Redhawk Caldera Caribbean blue

*combines posts*

Although she knew he meant well—and that the Heda had surely placed him here specifically for this purpose—Wildfire couldn't bear @Hux's hovering any longer. It reminded her too much of the way the wolves in the woods had loomed over her, keeping her prisoner in their foul, gloomy lair. It also made her think of the family she missed terribly and also felt disenfranchised from. They hadn't forgotten her as she'd feared, yet they'd left her behind.

"Hux," Wildfire tried to say, only her voice came out much too quietly. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hux, I need to talk to you." She hardly waited for him to turn, much less come closer. "Go home." She licked her lips and lifted her eyes to his face. "I won't be able to make the trip for months and there's no reason you need to be stuck here too, especially not over the winter. Drageda needs you much more than I do. The Redhawks are plenty capable of looking after me."

She didn't mention that she couldn't stand his helicoptering, though after a pause, she added, "Tell them I'll most likely return in the spring." Wildfire's throat clicked as she swallowed a dry lump there. "And if Thur—if Heda gives you any flak for returning without me, tell her I sent you away. I'm a master ranger, so I can find my way back when the time comes. If he's still here, @Eljay can accompany me. If not, I can always ask one of my family members to escort me." She left no room for argument.

---

She would be staying here indefinitely, a member of the pack for all intents and purposes. That meant Wildfire needed to establish a more permanent home base somewhere. Most likely, the majority of the pack headquartered at the familiar old rendezvous site, yet there were two reasons Wildfire decided to avoid it: firstly, she was still very much an outsider to most and, secondly, she wanted someplace quiet where she could rest frequently. She had only just recovered enough energy to take short walks around the territory and there was a long road of recuperation still ahead of her.

Wildfire chose a resting place on a small outcropping near the foot of the caldera, on its western flank, overlooking the lake. This put her below the rendezvous site and as far from the dark woods as possible (she knew in her bones that they were somewhere to the east of here). The journey there depleted her of energy and she flopped down beneath a bent, squat tree, its fallen leaves crunching beneath the light weight of her body. She promptly fell asleep.

When she woke some time later, the October sky was a soaring, cloudless blue. Wildfire sat up, stretching her stiff muscles, and howled to @Elwood, @Finley and @Raven to let them know of her whereabouts. She then slowly began picking her way down the slope toward the lake shore, eager for a long drink.

Although he wasn't particularly hungry, Phox found himself eating the last bits of meat from one of the caches. If it had stayed there another day, it would have gone bad, and after the shortage they'd had a few months ago, he couldn't stand to let the food go to waste. This probably accounted for the extra pounds he had put on since all that had happened. He wouldn't allow any amount of food to go to waste, even if he had to eat it all himself!

Feeling full, he decided it would be best to meander toward the lake and get some water to wash things down. Sometimes that made things feel better. Seeing as he hadn't actually visited his sister since she had arrived, he didn't immediately recognize the red wolf who crouched at the shoreline. However, he quickly recalled that Towhee had described Wildfire to look exactly like this. Not only that, but she looked pretty beat up, which would further strengthen the idea that this was, indeed, his sister.

"Hi!" he greeted in a chipper voice. Unlike Towhee, he didn't have a problem with the "outsiders" that were visiting (or staying?) with them. "I'm Phox! You must be Wildfire."

It was painstakingly slow going, yet Wildfire didn't push herself too hard. She moved gingerly, stopping to collect herself during moments of weakness. During one such pause, someone approached. Wildfire kept her feet steadily planted but turned her head, chestnut eyes clapping upon a pudgy black wolf whose features reminded her very much of her (their) father. He didn't even need to introduce himself for Wildfire to know she was looking at one of her many younger siblings.

When he did say his name, a slow smile spread over Wildfire's gaunt face. "Hey, Phox, it's good to meet you. That's me," she replied with a dip of her smudged snout. "You can call me Wifi. Would you like to walk with me to the lake?"

