Heron Lake Plateau take me above your light.

@Elwood maybe?

Fin frowned as she sat at the edge of the plateau, gazing off over treetops at the distant horizon. Her expression seemed to suggest she was deep in thought (and actually, this might be considered deep thought for someone like Finley Blackthorn), but in her head, she was only counting. One. Two. Three. Four. Four kids who had chosen the road over staying with her. All of her second litter - Liffey, Lagan, Lucy - and now Fiadh. Actually no, there were five. At least, she assumed there were five. She didn't exactly know where Lucca had gone off to this time, but he wasn't here, so...

The old wolf heaved a sigh, abandoning that trail of thought before she decided to consider how Eljay had once taken off on her, and let's not even get started on all of the godchildren that had left. She wasn't nearly as distressed about it as she once had been when she'd been helicoptor momming the hell out of Liffey and Lagan for fear of them getting stolen like Lucy had. She had driven Liffey off with her overprotectiveness, and so she had overcorrected with the wildlings and her twins. Those she still had around seemed happy enough, and she didn't fault any for leaving. Not anymore. But still, she missed them, and it was those wayward kids she thought of as she sat pensively, watching the clouds drift by.

Hope you don't mind Ray stopping by!

Her heart had been heavy since Fiadh's departure. All of her life, Raven had never been able to understand what could make a wolf want to leave its home. She'd never (intentionally) left home herself, having never felt the desire to get elsewhere what she could get here. She tried not to be harshly judgemental of those who chose to leave the pack, but sometimes she found herself feeling anger and resentment. She couldn't bring herself to feel those things for Fiadh, though, so the sadness and sense of loss sat on her heart like a weight.

It had been a few days, and Raven felt she should check on Aunt Flea to see how she was holding up. As hard as it was for her as a pack wolf and alpha to accept the departure of one of their own, it had to be a thousand times worse for the mother of the departed. Raven couldn't imagine saying goodbye to one of her children. Motherhood had changed her in so many ways, and this was one of them: a profoundly higher capacity for compassion and empathy where kids were concerned.

Finley was understandably forlorn as she approached, and Raven waved her tail a little behind her as she drew near. She licked the underside of Finley's chin in greeting -- a sign of love, respect, and deference that the Blackthorn matron would always get from her, regardless of rank -- and then sat down a few paces away. She saw the look in her aunt's eyes and understood. "I miss her too."

OMG R U KIDDING

Fin heard the footsteps that told of another's approach, but before she bothered turning her head, the wind shifted and told her all she had wanted to know. She breathed out the breath she had been holding in her lungs as her dark niece settled in beside her. An appreciative smile flickered across her lips at the touch. Alpha though she may be, Finley found it hard to treat Raven with overt deference. But that wasn't anything to do with Raven. She'd had the same issue with Towhee. Likely, she would've had the same issue with any of those she considered her children (which was all Redhawks and all Blackthorns). It was just the way she was. The only Redhawk she would ever give full regard to as alpha was Peregrine and Fox. The only Blackthorn she'd ever give it to was Elwood. She was just too old to be any different.

Still, Fin was not a bitch or an idiot. She dipped her muzzle respectfully and reached to sniffle at her goddaughter's nose affectionately. The bitterness that had existed when Towhee had stepped down was gone. Fin still had some doubts, but Raven and Quixote seemed to be doing perfectly fine, so she felt no need to continue to fret over it. She had other things to fret over now.

"Which one?" Fin replied with a wry smirk that didn't quite reach her eyes. Fiadh was not Finley's only wayward daughter - just her most recent. This one at least had warned her she was about to break her mother's heart. If that was any consolation.

Perhaps if she stopped to think about it, Raven might have been glad that Finley didn't bow and grovel before her status as alpha. That was something that would have been too weird for her. Though their roles had been reversed in an official sense, in Raven's mind and heart, Finley would always command her respect. Unlike Towhee, she didn't view Finley as a mother figure, nor did she consider the Blackthorn kids her siblings. She had long since been old enough by the time her own parents passed away to have a firm understanding of her family structure. That said, though, she would always regard the elder Blackthorn as a matronly aunt and more of an alpha than she herself would ever be. Titles and rank meant little in this context.

Finley asked Which one? and Raven felt a weak half-grin flit across her face. It did seem that wanderlust ran strong in Blackthorn blood, and their parents had had to endure quite a few kids leaving. She sank into a sphinx-like position, answering as she did, "Fiadh, but...all of them, really." She'd felt a special affinity for Fiadh since the girl had approached her with an interest in medicine. Since getting to know the girl better, Raven had found her sweet, smart, and hard-working. She'd grown to like her in addition to the love she'd already felt. She started to say, I hope they're doing okay, or I wonder where they are right now, or I wonder if they're happier out there. But she felt those would be wasted words, for there was little doubt that those very sentiments play over and over in Finley's own mind.

With Fiadh's dispersal, Elwood had been thinking more and more about visiting his grandchildren. Time was passing much too quickly for his liking; if Fiadh was old enough to go off on her own, that meant that the youngest Blackthorns were growing up, too. He didn't want Liffey's and Rannoch's children to be teenagers by the time he laid eyes on them.

