Heron Lake Plateau you're gonna go far, kid

attn: any littermates! but she's looking for @Fiadh

Clover had been through her own period of isolated angst, but she had forgotten about it (read: her mind built a barracade against the trauma) and it was as though it never happened. There were some consequences, though, and that was her suspicion of those that she did not know and her plain mistrust. Tit would not be the only wolf she grilled that entered their ranks. His missing eye made him a bit unnerving, but there was more to it than that—not that she would ever be able to explain such a thing.

These little things were nothing that she was completely aware of in any case. What she was aware of now was of all this mud that clung to her and made her appear like a mud monster. It gave her a terribly wicked idea, but it wasn't a very good one. She had never been known for being bright, though. Just a short fuse. And a short girl, too.

Clover sought out her true ride or die, Fiadh, as she slugged through the territory. And then she decided a little bit of practice wouldn't hurt, to boot—she paused in her jaunt to belly-flop into a particularly muddy bank and roll all around until every bit of her was caked in mud. With a cackle, Clover extracted herself from the stuff and sought out her fellow daredevil, tail waving—but her subconscious came out and could not help the paranoid lookaround, hoping that she would not meet Tit alone.

She'd never admit it, but she could not face him alone, or Niamh, either, for that matter. She didn't know them—and there was a moment she felt the warm breath of someone on her neck, and Clover turned to snap at her shoulder, where no one was. Clo didn't understand her action much herself, and squinted, before continuing on her merry way again.

Her talk with Towhee hadn't gone at all how Fiadh had hoped. She still didn't know what rank she actually wanted; she just knew she wanted to be higher than where she was. She wanted to be up there with her siblings where she felt she belonged. Not the very top, because Raven and Quixote and the others deserved those spots. Not leadership; she wasn't cut out for and definitely didn't want that. But she wanted to be where Tegan and Clover and Lucca were. She worked just as hard... didn't she?

Maybe she didn't. As she traipsed across the muddy plain, her ears bent down. Maybe they did work a lot harder and she didn't even know it. Who knows?

She wasn't really looking for Clover, but found her nonetheless. It helped a lot that Clo had been looking for her, though. At first, she didn't recognize her litter mate—she was caked head to toe in mud, unrecognizable from a distance, and Fiadh bristled uncertainly as the possibility of their plateau housing a mud monster entered her mind. When she got a little closer, though, she could smell Clover under the cloying scent of dirt and water, and her tail picked up a slow wag, though she was still very clearly downtrodden as she trotted toward her sister and asked, "what are you doing?"

That she had effectively startled Fiadh, at least for a moment, was all Clover needed to know to believe this would work. Her tail waved a bit as she greeted her sister with an attempt to lick-then-nip to her shoulder, not missing the lack of vigor Fiadh typically wore. On anyone else she certainly would have, but on her own family Clover could recognize when something was up. First, though, she answered her sisters question, spinning in a small semi-circle and turning to peer over her shoulder to show off her "costume". I want to freak that idiot out. Maybe if we charge at him in this... Clover shimmied her shoulders, we'll spook 'im. Whaddaya think? She now turned to fully face her sister, and then after another look at her asked, you okay? The fur along her neck prickled upward at the thought that she wasn't.

Clover didn't have to elaborate on the subject of her prank; Fiadh knew instantly. She allowed Clover to come in close, smearing mud on her shoulder in the process, and she turned her head to sniff at her heavily coated sibling. Gross, some part of her brain said, while the other part exclaimed, that's so awesome! She kind of wished they could be back at the Caldera, away from outsiders that looked down on them, and could play a mud monster game.

Those carefree days were for her youth, though. Fiadh had to grow up.

"It sounds like a great idea," Fiadh agreed, though she wanted to do a lot more than just spook Screech. She wanted to scare the daylight out of him to the point where he looked over his shoulders in fear of them. Fiadh wasn't normally like that, but when it came to Screech, she'd rather he be terrified of the Blackthorns. He'd already proven he felt himself above the pack's rules and he didn't seem to understand why no one trusted him. What Finley had said only made Fiadh's distrust deepen.

