Redhawk Caldera You just put your lips together and blow

I'm trying to incorporate the pack's NPCs a bit more, so I'll be stringing along a Ms. @Magpie in here.

This would be a great opportunity for any aspiring Wardens or Warriors! :)

Wildfire was quite content to spend most of her time at the rendezvous site—she had quite a knack for keeping herself entertained—yet more and more these days, the adults were escorting the pups beyond its borders to get acquainted with the whole of the caldera. It wouldn't be long before they even began observing pack hunts, though that was still a week or two away.

Today, Magpie invited Wildfire to accompany her to a rabbit warren, where she intended to show the youngster the art of capturing hares. The little Naturalist was much more interested in studying the rabbits than killing and eating them, though she didn't say anything other than, "Yes!" to her aunt's invitation. She didn't realize it consciously but it would be a fantastic introduction to catching small prey.

"Stay here. Watch and learn," Magpie said in a playful tone when they reached their destination. Wildfire did as she was told, hunkering close to the earth as the aspiring Gamekeeper moved forward. The pup couldn't see anything, though the scent of rabbits was definitely in the air. She tipped her snout upward, drawing the scent into her nose. It made her salivate a little.

A movement at the corner of her eye caused the miniature Fox to look sideways. "Hey!" she yelled, causing Magpie to look up, startled, a disapproving frown soon taking over her face at the pup's interruption. But even she quickly realized it was warranted as a slinky, bony coyote ran in a perpendicular line to them, headed straight for one of the caldera's nearest stockpiles.

How about a psychotic godmother? :p

It seemed that whatever bug Finley had been afflicted with had finally passed.  She would have been quite pleased with it were it not for the fact that she was now insanely hungry from having barely eaten the past couple of weeks.  After spending a couple of hours attempting to hunt down some fresh meat for herself, the beta finally gave up and decided to raid one of their caches.  She was far too impatient due to her hunger to manage to bring down any game on her own.  The moment she spotted something, she went barrelling straight towards it.  Fin was vaguely aware that she wasn't usually this bad at hunting, but that hardly mattered to her at that moment.  She just wanted some damn food.

As the platinum-furred Blackthorn came upon the warrens, her interest was piqued as she caught sight of Magpie and Wildfire, apparently in the middle of a hunting lesson.  Eagerly, she looked to the older girl to see if was about to catch anything that Fin could budge in on.  As she was closing the final few yards between herself and her packmates, Wildfire suddenly called out, causing Fin to pause.  Her gaze followed that of Magpie and her little god daughter to land upon the coyote, creeping up on one of their caches.
Finley's eyes widened as the hair along her spine bristled.  It was going after her food.  FOOD.  PROTECT THE FOOD.

With a snarl, the warrior charged past her packmates, launching herself at the son-of-a-bitch that dared threaten their stocks.  She'd show that asshat.  She'd kill it!  And eat it!  HUNGRY.

Feel free to control the coyote!

Before either the yearling or the youngster could react, a wild and ferocious Finley appeared on the scene. Wildfire's golden eyes flew wide as her aunt charged toward the coyote, a picture of female ferocity. Her gaze was part fright, part awe and part admiration. Her godmother was such a badass!

Magpie soon galloped past her to assist the Beta female, though not before pausing breathlessly beside the puppy to command, "Stay right here, Wifi." Now both of her aunts looked like total warriors as they closed in on the coyote.

Feeling the girl power, Wildfire began to trot after them, only to recall Magpie's sharp words. She froze in her tracks, holding her breath. Her dark tail stuck out behind her like a poker as she watched the larger carnivores descend on their smaller brethren.

*PPs ALL the NPCs* My fingers are tingling with power! bwahahaha

Finley had been a fighter from the very start.  From the moment she fought her way out of her mama's womb to fighting her way to be the first to suckle, to fighting her far bigger and stronger siblings for fun or for lesson-teaching.  Fighting had always just come naturally to the little hellion, and thus it had turned into sport far more often than it was done out of actual need.  But all the fun and games picking fights with bears and wolverines and moose with hooves the size of her head had paid off for in the end, it prepared her for moments like these when she truly needed to put her skills to work.

Unfortunately, it seemed the past week of puking her brains out had actually resulted in little fragments of her intelligence going missing.  Instead of turning to aim her shoulder or some other stronger, sturdier part of her body towards the coyote and positioning herself swiftly after the collision to catch her balance, Finley went charging haphazardly straight into its side - Almost like a silver bullet if bullets were to trip over their targets and get themselves woefully tangled and bruised because of it.

Luckily, the coyote was so startled that it was not quick enough to take up the advantage Fin had so foolishly given it.  While she scrambled to get her feet back under her, the coyote had actually landed rather conveniently right on top of her, perfectly poised to grab Finley's throat.  The few seconds of shocked hesitation in the coyote was all the time Magpie needed to come to the rescue by lunging forward, grabbing the enemy by the nape of the neck and forcefully dragging it away from Fin so that she could get her bearings and rejoin the fray.

Oh, yeah... Mags is fair game too, lulz.

