Redhawk Caldera You haunt me

Twice in the past month, Wildfire had discovered a corpse. Although she knew all about death and her parents had made sure to expose her to it as just another part of life, it didn't stop her from feeling a bit spooked. What were the odds, anyway? Didn't tragedy always come in threes? Was it only a matter of time before she stumbled across a third and final dead body?

The fact that she couldn't go much of anywhere probably helped prevent it. Her ankle had really begun acting up since the abuse it had taken during Finley's rescue. For several days, Wildfire just hung out near the badger's den, being lazy. But she was a traveler and she quickly grew bored of doing nothing and going nowhere. She knew better than to hit the road in her condition (that would be both stupid and dangerous), though Wildfire wanted to find something to do.

She decided visiting her fellow invalid was her best bet. But it would take an hour just to get to the Betas' den. In the meantime, it started to rain. Of course, Wildfire mumbled inwardly. With the turning of the seasons, it seemed she had really stumbled (probably literally) into a rash of bad luck lately.

A steady drizzle had started by the time Floki reached his destination. This was the furthest he had traveled on his own, and it had taken him the better part of a day. He had known the way until he reached Moonspear's base, and then the terrain had become unfamiliar. He had skirted around the southern edge of Bramblepoint, passing close to the shore of Lake Rodney until he spotted the funny shaped mountain.

It was easy to spot with its missing peak and the boy grinned, squinting through the rain as he examined it. The ground here was laden with powerful scents, clearly marking the edge of Redhawk Caldera's claim. Wildfire's smell was mixed in here and there, so he knew he was at the right place.

Tipping his head back, Floki called for his friend. He didn't know much about interpack relations, but he had enough sense to realize that his paws were safer just outside the invisible line. He pitched his ears forward, listening for a response over the soft thrumming of the rain.

Her stomach started to growl and abruptly she felt half-starved. What the heck? Wildfire thought, altering her path slightly to take her past one of the pack's caches. What do you have against me, body? She giggled slightly at that thought. She was her body, of course, so it really made no sense. She should probably direct her ire at nature or fate or something...

Floki's howl cut right through that thought, not that she recognized the voice right away. She stood there blinking, her belly snarling, trying to guess who might be calling for her. Licking her lips, Wildfire turned slowly and began to hobble toward the borders. About halfway down the caldera's slope, it suddenly occurred to her who had called. She felt her stomach do a couple of flipflops as her breath caught in her throat. She had to laugh at herself (and her strangely behaving innards) again.

When she reached the foot of the caldera, she shuffled slowly toward the borders. She was glad no one had run interference in the meantime. Surely her father or brother would have chased Floki away by now. Luckily, she had gotten to him first. She smiled as she approached, forgetting all about territorial behaviors. Wildfire was too busy staring at Floki's face as butterflies swarmed her stomach.

"Hey, Floki! What brings you here?" she asked, slipping slightly on the wet grass and tumbling right into his left shoulder.

The boy fidgeted a bit nervously as he waited, his gaze scanning the slopes of the mountain through the rain. He hadn't even considered the fact that he might've received a less than welcoming greeting from another member of the pack. Had that been the case, he likely would've simply hightailed it out of there without an explanation. He had a lot to learn.

He was lucky, though, because he soon spotted Wildfire's bright coat standing out against the dreary landscape. He watched as she made her way slowly towards him, her movements answering one of his questions. It was obvious her ankle was still giving her some trouble. This was only emphasized when she lost her footing and toppled into him, nearly knocking both of them to the ground.

Floki laughed, straightening and reaching out to steady her with a forepaw. "I wanted to see how your foot was doing," he replied, giving her injured leg a pointed look. "And I wanted to see if you found your aunt," he added.

She answered his question before he could even ask it. Wildfire emitted a strangely quiet cry, then did her best to right herself. There was part of her that enjoyed the brief and unexpected contact but mostly she was embarrassed. She backpedaled and sat firmly, ignoring the dampness on her rear end and the warm flush creeping up her neck.

"It's still in bad shape," she admitted, "mostly because I put it through the wringer while looking for Finley. But, yeah, we found her! She was actually at Moonspear the whole time. She must have been hidden away when we were there looking for her. But she's home now." She wasn't in the greatest shape but she would recover, Wildfire felt certain.

"Thanks for coming to check on us," she said in the next breath, a bashful smile curling her lips. "That's very gentlemanly of you, especially because you hardly know me and you don't know my godmother at all. I still owe you and Charon," Wildfire said, wondering what she could ever do to repay them.

A frown creased Floki's brow as his companion outwardly expressed the pain she still felt in her injured leg. She was quick to sit down and take weight off of the foot. Floki found himself wondering if he should have called for her after all -- he certainly didn't want to be responsible for delaying the healing process. But she was here now, so he shooed those thoughts away, instead pricking his ears as she answered his questions.

