Redhawk Caldera Too cool for sküle

I'm gonna say his thread with Saena takes place tomorrow (technically today... omg, I need to go to bed!), so I'll set this for that same evening. That should give folks time to get up to some shenanigans in the interim if they want. ;)

The moment he and Saena parted ways, Peregrine began meandering back toward the caldera. At first, it was a subconscious thing. But when the squat peak rose into view in the distance, he purposefully hastened his step. He was still hurt and angry, yet after seeing his estranged daughter, he couldn't bear to let another rift threaten to tear apart his remaining family. He would go home to the caldera and, eventually, talk to Fox.

When his toes touched familiar soil right around sunset, he was very tempted to make a beeline to their den. Even though he was mad at her and wanted an apology, he missed her. But the most outrageous mental image popped into his head and it froze him in his tracks. He saw Fox and Magpie curled up together in the Alphas' den like two peas in a pod. Peregrine's guts churned and he headed for a patrol instead.

With every step, he felt some of the tension ease out of his body. He hated being at odds with his mate and resented the fact that he might run into Magpie at any moment, yet one thing certainly rang true: he was happy to be home.

There were lots of wolf packs webbed together within these wilds. Her nostrils flared in disgust with every new scent -- or as Spectra would call it -- stench wavered, whether wanted or not, towards her. Winter's ferocious call had swept her away from the wilds in search of a pack. Her sturdy frame was thinner than that of a well-fed pack wolf, still the young loner was vital enough to travel from place to place to do some cherry picking; deciding only the best pack was good enough for her.

Spectra had left behind that arrogant demeanor for now. Today she would allow it to be a 'surprise-out-of-the-box' kind of thing. To experience and learn what these packs were like and find out of one of these would suit her; after all, giving away one's loyalty in exchange for food, shelter (and a family, but let's not get there), was a big exchange.

At the borders she remained, rather impatiently tiptoeing around like a young child with a chocolate in front of him, tempted to simply cross over. But she didn't, not this time. Perhaps a fierce, territorial Alpha Male -- with a sour mood (?) -- was more than she could bargain for today.

Thanks for joining! <3

The sight of a stranger in the distance was not a welcome one and Peregrine stopped and turned to face her, fur bristling. Stiffening his legs, he strode in her direction. She was well beyond the caldera's borders but he wanted to make it known that even the outskirts were forbidden territory in his eyes. This far out, he wouldn't try to kill her, just tell her to get lost. If they had had space in the ranks, he might have used it as an opportunity to recruit her—she did look young and able-bodied—but there simply wasn't space... hence a huge part of the issue with Fox accepting Magpie.

Thinking about that set his teeth on edge so that when he came close to the charcoal she-wolf, his voice came out more harsh than he actually intended. "What are you doing here? You're too close for comfort." Peregrine didn't bother pointing out that she was near a pack's territory and that he was said pack's Alpha, as any wolf with half a brain (and a nose) would realize that.

[mate]

Luckily Peregrine was not so rampaging bull, demanding with fierceness and force who was out there, scurrying about. Spectra was not impressed with barking dogs that hardly ever bit. Had she eaten the chocolate, stolen a piece of the cake and entered the lands it was an entirely different story. Then she deserved some butt-kickery. The Alpha Male -- which Spectra dubbed mr. Hot Pants -- was more respectable in his approach to her, especially since she was on neutral grounds, nearly hugging the lands.

"Hey, I'm ..--" [insert good reason here]. The raven-coated female showed a proper respect to mr. Hot Pants to show that she good manners -- and no ill intentions. But beyond that it remained quiet for one second, two seconds. Eternity, well, almost. "I was a little but curious wandered by too closely." She mumbled while trying to recollect her senses. Although, she wasn't certain if she made any sense at all. "Sorry, mister." Hot Pants!, she wanted to add.

"And now I'm on my way to butting outta 'ere." After all, Spectra knew -- too close for her own comfort -- when she was unwelcome.

He had come to expect trespassers and their ilk to be combative. When the she-wolf did not meet him with aggression, Peregrine relented somewhat. His posture slackened slightly and he did not glare quite so angrily. His tail lashed the air, more thoughtful than predatory, and his ears flicked backward, then forward again.

"Wow, you actually said 'sorry.' Do you know how rare that is around these parts?" he called after her, wondering if she would keep going or maybe stop and engage. He wasn't the chatty type, yet this event deserved some acknowledgement. "Don't you know you're supposed to throw social norms out the window, refuse to acknowledge my right to defend my home and try to plead and yell at me?" he joked darkly.

Hopefully her honest apology hadn't just earned her the title of a saint, or miss-goody-two-shoes. The thought alone made her nose wrinkle her cool, charcoal nose in disgust once more. She couldn't snoop around with the reputation that she was good, although maybe deep, down inside she was.

It was good to see Peregrine lighten up slightly, she appreciated his joke and answered it with a sly smirk. "Being good is really annoying. Usually when stumbling upon a place like this I'd be pounding the cache stores, stealing the nicest food and -- more importantly -- checking out some hot guy's ass." She light-heartedly said.

He couldn't be sure whether she was serious or sarcastic, though based on her crass joke, he presumed the latter. She reminded him of Fox, which suddenly made him miss his mate very badly, no matter how angry he was with her. But he was angry and, though he hated to admit it, he was suddenly tempted to flirt with this passerby out of spite (and perhaps a bit of self-imposed loneliness).

