Heron Lake Plateau I name this boat Roast Beef. May God bless her and all who sail in her.

Clouds rolled in and hung around not too long after noon.  That was nice -- no bright sun around to cook him today.  It made going for a longer patrol somewhat appealing while he had the chance.  As usual, he'd stopped by the den earlier to bug the kids and Raven and take a short siesta before going about his business.  Quixote did rather like that part of the day, and there were certainly times where he wished they hadn't gotten the promotion, that he could just spend the day with his family instead of having any other responsibilities, but hey.. Here he was.  Stuff wasn't always fair.

It was definitely quiet out in this part of the world. It was a good thing, right? He wound his way over to the borders, a now very familiar walk that he'd taken so many times that he didn't want to count.  The biggest decision of the moment -- did he go downhill to the base of the cliffs or just up and around by the river and thicket?

She spent the morning looking for Tegan, only to abruptly remember he'd told her he was going on a scouting trip several days ago. Kicking herself inwardly and mumbling under her breath, Towhee instead headed toward the borders to begin a patrol. En route, she stumbled across a garter snake sunning itself and took a nasty bite to the foreleg. She was still cursing and shaking her foot when she reached her destination, only to discover that she wasn't flying solo today.

"Yo," she called out to the Alpha male, walking unevenly toward him (hopping every other step because that shit stung). "I just got bitten by a damn snake," she muttered in case he was wondering, gingerly setting her foot down on the ground and then looking up at Quixote's face. "I smashed its skull against a rock and hurled its body as hard as I could. It actually got stuck in a tree."

As he was musing he heard someone approaching, turning to see Towhee heading his way.  It had been a while since they'd talked more than in passing.  She'd come by to see the pups and stuff, sure, but Quixote was an awkward turtle so he hadn't done much for conversation.  Their last time they actually chatted?  It was kind of weird from his perspective, wasn't it?  Honestly, he still hadn't figured out the whole being social thing.

She did seem to be limping a bit, and he was prepared to just brush it off as some ordinary misadventure when she started to explain it.  Hey. Then as she continued, his expression went from vague concern to sort of a "yikes, okay then" kind of expression.  He blinked owlishly.  So uh, left it as a snack for X I guess?  He grinned awkwardly.  It was perhaps a little bit more detail than he would have given if he'd been through the same thing.  Then again, his adventure falling off a short cliff had pretty much been summarized as, "I kinda slipped."  And it's been long enough you're sure you're not gonna keel over during a patrol, right?  Though not a herpetologist, Quixote knew some snakes were dangerous at least.  Honestly, he just left all of them alone if he could, not really worth the risk.  For real, though, he had no idea if someone could even treat a venomous snake bite but if he did need to call Raven, he'd rather do so before it was an emergency...

Quixote's quip earned a dry bark of a laugh from Towhee. "Guess so," she agreed, then shook her head in response to his concern. "It was just a garter snake. Been battling them since I was ye tall." She held her paw about six inches off the ground, smirking faintly. "I'll be fine. It just stings like a bitch."

The Beta's attention strayed upward. The snake had been sunning itself, yet the sky had grown overcast now. Her orange eyes dropped back to the vicinity of the Alpha male's face. "We can probably get a round in before it starts to pour. Shall we head out?" Without waiting for an answer, Towhee motioned the way and began to walk parallel with the foot of the plateau.

Jumbled midnight post, aw ye

Will trust you on that, then.  Think I'll stick to being fine with not taking chances.  Now that the initial "wait, what" of it all had passed, it did seem like a pretty Towhee-ish thing to do, for whatever reason.  All the strange or bad cards she'd been dealt, she always seemed to shrug it off and keep rolling.  Go figure she'd run into snakes often enough to know them apart that well.

He still couldn't help but think that tinge of awkwardness he felt was ever going to go away.  Though Quixote didn't have a problem accommodating her, he couldn't help but think there was a certain amount of general failing to communicate that would always be there, and Towhee heading off without waiting for an answer was just a symptom of that -- Qui's ptero was often broken and slow, so even if they tried to communicate on a level field, it just... wasn't.

He didn't lag too far behind though, and quickly caught up to walk alongside her.  Yeah.  Awkward.  Qui waited to catch her eye so he could at least make sure they were going to be on the same page, Hopefully another day with nothing concerning.  Anything you've been monitoring?  At least recently there hadn't been too much that needed a direct response from what he could tell.  A few smaller predators, but the last big thing that stumbled through the area was that bear a while back unless a thread was missed.

She sensed him dropping behind, only to catch up a moment later. Towhee turned toward him, reading his lips as he posed a question. Her own lips pursed before she replied, "There was a wildcat of some sort lurking near Caiaphas's den. Tegan and I trailed it but it disappeared over the plateau's ledge, one of the steepest sections. I assume it climbed down somehow but I'm not sure where it went. I haven't smelled it again and neither has she."