Clover missed nothing, of course, and she glanced off in the direction of the lake for a second, gathering her thoughts and formulating her response. "I'm the lowest rank in the whole pack," she shared, though it was kind of embarrassing to tell Clover, who was highest of them all and among the most respected pack wolves. She wondered self-consciously if her sibling would think less of her for it or laugh at her like her brothers probably would if they knew. "The only ones below me are those outsiders. I tried asking Towhee and mom why I'm so low, but neither of them really had a proper answer. They just told me to work even harder." It was clear from the girl's tone she wasn't very satisfied with that answer; she genuinely felt that she worked just as hard as her siblings and couldn't accept that the adults didn't seem to think so. As a result... "I think Towhee just doesn't like me as much but won't say it to my face," she admitted.

Awesoooomeeee, Clover responded with a shit-eating grin. And it probably looked that way, too, what with the mud dripping past her lips—some of it had found at least one canine. Any more suggestions, you know I'm all ears, she yipped with a sweep of her tail, which sprayed the mud helter-skelter behind her. 

Clover blinked at her sisters confession, and then her face scrunched up in confusion. What? How's that? she interjected between pauses, and as she continued sharing, Clover was wide-eyed before she frowned. that is... that's... it doesn't make sense, Clover looked to the ground, and then when Fiadh shared her final thoughts, Clover's gaze turned back to Fiadh.

Being that Clover felt that Fiadh could do no wrong, and also being that she felt that her sister more than earned a better rank given she was on the frontlines of the 'situation' right there with her, supporting Towhee, while everyone else tried to deliberately shit on Towhee's words, she wondered as to how the hell that was even possible. There was total sense in what she was saying, because it really did not make sense otherwise... 

Her big sister, not liking Fiadh, her best friend? 

Though Clover was higher-ranked, she was content to let Fiadh take the lead on this matter. What do we do? She asked, not scoffing at the idea of her statement, but adding afterward, I mean, you and me were right by Towhee's side that day. I don't understand how the both of us aren't her total favorites right now. Everyone else was ready to shit the fuckin' bed and hand that asshat daisies after being... She was bewildered. Towhee's judgment was skewed, so maybe, for some reason, she didn't like Fiadh. She let Tit in. So how could Fiadh not imagine the next impossible thing, and believe it? 

You're a hard worker, Fiadh! I'll speak for you. Work hard? On what? Damn, I don't even know what I want to do with my life. Except for getting that fuckbag out of here, she admitted. Really, Clover had no passion toward the guardian or warrior trade despite loving to kick ass and take names. She was really disinterested in most things except for her family. She had no other friends, and like Towhee wasn't the fondest of those outside... 

Clover thought pretty highly of herself, and so felt her place was right where it ought to be, but she felt that Fiadh should be right there with her. Directly Above, directly below, it made no difference to Clover given the fact that she did respect Fiadh through and through. Fiadh, like herself, was ride-or-die, she felt.

At the moment she could think of no other pranks to pull on Screech, so no suggestions were forthcoming. It was for the best, for Clover's reaction to her news was the exact opposite of what Fiadh had expected. She'd grown pretty thick skin throughout her childhood—she'd had to with siblings like Tegan and Lucca—but it would have really stung if Clover laughed at her for being so low. Niamh and Screech were below her, technically, but Fiadh didn't count them. They weren't pack yet.

"I dunno," she said, shrugging. "I already tried talking to Towhee, she said my rank has nothing to do with how much she likes me... but it must, right? You're so high and I'm so low and we were both there with her, we both supported her when everyone else was being a puss..." She shot her sister a smile so Clover wouldn't think Fiadh was salty that she was so highly ranked; that wasn't it at all. She didn't really begrudge her siblings their ranks, they deserved them. It was just her own placement that was bumming her out, though she'd get over it pretty quickly, if only because she was more confident in herself than everyone else apparently was. "Even Teg's higher after he ran off when Towhee told him not to and didn't even stand up to that asshat outsider trying to tell us to leave here! We chased him off, too! I'm confused, Clo. I don't know what I did wrong."

