Redhawk Caldera cus in my castle i'm the freakin man.

@Birk @Burke because lol and @Orca @Malice?

That little bitch was back.

Fin cantered along the borders almost frantically, her nostrils twitching as she breathed deeply the scent of her oldest of foes. It had been years. Or year maybe.. Whatever - it had been a long time since she'd caught the scent of that asshole fox that she'd been at odds with ever since she'd first arrived at the Teekon Wilds. She'd been on the hunt for the bastard at least seven times - if not more - in the past few years and though she'd come tantalizingly close to murdering it every time, the beast had always slipped her grasp somehow.

And now it was back for round... I don't know. Thirteen. Truth be told, there was about a 68% possibility that this trail Finley was currently on would not lead to the same fox. It would lead to a fox, but maybe not the fox. But Fin was convinced as she whipped her head eagerly back and forth across her prey's zigging and zagging trail, determined that this might be their final showdown. You know, if she ever managed to actually find it.

I'm such a pest.

The pack's Xi was in a thunderous mood this afternoon, following an argument with Raven over her continued attitude with the outsiders. Didn't her sister see that she was still acclimating? That she was trying? Why didn't she get any credit for that? Besides, some of them were downright repugnant, like that Ivy chick. Towhee wanted nothing to do with them. Why couldn't she just avoid them to keep the peace? The caregiver expected so much more of her: Raven wanted Towhee to really embrace the newcomers (who weren't so new anymore). But the youth didn't understand why she kept pushing it so hard and not accepting the fact that Towhee was who she was and would never be down with anyone she perceived as an invader.

Grumbling under her breath, she tried to work out her negative energy through a patrol. She stopped short when she spotted a familiar silvery shape in the distance, heading in her direction. Finley appeared to be on a mission, judging by the way she was determinedly zigzagging along the borderline. Was she hunting? Or had she caught the scent of an intruder? Either way, the Xi kicked it into high gear, galloping forth to close the distance between herself and her godmother.

"Aunt Finley? What's up?" she panted when she reached her. Her eyes drifted to the Alpha's swollen sides and some of her foul mood began to clear up at the clear reminder of her upcoming baby siblings.

"Where are you, you little fuck..." Fin growled to herself as she stopped to prod at a fallen limb that stretched across a small copse. There was a patch of grass beneath that could possibly be hiding the fox. It didn't smell like fox at all, but the alpha wouldn't put it past the little bitch to somehow manage to remove its scent completely just to thwart her. Pregnancy brain may have had something to do with her current suspicious, idiotic ideas.

Fin didn't even look up as Towhee approached and greeted her. She had climbed onto the thin tree trunk to try and get a better angle at the patch of grass beneath and was attempting to balance as it wobbled precariously beneath her. She disregarded the mishap waiting to happen completely as she leaned over. "There's a fox running around here somewhere," Fin replied, reaching a paw to swat away some of the grass the tickled her nose, "I would like to murder it."

Towhee's eyes widened in silent alarm when the pregnant Alpha female leaped upon a log, which began to wobble. She was too caught up eyeballing the untrustworthy timber to catch what Finley said. It didn't help matters that her aunt wasn't really looking in her direction at all, obscuring her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Towhee said before abruptly asking, "Should you be up here?" Even as she spoke, she reared onto her hind legs and rested her forepaws on the wood, hoping to provide some stability. Her orange eyes flicked worriedly to her aunt's face, hoping this time to get her response.

Coincidentally, Fin didn't quite catch it when Towhee let her know she'd been unable to understand her. She was too busy in her hunt, which was really not going very well. The alpha lifted her head and straightened on the log with a huff, glaring at the place in which she'd just been quite convinced the fox was hiding. It suddenly didn't seem as plausible a location. Was it even big enough for a fox?

"I have been hunting this same fox for about four years now," Fin said, glancing over at her goddaughter and not seeing any sign of the girl's concern, "The little fucker shows up out of the blue, toys with me for hours, then just sllips away without a scratch. It's around here somewhere, fucking with me again." She clenched her teeth in irritation, swiveling haphazardly on the log to gaze off in the opposite direction, hoping to glimpse a flash of red that she could continue to chase.

There was something extremely amusing about Finley cursing so much. (An appalled looking Raven had explained the word and its meaning to her once after Towhee had approached her to ask, "What does 'fucking' mean?") But Towhee didn't comment on that. Her brows lifted in wonder when the Alpha revealed just how long this fox had been toying with her.

"Four years?" she repeated to make sure she'd caught that correctly. "Wow. We should kill it once and for all..." Towhee paused, then said, "Maybe we should call for @Phox to help?" He was an aspiring hunter, after all, and it seemed too ironic an opportunity to pass up.

Finley didn't even notice the language she was using. She usually refrained from the heavier swears around them, but the combination of pregnancy and indignant rage made her forget herself completely. It was bound to happen sooner or later, anyway, so when she eventually came to her senses, she'd be quick to forgive her discretions. Including the neverending stream of obscenities she was muttering to herself as Towhee suggested she call for Phox.

