Heron Lake Plateau stay

Note: Backdated to 05/29/19

 
Bloodied and bruised, Rannoch waited for @Liffey, @Raven, and @Quixote. Two Canadian Geese laid motionless at his paws; killing them had been a struggle, and they had managed to take a few bites of them before they died. Despite the travail, it had all been worth it in the end, and they'd eat well while they discussed their future together. 

Rannoch sat on the shoreline as he waited, keeping his gaze trained upon the surface of the lake. His mind ran amuck with worry, and he bit his lower lip as he considered the possible consequences of their move. Most of the outcomes were not favorable in regards to his long-standing friendship with Terance. His mind would have been at peace about the move, had it not been for his co-leader.

Liffey had spent the morning walking and chatting with the only sibling she'd managed to find so early in the day--@Cinder. She didn't share any of her plans with him, just asked about how he was and chatted about their family and different things. She did her best to pay attention as he spoke of Tywyll and how he missed his brother, but her mind kept wandering back to Rannoch and how worried he likely was over what was to come. In her heart, she knew that here at the Plateau was where they needed to be, and if Terance decided to resent them for it, then that just proved what a poor friend he really was.

She wouldn't say this to Rannoch, though. Not when he was so concerned over it. That comment would come later when she was trying to console him after things went poorly, if that was indeed the way they would go. Liffey wasn't quite convinced yet that it would. Sure, it was sad to part ways and all, but Terance was a reasonable enough man. Why would he be angry about them wanting to live closer to their family? It just... Liffey shushed herself. She kept running circles about it over and over in her head and it was senseless. What would happen would happen. First, they had to talk to Raven and Quixote.

Liffey made her way to the lake to meet up with the rest. Or maybe she was with them idk. Either way, her eyes landed on Rannoch and she felt an immediate stab of anxiety over him. "Rannoch! Are you alright?" she called, racing to his side and then going to work inspecting every inch of him to make sure he wasn't too badly injured.

Her pregnancy was progressing well, and the swell of her sides was becoming very noticeable now. Still, though, Raven attended to her duties with diligence, taking up regular patrols both with and apart from Quixote and tending to her plant stores as needed. Her morning sickness and sudden onsets of exhaustion weren't nearly as crippling as they had been in her last pregnancy, and she hoped this was a sign that the birth to come would have a better end result as well. She was wandering along the northwestern edge of their packlands, enjoying the pleasant weather and warm sunshine on her back, when she came across a fresh scent that belonged unmistakably to Rannoch.

Wondering what he was doing back here again so soon, Raven altered course to meet him and was soon greeted by the sight of her old friend -- somewhat the worse for wear, by all appearances -- and his mate, with two dead geese at their feet. Cocking her head, she grinned and quirked a curious glance at the geese as she approached and greeted them, "Hey! Uh...what's up guys?"

He was still wondering what normal was going to be.  There were at least three different balls up in the air now, and he wasn't sure how long he'd need to juggle them before things could settle down to something less uncertain.  When were Phox and Towhee actually going to leave?  Where were those remaining going to move to?  Did they have enough time to find a den in the new territory (whatever it was) before the pups arrive?  Qui was pretty sure he was forgetting something else too -- he'd probably remember it about the time he forgot about one of the others.  That's just how it worked.

Anyhoo, he arrived on the scene not too long after Raven, also perplexed to see them, but he was in a mood where he was willing to accept anything reasonable so sure, they could just randomly show up again, why not.  Maybe they hadn't talked to Tegan or something and wanted to hang out another day.  Who knew.  Qui wagged his tail, coming up at Raven's side nuzzling her cheek before dipping his head to Liffey and Rannoch.

There was a certain weird mirrored deja vu about it.  He'd shown up at the Caldera with a goose like that -- damned birds were jerks, he'd just been lucky to find one that was definitely on the way out without his assistance -- but that was probably where the parallel ended.  After all they had their own pack, so wouldn't be that -- just one of those funny things that was amusing for fifteen mintues.  Probably just them stopping by to say sorry for their loss and thanks for the hospitality before heading home or something.  He didn't think too much of it. Screw birds, am I right?

Rannoch turned at the sound of Liffey's voice, noticing the concern that exuded her tone. "Liffey! I'm fine—just got in a little scuffle with our breakfast," he replied as she began to fuss over him; Rannoch was confident that he looked worse than he felt. He leaned over and nudged his wife's cheek to assuage her concern, his expression kind. 

Raven and Quixote arrived punctually after Liffey, and Rannoch redirected his focus as they approached. "Hey, guys" he greeted warmly. "I caught us breakfast. Please, dig in," Rannoch nudged one of the geese closer to the Alpha pair, chuckling as  Quixote spoke. "Yeah, they totally deserve this after what they did," he mused with a wave of his tail. 

"Actually, Liffey and I wanted to talk to you all about something," he glanced at Liffey, silently prompting her to continue his thought.

Liffey’s brow furrowed when Rannoch explained his injuries. She shot a reproachful glare at the offending geese (which they clearly weren’t perturbed by given their current state), then settled down beside him. The comments bantered brought a smile and a small laugh out of her, and she considered then maybe just hanging out for a while before diving right into the heavy stuff. After all, it was incredibly rare for her to get to hang out with her mate and other adults and actually feel at ease instead of judged and unwanted. But Rannoch clearly had other plans, though she couldn’t say his impatience to get promptly to the point was unexpected.