The puppy sucked in a breath when Finley lost her footing and fell to the ground, the coyote on top of her. She craned her neck forward, trying to keep track of what was happening. The three canines moved swiftly, with Magpie swooping in and clipping the trespasser's scruff with her teeth and yanking it backward off the Beta female.

"Flea?!" Wildfire cried without even realizing it, chewing her lip apprehensively. Her aunt was still on the ground. Was she hurt? Meanwhile, the coyote had wriggled out of Magpie's grasp... and was now running directly toward her!

Fin was shaking as she pulled herself back up onto all fours.  There was a look of bewilderment on her face as she spun to take in the scene she'd just barreled into.  She watched as Magpie dragged the coyote away, and then still as the small canine broke free and made a beeline straight towards Wildfire.


Finally, the cogs inside of the beta's brain clicked into place and Finley was up and running.  Before the coyote could get within two yards of the little red pup, Fin was leaping onto its back, snatching the scruff of its neck between her teeth and dragging it forcefully to the ground.  The coyote rolled onto its stomach with its legs flailing up towards Finley's face while she danced over it, jaws gaping as she searched for an opening to get to its throat.

Before Wildfire could so much as scream or turn and run, Finley tackled the coyote from behind. Magpie swooped in swiftly too. The much leaner canine practically disappeared beneath them. All the puppy could see was its nose. Something about the sight of it compelled her to unthinkingly dart forward to savagely bite it. Upon realizing what she'd done—defy orders, particularly—the pup then lowered her tail and retreated several yards to wait for her aunts to finish the job.

In the end, it was Magpie that struck the fatal blow to the coyote.  While Fin distracted it, the black wolf swept in and before the beast even realized it, she had it by the throat.  By the time both females stepped away from the coyote, its life had gone and it was perfectly still.  Fin eyed it for a moment before her gaze snapped to Wildfire, whom she approached with narrowed eyes.


"Wildfire!" she barked, "Don't you ever do that again, do you hear me?  That coyote could have bitten your face off!  Leaping at it like that - what were you thinking?"  The little girl's foolish bravado had not gone unnoticed by her godmother.  And while Fin would have (and probably had) pulled stunts like that when she was Wildfire's age, she was quite determined that she would not see her goddaughter hurt under her watch.

The puppy felt bad for her inexplicable actions before Finley came over to shout at her. Wildfire withered under her godmother's glare, her tail tucking between her legs and tickling against her belly. Her big ears splayed and she whined under her breath. I don't know! she wanted to say in response to the Beta female's question. But she couldn't find her voice, nor did she think it was a good idea to answer anyway. There was no excuse for her foolish, out of character behavior.

"Sorry, Aunt Flea!" the whelp mustered, her lip trembling as she tried not to cry. Wildfire worshiped Finley, so being rebuked by her was the worst. Tears swam in her amber eyes, though she didn't dare look at the Beta. She glanced at Magpie instead, as if hoping for a rescue, though just as quickly her gaze dropped to stare at her tiny red toes.

It was quite obvious that Wildfire felt guilt for what she'd done. It took Fin all of thirty seconds of watching her goddaughter trembling at her paws before she heaved a sigh and slipped down onto her belly, aligning her foreleg on either side of the youngster. She leaned forward to plant a kiss upon the girl's crown, then moved her nose to bump it lightly under her chin, wanting her to lift her head so she could see her.

"You know it's part of Aunt Flea's job to make sure your pretty face doesn't get bit," she said softly with a small grin, hoping to drag a tiny smile from the girl.

Those thirty seconds lasted forever in Wildfire's small world. Then Aunt Finley's familiar legs slid past her on either side and she blinked up at the leader apprehensively, lower lip still quivering. When Finley spoke this time, her voice was soft and affectionate. She explained that she was just trying to keep the pup safe. Wildfire nodded. She understood it; she truly did! What she didn't understand was her own impulse to bite the coyote. She didn't know the term instinct or she might have blamed it.

Smiling a watery smile, Wildfire pressed herself up against Aunt Finley's soft throat, nibbling at the Beta female's chin in a way that was borne of fondness, respect and obedience. "Is it dead?" she whispered, slipping her snout from beneath the woman's throat to look past her, toward where Magpie was sniffing at the limp coyote. Wildfire had a rudimentary understanding of death, if not its true permanence, and it intrigued her as an aspiring Naturalist.

As much as Fin didn't want to ever see her goddaughter make a mistake that might result in her getting hurt again, she couldn't stand to leave the little girl in the lurch too long.  She hated to see her sad for any reason, least of all because her Aunt Flea had been harsh with her.  Her heart swelled with pride when Wildfire nodded her understanding and acceptance of her words, and she leaned forward to place a happy lick upon her crown to show her that she was pleased.


Fin's gaze slipped over to the coyote when Wildfire asked her question, watching as Magpie sniffed at it and tugged at its skin.  "Yep, it's dead," she replied nonchalantly, "That's what happens when you try to steal food from a wolf pack - there are consequences and a lot of time, the price is your life."  Fin pushed herself up onto all fours to approach the carcass.  She sniffed eagerly as the flesh that Magpie had just begun to tear open, perfectly happy to claim her right as beta and be the first to feast.

