so far," Fox replied, "I cannot think of any other plateau members who would follow." There was Kaihra, whom Fox had thought was a contender, but it seemed the dark female would not be joining them. She had even thought Tytonidae might follow her father, and while Perry had explained that she was the only one of his children who showed no hard feelings, she would not be coming along. "We can always recruit from the outside," she said. There were bound to be plenty of fresh loners roaming around.

"It's a shame more Plateau members didn't come," FitzDutiful mused, "but I never really got to know them so I guess maybe the Plateau was more of a home for them than it ever was for me. I'm sure we'll find some lovely outside lone wolves in need of a good home, though." In some ways he was looking forward to adopting other wolves into their home. It would give him a chance to get to know more wolves, more friends, and another new start. He wasn't adverse to new starts.

In some ways he was looking forward to the seniority that came with being part of the packs foundations. It would give him a chance to pick up on skills that the pack needs and be relied upon for the packs survival. There was something about being needed in a pack that he found particularly strengthening. "And in the meantime, we all have each other."

Fox shrugged lightly. She hadn't expected any of them to come, if she was being perfectly honest. Ever since she had come to the plateau, there had been an underlying sense of unrest. Hardly anybody had respected her position alongside Peregrine, but it was nice to know that Fitz and Finley believed in her. It was better this way, with only the sincerely loyal following them. The rest were tainted with feelings of resentment for her position, and she would not have any of that here. She found it odd that they had treated her so poorly, considering nobody had done so when she took over the creek. Not only that, but Fox had done nothing to harm anybody at the plateau. Perhaps she was a bit overzealous, but that hardly seemed like a terrible flaw.

When Fitz spoke of having one another, a smile spread across the young leader's face. "That we do," she replied warmly. Fitz and Finley were a great foundation for Redhawk Caldera, and Fox had no doubts that they would remain loyal. She tried not to reach too far into the future, but she thought both of them would make good co-raisers for her children. Finely had a certain... sprightliness to her, and Fitz was decidedly wise. Which got her thinking about how old he was, exactly. "How old are you, Fitz?" she asked. Fox wondered if the whole of Redhawk was composed of young'uns.

Fox asked how old FitzDutiful was and he responded almost instantly "I turn two in February." In some ways he was scared about growing older, he was not far off coming of age for puppies and part of him worried that all of a sudden an urge to procreate would take him.

Although Fitz was very wise when it came to the matters of the head, and could relate his own experiences of the heart to another similar situation, anything like puppy raising, rearing and the like seemed very foreign. Would it come naturally to him? Would it just be something that made sense? These questions he had no answer for and he very much hoped that he would in the near future. What if someone else needed to know? FitzDutiful reckoned he wouldn't have the answer to any of this until he either met some puppies or talked to someone who had been through the process.

"Thank you for letting me join you in creating this pack." he told Fox, as a way to change his train of thought. "I hope it can be our home for a long, long time to come." His eyes scanned the horizon, glancing over their territory and the neighbouring areas. Home.

“Sounds like we’re about the same age then,” she mused aloud. That didn't bother her, of course, although she did hope that the whole pack would not always be comprised of young wolves. There was definitely something to be said of wisdom. It seemed that Perry was currently their oldest and wisest, although Fox certainly wouldn't call him "mature" exactly, considering his sense of humor. She grinned at the thought, but turned her attention back to Fitz when he began to speak again, thanking her for letting him come along for the ride.

“Me too, Fitz. Me too.” When he began looking at the surrounding landscape, Fox nudged him. “Go on, then. You might as well get out there and start getting the lay of the land while I’m an invalid.” She had a feeling he was itching to start exploring. Hell, if she hadn't been injured like she was, she would have been doing the same thing. Unfortunately, it was going to be a little while before she could do any of that.

Fox told him to go get the lay of the land and, after making sure that she meant it and wasn't just saying it, FitzDutiful headed off into their pack lands. It was exciting to be in a new place and after staring at the views for a plentiful amount of time, Fitz was ready to be amongst the views to see the sights up close and smell the scents of the air.

As he explored, he made sure to mark their lands and make it obvious to any lone wolves around that this area was now claimed and soon to be owned by Fox, Perry and their pack members. It was strange, in some ways, how he had adapted so quickly to being in another new location. When he had arrived at the plateau he was sure that there would be no other home to him. Fitz guessed that maybe this just proved that hoe was not just a place but the other wolves around you.