Wolf RPG

After climbing down the mountainside, Fox found that she had no desire to return to where she had been staying the week prior. The space was too small and the cliffs too steep. At least here, at the base of the mountain, she could stretch her legs a little further. Once she healed more, though, she had a feeling she'd go right back to the top. Perhaps in a few weeks.

Thankfully, she'd had half a brain and had brought along her supply from Blue Willow. Fox had become enamoured with them, chomping down more than she should have. They gave her an elated feeling and took the pain away from her side. Life was so much easier when she was eating the herbs, and she had no desire to go back to feeling her fractured rib. The drugs did make her sleepy, causing her to walk around half-lidded a majority of the time, which was what she was doing right now. Slowly but steadily, she was making her way around the western curve of the mountain's base.

After Dante had informed the pack of the changes in leadership, Saēna dismissed herself, explaining she was going to explore the outer land some more. She wasn't much of an explorer when she was young, but now that she had a taste for the wide open world, she found herself avidly pursuing it. She'd always return to the plateau in time but stretching her legs in the outer territories appealed to her now in this time of turmoil.

Saēna went much further east than she intended, though, and found what must have been the caldera Peregrine mentioned when he casually admitted he was leaving. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at it and though she wanted nothing more than to turn and head back to the plateau, she was pulled to figure out what was so great about it. Peregrine had made it seem like some sort of dream land given he was so keen to ditch his family for it.

As she drew nearer, she spotted the subject of all her distaste toward her foster father, and only then did her steps falter. Fox walked slowly around the edge of the mountain's base, open and vulnerable. Perhaps if she'd been a little more volatile, Saēna would have made an attempt to extinguish the flame drawing Peregrine here, give him a reason to come back to his real family. She was neither savage enough nor vindictive enough to even think about it, even though she, like Junior, openly blamed Fox for all of her problems. She didn't know the woman, but hated her on principle alone.

She lingered in view with her tail lifted somewhat defiantly, but as she hadn't stepped onto their territory directly, she didn't have much to fear in her mind. Maybe it was a little bit of Junior's surly disposition rubbing off on her, but the petite Virtúte welcomed any attempt at chasing her away that Fox may or may not attempt. Let Peregrine see what a vile little devil his mate was, she thought.

Fox wondered if things would have been better if she had spent more time with Peregrine's children. Really, though, she wasn't old enough to be any kind of guidance to them. Hell, she hardly knew what to do with her own life, and she certainly wasn't qualified to tell children how they should go about living theirs. So she'd taken a different approach and stayed away from them for the most part. Perhaps it was a mistake, but it seemed like the best option at the time. Maybe she would have made things worse by trying to be closer to them.

So when a familiar red-tipped adolescent caught her eye a hundred or so yards away, Fox did what she had always done with Perry's children. She acknowledged Saena with a pausing gaze, and then she continued on her way. Fox was well-aware of the girl's outburst when Perry had announced his (and Fox's) departure, having heard it from Peregrine himself. Funny that Saena would be so outspoken considering she had left without a word. So had her brother.

A part of Saēna was happy that Fox didn't acknowledge her, but it was quickly outweighed by the part of her that needed to get her feelings off her chest. She'd never be a very pragmatic and composed individual—she felt too strongly for that. So when the red female basically ignored her, giving her nothing but a brief glance, Saēna began tailing after her like some sort of pest.

Of course, she wanted to goad Fox into an argument. She wanted to call the bitch out on her selfish behaviour. After all, if anyone needed Peregrine, it was Saēna. She literally had no one else. Junior was much more independent, and Ty didn't seem to realize what was going on half the time, but Saēna's confidence had needed Peregrine's constant presence after Kisu and Hawkeye both left. For that reason, she took it rather personally.

"You know," she said at length, still tailing after Fox at a distance, "it's no wonder everyone thinks you're a bitch. Too busy to say hi or what?"

Fox had expected (perhaps stupidly so) that Saena would simply move on and search for Peregrine. Wasn't that why she was here? Apparently not, judging by the hollow insults she flung in Fox's direction. Rolling her eyes and coming to a stop, she turned to face Saena. "Hi," she replied in a bored, flat tone. She did not need to explain her actions to a child, let alone one who was a hypocrite. At least Fox owned up to her faults. Saena seemed to think she had done nothing wrong, all the while telling Peregrine he was terrible for doing the exact same thing.

As usual, Fox voiced none of these opinions. Saena could stand here and continue to abuse her as long as she wanted to. Hell, Fox couldn't even do anything physical, so she'd probably take a beating if that was really what the kid wanted out of this. She was doped up enough on Willow's herbs that she probably wouldn't even feel it.

When Fox swung around with the most boring "hi" Saēna had ever heard, the teen discovered that she didn't really want to be here. Hell, it was no fun if Fox didn't try to defend her selfish needs, and already she could feel the desire to cause strife fading away. The red-furred female didn't do anything more and for the first time in a long time Saēna felt as though what she was doing was pointless.

