+- Wolf RPG (https://wolf-rpg.com)
+-- Forum: In Character: Roleplaying (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Archives (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=11)
+--- Thread: Heron Lake Plateau Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse (/showthread.php?tid=27132)
Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Fiadh - May 10, 2018
The pack's hierarchy had drastically changed, but it didn't affect Fiadh much at all. Of the Redhawks, she liked @Raven a lot—she remembered how the medic had taught her how to splint a leg on their mini vacation during the Blackfeather war with fondness. She hadn't seen much of the woman since the move, but her promotion to Alpha came as no surprise, although Towhee stepping down did. What came as an even greater shock was @Finley stepping down. Fiadh didn't know the details and hadn't seen her dam to ask, but she knew it'd be the first question out of her mouth if she ran into her.
In light of the rest of the drama, @Quixote also being promoted to Alpha flew right under her radar for interesting news. She didn't know the dark-furred man well, but remembered him attempting to broker peace during the pack's arrival at the plateau. They'd never spoken, but she supposed if she ran into him she could come up with a few things to say. Hell, maybe he'd be more helpful than her family in helping her find a direction for her life. As she padded along the lake's edge with her eyes on a heron in the distance, morning sunshine hot on her back, Fiadh knew running into either of the new Alpha wolves would be a good thing. If nothing else, she wanted to congratulate them.
Tagging a few people I'd love a thread with, but no obligation or anything!
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Raven - May 10, 2018
I've been wanting more threads with these awesome Blackthorn kiddos! <3
It had been three days, and yet the reality still hadn't quite set in yet. I can't possibly be the alpha, she found herself frequently thinking. She wondered how the rest of the pack felt about it. She assumed everyone knew about it, and since nobody was storming out of the pack in a rage, she figured they must not disapprove too much. She wondered how many of them even knew who she was. She'd always been a little bit of a hermit, generally preferring to keep to herself with her plants and medicines. Now she'd been thrust abruptly into the spotlight, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.
On one hand, it was an opportunity to provide the pack with some calm, stable leadership that they'd perhaps missed since Finley and Elwood had stepped down. The last few months had been really hectic, and while not all of it was Towhee's fault, she had gotten a great deal of the blame simply because she was the one in charge when the metaphorical feces hit the fan. Now, they were out here by themselves in the middle of nowhere, with no other packs in sight, at this rather serene location, and the milder months of spring and summer were upon them. She didn't anticipate them getting into trouble anytime soon, so all she really had to do was keep a steady hand on the wheel and keep the little Redhawk bus to hell on the road. ...Right?
On the other hand, the whole thing simply terrified her. She wasn't the most confident or authoritative wolf, and she wondered how many might try to use that to take advantage of her. Titmouse had already given it his best shot -- a situation she was still furious about -- and a side of her had emerged that rarely ever saw the light of day. She wondered how often that would happen now that she was in charge.
Pushing these negative thoughts aside, she focused herself on the task at hand: patrolling her territory and getting to know the lay of the land a little better. Not only because she was alpha now, but also because she would always be, first and foremost, a healer. She wanted to mentally mark some of the best spots where she might find medicinal plants as the season grew warmer and more greenery filled in. Moving along the edge of the lake, she noticed quite a few plants of interest that she wanted to experiment with. As she leaned down to sniff at a particularly bright green clump of moss, a movement of bright silver caught her eye and she glanced up to find that it was one of Aunt Finley's girls, Fiadh.
She smiled at the young she-wolf, wagging her tail good-naturedly and feeling a warm swell of affection for her. As she walked toward her, the healer was struck by how lovely her sterling fur shone in the sunlight, and fleeting images of when she'd been just a fuzzy, wiggly little potato flashed through her memory. "Hi there!" she said to the girl when they were within conversational range, a big smile brightening Raven's face. "Whatcha up to?"
