Redhawk Caldera Time will tell what we're all about

It felt damn good to be home.

With an aggressively loud yawn and a stretch that made her white toes pop, Fiadh rose from her mid-morning nap at the edge of the rendezvous. It took less than five seconds for her to go from asleep to awake, bright-eyed and obnoxious as always. Fiadh was neither a morning wolf nor a night wolf. She was an awake-all-the-time wolf, and if it was possible to go through life without sleeping, she would be the first to sign up. But it wasn't, so she took many small naps throughout the day so she could stay up as long as physically possible without losing steam.

There was no one in her immediate vicinity. Rather than doing the civilized thing and heading up to the lake to see if anyone was there, Fiadh did the most Fiadh thing she possibly could: she sucked in a deep breath, held it for one beat, then loudly screamed, "GOOD FUCKING MORNING!" for the benefit of anyone who happened to be within a mile radius of her.

The cold water numbed her from the neck down as Towhee waded, X circling overhead as a precaution (because the buddy system was important). She closed her eyes and stayed very still for a while, before the total lack of sensation drove her, shivering, onto dry land again. She sat down and began licking the icy moisture from her fur.

Oblivious to the loud shout that heralded Fiadh's arrival, the yearling straightened, stretched and checked the sky for her winged companion. She had to turn to locate him, which put the young girl in her view. Giving herself a final vigorous shake as she rose and turned, Towhee managed a small smile for the youth.

-What's up, Fiadh?- she queried. Although signing was more arduous, especially as she healed, she always preferred to communicate this way with the pups, to make sure they continued to understand her coded language.

The best moment of Elwood's life had been the instant he laid eyes on his children again after the war. Somehow, Redhawk Caldera had come out on top, but that hadn't even really mattered. He was happy to gather up his brood and return home with his family, where they attempted to settle into some semblance of their former routine.

While he hadn't sustained any major injuries, he was filled with aches and pains as various lacerations healed and pulled muscles relaxed. @Raven had given him a once-over and informed him that his wounds were surface-level and would heal with time and rest. He found himself unable to sit around doing nothing, though; there was much on his mind and he felt the need to keep an eye on the borders.

He was returning from one such patrol when he happened to meander into earshot of Fiadh, and he half grinned and half grimaced at her shout. He headed towards her, moving as fast as he could with a hitch in his step, and found her and Towhee near the rendezvous site. As he approached, he was filled with gratitude to be looking at two of his happy, healthy children, and he didn't even mind Fiadh's obscenities. "Good morning to you, too," he said, accompanying his greeting with sign language.

Her shout echoed into the sky and she began trotting toward the lake just in time to see Towhee rise up on the bank and shake. Overhead, her sister's red-tailed hawk flew in tight laps. Tail wagging, Fiadh pranced toward the barred yearling, stumbling a little as she vigorously signed GOOD FUCKING MORNING! with her brightest grin.

Nothing, she responded in ptero, taking a seat on the grass snow wtf near the Caldera's sloping shoreline and letting her tail beat across the packed snow. Her time away had made her restless and with no current outlet for burning it physically, all that energy went right into her mouth. Tell me about the war! Did you kick anyone's asses?! she asked eagerly with rapt enthusiasm brimming in her bright yellow eyes, though she suddenly whipped her head around to greet Elwood with a sunny smile when he spoke up.

They were all injured but no one was missing; it made it easy to take it all so lightly, even though Fiadh knew it could have gone much worse.

Sorry that I mixed up the locations a bit; but thanks for rolling with my error! XD

Fiadh's exuberant swearing caused Towhee to quirk a brow. Should she be happy that her younger sister had picked up the language so fluently so as to include crude slang, or should she tell her to knock it off? She decided she really didn't have the energy to do the latter. Instead, she shook her damp head as a smile slowly crept across her face.

When Elwood appeared and didn't seem bothered by his daughter's language, Towhee even laughed lightly. She shot her uncle a genuine if careworn smile. It was so crazy to think that she outranked him now, though she wasn't thinking much about the whole leadership thing today, at least not directly. She was focusing on healing so that she could be a more effective Alpha soon.

-Of course I did,- she replied, then gestured at Elwood, -and so did your dad. You saw our moves when we sparred. The bad guys never stood a chance.- Of course, that was something of a fib. The Blackfeathers had given the war parties a run for their money. But in the end, they'd triumphed, as good should over evil.

-Did you have fun on your little vacation?- Towhee asked, genuinely curious about how the pups and their sitters had passed the time.

Naturally, Fiadh's first question -- mostly directed at Towhee -- was about their success in the war. Elwood was happy to let the newly-appointed Alpha respond; he wasn't quite ready to joke about it, although he supposed he had kicked a little bit of ass. He was simply thankful that they had all made it home in one piece, although he and Finley had already begun worrying about the repercussions of their actions. But this was neither the time nor place to unload his concerns.