"Yes! Yes, reinforcements, good," Fin replied before tilting her head back and sending out a short howl for her nephew. She hopped down from the log a few seconds later and gave her coat a good shake, turning around again to peer in another direction. She huffed irritably and was preparing to fire off another string of curses when she stopped suddenly and turned to look back at Towhee. "You know, I was actually hunting this fox the first time I ever met your mom," she said, suddenly perfectly calm, as though she hadn't been losing her shit ten seconds prior to this.

Finley not only agreed with her, she made the telltale motions that meant she was howling for Towhee's brother. The Xi thought about mimicking her but opted against it, mostly because her godmother said something that captured her attention. She had glanced to the side but turned back in time just to catch, "—fox the first time I ever met your mom."

She paused, trying to piece together the context to the best of her ability, then killed two birds with one stone by asking, "Tell me about it?" They may as well kill some time while they waited for Phox to (hopefully!) join them to take down this fox.

A call from Finley pulled Phox from his current task: dozing on a large boulder by the caldera. He blinked lazily, large brown eyes still hazy as he hopped off the rock and onto the softer ground below. He then stretched, yawned, and finally began to trot toward the source of the howl. It hadn't sounded terribly urgent, so Phox took his time getting there.

He arrived to find Towhee and Finley talking about something or another, and he strode up, giving his sister a gentle lick on the forehead, followed by a lick to Finley's chin. "What's up?" he asked, glancing between the two ladies until one of them decided to answer.

Towhee was intrigued by the news, as Fin had anticipated. She smiled and was about to begin when Phox arrived. She nudged him affectionately on the temple in greeting. "Towhee and I are hunting a fox," she informed him, "Like, an actual one. Not a wolf named after one." She gestured with her muzzle toward the patch of grass that still smelled faintly of the little demon so Phox could take a whiff. He'd have to work pretty hard to find it under the scent of Fin all over the place, but she was confident he'd get it and be able to point them in the right direction.

"It's a fox I've run into before, and I was just about to tell your sister about how I was hunting it when I first met your mom," Fin informed him as he (I'm assuming) began to inspect the area. She glanced at Towhee with a grin.

Phox arrived promptly and Towhee grinned at her brother, then turned to face Finley as she addressed him and explained their reason for calling him here. -Do you think you can catch it?- she questioned her brother before facing Finley again and asking, -I still want to hear this story. Maybe you can tell it while he takes care of the problem?- she suggested. It was probably better for Phox to handle the little pest versus the pregnant lady and the deaf girl anyway.

Phox wagged his tail and flattened his ears upon Finley's greeting, always happy to receive affection from one of his (many) guardians. He perked his ears at hunting a fox. He was, of course, named after such an animal, but he knew that he wasn't actually a fox. Unlike his mother, he had no qualms hunting and killing the very creature that was his namesake. Perhaps that was because he didn't look like a majority of the foxes he had seen running around.

-Of course I can!- Phox boasted, as if he actually could. He did fancy himself a good hunter, and he was trying to prove to the rest of the pack that he was the best at hunting small game, and this would be a great way to show Finley that he really was the best. If this little vulpe had managed to escape her on more than one occasion, perhaps him bringing it to her would make a good impression.

Already, he had begun to sniff around, trying to find the exact scent and where it had gone off to.

Phox was far more interested in hunting than listening to the story, but Fin didn't mind. If he could bring them to the little bastard, she'd be thankful. If he could help trap the fucker, she'd be ecstatic. But if he took the kill from her, she would disown his ass. The latter didn't seem likely, especially since her pregnancy brain was fading slightly and she was beginning to doubt that the fox trail she'd found was the fox at all. She kept that to herself though, partly to preserve her pride and partly because she REALLY wanted it to be the right fox.

"Well, once upon a time in the early days of my life at the Plateau..." Fin began, angling herself so Towhee could read her lips while Phox could hear her speak aloud (if he decided to pay attention), "Peregrine randomly brought a fancy new mate home with him one day named Fox. I had met her briefly when she first arrived, though we hadn't had a chance to really speak at all."

She paused to glance at Phox as he (presumably) bounced around, sniffing the entire world. She turned back to continue, "Well, not long after she arrived, I was out hunting this little demon bitch fox when I happened upon her. We talked for a bit and then I invited her to go bat hunting with me. I think I told her some made up story about wanting to impress a guy by giving him bats... Which is absurd, but she believed me and we made plans to go jump into a cave together. And let me tell you, it's very rare to find someone who will do completely insane activities with you, but your mom didn't even hesitate when I invited her."

"Well.. she barely hesitated. I should say."

While her brother eagerly sniffed about for this legendarily pesky fox, Towhee kept her focus trained on her aunt's mouth. She "listened" raptly, brow furrowing ever so slightly when Finley referring to her mother as a demon bitch. The youth quickly realized her misapprehension and laughed inwardly, though her expression remained genuinely, politely interested in her godmother's tale.

