Redhawk Caldera What does the future hold?

Amalia left the spear behind. At least for today. She went in search of where she had called home for a time. To look at it and form her own opinions. To forger her reality. Did she want a future with Killer absolutely. Did she want children. Also yes. But there were many worries. Would she be a good mom? Would she be able to even have kids? She had fought against her heat cycles for so long. What if her body no longer worked like it was supposed too.

She traced footfalls of friends gone. Their footprints long since faded, but she could remember some of where they went. She went through where there had been the mud fight and smiled fondly to think of Kivaluk and Chickadee and she hoped wherever they were they were happy and healthy and their children too.

Finally, she found herself beneath the hobbit hole and she sat, settled and tilted an ear. Closing her eyes to let the breeze flow over her. Content. Happy.

The lump on her foot had long since scabbed, then shrunk. Now it was just a slightly smaller knot of tough tissue. Towhee went back to paying it no attention whatsoever. The same could be said of her achy hind leg. Although she stayed active—“Motion is lotion,” Towhee often muttered under her breath—taking a break from constant globetrotting had definitely helped matters there.

She missed it. Every time Bushtit came by, she wished she could follow him. But he was grown now, entirely independent, and didn’t need his old mother slowing him down. Besides, Towhee had started to embrace this next phase of life, even though it made her laugh no less than three times a day when she realized she’d ended up back here, of all places.

She’d built herself a makeshift nest in the rear of the Hobbit Hole, where she sprawled now as morning crept over the caldera. Towhee took her time waking up and getting out of bed, compelled mostly by the hunger gnawing at her belly. She padded toward the lair’s entrance, planning to walk up to the dogwood tree and do some “yogurt” to ease the stiffness from her old body before she went out hunting.

But the sight of a black figure just downhill made Towhee pause, the woman’s name springing off her tongue in greeting: Amalia.

Amalia had been lost in her own wallowing pit of mind mess. That she hadn't realized that one of the scents she knew at least a little, was more permanent than others. That it floated around like a wolf that hung out here. She could be given this little bit of oversight.

Her name was called and she turned, ears pricked forward. When she saw the face of Killer or at least similarities at any rate looking out. This was a wolf that had given her a message. Someone Killer knew. She wracked her brains. Oh yes this was Towhee. His grandma she thought. She wondered about his mom and dad for a moment. Then shook her head. She thought she had met them, but she had met so many wolves now. It would be hard to remember right this minute.

There was something else really important about Towhee that she needed to remember. She frowned in thought and then clapped a paw to her muzzle of course. Towhee was deaf. And Amalia did not know the language of paws.

So she moved closer to the she wolf. And looked at her so she could read her lips. Hiya Towhee.

Spring green eyes flicked up to her and Towhee smiled, lifting her paw in a wave. Before she could make a move downward, Amalia ascended toward where she stood just outside the Hobbit Hole. Towhee’s eyes followed her movements, thinking to herself that this was Killdeer’s mate, her granddaughter-in-law and mother of her future great grandchildren.

I know we’ve technically met, the elder she-wolf said, but that hardly counts. So, it’s nice to meet you properly. She paused. I’m sure Killer’s mentioned that I’m camping out here until you two decide whether you’re making the move.

She hadn’t made any formal claims, though Towhee supposed her presence here and her frequent patrols—no way was she going to sit idly by if someone else tried to set their sights on this place—had put some informal dibs on the caldera. But she was only keeping the place warm for them.

Amalia and Killdeer had not made anything official exactly. But that was at Amalia's request. But if she were honest, she had firmly put him in place as hers in recent weeks. She just needed to tell him that. But that was as scary as their unsure future. What if he decided he wanted to leave too?

A smile lit up the green of her eyes and her face. Laughter peeking from her eyes. Reminiscent of her brother. Well met Towhee. I am Amalia Willow. Laughter followed her announcement. And a wag of her tail.

Amalia looked around. He told me. It is beautiful here. She looked again. Settling to her haunches her doubts and worries still hanging heavy on her mind.

Either she hadn’t taken Killdeer’s surname or they weren’t as official as Towhee thought. She cocked her head but made no comment, returning the woman’s easy smile. A bland light entered her orange eyes, however, as she surveyed their surroundings.

It’s okay, I guess, she said wryly. I’m in an ongoing fight with this place, she explained. We have a lot of history, the caldera and me…

But that was a tale for another day. Towhee wondered if Amalia would like to join her in her hunt for breakfast, though before she could extend that invitation, Amalia took a seat. She was pretty hungry, though not so famished that she couldn’t spare a few moments for conversation first.

Just here to look around, or? she queried, then abruptly remembered, Wait, you lived here before. You’re probably already as familiar with it as I am.

They were not official and honestly Amalia wasn't certain she would take Killdeer's surname. She may like to keep her own. She hadn't thought that far ahead. Though she should probably talk to him soon. Because as far as she was concerned it was just the making official thing they needed. They were already pretty much so.

Amalia did not know that Towhee was hungry. Had she known she'd have quickly helped to hunt something down. It did not do to have her future grandmother in law hungry. A tilt of downy head.

Yes I did. That is why. She clammed up for a moment and sighed. I am worried that perhaps I will bring it all to ruin.

Amalia pawed at her ear as she traced her thoughts. They were so many differnt paths and roadways. She could not even grasp the edges. I have been in three packs since I First came to the Teekon. Natigvik it fell apart soon after I joined. I then was a loner for a time. Then I joined brecheliante and it fell to ruin as well a year after. And now the spear. I joined and well now it has fallen or almost fallen.

Towhee quirked a brow at Amalia’s rejoinder. She explained how she’d joined pack after pack, only for them to disband. It took a good deal of self-control to school her expression as the Willow woman took responsibility for these things upon herself.

Three? Those are rookie numbers, Towhee countered. I’ve destroyed at least twice as many as that, maybe three times, she said with a serious face, which soon cracked into a smile. Very rarely does a wolf singlehandedly cause an entire pack to fall apart. It’s more of a group effort. And packs rise and fall all the time. It’s just the way things go.

But there was something in Amalia’s statement that niggled at her. Towhee chewed the inside of her cheek for a second.

Is Moonspear really in that bad a shape?

Amalia felt these things deeply. She was a very happy wolf, extremely. But she also felt things so deeply. It was a way she saw the world. Perhaps she shouldn't have taken it as responsibility. But she had.

Amalia felt her guilt slighly dissipate and she couldn't quite hide the soft smile that traced her features. Makine her feel happy and a little vulnerable. She liked Killer's grandma. I suppose so. But it has always felt as if it were a thing. But perhaps I should reframe my thinking or at least try.

Amalia shifted. When I leave. It will be taken down to 7 or so, mostly young. Alaric is strong willed and he will do his best. But even he cannot perform miracles. Pie will help. She seems stubbornly attached to the place and she will make a good leader as she learns. At least I believe so from what Killdeer has told me of her. Admittedly she and I have not spoken much.