Redhawk Caldera woke up feeling like a new james dean.

Penn had zero idea what he was walking into when he approached the borders of the Caldera. He'd heard a few things, knew a few things, but was pretty much clueless to the most recent shitshow that had graced the stage. He didn't even really know why he'd decided that today was the day to stop by. It was just a whim, which was what drove most of the decisions he ever made. And it had worked for him so far--no reason to change his ways now.

He hesitated when he reached the borders, considering whether or not to even stop. They were sister packs, right? And he was family, right? Didn't that give him some liberties here? It felt like he ought to have the right to just come on in whenever he wanted. After all, he thought it likely the same courtesy would be extended to the Redhawks if they wanted to come to Brechel.. Brechy... Brechlint... Oh, whatever they were calling it. His mouth watered over the bundle of plants in his mouth. He really wanted to get rid of them, so the sooner he found someone to give them to, the better. Maybe he would just keep going...

As if Penn would run into anyone else.  Fennec had been keeping ears and nose to the border pretty regularly ever since the bear incident.  She didn't want the thing coming back and catching them unawares again, so she double timed it, though that was split pretty intensely with playing fetch for the ones who couldn't move themselves yet.

She grimaced as she stepped and felt her shoulder tug.  This snow was a bitch, and it just kept coming.  Speaking of bitches....

She caught his scent first and froze, clearly in view of where he was.   He wasn't moving at the moment so she didn't know for sure that he was present, but her eyes narrowed.  This was a joke, yeah? There was no way he was showing up right now.  She didn't call out, and indecision held her in place.  She didn't know if she should ignore it or follow and see if he was, in fact, back.  She didn't know what she'd do if she found him.

It was probably fortunate for Penn that the wolf who caught him attempting to cross the borders uninvited was blind, since it meant he never exactly got caught. He hadn't gone more than a few steps into the territory before he spotted her downwind, so it wasn't like he'd super trespassed. Only a little. Still, he froze like a criminal the moment his eyes landed on her.

He'd tried to tell himself that seeing her again wouldn't be a big deal. Their blow out had been so long ago, who even remembered what it had been about? (Penn did). All the mental coaching and reasoning in the world couldn't have left him unaffected by this moment, though. And once again, it was fortunate she couldn't see because he would've flung himself right off a cliff if she could've seen those few moments he stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, just staring at her.

Penn swallowed thickly, promptly grimacing once again over the taste of the greenery (or what had been green) in his mouth. The bitterness was enough to snap him out of his head and suddenly, he found himself moving towards her. He reached out and drew his ego close to him, using it like a shield he wrapped around himself. By the time he reached her, his swagger was back and he was grinning his usual grin as he tossed the bundle in her direction.

"I thought you were supposed to be bedridden," Penn commented as he settled back onto his haunches in the snow, suppressing a shiver, "I got those from the coast. I don't know if they're the same ones you were all interested in on our trip, but it's about the best that can be found these days."

Apparently the decision wouldn't need to be hers, because instead he approached her.  She heard his footsteps and her ears went back, not coming forward again when he launched into what had to be the last thing she expected.  And yet, as he did it, it made perfect sense.  Because of course Penn would act as if nothing had happened.

The reason Fennec had hesitated to follow was because she wasn't sure she could resist snapping his face off the moment she heard his voice.  She was still so angry.  Not only did she remember what the fight had been about; she remembered exactly how it had made her feel, having him disappear like that.  And now he had the balls to not only mention their trip, but to toss something her way and pretend like she was supposed to be okay with this.

Fennec was decidedly not okay with this.  And without another word, her lips peeled back, and she launched herself at the sound of his stupid voice with a snarl.  She was going to pin him down exactly the same way she'd pinned that other girl down, muzzle to scruff, and shove his face into the snow.

To his credit, he had on some level expected this. Her attack was abrupt, but even as he cried out a "Fuck!" and fell to his back, he wasn't completely surprised. There wasn't the teensiest bit of him that felt he really deserved this--after all, she was the one that had chosen to stay so really, he was the one who deserved to be pissed. He was ready to let bygones be bygones, though. Fen, apparently, was not. Which was also not entirely surprising. She did like to hold grudges.

Well, if this was what needed to happen to resolve this, Penn was okay with it. It was better than talking it out, anyway. Not as good as just ignoring it would've been, but oh well.

Not bedridden, then, he thought to himself as he collapsed into the snow, twisting to try to avoid allowing her to get her weight on him. He tried to reach to grab a forearm between his jaws to knock her off balance. He didn't really have an emotional need to smash her face into the snow, per se. But he also wasn't going to just roll over like a bitch. He'd brought her a damn present, after all. Ungrateful, blind woman.

