Starglow Basin Re_jaded.

The rim of the caldera gave Towhee an awesome view of the wilderness. She stood at its southeastern edge for a while, staring off toward the lowlands as the stranger’s lips moved in her memories, forming the words, “If you have the time, come to the lowlands. Verapaz. We’re settled in the Starglow Basin, southeast from this place.”

She’d left Bushtit with @Killdeer and Treepie today, merely because sometimes a mother wanted some “me time.” But here was an opportunity to enjoy some solo travel and indulge her morbid curiosity. In the days since meeting that two-faced stranger right here at the caldera, she’d done a lot of pondering…

Towhee now had a vague suspicion about the guy’s identity. If she was right, she should probably walk the other direction entirely. But she found herself picking her way down the slope, then loping through the neighboring woods. She’d always enjoyed the lowlands, she told herself, and it was probably just a case of mistaken identity.

But if it was “Casanova,” what could he possibly want with her? He wanted to see her badly enough that he had sent someone out to locate her. That was sort of flattering, wasn’t it? Of course, the obvious answer was that he might have some sort of interest in her or any progeny resulting from their tryst. If that was the case, the next most obvious answer was that she could simply lie.

When she came within earshot of the basin, Towhee wasted no time in throwing back her head to howl @Soto’s name. She was now impatient in her intrigue, orange eyes peeled for any sign of her Latin lover and—not that anybody but her needed to know it—the father of baby Bushtit.

@Tierra is also welcome to crash this if she wants.

Absolutely!

Tierra knew that the man who’d been sent after Towhee had returned, but she hadn’t gotten around yet to asking him if he’d found her. She could have told him who she was, had him ask her mom to come for her specifically, but she hadn’t been sure she even wanted Towhee here. Okay, not exactly. She wanted her mom here more than anything. She just didn’t want her seeing them like this.

That fear vanished as soon as she heard Towhee’s characteristic off-key call at the borders. Tierra was immediately on her feet and on her way.

-Mom- she signed enthusiastically, one-pawed, barely stopping. The movement pulled at her neck and shoulders but she didn’t care. There was nothing she needed more, at that moment, than a hug from her mom.

The moment someone appeared, Towhee looked toward them almost hungrily. She recognized the figure, though it wasn’t at all who she’d expected to see. Her jaw dropped as her heart leaped, then began thumping hard against her ribs as she hastened forward.

More than a year had passed since the last time she’d seen Tierra. Her daughter looked a little threadbare and felt rather bony when Towhee promptly pulled her into a hug. She supposed she shouldn’t be totally surprised; they’d last bumped into one another not far from here. Had Tierra been down here this entire time, she wondered?

Still gripping Tierra by the shoulders, Towhee drew back to look into her face. She then gently released her and stepped back one pace further for a proper assessment. Was she injured? A broad paw fluttered toward Tierra, hovering near her neck particularly. There were scabs and scars. Towhee fussed but did not touch.

What the hell have you been up to, kiddo? she asked, paws dropping and soft eyes locking on her face.

Tierra fell into her mom’s hug and stayed there for a good moment longer than she’d have usually put up with it. She closed her eyes and wished, when she opened them, the last few weeks would vanish and everything would be back to the way it was when they’d both been hanging around Mereo. She never thought she’d miss it as much as she did in that moment.

-It’s a long story.- she replied, adding the signs out of habit. She tried to play it off, but she couldn’t meet her mom’s eye.

-I didn’t actually think you’d come. Or that he’d find you, even. I figured there was no point giving him a name. I don’t know why he wanted you here. Soto, the guy who’s kind of in charge. Not the one with the message.- It was hard to keep track of, and even worse now that she felt slower than ever.

-Whatever he wants, you should turn it down. Just… trust me.-. She added, hesitantly signing fully rather than speaking. She didn’t see anyone around, or hear them, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be overheard. And she really didn’t want Towhee getting mixed up in all this, as happy as she was to see her, and as tempting as it was to look to her for answers. It wasn’t her mess to clean up.

Tierra deflected the question before diving into a spiel that left Towhee’s head spinning. Her daughter knew Soto? She was aware of his attempt to locate her? She mentioned the stranger who’d come looking for for, though Tierra also said she didn’t know why he was trying to track down Towhee. And before the elder Redhawk could make any sense of that, Tierra dished out a warning.

Her ears folded backward. For a long beat, she said nothing, just stared searchingly at Tierra’s thin face. She was so glad to see her after so long, yet something about this situation put a pit in her stomach. Towhee took a couple breaths and wondered if she could usher her away from the basin before Soto responded to her summons.

She finally broke her pensive silence to ask, Who is this Soto guy? It was kind of rhetorical question, though she gently implored, Tell me what you know about him.

