Redhawk Caldera elfweave

after completely putting her foot in her mouth with maia, teya had butted the entire fuck out. today she was digging a new cache, and when she was done, the raven dropped a fish into it. there. symbolism. she'd spent the morning chasing off a breeding pair of coyotes, and hoped they'd stay gone and not explode the caldera with pups.
pups.
she snorted through her nose and went on.

Maia had stayed upset for a while after she and Teya's unfortunate conversation, but it never took long for her to begin questioning how she'd handled it. And this one definitely had a pretty bad look. Embarrassment and guilt began to creep in as she considered that, maybe, her abrupt leaving had been unnecessarily rude. She could have just... not been a complete jerk and talked about it? Or even just asked not to talk about it?

Really, she could have done just about anything else. Now Teya definitely had no reason to like her.

Maia worried about it until she was about sick with it, but it still took a little while to work up the courage to go find Teya and apologize. Your probably just going to make it worse, honestly. Maybe it's better to leave it alone. She's better off not being your friend anyway.

But when she decided to stop by the Caldera and check the place out once more, she recognized Teya. Her ears tucked back awkwardly and, immediately, anything she'd thought to say over the past few days completely blanked out of her mind. Oh, jeeze, this panic.... this was how Eljay felt all the time, wasn't it!? Her mouth was dry.

Umm... hi. Wow. Nice, Maia.. She fell quiet, though, trying to formulate some kind of apology but also waiting to see if Teya just told her to get lost anyway.

well she wasn't expecting to see maia here, but when she looked up, that was who stood in front of her. the raven mustered a quick, apologetic smile and cleared her throat. she didn't want to bring it up, and she wasn't sure maia did either.
a wave of her tail showed all was well.
"reyes and i, we put new border around caldera," she said softly, feeling like she was giving a report. "was going to clean out dens." it was an invitation. a peace offering.

Maia looked around, partially to take in the landscape, partially to avoid meeting Teya's gaze for a little longer. This place had its own beauty, but she knew she could never love it like she had the one they were leaving. That was okay though. She hadn't loved the Copse, or Lost Creek Hollow, or any of the other places either. Home didn't have to be perfect.

That's great. What do you think of it? She asked, a little cautiously. Teya didn't seem upset, but Maia was hovering on apologizing. She felt that maybe she should, but maybe not right away.

"i like it." there was a lake for water and many miles of unexplored territory. she could see why the redhawk wolves had lived here so long. what teya did not understand was why they had left just as quickly. she suspected maia and eljay would christen this place again with a new litter, but dared not grow so personal again.
she headed toward a particularly beautiful den, not yet comprehending that this had been the blackthorn space, the seat of the disputes which had led eljay away from redhawk caldera in the beginning at all.

She didn't have a response to that and the silence stretched between them as Teya walked towards a den. It turned awkward (to Maia, who wasn't big on quiet) the longer it went.

She doesn't want to hear it. Just go again. Maia shifted awkwardly, but then she took a step towards where Teya was exploring.

I'm, uh... sorry. About being kinda a spaz. That was dumb. Her ears tilted back deferentially and she paused uncomfortably. I can leave you alone, if you want. Was she always this bad at this? Probably.

teya shook her head. there it was. "i was wrong. you right. i — should not have said things. anything." a wry smile climbed her mouth. she was willing to restart.
"friends?" she asked softly of maia, her coolwater eyes searching the other woman. at least, as much as she was able as their raven. but brecheliant had never felt quite like that.

No, I wasn't, I mean.... I didn't... It was really hard to find the right words. Maia struggled with it for a minute, but then she realized that Teya wanted to drop it altogether. She could do that, maybe? Maia was the type to hold on to things, but this thing wasn't fun or great to think about. Starting over was definitely better.

Yeah, okay. Friends. She finished quieter, finally looking up.

Teya was surprisingly intimidating to her. Normally Maia had no end of things to say but, for once, the young mother was at a loss for words again. She was grateful that at least the elephant in the room was gone. Now it was the manageable awkwardness rather than the real tension.

it had always been weird between her and maia and she didn't know why. teya had never looked at eljay with anything more than respect, so it wasn't jealousy she thought maia felt. 
the other woman had stepped down as a raven; she hadn't been forced from leadership, so that wasn't it either.
maybe maia just plain didn't like her. but teya didn't think she'd be offering an apology if so.
she had no idea. the little violet wanted to fix things but had no idea how to start. "i still wondering why they left the caldera."

