Redhawk Caldera you've seen the darkest skies, i know

The air was unseasonably warm today, hovering somewhere in the lower fifties, and what would have been snow otherwise came down as a cold, gray rain. Raven hunkered down in the badger den beside her modest stash of medical supplies, taking the time to inventory her items. Long after she finished that task, she lay, sphinx-like, in the little burrow's mouth, watching the downpour. It was warm and cozy in here and she drowsed a little, though she actually grew restless eventually and decided to brave the weather to go check in with her mother.

Would Fox be at the rendezvous site, the whelping den or somewhere else? The only way to find out, Raven supposed, was to look. After stepping out from her shelter, she lowered her nose to the ground to search for scents around the edges of the pack's main clearing. Finding nothing particularly fresh there, she followed an old scent trail and began loping downhill in the general direction of the western borders.

Liffey's excitement over Finley's return was different than that of the rest of her family. Not to say that it was any less meaningful, but since she had not once ever suspected that her mother wouldn't be back, it was less astounding and more just exciting. That excitement was dampened now by the fact that her mother needed rest and thus could not immediately jump back into being the fun, amusing playmate Liffey remembered her being. And that meant the little river was off on her own again, looking for something to do with herself so that she wouldn't be a bother to her healing mom.

The little Blackthorn bounced across the Caldera, her nose twitching as she went. She'd caught the scent of something that intrigued her for it wasn't anything she really recognized. A smarter wolf might have been nervous about this, but Liffey was simply curious. The good news is it was not actually the sort of animal that posed any real threat to a wolf of five months - just a big, rather seasonably fitting (but probably not realistically resident) bird.

But before Liffey ever spotted the trespassing turkey, she saw the black shape of a packmate instead. The girl paused as she reached the crest of a ridge just a few years ahead of Raven, biting her lip and shrinking low. Though she'd been told that the older girl was her cousin, Liffey still felt nervous at the prospect of actually meeting her on her own. Having such little exposure to anyone outside of their tightknit pack had turned her into a shy creature and being a new member of that tightknit pack did not make Raven any less a stranger to her.

Still, Liffey stood where she was and watched, curiosity gleaming in her brilliantly orange eyes.

The rain slowly tapered away as a chilly breeze swept in from the north. There was the scent of wild turkey on the wind, which caused Raven to slow a little bit and tip her muzzle into the air. As she was attempting to pinpoint the direction from which it came, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She dropped her head and swung it toward the gray blur, yellow gaze clapping upon it even as it fell still. Liffey, she decided after a beat, smiling a little at the resemblance among the Blackthorns.

"Hi there," she called softly, noticing a bit of apprehension on the younger girl's face. Raven made no move toward her, though the tip of her tail wiggled encouragingly. "You're Liffey, right? I'm your cousin, Raven."

Raven spoke. Liffey jumped as though she hadn't expected it and took a step back, her ears flattening onto her head. She frowned and looked away, embarrassed by her reaction. She'd been staring right at Raven, had seen the girl look at her and offer a smile before saying a word. There'd been no reason to jump like such a fraidy cat. Liffey kneaded the ground and stood a little straighter, trying to appear more brave like her mom would have been. Her mom wasn't scared of anything, least of all talking to a packmate.

"Hi," Liffey said, her muzzle dipped towards her chest in spite of the small lift of her tail that she forced of herself. She nodded belatedly to confirm that she was indeed Liffey, and then completely blanked on what to say next. She knew this was her cousin, Raven. One of Aunt Fox's and Uncle P's first puppies. Her parents' goddaughter. "What's a goddaughter?" Liffey blurted out suddenly as the thought struck her. She'd always just accepted it before without wondering, but just then it occurred to her that she didn't really know what it actually was.

When Liffey jumped, Raven was a little bit afraid that her little cousin might not answer. Worse, maybe she would turn and flee. Thankfully, she did neither. She seemed to steel herself and the Gamma could only smile softly. The girl clearly wasn't comfortable around strangers but she was trying and Raven was grateful. She couldn't help but muse silently over the difference in the twins' dispositions; despite their shared phenotype, she could already tell how very different they were.

The question threw her, though only for a moment. Lagan had probably mentioned their conversation to his sister. Or maybe Elwood and Finley had told Liffey that Raven was their goddaughter. "Well, a godparent is like a super special aunt and uncle, so I guess I'm like a supercharged niece," Raven quipped after pondering it a moment. Her lips twitched. "Did Lagan talk to you about that?" she guessed. She almost offered to be Liffey's "goddad" too but, especially considering the child's wary demeanor, she held off for now.

It took a moment before the embarassment set in. Liffey felt warmth flood her cheeks as Raven smiled at her. She felt her ears fall back as she considered how weird she must seem to her older and cooler cousin, randomly shouting about something completely silly and boring. She shuffled her paws across the ground and was about to shake her head to insist that the question be forgotten when Raven replied.

