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+--- Thread: Redhawk Caldera Strong hearts and concrete stay alive (/showthread.php?tid=23171)
Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Elwood - September 16, 2017
Shortly after their move to the rendezvous site, it had become apparent to Elwood that yet another member of their pack was missing. While he hadn't particularly cared about the departure of Burke, Malice, and Birk, he was concerned to find that Nightjar had seemingly left without a word. It wouldn't be the first time that the young Redhawk had struck out on his own, but it troubled him that he didn't know how or why he had departed.
At some point, @Finley had told him about Nightjar's visual impairment, so he hoped that she might have some answers. @Lucca had been following him around for the better part of the last hour, and he managed to pawn the boy off on @Lagan before he went in search of his mate. "Finley?" he called out after Lagan and Lucca had raced off to play a game of hide and seek. He hoped that Fin would be easy to find, but was also prepared to search for her if the opposite proved to be true.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Finley - September 16, 2017
Moving to the rendezvous site had been more exhausting than anticipated. The kids seemed thoroughly excited by the event and showed it by energetically running all over the place. Fortunately, @Raven existed, and Fin had been able to sneak away for some peace and quiet for a little while.
She was dozing in the shade of some nearby trees when she heard Elwood calling for her, not too far from where she rested. She rolled over onto her stomach and turned to look in his direction, a tired smile stretching across her muzzle. "She's not in right now," Fin called back, elevating her voice enough that he would hear while (hopefully) not drawing the attention of any of her kids. It was a good mom moment for her.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Elwood - September 17, 2017
He almost didn't see her reposed beneath the tree, but her movement as she rolled over caught his eye. Elwood smiled, happy to see that she had successfully secured some alone time for herself. Having four young children meant that the privacy of the parents was limited, especially Finley's. He moved to close the gap between them, wasting no time in throwing himself to the ground next to her and sprawling out on his side.
Although he did have a serious question to ask her regarding Nightjar, he responded to her playful banter with an ease that had developed over time. "Well, do you know where I can find her?" he asked, raising his brows at her before craning his neck to peer around as though looking for the apparently-missing mother.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Finley - September 19, 2017
Fin smiled as Elwood approached, even though she was supposed to be pretending to not be there. He laid down beside her and she inched her head towards him to nip at his toes in greeting. She fixed a thoughtful expression onto her face after he posed his question, considering how she ought to answer.
"Her children actually devoured her whole with their needyness," Fin answered, "You'll find pieces of her shared evenly in each of their little bellies." She stretched her arms ahead of her and yawned, licking her lips as she settled back in. "They're still hungry, just so you know," she added, since it was probably the case.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Elwood - September 22, 2017
He laughed. ”Maybe I can convince them to regurgitate her so I can put her back together again,” he said, but wrinkled his nose even as the words left his mouth.
Propping himself up on an elbow so he could look at Finley, Elwood grew more serious in the next moment. ”We should take advantage of this alone time while we have it,” he first advised; and he didn’t even mean it in a naughty way. It was just rare these days that they had time to themselves, and he suspected it wouldn’t last. One of the puppies would find them eventually.
”Did you know that Nightjar left?” he asked, glancing around as though expecting to see his nephew materialize.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Finley - September 24, 2017
Finley smiled at his response. "Aww, gross," she cooed, wriggling closer to him. It was a sweet sentiment, but it didn't lend itself to a nice visual. Her brows raised suggestively at his next comment. She wagged her tail and was about to give him an enthusiastic oh, hell yes, when instead of rocking her world, he... well, he rocked her world still, but in a different way.
"He left? What do you mean he left?" Fin replied, frowning in confusion. It had not been lost on her how difficult life would be for her nephew now that he was afflicted with this new disability. Nightjar was.... okay, intelligent wasn't the right word... but he wasn't stupid. He wouldn't wander off on his own - he'd know how dangerous it was for him to do so now that he was blind.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Elwood - September 27, 2017
The mood changed for an instant and Elwood briefly regretted that he wasn't putting their privacy to good use, but then Finley's brows drew together in concern over Nightjar. Elwood nodded, feeling more worried now that he realized Finley hadn't known at all about their nephew's departure. That meant that he probably really had left without letting anyone know.
"Well, I didn't see him myself, but -- I guess that's the problem. I haven't seen him," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I smelled his trail heading away from the caldera, but I was hoping he'd spoken to you. He still can't see anything, can he?" he asked. His stomach pinched with worry; he couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to survive on one's own without eyesight. Nightjar's hearing and sense of smell would only get him so far.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Finley - September 30, 2017
Fin frowned as Elwood continued. It wouldn't be the first time that Nightjar had slipped away without a word, and it might not have actually surprised her all that much were it not for the fact that he was blind now. She fixed her mate with a concerned frown, shifting uncomfortably as she considered.
