Redhawk Caldera a whole new world

Sphyra was growing fast now. She had been practising a lot with @Fennec to become better at fighting. She'd mostly ignored @Tierra, clearly pissed off at her sister for being such a dramaqueen and running away all the time. Yet Sapsucker was also a part of the family and so she was easy to forgive, too. She was a part of what Sphyra worked so hard to protect, after all. @Caracal was much of a baby too, but in a way different way. Sphyra expected a lot less from him, because he'd always been a bit of a selfish baby. She expected more from her sister.

@Reyes had still not returned — at least, the times that he had, Sphyra had totally missed him and only heard about it or smelled his scent on others later — and Sphyra wondered if he was still sick. @Towhee had taken long to recover but now it finally seemed like she was going in the right direction again.

Through her mother's sickness, Sapsucker's baby-like tendency to dramatically run off, and Caracal being a total baby, Sphyrapicus felt a lot of responsibility sit on her shoulders. She spent a lot of her time training to become better, faster, stronger. She practised hunting, too, to get better and be able to provide.

Recently, she'd taken to exploring further into the territory, and today she decided to check out the borders. She knew of them, had learned about them, and visited them with an adult — but she'd never been alone out here or patrolled. Now was her first time, and as Sphyra glanced out into the world outside, she felt totally important and guardianesque as she watched for movement outside the borders.

tags just for reference, this is AW and set at the borders <3

For a while, Towhee sat on the ridge line and watched the speck moving in the distance, trying to figure out if it was Tierra or Sphyra. It was hard to tell from all the way up here, though she was pretty familiar with the way each of the twins held and moved themselves. Anyway, it was a fun little guessing game. She didn't feel particularly motivated to go see if she was right until the pup began moving closer to the borders.

With a deep breath, the Sovereign began the downward climb, even hitting a bit of a trot down the decline. Her body complained a little by the time she hit even ground, though not so badly that Towhee felt the need to stop. She did slow down a little, letting out a shout to let her daughter know she was approaching.

As she drew closer, she decided this was definitely, "Sphyra. Hey." Panting a little, Towhee managed a smile despite the concern lurking in her orange eyes. She knew the kids roamed at their age, though that didn't stop her from feeling protective. "Patrolling?" she guessed in the next breath. "Can I join you? I'll try not to slow you down too much."

Before Sphyra could properly start her patrol, she heard her voice being called out. A single ear moved towards her mother and she then turned to look at her mother. -Hello mother,- she signed and spoke, not as fluent at signing as speaking (possibly because her mother'd been gone and in a weakened state for some time, so she hadn't used her signing much) but managing nonetheless. She noted how her mother seemed out of breath already, and honestly did feel like she'd be slowed down a bit much by her.

When her mother asked if she could join, Sphyrapicus visibly hesitated for a moment before she accepted with a nod and a Yes. Sphyra then started heading along the borders. She looked at Towhee and said, Just making sure Sapsucker isn't running off again. It was no secret that Sphyra thought that Tierra was a little drama queen.

Her orange eyes sparkled with amusement at her daughter's hesitation. She could see Sphyra took this matter very seriously, which was great. She told Towhee that she was just trying to keep her wayward sister on lock down, which further delighted her. Sometimes, she wondered why none of her trio seemed to really get along. But she knew sibling rivalry existed, even between twins. Alyx and Quetzal had set a similar precedent, so incredibly different in temper despite being one another's carbon copies physically.

"I appreciate you looking out for your sister," the Sovereign acknowledged, knowing Sphyra probably didn't quite see it that way. "Leaving the territory alone is dangerous, even for a grownup. It's always smartest to use the buddy system, so you have someone to watch your back in case you, for instance, step on a snake." She huffed dryly, then motioned with her head for the youngster to lead the patrol.

Sphyra's chin lifted proudly when her mother praised her for looking out for her sister. Even though she was perhaps more mocking than actually looking out for her sister, Sphyra still did well on praise. Sphyra trotted along the borders, feeling proud to be there. She would feel a bit prouder if she was there all alone, but well, it was what it was for now. Towhee used her own case as an example, though Sphyra saw getting sick or injured as a part of life. She had no idea how close things'd been for her mother, of course. All she saw was that her mother had gotten injured, and now she was recovering, and soon she'd be fine again. Just like her father. He'd be back at some point, surely.