Liffey's ears perked instantly, for not even her embarassment could keep her from being interested in learning the answer to a question. She frowned slightly, wondering at the answer she received. The mention of Lagan made her shake her head in surprise. "No, I just wondered," Liffey admitted, finding it odd that Lagan would have anything to say about godparents. All Lagan liked was dirt and bugs and gross things.

"So.. you're supercharged then?" The young wolf queried next, her embarassment forgotten since her cousin seemed to accomodating. "Am I supercharged?" It stood to reason, or so she thought. If Raven was a supercharged niece, then Liffey must be one herself since Peregrine and Fox were her godparents (or so she'd been told).

Evidently, her brother hadn't mentioned it to her; it was just a coincidence. Raven smiled when Liffey asked if she was supercharged too. She began nodding immediately. Whether Liffey would want Raven to be her "godfather" like she was for Lagan or she had someone else in mind, the Gamma saw no reason not to play along.

"Yes," she verbally replied, then paused contemplatively for a moment. "As a matter of fact, everyone here is supercharged." She grinned indulgently at the younger girl. "All Redhawks—and Blackthorns—are," Raven continued, remembering at the last second that the Betas' family didn't necessarily share the Redhawk surname, even if they were all Redhawks at heart.

It would've been easy to tie Lagan back into the conversation, since he was one of their mutual connections and Raven was much more familiar with the male twin. But the Gamma had a feeling that most people lumped the two of them together and she didn't want to start off with that precedent. Liffey was an individual, already quite different than her brother.

The light rain had tapered away for the most part and Raven remembered that she had come out here looking for Fox. "Hey, have you seen my mom around, by any chance?" she wondered conversationally, glancing at Liffey but keeping her gaze as indirect as possible. Raven herself had been shy and quiet as a youth—she still was, much of the time—and she didn't want to make her little cousin uncomfortable.

Liffey didn't really know what it meant to be supercharged, but she grinned nonetheless when Raven confirmed the superchargedness of all the Caldera's wolves. The comment about the Blackthorns and Redhawks went over her head as she had no idea that it was only her family that had declined to take the shared surname. It would not likely have surprised her to find out though; as little as she knew about her mother, she was completely familiar with her stubbornness and her like of having her own way.

The young wolf shrank slightly when Raven asked about her mother. Liffey had loved Uncle P and couldn't ever remember a time when she was nervous or anxious around him. Aunt Fox was another story entirely. "No," she replied, feeling awkward again. Liffey determined then that if Raven wanted to hang out with Fox, then she needed to find a way to get out of dodge. It wasn't that she didn't like her aunt so much as... Well, she was just plain afraid of her.

Raven was intuitive and observant, yet she wasn't omnipotent by any stretch of the imagination. She didn't pick up on Liffey's discomfort when it came to the subject of her mother. If she had realized, she would have understood perfectly well why the young lady was intimidated by Fox. She was an Alpha female, through and through, and could come across as brash and even scary sometimes.

Oblivious, Raven said, "That's okay," then invited, "Would you like to help me find her?"

Liffey's eyes widened anxiously as she was invited to come find Fox with her elder cousin. Were it not for the fact that she idolized Raven as well as the other, older firebirds that she'd never met before, she would have probably come up with some excuse as to why she couldn't go. But... she wanted Raven to like her. Telling her that Liffey didn't want to go because she was scared of her mom didn't seem like it would really win her any points.

"Okay," the girl said with a small smile. She trotted forward to close some of the distance between them before stopping to give her coat a good shake. Her eyes searched Raven's face then, curiosity apparent in her features. "I'm not very good at finding things," Liffey warned, her ears falling back slightly, "Dad's been teaching me, but..." She shrugged as her voice trailed off.

A quiet laugh escaped her at Liffey's comment. "Me neither, kiddo," Raven said, the pet name just sort of springing off her tongue of its own accord. She smiled fondly at the younger girl. "I once left the caldera to find someone... and it took me almost a year to find my way back. And," she added emphatically, "I never found the person I was looking for. That's why I could use some help."

With a gently self-deprecating smirk, Raven began to move. "Let's start by seeing if we can locate her scent," she said, exchanging a glance with Liffey before lowering her nose to the dry, cold grass and beginning to search out Fox's scent.

Somehow, knowing that Raven wasn't that great of a tracker either made her feel so much better about her own lack of skills. She smiled at her cousin's story, though it alarmed her as well. What if she left one day? What if she couldn't find her way back? Maybe she really did need to pay better attention to these lessons...

Liffey trotted alongside but slightly behind her cousin as the elder girl began to walk. Raven lowered her nose to the ground, so she did the same. There was nothing she smelled that reminded her specifically of Aunt Fox, but she wasn't too perturbed by it. They had only just started, after all. "Who were you trying to find when you left?" Liffey asked as they walked.

