Redhawk Caldera i want it real

set the day after https://wolf-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=44716 (ps let me know if any assumptions are wrong)

Now that the worst of it was through Eljay knew it was time to tell the leaders about @Maia's presence. He'd spent some time sleeping by her side, exhausted after the tough night and wanting to make her feel safe, but eventually he woke up. Eljay left Maia to rest in the Blackthorn family den. As he got out of the den he stretched his legs and yawned. Still a little groggy from a lack of sleep and lots of worry, he smacked his lips and set out to look for his leaders.

Since Eljay didn't want to wake Maia, he see off to search for @Towhee, @Phox or @Niamh first; if he couldn't find them, he'd call later.

As luck would have it, Phox happened to run into Eljay not long after he started searching. There was something that seemed weirdly "off" about his cousling, and Phox was about to ask when the familiar scent hit him. That was a distinctly Maia smell. "You devil, you," Phox thought. It seemed Wraen had been able to relay the message to Maia sooner than expected. This was good news to Phox, who had assumed Maia had been in some kind of trouble.

Hey, Eljay. Did Maia pop by for a visit? he asked, waggling his eyebrows. Phox was, of course, blissfully unaware of the state that Maia had arrived in.

Eljay was relieved that he ran into Phox pretty quickly after he set out to search. Honestly, he couldn't really wait to get back to Maia and see how she was doing -- what if she woke up? and maybe he should inspect her wounds one more time just to be sure there weren't any infections he missed -- so the quicker he got it out of the way, the better. He smiled with relief when he saw Phox, who greeted him and asked if Maia popped by.

Yes! he exclaimed in surprise, before realising that her scent must be all over him. No -- I mean -- Sort of, yeah. I was looking for you and the other leaders, actually. She was attacked out in the wild, and she ran into the Caldera on accident. I found her and treated her wounds. They look alright, she's going to live, but she needs some rest, so she has to stay here for a bit. Maybe forever, he couldn't help but think, but he didn't want to push anything on Maia. In the clear daylight Eljay was feeling a lot more reluctant at letting her go again, partly because he cared for her a great deal and partly because he was worried she'd get hurt again. All of his fears about the outside world were confirmed once more with this incident.

Another thing is, Wraen and Arcturus don't know where she is, so I think someone should go and tell them that she's here and safe. The thought of waiting for a loved one to return to one's side was terrible to Eljay, and he didn't wish it on anyone, much less his own friend. Eljay hoped that Phox could take care of those things. He first waited to see how Phox responded to the news, though. It was ironic that they'd just moved to be in a safer place, and already things weren't as safe as they had expected. Hopefully it was an isolated incident.

It was a lot of (shocking!) information at once, and it took a moment for Phox to process all of it. Holy shit, the Regent blurted. Who would attack Maia, anyway? Wasn't she super nice? Then again, Phox had heard of some horrible shit happening to the best of wolves, so it wasn't impossible. Not to mention that Eljay wasn't the type to make things up... especially something like this.

Shit... yeah. I ran into Wraen the other day while I was out hunting. She said Maia hadn't met up with them in awhile, but I just figured she got stuck in the mud or something. We can send somebody out pronto to inform her. Phox racked his brain for who might be a good fit for that mission, but he was still reeling from the fact that Maia was here. And hurt. What a wild, wild ride.

'Holy shit' summed everything up pretty well. Eljay still was trying to wrap his mind around it, too. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Her wounds are looking good, for now, but she's in a lot of pain and very stiff, so I think it'll take at least a few days, but maybe weeks or more. She's quite... Rattled, too. Eljay frowned as he thought about it. He didn't see her going back to Wraen on her own when she was good enough to go.

As Phox mentioned sending someone to Wraen and Arcturus, Eljay said, Probably shouldn't send someone alone, just in case... If the one who did it is still out there. It was just one wolf alone, I think. Just in case, it seemed best to be safe. Eljay frowned as he thought of how someone had hurt Maia. We... I'll try to figure out who it might've been. If they live close to here, it's... It could be a threat.

