Redhawk Caldera No protest from me.

A couple hours after being welcomed. He's patrolling if anyone wants to encounter him.

Having been told to keep clear of the rendezvous site for a few days, Njal was careful in his advancement through the territory. He wanted to map out as much of it as he could before Fox returned. There was a lot to cover, too - the forests he arrived through were not part of their territory, but close. And they led up some steep inclines to the mountainous walls which kept the Redhawk wolves secure. Njal thought that he felt eyes upon him on more than one occasion, but that did not stop his march; he inspected the summer grasses and visited trees where the scent of Fox and Peregrine were the strongest, gathering their scent - or making sure he was carrying it suitably - while mapping his new home. He had not stopped to rest since departing on the journey in to the south. Even after being welcomed by Peregrine (if that could be classed as a welcome), Njal had not paused for sleep or a meal. He felt he had a job to do. Peregrine's warning about the rendezvous site - and the attack on his children - set Njal's mind in stone. He wouldn't rest for a while yet. There was too much to do.

Njal may have been instructed to keep his distance from the rendezvous site, but nobody said that Nightjar couldn't find his way out of it. In fact, it was a bit of a habit lately. You see, Nightjar was made restless by his sister's success in what he felt was his area of expertise (he was a child and so expert was a bit of a stretch, but try telling him that). He was immensely proud of her, but also disappointed in himself, and so he found himself away from the rendezvous site more often than not. Whether it was to stay out of Wildfire's way until he earned his own stripes or because he was determined to prove himself by being as adult as possible, nobody knew.

He slipped away whenever no one was watching, just like today. The three month old fancied himself powerful enough to man the borders just like his father, old enough to do as he pleased, and the instinct to protect thrummed through his blood, so that was where he was headed. That he wasn't supposed to leave the rendezvous site didn't really matter to him. Instinct overrode that.

It took quite some time to get there, but Nightjar arrived just in time to see Njal disappear around the trunk of a tree. The pup was quite naive, and so one would think he would give chase, but Nightjar was also very instinctual. He didn't need to chase down the stranger on the border, for the scent of Fox lay upon him, marking him as one of the pack. There was no doubt. Nightjar did follow Njal though, as silently as he could, which wasn't very silently at all, for he was a burly and brawny cub without much grace to his name.

Fox had found the perfect land to lay claim to. The mountain walls were the perfect deterrent to many predators, and there appeared to be only a limited number of routes in to the heart of the territory - although he would have to wait before exploring the most important ones. There was a massive source of water at the heart as well. Njal could sense the nearby lake, smelling the wetness in the air, the crisp quality that lent itself to the wind. But that was not the only thing he detected. He did not stop his perusal of his surroundings, but the old warden paid more attention to the pungent scent of wolf which emerged as he walked.

There were sounds as well. A few tell-tale signs that he was being followed - and not by anyone of great skill. Njal turned towards a nondescript tree, as if thoroughly interested in it, and raised his torso up - placing his paws upon the trunk - to examine the branches; as he did this, a tiny flock of songbirds leapt from the tree out of fear. Peering up, he would seem to be distracted by something in the boughs. Hopefully this would tempt the young adventurer closer.

To Nightjar, this was all a great success. Normally when he followed someone, they turned to face him as soon as he gave himself away, but this wolf seemed oblivious to him. The boy pitched his working ear further forward and sped up, crunching twigs and stones underfoot without a care in the world where he placed his paws. Obviously, Njal didn't hear him no matter how loud he was.

Njal had heard him, though, and was playing Nightjar like a fiddle. When the much older wolf turned to inspect a tree, the cub side-stepped sloppily out of his line of sight and hunched his shoulders. While his main purpose for stalking Njal was a mystery even to him, he observed readily the elder male's behaviour. He would copy it later, but right now the old wolf was vulnerable and Nightjar had the element of surprise (or so he thought).

With a growl that hung somewhere between playful and ferocious, the three month old charged Njal's swaying tail with the intent of knocking the man off balance. If he could prove that he was able to sneak up on and beat up (read: spar with, since he was a pack mate after all) an adult, his parents would make him a master Warrior and Warden for sure!