He was contemplating the potential logistics of such a journey as he strolled about the plateau, not really paying attention to where he was going. It was by complete luck that he happened to come across Finley and Raven, and the sight of the two females sitting together warmed his heart. He offered them a small smile as he approached, not wanting to interrupt their girl talk but suspecting that neither one of them would chase him away.

"Hi, ladies," he greeted, reaching out to bump the underside of Raven's chin with his snout and then delivering an affectionate lick to Finley's cheek.

Raven clarified which she was referring to, and Fin found that she wasn't surprised. She and Fiadh had grown close from the younger girl's budding interest in healing, likely closer than she'd grown to any of Fin's other kids. Finley considered warning the younger female that her own pups might one day do this to her, and to offer some sort of consolation for that inevitability. She held her tongue, though. If Raven wasn't thinking it already, then she didn't want to risk putting the thought in her head. It was just mean.

A brief moment of silence fell upon them that Fin felt no real draw to muddy up with words. It didn't feel like there was a need. They'd spent plenty of comfortable silences together while raising Peregrine's and Fox's final brood. So, she was able to hear Elwood's approach prior to his appearance. She turned to smile at him when he came near enough, returning his greeting with a nudge to his nose. "Hello handsome," she replied, "Ray and I are being sad sacks. Care to join us?"

A companionable silence descended over the two she-wolves, and Raven felt at ease. Gone and forgotten were the tensions that had simmered between them only a few months before. Finley's presence had always been a comfort to Raven, and even now at the peak of her prime, she still learned a great deal from her aunt. It was the way of young wolves to disperse and travel, and the possibility was very real that her own pups might one day choose to do the same. When that dreadful time came, she hoped that she could lean on Aunt Flea to help guide her through the emotional ups and downs that would inevitably follow. After all, motherhood didn't stop when one's children became adults, and the Blackthorns had been through more than their fair share of goodbyes at this point.

The sound of soft footfalls came to her ears and she glanced aside to see Elwood approaching. Each time she saw him, it seemed as though his face were ever more silvered than it had been the last time. A warm smile painted her features with affection as he drew near and her tail brushed the ground behind where she lay. He greeted them, and Finley's words drew a quiet giggle from her. "Hey, Uncle El," she said, and added with a touch of humor, "Come sit with us. There's plenty of doom and gloom to go around."

As Raven and Finley greeted him, Elwood lowered himself to his haunches alongside the two females. They informed him that they were having something of a pity party, which didn't surprise him; upon his arrival, he had noticed their somber expressions and the feeling of sadness in the air. "What are we dooming and glooming about?" he asked, his gaze shifting from his mate to his niece.

"Maybe we can cheer each other up," he suggested in the next breath. This offer was accompanied by a shrug of his shoulders. He knew as well as anyone that simply talking about something could help, and he considered himself to be a good listener.

Raven voiced her own encouragement for Elwood to join them, which he proceeded to do, though with less of a dark cloud above his head than the females had above theirs. She scooted closer to him until she was snuggled against his side, partly because she loved him, and partly because she was attempting to share some of her cloud. He suggested that they attempt to cheer each other up and she turned to give Raven a ugh do you believe this dude and his optimism look that was filled still with affection. She smirked hen in spite of herself and looked up at his face.

”Alright, you get to try first though,” she proclaimed with the bite of challenge in her tone, ”We were being melancholy about kids growing up and abandoning us, taking our hearts and leaving us behind, nothing more than empty shells with naught but tears to make up our beings.” Fin attempted to make it sound as dramatic as possible, and though the exercise was already begun to amuse her, there was a painful pinch of truth to her monologue.

In any event, Fin looked at Raven, giving her a moment to add any additional notes to the issue as she saw fit before looking back at Elwood expectantly.

Elwood accepted their invitation and settled himself alongside Fin, which pleased Raven. Not only because she enjoyed the company of her uncle, of course, but also because she sensed that Finley really needed the support. She grinned and had to suppress a giggle at her aunt’s smirking, deadpan look, totally getting the message it implied.

Finley then launched into a very dramatic, totally over-the-top explanation of their womanly woes, and again, the alpha female found herself stifling a laugh (because hey, it’s not a pity party if there’s laughter!). Fin then glanced at Raven expectantly, inviting her to chime in, but the Redhawk knew she couldn’t top that. So instead, she nodded with very serious seriousness and, in a somber tone, repeated for emphasis, ”Doom and gloom!”

oh god i am so lame. Sorry I held this up forever guys!

Hope it's okay if I wrap this up! :)

Elwood's expression sobered at Finley's comment. Maybe he had bitten off more than he could chew -- from her description, it sounded like they were wallowing in sadness and for good reason. His gaze shifted to Raven as she chipped in with a quick quip that caused the corners of his lips to twitch ever so slightly.

"I've got my work cut out for me," he commented, tapping his tail thoughtfully against the ground. "Well, let's see if I can help you out," he said, and then commenced with the most ridiculous story he could think of -- which would hopefully bring a smile to their faces, even for just a moment.