Fennec managed to knock him over, but barely registered his yell.  She had no clue what she'd do after she pinned him down, but for some reason, she had a serious need to take this out on him.  She needed him to know that he didn't get to just walk out of her life and then come back as if nothing was wrong with that.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Fennec wasn't really in fighting shape after recovering from three successive bouts.  Penn caught her right foreleg and the already couger-fucked limb gave out pretty easily on her.  She fell over sideways, then hissed out a Fuck! of her own as both her shoulder and her freshly-healed side impacted the snow.  Luckily there was some amount of give there, but it still hurt.

Fennec pushed herself onto her stomach, but didn't get up.  DAMNIT.  The curse was drenched in frustrated venom.  What the HELL are you doing here, Penn?!  She glared in his general direction, with her sides heaving and her fur spiked up, and hated that she couldn't bring herself to go for round two.  She couldn't afford getting herself knocked off her feet again if it meant re-triggering whatever it was that kept her bedridden last time.

Penn let go of her limb the moment she went down. It quickly became apparent that she wasn't going to be getting back up, so he was satisfied. He too rolled onto his stomach and looked over at her, finding himself lying parallel to her with a few feet between them.

She shrieked at him like a harpy. He flattened his ears in annoyance as he frowned at her. "I brought you a fucking gift," he spat back, angry. Weren't bitches supposed to like gifts? "Damn, woman. Control yourself." He didn't say anything else for now, just glared at her. He wasn't about to offer anything else up unless pressed.

God, you are such a dick.  She groaned, and it was her own face that ended up shoved in the snow as she gave a pretty impressive head-desk.  It was partially her frustration at him, but also partially because holy fuck she had to ride out this knock she'd taken.  She gritted her teeth.

All this time she'd been angry and, obviously, it really had meant nothing to him.  He could show up as casually as if it was another day and she was the freak who put all this god damn weight on it.  If he didn't care, neither should she, and in showing she did she had already lost.  He hadn't missed her, hadn't regretted leaving her, and had probably had no intentions of even sticking with her longer than he had.  Okay then.

She lifted her head, then pushed herself up to sitting.  Keep it.  You don't want any part of here, remember?  So you don't owe us shit.  She responded, getting to her paws and shifting her weight off of the right automatically.  Two could play at his game, and she didn't have to stick around here and let him have her time.

"Is this news?" Penn asked rhetorically when she accused him of being a dick. A grin flashed across his muzzle that she couldn't see, settling there as he watched her smash her own face into the snow. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed riling her up.

His grin faltered as he watched her push to her haunches. She was in pain, and he wondered if perhaps she wasn't as healed as her attack had suggested. He watched her, frowning at her words. "Hey, just because I didn't want to be tied down to the pack doesn't mean I don't care," he retorted, thinking to himself how so not true that would've been a few months ago. And honestly, it still wasn't entirely true. He didn't give any fucks about most of the wolves here. Just her. But hell if he was going to let her know that. Not in so many words, at least. Maybe. He was not sticking to his guns very well.

"Look, what happened was some shit and it probably could've been handled better," Penn admitted with a softening voice, falling victim to the moment though still unwilling to fully take any blame, "Being there just sucked, alright? But I could've probably, y'know... been more patient... or whatever." He paused, frustrated at having to say these things, and so he angrily burst out with something else entirely instead, "Would you just take the damn plants? You clearly need them."

Ohhhhhhh she was going to do it.  She was going to rip his mouth off of his damn face, just watch.  She was bothered in part because she knew for a fact what he said was valid; she'd left herself, hadn't she?  But also because of the way he just dismissed all of it like that.  'Probably could've been handled better' and 'more patent.. or whatever' as if she was the crazy one for being upset.

Which was fair, okay, because letting anything Penn did at this point upset her was crazy.  She'd argued for him so many times before they left the first time, attempting to convince Bronco and her family that he was different than what they always made him out to be.  Sure, he was a dick, but that was a front because he would never be a big enough dick to up and abandon her.  Except, he had.  He hadn't known he was leaving her with no one, granted, but that didn't mean he hadn't left her.

Sucked enough to just ditch me without saying goodbye, huh?  She retorted, fur lifting.  She'd lit into him at the time, too, but he deserved it a second time if he was going to sit here and make light of it.  Fuck patient, Penn.  You could've given a shit and you didn't.  I don't need anything from you because, y'know what?  Everyone was fucking right about you.  And I should've trusted them from the start.  She stalked forward a step, getting right up to him before reiterating it.  I don't need your plants.  And I don't need you.

