Redhawk Caldera I am not a hero.

A chilly rain began to fall during Towhee's patrol. She ignored it at first, though eventually the shivering young wolf retreated beneath a tree near the borders to wait out the rain shower. As she busied herself with licking the moisture from her pelt, she reflected on her various guardianship feats as of late: her constant vigilance during their visitors' stay; her slaying of the strange wolf robbing their caches; and her recent dispatch of a fox threatening the pups, to name a few. She straightened up with a groan, coat more damp than wet now, and arrived at a conclusion.

She waited patiently for the icy October rain to cease. The moment it passed, she rose onto all fours, gave herself a shake, and resumed her interrupted patrol. As she walked, she lifted her muzzle into the cool, wet air and howled for @Elwood or @Finley but hopefully both.

Coincidentally enough, Fin already had it in her mind that she wanted to spend some time with Towhee when that familiar, dying goat of a howl came careening across the territory. As always, the alpha responded with a flinch, a grimace, and then a smirk as the call faded into nothingness. She never appreciated silence more than just after listening to the verbal car wreck of her beloved niece's howl. Hell, she never appreciated the sound of the wildlings' temper tantrums more. But it was still quite endearing after the fact.

Finley wasted no time turning her heels to answer the call. She had already been prowling the borders, knowing that to be where she was most likely to come across the young wolf. It didn't take her long at all to overtake her. She offered Towhee a smile as she approached, stepping near enough to nip affectionately at the girl's cheek in greeting. "Sup Teehee," she said with a wag of her tail. The news of Nightjar's death had been heartbreaking to her, especially coming so soon after they'd just gotten him back. But now having Eljay and Wildfire both back in her ranks was welcome consolation, and she put her energies towards gratitude of that gift rather than dwelling bitterly on what she had lost.

The Alpha female arrived quite promptly and Towhee's tail broke into a wag too. She stepped up to meet her godmother, nipping affectionately at Finley's chin, before withdrawing and glancing around to see if Elwood was nearby. When she saw no sign of him, she looked back to her aunt. She decided she was too impatient to wait for him.

-Thanks for coming,- the young adult began. -I wanted to request formal recognition of my specialty,- Towhee said, trying not to look too proud of herself but only partially succeeding. "I think I've proved myself as a master guardian," she added out loud, just to taste the words. But it was really up to her godparents to decide if she was worthy of the title. Perhaps they might assign a final task or something? If so, Towhee would certainly rise to the occasion and pass with flying colors.

Fin quirked a brow in surprise and subtle amusement as Towhee became rather serious and formal just after greeting her. She settled in on her haunches facing the youngster like someone about to be given a PowerPoint presentation on FMLA administration, watching her expectantly as she continued. She didn't know what this would be about, but had a sneaking suspicion she was likely about to hear a plea to have the Drageda wolves removed from their territory. When it proved to be nothing of the sort, she found her head tilting thoughtfully as she began to consider.

There was no doubt that Towhee had proven herself to be an exceptional guardian for the Caldera. Frankly, she probably had better tabs on the comings and goings of the pack than Fin or Elwood even did. She'd come in quite handy in allowing Fin to focus on raising her little hellions, and she certainly had the skill to be called a master. She'd also seemed to take their last feelsy conversation to heart and behaved herself better towards outsiders, which included those that only Towhee considered to be outsiders. But was it enough for Fin to give her approval?

How has Elwood not yelled at her yet for always making important decisions on her own.

"You're definitely talented," Fin said after a beat, "You've proven yourself time and time again to be a valuable asset to the pack, and there's no one in our ranks who guardians it up like you do." A smile fluttered across her lips, but it slid away after a moment more of thought. There was no doubt in her mind that Towhee had earned the title, but there were still flaws to her goddaughter's method that caused her to hesitate.

"Before I agree to this though, there is still one area that I think you need to prove yourself in," she said finally, trying not to flinch at the crushed look that I'm only assuming will show on Towhee's face in Kat's next post. "Being a guardian and deterring enemies is one thing, but not all wolves who approach are enemies," she continued, "I'm not convinced yet that you know the difference."

Her words were blunt, but of all the kids she'd known in her life, Fin was confident that this one could take them. With each litter, she'd grown harder and harder on them in an effort to mold them into competent, well-rounded, and most of all strong adults. She'd seen too many of them lost by one means or another to let it be any other way anymore. Taking physical blows was one thing that all pups learned by the simple fact of being born a wolf. The emotional blows were not as easy to come by, usually. "What do you do when you meet a strange wolf on the borders?" Fin asked, falling to quiz time.

For someone who couldn't hear, Towhee listened very closely, hanging on her godmother's every word. She smiled, her chest inflating a little bit, when the Alpha female acknowledged her skills. She sensed the "but..." coming and braced herself for it. She really wasn't surprised when Finley directly fingered her pain point, though she did wonder: was this a trick question? Towhee's ears flicked backward and she frowned, albeit thoughtfully, trying to recollect her most recent encounters here at the borders.

After a brief deliberation, Towhee signed, -That depends on the stranger's behavior. Is he standing there, patiently waiting, and showing respect for his surroundings? Then I'll keep my approach businesslike: not friendly but not unfriendly either.- She paused, cocking her head. -But if he's being disrespectful or doing something stupid—like trespassing or stealing food—I go in for the ki—the attack,- the guardian finished, changing tack mid-word.

She paused and blinked her orange eyes, then put her forefeet back on the ground. She felt fairly confident in her answer—and pretty sure her recent behaviors had matched up well with this hypothetical—but Towhee fidgeted slightly, wondering what Finley would have to say next.