It was somewhat difficult to pinpoint a fresh scent trail, given the fact that Fox roamed all over her own territory. It might have made a lot more sense to howl for the woman, though she wouldn't get this opportunity to help teach and spend time with Liffey. Raven glanced at the girl, eyes going a little sad and soft at her question. She couldn't even remember Pan's face very well anymore, though she would never forget her friend.

"His name was Pan," the yearling said, still sifting for scents. "He was a very kind wolf who lived here at the caldera for a while. I don't think anybody knows what ever happened to him." Her lips pursed as she accidentally stepped on a twig that became lodged between her toes. She shook her foot to dislodge it. "That happens a lot: wolves coming and going, sometimes without a word. I know I didn't mention it when I went looking. Even though I never meant to get lost for so long, I really should've said something..."

Ah, there was Fox's trail! "This way," Raven murmured, motioning for Liffey to follow as she picked up the pace a little bit. She then picked up the previous thread of conversation by adding, "If you ever decide to leave the caldera—temporarily or permanently—you should definitely let someone know. It causes a lot of heartache when someone just disappears."

Liffey's ears perked at the mention of someone named Pan. She'd never heard of him, which piqued her curiosity. As Raven explained, the Blackthorn seemed to forget what it was they were doing. She was too busy considering her cousin's story and the commentary she offered. It wasn't until Raven picked up her pace and gestured to the side that she remembered she was supposed to be sniffing for Fox, and even then it took her a few seconds to realize that they'd already picked up the trail.

It was would be wrong to say that Liffey never thought about leaving the Caldera. She knew of her mom's adventures and those of her extended family and it was hard for her to not want adventures of her own one day. "Do you wish you hadn't gone?" she asked, her mind drawing her own connections to the conversation and completely missing the whole lesson Raven had been trying to impress upon her, "I mean, do you wish you'd stayed? Do you have.. um... ribbits?" She frowned, knowing that wasn't the right word but not remembering what one it was she did want.

Raven licked her lips, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before answering Liffey's question. "Yes," she said honestly. "I missed out on so much." She paused, walking in silence for a few moments before continuing, gently correcting her young cousin without bringing attention to it. "I had a lot of regrets when I first came back, though I feel a little better about everything now. But if I could do it all over again, I'd at least say something to someone before leaving." She still didn't like to think about what must have gone through their heads back then, after she'd vanished. Had they worried? Had they searched for her? Or had they assumed the worst and written her off? How badly had she hurt them?

"Traveling's not really my thing, as it turns out," she concluded after another short stretch of silence. "Now that I'm back home, I don't ever plan to leave again, with or without warning." Her lips stretched into a thin smile and she said, "Hey, look." They had crested the lip of the caldera. Down below stood a familiar red figure, particularly fiery against the backdrop of the lake.

Ah, so Raven did have ribbits. Liffey didn't notice the subtle correction as she was so intent upon hearing the answer. She hadn't realized how much she'd wanted to hear her cousin say that it had been a valuable and exciting experience until she didn't say anything of the sort. Raven admitted to regretting all that she'd missed out on by leaving, that traveling wasn't her "thing". Liffey ducked her head towards the ground and busied herself with sniffing so that her cousin wouldn't notice the disappointment in her eyes.

Liffey had been trying to gather her thoughts to respond when Raven brought her attention to Fox's shape in the distance. Her stomach dropped at the sight, but she smiled at her cousin nonetheless. "You found her!" she commented, wagging her tail. She had no intention of actually going the rest of the way and was ready with an excuse if asked. Still, she smiled with her ears laying back. She might wish that Raven had lived up to the adventurous, exciting wolf that she'd always imagined all three of the eldest firebirds to be, but she thought no less of her that she wasn't, nor did she want any less for Raven to like her.

"We did," she agreed with a wave of her black tail. Raven paused, then added, "I need to go speak with her. Thanks for your help, Liffey. I'd love to catch up with you later. Maybe I can tell you more about Pan and my ill-fated voyage." Although it hadn't exactly been a highlight of her life, the Gamma wouldn't mind regaling her young cousin if she was interested in hearing some stories. She hadn't just hunkered down in a hole that entire time, after all, and there was much she could tell about that phase of her life.

"Bye for now!" she said brightly to the youth, offering her a quick parting smile and nudge before heading down to catch up with the pregnant Fox.

Liffey felt relieved that Raven didn't ask her to come hang out with Fox with her. She smiled and nodded, eager to hear more about her older cousin's adventure even if she was less than pleased that she'd had them at all. "Bye!" Liffey chirped, watching the black wolf canter down the slope to join her mom almost wistfully. Her imagination was running away again and so she sat there staring at them like a super creep for a while before realizing what she was doing and turning to scamper away, hopefully before they spotted her.