Redhawk Caldera We will ride the gathering storm

dating this to a few days after the Junior hubbub if that's alright ^^
@Peregrine whenever you have time/if you like. This should be interesting. No rush, I'm gonna prolly be slow as hell these next couple of weeks

Dante had waited until Junior's condition stabilized a bit, unwilling to leave Blue Willow in charge with the juvenile so ill. Now, however, with her resting, Dante figured it was time to pay the Caldera a visit. While he did mean to inform Peregrine, that was not his purpose. His real reason was what had his stomach tied up in knots.

Dante was not a wolf who enjoyed confrontation. Yet here he was, about to tell Peregrine that he was no longer welcome on Plateau lands.

He rehearsed the words all the way there, but knew that the instant he began to speak, any speech he made would fly straight out the window. The most he could do was explain and hope that, eventually, Peregrine would understand. He needed to do what was best for his pack, and Peregrine would do the same, he was sure of it.

Gods this was going to be awkward.

Lifting his muzzle at the border, he sent up a call to his former leader, controlling his nerves enough for the note to sound clear but not enough to prevent himself from pacing while he waited.

Oblivious to his daughter's strife and the part he played in it, Peregrine went about his business as usual. This included frequent patrols of the border. Dante's call caught him during one such pass, causing him to freeze in his tracks and double back the way he had come. The whole way there, he tried to decide why Dante had come calling.

"Dante, what brings you all the way out here?" Peregrine asked a little breathlessly as he drew up in front of his successor. "Is everything okay?" He regarded the pewter male, wondering how he was dealing with leadership. Maybe he was here to ask for some counsel? Peregrine would happily give it, considering his attachments to the plateau.

Peregrine didn't take long to appear, and the pleasant surprise on his face made Dante hate the circumstances of his visit even more. Though he would never follow the black Alpha again, he had already let go of any anger he may have felt towards him . There had been a moment he had thought of making this same statement to Peregrine out of anger. This was far from that though.

"Peregrine, hey. I actually came to talk with you, and to deliver news." He knew that the news might only make the father resist his other statement more, but Dante was not about to hide things from him. If they couldn't be sister packs , he at least wanted a relationship of mutual respect and trust.

"First, the news. Junior was injured not too long ago. She got pretty ill, but is recovering and resting with Blue Willow's care." He was quick to add the latter in. "She asked that you not be informed, but you deserve to know."

The next wasn't going to be so easy. Dante paused to collect his thoughts, then went on. "The next bit is regarding our status as sister packs. I.... I don't think it is a good idea. I think it would be best if we stayed in our own territories and kept any visits to neutral ground. There's a lot of hurt and anger that needs to be allowed time." Dante's gaze as he looked at Peregrine was apologetic. "We will send Finley to you when she is well, but I have to ask that your members keep their distance, and we will do the same ."

Peregrine felt his heart sink. Junior was hurt? How? Why didn't she want him to know? Before he could properly process the news and ask for additional details, Dante proceeded onto another topic. He was rejecting the notion of sister packs. The fact the he shared this in the same breath as the news about Junior was like a hard slap in the face.

Right then, Peregrine wanted to tell Dante to go fuck himself. The words very nearly sprang from his tongue, though he dug his teeth into his lips. He didn't want to take a shit on the plateau just because of its Alpha's poorly-delivered stance on the matter. Many of his loved ones lived there: his daughters, his sister, his best friend, his former lover, their pups...

He felt his throat tighten as comprehension truly began to dawn on him. He felt insulted and disrespected. Dante gave no other reason than some temporarily hurt feelings. Peregrine understood that some were still affected by his choice to relocate but Dante's decision to implement a sweeping lock-down felt poorly timed, ill-informed and spiteful.

"You would prohibit me from visiting my sick child?" he demanded, paternal instincts causing him to raise his voice. Forcing himself to speak more calmly, he added, "And from approaching the plateau's borders respectfully? You want to bar me from my loved ones, including my children? And Willow's and Lasher's pups? WHY? Instead of rejecting the idea outright and spitting on everything I ever did for the plateau, why not propose that we discuss the terms of said sisterhood?" he demanded, eyes flinty as Dante dared meet his gaze.