The youth who trailed him must have been young, for he could not even mask the sound of his own feet. And while Njal pretended not to notice, he noticed many things. Not only was this wolf growing louder because of his proximity, but they were growing careless in their steps - bold, obnoxious even. No stealth had been taught to this wolf. Or, if it had, they were too dim to catch on to the concept. So, the wolf that watched him now was either very young or very stupid. 

As the child burst from his hiding place, teeth snapping in the direction of Njal's downturned tail, he got his answer. It was only a boy -- and as Njal returned to his four paws, whipping around in a crescent to face the oncomer as well as protect his own tail -- his first thought upon seeing the boy was, "Val-?" He didn't know he had spoken until a moment later, and the surprise, the heart-in-his-throat feeling, evaporated. Njal cut the name off before he could utter the full thing, but he still felt a weight in his heart.

This boy looked to be about the same age as Njal's own, back when they had gone missing. His expression turned quite serious then, reminded of so many things, and Njal looked around. No, this wasn't his son - but it was one of the precious children, and he was wandering the territory without a guardian. "What are you doing out here?" Njal's voice was all too firm. He gave a sweeping glance of the surroundings to be certain that the child was alone, and that only made him grow more tense. "You should be - somewhere else." 

At the rendezvous site, most likely. It was unfortunate Njal wasn't technically allowed to go there - but he would have to bend the rules a little. "Come, we are returning." Except... "Which direction did you come from?" This was a great way to spend the first few hours in a new home where nobody trusts you. Babysitting the Alpha's kid.

Damn, he'd been outed. The wolf dropped from the tree and turned in a quick, tight circle, evading Nightjar's blow altogether and halting the pup in his tracks. Whatever Njal had been about to say fell on deaf ears, for the cub was too busy looking for another opening to even notice the guardian speaking. He twisted this way and that on the spot, picking up and setting down his broad front paws with impatience as he sought another way to catch this man off guard and win the spar... that is, until Njal spoke more than a half-word and Nightjar looked up to see his stern expression.

"I'm a Warden!" Nightjar announced. It wasn't really true, but then, it was sort of true. He was training to be a Warden (and a Warrior) and that was good enough, right? Njal told him he should be somewhere else and Nightjar proudly nodded, but didn't budge when the guardian told him to come. Instead, he scrunched up his face into his most menacing snarl and declared, "I challenge you!"

For you see, Nightjar wasn't so belligerent as to absolutely refuse to follow Njal, but what little cleverness he had, he would employ to stall. There was nothing to do at the rendezvous site. It was hardly fitting practice for such a strong and capable child. This, this was much better for him, and in all his infinite wisdom, he had decided that this was what he wanted to do today. Stubbornness would root him here as long as he could keep his feet on the ground.

helP he's so cute ;n;

Njal may have been a father due to biology, but he had never been given the chance to really father anyone. So when the boy disregarded his words, he was a little taken aback and didn't know what to do. He couldn't make the child obey, that wasn't right. And there was no reason for this kid to obey Njal anyway, he'd never met him. 

If Fox's kids obeyed every adult that showed up on their doorstep, they'd be easy targets. Still, Njal didn't particularly like being ignored. When the boy boasted about being a Warden, the older wolf scoffed softly; he wasn't looking at a Warden, he was looking at an overzealous Apprentice who didn't understand the seriousness of the position he clearly wanted to take.

And all Njal could think was, 'I'm getting old.' When had he become such a stick-in-the-mud?

"You really want to challenge me?" The man muttered, swishing his tail behind him and giving it a quick glance - not a hair out of place. He tried to relax a bit, and at least play in to the fantasy presented by the boy - even though it was ridiculous, and dangerous (at least in his opinion). 

"How about this -" Njal took a few more steps, carefully avoiding the boy's path but also, sort of, herding him in the direction Njal believed he had come from. "If you can grab my tail by the time we reach the meeting site, you win, and.. I'll help train you. You want to be the best Warden, right?" That seemed like a good way to motivate the kid. What about a caveat? 

"If you can't, then..." He paused in his walking, and feigned a curious, thoughtful expression. "Then you have to give it up, forever." Njal looked serious again, but there was a glimmer in his eyes that hadn't been there for many months. The kid wasn't going to fail outright - he'd likely not fail at all - but the old man enjoyed playing it up a little. He'd make the boy work for it, for sure.