Rather than argue any points Sphyra just nodded at her mother's words. She then looked at her mother — having learned that she should look at her when speaking — and asked, Have you ever fought bad guys at the borders? She knew the answer was probably 'yes', and was clearly fishing for a war story here.

The Sovereign couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when Sphyra lifted her chin with evident pride and swaggered along the borderline. It made Towhee fiercely proud that one of her kids was so interested in guardianship. She hadn't missed the way the slightly younger twin had kept such a cool head throughout all the drama lately either.

Sphyra looked back at her with a question, so Towhee focused on her lips. Her grin only grew. "Oh yeah," she replied without missing a beat, "I've kicked a lot of asses in my day. And I've probably had mine kicked a time or two as well." She paused for a moment before deciding her would-be apprentice could handle hearing, "I've killed in the name of protecting the borders and the wolves inside them. It almost never comes to that, though sometimes what's called 'lethal force' is necessary."

Her mother seemed proud to tell about her own border stories. Sphyra hoped that she would accumulate a thousand of them as well! She would kick all the asses. Towhee went on to explain that it was necessary to kill others, and Sphyra nodded attentively as her mother laid this out for her. She once again looked at her mother and asked, What is the biggest baddest wolf you ever killed? Then she sniffed a bush they passed and rolled on the ground next to it to spread her scent.

Sphyra didn't bat an eyelash. Of course not, Towhee thought with a fond smirk. Her expression then grew thoughtful at the girl's next question. She'd been in so many fights over the years, though many of them had faded into distant memory. Nonetheless, there was an obvious answer to her daughter's question, though even this recollection was now blurry and frayed at best. It still made her frown, because she'd only thought she'd killed him at the time.

Even though Spyhra was obviously thirsty for this information, Towhee hesitated. Did she really want to tell her about murdering her own brother? She sincerely doubted her own kids would escalate to that level but did she want to feed into anything that might further encourage their intense rivalry? Her lips parted as she decided she could simply omit that bit of information.

"His name was Screech. I tracked him down, tore out his throat and threw him over a cliff after he attacked my older sister—your Aunt Rave—while she was pregnant," the Sovereign said right around the time Sphyra tossed herself to the ground and began rolling. Even after all this time, she felt a flicker of loathing, especially knowing he may very well be alive to this day.

She let out a breath and paused to wait on her apprentice, her mind suddenly filling with an image of Rue's face, her mouth forming the words, "...Mou being your brother, according to Meerkat..."

Sphyra knew little about the world, and she definitely knew little about murder or death. A lot less than she thought she knew, at least. She knew the concept of it — that others went away forever if you killed them — but she didn't know precisely what it meant. She'd never been in a situation where killing someone was necessary, and perhaps it'd change her opinion when she'd get in one.

Her mother told her the story about someone who'd attacked a faceless aunt that Sphyra had never met. She said she tore out his throat, which sounded exciting and violent (though once more, Sphyra had no idea what that actually meant). Wow, she said when Towhee finished telling the story. That's pretty cool. It was evident that her mother grew as a person on the coolness ladder in Sphyra's head from her hearing this story. She was no longer just mom, but she was cool mom now.

Now all Sphyra had to do was find a nemesis and tear their throat out so she could be just as cool as Towhee!

Could Mou be short for Titmouse? Towhee flashed hot and cold, her insides clenching. Was Screech the wolf who'd raised Phox's kids? Sphyra's words of praise were missed as the Sovereign stared unseeingly into the middle distance, trying to grapple with this possibility.

Her mind bubbled and screamed like a boiling kettle. Had he done something to Niamh? Had he hurt those kids? Was Phox aware of this? Towhee clutched at the mental image of his face. Surely Phox knew best in this situation and there was a good reason he hadn't eviscerated Screech by now, if it was him. He was putting those poor, innocent kids first, she just knew it.

The Redhawk matriarch blinked, her head whipping to look over at Sphyra. Her breaths were shallow, her chest tight. But she tried to focus on her daughter as she said, "Sorry, I guess I took a trip down memory lane there." If her voice sounded stranger than usual, Towhee wasn't to know.

Drawing in a deep breath, she suggested, "Hey, show me what you'd do if I was the bad guy, trespassing on your lands." Finding herself in sudden excess of negative energy, Towhee could think of no better constructive distraction than spending the next few hours teaching one of her heirs how to kick ass.