"You're drier than a crone's cunt," said Saēna with a frown. Why had Peregrine left his family for this extraordinarily boring female, an inner voice asked, but she didn't bother verbalizing it. She didn't imagine Fox would respond with anything interesting. In fact, she wasn't terribly interested in Fox at all any longer, though it probably wouldn't be the last time she made an attempt to dismantle the red's relationship with her foster father by goading her.

"Later," she snorted as she turned around and began to lope back in the direction she'd come. A glance over her shoulder was spared for the mountain itself, which seemed to have its top lopped off. Now that she knew where it was, she knew where to go when she wanted to cause trouble for the homewrecking female... and where to avoid every other day of the year.

Fox's dull grey eyes watched as Saena retreated, thinking nothing of her verbal assault. Of course, Peregrine would hear about this. Fox fully intended on informing him. For now, though, the fireball went on her way, squatting every few paces as she had been doing before and wondering if she could have made anything better out of the situation. Perhaps, like Junior, Saena just felt the need to direct her anger toward somebody, and Fox was the easiest target right now.

A few hours passed before Fox grew tired and sore enough that she decided to call it quits. But before she got comfortable, she howled to @Peregrine for company. Besides, she felt it prudent that he know two of his daughters had come to insult her now. Not because Fox wanted to exact revenge on either of them, but she was curious to see if he could talk some sense into them.

Fox's call managed to catch Peregrine in the middle of a crying jag. Hidden away in one of the caves he'd discovered led beneath the caldera, he wept openly, without fear of discovery. He wasn't so far underground as to miss the howl, though, and he swiped at his face and cleared his throat even as he emerged back into the open air. It was cold and stung his face where his black fur was damp with tears.

By the time he found his mate, he hoped it wasn't totally obvious he's been crying in a corner like some little girl. "Hi," he said, his voice cracking oddly. He cleared his throat again and glanced away from her, then forced himself to face her again. So what if she knew he'd been upset? "What's up, firefox?"

Unobservant as ever, she failed to notice anything out of the ordinary about her swarthy mate. She touched him gently on the shoulder in greeting, and then drew in a breath as she formulated the best way to inform him of what had transpired between herself and two of his offspring. "While you were gone at the plateau, Junior found me," she began, "I didn't bother telling you, since I figured she just wanted to get a few things off her chest. I probably wouldn't have bothered with it at all, except a few hours ago Saena did the same thing. I just thought... you should know. I didn't react much in either case, and it's not like I could have done anything even if I had wanted to."

Fox fell silent, trying to gauge Peregrine's reaction, if he even had one. The fireball had barely spoken to his children, so she couldn't really understand how they could hate her with such passion. It was up to Perry as to how he wanted to handle it. The last thing Fox wanted to do was get involved negatively in his children's drama.

When he heard that Junior had been here and Fox hadn't bothered to mention it to him, Peregrine's watery eyes cut to her face. "She was here? And you didn't tell me? Why?" he asked, even though she'd already explained. "How is she? Did she look all right? Why was she all the way out here?"

But there was more to the story. Saēna had evidently done the same thing. He thought of his youngest daughter's face crumpling at the meeting. He couldn't find it within himself to be angry with her over her behavior. He had hurt her. They had hurt her.

"We deserve it," he whispered flatly after a moment. "Do you know how many relationships I've damaged — some maybe beyond repair — doing all of this?" he questioned, feeling suddenly overwrought. "I lost Lasher, my kids hate me, my best friend is horribly disappointed..."

All for you, he thought but he didn't go that far. He knew she was worth it, as were the pups they would bring into the world soon. That didn't stop it all from being horribly difficult and, at the moment, he simply couldn't pretend to be unaffected by everything that had happened.

Fox's ears flattened when he began asking questions and lamenting about how they had ruined everything. The thick, ugly feeling of guilt crept over her, which was something only Peregrine was capable of doing. At least now, though, Perry was actually talking to her about it. Before, when she had tried to approach the subject, he had merely shut down and refused to say anything on the matter. At least if things were out in the open, they could deal with them.

"Junior looked well," Fox said after a few moments of silence had transpired between them. "I even hinted that she could stay if she wanted to, but she didn't seem interested. The sea-witches didn't work out for her, I guess." She let that sink in for a moment before continuing. "Perry, I don't think anything you've done is beyond repair. Unlike me, you're actually likeable. They're just getting over the shock of it all." Fox wished that it could have gone more smoothly, but there was little they could do about that now.

The news that Junior looked well and was no longer affiliated with the Nereides was good news, though Peregrine would have to revisit the topic later. Right now, he was focused entirely on ranting to (or perhaps at) Fox. His eyes fixed on her face, burning and shimmering like liquid at the same time.

"Don't trivialize this. I'm at odds with almost every wolf I love." In fact, she was the sole exception. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me? Just because it's for a cause that will be worth it in the end doesn't mean it's painless. It's incredibly fucking painful, Fox, okay?" He tore his eyes from her, looking away across the caldera, as hot tears began to fall down his cheeks once again.

