Heron Lake Plateau deadpool rap

While she awaited Tegan's return (and Ceara's too, hopefully), Bat spent her time finally exploring the plateau. Although its features were arranged differently, it wasn't that different from the only other home she'd known. There was even a place very similar to Hougeda, accessible behind the waterfall to the south. And there was plenty of water, even if it wasn't quite the same as the ocean.

It was only natural that the small island in the middle of the lake should intrigue the budding scout. Without any thought to the water's icy temperature, Bat happily paddled across the way, shaking herself dry when she reached the mound of earth. She then proceeded to sniff around the place, noting a familiar scent only seconds before Towhee materialized in her path, a stately X perched on her shoulder.

"Oh, hey!" Bat said, waving her tail at the sight of them. "Is this your island?" she wondered without missing a beat, remembering how Towhee's scent lay thickly here.

"Kinda sorta. I call it The Roost," Towhee replied in her weird cadence. "I rest here a lot, though anybody's welcome. Just mind the grave."

"The grave?" Bat parroted, then ventured, "Where? Whose is it?"

"My sister's," Towhee answered, motioning for the scout to follow her as the led the way to the patch of earth where Orca rested. "Orca."

The youth bit her lip, wondering if it was appropriate to ask about the circumstances of Orca's death. But before she could inquire, a splashing sound caught her attention and Bat turned her head to see—

Bat's still going by Rory IC, right? I'm a little behind the times so if I need to change it, just let me know! :)

But before she could inquire, a splashing sound caught her attention and Bat turned her head to see—

—Elwood wading through the shallows towards them. He didn't visit The Roost very often, but he had spotted Towhee and Rory from the opposite bank and decided to venture to the island in the middle of the lake. As soon as he stepped out of the water, he paused long enough to shake the dampness from his pelt. The cooler air sent a shiver down his spine as he moved towards the two young girls.

"You're Rory, right?" he queried in a friendly manner. He hadn't been properly introduced to Wildfire's daughter yet, but knew of her by name. He wasn't exactly her uncle, but figured it would be the best way to explain his relationship to her; after all, he was known by most of the Redhawk family as Uncle El. "I'm Elwood, your uncle. Is Towhee showing you around?" he asked, glancing at Towhee.

There were a lot of Tegan lookalikes around here. That was Bat's first thought as an unfamiliar wolf clambered out of the water. She turned to face him more fully and realized he was definitely much older than the others. Bat didn't have a father figure in the traditional sense, so she didn't immediately connect the dots.

But then he introduced himself as her uncle, which made the youth's brows lift in curiosity. "Yeah, I am," she replied to his question. When he asked about Towhee, she glanced over in time to see the dark she-wolf stretch out on the ground. She made some of those funny signals (-I'm taking a nap, actually, good night!-). Bat's gaze tracked back to Elwood.

"I was kinda showing myself around when I bumped into her," Bat explained. "What did—" She blinked at Towhee, now flopped on her side with eyes closed. "Are you okay?" she queried stupidly before remembering and looking to her newfound uncle yet again. "Is she okay?"

-Good night,- Elwood signed back to Towhee automatically as she flopped to the ground. He didn't realize how strange their behavior would look to Rory until he shifted his gaze back to look at her and caught her bewildered expression, accompanied by a short series of questions directed first at Towhee and then at Elwood. He smiled. Towhee was just being Towhee.

"Yeah, she's okay. She said she's going to take a nap," he explained, repeating the sign for "nap" for Rory's benefit. He briefly considered moving away from Towhee so as not to disturb her slumber, then remembered that she wouldn't be able to hear them talking anyway. Although he had lived with Towhee and her disability for her entire life, he still had moments like that where he took his own sense of hearing for granted. "Has she taught you any of her ptero? Sign language?" he asked.

Bat shot Towhee a third and final glance, this one bemused. She was going to take a nap, just like that? Shouldn't she and Elwood move away so as not to disturb her? Oh. The youth blinked back to Elwood, then smiled. The fact that Towhee could just flop down and nap at their feet struck her as kind of funny.

"No, but I've seen it done a few times now," she answered Elwood honestly, trying her best to avoid the instinct to keep her voice down. It didn't matter! "I'd like to learn though!"

But before they presumably got into that, Bat had so many questions! "You said you're my uncle. How are we related? Are you related to Tegan and Cinder? You look a lot like them." Only it was the other way around, wasn't it? "Do you know what happened to Orca?" That one probably seemed out of left field, though Bat glanced surreptitiously at Towhee where she sprawled across the grave. Was that a snore?

She expressed a desire to learn ptero, which was good -- even if she didn't want anything to do with it, she probably wouldn't have a choice since she was effectively surrounded by wolves who used sign language. But a willingness to be educated would make it easier for her to remember the sometimes-complicated movements of the body that would allow her to speak without using her voice.

The girl had other inquiries she wanted Elwood to address, though, and he was happy to do so. First of all, he explained how they were kin. "Well, we're not technically related by blood -- but our families are very, very close. Your mom is my goddaughter, and she grew up calling me Uncle El. I was best friends with her parents," he said, fondness creeping into his tone at the mention of Peregrine and Fox. "Tegan and Cinder are both my sons. So are Eljay and Tywyll, and Clover is my daughter," he continued.

And as for Orca, he nodded his head sadly. "Orca was out exploring in the mountains nearby and she fell. It happened last summer."

It occurred to her that she was being a motormouth, though Elwood didn't seem to mind. He fielded her questions calmly, explaining their complicated and interwoven family tree. Hang on, a voice in her head chimed in, you're related to Tegan? Bat should've been pleased by this information—she was rather fond of her mentor—but for some unknown reason, she felt a pit in her stomach at the thought. But not by blood, she reasoned in silent reply, wondering why on earth any of it mattered.

