Shy Deer Steppes hey saturday sun

He had gotten completely, totally, hopelessly lost, and his search for Fiadh abandoned — Lucca was no scout like this brother or mother. Hell, he had become disoriented even within Redhawks' own claim before. Traversing the untamed wilderness beyond Teekon had been a doomed endeavour from the start. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He wanted to catch up and warn his sister of the dark, scary man who still haunted his dreams at night, just in case she ever headed towards their homeland again. But Lucca was not smart, and he was definitely not in any way a tracker.

He hadn't even told anyone of his plan save for @Tegan; the urgency he felt dictating he leave as soon as possible. Maybe, subconsciously, he just wanted to put distance between himself and the creepy, ghoulish stranger.

Now, however, he was regretting everything. Who knew the great outdoors was so...big. He had spent days heading in random directions until he saw a horizon line that seemed familiar. Thankfully, the boy also had ample fat reserves. He was hungry — starving — but was in no real danger. Perhaps if it was dead winter and he had been travelling for longer than a few weeks would the situation be more perilous. As it were, though, the Blackthorn was simply deeply uncomfortable, and it showed in his lumbering gait and sombre expression.

He trailed slowly through an unknown dusty territory, swiping his tongue over dry lips and staring into the midday haze. Above, vultures began to circle hungrily.

While Apple had been out on her own for a long time now, this had not changed her slightly rotund shape in the least. The food had been scarcer and her diet had not been as lavish as it had been, when she had had an army of relatives to take care of her, but she had not lost a kilo. Perhaps, this had nothing to do with the food, maybe it was some illness that came along old age, but even if it was - she felt as fit as a horse and even empty days did not dampen her always cheerful mood. 

She had been drawn to the grasslands, when the smell of rotting flesh had hit her nostrils. And the miles she had walked to get to the culprit, had been entirely worth it, because she had got her fill on someone's table-scraps so to say. Luckily she was neither big, nor strong wolf, who would need a lot to keep itself going, and the pieces of skin, fat, entrails and the bone marrow were enough to have her fill. She was toying with the skull, trying to break it somewhere to get to the brains, that were canned inside the bony tin, when she spotted a lone figure walking in the distance.

And never one to turn down company (and never one to think of strangers as potential danger - because it might just be that she was the worst beast they would meet in their way), she got to her feet and called out: "Yooo-hooo!" Hoping that this welcoming noise would invite the fellow to come and introduce himself.

A cheery yoo-hoo snapped Lucca out of his thoughts, causing the boy to raise his head in alarm before he spotted the source of the greeting. A delightfully plump, cream-coated stranger stood out against the plains, hovering over a carcass which promptly caught Lucca's attention. The scent that drifted towards him was rotten, but he didn't care — food was food. And boy, was he hungry.

He immediately began to pick his way towards the woman, his appetite momentarily overriding his cautiousness. It kicked in again, however, as he drew closer, eyes drawn to the skull at her feet. The lady didn't seem dangerous though, in fact, she was kinda...old. Lucca shifted awkwardly, doing his best to appear amicable despite the loud grumbling of his stomach. "Hello, ma'am," he returned, tearing his gaze away from the fallen creature and towards the stranger's warm, chocolate brown eyes.

The young man was not the one to keep a lady waiting - seconds later he was there and greeted Apple in such an amiable way that she took an immediate liking of him. The hungry look in his eyes and features (the old lady assumed) did not escape her attention, therefore she leaned down and nudged the skull in his direction. Though brains were a lovely treat, getting to them was a hell of a work and her teeth were not, what they had been once. 

"Dig in, if you can get to it, and - though there are not much scraps left there, maybe you can scavenge just enough to keep your belly from growling. You are a sore sight to the eyes," she said in a friendly way and - in case he had any reservations - stepped aside to give him a free pass to, whatever was left of the remnants from somebody else's meal.

He visibly relaxed at her response, equally relieved at both her not being a deranged lunatic (that he could tell so far, anyway) and also for the offer of leftovers. It was a kind gesture and, suspicious as he was, there was a lack of a certain terror in his gut — the instinct telling him to run, get out, quick! that had been ever-present throughout the past few weeks. He withheld a shudder at the memory of the terrifying man who had chased he and Tegan, but this stranger seemed to exude a quirky sort of friendliness that eased his nerves.