Damn. The steely response was about what had been expected, but that didn't make it any easier to hear. The worst part was that Dante couldn't explain. He couldn't divulge Blue Willow's suspicions about Junior's injuries, nor that he thought their infliction so soon after Peregrine's visit a coincidence. He was an alpha and a counselor first, a friend second, and he wouldn't betray Junior like that. He'd already done enough informing Peregrine.

Unable to appeal with reason, he took another route. One that might just cost him a friendship. "I am, as is my right. You entrusted the plateau and it's members to me and Blue when you left. It is for the sake of the pack that I request this. Like it or not, your children are my responsibility now as well, and I won't let personal feelings cause them harm. They need time." He met Peregrine's eye, a dangerous move but in this he had to be firm. If Peregrine did not heed his words, he hated to think what might happen. Junior almost hadn't made it this time, and next time they might not be so fortunate .

"Blue Willow should be Alpha. She wouldn't do this. Does she know you're here to tell me this?" Without giving Dante a chance to respond to that, he demanded, "What I'd like to know is how a sisterhood would harm anyone? Again, I'm asking you to explain your decision, Dante. If you can't do that, if you can't discuss this with me, then why should I honor your request? What happens if I don't? Do you really intend to keep me from my sick daughter?" he repeated, though his tone was more like, Do you really think you can keep me from her? "My other kids? My best friend? My former lover? My sister?"

Once again, the other male looked him in the eye. Peregrine responded with a warning growl, though he didn't make a move toward Dante. He wanted to put him in his place, yet that would be counter-intuitive. This entire argument was counterproductive. They were meant to be allies but it was entirely possible that Dante's one-sided decision had already begun to undo the groundwork.

lol if you want Perry to jump him feel free ^^ I don't mind either way, not sure if this would piss him off enough

[/quote]Dante refused to be cowed by Peregrine's growl, though part if him wanted nothing more to submit. To tell Peregrine he could take his damn pack back and it's troubles. It was nothing more than a frustrated whim, though, and one that he would never in a million years truly consider. He loved his family and wasn't about to let anything happen to them. Apollo help him he'd fight Peregrine if he had to, but that wasn't the way Dante wanted this to turn out.

Telling him of Junior had been a mistake. It was too late now, though. "Do you think I don't know that!? I told her to take it, but she refused. So now you get me." Dante growled in return, then forced his voice back down. "Yes, she knows. And whatever her own feelings, she agreed with me." She hadn't been happy about it. But she had allowed that perhaps it was best to not name themselves associated. It had been her hope though that Caldera wolves could visit with escort, but Dante did not mention it. Perhaps in time that could be true, but now now.

"You may visit them all you want. In neutral territory. If they want to see you, then they will come. As to Junior, she had made her stance clear, and as her Alpha I will honor her wishes. It is to she I owe my loyalty now, not you. If she changed her mind, I will send for you immediately. Until then, I can't. I'm sorry."

He's an angry baboon's ass... but he's not that angry... yet?! :P

The idea that Blue Willow would let Dante make this inexplicable decision was so ludicrous to Peregrine that he refused to accept it at face value. She had visited the caldera peaceably several times and he'd come to the plateau's borders a time or two as well. There had been no issues on either end. So where was Dante's decision coming from?

"All of this is based on Junior's wishes?" Peregrine asked, genuine confusion contorting his features. That made no sense but, then, what was the actual explanation? Dante still hadn't answered any of his questions. The swarthy Alpha male was already agitated, now he was getting violently frustrated.

"You have yet to answer to my request for an explanation. Other than my kids, I get along with everyone of import at the plateau. And I've expressed no qualms about your subordinates visiting me here. Even Fox hasn't. So where the fuck is this coming from, Dante?"