He was glad when Towhee turned the spotlight back on Fiadh, inviting her to tell them about their "adventure" to Neverwinter Forest. Lowering himself to his haunches -- with a wince as the movement pulled at a patch of torn skin on his flank -- he nodded his encouragement. He was curious to hear her account of the time spent away from the caldera with their caregivers, especially since she hadn't been too excited about the arrangement in the first place.

Fiadh wasn't surprised by Towhee's reply—of course the Redhawks kicked ass, and she guessed those dragon folks probably helped a little bit, too—but her vibrant eyes still widened and her tail's beat still picked up when her older sister shared the deets. She glanced back to Elwood as if for confirmation of how badly they’d kicked ass.

”It was fine I guess,” Fiadh answered, reverting to spoken word as she glanced over her shoulder as if expecting a sibling to arrive on cue. No one did, so she sucked in a deep breath and began with, ”@Lucca and @Tegan were awful the whole time and they kept farting every day and trying to rub their butts in my face so I hung out with @Lagan a lot. But Lagan was busy watching them sometimes so I hung out with @Raven. She showed me how to splint a leg. Baller, right?” That wasn’t something Fiadh ever thought she would need to know, but when didn’t you learn some seemingly useless skill on vacation that would come in handy later?

@Clover was Clover, she added in ptero at the end, because her sister merited mention as well. But Clover and Fiadh hadn’t spent much time together on their little trip to the woods, so there wasn’t a whole lot for Fiadh to share about that.

Taking about 500 liberties with what they did on their vacay. Tags are just for reference. Plz kick if anything doesn’t work.

The Alpha's attention didn't waver as Fiadh launched into a soliloquy about their group's little adventure. Her lips twitched when she mentioned the boys' collective flatulence, then spending time with Lagan and Raven over her own litter mates. Towhee's brow quirked when Fiadh offhandedly mentioned learning how to splint a leg. She glanced over at Elwood to see his reaction, then faced her younger sister again.

-Clo's gonna Clo,- she agreed, then signed eagerly, -Tell me more about this medical training. Did someone hurt themselves?- She didn't remember anyone being injured and, absurdly, Towhee wondered if the two might have practiced on a rabbit or something. -Think you'll be Raven's apprentice?- she couldn't help but press wonderingly.

He listened as Fiadh detailed her "adventure" with her siblings. For the most part, it didn't sound like it had been all too exciting -- which was a good thing, really. What mattered was that they had stayed together and stayed safe. Elwood wrinkled his nose good-naturedly at the mention of his sons' flatulence, then his expression changed to one of genuine interest when Fiadh spoke of learning from Raven.

Towhee signed the questions that were on the tip of his own tongue and he nodded, adding, "You can learn a lot from Raven."

"Pffft, no," Fiadh exclaimed when Towhee asked if anyone had gotten hurt. Truth be told, they had probably all suffered cuts, scrapes or bruises at some point on their vacation because they were the wildest edition of Blackthorns yet (aside from mama), but nothing serious. "She just showed me 'cause I was bored and asked, hey, Raven, what do you do for a living?"

She glanced between Towhee and Elwood, flicking her ears, and when her older sister posed another question, she signed back, I dunno. Do you think she wants me to be? Fiadh's aspirations were, well, humble childhood ones for now. Besting her siblings in spars, making friends, becoming popular, making a boy jealous, y'know, that stuff. What should I do for a living? she wondered next, eyes glued to the newly appointed Alpha now, as if Towhee held all the cards to her future.

The lesson had been the product of boredom, not necessity. Elwood commented that Fiadh could learn a lot from Raven and Towhee nodded to concur before returning her attention to the girl to see what she thought. She seemed more interested in what the caregiver and Towhee herself expected of her.

Knowing she should answer not only as an elder sister but a pack leader, the yearling pondered before answering Fiadh's question with her own. -What interests you? What are you good at? You should start there to figure out what trades you'd like to pursue.- Towhee cocked her head, indicating to the youth that they weren't meant only as rhetorical questions.

Although Fiadh admitted that she hadn't really been all that interested in Raven's occupation, this led to a more serious discussion on the topic. Soon enough, she would be old enough to start deciding what she wanted to do, and any advice she received from her family and other packmates could be helpful in guiding her to that decision. Ultimately, though, it would be up to Fiadh, as Towhee indicated in her response to Fiadh's question.

"Raven wants you to be whatever you want to be," he said, addressing the first part of his daughter's query in spoken language. He didn't feel his sign language was skilled enough to carry on a conversation of this depth. He added, "If you like hunting, or exploring, or sparring with your brothers and sister -- those are all things that can be put towards a trade." He then waited for Fiadh to answer Towhee's question, curious as to what she would reveal to be her interests.