She wavered under her mom’s searching look, but was relieved when the question wound up being about Soto. She didn’t want to get into Akashingo or the other place, or how fucked they were, starting fights they couldn’t win. She definitely couldn’t even begin to explain Octavio. She wouldn’t understand, but despite the start, there’d been something there.

And now, this place still had its claws in her.

-He’s harsh. He saved my life. But I don’t know why he did it. I just don’t think he’d be asking for anything good. And I don’t think he’d care about using someone to get what he wants. Especially someone who isn’t one of us.-. Us. She hadn’t meant to put herself as one of them, but at this point there was no point in lying. Her mom would know it when she didn’t leave with her. If I don’t.

“He’s harsh,” Tierra began and all Towhee could think about was the way they’d smashed like, well, wild animals. But then she said, “He saved my life,” and that was like being dowsed in cold water. Her eyes found the gnarled flesh on her daughter’s neck again, her lips pinching together. Despite this valiant act, he sounded a bit like trouble.

What happened, that he needed to save you? was the first question out of Towhee’s mouth. Is that how you met him? Who’s ‘us’? were the second and third.

Before Tierra could possibly answer any of the rapidfire questions, Towhee suddenly had a strange thought: were her daughter and Soto involved? No fucking way, her inner voice hollered, fueled in part by denial but also by the way Tierra had described him and the strangely haunted look in her eyes.

Tierra opened her mouth to defend him just to close it again.  She didn’t actually know.  Octavio was dead, and her nearly with him, and she still had no idea why.  Just the kid they’d taken?  Or some other reason entirely, because why the fuck would Soto or Niño decide they needed someone else’s random kid around?

They’d kidnapped her.  But that was different.

-We got attacked.  I don’t know why.  And I don’t know how, but he got me out of there.  It was just the two of us left, with the… pack.  There’s more of us now, here.-  It was mostly true and more than a little vague.  Gang had nearly slipped out, replaced at the last second.  -I didn’t join because of him.  But I owe him now.- 

That wasn’t why she stayed at all.  She’d left plenty of places she owed in the dust.  But if she didn’t want to leave, then that was at least a reason that might make sense to her mom.  There was no way she was fessing up the truth; that she wasn’t ready to leave the only supply she had.

-You don’t.-  At least, unless something had happened.  She remembered Soto saying they’d met when he sent Arslan but didn’t remember if he’d explained how.  She’d barely been able to manage translating half of what he’d said anyway.

Towhee quickly gathered that her hookup led a pack here and Tierra was part of it. Counting the stranger who’d come looking for her, there were at least three of them living here. She didn’t know why she pondered these statistics like they mattered, though she supposed it all came down to that morbid curiosity.

Tierra’s “you don’t” didn’t make a lick of sense to Towhee for a second, then she realized what her daughter meant. No, she didn’t owe “Casanova” Soto anything, just like he didn’t owe her. She was still running on an assumption here. Her orange eyes swept the nearby basin, as if hoping to set eyes on him to be entirely certain “Casanova” and Soto really were one and the same.

I honestly have no clue why he’s looking for me. I thought maybe he was looking for Jr, Towhee said, currently unable to remember if the sisters had met, because his name and description definitely didn’t ring any bells. But then I realized maybe I have met him. Only we never exchanged names. We didn’t even speak…

Tierra could think of a couple of reasons and none of them were any good.  They could handle this by themselves or they couldn’t handle it at all.  It wasn’t like her mom was some kind of ridiculous warrior.  She was just one wolf and Tierra wasn’t about to let her get dragged into all of this.

She didn’t remember a Junior but figured it was one of her siblings.  She hadn’t seen any of them in so long that it was easy to forget she had brothers and sisters.  She should ask how they were… but she was too tired to pretend to be interested.  Too tired for a lot of things these days.

-Whetever he wants, it’s still really good to see you.-  She shifted a little awkwardly.  -I would’ve visited, I just didn’t know if you were still around.  And there’s just been a lot here.  Obviously.-

Towhee shook her head to indicate the apology wasn’t necessary. Something compelled her to reach out again, rest a paw reassuringly on Tierra’s shoulder. She was thin enough that Towhee could feel the sharp cut of her shoulder blade. She squeezed lightly.

Do you want to get out of here? she asked, suddenly much more interested in catching up with her daughter than waiting to ID this mysterious man. The caldera is empty. We could go hang out there for a little bit, catch up properly.

She really did want to. That answer surprised Tierra, and it was suddenly incredibly tempting to just leave all of her problems here and disappear back home. The caldera was where she’d grown up and it held some of the best of her memories. With Towhee there it could almost be like nothing had changed.

But a ton of things had changed. Dad was gone, Sphyra and Caracal were both gone, and Tierra knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as just forgetting this place.

I can’t. She looked at her mom apologetically, her shoulders slumping a bit with a mix of acceptance and shame. I feel like, whatever this pack is, I have to see it through. Like I owe it to them to try, you know? It was most, if not all of, the reason.