Now it was Dante's turn to get a bit frustrated. He understood that Peregrine had friends in the Plateau still and wanted to keep the relationship alive. He just didn't understand why it needed to include access beyond Blacktail's borders. And he said as much. "Why, Peregrine? Why does a relationship between our two packs need to include access to one another's lands? What could you want within our borders that you can't just as easily get on the other side? It isn't just for Junior. I want those who were hurt by your leaving to be able to see you on their terms. Not before. The Plateau is their home and I won't jeopardize their happiness for your sake. I won't. Do I need a better reason? Would you not do the same? Tell me truly. If a non pack member wished to enter your lands, but it would cause duress for even one of your packmates, would you let them?"

If Peregrine was half the Alpha Dante thought he was, he would hear those words and hopefully at least some of them would get through. There was a line here that Peregrine was not understanding... he was no longer a member of the Plateau pack, and therefore his opinion did not matter nearly in the capacity that those living within Dante's borders' did.

"Who said I wanted open access to your lands? Like I said, we should have discussed the parameters before you shat on the caldera's offer of friendship," Peregrine snapped. "I wanted to offer an alliance, not a free fucking pass to tromp all over one another's territories. Do you know anything about me, Dante? I wanted to honor my attachments to the plateau by making some exceptions I usually wouldn't make for any other pack, yet you didn't even give it a chance to discuss the details and agree on terms and boundaries.

And you easily could have come here and asked me to give Junior space," he continued, "but instead you took it much further than that. You've insulted and disrespected me. I wanted our packs to be on good terms, to call at one another's borders openly, yet now you're basically telling me to fuck off for no particular reason at all, that I can't even come anywhere near the plateau. That means I can't visit my loved ones when they're sick or injured, that you're preventing me from seeing Blue Willow's pups when they're born. You've driven a wedge between me and some of those most important to me. You know what that makes you? A fucking dick. And I don't think for one second that Blue Willow, Lasher and Osprey agree with your terms.

They are welcome to visit and they always will be, an offer I will maintain for those from the plateau. But I'll make an exception for you, Dante," Peregrine finished scathingly, even though he doubted it mattered to the silver Alpha. It was pretty clear that what Dante thought of the caldera, though Peregrine still had no idea where his disdain came from. "Get out."

If he wasn't asking for a pass into their lands, then why the fuck were they even arguing? Because that was the only term that Dante had spoken initially, and it was the one that Peregrine had immediately jumped down his throat for. He assumed it was because he had termed it a demand, not a request, and Peregrine had (perhaps rightfully) taken offense. Dante hadn't negotiated, though, because it had been non-negotiable for him from the start, and he wasn't about to play Peregrine like that. But he couldn't say so, because he couldn't explain it. And that was the real rub.

Well, if he was to be the villain here, so be it. He'd take the hit if it meant that those who needed space would get what they needed and the rest would still be welcome to interact with those from the Caldera. That was all Dante wanted. He had burned a bridge here, though, that much was clear. There wasn't much chance that he and Peregrine would be laughing about this in a few month's time, and Dante was sorely upset by that fact. He'd really enjoyed Peregrine's friendship while it had lasted.

He didn't respond with the fact that it had been Lasher who first agreed with him whole heartedly, for he didn't want Peregrine's ire directed at anyone else. Perhaps it was better that he didn't believe him about Blue Willow either, for she hadn't been set on the plan to begin with.

His ears drew back, but he steeled himself against the bitter disappointment that welled up within him. "I understand. I'm glad we are clear." And without another word, he turned, leaving Peregrine behind him. He would honor the request. He would not visit again. For now, though, he needed to inform the pack of what had been reached. Some might not respect the decision he had made, but he still felt it right, even now.

Maybe someday they would understand.

Great thread! That ^ post was especially beautiful. :)

Peregrine wanted to hurl curses and insults at Dante, yet all he did was leer, flare his nostrils and snort quietly. His tail gave a lash as he watched the plateau's Alpha turn and head back home. Peregrine was tempted to run after him, to pass him, and fly to the plateau to check on his daughter. His muscles even twitched spasmodically beneath his panther black pelt. But he remained rooted to the spot, glaring after Dante until he disappeared into the distance.

As soon as Dante was gone, Peregrine screamed, "Fuck!" and swept off at a hasty lope, using his angry energy to complete his circuit, which would also give him plenty of time to work out his thoughts and feelings on what had just transpired.