"Yeah!" Nightjar said with a determinedly furrowed brow. He was about to launch himself at the grizzly Warden again, but Njal stopped him by presenting an even better challenge. Without even knowing him, the old Sveijarn had appealed to Nightjar's one and only desire. The man immediately leapt to the top of his list of favourite pack mates, just under Finley and Elwood, but still leagues under his father. Peregrine was on a permanent pedestal ever since the incident with Junior, and none could approach the heights to which Nightjar idolized his father.

Still, Njal was able to claw his way up there, earning a grin from Nightjar. There was a catch but it didn't mean a whole lot to him, and the severity of what he was buying into certainly didn't register, mainly because he was a kid but also because he was brazen to the point of stupidity. Nightjar wouldn't fail anyway. He was the best Warden/Warrior, after all, after Fox and Peregrine.

He just had to get the tail before they got to the rendezvous site. Well, the rendezvous site was some distance off and Nightjar had never taken more than ten minutes to win these games. "You're on!" the young Redleaf-DiSarinno agreed, and without any further hesitation, he charged headlong at Njal. It was the only way he knew how to fight. In fact, even if someone tried to teach him strategy, this unstoppable bull-rush would be Nightjar's only fighting style for his entire life, and it would be effective because of how large he would become. It was hardly effective now. It was wild and untamed, yes, but clumsy and slow... fitting for a large boy with a brain the size of a pea. Speaking of which, he'd already sort of forgot that he was supposed to be being clever. He truly thought he could get to Njal's tail by fighting through him.

The boy took him up on the offer, which was fully expected. No boy could resist the call to battle - Njal had been the same way, his brothers too. He had hoped his sons would have been just as eager to learn -

Nightjar was barrelling at him suddenly, charging straight for the old man. It wasn't the best tactic when one wanted to be precise. Njal's thoughts faded quickly, replaced by the need to adjust and avoid. While Nightjar was practically running in to Njal, the silver man turned his body so that the boy would collide with his shoulder - or bypass him entirely - and side-stepped quickly. 

If Nightjar continued to use his bull-rush, they'd make it back to the rendezvous site pretty quickly - and Njal doubted the boy could grab his tail if he was so keen on using this tactic. 

With a deep chuckle rolling from his chest, Njal reached with his snout and booped Nightjar as he went stampeding past him. "Is that all you've got?"

Yes! He'd done it! Njal was caught off guard, and Nightjar sl—

Oh, wait. The grizzled wolf moved at the last moment and Nightjar, who had braced himself for impact, went stumbling past the older wolf's shoulder. He turned a slow circle, slowing to a canter, with his right ear aloft and his left trailing behind, useless as always.

He didn't know what else to do. If Njal could evade him that easily, then there wasn't much hope for him getting the man's tail. If faced with an enemy, precision wouldn't matter in the slightest to Nightjar—he would shred anything in reach without any regard for precision—but this wasn't an enemy and his goal was not to eradicate. His goal was to hit the mark.

Unfortunately, his thought process ended there and his instincts took over, and his instincts told him to do it again but to turn this time. So, like before, he charged headlong at Njal with his sharp little teeth bared, but this time he swung to the left, as if to intentionally pass by the older male... but he would skid at the last moment and turn his jaws toward Njal's rear, as if the Warden would actually permit it. This was the extent of his tactical approach for now, and was almost the extent of his tactical approach for life. Feigning was the most advanced thing he would ever do, and yet he was too young, too unpracticed, to think of that now.

It was good to see that the boy wouldn't give up. That trait alone - that drive - was very important to anyone wanting to be a real warrior. But Nightjar still didn't have what it took to grab Njal's tail. He wasn't quite fast enough. There was power in the child, a bulk that could be trained and used later in life, and likely would be his prime asset, but not enough speed, and no precision to speak of. Njal knew that the boy would fail his second attempt even as he braced for it, and the old wolf ignored the feignt as easily as Nightjar had ignored his earlier comments; the boy's teeth grazed the fur of Njal's hip before snapping at air.