"No, not that I know of," she answered, "Even if he did, I can't imagine the first thing he'd do would be to run off on his own without saying anything." She bit her lip, trying to stop her mind from going where it... "You don't think.. Towhee...?" ...couldn't help but go.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Elwood - October 03, 2017
Elwood shook his head in agreement, although the back and forth motion indicated the opposite. While Nightjar had vanished without a word previously, he just couldn't imagine him doing so now that he was missing one of his most vital senses. But Finley raised a question that hadn't yet crossed his mind, and his frown grew deeper as Towhee's name was mentioned.
"I didn't smell her near his trail," he said slowly, thoughtfully. "But do you think she would have said something to him?"
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Finley - October 03, 2017
Fin didn't like to doubt her goddaughter. She liked to think that Towhee had taken their last conversation greatly to heart. It had, after all, been quite an epic moment for their relationship. But still, the alpha couldn't help it when her mind went there. It just didn't make sense to her that Nightjar would leave of his own accord, and his younger sister was simply the likeliest culprit for being the one to drive him out by force.
Elwood's question drove her thoughts further, and after a moment, she felt the tension in her shoulders ease. "No. No, she wouldn't do that. Not again, and not to her own brother," Fin answered, feeling confident in her response. Towhee could certainly be callous and blunt in her loyalty to the Caldera, but it was driven fiercely by loyalty to her family. Nightjar was family. This wasn't Towhee.
"What do we do?" she asked. There was no reason really to understand why he had gone. It only mattered that he was gone, and now they needed to determine how to handle it.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Elwood - October 04, 2017
While they didn't have a true answer, Elwood was happy to agree with Finley on this matter. He just couldn't imagine Towhee forcibly removing her older brother -- verbally or physically -- from the pack, especially without first consulting her godparents. And until some sort of evidence presented itself, he was content to give her the benefit of the doubt. Innocent until proven guilty, right?
With that settled, they needed to figure out what they were going to do about Nightjar's abrupt absence. Part of him wanted to put together a search party to go looking for him, but their numbers had waned and they were only just beginning to recover from the shortage of prey. Would it make sense to send their best hunters out to track him? He didn't particularly like his own reasoning, but he didn't necessarily think so.
"I'll keep an eye out for him when I'm patrolling, and we can tell Towhee to watch for him too, since she spends a lot of time near the borders," he said. After a pause, he added, "And we hope for the best."
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Finley - October 14, 2017
Elwood offered a suggestion - a sound, logical one, as always. She smiled sadly at him, shaking her head gently as affection glowed in her eyes. What would she do without this man? She'd have caused the collapse of the Caldera a long, long time ago for sure. Unless she'd killed herself by teasing a bear first. Actually, that sounded more likely. Good thing there's Elwood.
Fin dropped her gaze after a moment, sighing softly. "We seem to be hoping for the best a lot lately," she said. The faces of her lost kids swam through her mind - Lucy, Eljay, Nightjar, Whip, Titmouse, Liffey (they all belonged to her, Peregrine and Fox be damned). All had disappeared under her care, most without a trace. She thought of her latest four, wondering which of them would run away from her.
"What do you think of taking our remaining kids underground and never letting them leave," she asked, thinking of the Ballroom. It was large enough to fit the entire pack. They'd have to figure out how to get food down there, though. She supposed Lagan and Towhee were trustworthy enough that they could go out to hunt for everyone and they wouldn't leave forever. Well, unless being forced to live out their lives in a cave was some kind of dealbreaker.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Elwood - October 16, 2017
Finley's quip was sobering, and Elwood gave her a small, wry smile in response. Although she didn't mention any of their missing children by name, he found himself thinking of them too. But in spite of their losses, he still knew they were doing their very best. They had worked hard to provide for every youth that had been in their care, and while not every story had a happy ending, he had to believe that they had done all they could for each individual. If he thought otherwise, the pain would be overwhelming.
"What do you think of taking our remaining kids underground and never letting them leave?" Finley suggested a moment later, and he nodded his agreement instantly. "I think that's a great idea," he said. "Redhawk Underground. Our kids might be awkward and have no social skills and be afraid of sunlight, but at least they'll be safe, right?" He chuckled, snuggling against his mate.
RE: Strong hearts and concrete stay alive - Finley - October 19, 2017
Fin smiled at her mate's response. "I knew you'd get it," she replied, snuggling him back with a wag of her tail. Her smile faded as she laid her head down across Elwood's paws, tucking her head against his chest. She saw Nightjar in her mind, along with all of the other children she had known throughout her life that either were hers or she considered them hers. With a pained sigh, she shifted him over into the column alongside her other lost kids who had gone, never to be seen again. She pushed herself tighter against Elwood, considering herself unbelievably lucky that in the midst of all this loss, she had not lost him. And she be damned if she ever did.