Nothing made Peregrine feel more confident in their decision to relocate and found their own pack than when he and his seven pack mates managed to fell a huge mule deer by the shore of Lake Rodney. As they feasted by the water's edge, he regarded each of them in turn and felt pride and contentment swell in his chest to overwhelm all the negativity he had felt over this turning point in his life. This was his home, these were his wolves and, if this success was any indication, they would thrive and succeed here.
After their fine repast, Peregrine busied himself dragging the remains back to the caldera to store in various caches around the territory. He didn't finish this task until late in the evening. Worn but happy, the Alpha male dropped to his haunches at the mountain's base, facing westward to admire the flaming orange sunset.
The Savoy girl had hoped to keep busy for the better part of her day. The pack was new – fresh on its feet – and she was certain that there were things that could be done to help aid the leadership in getting it running fluidly. She’d taken to the river and fished, then spent the better portion of her day toting said fish from the riverside into the caldera. Just before sunset, Siv had trailed the borders, marking here and there until she had grown considerably tired. The coywolf then decided that it would be alright if she took a break to watch the sun set in the distance.
Trailing the base of the mountain, the girl’s tongue lolled from the corner of her mouth and her steps skipped with an overwhelming sense of self-pride. It wasn’t until her gaze fell on a shadowy figure that she seemed to settle down. She’d yet to meet this wolf, and Siv wondered if this was one of the others that Fox had mentioned. Squinting at the male with vivid blue eyes, Siv tip-toed over to him and bobbed her head in greeting, flattening her ears to her skull. “Howdy-do! Boy, I guess great minds do think alike. That is if you came out here to watch the sunset,” she babbled a bit to the male. A wolfish grin seemed to slink onto her narrow features.
|
When a wolf materialized in his peripheral vision, Peregrine turned, thinking momentarily that it was Fox. She resembled his mate, yet it wasn't her. He couldn't recall her name at the moment but he had certainly seen and smelled her in passing, of course, and she had been among the seven to reap the spoils of the morning's kill.
"There are some nice views out here, aren't they?" Peregrine mused in turn. Although he liked to think he needed no introduction, he added, "I'm Peregrine. And you are... Sid?" he guessed, doing his best to remember the details Fox had given him about this particular recruit.
There had been no formal introduction for the dark male. Siv may have ‘reaped the spoils’ of their hunt, but there had been several wolves there, and the only one she’d had the pleasure of meeting had been Fox. The younger she-wolf was not worried about meeting the others. She had assumed that they were all just as swell as Fox had been. The coywolf female had made a mental note to try and introduce herself to as many as she could get to, however. She felt it was only right to reach out to the people she was intended to live with.
When the dark male introduced himself as Peregrine, Siv’s tail seemed to kick itself into fifth gear. “Jeepers!” she exclaimed with wide eyes fixed on his sooty pelt. “So, you’re the big hoss, the head honcho… commander in chief. Shoot, well it’s nice to formally meet ya,” the girl then added with a curling smile and a grand dip of her head towards the earth. When he – only slightly – seemed to butcher her name, she could not suppress the snicker that erupted from her muzzle. “Ha, Sid, I like it. Maybe I’ll apply for a name-change,” she joked with a coy smirk. “I’m Siv… Siv Savoy.” Because her first name sounded so much better when it was attached to her last name.
|
I like her. :D
She seemed excited to meet the commander-in-chief, as she put it, and his lips twitched before he replied,
"I just prefer Perry." She amiably corrected the pronunciation of her name and he added,
"Nice to meet you too, Siv Savoy. That just rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?"
He peered sideways at the sunset for a moment, then redirected her attention back to his company.
"What brought you to the caldera, Siv Savoy?" he wondered, making a mental note to always use her first
and last names when addressing her, just for gits and shiggles.
:) <3
Perry… she liked it. He looked like a Perry; whatever a Perry was. Siv made a mental note to only call him that, without the nifty titles, as was suggested. She bobbed her head a few times in response to how well her name rolled off the tongue. She had always assumed that her mom had done it on purpose.
Then Perry inquired as to what had brought her to the caldera. It was a proper query, seeing as they had not really gone through the formalities yet. “Your cohort did,” she answered in reference to Fox. “She’s really the only one I’ve met so far. Anyway, she just roped me right in and lo-and-behold, here I am now!” Siv then shrugged her narrow shoulders, glancing towards the sunset herself. Peering at the dark male from the corner of her eyes, Siv mulled through the many questions she’d had rumbling around in her head. Mostly, she thought it was curious that Fox had the coloring of an actual fox, but Perry really didn’t resemble the predatory birds that his name would have suggested. “What about you? What made you want to settle here?” she asked, drawing her ears towards the male.
|
His mate had evidently recruited her, which earned a head bob of acknowledgement. Siv wanted to know what had caused him to come here. Her question triggered a flood of recent memories: Fox, haloed by the sunset, asking him to consider moving; Fox, Lasher and himself exploring the vast wilderness; the three of them arriving here and liking it, only to have their hand forced by Fox's fall...
"The caldera chose us, I think. Fox and I wanted to find a place to settle down and make a new start together. We hope to raise a family here soon. We were the leaders of Blacktail Deer Plateau before that," he said in a tone that seemed to ask, Did you know about that? "It's ugly from far away but the views..." He let out a long breath. "It's growing on me."
