Redhawk Caldera #250

Because this is my 250th thread (that I've started)! *creative*

As the day wore on toward evening, the air began to cool. Peregrine returned from the borders feeling decidedly hungry and stopped on his way home to raid the "fridge" (read: a stockpile). With the snarling monster in his belly appeased for now, he considered swinging by the Beta's den to check up on baby Elwood. But a commotion in the direction of the rendezvous site had him sprinting in that direction instead, his heart thundering in his chest as he fretted over his half-grown pups.

When he arrived there, breathless from the climb, he found... nothing. There was no one there. He turned in a circle, brow furrowed. Was he suffering from auditory hallucinations? Feeling uneasy, the Alpha male tipped his muzzle into the air and called out to the pack in general, "Did anyone else just hear a commotion near the rendezvous site or am I just going crazy?"

Nightjar was at the rendezvous site, albeit hidden quite well in the trees with his face buried into a patch of flowers. Whatever commotion had alarmed his father was missed by him, either because it was on his bad side or because he was just too busy sniffing the wilting buds and flicking bees away with his tail.

His head sprang up when Peregrine's howl sounded nearby on his good side, and soon the fast-growing boy was galloping up the hill toward the Alpha male with a single petal clinging to the side of his face. He threw back his own head as he ran, infected easily by the tug of the wild in his heart, and added his call to wind, though his message wasn't anything special. In fact, his howl said nothing at all aside from, awooWOOwooWOO. A true testament to just how eloquent and intelligent he was. He hadn't even really understood why Peregrine was howling.

Nevermind that. "Hi dad!" he called out as he drew nearer with his tail, which was now fluffy and long, waving jovially behind him. "Can we go fight bad guys on the borders?" he asked, still completely unaware of why Peregrine was here or what his howl was about. He sort of thought it was a summons and he was lucky enough to be the first one there, which obviously meant he would get Peregrine's attention for the day.

An exuberant howl answered his own, if not Peregrine's question. The Alpha's lips twisted into a smirk as his son bounded into view, yelling about fighting bad guys at the borders. For a moment, he considered it, because he didn't want to disappoint Nightjar. But he had just returned from a patrol and it was getting close to the pups' bedtime. While he didn't have qualms taking his aspiring fighters on patrols at their age, he didn't necessarily like the idea of doing it in the dark.

"How about you and I spar," he proposed instead, "and I'll take you out to the borders at the butt crack of dawn?" Hopefully the boy would appreciate the toilet humor, if not being made to wait. "Come at me, boy," Peregrine added without giving Nightjar much of a chance to even process the diversion, crouching into a defensive posture to hopefully egg on his little Warrior/Warden.

Peregrine didn't play along with Nightjar's real desire, which was to go to the borders and fight intruders and coyotes and all manner of horrible creature. The alternative was still good, though. The pup's tail slashed back and forth as his excitement mounted and he danced a moment on the spot, then dropped himself into a crouch. His muzzle was instinctively lowered but his eyes stared straight ahead, not quite boring into Peregrine's (he knew his place and didn't care for disrespect) but definitely challenging in a way.

He gnashed his jaws, ready to charge, when his right ear flipped up and locked on a loud rustle in the trees. His tail lashed again, this time predatory and alert rather than playful, and he hunched his rapidly broadening shoulders protectively. He growled lowly and took a threatening step toward the source of the sound before glancing at his father and asking, "what's that?"

With his every scrap of attention focused on Nightjar and their pending play fight, Peregrine had entirely forgotten about the disturbance. But a rustling nearby caused both father and son to shift their focus. He was tempted to step in front of the pup to shield him, yet the Alpha simply moved to stand beside him. The pup seemed more than ready to face the possible threat. He was both a Warrior and Warden in training. Now would be the perfect time to test his skills... supposing that the source of the noise wasn't overly dangerous.

A low growl clawed its way out of the Alpha's throat as he took a step toward the rustling sounds. Not two seconds later, the source of the noise came careening out of the brush. It was a raccoon, followed by another raccoon. The first darted into the narrow space between the two wolves, though it did not seem nearly as concerned with them as with the second raccoon, which proceeded to mount the first both forcefully and violently. Raccoon rape...? Peregrine thought as the presumably female raccoon screeched and attempted to escape.

Not that Peregrine was suddenly about social justice for the victims of sexual violence, especially the masked and ring-tailed variety, but he suddenly shouted, "Get 'em, NJ!" and gestured at the larger, more aggressive and presumably male bandit.

Peregrine growled too and the rustling intensified. Nightjar's hair stood on end and his jaws were slick with saliva, his body already anticipating a clash with another creature or a trespasser. He took another heavy step, his young muscles roiling, and at that instant, the two scavengers darted out of the undergrowth.

As the second mounted the first, Nightjar watched, dumbstruck. He knew what they were doing—that was all instinctual and didn't need to be taught to him—but it was still strange watching it. He might've stood there a long while, watching, if his father hadn't called out a command. His right ear flipped toward the Alpha male and just like that, the pup shot forward, barreling straight into the tangled coons.

He lashed out at the larger of the pair while the smaller fled. His teeth cut into its shoulder and it hissed and clawed, but like his fight with the goose, Nightjar compartmentalized the pain and put it aside. It was his unique ability, ignoring pain until it was drastic, and it allowed him to continue his assault on the raccoon mostly unhindered.

