Redhawk Caldera On dark wings

AW but tagging @Ashton. :)

Several bats fluttered past overhead, disappearing in the direction of the setting sun, which was just now sinking out of sight into the cradle of the sea. The sky was a deepening indigo, with a reddish glow still tinging the distant, liquid horizon. The air was unseasonably warm, even despite the late hour, as Peregrine continued his slow patrol around the caldera's base. He idly wondered if the bats also called the extinct volcano home; perhaps they roosted in one of the many hidden caves.

Licking his lips, he paused near a puddle and took a drink, ignoring the stagnant flavor of the water. The Warden then resumed his vigilant walk, intending to complete his circuit before climbing to the top of the ridge to sit and think awhile.

Ashton had arisen from his den amongst the little still breathing Amarillo daffodils, the dozens, some wilting, some still vibrant, all strategically located at the entrance of his den, almost as if Mother Nature herself, offered him a personal walkway. Exiting the tidy and roomy den of clay and earth, he stooped to sniff a little daffy, and nudged it lightly with a black nailed paw, and grinning at it, like the fool that he was.

"Hey there, little man, what's up nook of the neighborhood? Met any cute little yellow babes, lately?"

Because talking to flowers is what Ashton does.

Thinking about babes led to the golden boy remembering about him running into a chick not too long ago...one who was lost in another galaxy, with no chance of returning, if she didn't get some help : Fox.
And from the mere thought of the little fire femme fatal, the memory of a bristled shadow came with it : Peregrine.

Time to see how the dynamic duo were doing.
Or atleast, on of them. Ashton mainly wanted to see how the flamin femalia was doin, just to check her mental state.

Trotting outside the little dub of woods he chose to humbly reside in, the teen took a look around, and sighed as the sun was setting.
The hippie wasn't too happy about the darkening sky, for it meant a halt to all blooming greenery. But, Mother Nature, being the hardcore babe she was, always persevered.
However, amongst the indigo shadows the Bright Dude in the Sky made as his last kudos to the land, Ash saw something a bit darker. The shadows of the stone still lupine hinted that Ash had n ot been seen yet.

God forbid it was someone who he accidentally called the wrong name.
Team embarrassment.

The yellow plaited teen leapt up the rocks, his handsom figure moving lithely over the gray stones.
A swift whiff as he spoke, allowed Ash to confirm the wolf as Peregrine.

"Sup, dude? "

He plopped his golden little firm tush next to his new Alpha's, watching the sun wave it's final bye bye's.

But his mind kept straying back to the bats, wondering if he was right about their roosting habits. Suddenly, he decided he would finish his patrol, but instead of going up the rim to sit, he would instead check out some of the caves. They would be dark, he knew, so he wouldn't go too deep.

Suddenly, he had company. Peregrine slowed, then stopped, turning to eyeball Ashton. "Just finishing my patrol. Then I was thinking of heading into the caves to do some exploring. You afraid of the dark? If not, I wouldn't mind some company." He began to take a few slow steps, eager to continue — and finish — his route. "Maybe there's some really far-out stuff growing down there," he mused with playful sarcasm.

Ashton had saw the charcoal patrol man prepping to hup two three four away, until he had noticed the sun gold teen cop a spot beside him.

At the mention of going into some dark dank and strange cave, Ash wasn't too enthralled by the attempted temptation.
But the black bird said some magic words.
Growing.

"Hell yea, let's do it, bro!"

Ashton was throughly excited by the little field trip he and the Alpha were gonna be trucking on. All living and botanic things were friends of his.
The bright teen was on his paws, golden tassel swaying back and forth with the excitement.

Peregrine did not pick up on Ashton's initial reluctance, nor the fact that growing was the magical word. His eyes widened a little at the male's exuberant reply, though the swarthy leader would likely get used to his loud, expressive personality soon enough. In the meantime, his charcoal tail waved, approving of his subordinate's enthusiasm.

"Patrol first," he reminded Ashton, still trotting along with his goldenrod companion now in tow. "What are your other interests, apart from botany and healing?" Peregrine asked conversationally as they strode around the caldera, one ear pinned in Ashton's direction, the other still pointed ahead. His gaze swept his surroundings, vigilant despite his divided attention.

"Oh, right..my bad." A sheepish look dashed to the dark as Alpha.

Keeping in beat with the brisk walk of the leader, he thought of the kid's game he played so long ago with other pack pups, follow the leader. A little laugh came from his lips, and Ash squashed it before it would look like he was laughing at the question he was asked.

"Well, I got a knack for chillaxifying with the little dudes and dudettes. I was a caretaker for the Aspens, rompin' around with the kids..." he trailed off, trying to gauge the result of his words on the Alpha's face.

The caldera could use another Caretaker (Peregrine being one himself), though the Alpha pair wouldn't trust their litter with just anyone when the time came. He mulled over Ashton's words a moment, covering about a hundred yards of ground, before he favored his subordinate with a sharp look.

"I assume that you do not mix these trades," he said, "and that you keep all medications out of reach of children?" Peregrine couldn't help but think of the day he and Ty had done mushrooms together. It had been an accident but it still wasn't his fondest memory as a father.

The question startled Ashton, nearly stopping him in tracks. Of course he didn't have the pups play around with his stash! He wanted to laugh at such an insane inference.