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Fiadh - May 10, 2018
It was always a pleasure to meet with the little black healer. Raven was always delightful to be around, mirroring the Blackthorn litter's usual vibrancy if not their verve. Of course, Raven was several years their elder. While Fiadh was the equivalent of an eight year old seeking independence and respect for the very first time, Raven was like a well put together woman who had it all figured out. Now that she was a little unsure about Towhee's place as her go-to role model, and with a little lingering butthurt over Finley's reaction to her upset, the Blackthorn found herself looking to more composed, mature wolves for cues.
Her own face broke into a wide grin and her grey tail waved jovially behind her as she pranced the last couple of feet toward Raven and answered, "not much. Was gonna go fuck with that stretchy neck freakshow," she said, jabbing her muzzle in the direction of the nervous heron, "but he doesn't look like much of a party goer. Looks like a lame-o." Her eyes shone with amusement as they returned to Raven's face—her nose, specifically, rather than her equally bright yellow eyes—and she said, "heard there's a new boss in town. Someone really awesome and smart, they say. Any idea who it could be?" Her mirth very nearly gave away her little joke—of course she knew.
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Raven - May 10, 2018
Looking at Fiadh, Raven was glad she had jumped in front of their attack during the little turf war between the Redhawks and Titmouse's band of upstarts. She had done it just as much for their protection as for her brother's -- more so, actually -- and she'd do it again a hundred times over. If Titmouse or any of his followers had harmed a single silver hair on either her or Clover's bodies, Raven might have killed them herself. No matter how she felt about their mother at this particular moment, she loved those girls like they were her own. Maybe one day they would understand, when they were older and had young family members of their own to protect.
She giggled at Fiadh's colorful description of the nearby heron -- ah, those Blackthorn kids had such a way with words! -- and then rolled her eyes playfully at the girl's totally over-the-top description of the new sheriff in town. "No idea," she replied with a genial grin and an exaggerated shrug. "Certainly couldn't be me. Is it you?" She prodded the girl lightly on the shoulder with an ink-black paw, feeling the warmth of her usual easygoing happiness for the first time in many days.
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Fiadh - May 11, 2018
Actually, some of the herons she'd seen around the lake did look like party animals, but they were still prey and didn't like hanging out with a wolf like Fiadh. She left the thought alone; the nervous heron was already taking long, awkward strikes away from the pair of canids, as if it thought it could leave unnoticed. For the most part it did. Fiadh only chanced a glance at it and noticed it moving away, which made her lips quirk even higher up. Stupid birdbrain.
She giggled when Raven played along, flapped her ears to the sides and said, "no way! I couldn't be a leader," with all the embarrassment she could muster. She would be pretty embarrassed if she ever had to lead, if only because she didn't think she was that great. Leadership belonged in the laps of wolves like Towhee and Raven—wolves who did everything for their pack. Fiadh had zero aspirations for that high a place in the pack. She was happy to serve.
"Seriously, though," she said, eyes bright as she seated herself and curled her tail over her hind paws, "congratulations! Wow! You really fucki- oops, sorry. You really deserve it!" Towhee had deserved it, too, but if there was any wolf in the pack who deserved it as much as Towhee then it was Raven, the little healer who did so much to keep them all healthy and happy, so she was pleased with the turn of events all the same.
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Raven - May 16, 2018
Sorry for the hold-up! Been out of town with spotty service. I'm back now! :)
As Fiadh protested the prospect of leadership, Raven saw glimpses of herself in the girl. I always said the same thing, little one, she thought to herself. The healer had never once envisioned herself in the role of alphaship. There had been a time, long ago, that she had envied Towhee's promotion into lower leadership over herself, but it was born more out of a desire to be acknowledged and appreciated for her contributions to the pack than it was out of any lust for authority or power. No matter who you were, it was hard to see a kid you had helped raise get promoted over you when you had been serving the pack for far longer, and in much more meaningful ways (at least that's how it was in Raven's opinion -- anyone could inflict wounds, after all, but not everyone knew how to heal them). But that was all water over the falls and downstream, so to speak, and it hadn't crossed her mind in many moons. Things sure were different now.