"I haven't met any of them yet," Bat confessed when Elwood mentioned several other children. It wouldn't be hard to spot them, she was sure; they all seemed to look rather alike. "Oh," she added in response to the sad tale about Orca, suppressing a little shiver when subtly reminded of the dangers inherent in exploring, "that's sad." She wasn't really sure what else to say, though her silver eyes threw a look of sympathy his way.

She had forgotten all about X's presence nearby until the hawk abruptly took wing from a bough overhead, causing Bat to jump. She watched him fly away across the water before her attention once more returned to Elwood. "Startled me," she admitted, then wondered next, "Are you pretty good at ptero? It might be cool to learn some to surprise Tegan when he gets back."

The hawk's sudden takeoff drew Elwood's attention, but did not visibly surprise him the way it did Rory. While he hadn't initially understood Towhee's connection with X, he was now accustomed to seeing him around and had even relied on him for assistance in multiple situations. His gaze tracked the bird across the sky until he was out of sight, and then he looked back at Rory to answer her next query.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm fluent," he said with a degree of inner reflection. It hadn't come easily to him, and his communication in sign language had been awkward and clunky for a long time, while Finley had adapted to it quickly and smoothly. But now he knew the gestures for most basic words and could even formulate sentences with proper grammar. "It took me a while to learn, but I'm happy to teach you some so you can show Tegan. What do you want to say to him?" he asked with a lopsided smile.

Elwood asked her what she'd like to say to Tegan and Bat's lips pursed. A list of possibilities popped into her head, only to be discarded out of hand for being too complicated. Eventually, she replied, "I guess we should just start with some basics, like 'hi' and 'how're you' and 'you're a stinky shitface.' Just kidding about the last one," she added quickly, suddenly wondering if her uncle would mind her language.

From where she lay sprawled in the dirt, Towhee let out such a loud snore that the youth jumped. She looked over at the slumbering mercenary, one corner of her mouth twitching when she realized she'd never even know she was a snorer.

Elwood nodded along as Rory offered a few suggestions of signs she wanted to learn. Even the cuss word that she threw out only drew a lopsided smirk from him. He generally didn't use much foul language, but he didn't mind when others did -- and although Rory was young, he wasn't necessarily surprised, because they were talking about using ptero with Tegan, and Elwood was entirely aware of his son's often-inappropriate dialect. "I can teach you all of those," he replied with a laugh.

Before he could begin the lesson, there was a loud snort from Towhee's direction. He turned to look at her and said, "Shhh!" even though the sleeping she-wolf wouldn't be able to hear it. He then redirected his attention to Rory and began to move his limbs in the basic motions that constituted a greeting in ptero. "This is 'hi'," he said, "and this is 'how are you'." He accompanied the short phrases with the appropriate gestures. "And this," he added, rocking back onto his haunches, "is 'stinky shitface'." He used one forepaw to cover his nose, then gestured towards his hindquarters and his face simultaneously.

Elwood seemed amused, which was a relief. Bat favored him with a dorky smile (there was no other word for it), then laughed outright when he shushed the sleeping deaf wolf. She quickly assumed a more studious expression when Elwood began to make some signs, explaining each even as he went through the various motions.

She laughed again, heartily, at the signs for "stinky shitface." Bat wondered if it would be strange to strike up a good friendship with her friend's dad. She didn't know how these things were supposed to work. Her upbringing had been rather unorthodox, not to mention drenched in estrogen, which was perhaps the reason why Bat tended to prefer masculine mentoring these days...

Bat thought of none of this on any conscious level. But she did muse, "How do I say, 'thanks, uncs!'?" Here came that dorky grin again.

Rory's amusement drew a warm smile from Elwood. He was enjoying her company, and (this should come as no surprise to anyone) he was especially glad to have another family member among their ranks, especially a daughter of Wifi. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought about how lucky he was to have forged a relationship with the Redhawks and the Blackthorns and now be able to call them kin.

"Thanks," he said, modeling the gesture by tapping his chin with his paw and then drawing it away. "And 'uncle,'" he added, manipulating his toes on the same paw he had just used and twisting his ankle joint twice (an approximation of ASL for "uncle"!) "Now let's see you practice," he invited.

:D @ nod to ASL.

When prompted to practice, Bat clumsily signed back as much as she could remember, which turned out to be about 62% accuracy. "Guess I gotta do a lot of that," she mused, "practicing, I mean. Show me again?" When Elwood obliged, Bat carefully and slowly repeated the motions until she felt somewhat confident that she'd conveyed the meaning properly.

She wished she could practice some of this on Towhee, purportedly the real expert, but it would have to wait; a glance sideways told that that the mercenary was still resting. Bat hummed contentedly under her breath as she wondered what else her Uncle Elwood might be willing to show her, aside from ptero.

"I've been so busy scouting ever since I came here that I really don't know my way around the plateau that well yet. Think you could give me a tour, maybe?" Bat asked.

We can continue or fade; up to you!

He had no problem carefully reiterating the gestures so that Rory could commit them to memory. This time, when she repeated them back to him, the meanings were clearer, and he gave her a smile and a nod of approval. "Good work," he encouraged; he kind of wished he could be a fly on the wall when she showed Tegan her new skills and called him a stinky shitface.

When Rory asked him for a tour, Elwood was quick to oblige. He saw her quick glance in Towhee's direction and said, "Sure, I can show you around. She'll be fine here." As if in agreement, Towhee uttered another contented snore, and Elwood chuckled as he turned away and padded back towards the water's edge. "Come on," he urged and led the way back to the mainland.