This kid had something. Njal wasn't quite sure what that something was, yet. But his interest was piqued. He was reminded of a certain fiery girl from his days in Kindred, and the fond memory took him away from the game he was playing. It was brief, but left Njal open for a third attack from Nightjar - and it was entirely possible that the proven warrior's drifting mind would play out to the advantage of Nightjar. It felt right to be playing this game - it felt right that Njal was teaching a younger generation something such as this. The way that Sterntooth had once taught him, through trial and error.

He missed his mark again, and again he cantered some short distance away to regroup. By now he was panting, not yet able to control his energy exertion in this state, but he wasn't ready to quit. After all, Njal had said if he couldn't get his tail, he would need to give up, and since Warden and Warrior were the same thing in the child's opinion, that was a much worse fate than Njal probably knew. To be neither Warden nor Warrior meant leaving Redhawk Caldera.

It didn't exactly click that Nightjar would not be sent away over a challenge like this. He wholly believed his entire life was on the line.

So he charged again, swung left again, and went for the tail again. He did so with a ferocity unknown to him before. His focus was singularly on Njal's tail. It was his sole goal. And so, driven by this and the worry that he would not win, Nightjar came on faster and stronger than his previous attempt, and in his eyes burned a fervent fire as he slammed on the brakes as hard as he could and whipped around to make another grab at the expert Warden's elusive tail.

Yes, this boy would make a good warrior one day - or a warden, or both. There was a great amount of fire inside of him, and as Njal already had identified this, he was only a little surprised when the boy's next attack was of a more voracious nature. Breaking from his thoughts of the past, Njal focused properly upon the game. 

He saw the attack coming and had time to counter it, or at least to avoid it, but Njal also knew the desperation within Nightjar; he saw the boy's dire expression and knew he had to give in. The first feignt was expected, and Njal followed it with ease. Nightjar was fumbling towards him at a greater speed than before, and with more insistence, his teeth snapping close to Njal's rear end - so he waved his tail, and in that instant, the boy came to an abrupt stop and grabbed.

There was a pinch as the kid's teeth sank in to a strong hold upon Njal's precious tail, and he grit his teeth to prevent himself from yelping. "Ayy!" He all but bellowed, turning around in a way that let him face the boy. The section of Njal's tail which wasn't held by the pup wiggled a little, as if that would free him. "Okay, okay, you got me! Well done -" That hurts, jeeze.

He half-expected to miss again, so when Nightjar's jaws closed over the male's fluffy tail, he froze for a moment. His teeth remained shut even as the guardian began to wiggle what remained exposed of his tail, and for the briefest instant, Nightjar had the overwhelming urge to try to rip it off. It faded immediately upon remembering that Njal was a pack mate and not an enemy, and he promptly let go as soon as that thought occurred to him.

He didn't apologize, though, because he was young and also because apologized was for wimps. He wasn't a wimp! And so he stood proudly and smiled at the Warden, but didn't celebrate or gloat. He could do that later when he was with his siblings.

Speaking of which, they were almost to the edge of the rendezvous site, and Nightjar hadn't even introduced himself to the poor older wolf he'd been assaulting.  He turned on his huge paws and, still smiling broadly, said, "'m Nightjar! I'm gonna be a grea' Warrior an' a Warden!" Nevermind that he'd claimed to already be a Warden. He'd already forgotten that. "So you'll train me?" he asked excitedly.

For Peregrine was the best Warden, but Njal had climbed rapidly to second best, and being trained by the best two Wardens in the pack was more than Nightjar could've ever asked for.

After a few moments the kid released his tail. They were both surprised by his success, evidently. Njal didn't like the feeling of teeth set upon his tail, but it was over quickly, and he wasn't concerned by what had happened. The boy had done it, and Njal would be true to his word. "Of course I'll train you. I gave you my word, and I can't break it." 

But maybe it would be a good idea to talk to Fox or Peregrine first. Nightjar was obviously going to be a powerful wolf, but he needed to hone his skills. "I'll talk to your dad first, to make sure he isn't against the idea. OK? We can start in a few days." Unless Peregrine was thoroughly against the idea - Njal had no intention on stepping on anyone's toes, and Peregrine was already nervous about him.

Njal watched as Nightjar sauntered towards the rendezvous site, and Njal did not follow. He waited only a moment longer, and then slunk away, heading off for more patrolling.