Oh, I just meant for a few hours, Towhee said, soft and slow. I won’t keep you, she promised. I just thought the nostalgia factor might be nice while we catch up on each other’s lives.

Her eyes tightened. Would Tierra still resist? Surely she was welcome to leave briefly. Something about this situation really didn’t sit right with her, but her daughter was a grown woman. If she felt she owed her loyalty to Soto et al, then Towhee wouldn’t argue.

This Soto guy can wait, she added firmly.

soto jerks his head up as an impatient howl winds up the thin air around lookout point. by the time he’s picked his way down the broken slope, he scents sangre’s already beaten him there. 

this is fine with soto; if it’s an ambush, he’d prefer her skin over his own. nothing personal, just business — but as he slinks warily towards them he realizes the caller is none other than the woman he’d sent for. 

he’s pleased to see her. he’d hoped — for his own selfish reasons — she’d come with company of the underage variety. her sides are unaccompanied, but soto’s eye lingers along the underside, trying to decipher if at any point she’d nursed this season. 

sangre’s reception confuses him - there is no mistaking the congeniality there, and now that they are stood side by side, soto observes stark parallels. 

his eye glitters. sweeping upon them and doing his best to disguise the lingering ache in his wounded haunch, soto grins. tu viniste.

The caldera was a pretty long ways away. It wasn’t all that far compared to other places, but wasn’t it near Akashingo? And what if she got caught up and couldn’t make it back? What if Towhee changed her mind and Tierra came back to her place here being gone?

Tierra felt herself getting nervous at the thought of it. She’d put way too much on the line here to risk messing things up. And every day she wasn’t here was a day for someone else to shove her out of whatever respect she’d managed to claw from Soto. It was surprising, even to her, realizing how much she actually cared about that.

I don’t think now’s a good time for it, she replied hesitantly. Any further explanation was cut off, however, as Soto arrived. Tierra immediately stood and took a step back, facing both of them. She had almost forgotten that he was the reason her mom was there in the first place.

Shoot. She muttered, expelling a breath. She was going to have to translate, wasn’t she? Not for the first time she wondered why the hell she bothered when Soto couldn’t be troubled to improve his communication prospects. Now probably wasn’t the time for that specific criticism, but she could still be annoyed over it.

He said that you came. I think. Weirdly these words were similar to some she recalled from her time in Mereo. It made it easier to guess the meaning at the very least for words she wasn’t sure on her memory for.

Was Tierra opposed to the venue, she wondered, or the time it would take to carry on a proper conversation? Towhee opened her mouth to suggest they could just stand here and chat a while longer when she saw her daughter’s attention shift, likely reacting to some sound or another. Her eyes followed, spine stiffening when she immediately recognized “Casanova.” She’d almost forgotten she’d called for him.

She thought about what Tierra had told her: he was harsh, but he’d saved her life. Towhee compared and contrasted this to what little she knew about him: he was a good lay. There was something disarming about the easy grin he offered, right before his lips moved to form the first words he’d ever spoken to her.

Towhee didn’t catch a single one of them. Her eyes cut over to Tierra, seeking assistance, and was a little surprised by its rapidity. When the younger woman tacked on, “I think,” her brow furrowed. Did he have a speech impediment? Or perhaps an accent? For all he knew, he was speaking in an entirely foreign language.

She looked back and forth as she puzzled this out, resisting the urge to sign a question to Tierra. Instead, she shifted her weight and focused entirely on the man, her orange eyes speculative as they rested on his face. She felt an unwelcome flash of heat pierce through her when she realized he was, well, hot. She licked her lips, trying not to think of the day they’d made Bushtit together.

Drawing in a breath, unsure whether he would understand her, Towhee demanded, Why are you looking for me?

something is off.

soto cannot name it. sangre's shfiting, but her counterpart's direct. he can see all of him is held in that gaze; held, turned over, peered at upside down -- a great orange lake in which he is the single, darting shadow.

he's reminded of their first and only meeting -- which he had enjoyed more than he might share. he knew the days ahead would be grueling and without play -- so he indulged in traveling the canvas of her body. twice.

now he wished to be the one to turn her over, explore every part of her -- but such things could only be said in the glint of his eye.

the two ghosts that crowd his brain come to life with roaring laughter. the first -- juarez -- proposes a ménage à trois. he is mid vivid description of bending towhee over when niño comes to life, his words jabbing in pugilistic swings. there's a loyalty to sangre there; soto probes the ghost for explanation and it disintegrates into the cold air between his skull.

the boys are silent.

she speaks. once more it is the insufferable language every halfwit in this region seems to prefer. soto turns to sangre briefly, almost helplessly -- but then he decides it does not matter what she asked. what matters is her answer.

dile. quiero que ella se quede.