What are you good at? This was a question Fiadh didn't know the answer to. Her eyes bounced back and forth from Towhee to Elwood as she contemplated it, chewing idly on her tongue as she did so. At half a year old, Fiadh hadn't really thought much about her future. Most of the time, she was just trying to keep up with her siblings in the race for the title of Wildest Blackthorn Ever, from sparring with them to trying to outdo them in hunts to trying to be more mature than them, but she wasn't sure any of that translated into a trade. She didn't have the ambition to focus on one thing all the time.

Fiadh was good at being Fiadh, and that was really all she could think of. But, being Fiadh, she had to be the best, and so after a long moment of thinking and letting her eyes drift between father and sister, she blurted out, "can't I just be good at everything instead?"

Prompted by the adults' encouragement, Fiadh asked if she could simply be a jack of all trades. "That would be ideal," Towhee quipped in response, smirking at the youth, "but, realistically, most wolves are good at one or two, maybe three things. Focusing on those things lets you develop your skills so that you can be more than just good, you can be great." Little did she know she sounded like Tony the Tiger just then.

"Like your dad said," the yearling continued in the next moment, following a ponderous pause, "you should do what you enjoy and utilize it to benefit the pack. But just for your reference, I think this place could use a counselor, someone who specializes in mediating conflict and advising leadership. I think you'd be good at that, Fi, although I can't say it enough: find something you love to do. We can never have too many hunters or guardians, for instance."

Elwood smirked good-naturedly at Fiadh's hopeful admission that she could be good at everything. It was beneficial to be well-rounded, but as Towhee took the lead on answering the question, he found himself agreeing. Eventually, as Fiadh and her siblings got older, they would find their niches; one way or another, it would become apparent to each of them. But for now, he could understand how hard it would be to try to settle on one goal.

Towhee suggested that she might make a good counselor, and Elwood's brows rose in consideration before he nodded a moment later. She certainly would have plenty of experience with conflict, if all the horsing around with her siblings counted. Granted, if she turned out to have a quick temper like Finley, she might not make the best mediator; but only time would tell how her personality would continue to grow and change. (Although he quickly reminded himself that Finley had become a counselor herself, but only after being in leadership for quite some time.)

"It doesn't hurt to try things out and see how you like them, too," he added; perhaps that would satisfy her desire to learn about each different trade.

This was all very overwhelming. Fiadh just wanted to keep on being a kid—why was everything trades this and benefit the pack that? Okay, so, she had to grow up someday, but couldn't it just be some other day? She'd just wanted to tell them how Raven had shown her how to splint a leg, that's all. Talk of future pursuits and being a beneficial member of the pack were well beyond her youthful interest at this point, since Fiadh lived firmly in the realms of Here and Now. Her gaze bounced between them, both refuting in their own way her desire to just do everything, and her ears pressed back with uncharacteristic uncertainty.

"Sure," she said, "I'll, uh, try to figure it out soon." She appreciated Towhee's input especially, though if she was being honest, the suggestion sounded incredibly boring. Who wanted to sit and listen to other wolves' problems? She wanted to make problems of her own to solve! Or, well, the child in her did. Where was the fun in secondhand involvement? "I gotta go find Lucca," she said suddenly, although in reality she just kind of wanted away from the Grown Up Talk. Catch you later? she added in ptero before attempting to part ways with them both for a little down time to think on her future—or procrastinate, more like.

When Fiadh promised to figure it out, then declared she needed to go find her brother, Towhee's lips twitched. She bobbed her snout in acknowledgement. -See you later,- she signed agreeably, orange eyes following Fiadh's departing figure for a moment before she turned her attention to her uncle.

"How're you holding up?" she wondered, eyeballing the marks the war had left on him (the visible ones, anyhow). "The cold water feels good," she told him. "I can hang out if you wanna go for a dip. Buddy system," Towhee said, taking care as she found a seat by the water's edge, her own wounds still aching dully and her pelt mostly dry now.

Wanna fade? :D

"Bye," Elwood called after his daughter. He had seen the uneasy turn of her ears, and wondered if she might have become a little overwhelmed with all the information he and Towhee had shared with her. After all, she was still young -- but that also meant there was still plenty of time for her to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.

He stretched slightly as Towhee turned to him and asked how he was doing, feeling the gentle pull of scar tissue. "I'm doing pretty good," he said, then nodded his head eagerly. A swim sounded like just what he needed. He grinned and then slipped into the water, continuing to converse with Towhee in an easy-going manner that was welcomed after the looming black cloud that had been the war.