But she'd continue to keep her guard up and her eyes peeled for a while before assuming the cat was gone for good, which she demonstrated by scanning their surroundings at length before turning to Quixote again. "It's been pretty quiet around here lately. I was actually thinking of taking a small trip soon, as long as that's okay with you and Rave."

Had he smelled that cat when he was doing patrols?  Maybe.  But if it was near such a sharp dropoff he probably hadn't paid much attention, figuring nothing would enter or exit there.  Well, he'd have to definitely examine things a bit closer.  Hm.  The pups are getting big enough they'll start getting a bit more freedom soon, so it better stay gone if it wants to stay alive somewhere.  He had no problem protecting his family from anything that happened to show up.  It was one of the things he was sure of, even if he had a lot of questions about the way things went as the future unfolded.

I don't think it'd be too much of a problem.  Stuff has been quiet, so as long as it stays that way... Shrug.  If vanishing felines kept sharing features with ghosts instead of something more corporeal, then they could probably manage.  What've you got planned?  Quixote... Hadn't really been anywhere since he'd taken the rank.  There was that one trip to go see Tindome only to find they weren't there.  Quixote didn't think he'd be able to convince himself to go too far with the kids still smallish anyway.

Towhee merely nodded at Quixote's statement. The cat would have to get through several wolves first before it ever had any hope of reaching the Alpha pair's pups, herself included. She wouldn't hesitate to lay down her life for those kids. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that, of course.

The Alpha male didn't seem to take an issue with her idea, nor did he seem particularly surprised. Towhee wondered at that—she was such a dedicated homebody, she'd expected at least some questioning or even outright resistance—but made no mention of it. Quixote's attitude favored the likelihood of Towhee seeing her trip through.

"I just have this weird itch, I guess. I just want to see what's become of the caldera." That was silly, she knew. It would still be there, the same as they'd left it. "I wonder if anyone lives there or anywhere else nearby," she added, to make the venture sound a little less aimless. "I wonder if they're still there..." she continued, expression darkening. Towhee had little doubt that the Blackfeathers were probably still thriving in their grimy woods.

Oh yikes I didn't realize it had been so long on this thread, sorry!

Recently it had seemed like so many people had gone on trips for various reasons, another didn't seem out of the ordinary.  Even Towhee had gone on that jaunt to Moonspear.  She probably had a lot more of a connection to the territory she was born on than Quixote did.  So why not?  

Hey, fair enough reason to want to go on a trip. -- But that would be pretty weird to go find another pack there, huh?  What happens if they call themselves Redhawk Caldera too? The thought amused him.  He looked to Towhee to see if she found the possible identity crisis as amusing as he did.  Okay, she probably wouldn't but eh.  Whatever.  Maybe his sense of humor was just odd.

But you mean Blackfeathers, yeah?  I wouldn't risk it, but that's just me.  Quixote wouldn't poke that sleeping bear, even if they had many more miles between them.  So far, things had been peaceful, and if they had forgotten or not learned where the Redhawks had moved to, he was fine with them remaining ignorant for as long as possible.

's all good, though do you mind closing up shop? :)

"That would be..." Towhee shrugged uncomfortably. It made sense—if you didn't take the neighbors into consideration—that another pack might look at the caldera as a viable territory. And she'd always told herself it was just a chunk of land. But the idea definitely didn't sit well with her. For that and other reasons, she really hoped it was empty when she got there.

"I'm definitely not going there," she said quickly, voice as flat as ever. She tried to catch Quixote's eye to be extra sure he understood she wasn't going on some kamikaze mission to Blackfeather Woods. "I'm curious. But not that curious."

The conversation entered a natural lull then as the pair continued on their way. Towhee fell easily into the mindless pattern of scouring the area with her eyes and nose, her ears twitching as if in response to sounds she could never hear. They fully splayed when the first raindrops splattered the dark fur between them. It was colder than she expected, given the August heat, and she decided right away she'd rather shelter than continue in the rain.

Following a silent exchange with the Alpha, Towhee moved swiftly toward the plateau's base, where the overhang provided a good measure of protection from the rain. It quickly grew heavy, Towhee's entire body drumming with its beat in the silent silvery rush.

Good.  Enjoy the trip, though.  We'll try not to have anything too crazy happen while you're gone, but no promises.  A slight grin at that.  The pups were good at getting into trouble on their own.  Then there were these crazy adults that also seemed to end up in whatever pile of mischief could be found nearby.  Certainly they should have a quite boring time in comparison...  Right?  Ah, who the hell knew.

Quixote, on the other hand, wasn't too bothered by the rain, he'd continue the patrol.  The time he'd spent neglecting his duties when Raven was injured still made him feel guilty at times.  He was able, so he'd continue, even if the world tried to drown him.