If Maia had bothered to take the time for introspection, she could have easily realized that the common denominator in all of these situations was her. It didn't used to be this hard, but withdrawing into herself hadn't helped things. Now that she actually wanted to reach out, she didn't exactly remember how, and she was so convinced that others weren't interested, she could barely get herself to try.

She was grateful for the subject change, though. It was something that was pretty safe territory, talking about the Caldera! She hadn't known them and she didn't think Teya had either, so it wasn't like discussing it with Eljay. Maia had been careful to only bring it up when he seemed like he wanted to talk about it.

I don't know. It's weird it would just happen. I hope it wasn't anything bad. But I feel like... I dunno. They didn't even come see Eljay. I can't imagine doing that, leaving without saying goodbye. It makes me glad we did what we did. Ended up with you, I mean. With Brecheliant. Realizing she'd taken the opportunity to vent a bit, she laughed sheepishly at the final correction. She had had more reasons to be happy about it than not, of course! But this made it feel like it had been the right thing for him, too, not just her. He'd said that when he came but it was hard to believe it until she saw it, with how upset he'd been initially.

It doesn't look like anything happened, though. I bet they didn't want to winter here. She looked about. It was a nice spot, she thought, but a lot of things went into that kind of choice. And she hadn't seen the Redhawks since she'd stayed with them, forever ago. Oh.... oh gosh. She'd never even thanked them, had she? Actually, she'd even yelled at Towhee that one time....

What if her and Eljay's messed up friendship was Maia's fault? That was certainly a new thought to keep her up at night.

maia's talkativeness suggested that they were fine now. truth be told, teya held no animosity. the raven knew she had been out of line, whether or not her friend agreed. and that was what they would be, if hse could keep from misstepping again.
"i glad you ended up in fen too, maia," teya said softly, her eyes lingering on eljay's mate for a minute. she had never found it odd that it was just herself and the auspex in leadership, but she missed wraen and she did wonder if maia would ever want to come back. "brecheliant is small and like family. i prefer it."
the wanderlust that had gripped her before had gone, along with the anxiousness.
she found herself thinking of bridget again.
"it a big place. but it closer to akashingo and the rest of flatland." maybe that was where the prey had gone. and as far as she knew, the fen had more hunters than the caldera, including the younger wolves that were now able to travel.

Maia heated up uncomfortably, but also pleasantly, with the weight of the compliment. She would probably never get used to hearing those sorts of things. Yeah, it really is. I know why I wanted to make this place with her, but I never really imagined what it would turn into. It had been kind of selfish-feeling at the time, but now it felt like the farthest thing from that. Her life would be so inconceivably different right now if she had just said yes to Eljay and stayed where she was. Her mate would be a different wolf too.

Are Akashingo... how are they? You went there, right, for some kind of something? I used to travel around all the time and meet other packs, but I haven't really had the chance since all of this. She gestured good naturedly in a way that was mostly meant to mean "everything".

teya nodded. "a wedding." she thought of the coyote with burning golden eyes and carefully tamped down the memory. "in akashingo they are royal. so it was big deal." she smirked. "we ate odd berries. became drunk."
and that was how reyes had come to be bruised and without the favour of their ally. "i actually have to go back before too long. just keep up alliance."
she paused to mark a borderline around the den they had discovered, peeking curiously into its roomy depths. "you and eljay?" she suggested, arching a brow teasingly at maia.

It sounded like something straight from a story. A wedding, royalty, even the drinking... though Maia had little experience or knowledge of that. She wasn't even entirely sure what it meant, but any thoughts of asking fled when Teya clarified.

Her and Eljay? She opened her mouth to argue, but then thought about it. She was right. It has been that long. I hadn't realized, she added, smiling sheepishly. Then it was her time to look a little mischievous. Will Reyes go with you? You two seem close. Maia was thrilled to see it, so long as the two of them were happy. And she couldn't fight the secret hope that maybe, maybe, she and Eljay wouldn't be the only parents this year. Teya had been an amazing asset as a babysitter, but imagine how much better that would be with playdates and her being able to return the favor?!

teya let out her breath in a shuddering, surprised laugh. "we are close," she confirmed, looking into maia's face with the conspiratorial nature of friendship. "i go alone, though. he not act right last time."
her stomach complained, reminding the raven that she had not eaten since arriving in the caldera earlier. "rabbit again?" she offered with a chuckle. the animals were plentiful where others were not, and they didn't have the numbers around currently to take down a deer.

Maia wondered what that meant, and opened her mouth to begin asking before she caught herself. You literally just made nice with each other. No, Maia.

She let out a breath of laughter, then nodded. Rabbit sounds perfect. She would follow Teya's lead, helping her to bring down a snack that the both of them might share.