"Why the ass in particular?" he queried. "Most dudes' asses are bony. I would know, being an ass man myself. Ladies' butts are where it's at." You don't have a bad one yourself, he almost said but he choked it back. He was about to be a father, for goodness's sake. Even if he was at odds with their mother at the moment, he wasn't about to be a total sleaze bucket.

Oh no, she felt that urge again. That urge that created a sudden sparkle near her abdomen which made her hind legs nearly tremble and shiver. She tried her best to show heavy resistance. The timing was bad, like last time. Last time it happened during an important pack meeting as a six months old pup, and while it happened, all those gawking, staring eyes at her. And then, the comments of the pack thereafter, Spectra was scarred and traumatized for life. And now, now it happened again that annoying urge, right in front of mr. Hot Pants when they had juicy stuff to discuss.

Her right hind leg shortly came off the ground, then the other as she was partly holding her breath and biting her lip not to give in to the pinching urge. This all happened in a second. The next moment she dashed away to the nearest tree or bush in the vicinity while muttering nearly inaudible "'Scuse-me. Just a second!"

After she was done with her golden shower, which was what created the sudden urge, Spectra came back from her private retreat and moved back to mr. Hot Pants. She felt so embarrassed that she could also die here, right on the spot. "If you have any comments.." She said with a head as red as a tomato, luckily her facial fur covered it all, "I'll haunt your ass!" Although those words sounded as a threat, they obviously weren't, it was as if she said; "Don't make fun of me, this is already embarrassing enough as it is."

Cue vulgar Perry:

She made no reply to his witticism. Had he thrown her for a loop? His lips parted to say something else when the stranger scrambled away, muttering something under her breath. Peregrine blinked after her, though she didn't go far. Brows nearly lifting off his face, he gazed at the spot where she had disappeared, motionless until she reappeared and moved closer again.

Upon realizing what must have happened, the Alpha male burst out in loud, barking laughter. He wanted to reassure her that he didn't give a rat's ass about her bodily functions but he couldn't get it out right away. He could barely breathe. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it), a recollection that involved Fox sobered him almost immediately.

"I had explosive diarrhea at a recent play session and, before that, I banged my wife at a feast. Both of them happened in front of the pack. That kind of thing doesn't faze me in the least. It's natural, so why the hell should we be ashamed?" he demanded curiously. "You'd think with a mouth like that, you wouldn't be embarrassed about a little piss and shit," he admonished with a laugh.

As cold as winter's icy breath, Spectra froze up in a way to shield herself from public humiliation. This situation could go in two directions, either they would make fun of her or they would cringle in disgust. Those two options made much sense because it's how everyone had reacted in the past, though luckily there weren't many who knew.

Spectra felt a sudden flash of anger and somehow, disappointment, when he was laughing out loud. Great, she thought, and categorized herself as world's best laughing stock. Fiercely her eyes lit up like burning flames. The mixture of emotions disappeared when he spoke up. Suddenly there was complete silence and gawking in awe when he decided to share some fun stories of his own.

"No, fucking way!" Spectra said out loud, still in awe and disbelief at the first thing. "Really?" She said to his second story of banging his wife, now laughing in approval and respect. "I'll put butts and bangs on my bucket list, a try before you die. And here I thought I was a bad ass. You've got quite a reputation of your own!"

Either way, she was thankful for his response and glad that he shared some cool experiences of his own. "What's your name?" The lone female wondered all of the sudden while realizing it was time for her to move onward and leave him to experience more sensational things. But now she might have a face to a name instead of only that, a reputation.

Her innocence on the subject truly surprised (and amused) him. When she mentioned "butts and bangs," he guffawed rather immaturely. He then shook his head at her and said, "Seriously, it's not even a big deal. We're wild animals. We piss, we shit, we fuck. I don't care who's looking when I do any of the above." That wasn't totally true. Instinct often required privacy for these things, just not always.

Perhaps because she was so enamored with his ability to perform bodily functions on full public display, she asked for his name. "I'm Peregrine, though I go by Perry mostly. What's yours?" he asked. There was something about her that he found endearing and he suddenly regretted that there was no room in the caldera. It really might have been interesting to recruit her, then subject her to his myriad of vulgar habits.

If she had given him the impression that she was the beacon of innocence, Peregrine might be very much-ly so mistaken. She was prone to make mistakes, screw things up- or over and even worse, fall in love easily. Her past marked more than just a few black pages that she hadn't shared.

Spectra enjoyed and appreciated his down-to-earth approach to more intimidating topics whereas others would back down. Others would zip their mouth or squawk in displeasure. Yes, today had succeeded; it was definitely out-of-the-box surprising.

"Fuck you, fuck you very, very much Perry." Spectra said joyfully and with a more positive not than in Lily Allen's song. "Spectra." She quickly added before scooting off into the wild once more.
This day would definitely give her something to think about and even more.

He was all for freestyle cursing, though her random parting words sort of left a weird taste in his mouth. She gave her name, only to slip off into the wilderness without so much as an explanation. Peregrine blinked after her, more than a little perplexed by the strange turn in events, then shrugged. What did it matter anyway? He wasn't usually one to stop and chat with strangers and there was no hope for recruitment, so she'd just saved them both some time.

Still... "Spectra. Huh." She occupied his thoughts a few moments longer as he pivoted and loped closer to the caldera. She had been quite interesting, perhaps even memorable. But the encounter was quickly forgotten when he abruptly remembered his ongoing row with Fox. He froze in his tracks, then mechanically resumed his earlier patrol. For now, he would remain on the outskirts.