Redhawk Caldera mapleheart

maia had quietly stepped down as auspex, and all teya could think was that it had to do with eljay's health. she was left openly supportive, but quietly nervous. she had not led alone yet, and though she did not think much would happen day to day, she was unsure.
in the hot evening she sought out @Bronco, winding close and planting a kiss to his chin, his temple. "hey, you," sweet voice against the trill of insects, though she couldn't say anything yet.

The children played, and he could hear their cheerful voices as he lay, basking in the warmth of the evening sunlight. On some days, all three seemed to strike some bargain where they cooperatively found a game to play and for those fleeting moments, he was grateful. 

He lifted his head as Teya approached and pushed himself up into a sit in time to receive and lean into the kiss she placed on his brow. Like sunlight spilling over a hill, his features brightened at her touch and his brushy tail thumped against the ground.

”Hey you,” He repeated, momentarily dumbfounded by affection to the point of not being able to come up with something more clever.

teya pressed her forehead into his, and did not speak right away, settling close to lave the fur of his shoulder until it was primped into a fine sheen. "maia is stepping down," she said quietly and at length.
"just me now."
the role of auspex was not something teya wanted. she understood there was little difference between that rank or the one she had always held, one of raven, but it felt more monumental. it felt like it belonged to eljay and maia, and it was how she wanted things to be.
teya was quiet, waiting for bronco to respond as she glanced in the direction of the lake.

He could have fallen asleep like that, temple to temple as though sharing the inner peace they brought one another. He breathed with her, the corners of his lips quirking as he realized how they had synchronized subconsciously. 

She spoke, and the tatters of his ears flicked forward. His first feeling was concern. He lined for the days when Maia and Eljay had still seemed so young and bright; stepping down was often a sign of aging, something he found hard to believe. He’d grown up around them, looking up to them. Hell, he’d had a crush on Maia when he’d been to young to even articulate such a thing.

Now, he recalled the day Teya had been voted into leadership. He felt he’d voted for her. And now, she was on her own. He sensed she was implying something with her tone- some malcontent. 

”How do you feel about that?” He could assume her feelings, of course- but he preferred to hear it directly from her.

bronco blackthorn, teya's eternal rock and confidant. "i worried about leading alone, even though i can do it," she said simply and directly, covering his paw with both of her own in a vaguely playful way as she glanced up at him. 
"you could be auspex." before it had been a vote, but she didn't see any reason there needed to be one now, with mostly pups and blackthorn adults in brecheliant.
though she had only meant it as an option, now teya's eyes shone at that possibility.

In spite of the seriousness in her words, the way she crossed both of her paws over one of his made him smile. Effortlessly, with each tiny gesture she captivated his attention, distracting him from the real conversation at hand. A moment later, though, the message was finally processed from his ears and into his brain, where he realized she was hinting something. He looked up, to see something shimmering in her eyes, like a piece of metal under shallow waters. 

The ambition to lead a pack had long since left him, smashed below the tumbling rocks of the landslide in Firefly Glen. Something cracked by pressure and grief and had driven his ambitious mother to her own death. His father had died defending the pack, Hydra had died on her mountain. With responsibility came the chance that he too might have to sacrifice everything for his pack-

-but when he thought about it for a moment, that was already something he was willing to do. But it might not be the case here, not where it was peaceful and protected. The thought of leaving it all to Teya frightened him more than what might happen to him, if he was to step up. 

He clumsily wiggled his other front foot in, alongside the one she already clasped, and nodded. "Alright," He said, with a faint smile. "I'll lead with you."

with you. "you always with me, bronco," teya murmured, and there was something else to it now, a message of love and of words she could not convey in their language.
only in the way she held his large rough paw, the manner in which she gazed into his eyes, past the scarring she had come to love; how she laid her head against the thump of his good and golden heart.
how she could not fathom losing him in any way.

He rumbled an affectionate laugh, and pressed his temple into hers, before sliding his jaw over the crown of her skull, and drawing her nearer to her chest where she could hear the steady, strong beat of his loving heart. He reveled in the silence, punctuated only by that gentle thump thump thump and the quiet chirp of crickets. 

"What is an Auspex, anyway?" He asked thoughtfully. The thought had wound its way into his consciousness, begging to be spoken like a curious child. "Is it a kind of bird too?"

"like — a queen of birds. wraen. maia. or a king of birds. eljay. you." she touched their noses together, steadied by his presence both here and now in leadership.
this was a blackthorn pack, now, more and forever, moored by their dedication to the caldera.
and yet she missed the fen more and more, its waterways and the grave where wraen still reigned.
"we should have pack hunt soon. make official with akashingo and moonglow."

Legends, he thought, some still living. He found it almost impossible to believe that he had finally earned a position that wasn't simply a supporting role. He'd always found himself happily lost in the cast, especially after having tried numerous times to establish a fledgling pack. He considered Firefly Glen, and its grisly end- where the few wolves who survived were scattered like seeds on the wind. He considered Bramblepoint, where once before the idea of being crowned a king had caused him to shudder. The pack's failure had not only included a dispersal, but the fracturing of his own family as well.

He wasn't sure that leadership was what he wanted, but if it was the will of his wife, then it would be the role he would assume. He could shoulder this, alongside the steadfast Raven. If she believed in him, then he would try to believe in himself as well. 

He had never been to Akashingo, but knew it was important to Teya. Moonglow interested him more- it had been a long time since he had seen Kukutux, and he felt lightly ashamed that someone who had been so kind to him had earned very little from him in return. "That's a good idea," He said, lips curling at the suggestion of hunting large game that might not normally be found on the caldera. Thoughts of food swept away his insecure thoughts about leadership and his guilt of having not visited Kukutux. "Mmmm....What'll we hunt?" He asked, licking his lips.

fading <333

"elk, maybe."
her mind was not on the hunt, however, it was on the fact that for the first time, she would lead alongside a mate. the enormity of this was — it was kept to herself, if only for the fact that teya knew inherently that he was thinking it too.
or would; it did not matter. they matched in all ways and now in this too.
teya allowed herself a moment of pure settled bliss; to be married; to have children; to be leader; to be steadied.
and for now, talk of hunts aside, she laughed and told him a joke, simply between them both, and with dancing eyes expressed that her happiness was true and deep.