Heron Lake Plateau so long

After telling Wildfire that he'd join up with her new pack for sure, Eljay had stayed there to discover a bit (and because he was a pussy who didn't like leaving territories, so he wanted to feel safe in his new one for a little bit before travelling again). Mommy and daddy had visited, but they had returned here, to the Plateau, eventually. When he returned to the borders he was reminded of what'd happened with Bat and felt a stirring in his stomach, a nervous and guilty feeling. It was easier to forget about it though, simply pretend like it wasn't true, and so he easily fell back into that, like he had in the past when wolves died who really weren't supposed to die yet.

As he arrived at the Plateau borders Eljay called for @Finley and @Elwood. He'd welcome any of his siblings but he would call for them later to inform them. First, he wanted to let mommy and daddy know, and ask them when they were coming too.

I'm going to say this is after Finwood talk about moving to the copse, if that's okay!

Elwood and Finley had only just made the decision to move to Sun Mote Copse with Wildfire; nothing had been set into motion just yet, but there was a lot on Elwood's mind. He was distracted when he heard Eljay calling for him, and the last thing he expected his son to tell him was that he had independently elected to go with Wifi, but he was about to be pleasantly surprised.

For now, though, he was relatively clueless as he hastened to answer Eljay's call, finding him near the borders -- which wasn't a common place for the boy to hang out. Already, Elwood's interest was piqued. "What's up, Eljay?" he asked amiably as he approached and coasted to a halt, planning to share his own news once he found out Eljay's purpose.

Making the decision to move to the Copse had been the easy part, in retrospect. Now that it had been made, Fin was faced with the challenge of actually informing her kids of that decision. Now that was going to be rough. Much of her reasoning for leaving had been made with their best interests in mind, but she somehow didn't think they would see it the same way once they found out. Honestly, the best approach would be to let Elwood tell them while she went on ahead and got settled in the Copse. Somehow, that didn't seem fair. Or helpful. Or like it was actually the best approach it all. It was probably just the easiest.

Speaking of telling kids, Fin was interrupted from her thoughts by her eldest's call. She frowned a little anxiously, wondering what this might be about. Knowing there was only one way to find out, she made the trip to the borders to meet him. She was pleased to find Elwood there already so if the conversation came down to the whole hey, we're bailing on you thing, she at least had him as a buffer. But even as she stepped up to join the little party and failed to consider how odd it was to find Eljay here of all places (and subsequently realize what it must mean), she didn't think it would come to that. She already suspected her son might follow Wildfire, as he'd accidentally ended up doing before when he'd wound up in Drageda's ranks. So really, there wasn't anything to worry about here at all.

She hoped.

Eljay felt nervous and giddy, but mostly nervous, as daddy and then mommy showed up. He wasn't really sure how to tell them, so Eljay decided to just tell them right away: I'm joining the Copse, and uncle Colt, too. There was a rare touch of enthusiasm in his voice. Truthfully, Eljay didn't know uncle Colt super well, but he was proud that he'd brought his uncle into the pack though, adding a useful adult to the ranks.

When are you guys coming..? he asked a little uncertainly, knowing they'd talked about probably coming but finding a little anxiety creeping up on him because what if they'd changed their minds..?

Finley arrived shortly after Elwood did, and both parents turned their gazes expectantly to Eljay. In a rather un-Eljay-like manner, he got right to the point, and even spoke with a confidence that was rare for the tender-hearted boy. Not only was he planning to join up with Wildfire, but Colt would be there, too. Elwood glanced at Finley at that news, sure that she would be happy to hear that her brother was sticking around, even after the mess with Niamh.

Eljay followed up his statement with a question, and Elwood heard that the familiar waver was back in his voice. It was understandable; they hadn't discussed their plans with any of their children thus far (or at least, he hadn't), and he could see how that would be unnerving for Eljay. Elwood was glad that Eljay was coming to the copse, but mostly because he had made the decision himself; he hoped that Eljay would have continued with his plans even if his parents chose to stay at the plateau.