When he had mentioned that the caldera had picked them, Siv thought back to her conversation with Fox, and she wondered if it had something to do with the injury that the fiery female had taken on the slopes of the topless mountain. A pang of sadness seemed to press against her chest for a moment. She thought of the other places that Fox and Perry had potentially wanted to settle in, but if it had been the injury that had forced them to lay claim to the caldera, it meant that they weren’t able to decide on anywhere else. Still, it was a bittersweet moment. If they had not settled in the caldera, the odds of Siv finding them were slim. Because the caldera had chosen them, the Savoy girl had a home.
“Did you like the plateau?” she inquired thoughtfully, trying to imagine the differences between a place like the caldera and a plateau. “I mean, the name is lacking a little bit. You can’t really beat Redhawk Caldera. That’s a name with five stars in kick-assery.” A small smile curled her dark lips upwards. Siv wondered what it would be like to move from one pack land to another. To completely uproot a home and try to rebuild it in a different location. It was saddening.
“I think, when you and the missus have kids, they’ll like it a lot,” she thought aloud, ears twitching. “I mean there’s lots of places to explore and adventure here.” There was a slight tone of uncertainty to her voice. She settled her eyes on him with a sidelong glance, drawing her tongue across her tapered muzzle.
|
Once more, she unknowingly tripped a trigger wire in Peregrine's heart and mind when she questioned him about liking the plateau. "No," he answered without hesitation, "I loved the plateau. I would've been happy to live out my life and die there. But Fox wasn't happy and... I guess the most straightforward explanation is that I love Fox more than a piece of land." He left it at that, smiling softly at her compliments on the name, as well as her thoughts on the future pups.
"I hope you're right," Peregrine said, looking her in the face. "Anyway, what sorts of things are you into, Siv Savoy? What sorts of trades do you think you'll pursue, for instance?" he inquired. "Naturalist, perhaps, assuming you appreciate the sky during all times of day and not just sunset?"
Siv wasn’t entirely sure she could empathize with the words from her leader. It wasn’t for a lack of compassion, but more so a lack of understanding of his situation. She was young, but she had enjoyed the ever-changing lifestyle of a lone wolf. The caldera was her first chance at being a part of something bigger, and better, in the long run. On top of this, she did not fully comprehend the idea of love. While it was something that made her happy – to know that Peregrine and Fox were madly in love – she had never really experienced such a thing in her lifetime. Her father had left her mother before Siv had even been born. Still, she hoped that one day she would be able to understand where Perry’s heart was. She hoped that she would not remain lost for the remainder of her days.
The subject changed – something she was slightly grateful for – to the topic of trades. Now, Siv’s interest was piqued when the dark-furred male suggested being a Naturalist. The coywolf drew her ears towards him and frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t know much about trades, but the sky’s fascinating. I’d like to help the pack however I could,” she admitted to him with mild concern. “I know that I’m real good at fishing. I’m great at tracking wildlife too. I like to get to know new people and tell stories… but I don’t think there’s a trade that really fits all that, is there?” A sheepish smile flashed across her face and she glanced towards her paws. It certainly was a different life within a pack.
|
Truthfully, Peregrine did not see much value in studying the skies, despite his father's affinity for them. He took after his mother that way. However, he would not discourage anyone from pursuing their interests, especially if they could apply it toward bettering the pack in some way. And for those trades he did consider particularly valuable, well, he would actively encourage those.
"No, but you can pursue several trades. Sounds like Naturalist and Gamekeeper may be right up your alley. Chronicler too. I can't really help with you with the former and latter, though I consider Gamekeeper my primary trade. I'd love the opportunity to mentor you, Siv Savoy."
Several trades… that was promising. Being the impulsive creature that she was, it was likely that Siv would not have been able to settle on just one trade, but would have eventually wanted to branch into others. It was settling to know that she would have choices. The young girl’s mind had wandered to the subject that he had introduced to her. It was exciting to think that she would have a purpose – a reason – and a means with which she could actually be of assistance to her new family members and to the pack as a whole. It was not until his final sentence struck her ears that she found herself immediately grounded.
Flicking her rusty-colored ears in his direction, Siv gawked at him in a manner that her mother would have been appalled at. Her bright blue gaze seemed to run across his dark features, looking for a sign that he might have been joking, but coming up empty-handed. “I… you… gee whiz, Boss, you’ve got my tongue tied,” she exclaimed after several botched attempts at responding to his kind offer. “Really, though? You would mentor me?!” she asked him with a strange reverence. Because, for the Savoy girl, the idea that this man – the leader of their pack – would be willing to help someone like her… well, it was a stunner.
|
He didn't anticipate her reaction and couldn't quite contain a chuckle that bubbled up from his throat. "Yes," he affirmed. "I'm glad you're so flattered but it's not really a big deal. I want to assess your skills, then mold you into the Gamekeeper I'd like you to be," he explained, winking and clicking his tongue playfully at her.
"Whenever you're ready, just call for me and we'll go out hunting together," he added after a beat of silence. "I think I'm going to find Fox and head to bed. It was nice getting to know you a little better, Siv Savoy. Let's get together soon." The Alpha waved his tail, then turned away from the blazing sunset to climb the caldera in search of his mate.