"Yes," Penn answered promptly, his eyes narrowing. The words My parents died there, y'know, hovered on the tip of his tongue, but he bit them back. He was already being more vulnerable than he was comfortable with without getting into all of that mess. Besides, part of him was just plain offended that she couldn't have figured it out herself just what being in that place had meant for him. Had she even tried to see it from his point of view?

Not that he'd ever done her the same courtesy, but y'know.

"I didn't give a shit??" he asked, bringing himself onto all fours to glare at her, "You ever stop and think how shitty it was of you to not come with me? To ignore me the whole time we were at the Copse? To even make me go there in the first place? I never wanted to see that fuckin' forest again, and you knew that, but I went because you wanted to. I gave you time with your family and at the end of the day, you chose them over me. Don't talk to me about not giving a shit when you're the one that never gave one."

He hadn't meant to get angry, but apparently he wasn't quite as ready to let bygones be bygones as he'd thought. Though to be fair, if she hadn't started yelling, he wouldn't have either. So once again, this was all totally her fault.

Wait a second.  He was blaming this on her?!  Ohhh bud.  Ohhhh.

Not to COME WITH YOU?!  I had to fucking hunt you down to even find out you were leaving, you asshole!  Did he not remember?  Or did he just assume that she'd follow, like some sort of tagalong, and he didn't even need to bother asking?  Because holy shit was that ever not the case.  She'd drop dead before she let that be the case.

I didn't know that.  I know your an idiot, Penn, but I can't read minds.  You're the one that chose being a fucking baby about things over me, and my family are the ones who came back and found me and made sure I was okay.  Because unlike you, they actually give a damn.  How could she have ever even considered, for a second, choosing Penn over them?  The first time she'd left, she'd been willing to write the entire group of them off for him.  God, what an ungrateful bitch.

I thought you were the one friend I had who I didn't have to worry about, because I thought we knew we could tell each other.  Even if we couldn't tell anyone else.  Fuck me, I guess.  Obviously they were both idiots.  But she wasn't about to give him any ground, not when he hadn't said a damn word.  And not when this was his second time leaving her in the dust to guess at why, despite her always trying her best to make sure he knew she was there.

This argument didn't seem to be improving at all. In fact, it was definitely getting worse. He could see he was making her angrier, but he didn't really care at that point. She was making him pretty angry too. Angry enough that it felt like time to lay all the cards out on the table, but not in that I just want to make you understand way, but more in the I want to shut you the fuck up way.

"I seriously had to spell it out for you that I didn't want to go back to the place where my parents fucking died?" Penn snapped at her, finally, "You don't get how much it sucked for me to sit around by myself and watch you prance around all happy with your family when I had no one? You talk about me being the one friend you had that whatever. Did it never occur to you that you are literally the one friend I had and from the moment we got back, I was alone because you were too busy with them?"

"You're mad that I tried to leave without saying good bye," he added, "But what exactly would've been the point? What would've changed? Nothing. You still would've picked them over me." Penn was absolutely certain of that fact, which is to say that yeah he definitely was also an idiot.

If he thought he was going to gain her sympathy by playing the dead parents card, he was mistaken.  Because it was bullshit, and she knew it, and if there was one thing you could count on Fennec for it was calling that like she saw it.  She had never minced her words to spare his (or anyone's) feelings, and this was not going to be an exception.

You fucking chose to sit around by yourself, don't get that twisted.  Yeah, your parents are dead, but mine aren't and they're your family too.  You just chose to be an asshole and treat them like shit.  I let you because I fucking got it, but I'm not going to sit here and let you pretend I'm the problem for spending time with our family.  Get fucked.

Assumptions.  If he hadn't given her an ultimatum, if he'd asked, she'd have left with him again in a heartbeat.  She didn't even have to wonder; she'd done it the first time and she'd have done it again.  Maybe it was lucky for her he'd shown his true colors then.  Right.  Clearly you know everything.  Then I guess we're done here.  Normally she could go a few more rounds, but she suddenly was sick of arguing with him.  It wasn't worth it.  She didn't want to sit here and listen to his 'woe is me' excuses about his parents, his shitty decisions, or how he had 'no one' when she was right fucking there.  He could go right back to having no one since clearly that was how he was happiest.  She began to stalk off, limping back in the direction of home without another word.

With everything they'd gone through, Penn had always felt like she just got it. He never really had to explain himself to her, nor had he ever required it of her. They were just on the same page. So when she dismissed his confession so venomously, Penn was left stunned, angry, and very, very hurt. 

