Redhawk Caldera it felt like springtime on this february morning

It was strange how the dangerously cold weather and blizzard conditions already felt like a distant memory. The unseasonably warm temperatures and blazing blue sky certainly helped wipe such things from Raven's mind today. She refused to forget about Oriole, though, or even Stoat. As the Gamma stood in the cave's mouth, savoring the tepid heat of the winter sun on her dark face, she hoped the pups were with their parents, wherever spirits went when they died. Raven liked to think there was some sort of happy afterlife.

Brushing that thought aside, she took another moment to remember the dead before focusing her attention upon the living. "@Orca! @Titmouse! @Phox! And someone grab @Towhee! Who wants to go for a little walk?" They were six weeks old now and perfectly capable of accompanying an adult on brief forays away from the over-sized den. Certainly the four boisterous pups would enjoy the fresh air, pleasant sunshine and the wide, open spaces of the caldera.

If he had known the world outside was this big and full of stuff, Titmouse would've tried harder to get away from the puppy pile sooner. He had been easily distracted by adult after adult, or his siblings, or the rocks inside the cave (some of which still held scrapes or missing chunks from where he'd attempted to consume them); but now, when Raven called out to the little ones, Titmouse was racing for this new adventure.

He had been trying to chew a small bone left behind by one of his caretakers, but found the porous material did not feel good on his teeth. When Raven called out, he got up to find her, and the bone hung from his mouth and dragged on the cave floor as he hobbled along. Eventually he found it too irritating to carry — his neck having to twist in a weird way, and his big stupid feet tripping on it every couple steps — so he dropped it just before reaching her.

Then, staring up at his dark sister, he shouted: WAIF! and wagged his little tail happily.

cameo!

Liffey was quiet as she watched them from afar. Raven looked brilliant as she lead the four pups ahead out into the world. She heard a shout from one as they toddled along in her wake, and her ears flinched backwards at the sound. Her relationship with the firebirds had not improved since being apart from them during the cave-in, nor had it gotten any better now that they weren't all stuck inside together all the time. It wasn't that she hated the pups, she just didn't see what the big deal was. Everyone seemed to be obsessed with them and though Liffey had never been that needy of a wolf, she did feel a sting from the attention they stole from her. More and more it felt like a barrier was growing between herself and the pack, and if anyone saw the way her eyes narrowed as she followed the steps of the four firebirds, they would know where the young Blackthorn was placing that blame.

But no one would see it, for no one was looking at her - or so she believed as she disappeared, slipping away in the opposite direction.

Towhee may not have heard Raven's summoning call, yet she was nothing if not extremely observant. She noticed right away when her fellow pups began milling toward the cave's mouth. Exchanging a quick glance with Phox, the little Sigma trotted at Liffey's heels, emerging in the February sunlight. She squinted, then looked perplexedly between Raven, Titmouse and the retreating Liffey. Who was she supposed to follow?

Hopping over the bone Titmouse had abandoned just outside the doorway, she made her way over to join her brother and sister. She looked into their faces, trying to read their lips and expressions, and saw Titmouse's lips purse tellingly. In the next blink, his front teeth pressed into his lower lip. She mimicked him soundlessly, little mouth forming the word she had loosely begun associating with their elder sister. The adults used a similar word, although there was something more intricate about the way their mouths moved in comparison to the pups' clumsier pronunciations.

Tail swinging, Towhee turned her attention away from their faces momentarily to peer around at her sunlit surroundings. She couldn't hear the birds calling from a nearby tree, the wind soughing restlessly across the caldera or the constant dripping in the background as the sun melted the snow. But she could see the birds take wing, smell the scents on the blustering breeze and taste the cool, fresh water where the snow had turned into a puddle. The deaf child grinned and squealed, happily overcome by the sensory overload.

Better late than never!

Orca had traipsed outside with her siblings, but got distracted almost as soon as she emerged into the sunlight. She stood still, looking all around her; her ears twisted on top of her head and her nose wriggled as she glanced this way and that, taking it all in with every sense. She saw Liffey slinking away and almost opted to follow her, but everyone else was heading towards Raven -- and Orca wasn't one to break the mold.

She trotted towards her big sister, pausing a few feet away to pick up the bone that Titmouse had dropped. She lugged it towards Raven, grinning around the mouthful of marrow.