"We're coming soon, I think," he said, looking to Finley again for confirmation.

Finley relaxed when Eljay got straight to it and told them what his plans were. She was quite pleased to hear it, if not entirely surprised. The news about Colt was no surprise whatsoever - he always got around to doing the opposite of what he said he would, once he eventually got over his hang ups. The fact that Eljay had decided on his own to go, though, that was a slightly different story. And a very welcome one.

"There's some stuff around here to be sorted out first," Fin continued, picking up where Elwood left off, "Things need to settle a little..." She glanced at her mate, thinking about their other kids and considering the fact that those heathens might never actually settle down. They might just have to leave it as is and wish them good luck on the way out. Time would tell.

Daddy agreed they would come soon, cheering up Eljay's uncertain demeanour and he smiled broadly. Mommy tacked on they needed to sort out of some stuff, and though Eljay wondered what sort of stuff it was -- oblivious, despite Towhee's sort of outburst about it, of the implications of some wolves leaving the pack and that it may cause a landslide of departures -- he also didn't want to pry too much and decided against asking about it.

Oh, alright. That's great, though, I mean, that you're coming too. Eljay smiled, glad that he wouldn't need to choose between mommy and daddy and Wiffle and her pack. I uh.. I should call for others, I -- I need to tell them I'm going, and uh, say good bye. You can stay if you want to..? Eljay left it up to mommy and daddy whether they'd stay or go while he said his good byes.

Eljay called first for @Owen, @Vasa @Phoebe and Kite, inviting @Raven to come along too (who sorta already knew he might leave, but still he wanted to say good bye to her because like Wiffle, Raven'd been a big influence in his life and Eljay felt it tug at his heart to even leave her), because the departure from the pups was the hardest of all for him. Owen was a bit like a little brother to him and had first made him feel what it was like to be a father -- and made him want to be a father. These children were so special to him and he wasn't even sure how he would explain to them that he was leaving. He would have to make sure that they understood they could always visit and that he would visit them, too, when he could.

Though Eljay wasn't entirely how much his own younger siblings cared for him because they were often found teasing him, they were definitely next on his good-bye list, and after that he'd let everyone else know, including leadership (though he was pretty sure that Raven must've already told Quixote, right..? and Towhee was already trying to push him to go, anyway).

i figured that Kite won't hear it / show because we have a later thread ^^

I'm going to pull Elwood out so he's not there when Eljay talks to his siblings! Just since he and Fin are going to break the news to them in another thread :)

Eljay did seem to be a little relieved to hear that his parents were coming to the copse, although Elwood liked to think that it wouldn't have been the end of the world if they had told him they were staying at the plateau. Maybe this was just what Eljay needed to help him take that final step towards growing up. He appeared to be content with his decision and was prepared to maturely say goodbye to the rest of the family, who he called for in the next moment.

"I'll let you have some time alone to say bye to them," Elwood said, and reached out to nudge Eljay's cheek before taking his leave. "We'll see you at the copse," were his parting words, accompanied by a smile.

HAY WAIT FOR YOUR WIFE

Elwood chose to excuse himself after Eljay made the call, and to Fin, that sounded like a beautiful idea. She planted a kiss on her son's muzzle after her mate stepped away, adding "I'm not ready for everyone to know we're leaving yet, so don't tell on us, okay?" before she too turned and scampered off after her mate. If he thought he was going to be on his way without her, he was very much mistaken.

Mommy and daddy opted to leave, and Eljay nodded at mommy's request. Of course, he agreed, though it was good that mommy had said this so that he minded and wouldn't let it accidentally slip for sure. Eljay watched as mommy and daddy left and fidgeted a little. Deciding it wouldn't hurt if everyone'd show up at once, right?, he decided to call for the others he wanted to say good bye to, too -- so he lifted his nose again and also called for @Tegan, @Clover, @Cinder and @Tywyll, his siblings. After waiting for a bit, contemplating whether he should tell Quixote now or later, Eljay decided to howl for his Alpha when he would actually leave. Though it wouldn't surprise him if @Quixote would show up with his children, anyway, since they were yet a bit young to be so close to no man's land on their own, perhaps.

tegan heard the howl but, ultimately, ignored it. today had been too long, and he didn't really care to hear what his baby brother wanted to tell him.