Liffey smiles fondly at him, noting her cue, then turned to the Plateau’s alpha pair. ”Rannoch and I have been talking and... Well, I haven’t done this in a long time, but...” she smiled a bit mischievously then, ”We would like to seek acceptance for ourselves and our family amongst your ranks.” She paused to glance at their expressions before adding, ”I promise we have excellent qualifications.”

This is terrible because you two are DISTRACTING ME WITH PIE

She responded to Quixote's touch, pressing into his nuzzle for a second or two before his attention was drawn away by the geese at Rannoch's feet. A grin flickered at the edges of her lips as she recalled Quixote's long-standing feud with all things feathered, and as Rannoch announced that they were a meal to be shared, she imagined he might be the first to tear into one of the fat geese just for the satisfaction of getting one between his teeth without a struggle. She thanked her old friend for the offering, being a fat pregnant thing who was always hungry, and then listened as the two of them spoke.

Her reaction was one of surprise, at first, and then slowly-dawning delight. Liffey was coming home! And to have one of her oldest friends right here in her own pack... it was almost enough to dispel the perpetual depression in which she'd languished since the death of her sister and the announcement of her siblings' abandonment. But...if they were here asking to join the Redhawks' ranks, it had to mean that something had happened back home at Lost Creek. "Wow," she replied, shaking her head with surprise clear in her expression. "Did something happen at the Hollow?"

Blink.  Wait, what.  It actually was a parallel?  Ummm.  Okay, that was not what he was expecting.  Qui stood there blankly for a moment, not really knowing what to do.  Qui wasn't the type to be super stoked -- especially since he didn't really know either of them particularly well.  Raven trusted them, which in general was enough... But eh.

His question was mostly a followup on Raven's, You couldn't have gone back and forth in that amount of time... could you?  Maybe it was closer than he thought.  It had been long enough since he'd left this section of the map that he wasn't recalling the distance accurately.  Actually -- had he even been that far? Too lazy to check threadlog...  Meanwhile some back corner of his brain was trying to reorganize and figure out how this was going to work.  Weren't they leading a pack?  Maybe he was misremembering that too.

Honestly he wasn't being too useful here right at this instant, was he?

Liffey went about their recruitment in a way that Rannoch hadn't anticipated. He turned to her as she delivered the pitch, his expression bright and a goofy smile upon his lips. "Yeah," Rannoch added, redirecting his attention again, "We have some excellent references. We can provide if need be." His tail swayed behind him, stirring the lawn that skirted the shoreline. 

Rannoch and Liffey were met with surprise and confusion, and quickly he acted to answer their concern. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "But, we are firm believers that family comes first—it would be nice for us to be closer." Rannoch glanced at Liffey, and he wondered if she had anything to say.

They both were surprised by her request. Actually, all three of them were. She snickered at the look on her mate's face and listened to their reactions. Raven seemed to get it, though she was clearly startled. Quixote... Well, he was endearing. Rannoch explained a bit further, then gave her that look again that she knew was an invitation for her to explain even further.

"Moving back home has been on my mind ever since our last visit," Liffey admitted, "We have good friends in the Hollow, but I just want our kids to grow up with our family." Rannoch had good friends, anyway. "Plus, you're all going through so much right now. We want to be here to support you," she added honestly.

Their answers made sense, and Raven nodded in acknowledgement to each. Something wasn't really clicking though, and confusion knitted her brows together a moment after Liffey finished speaking. "Your mom and everyone is over at the Firebirds, though," she commented, cocking her head. "Why would you want to move here rather than there?" She wondered if there was something she was missing, perhaps an obvious reason that she wasn't seeing. She couldn't think of a single Frostfur or Blackthorn in her ranks at the moment, while the Firebirds' ranks were full of the latter. Not that she wasn't thrilled with the idea of having Rannoch and Liffey here with her, of course, but she just wanted to understand what would make them choose to stay here instead of going the last few miles to where so many of Liffey's family lived.

Note: Skipping with permission!

"Because they're not the only ones who are hurting," Rannoch interjected, his voice soft; Raven was as much their family as Eljay, Finley, Elwood, and the rest of the Firebirds. "You guys need support, too, and we want to help." He glanced at Liffey then, and wondered if she had anything to add.

Liffey nodded gently as her mate answered Raven's question. There was more to it, of course. She wanted to be near her parents, of course, but she had learned a long time ago that actually living with Finley was not good for their relationship. Maybe it would be different now that so much time had passed. She was certainly too old now to be told what to do or what she wasn't allowed to do, which had been the bigger point of contention between them. But still, Liffey knew that a bit of distance would be better for her. She didn't want to live beneath her parents' shadow, but adjacent to it would work very well.

That bit didn't need to be said, though. The reason Rannoch shared was an equally important one, after all. So, she simply smiled and gave a supporting nod as her friends responded with positivity and more questions. By the end of the discussion, they had made their plans and setup their timeline. And after a quick meal, Liffey and Rannoch departed to set that plan into motion.