She giggled as the girl narrowly avoided dropping the F-bomb, and wagged her tail. "Thank you, Fi. That means a lot. And don't worry about cussing around me -- it doesn't bother me." She winked to her young friend, as if to say what happens between us, stays between us. "So tell me," she continued after a moment, batting at a fat, slow bumblebee with her paw. The bee easily dodged her -- surprisingly, really, consider its size -- and buzzed off over the water. "How are you liking this new place so far?"
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Fiadh - May 20, 2018
She watched a fat bee float through their field of vision and her eyes bugged. She'd never seen a bee that size before! She watched with some apprehension as Raven lifted a paw to wave it away and her eyes followed it as it bumbled lazily out over the lake. How are you liking this new place? "It's nice," she conceded with a smile as she turned her attention back on the new Alpha, "but it's not the Caldera. It's wet everywhere and there are too many birds. It is cool that you can just... run forever without hitting any rocks or trees. Do you like it?" She suspected that everyone else felt kind of the same. It was nice and suited them well but it wasn't home yet.
"I've been having some trouble lately," she admitted. "I want to get a trade, show I'm a good worker to the rest of the pack. I like helping with everything, though, and never know what I want to do because I don't want to get stuck doing the same thing all the time like patrolling or stocking caches, it'd be boring. Dad said you're a caregiver and that caregivers help their packs with all sorts of things." Her eyes searched Raven's face with a momentary mix of admiration and curiosity—in Fiadh's living memory, Raven had never had a legitimate apprentice to teach her craft to, and perhaps she was looking at her first possible one, but Fiadh didn't know it herself yet.
"Can you tell me about it?"
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Raven - May 21, 2018
Fiadh's words struck a chord inside Raven as she found herself agreeing with the girl. The medic missed the place of her birth more than she could really find the words to describe, and while she had thought Towhee's reasons for moving them here were pretty solid -- she certainly didn't want to spend the rest of her life worrying about Blackfeather terrorizing them further -- she still wished they could have stayed. When Fiadh asked her how she felt, she shrugged and answered, "I feel the same way you do. It's nice, but it's not like home." Now that she was alpha, she did have the authority to move the pack wherever she wanted, and it was something that lingered on her mind quite a bit. But Fiadh's little brothers were too young to make that trip again, and if Raven herself was pregnant now, she didn't think that journey was feasible anytime soon.
The girl's next words were on an entirely different subject but the alpha's ears perked with interest, especially when she inquired about Raven's own trade. Now that was something she loved to talk about, and anytime someone showed an interest in it, the medic was happy to share. "Deciding which trade you want can be hard," she agreed with a nod. "But you don't have to choose just one single thing. I'm a medic, but I'm also a midwife -- that means I help with pregnancy and puppy-birth. I also know a lot about plants so I'm working on becoming a botanist too...or I might be a counselor, who knows? If there are a lot of things you're good at or you're interested in, there's no need to restrict yourself to just one."
She paused for a beat to ensure the girl understood, then continued, "Personally, I think the caregiver trade is the most valuable one in the pack. Warriors and hunters are all necessary, sure, but when they come home all banged up, someone has to patch them up or they won't be able to continue doing their jobs. Caregivers treat wounds and sickness, manage pain, tend to pregnant and nursing mothers -- which also means hunting for them to ensure they can continue feeding their pups -- babysit puppies, and pretty much anything else that's needed to keep the pack healthy and thriving. It's a tough job and you don't get a lot of glory, but it's so rewarding. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a wounded wolf get back on his feet, or a sick wolf eat again for the first time in days -- all because of my help. There's no better feeling." Raven became aware that she was rambling on, and she smiled a bit apologetically. Fiadh had unintentionally blundered into one of her favorite subjects, and while she tended to be a somewhat quiet person, when it came to the subject of her trade, Raven could jabber on forever.
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Fiadh - May 28, 2018
She took a moment to shift her feet under her butt, getting comfortable for Raven's explanation. It was much longer than she'd expected it to be, but even though Raven's passion swept her away on a long-winded ode to caregiving, Fiadh listened raptly the entire time. The medic made several excellent points—up until then, she'd thought she would only be permitted to pursue one particular trade, but the Redhawk reminded her that she could do more than just one thing for the pack. She nodded, putting the reminder away for later consideration.