Instead, keeping in mind the respect factor, the teen replied in a mellow manner,

"Nah, the stash stays in my basement. The little ones can't get to the stuff. Can't have em' havin hallucinations."

Plus he liked pups. He had often wondered how he would tray his own, if the good blessing came him to have such. If anything,, being around such energetic little bundles of adorableness kept a handsome dude like him, young.

11/4: I'm concluding this since Ashton's gone. :(

Ashton provided the appropriate response, though Peregrine would keep a watchful eye on him until he trusted him more. Not that there were any pups around right now. And hopefully by the time they did arrive, Ashton would be a long-standing core member of the caldera...

"Okay, I'm done with this patrol. I'm going in," he announced a few moments later, veering somewhat suddenly and bounding up the slope. There were fissures scattered among the rocks: access points to the caverns below. He sought one now, nose dropping to the ground even as his bright eyes scanned his darkling surroundings.

Fluttering and squeaking noises overhead made him look upward. He watched a few more bats flit off into the night. He then traced their rough trajectory backward and began climbing toward the point where he thought they'd emerged. There he would find one of the entrances to the caves.

Before taking the plunge, he paused and looked back. "You coming?" he asked with a toothy smile before dropping out of sight and disappearing into the caves for a few hours of hardcore spelunking.

The dark dude plopped down into the hole, a cave, and before Ash could ask what the Alpha saw, a risk of furry dark flying rats flew through the opening, causing the golden boy to spook.
Damn bats.

"Yea, on my way, doc."

And with those words, the hippie plunged into the darkness, with his leader.
Luminescent emeralds peered through the increasing jet black, nose working tirelessly to discern things.

"Have ya been here before? " The sandy little man spoke out loud, secretly trying to pinpoint the location of his alpha.

He slunk a few feet into the subterranean cavern before pausing and turning around to face the entrance. Although it was dark out there, it was certainly lighter than in here. Peregrine could see Ashton's silhouette as he climbed in after him. His eyes glowed like jewels in the darkness.

"I've done some cursory exploring of the tunnels. I have a feeling there's a whole network down here, like an anthill or something. You know? I wish there was a way of bringing light down here. You don't know of a way, do you?" he questioned even as he began to prowl deeper into the murk, using his whiskers when the light failed him.

At the sound of words, Ash was quick to catch up with his Alpha. If he hadn't have felt the air his swaying tail made, he would have ran straight into the obsidian man's obsidian end, and that was something he was definitely not attempting to do.

The golden hippie kept his radar like auds precisely on the paw downs of the lupine ahead, but answered the posed question.

"I'm so happy you've been here before, jeez. I was seriously hoping you knew what we would be walkin' into.
As for light, I do have some, though it probably wont last. It's a hope though. I collected a shitload of fire flies, and once they all got stuck to a leaf that I coated with some dew fragranced honey I slathered on it, and dried, I smashed em. So...bright light leaves."

A laugh escaped into the darkness at the sandy dude's description of dead bugs on little pieces of greenery.

He didn't really expect Ashton to answer affirmatively and when the aspiring Healer elaborated on his method, Peregrine gaped at him, not that the other male could see in the dark. He had always had a healthy respect for Blue Willow's abilities as a medic but this was a whole new level of innovation that went beyond medicine. As that thought crossed his mind, he felt ashamed of himself for thinking poorly of his dear friend. But, really, what Ashton had described sort of blew his mind.

"Wait, do you still have this... firefly light? Can you go get it so we can use it?"

The onyx sounded amazed. Like, pretty impressed with his random bout of weirdness. Firefly lights.
Badass.

"I'd love ta get em for us, but I kinda don't know where 'up' is,..if you can snag me an exist, I'd be back as quick as I could be, Per."

The hippie had no issue with retrieving the bright neon leaflets. He was grateful for the dark dude to actually not be wierded out by his crafty and creative little makings.
After all, he dud have a way with artsy efficiencies.

I figure we can finish this one, since we have several more up-to-date ones. :)

Ashton requested some assistance in finding his way out and Peregrine paused, then laughed dryly. "Is this what they call ironic? We need the firefly lights to go and get the firefly lights. I'd offer to be your seeing eye dog but I actually don't know which way to go. I got myself turned around now that you mention it. Well, shit," he muttered quietly, feeling a flare of anxiety pass through him.

"Um, maybe we should sit tight until morning, then do our exploring when there's a bit more light filtering down here. I don't want to try finding the way out only to get lost forever, you know?" Peregrine suggested after a moment. His paws scraped over the cold stone ground as he turned in a circle, sat and then slung his belly to the cave floor.

◆Definitely. I forgot this one even existed, in all truth and honesty. Good call.
Last post from me then, Kat. Good thread! ☆◆


Ashton offered the song of his whimsical laugh in the depression, suppression, and compression of the cave.
Yea, there was no leaving no time soon, Ash.

"Sounds like a better plan than mine, Cap'n. "

With his own claws clicking on the chilly stone, the golden teen made some sort of a lopsided oval, not even recognizing direction anymore, as he plunkered down close enough for Per to feel the light touches of his fur and know his whereabouts, but not all 'imgonnabreathedownyourneckasyousleep' sorta close.
Close enough.

"Night, bro," he murmured to the man whos pelt matched the surroundings, just before he threw himself into a temporary coma.
He was tired as hell.