He was delighted to hear that Finley had been retrieved, and even moreso when Wildfire mentioned that she had been found at Moonspear. He, too, lowered himself to his haunches and his tail thumped the ground happily as soon as he sat. Wildfire then thanked him for his visit, calling him a gentleman, and he felt his cheeks warm briefly.

"I'm glad you found her! We're actually going to claim Moonspear soon, I think," he said, blue eyes bright as he shared the news. "Amekaze and Charon both like the place. You'll have to come visit once your ankle is better," he added. He didn't have any particular requests for her to complete in order to pay them back for their assistance, but even without being very well acquainted with her, he knew she would be more than willing to lend them a paw if it ever became necessary.

Her eyes widened slightly at the news. "Oh, really? That means we'll be neighbors, sorta!" Wildfire's delight was probably evident, maybe too evident. Catching herself, she coughed lightly and cleared her throat. More evenly, she said, "And I'd love to visit." Her heart fluttered at the mere invitation. She knew she would probably take him up on it sooner than later, ankle be damned. She sorely missed traveling for fun and she definitely wouldn't mind getting to know both Charon and Floki a bit better.

She idly wondered how old he was and whether it would be strange to ask. Instead, Wildfire went in another direction. "So do you like to travel or will you stick close to Moonspear once you move in? Do you have any trades?" She almost prattled on about her own, yet she pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth and paused, letting him answer her first.

The potential implications behind Wildfire's excitement went over Floki's head. He was equally as excited as she was, though for slightly different reasons. At this point, he was just glad to have a friend that was close to his age -- his littermates had all managed to disappear, leaving him without companions or playmates. The departures of Kaylan and Ragna hadn't affected him nearly as much as they should have, but Floki was starting to believe that wolves always left and only occasionally came back.

All of that aside, he liked Wildfire and enjoyed her company. This was evident by his expression and posture in her presence. He cupped his ears forward as she asked about his hobbies and trades. He felt a little ashamed to admit that he hadn't yet claimed any apprenticeships, but it was something he wanted to work towards once Moonspear was claimed. "I think I'll travel some. Exploring and finding Moonspear in the first place was a lot of fun, and I want to keep doing that," he said. It was only within the last month or two that he had started venturing away from Stavanger Bay, and it was like opening a can of Pringles -- he hadn't been able to curb his appetite for adventure since then.

"I don't have any trades yet, though. Do you?" he asked, although he was fairly certain she was an outrider. Even if she hadn't explicitly told him that, she obviously enjoyed scouting.

For obvious reasons, it delighted her when Floki mentioned doing more traveling once he settled in at Moonspear. Perhaps they could team up and become traveling companions. She almost asked him outright, yet she held her tongue. She wanted to play it cool and be careful about seeming overenthusiastic again. She didn't want Floki to think she was an excitable idiot.

"Yeah, actually. I'm an Outrider first and foremost, so I love to travel. Maybe we can go sightseeing together sometime," she replied (smoothly, she thought). "I'm also a Warrior and Naturalist. I'm kind of thinking about dropping the latter to focus on the other two, though. It was my first and I guess you could say I've outgrown it." She rolled a slim red shoulder in a casual shrug.

"So what do you like to do for fun?" she wondered next, head canting ever so slightly to the right as she ignored the raindrops clinging to her eyelashes.

While Wildfire was concerned about seeming too enthusiastic, Floki was having a different internal struggle. She rattled off her list of trades nonchalantly, and he immediately felt inadequate. Here he was, almost six months old, and he didn't have a single title under his name. He had spent most of his time goofing off on the beach when he should have been training under Charon. This realization was enough to motivate him to put his nose to the grindstone once Moonspear was officially his home.

His face remained neutral, however, not betraying his self-deprecating thoughts. Instead, he appeared to be totally absorbed in what Wildfire was saying -- which, really, he was. He was curious to learn that she was also a warrior and naturalist; he wouldn't have pegged her for the former. "I would love to learn more about outriding from you," he said eagerly. With assistance from both Wildfire and Charon -- who also liked to travel -- he would be an outrider in no time.

"You're a warrior? So, like, you can fight and stuff?" he then asked, his gaze trailing over her small, spry form. Of course, he didn't know any warriors personally, so he had no frame of reference from which to draw -- but didn't that require a lot of muscle?

When he said he would like to go exploring with her, Wildfire bit down on her lower lip to stop from grinning like a fool. She let herself smile inwardly even as she momentarily imagined what it would be like to have him for a traveling companion. Maybe the two of them could create a secret hideout at Nocturne Summit, her favorite territory (aside from the caldera) which also happened to be right next door to him.

Floki derailed that train of thought by asking about her Warrior skills. He looked at her as if perhaps a little dubious. Wildfire might have taken this the wrong way if she wasn't easygoing and if she hadn't been crushing on him like mad. Instead, she spotted an opportunity to impress him. She let herself grin now, albeit it was a small, playful leer this time.