Not only was his son proving to be a fierce and fearless Warrior/Warden, he was also unhesitatingly obedient, which made him one hell of a soldier. Peregrine watched, grinning a wolfish grin, as the large pup barreled toward the pair of raccoons. The little female went skittering away as Nightjar locked onto the hefty male, engaging the hissing and clawing bandit.

When the scent of blood struck the Alpha's nose, he knew it was as likely his son's as the coon's. He didn't want to thwart Nightjar's efforts, so instead of leaping in and quickly dispatching the querulous raccoon, he just darted in to quickly tug at its banded tail. Thus distracted, it whirled with a screech, boldly facing the larger, blacker wolf and leaving its back vulnerable to the youngster's attack.

The coon responded violently, of course, by raking its sharp nails through Nightjar's flesh and chomping hard on whatever it could reach, but the wolf was equally violent. He gripped a large chunk of its flesh between his teeth, clenched so hard that it was virtually impossible to rip free, and he shook his head hard with a loud growl. This caused the raccoon to attack with more ferocity, which Nightjar would've recognized as desperation if he was a little older and knew much about it.

Peregrine darted into the fray and yanked the raccoon's tail, sending the spitting mad animal spinning around. As soon as its back was exposed, Nightjar surged forward and collapsed the entirety of his weight on the small animal, and from there his teeth found their way around the back of its neck. It struggled, but with all the considerable power in his jaws, Nightjar crunched down and crushed its spinal column.

Nightjar spotted the advantage and responded by thrusting his entire weight on the raccoon's exposed back, forcing it to the ground. He then dispatched it with a ferocious bite to its spine. Peregrine blinked, mildly surprised by his son's deft handling of the threat, before his face split into a broad grin. He suddenly wished Nightjar was interested in becoming a Gamekeeper—he was clearly an efficient killing machine—but the caldera would be best served if he continued pursuing his W&W apprenticeships. No one could (or would) mess with them again.

"Damn, son, you're a beast," the Alpha complimented, tail waving. "What do you want to do with the body?" he asked even as he eyeballed the pup's injuries. He didn't want to coddle the boy, so unless Nightjar indicated he was hurt and needing help, Peregrine would let him tough it out. In the meantime, he could eat the raccoon or do something else with the carcass; perhaps he might want to keep it as a trophy of sorts.

For a long while, the pup remained hunched over the kill, not really realizing that he had, in fact, killed it. It was no prior knowledge of how to dispatch an animal that led him to this result. It was thousands of years of evolution in the form of instinct. Apparently evolution was a success when it came to wolves, for instinct was as strong as ever, enabling even a younger wolf like himself to do things without even thinking about them.

But his instincts were like a flame and right now, they burned hot. Peregrine didn't approach his son over his kill and that was wise. Though Nightjar was not a violent sort nor a naturally possessive one, with the scent of blood all around him and a warm body below his, they would both be fools not to expect potential lingering aggression. A wrong move could result in a warning snap from any wolf regardless of relationship, even a young one such as himself, and for the next few seconds, Nightjar wasn't just Nightjar Redhawk. He was a cold-blooded killer, a hunter, 100% an animal, and therefore unpredictable as the adrenaline ebbed away.

That moment passed soon enough with neither of them entering into a testy engagement, and he stepped away from the raccoon. His tongue swept over his lips as he gazed at Peregrine, beating his tail back and forth as excitement began to fill him again. Just like that, the beast receded and the boy returned. "Let's show mama!" he proposed, bending down

The pup didn't reply right away. Peregrine watched him carefully, trying to guess at what was going through his head right now. Perhaps nothing. He looked like a savage. The Alpha's lips twitched into an approving smile. Not so long ago, his life had become almost so anthropomorphic that he might as well have thrown on a t-shirt and pair of jeans and started walking around on two legs. Lately, Peregrine himself was tapping back into his wild roots. He enjoyed seeing that his offspring was following suit.

His grin widened when Nightjar cooled down and declared that he wanted to show his mother his kill. "She'll be so proud of you, NJ. You know, you didn't just kill this raccoon. You eliminated a threat. This thing," he continued, eyes dropping to the slain raccoon, "could have easily hurt someone. One of your sisters, for instance. Now it can't, because of you." His eyes glimmered with pride as they caught the boy's gaze, hoping Nightjar understood his accomplishment and took pride in it himself.

"Lead the way," he said casually in the next moment, waiting for Nightjar to pluck up his prize so he could trot it before his mother. As they walked, he added, "And since you've proven you're a capable killer, if we run into any bad guys on the borders tomorrow morning, I'll give you first dibs."

Of the few non-wild tendencies Nightjar had, his craving for praise was certainly one of the most prevalent. He practically beamed like a floodlight when Peregrine complimented him and explained that his accomplishment was far greater than a simple kill. His ego swelled to know that he had protected his sisters and he puffed his chest out proudly. They weren't even here right now but he had done something to protect them, and that was good enough for him.

He wasted no time in picking up the corpse when he was urged to, and immediately began to pad in the direction he thought they might find Fox. Nightjar, of course, had no idea where she was and his face was too full of raccoon for him to try to track her, so he took cues from Peregrine where he could. He growled excitedly around the fur in his mouth when Peregrine told him he had first dibs on any villains at the border and his tail wagged so hard it thumped his hocks as he walked. He could hardly wait for tomorrow, but first, they would show Fox the raccoon!