Mount Apikuni ivory

Redd had changed her mind once more.  This, however, did not feel like a true change.  It felt more like a wisdom that had been hidden from her before.  A wisdom that now lay revealed, torn bare by the weeks spent away and alone.  The eagle mountain had soothed her but held nothing she wanted.  Her heart had not come with her, and when she called, it was in the mournful cry of the wolf separated from her pack.

She had been in no shape to challenge.  But better to let them ruin her in the attempt than live with this emptiness.  Better to try and fail bitterly than to live alone.

She would return.  She knew @Ruckus would follow either way, though she did not rush their return the way she had their departure.  They had time.

She would return and she would challenge for her place among them.  She would lose and hope in this the damnable hunger died.  It did not matter if Wealda was killed so long as something new was born.  She could not continue as nothing.

approved reply, even though this is read-only. just the one from me. <3

While they were not gaining the recommended amount of weight as the days went by, they were gaining some of it. Their body grew gangly and awkward as they entered their teenage phase, and their eyes had finally settled into their final color: a gentle, soothing shade of lilac. Little had changed about their behavior, except they now stayed closer when Redd hunted. They observed the way she tracked down prey, the way she stalked it, the way she went in for the kill, and the ways in which their food got away. Ruckus had become an adept observer in their short lifetime, and now they had begun to hunt smaller things—bugs, mostly—while Redd was off hunting more filling meals.

They departed the eagle-filled mountain, and Ruckus did not question Redd's intentions anymore than they ever had. Whatever Redd decided to do, it was what Ruckus would do, too. They had never been able to sense her mood, so if there was a shift in that, the younger Redtail did not notice. For now, they simply followed. Each day would see them growing a little bit larger (although slowly), and by the time they reached whatever destination they were heading to, the juvenile would appear slightly more mature than they had prior.