"I could totally kick your ass, even with only three paws," she assured him confidently, her amber eyes flashing with mischief. "Want me to prove it?" she added casually, her black tail thumping the rain-wet ground. Never mind her busted ankle or the fact that she would probably fall on her face. If Floki was up for a spar, then so was she!

Living up to her fiery name and coloration, Wildfire wasted no time in challenging Floki. He grinned at her ambition; although he was taller than her despite his younger age, if she was a practiced warrior, she would surely kick his ass. But he couldn't admit that, of course -- so his only recourse was to accept.

He took to his paws, his tail lashing the air behind him. "Yeah, let's see what you can do!" he prompted, lowering himself into a bow. It didn't occur to him that the "gentlemanly" response would be to decline in order to keep her from hurting her ankle even more. Instead, he was excited by the thought of playing -- it had been so long since he had wrestled with anyone. This was bound to be hilariously embarrassing for him.

Her declaration was no no bluff. Wildfire was confident enough in her skills, she truly thought she could take him even with one hand tied behind her back (figuratively speaking). There was always room for improvement too and the practice would be good for her. She didn't get to sharpen her Warrior skills nearly as often or as easily as her Outrider ones.

Floki dipped into a playful bow and issued a verbal challenge. Wildfire responded by skipping over any kind of preliminaries altogether and simply springing at him. She aimed to wrap her slender forelegs around his neck and drag him to the ground, where she hoped to pin him.

Without any further preamble, Wildfire started the wrestling match. She leaped towards Floki and he rose to meet her, feeling confident that he would be able to knock her back with just his weight. He sorely underestimated her, however; although he was larger, she knew how to move her body in order to gain the advantage. He flailed with his forelegs in a wholly ineffective manner -- further accentuating his gangly appearance -- while she wrapped hers around his neck and pulled him down.

He had no choice but to comply with gravity's effect and fell to the ground. She wasn't quite able to pin him, though; with a quick twist of his spine, he rolled away from her and took to his feet again, eyes wide and tongue lolling. He was surprised by her strength. "You weren't kidding!" he said breathlessly, but the wave of his tail showed that he wasn't ready to call it quits just yet, and he hoped that she would launch another attack.

She had momentarily forgotten all about her sprained ankle and Wildfire was painfully reminded of it when she succeeded in slinging her forelegs around Floki's neck. The initial impact sent a bolt of pain shooting up her leg, then when he dropped, she went down with him. Before she could stop herself, the young she-wolf shot out a paw to stop herself from collapsing. She winced and hissed as another, much more horrible pain jolted through her.

Floki seemed ready for another round but Wildfire was forced to grit her teeth together and shake her head lightly. "I think I made it worse," she admitted quietly, planting her hindquarters on the soaked ground and licking at her paw, as if that would do anything.

Floki's grin faded as soon as Wildfire appeared to be in pain, and it was only then that he remembered her injured paw. He felt like an idiot and his heart dropped as she fell back onto her haunches. "I'm so sorry," the boy said, stepping closer to her and peering down at her ankle. He wished he knew something about medicine, but he was clueless, which made him feel even worse about the situation.

"I should have known -- I don't know why I even suggested that," he said, pursing his lips. It had been Wildfire's idea, but he completely forgot that. He had spurred her on, so he took responsibility. "Does your pack have a healer? Do you want me to call for someone?" he asked, shifting his weight nervously.

Floki's concern both flustered and delighted her. She shook her head at him. "It's definitely not your fault. I've really been pushing the limits with it and I think it's finally fed up with me," Wildfire quipped. It was true: she had put her poor ankle through a lot of abuse lately. She wasn't just a klutz, she was sort of an idiot too.

"You know, my sister's actually a Healer trainee. She's already been helping me with it and I'm sure she'll have something I can take," she said. Wildfire found she was more worried about reassuring him than mending her paw. She wished she could ask him to walk her home, if only so she could lean on him and spend more time with Floki too. But of course that would be impossible.

"I'll find her," she said with a shrug, climbing very carefully back onto all her feet and keeping her weight off the sprained one. "I hope she can fix it fast so I can come visit you soon. But I should probably go find her. See you soon, Floki...?" The young she-wolf was very tempted suddenly to plant a quick kiss on his cheek but she found her courage failing her and only managed a charmingly bashful smile instead.

Wildfire reassured him that he wasn't to blame, but Floki still felt bad. His ears folded to the side, though his expression lightened ever so slightly when she mentioned that her sister was a healer-in-training. At least he knew that she would be in good hands. He opened his mouth, ready to suggest that he help her back up the slope, but she beat him to the punch by excusing herself.

"Okay," he said, feeling disappointed that their visit was being cut short. But she promised to come see him at Moonspear, and he nodded. "Feel better," he called after her retreating form as she turned and hobbled away. He waited until she was nearly out of his line of vision before heading back out into unclaimed land, intending to venture back to Stavanger Bay for the time being.