The black-furred Redhawk sure made caregiving sound like the most rewarding job in the entire world. Raven did a great job of building Fiadh's own hype about her lifestyle—the more the healer spoke, the faster Fiadh's heart beat and the more she felt proud that she had chosen this trade to express interest in. There were some wolves in the pack she didn't ever want to help—well, really only one—but everyone else here was her family. What better way to give back than to take care of all of them?
"That sounds amazing, Raven," Fiadh breathed, tail wagging over the wet ground. "How did you get started? How did you know it's what you wanted to do?"
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Raven - June 02, 2018
Raven grinned at the girl's response to her explanation, clearly pleased at the youth's interest in her work. With all the bad-assery that accompanied such roles as warrior and hunter, it wasn't often that the more subdued, intellectual pursuits got a lot of appreciation. As pupils went, Raven thought Fiadh might make a great one and, if the girl was serious about learning a thing or two about caregiving, she thought it'd be enjoyable to tutor her.
When Fiadh asked her next question, Raven was quiet for a few beats. The memory of her father's bastard daughter attempting to rip Wildfire's head off was still there, painfully clear despite the fact that it was buried deep beneath layers of repression and dulled somewhat by the passage of time. "When I was a little pup, my sister Wildfire -- I don't think you've met her, she lives in Drageda now -- got hurt." She decided the gruesome details weren't important, sparing Fiadh the exact events that had taken place. "I felt so helpless seeing her in pain. I wanted to fix her, but I didn't know how." She grinned at Fiadh now, a warmth shining in her yellow eyes as she recalled her mentor and the first real friend she'd had outside of her family. "Your aunt Tiger was a healer and a very dear friend to me. She taught me what she could and helped me find my purpose in life. Everything I know now, I've built on the foundation that she gave me."
Tiger was also one of the main reasons why Raven hadn't gone off the deep end into insanity after watching her father decapitate Wildfire's attacker. She had given Raven a purpose and something productive on which to focus her mind, thus keeping it from wandering too far and becoming lost. It was a shame Fiadh would never get the chance to know Tiger. Raven still missed the light-hearted Blackthorn and thought of her often; somehow, she thought that Fiadh would have liked her very much.
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Fiadh - June 09, 2018
Mind if we fade here? Looking to put Fiadh on PPC temporarily 'til things calm down a bit in RH and it's easier to keep up with!
"I remember her!" Fiadh put in at the mention of Wildfire. They hadn't formally met, but she remembered Drageda's warriors camping out at the Caldera and she remembered the vivid red she-wolf who had spent time with Orca and Towhee. The pups, including Fiadh at the time, had been brought to meet them, sort of, in a show of good faith. And because none of them could shut up about the super cool tough wolves from elsewhere. That had a lot to do with it.
She hadn't really heard about aunt Tiger, maybe just a name in her distant memory from Finley's stories, but it was clear how much Raven had adored her. Because Fiadh was an empath, she could feel immensely proud of the aunt she'd never known. Maybe one day Raven would be like Tiger for some young initiate who needed to help their family member. Maybe Fiadh could be, too, if she could stick with this path she was tentatively taking her first step on.
"Tell me more about her," she implored, and settled in for retellings of Tiger's history with the Caldera.
RE: Is it for the best? My reputation's never been worse - Raven - June 13, 2018
<3!!
If there was one subject that Raven was happy to wax eloquent about for hours, it was Tiger Blackthorn. Fortunately for Fiadh, she wouldn't keep her prisoner to her storytelling for hours...but she could definitely fill the girl in on lots of details about her aunt. Tiger had been Raven's favorite person in the world, and even now in her adulthood, she idolized the vibrant, kind-hearted woman. So the pair of them found a comfortably sunny spot in a patch of grass and settled down, and Raven told Fiadh all about the she-wolf who had given her a sense of purpose in the troubled, confusing days of her youth, and had inspired her to become all that she was now.