Finley confirmed the coyote's fate, then quickly joined Magpie to stand over the carcass. The younger, subordinate wolf stepped aside to let the Beta feed. Wildfire crept closer but did not attempt to eat. Instead, she observed the kill and reached out to sniff at it. It was sort of strange, the idea of consuming a creature that looked just like a small wolf. There was something different about it, though, and Wildfire didn't question it, especially because her godmother didn't bat an eyelash.

After the two adults ate their fill, there were bits of the coyote's skeleton exposed, particularly its rib cage. "What's that, Aunt Flea?" Wildfire wondered, creeping around to have a better look. They were bones, she knew, but Wildfire hadn't seem many complete skeletons before. By the time a bone usually made it to her, it was a standalone, no longer a piece of this greater skeletal puzzle. "It's neat."

Once Fin had consumed her fill, she stepped back to let Magpie finish and also to allow Wildfire to inspect the bones.  Being a fairly selfish creature, it meant nothing to the beta at all that the coyote was a distant cousin of the wolf.  Their physical similarities were irrelevant when it came to the pack's survival - coyotes were not wolf, and so they were food.  What was not wolf was dinner, it was as simple as that in the mind of the Blackthorn.


Fin turned her gaze towards the pup as she explored the bloody bones of the coyote's earthly remains.  She canted her head curiously as she became preoccupied with the ribcage, a smile flickering across her muzzle when the girl finally lent her voice to the question that had quite obviously been growing upon her mind.  "That is the coyote's ribcage," Fin answered, prowling over her goddaughter, "Every creature has one.  They are the line of bones that protects the heart.  Even you have one, right.. here..."  Fin leaned down to run her nose along Wildfire's spine and then across her sides.

Finley answered her succinctly, explaining the purpose of a rib cage and giving her niece a little tickle along hers. Wildfire squealed and leaped to the aside to avoid her aunt's nose, all the while insisting, "Nuh uh!" Surely she didn't have one of these things inside her. That was crazy talk! Although the more she thought about it, then recollected the way Finley's nose had bumped from rib to rib, the more Wildfire began to realize the truth of it. Besides, Aunt Finley wouldn't lie to her.

Once the pup accepted it as truth, she blinked up at the Beta female with wide amber eyes, a bit bewildered by this new knowledge. "I has bones in me too?" she queried. It all seemed so strange to her, which was probably evident by the look on her face. "An' a heart?" She had seen (and eaten) a few of those, a thought which made her little nose wrinkle in disgusted fascination.

The pup seemed baffled by Fin's little anatomy lesson, which caused her to smile.  She couldn't really remember learning about her own body and discovering that the meat and innards she ate and the bones she chewed on were all inside of her too.  She may have been just as freaked as her little niece was at the news.  Or, she might have shrugged and accepted it and gone on her merry little havoc-wreaking way.  Probably it was the latter...

"Yup, you're full of all kinds of squishy things, just like this coyote," Fin replied with a nod, "And you have bones of your own to hold it all together." 

Last post! ^_^

The lesson was at once captivating and humbling. She was made of meat, just like the coyote and just like all other animals, predator and prey alike. Wildfire contemplated this, licking her nose and blinking between her two aunts. She tried to picture the skeletons and organs inside of them, which caused a little shiver to travel up her spine.

The youngster wasn't very hungry, so she did little more than nibble a few bites from the carcass. She was much more interested in those bones. Moving past the fact that she, too, had a spooky skeleton living inside her, Wildfire desired to snap off these ribs and take them back to her stash. They would make great chew toys, full of succulent marrow she could enjoy extracting for hours.

It was just a matter of figuring out how to break off the bones. Perhaps seeing the child's uncertainty, Magpie stepped in and used her teeth to crack the cage into individual ribs. Wildfire shot the aspiring Gamekeeper a grateful smile, then bundled the bones together and managed to grab four of them with her teeth.

"Wanna take these back home?" Magpie guessed and Wildfire bobbed her head. "Wanna go look for those rabbits after we drop them off...?" The little Naturalist had entirely forgotten about that, though she nodded again. The yearling began to lead the way back toward the rendezvous site but the pup didn't move yet, amber eyes seeking Finley in the hopes that the Beta would come along too.

Finley smiled approvingly as Magpie moved in to break off some ribs for the pup - a move that Stevie was totally going to have Fin do in her last post but her silly brain forgot all about it.  Ah well!  The godmother was happy to see the child grinning excitedly at her new treasures.  As Magpie began to leave, Fin's eyes wandered back to the carcass.  Though she'd already eaten her fill, her stomach was beginning to grumble again.  It seemed her hunger was not so easily satisfied... Wildfire was eyeing her eagerly though, which Fin noticed after a beat.  She smiled and pulled herself onto all fours to follow Magpie.  Her belly could wait a little while while they dropped off Wildfire's new toys, just so long as the promise of rabbit was apparently on the horizon.