He didn't have words for a moment, which was a first for him. Penn shook his head to clear away all of the emotions he'd let himself feel, swallowing them down and burying them. That bullshit had never done him any good. He shouldn't have bothered with it. He shouldn't even bother with her.

Except...

"So let me get this straight... You would've picked me?" Penn said as he trotted after her. She could try to leave all she wanted, but with that limp, she wasn't getting away from him that easily. He pulled up alongside her (leaving enough space that she couldn't reach over and bite him), glancing sidelong at her with smug curiosity sparkling in his brown eyes. She hadn't told him he was wrong--she'd just dismissed the whole thing. Almost like she didn't want to admit something.

He couldn't just let it die.  For the third time in the space of a pretty short conversation, she pictured herself eating his face.  And no, Penn, not in the way you probably wanted.  Key word - would've.  But hey, you didn't bother to ask, so guess what!  Fuck you.  She replied without missing a beat. Her inflection changed completely through the statement, going from mock friendly to absolutely flat on the last curse.   She was still walking, and if he wanted to keep talking, he was going to have to keep following for now.  She probably wasn't heading back to the den anymore... so instead, she shifted directions, going for the northern border instead.

What are you doing here, anyway?  You never answered.  Fine.  She was curious.

She admitted it! A smile curled across his lips, in spite of all the vitriol they'd just spewed at each other. She would've come. His hurt and anger was suddenly a lot easier to keep buried as he kept pace with her. "Well, shit..." he said quietly, "All that for nothin'." It wasn't a confession of wrong-doing on his part, but it was somewhat an acknowledgement that he was indeed a dumb ass.

"I came to bring you those plants," Penn answered simply, "I heard you got laid up while you were off gallivanting and thought they might help. I know they're hard to come by, especially with Winter being such a bitch this year." He paused, then looked over at her again, "Where did you end up, anyway? I caught your trail going East, but lost it by a river. Good work, by the way." He added the last without sarcasm--he really had been impressed that she'd covered her tracks so well.

Fennec didn't respond to his quiet utterance, though it was just another mark against him in a book that was, all of the sudden, teetering on the brink.  She didn't hear it as an acceptance from him, or any kind of apology.  What she read was that, now that he'd heard what he needed to hear, everything she'd said no longer mattered.  And it was a little bit of the confirmation she needed, honestly.  He wasn't sorry, didn't see what he'd done wrong, and had no intentions of accepting any amount of blame.

She had a decision to make here.  She could play along with his angle, respond and pretend like nothing was wrong.  They could go back to friends, easy as that, until one day he decided to disappear again.  Or she could tell him to get lost.

She was kind of sick of making excuses for him.

Well, you brought them.  So now you might as well leave.  She replied icily.  She didn't know if this was the death knell for them, but it felt... pretty telling that, in that moment, she didn't quite care if it was.  Maybe if he'd given her a glimpse, some inkling that he was sorry for what he'd done, that he understood her feelings mattered to.  But she'd gotten nothing, and as soon as all was well in Penn's world, hers had ceased to even exist to him.  We're done, Penn.  Get out.

To her credit, she kept it pretty steady when she stopped and turned to say this.  Internally, she felt suddenly like she was going to shake apart at the seams.  Externally?  Completely frigid, cold and unyielding as the frozen ground around them.

She ignored his question and once again tried to send him away. He frowned at her thoughtfully. On the one hand, she was being a real bitch and definitely deserved more harrassment. On the other, he could see they'd reached a standstill and likely the next move she made would be to call the entire pack to come down on him. Which could be fun, actually. But, he decided not to push it. It wasn't like this was the last time they'd see each other. He could play the long game if he had to.

"Suit yourself," Penn replied nonchalantly, "Enjoy the plants. You better heal up for round two." He wagged his tail and grinned as he turned and headed back towards the borders. "I'll see you around, neighbor!" he called back over his shoulder as he trotted off. If he hadn't been entirely decided to stick around Brecheliant before, he definitely was now.

The amount of unbothered he was made it worse.  All she wanted was a damn reaction and of course Penn was incapable of delivering.  She was absolutely teetering on calling for backup when he decided to at least jet off.  But not before uttering a sentence that was absolutely confusing.

Neighbor? Wait, hold on, what the fuck...

But he was already trotting away, and no way in hell was she calling him back.  She made it a bit further before letting out a frustrated sound, then turning back and hunting down what he'd brought.  Fuck it, fine, but she didn't owe him shit regardless.

God she was pissed.