Licking her lips, Fiadh shared, "I asked mom to give me a suggestion for a trade to do, since I guess I need one of those so everyone will realize I do work hard, and she kind of just made a joke out of it." Panning her ears to the side, she frowned softly and said, "but it's not that funny. I mean, the only wolves lower are the outsider jerkwads and they didn't even respect your rank, let alone mine. What should I do?"

Clover was trying to understand. Towhee and her had talked about it, which was a reasonable thing, though Clover hadn't even thought to suggest it (she was not much of a diplomat, though she also did not desire to stir the pot except with those she hated). Clover sat on her rear end, at a pretty big loss for what to say or do. 

Oh god, she said, staring at her feet as something occurred to her. Oh, god. What if she's doing this because she wants us to be nice to Tit? She had to consider this. But then... No, because... because then I wouldn't be where I am, and everyone knows how I feel about him. I even told mom straight up, I did not like him, I don't want him near our brothers. Towhee was there, actually, she scrunched her brows. I think she's going through some existential crisis or something. She talked about not being a good leader or something, like, she wasn't cutting it, and they didn't know Towhee to be a wolf big on second-guessing. She was balls to the walls. 

Clover hated to say it, but, I mean, it was a pretty bad call for her to let stupid head in. I told her that. Pretty bad call for her to rank you so low, too, she expressed. And she nodded as Fiadh brought up The Second Incident. I think we need to get Tit out of here. Ever since he moseyed on in here, things have been fucking weird, she expressed, not even thinking that actually, the Caldera had moseyed on in here and taken his lands and claimed them on the spot. Clover didn't think it self-serving; she thought it a justifiable and great thing, because no one but she and Fiadh could see that he was a totally toxic fuckbag who only listened to the sound of his own voice. 

She mimicked it before Fiadh now in an exaggeratedly whiny, nasally voice, closing one eye for good measure: Ohmygaawwwddd kiiiiddd suuriouusllyyy? 'm jUs StAnDiNg HeRe,

Balls to the walls was right. Towhee had long been a role model for Fiadh, who wanted to be just as fierce and self-assured as her older sister when she was grown. The Alpha never seemed to let anything stop her; what better role model for the Blackthorns? Now that she was older, she thought she'd done a good job of following in Towhee's footsteps, although she didn't want to be ranked that high or anything... maybe Towhee didn't like that? Or maybe Towhee felt threatened by her, or just didn't like having someone take after her, or...

None of those things made sense. Even Clover's suggestion about Screech made no sense, though she smiled encouragingly for her sister. Clover was no different and had a high rank, so Towhee must not begrudge them for trying to be like her. What, then? What had she done that made her so different from Clover that their ranks should be so different? Try as she might, Fiadh couldn't think of anything.

"That's pretty weird," Fiadh remarked, frowning at this news of Towhee being unsure of herself. She had to wonder if going to the Alpha about her low rank had contributed. If it had... well, she still didn't believe she deserved to be ranked so low. She'd done everything possible to prove herself as far as she could tell. The only thing left that she could try was pursuing a trade, and she didn't even know what she liked well enough to do for life. "She did make some bad calls but she's still an awesome Alpha. I just wish she'd tell me what I did wrong so I can do better, but she didn't. That isn't her fault I guess, I should be able to tell what I did but I just can't. Maybe if we chase that ass away things will go back to normal..." Her tail gave a few halting shakes. Could she prove herself by ridding the pack of a toxic wolf hell-bent on destroying them?

She had no proof of that. Fiadh was just making exaggerated guesses, as kids do.

And then Clover's lip came out and she began to mimic Screech's whiny voice and Fiadh burst out laughing. "He sounded even more like a kid than we ever could!" she snorted between guffaws. What a whiner, thought Fiadh without sympathy for the estranged Redhawk. They'd had every reason to be defensive; not their fault his nose was broken or something.

Fiadh echoed her thoughts. Clover felt a little bad that Fiadh worried about doing anything wrong when as far as Clover could see, it wasn't so. If anything, those that did not support Towhee outright in her declaration to kick Tit's dingleberry off ought to have been feeling the way Fiadh did, sitting low on the totem pole—she couldn't understand why that wasn't the case herself. 