Had it been anybody else, she would have retorted with a remark about how she knew exactly what it felt like. Fox had ruined countless friendships when she had fucked things over at the creek. Nobody had been on her side except, in some sense, Peregrine. Not to mention the fact that Haunter's death had kicked the whole thing off. But she knew that saying any of these things would solve nothing and would likely only make things worse.

If he would allow it, Fox craned her neck to lick at his eyes. She had never seen him like this, nor had she ever wanted to. Every time she tried to fix things, she only made them worse, it seemed. Even now, she felt the plateau was better off without her there. It had been obvious for a long time that nobody (sans the few who were now at the caldera) had wanted her there in the first place.

When she reached out to stroke beneath his eye, Peregrine allowed it. His gaze fell to his feet and he sighed, his anger leaving him. He just felt terribly torn up and sad... and guilty now too. He turned his face sideways and gave Fox a small, apologetic nudge. He had meant what he'd said: it would be worth it in the end, it was just going to be a difficult road getting there.

After taking the time to sniff back his tears and let his face dry in the chilly air, Peregrine murmured, "You know what would help me right now? Some good old-fashioned love." He offered a crooked smile. "But I don't really have the energy for it," he admitted, looking away, over the land. "And, unfortunately, I don't know of a way for us to get busy without me doing the majority of the work. Unless..." His eyes sneaked back to her and he wiggled his eyebrows. Paired with his wet, red eyes, he looked a bit like a sad clown.

His suggestion was one she usually would have hopped on in an instant, but she knew that her rib would be killing her if she even attempted such a feat right now. Their lovemaking had been put on pause while she recovered, much to her (and she assumed his) dismay. But before she could protest, he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. Not quite sure what he meant, Fox lifted a brow.

"Unless what?" she asked. Being a traditional—not to mention, young—wolf, the only thing she could think of was, well, the thing. That was how puppies were made, provided her body was ready for them.

She didn't pick up on the hint, which didn't matter because Peregrine suddenly remembered that lovemaking was off the table until she healed. Perhaps that was another reason he was struggling so badly lately. His mate was out of commission and his lover was out of the picture entirely.

"Nothing," he said after a moment, trying to keep his voice light. "That stuff can wait until you're feeling better. I don't want to do anything that will compromise the healing process... especially not after what happened to Pied," he mused softly. He bit his lip, then forced a small smile. "We want you in tip-top shape when it's time for you to get knocked up. Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to that?" In fact, it was the only thing that brightened his dark days lately.

She didn't press further, figuring he had decided not to go through with it for some reason or another. Fox blinked as he moved on to talking of their future babes, which always managed to lift both of their spirits. "You have," she replied warmly, "I was just wondering the other day how I'm going to push out your huge-headed babies." Fox was a tiny thing, and Peregrine was massive. She wasn't worried, if only because she was confident in herself and Peregrine as parents. They were going to be some kind of power couple, she just knew it.

"I think Robin—did I tell you she's back?—wants to stick around and see them grow up. I know she's flaky, but I have this terrible problem where I can't turn her away, no matter how many times she wanders off. Stupid bird brain." Fox said this with a cheeky grin. She harboured no ill feelings toward Robin, nor did she think that she ever would. Her sister had done nothing to harm her (physically or emotionally), so there was no need to be upset or angry. She was just a bit air-headed.

Although Fox meant the comment in jest, he couldn't help but think of Pied again. She had been small, with a larger mate, and she'd been injured shortly before falling pregnant. Because of those things, she'd died. Peregrine bit his lip, then caught himself and shoved these negative thoughts aside. Fox would be fine, as would their offspring, when the time came.

"I thought I smelled her around," Peregrine murmured. He wasn't a fan of noncommittal types, yet a lot of his standards had been shaken by the move and he just didn't feel like possibly arguing about it. "Before long, we'll start feeling like an actual pack." His lips twitched faintly.

"I think I'm gonna lie down," he announced a moment later, stretching out right where he stood and slinging his belly to the ground. He rolled onto his side, hiked a leg in the air and simpered, "Would it hurt you a lot to give me a belly rub?" It would be comforting and might help a little bit with the lack of physical intimacy.

"I'm sure the pinch of pain will be worth it," Fox replied. Leaving no room for him to protest, she settled beside him and began to knead his chest and belly with her pink tongue. Pretty soon, she was just outright grooming him, removing little bits of debris from his coat and licking his ears free of wax. Shifting around was difficult when she wanted to change positions, but other than that, it wasn't exactly a physically demanding activity, and she did feel a little closer to him.

Exhausted—physically, mentally, and emotionally—Fox finally eased her way down to the ground beside her mate and muttered a soft, whispered, "I love you."

Although he knew it was selfish to ask her to do this for him, Fox obliged without qualm and Peregrine thoroughly enjoyed the intense grooming session that ensued. She even cleaned his ears! By the time she finished and collapsed next to him, he was feeling very content and lazy indeed.

When her whisper met his ears, his half-lidded eyes opened lightly and his heart gave a happy little squeeze. Worth it, he thought. Aloud, he scooted closer to her, placed his mouth next to her ear and whispered, "If you loved me, you would've done the balls." With a quiet laugh, he then dropped his chin atop her head, murmured happily and fell asleep.