-How do you hunt bats? Don't they have wings?- Towhee asked. -I'd be impressed if you ever brought me one,- she quipped before looking away from Finley, eyes roving searchingly for Phox. Was he having any success tracking down that evil little punk?

Phox tuned out Finley's boring, rambling story and focused on the task at hand. He simply had to find that fox. He sniffed and sniffed, finally picking up the trail and shooting after it, tail wagging excitedly behind him like a happy bouncing baby. That metaphor totally works, I promise! He sped off in the direction of the trail, leaving Finley and Towhee in the dust. He wasn't about to let some dumb story hold him back, especially when this was an exciting new challenge given to him by the one and only Finley.

In fact, he was so quick about it, Phox soon found the doggone, bright red creature, and tackled it to the ground, crushing its throat and killing it without hesitation. Proud of his accomplishment, he pranced back to the clearing with the limp body of the fox (but not the fox) hanging from his jaws. He threw it at Finley's feet and awaited his praise.

Fin had all but stopped paying attention to Phox during her story. Her feeble brain was too addled with pregnancy to hold any more than a single thought at one time, and her one thought was claimed by Towhee as the girl signed a question to her. The alpha's tail wagged as she considered. "It's actually quite fun, you just..."

It was about as far as she got before her attention was snatched away. Phox quite suddenly dropped a freshly bleeding carcass at her paws and Fin turned to stare, wide-eyed at the creature. The sight was... inexplicably alarming. There was no reason for the sudden emotion that pervaded her entire being (lol I'm kidding, they're called hormones), but reason wasn't really a necessity for Fin. She looked at the fox, looked up at Phox and Towhee, and burst into tears.

Before Finley could delve into the mechanics of bat hunting, Phox returned and plopped a dead fox at the Alpha female's paws. Towhee's brows lifted in surprise before a beaming smile took over her face. -Good job!- she signed at her brother, clearly impressed, before turning to see what their godmother thought of his slaying of the legendary fox.

She couldn't hear the noise of Finley's outburst, yet she watched as her godmother's face crumpled, then sprung a leak. "What's wrong?" she cried out aloud, touching her muzzle to her aunt's cheek in confused concern.

Well that... wasn't... what he had wanted. All of the sudden, Finley burst into tears. At least Towhee was impressed, but that hadn't really been what he was going for. He had wanted to make Finley proud, and instead he had made her incredibly sad. "What--" he began to ask, but he wasn't really even sure what to ask. "Was I not supposed to?" he asked, suddenly looking at the carcass with growing horror. Had he somehow killed something that was important to his guardian?

Hi kids! Either of you want to wrap up? You can just escort her back to Elwood for mopping up, or abandon her entirely :D

Both kids were surprised by her reaction, which was the only part of this that actually wasn't surprising. Fin was actually surprised at herself. She was not a weepy creature. She really wasn't an emotional creature at all, at least not that she outwardly showed. To break down into a sobbing mess like this was almost unheard of, and it was definitely not a sight that any of her children had ever seen before. Elwood, as the most frequent witness to her hormonal pregnancy antics, saw it regularly.

"I.. I just.. I'm sorry... I don't know... I just..." Finley hiccoughed, trying to gain control of herself enough to explain and mostly failing to the point where Phox would probably be just as lost as his deaf sister on this one, "It's just... You guys are so grown up and.. and.. you used to be so small and now you're... I mean, it's so great, but I just.. I don't..." Cue another forty-five seconds of incoherent sobbing before, "I'm sorry. Being pregnant... It's just so... It's a real bitch, kids." And then she cried some more.

It was very difficult (bordering on impossible) to read Finley's lips while she struggled through her blubbering. Towhee looked back and forth between her aunt and her brother, giant metaphorical question marks flashing above her head. She coped fairly well with her disability much of the time, though right now she felt both alarmed and frustrated.

-What's going on?- she signed at Phox as Finley sobbed intermittently. -Should we get Uncle Elwood? Or take her back to the den? Or...- Her paws went limp as she ran out of ideas. Towhee pressed closer to her godmother, hoping to console her even if she was still at a gigantic loss over this sudden turn of events.

Feel free to conclude, Remedy! :)

Fudge, I'm the slowest.

Phox didn't really understand what was going on when Aunt Finley seemed to melt and shatter all at the same time. He looked at Towhee, then back to Finley, then back to Towhee again, who asked if they should get Elwood. Yes, that seemed like a reasonable thing to do. -I'll get Elwood,- he replied, giving Finley another curious, worried look before bouncing off.

He wasn't quite sure where is uncle was, but he felt an intense sense of relief once he was away from the very scary situation of an adult not having it "together." Eventually, he found Elwood, explained the situation, and left the patriarch to deal with the situation while he went off to do some hunting.