Towhee took it in stride, and Fin felt a flare of pride at her reaction. Her ears pointed forward as the girl answered the question. She watched her face closely for any sign that Towhee was only saying what Fin wanted to hear and not the actual truth. She saw none of that though, and again had to supress a pleased smile. A single brow quirked as Towhee stumbled near the end, but truth be told, Fin was not opposed to the death of a wolf that actually meant them harm.

"What about the respectful strangers," Fin asked, "What would you say to them?"

Finley gave her a bit of a strange look and Towhee's eyes shifted sideways, only to slide back again with acute focus when the matriarch spoke again. The mercenary didn't miss a beat, replying right away with, -I'd tell him to state his name and business.- She knew the words by heart now, after Elwood had bequeathed them to her months ago.

Towhee bit at her lower lip for a moment, paused for only a second or two before voicing her thoughts aloud. "I've worked hard to improve my behavior toward outsiders, Aunt Finley. I've done my homework so I'm going to ace this pop quiz." As the quip left her tongue, she grinned warmly at her leader. "That is what this is, right?" she asked in the next breath. "Want to give me a final exam too?" she asked playfully, getting into the spirit of the exercise. "Maybe you can pretend to be a trespasser and I can punt you to the moon?"

Fin smirked at Towhee's comments, noting the switch from ptero to vocal with amusement. She did that often when she wanted to make sure she wasn't misunderstood, and so the alpha often learned more about what was important to her goddaughter judging by the method she used to communicate with her. Towhee was eager for this opportunity, and confident. And also quite clever, for the idea of a final exam was intriguing.

"You ain't puntin' anyone anywhere," Fin replied with a grin, "I already know you can punt with the best of them. I want to see what you do with a respectful stranger who is looking to join the pack. I want to see you accept that stranger into our ranks, if they have the skills to be useful to us and show the potential to be a trustworthy and loyal member of our ranks." Her tail wagged as she waited to see what Towhee thought of this for a final exam.

She hadn't seen that coming, though as she stood there and digested Finley's words, it made sense. Leaders were responsible for recruitment and it was no secret that she was aspiring to fill one of the open Beta positions in due time. In fact, she considered her mastery to be pretty solid proof that she was both eligible and worthy to fill a leadership role. Somehow, however, she hadn't considered this aspect of it until now, when her aunt presented it to her as a challenge.

"Okay," she said, eyes screwing up in thought. "What if no one ever shows up who fits that description?" Towhee was joking, kind of, so she didn't wait for a reply before asking, "You trust my judgment? Like, I'd really have control over accepting someone into the pack?"

Fin had expected some sort of protest from her goddaughter. It was no secret that Towhee didn't like outsiders, and her definition of such was far more broad than that of others. That her goddaughter accepted the challenge with little argument was testament to how much she had matured. She chuckled lightly at Towhee's comment and was about to respond when the girl continued. The question brought her to thoughtful silence as she considered - but it lasted only the briefest of moments before she answered with a broad smile.

"I do, and yes," she replied, "I can say with absolute confidence that if someone meets your standards, then they're definitely worthy of a shot to earn the Redhawk name." She smiled broadly, though the comment itself caused a pang of sadness to shoot through her heart. She had never and would never take the name of the pack's founders, no matter how much a Redhawk she became. She was a Blackthorn, and her family would always be Blackthorns. But Blackthorns needed Redhawks, so Fin would continue to delegate the name as her best friends had before. Preferably with the consent of their children, and there was without a doubt no more thorough a judge than Towhee.

Her godmother pointed out that it would take quite a lot to pass muster with her and placed her complete trust in the young adult's judgment. Towhee felt flattered, please and surprised. She shot Finley a mock put-out look, then broke into her own smile. Finley was right. Perhaps another wolf might be tempted to let any old riffraff into the pack to accomplish the Alpha's task. But she wouldn't lower her standards one bit, even if it took ages for someone to hit her criteria.

"Okay, cool. Thanks, Aunt Finley. Hey," she added, thinking out loud, "when—I mean if—I get to be a Beta one day, would I have that power all the time? To accept wolves into the pack, I mean?"

Towhee seemed pleased, in spite of how little she undoubtedly liked the task. Maybe her desire to challenge herself outweighed her dislike of outsiders. Or, maybe she was growing up and coming around to the fact that pack did not necessarily mean blood. It meant loyalty, devotion, and trust. After all, there was no blood at all between the Blackthorns and Redhawks that had founded this pack, and yet there was no stronger family in all of the Wilds than the ones they had created.

"Yeah," Fin replied simply to her goddaughter's question, "Unless it turns out you suck at it." She considered for a beat, then smiled, "I don't think you will though."

She shot her godmother a playfully offended look, which soon morphed into a smirk, before her face eventually assumed a more thoughtful expression. That felt like a lot of power. Was she ready to shoulder that sort of responsibility? Perhaps completing this final task toward her guardianship mastery would help prepare her. Becoming a Beta seemed like a good next step beyond that, perhaps after she'd acquired another specialty or two...

Before she could get lost in her thoughts, Towhee blinked her bright eyes and peered around at the waterlogged world. -Well, I have a patrol to finish. Wanna join me, or will I see you at the rendezvous site later?- Only after awaiting a response did the mercenary pick up her feet and resume her interrupted circuit, paws squelching noisily in the sodden grass unbeknownst to her.

Her goddaughter was a thoughtful sort. Fin watched the expressions upon the girl's face shift until finally landing into one of silent contemplation, which prompted a silent chuckle. When Towhee invited her to accompany her patrol, Fin was prompt in stepping lightly along her side. "Uh, you mean, do I want an excuse to not go home and deal with whatever chaos my kids are currently causing? Yes please," she said as they set off, falling easily into an amicable discussion about just how crazy her puppies truly were as they continued along the borders.