Don't change anything Fi, she said with a shake of her head. I just... I don't think Towhee was the most observant of her own bad choices. She can't see the mistakes she made, letting Tit in, for example. Maybe she's sick, or too tired, they had done a lot of traveling after all... but regardless, it couldn't hurt, she supposed, to find an interest. Clover felt she ought to think about something like that soon, too... but more importantly: I think it should. His voice reduces brain cells, she huffed. Clearly it had an adverse effect on Towhee's. 

Though Clover still thought she was brilliant. 

Clover laughed right along with her sister, clearly amused by her own joke, and rejoined: More than Tywill and Cinder!!!! Oh gosh, that was funny, and true, too, she cruelly thought—his voice was like... a crying baby. Worse than that. Ty and Cinder were at least cute.

She appreciated her sister's faith in her. In time she would come to see that the blame didn't rest solely on Towhee's shoulders, though in the heat of the moment, it was easy to blame the Alpha for ranking her so low. Wasn't it Towhee's fault for somehow not seeing her potential? She would never blame herself, either, for she worked as hard as her siblings and could never accept that she somehow didn't, but she would eventually let the blame fall to the wayside. Blame was for hurting feelings. It wasn't what Fiadh was about.

"Thanks, Clo," she said, hesitantly reaching forward to brush her clean cheek against her siblings' mucked up one. She snickered loudly when Clover compared Screech to Tywyll and Cinder. Their baby brothers were really good, though, but there was one sibling who hadn't been so good lately: "even more than Tegan during the move," but now her laughter was warm and well meaning. She felt for Tegan; he'd been chained to Towhee's side the whole way here. She knew it sucked and he'd had every right to pout about it. He was doing better now, she knew, and so it was nothing but a jest. She knew her sister would get it, too.

"Show me where you got that mud," she urged, eager to get her mind on happier things. "We should totally go try to spook Screamybaby tonight when it starts getting dark."

'course, she hummed, snickering as she offered Fiadh some more mud as she made a bid to give a sisterly snuggle. Clover laughed at her sisters comparing Tit to Tegan, because he had been awfully groany lately. Like Fiadh, though, Clo felt for him; only those that shared their name could laugh at the expense of one another, and that they did.

Clover delighted at her sisters initiative, and her tail waved rapidfire left and right, spraying mud every which way in the process. 'kay, Clover agreed readily, turning on her heel to lead Fiadh to the perfect spot she had discovered. Her ears pricked and she looked over her shoulder, this is going to be so great, she thrilled aloud, her voice light and giddy in her enthusiasm.

Her tail swept to and fro as she fell in behind Clover, sharing in her sister's enthusiasm and willing her uncertainty away. There was still time to decide what she wanted to do with her life. Her sister didn't even know and she was doing so well, so what did Fiadh have to worry about? She smoothed away her tension and sped after her sibling, ready to lose herself in the bliss of a good, cool mud puddle. It was impossible not to grin wildly as Clover squealed ahead of her; they really were the worst, weren't they? Blackthorn was synonymous with Lauren, if Fiadh were to tell it. Screech would learn that someday, and she hoped then that he would do what he did best and get lost.

We can either fade here or continue, your call! Left it short and open ended.

I'ma fade, but will prolly start a new one and attn: Fi where she wants to PRANK.

Immediately upon arrival, Clover, already caked in the stuff that had long-since dried on her furs, dove into the spot she had found earlier. Her monochrome hue was easily turned to shit-brown as she rolled around, flinging the mud around liberally because, why not? There was plenty of room for Fiadh to join her so they could both enjoy their mud-spa getaway simultaneously. Once they were thoroughly disguised, Clover perked her head up. We should try it on @Tegan or @Lucca, whoever we find first... A good old test-run was probably the one and only smart part of this debacle she would ever land upon. And with that, she jumped out of the puddle and offered Fiadh to take the lead with a shit-eating grin on her face which, unfortunately, looked just like that—she'd gotten some mud in her mouth, too.