Tags for reference. :)

Phox frowned at Eljay's further description of Maia. As far as Phox was concerned, she was now a member of Redhawk Caldera whether she liked it or not. Weeks was quite a bit of time, and it would be cold again by then. Snow would be on the ground, Phox was fairly certain, and she might not even be able to travel at that point if she wasn't fully healed up. At least whoever had attacked her seemed to be a sole wolf, not a whole pack. They had just moved here, and Phox was in no mood to have the whole pack move away from a threat again. Here, they had better support from Moonspear, too.

Eljay's suggestion that they send two wolves to reach Wraen was fairly sound, and he nodded in agreement. I'll send @Figment and... Phox tried to remember who in their ranks might be a good fit to go along with him. @Cinder would be a good addition. It felt like his younger cousling had only just gotten here, but he was probably the best suited for the job. It would give him a chance to make a good impression on Towhee and Niamh, too. Sending Figment would also give him a sense of purpose, something Phox knew his eldest son was looking for.

Phox said that he would send Figment and then Cinder. Eljay nodded in agreement. That sounds good. They were young and probably fast, and hopefully they knew their way around the valley enough to find Wraen fast. Eljay didn't really want to think about Wraen taking Maia away again, but he (at this point, anyway) also accepted the reality that it would happen and that he should just enjoy every moment with her.

Yeah. I.. I hope she recovers soon. But selfishly he hoped that it would be at least a week before she was truly able to travel again. He opened his mouth and almost said just it was nice to have her here, but then shut it again in the end. I don't have a lot of herbs against the pain, I hope I can find some around the territory today, he said with a thoughtful frown. Her wounds will heal, but it hurts a lot right now. To be honest, he was just kind of making conversation and awkwardly oversharing now, not expecting Phox to do anything with the information.

Do you want some help searching for the herbs? Phox asked. If you can tell me what they look like... or maybe I can see if Fennec has anything stashed. Wasn't that the whole idea of sister packs? So that, in times of need, they could lean on one another to get through it? Phox thought so, and a few herbs didn't seem like that big of a deal to him. Maia was a friend, and she needed help. Phox couldn't imagine turning her away, even if it did dip into some of their resources.

Eljay didn't think it would help to explain to Phox what the herbs looked like. The plants would all be shriveled up by now so he wasn't confident that he would find them himself, let alone be able to send someone out.

However, the idea of sending for Fennec wasn't bad. She lived closeby now, so it'd be easier to pop by. It's too hard to describe, as the flowers have died out so it's down to pretty minute details to figure it out. But um, asking Fennec if she has something is a good idea. It's not totally necessary, she'll be fine without, but it would be nice for her pain. He nodded at Phox, leaving it up to him whether or not he'd go. After all, while it would be nice to have, it wasn't absolutely necessary.

Eljay explained that describing what he was looking for wouldn't be very useful. That was disappointing, but not at all surprising. Plants were different than prey. Eating the wrong one could make you wind up dead. I've been meaning to pay the new sister pack a visit, Phox said, and this is as good an excuse as any. Not only that, but it would give the Redhawk a chance to determine whether or not having allies was actually worth anything besides sending their youth over to them. Not that he was sour about that, but it wasn't as though Moonspear or Firefly Glen had sent anybody to replace the ranks they had gutted.

Thanks for taking care of her, Eljay. I'm going to go track down Figment and Cinder before I head out to the glen. Maybe let Towhee know what's going on, too, so she doesn't eat Maia's face for being here, Phox said, though the last part was (mostly) a joke.

That's great, thanks! Eljay said with a bright smile. It really did help that their packs are closer together now.

Phox thanked him for taking care of Maia, and Eljay nodded. No problem. I'll let Towhee know, too. He nodded at Phox. See you later, Phox -- thanks again! Eljay smiled and then, if Phox had nothing else to say, started to make his way back to the Blackthorn den to see if Maia was up yet.