Unlike Tegan, Cinder did not ignore the call - he'd been caught in the middle of a slightly-prolonged nap, but he figured if he was called, of all wolves, it was probably important. They didn't have much else of a reason to howl for him! Promptly, the young blackthorn picked himself up with a gaping yawn and waddled forward until the sleep drained from him, and his pace increased.

When he arrived, paws coated in dustings of snow, his gaze was cast curiously around. "Eljaayyyy," he grinned, stub-tail wagging as he moved closer to greet his brother; he wasn't the coolest, but then again, neither was Cinder! So that was okay. Besides, his sibling made up for it with other things - but what was up?

His legs were already kinda tired today, but when he heard the familiar voice rise above the trees Owen pricked his ers and gamely trotted toward it. It didn't matter if his feet grew sore or threatened to fall off if he kept making them walk places (the horror!)—this was much more important. @Phoebe still seemed to have more energy than her brother today, and the boy increased his pace a little as he glimpsed her galloping off into the brush ahead of him, but with a weary little wagging of his tail like a flag of surrender Owen figured this was one race he was just going to have to lose.

He didn't see any of his sisters among the wolves that had gathered, however, as he trotted within sight, so maybe Phoebe had gotten distracted by a shiny rock or a tempting stick or a squirrel along the way, who knew. Owen didn't fret about it too much as he threaded his way over to the one who'd summoned him. Eljay! The youngster managed to summon up some real enthusiasm when he saw his old puppysitter, for all that it had already been a long day. Where've you been? I haven't seen you in ages! Not wanting to seem rude, Owen also nodded a quick but silent greeting to Cinder before the young boy went to wrap an affectionate paw around Eljay's nearest forelimb for a moment. You wouldn't believe all the hijinks these dumb sisters keep getting up to, Owen added, since none of the girls nor any Overly-Responsible Supervising Adults were around to hear, while he also wondered if Eljay was coming back to keep a closer eye on them all again—if maybe Eljay might even have been himself straight-up summoned to do so, possibly? Owen could't think of anything too terrible he'd been up to of late that would necessitate a recalling of a puppysitter to be keeping a sharper eye on him, but who knew... and he also didn't know the full list of what any of the girls might have been getting up to, either.

Cinder showed up first, and Eljay smiled at his most recent younger brother. Hey Cin, he said with a soft smile and he nosed his brother's shoulder affectionately. Not long after Owen showed up too. Though there were still a bunch of wolves that were missing, Eljay decided to just share the news now. Eljay greeted Owen first with a nuzzle to his cheek. Hey Owen. He glanced around, and when no one else showed up anytime soon Eljay decided to just start. Except Owen had some questions of his own first, which tacked into the thing Eljay was about to say.

Eljay grinned as Owen mentioned his sisters getting into hijinks -- that sure sounded like them. I decided to move to Wildfire's pack, Firebirds. I'll make sure to visit lots! Especially to Owen he shared the visiting thing. @Raven showed up with @Phoebe in tow just as he mentioned it, though she gave him a knowing look that made it clear to Eljay that she knew and understood. He quickly focussed back on Cinder and Owen for that reason. I'm going to miss you guys so much, he said with a sad frown. This moment was bittersweet, for although he'd enjoy being in the Copse and with Wildfire as a leader and no Towhee (sorry Towhee, Eljay thought to himself, feeling guilty, but it was clear that they just didn't understand each other at all) he was very sad and felt so guilty for leaving behind his ward and brother. And you can always visit me too if you want to, no matter how short or long. It's a sister pack to Redhawks, so it - so you're welcome to visit.