Big Salmon Lake Cinnamon Tall Tale

Leaving caldera had been easier than Birk had initally thought. For weeks he had been torn between telling about his decision to Elwood and Finley or not saying anything at all. They had been good people, taken him in at the time of need and he had done his best to pay up his debt. But the dwindled crush for Raven, his inability to feel at home among the Redhawk family and the need to go further and further away from home in order to search for enough food to satiate hunger, outweighed the loyalty to the cause and guilt for betraying them.

Therefore, once other pack mates began to disappear, he realized that this was a good time as any to take his leave too. And one afternoon he did just that - without a notice, left the borders behind and headed out in the world. Where to - he did not yet know - but he knew that whatever awaited him was better than the life he had left behind.

Hope ya don't mind me pouncing on this. :3 Obviously Ray doesn't know he's leaving.

As the weeks crawled by with no indication of change in the state of the famine that was slowly starving them all, even Raven herself -- the she-wolf whose sense of direction was so bad that she sometimes she forgot where she was in the middle of her own packlands -- was having to chance it and leave the Caldera's borders in search of game. Once or twice she had jumped up a wild turkey or happened upon a hare -- and there had been that wild hog that she and Towhee had come upon -- but generally they were too fast and she was too uncoordinated. It wasn't that she couldn't hunt for herself, but it was more that hunting just wasn't her strongest skill. It never had been.

And so she wandered now, hoping to spot some deer tracks or...anything. She was in the midst of wondering if the pack might have to leave their beloved caldera behind and seek out a new place to call home when she picked up a familiar scent. Right away she knew who it belonged to, and she smiled at the thought of scouting for game with a fellow packmate. Plus, traveling with Birk meant she wouldn't be as likely to get lost. When she rounded a corner and he came into view, she wuffed softly and picked up her pace to catch up with him. Her tail was waving happily behind her as she approached and greeted him playfully with her old mispronunciation of his name, "Hey Brick!"