"Wifi," he repeated quietly, hoping that saying it out loud would help him remember for next time. "Yeah, I'd like that," he said, wagging his tail in agreement. He gave her a once-over, noting how... bedraggled she looked. He hadn't quite gotten the whole story, but he knew she had been captured by some other pack, and eventually, she had made her way here, to her birthplace. "You knew Fox and Peregrine, right? Can you tell me what they were like?" he asked. He had certainly heard stories from others, but no amount of stories would ever quench his thirst to know more about his parents.

To Phox, his parents had been two lovely wolves. They were strong, smart, and they had been the perfect couple. This, of course, was very far from the truth, but he didn't (want to) know that. The two Redhawk wolves were on a very, very high pedestal in his mind, and it was unlikely that they would ever come down from there. Towhee was also on that same pedestal... and really, the whole of his family. Phox thought his family was the very best, and nobody could ever take that away from him.

She opened her mouth to apologize for the inevitable snail's pace but before Wildfire could speak, Phox posed an unexpected question. She noticed that he didn't refer to them as "mom" and "dad," which was curious, although it made sense as she considered it. He hadn't ever known them... hence why he was asking her about them now. Surely other Redhawks had told him about the legendary Peregrine and Fox throughout his life, though she had no qualms heaping her own take onto the pile.

Giving him an indulgent if careworn smile as they slowly moved toward the lake shore, she said, "Yes, I was very close to them up until I left the pack. Even after that, I came by and visited as often as I could. That's why... anyway," Wildfire said, deciding not to revisit recent horrors just now, "they were both great. They weren't perfect—they both had awful tempers sometimes and could be very odd—but they were wonderful wolves. They lived for their children." Her chestnut eyes flashed fondly, though they flickered when she remembered they'd also, in a way, died for their children. "I'm sorry you never got to meet them. Is there anything specific you'd like to know?"

He stepped slowly alongside his older sibling, soaking up every last word that Wildfire was willing to give him. He found the specific phrase "They lived for their children." to be rather ironic, considering they hadn't lived for their last litter. Both Peregrine and Fox had bitten the dust before Phox and his litter mates were born. In reality, it was probably better for the last round of Firebirds to be free from their admittedly crazy parents. I can say that here because we were the parents, and we are crazy.

"Um..." Phox trailed off, trying to think of a question he hadn't asked before or something Wildfire might've known that Raven or Nightjar hadn't. "Were they mad when you left?" he asked. That was a question he had not asked. He actually didn't know why Wildfire had left in the first place, nor if she was planning on sticking around forever. Obviously, he hoped that she would stick around. The more siblings he had here, the better.

She glanced at the water in the distance, willing it closer; their progress toward it seemed so slow. Reminding herself to be patient, Wildfire flicked an ear toward Phox as he posed another question. She considered it a moment, then shook her head before her face broke into a wry smile.

"No, I gave them lots of advance notice that I was thinking of going. But NJ was a different story." She looked at Phox, wondering about his relationship with his older siblings, her litter mates. Little did she know that Nightjar had gone before they could reunite, then met a rather ruthless end. "He kicked me out, although my mind was already pretty made up anyway. I went to live with Moonspear for a little while, though I didn't end up staying there long. Then I worked my way north and found Drageda."

But he hadn't asked about her, so Wildfire stopped there and swung the subject back to their parents. "I had a few friendly visits with them after I left. And mom even came to visit me once, with Gannet and Whip. That was actually the last time I ever saw her," she said softly.

Phox listened, though nothing said would change his opinion of his parents. Peregrine and Fox were perfect angels who loved their children unconditionally, and they had never done a sour thing in their entire lives. To hear that Nightjar had been so... callous was hard to swallow, but Phox had only just met him, so perhaps he wasn't so great after all. Surely his own litter-mate would know him better.

He continued asking for bits of information about his parents and siblings that he hadn't had the chance to know, and eventually they made their way to the lake where Wildfire was able to get some water. Phox said goodbye to her there, surely off on some hunting venture.