It wasn't long at all before three puppies gathered at her feet. "Where's @Phox?" Raven asked, squinting toward the cave. She saw a flash of silver moving away but it disappeared before she could identify which Blackthorn had just randomly disembarked. "Phox!" she barked loudly. There was a beat of silence before he burst out of the cave and made a beeline toward the group, immediately hopping at Towhee's hindquarters.

Taking a moment to shoot each pup a smile and a wave of her tail, Raven announced to the group (taking pains to look Towhee carefully in the face), "We're going on a walk. Stay close to me. Leave that here," she instructed Orca, knowing the bone would only slow her down. "Ready?" she then asked the group before squaring her feet and beginning a slow, steady march across the open space near the Redhawks' lair.

Tit was all too happy to follow his sister. Much like a baby duck might imprint on the first parental figure it spotted, Titmouse had glommed on to Raven as soon as he'd seen her; being the primary source of food and warmth had helped too. But he tawdled along after her, barking a strangled, Fass! as he immitated Rave's summoning of the dark child. He hung back a second or two and investigated what Orca was playing with, but then scampered on after the group.

She was so caught up in the sights and smells that Towhee noticed little else. She didn't hear Raven calling for her loitering sidekick, though she started, turned and grinned when Phox bounced up to her, his cold nose pressing into her shoulder. Towhee favored him with several licks to the bridge of his muzzle, then looked up just as Raven began shuffling in the direction opposite the cave. Phox's ears quivered as he hopped into step beside her, as did Titmouse and Orca. Not one to be left behind, Towhee frolicked after them.

She opted not to catch up all the way, instead lingering just behind the group. This wasn't just because she found everything so darn distracting—although that was part of it—but because Towhee simply felt most comfortable keeping everyone in her sight. She still wasn't aware of her supposed deficit, though without hearing to aid her, keeping tabs on her family members was more of a challenge than it would have been otherwise. Thankfully, her blue eyes were very sharp as they flicked back and forth between each of the four wolves and the splendor of their surroundings.

Whoops, sorry for the delay! Didn't realize it was my turn!

Orca's ears drooped when Raven instructed her to leave the bone. She hesitated for a moment, even as her siblings started to move away, obediently following their older sister. Titmouse lingered briefly, sniffing at the prize that had previously been his, but even he lost interest quickly and romped after the group.

So Orca dropped it and, giving it one last look over her shoulder, trotted to catch up with the other Redhawks. After that single glance, the bone was completely forgotten; the sun shining on her face and the breeze ruffling her fur was enough to distract Orca. She bumped amiably against Towhee's shoulder as she passed, then accelerated to try to reach Raven.

*catapults over @Titmouse and into Raven's slot to keep this moving*

Towhee reflexively licked her lips when Orca bumped into her, then took off after Raven. She didn't intend to give chase at first but then Phox abruptly launched after their sister. Although she didn't mind loitering at the group's rear, she didn't want to be left behind. So she dug her little heels into the ground and rocketed after Phox, snapping her teeth playfully at his flickering tail as she gained on him.

She slowed in an attempt to match their gaits. It was while she was busy looking sideways to gauge Phox's speed that she accidentally slammed right into Orca's rear end.

Sorry I didn't realize!

He didn't know where they were going, but was more than thrilled just to be on his feet and on the move. The boy scampered after his siblings and quickly overtook the lead child's position, coveting the space beside Raven as she led them on their adventure. As usual, Tit was a pain in her ass — stumbling against her and flitting between her strides like an irritating little hummingbird. Maybe he should've been named differently? Then again... Titmouse was swiftly becoming synonymous with, please just get him away from me.

Once Orca caught up with the group, she was happy to trundle along in no particular order. She hardly noticed as Titmouse surged ahead of her, though she was interrupted mid-stride when Towhee bumped into her rear end. She stumbled, almost losing her balance, but managed to keep herself from skidding chin-first into the dirt. Rather than get mad at her sister, she simply glanced back and smiled at Towhee, then continued on her way.

Figured I'd wrap this one up for us! :)

Towhee snorted and shook her head, backpedaling away from Orca's rump. Her sister didn't seem particularly bothered. Once she got over the shock of the impact, Towhee gave Orca a sheepish smile. She tracked her sibling's movements with her baby blue eyes as she then trundled along as if none of it had ever happened.

Looking around for Phox, Towhee bounded toward him, following as he zigzagged behind a weaving Titmouse. The four of them wound up tailgating their caregiver until she was essentially tripping over them. She affectionately put up with it for a while before eventually growing weary and leading them back to the cave before they could get too unruly.