How did these two know each other?! Tierra was burning with curiosity but didn’t interrupt. It was pretty clear from the way Soto was eyeing her at least part of where his mind was. Awkward asf…

He didn’t give her time to translate Towhee’s question before he broke through with directions. “Tell her” was obvious, she was used to that from the few times she’d done this. “Want” and “stay” were clear enough too that she caught the gist fairly quickly.

She waited for her mom’s attention to come back to her. He wants you to stay, she replied, fighting the urge to glance at Soto incredulously. He wasn’t serious, was he?

It didn’t matter that he didn’t know she was her mom. She was her mom. This place wasn’t even close to where she belonged and there was no way in hell she’d be down with half of what went on here. Tierra wasn’t even down with some of what went on here. Say no, please.

Not a single word out of his mouth struck her as familiar. He must be speaking another language, she officially concluded. Towhee glanced at Tierra, catching the translation. She stared at her daughter for a beat, marveling at the fact she evidently spoke two—three, counting Ptero—languages. Then she took an additional moment to process the request.

Eyes flashing back to Soto, she now demanded, Why?

Yes, they’d had a good time together. If she was being honest with herself, he was the best she’d ever had (sorry, Maxim). But he didn’t know her name. He hadn’t tried to pursue her further that day. What did he want with her now? She could only surmise that he was curious about potential offspring, though Towhee wasn’t about to bring it up.

Her eyes burned into Soto’s face before flicking to Tierra’s for a translation.

there is silence. soto is accustomed to it, but this one seems practiced.

the women exchange glances. sangre finally speaks -- as if she were waiting for some hidden cue.

soto parses this out slowly, his eye illuminating on the part of towhee he'd held last. his amazon -- his warrior. he had forgotten how chiseled the ripple of her muscles appeared; the scars along her hip traced a route soto would enjoy traveling again.

sangre has a look soto cannot place. he studies her face, marveling how so many emotions could be echoed in the single lens of a canid eye. here was his killbrother's bitch -- now soto's last link to a man that he cannot evict from his thoughts. and she was more than that; she had somehow ingrained under his own skin through trauma and hardship, as much a part of him as the two ghosts that squabbled for pissing rights in his brain.

he looks to sangre, expecting translation -- but he's certain the amazon had just asked a question.

porque. ella es fuerte. she is strong. and if that was not good enough an answer, soto tacks on: ella es impresionante. she is impressive. 

would sangre disagree?

He caught on to that one at least, but jeeze, seriously? Tierra snorted. He says you’re impressive. Sorry. It was true, she guessed, but this whole thing was getting more awkward by the minute. Cool and all, but does he seriously have the hots for you right now? Because that’s what I’m getting, and it’s totally weirding me out.

Good for Towhee, but if you asked Tierra what she’d be doing that day, she never would have guessed ‘helping my boss to rizz up my mom’. Es vieja, she added, directing that comment to Soto. Sorry mom but it’s true. Too old to be messing with any of this bullshit at least.

you can assume she’s translating for Soto between you two also, lol! Just a little brokenly obvi since she’s far from fluent, I imagine

Towhee met Tierra’s translation—complete with an apologetic editorial—with a blink. She began to turn her head to shoot Soto a look when her daughter’s lips moved more, recapturing her attention. Towhee couldn’t help but huff out a laugh at Tierra’s discomfiture as she began to piece together the context.

Before she could formulate a response, Tierra said something to Soto. She shot her daughter a quizzical look but did not wait for a translation before finally clapping her eyes back on him too. He wanted her here because she impressed him, which was flattering, but also didn’t actually answer her question.

So… what? Now you wanna marry me? she joshed, wondering if Tierra would translate that faithfully. Seriously, what is it you want with me?

It really was kind of nice to have a man’s—a young, virile one—admiration. When was the last time that had happened? And it wasn’t just the draw of the season now, was it? Towhee preened a little, though only on the inside. Outwardly, she leveled Soto with a comically arched eyebrow and waited.

much is said. soto watches both as they speak in that hideous, unlyrical language.

he wavers between standing and sitting. standing shows initiative; sitting would come with its own subtle contextual clues.

sangre looks wildly uncomfortable -- and her comment comes out of field like a pinhook, making soto look incredulously at amazona.

old?

he shakes his head. amazona speaks again, the lilt of her words and furrow of her brow indicating a question.

back to sangre, almost helplessly were it not for the strangest blade of irritation lodging itself in his throat.

he's confused. the odd man out. there is something here he does not know and he can sense it; when he grapples for it, it disappears.

now sangre's words come with their own discomfitted twist. soto's eyes -- the right nearly entirely occluded -- turn back to amazona.

marry, no. acquire -- yes. she'd make a good commander, and excellent producer of future little amazonas. he wished to pontificate on this, but sangre's evident discomfort grates him to the point nino starts yapping again.

que me falta?