Bramblepoint who's this stupid clown

Weather: 26°F, mostly cloudy.

Getting through this particular forest was particularly time-consuming. Dune had to pick his way around, over, under, and through the dense thicket of brush that littered the forest floor. It was slow going, but he felt he was going as quickly as he possibly could. For the most part, he was just glad he was getting away from that sickly, strange-looking creature. Dune was already underweight, and he knew he would be more susceptible to picking up illnesses is his current state.

After a painstakingly slow couple of hours, Dune was greeted with a small clearing, which he met with a sigh of relief. He would take a break here, at least for a little while, before he continued traveling south.

*insert stupid clown here*

today, unfortunately, tegan was not doing so hot on the whole escape plan. in fact, he wasn't alone. tegan was making his way to make a break for it when he'd come across towhee-- of course-- doing some border patrol. and as easily as he could've played it off like he was just looking for her, tegan thought that maybe maybe maybe towhee would let him go out on his own-- so he told her what his plans were. 

he was wrong.

but towhee had offered to come with so he could at least stretch his legs, see something new, and he guessed that that was kind of cool of her. all the same, he did despise feeling like he was being babysat. 

wherever they'd come across certainly intrigued tegan. it looked like a huge ass patch of thorns-- nice. he sniffed, picking up some scents, ears pricked. "there's a rabbit nearby," he told towhee, looking at her curiously. and though tegan wouldn't usually offer up this information, he realized he was actually kind of hungry. and then, with another twitch of his nose, he added, "and a wolf." and sure enough, after he'd said it, he spotted a white pelt off in the distance. he glanced back to his alpha, wondering what she'd say.

Patrolling, in Towhee's mind, was typically about keeping wolves out of the pack's territory, not in it. But Tegan flipped the script on her today by attempting to sneak away from the caldera. When she apprehended him, she was tempted to tell him to stay within the safety of their boundaries. But after a speculative glance in the direction of their defeated nemeses' woods, Towhee decided they should celebrate their recent victory by exploring more freely than before. Besides, the pups were fully grown, at least physically.

She guided him toward the familiar Bramblepoint, memories of her recent rendezvous there with Hydra still fresh in her mind. But instead of finding Moonspear's svelte Beta, they came across a strange white wolf. "Tegan," Towhee said more loudly than intended (a common occurrence), "get behind me, now." She moved forward to expedite her own command, meanwhile eyeballing the unfamiliar wolf moving through the trees in a roughly southern direction—straight toward the caldera.

Wordlessly, Towhee moved to step into his path, effectively blocking it. Her orange eyes combed over the white wolf, quietly assessing. "There's a pack that way. Unless you're planning on joining it, I recommend you change direction." She paused thoughtfully. "There's another to the west as well," she disclosed as further fair warning.

Voices filtered up through the brush, and not long after, two wolves entered the clearing from the direction he had planned to go once he was done catching his breath and resting. She blocked his path quite deliberately, and Dune eyeballed the pair warily. He had known wolves to be territorial outside their own land, so he was unsurprised by her tenacity. Winter was a ruthless season, and she and her fellow comrade were likely ensuring that their hunting grounds were not encroached upon.

She mentioned a pack to the south, which he assumed these two belonged to, then she added in the bit about the one he had already visited. Dune had thought she might seek to recruit him, much as the black female had done in the other pack, but she made no move to, so he simply nodded in response, staying where he was and enjoying his break from picking through the brambles. Perhaps he would go east instead.

whoa. towhee reacted not how tegan reacted at all. in fact, it was quite the opposite. tegan was gonna go be like 'hey stranger what up!!', but towhee basically told him to go fuck back off into the brambles. interesting. tegan actually didn't get behind towhee, cause he was plenty capable of being out and about on his own, thanks, but he didn't move forward with her, standing where he was and letting her get out whatever things she had to say. 

then, when the wolf stopped and just looked around-- like he was trying to decide where to go now-- tegan piped up. "i'm tegan!" he barked to the pale wolf, taking a careful step forward. dude didn't seem hostile at all, and he figured two against one was good in their favor. "did you wanna join a pack?" he added, noting how skinny the wolf looked. honestly, tegan didn't really put together that being alone for the winter meant probably starving, but he was well fed in a pack-- and so was his family-- so he figured at least the caldera had their shit together.

She snorted her displeasure when Tegan disobeyed her command, though Towhee didn't interfere as he exuberantly introduced himself to the watchful wolf. She was too busy keeping an eye on their new "acquaintance" to catch Tegan's question. The stranger didn't appear either happy or sad for the company, nor did he react much to Towhee's warning. But perhaps he would warm up to Tegan's attempt at conversation.

Staying mum, Towhee simply stood there and observed. She remained vigilant for any threatening behavior on the stranger's part but otherwise allowed Tegan to have this opportunity. She guessed that he, like most of the rest of the Redhawks, wasn't as prejudiced toward outsiders as Towhee herself.

The one who had not spoken before now did so in a chipper, excited voice, causing Dune to glance at the darker female, questioning. She had seemed standoffish, and Dune had half-expected them to be on their merry way when he had failed to strike up the usual pleasantries he was so bad with. The boy introduced himself as Tegan, then asked about joining the pack. At least these wolves lacked the thick accents of some, which helped Dune to decipher exactly what they were saying.

Did he want to join a pack? Why yes, of course he did. But Dune was not in a hurry to join just any ol' pack, even in the harsh winter. Wherever he landed, Dune wanted to make sure that he would serve the pack well, and that it would do the same for him. He knew that this was extraneous information, so he decided on a simple nod of his head, accompanied by a slight smile. He did not feel obliged to explain each answer as he had seen some others do.

towhee was being such a worry-wart, and tegan knew how she felt about outsiders and while he didn't necessarily disagree with her(redhawk wolves were the fuckin best? no one else could compare), tegan just really liked meeting new wolves. besides, it's not like they had to bring anyone home with them. he thought she was overreacting.

still, knowing he'd probably get shit for it later, tegan took a step forward and nudged towhee softly to get her attention-- he knew she didn't hear his question. -sorry- he signed with a bright smile of faux innocence, and then added, -he said he's looking for a pack.- he wasn't really in charge of all that, that seemed like some thinkin' and some serious responsibility type garbage-- but if towhee wanted he'd put the offer on the table. he then glanced to the stranger curiously, figuring he could ask one question that wouldn't automatically put him in charge of any recruitment... not that anyone was going to let tegan be in charge of anything anyway.

"you gotta name, dude?"

The stranger bobbed his head and Towhee immediately turned to Tegan, who filled in the blank before she could even ask. Her lips pursed as her gaze shifted back to the stranger, appraising him once more. He looked fairly hale for a lone wolf, with a powerful build that outstripped her own by an inch or two. Surely he was an able-bodied hunter, if he was in such good shape even without a pack in the middle of winter.

"What's your name?" Towhee asked, unaware that she'd just repeated Tegan's question. "And what skills could you provide to a pack?" Even as she questioned him, it occurred to her—with a strange but not unpleasant jolt—that she could accept or deny this wolf without consulting anyone else, since she was in charge. A little thrill passed through her, yet the new Alpha maintained a stoic expression as she watched his mouth expectantly.

The two shared a silent word with each other, and Dune grew curious. He had been raised to use more body language than words, but the way Tegan moved was decidedly different than the typical universal signs, and the female seemed to understand him completely. Consider him impressed and intrigued. Tegan asked his name, and Dune had wondered why he asked it at all, considering he had stated it. Dune had misheard "dude" as "Dune." Was Tegan messing with him? Had they met previously?

Dune eyeballed Tegan somewhat suspiciously. He replied after the female had reiterated the question, tacking on another one about his skills. Was this now an interrogation? "Dune." A pause to separate the two answers. "Hunt. Fight."

tegan's tail waved behind him, curious what about what would happen. he could hunt and fight, it seemed, but tegan was only now realizing that actually there was something off about him-- the fact that he didn't speak their tongue fully was somewhat surprising. at least, that was what was going on right? the dude hadn't said much, and everything he did say was a choppy fragment of a real sentences.

he glanced to towhee, still curiously, ears pricked as he waited to see what she said-- he didn't have any idea what to do from here.

Unlike Tegan, Towhee didn't mind the stranger's—Dune's—succinct way of speaking. It made him incredibly easy to understand. Of course, the brevity of his response didn't impress her very much. To be fair, though, outsiders rarely did, eloquent or otherwise.

"If you can swear to hunt and fight for the pack, I can offer you a space," the new Alpha eventually said. It felt peculiar to welcome a stranger among them, yet Towhee reminded herself that she could exile him just as easily if he didn't prove his worth. Taking comfort in that thought, she glanced at Tegan, cocked her head and added, -I think you just made your first recruitment, Teg.-

Dune nodded. Those were the typical terms for joining a pack, and it would not be the first nor last offer he had received. All packs, sans a few whacky ones out there, wanted hunters and protectors. Dune felt he was a decent specimen for both of those things, but he also didn't know anything about this pack of theirs. He had plenty of time to decide, and he was in no immediate rush to run into the arms (legs?) of a pack he knew very little about.

"Will think," he replied. In the end, a series of run-ins with the Moonpear wolves would have him joining their pack, but that's something nobody knows in this thread, so I'm trying to weasel Dune out of here without being too hawkward.

haha whoooooaa, this was in no way his recruitment, he just liked talking to people. to tegan, the world was a nice place, and not everyone was out to get him. he gave his cousin a smirk and signed back -and you were gonna chase him off!- with a wave of his tail, tegan turned back to dune and tilted his head, listening for the short response the male gave. think? think about what? did he, what, need a landlord to properly show him around the place? need to know the price of rent? if it came with utilities? tegan did not think that others needed to be so picky about where they lived-- not in the middle of winter. 

confused but really not caring, tegan gave a fun half bounce to the side. "cool! see you later then dude," he exclaimed and nosed at towhee's shoulders to suggest a okay let's leave i'm bored sort of ordeal. clearly, this interaction was fruitless, as tegan didn't even get a fun story out of it. maybe he'd tell clover that he and towhee bit his tail off or something. probably not though.

Apparently she'd spoken too soon. Towhee could read Dune's lips clearly as he said two words: "Will think." She quirked a brow in disbelief, her face twisting into a bit of a scowl. She wanted to say something rather shirty in response when Tegan's signing distracted her. A moment later, he was saying goodbye to Dune and nudging her tellingly.

She had no desire to stay here, so Towhee allowed herself to be guided back in the direction of the caldera. Just before they disappeared from view, she stopped to look back at Dune and say, "Just so we're clear, that's not an open invitation. If you don't show up within a week asking for me, don't bother coming near here again." She didn't wait for a response, instead facing forward and trotting after Tegan.