"Oh, th-thank you very much, ma'am!" Lucca replied with a grateful dip of his head, though also quickly stole a glance down at his paws, mindful of her comment. Dirt had built up upon his toes, and no doubt his grey fur had adopted some sort of brownish tinge; the boy was prone to forgetting to bathe. Or he was just too lazy. Hard to tell.

He moved first towards the skull, sniffing it once before setting a large paw tentatively upon it. He looked to the lady once more, almost as if asking permission, and then placed a second forepaw onto it. When he pressed down, a crack formed from his sheer weight, revealing a sliver of the delicacy inside. He then set to work removing shards of bone with his teeth, aware all the while of his company. He glanced up with a wag of his tail, thankful for her generosity.

"Ain't you one heavy and strong boy. Quite like my last old man Harold," Apple watched the young wolf crack the skull open with such an ease, that it made her realized her own feeblness of old age. She would have lost a tooth or two, before she would be able to get to the fatty mousse inside. 

"So, care to tell me, who you are and what mischief are you up to in this lone and barren land?" she asked, when she had left the boy to eat in comfortable and cordial silence for long enough.

One by one, he peeled away each shattered fragment of bone before he finally could get at the tasty treat inside. Were he alone, Lucca would have scarfed the entire thing down in one go but, hungry as he was, he minded his manners in the presence of the older lady. Besides, the boy had never really had brain before; the tasty bits were usually eaten by the other Redhawks by the time he ever got to a pack kill. So, he inspected it curiously first, turning his head this way and that as he cautiously sniffed the still partially-encased lump of meat, before tenderly beginning to gnaw upon it.

Lucca glanced up as his company spoke, feeling heat rise to his cheeks at the compliment. I bet Tegan's never been called heavy and strong, he thought, uncharacteristically smug. He offered the kindly stranger a beaming - albeit bloody - smile, turning to continue to devour the donated meal. He paused at her question, feeling the heat return to his face - only this time it was out of embarrassment.

"Uhmff-" he started with a mouthful of food, taking a moment to quickly swallow before looking up to the lady's enquiring dark brown eyes. They reminded him of Finley's own. "Apologies, my name is Lucca, miss!" he started before his ears fell sheepishly. "And I...I was trying to find my sister. But I, uh, got kinda lost."

"Lucca, it is a pleasure, to meet you," Apple replied, thinking that the name suited the boy well, but having nothing else to add there. Though she loved to talk quite a lot (they said that you could not shut her up, even if you stuck a boot in her jaws), she was not well, when it came to small talk and fillling in. 
"Apple Blackthorn," she offered her name as well. "Ahaa... and where did you get lost from? You do look like a fine grown-up specimen to me," she remarked.

Oh. Oh! He nearly choked on the strip of meat he had been working on tearing off when she mentioned her name, the word Blackthorn taking him by surprise. What were the odds? "W-wait," he spluttered, straightening up to face her directly. He took another closer look at the woman, specifically at her spine, which did indeed bear their family stripe. He gave a gasp as his face lit up, tail beginning to wag excitedly. "Did you say Blackthorn? Do you know Finley? A-and Elwood?" he almost stumbled over his words in his glee. "I'm a Blackthorn!" He didn't have the same stripe to prove it, but he hoped she had faith in his words.

Oh right, she had also asked him a question! Quickly, he added, "Oh, u-uh, and from a Plateau — Redhawk Plateau!" Though where that particular plateau actually was, Lucca hadn't the faintest clue.

"I always say that Blackthorns are like weeds. They grow everywhere," Apple's reaction to the news that she had stumbled upon yet another pocket of Blackthorn family members in this corner of the world was much more mellow. In the beginning it is interesting. By the fifth time - meh! - the novelty has worn off. And, frankly speaking, you get very tired of racking your brain and trying to figure out, which branch exactly is this individual sitting on. 

"Might as well be. If they have ridiculous first names - mine's is Suibhne and I am not proud of it..." she replied, looking over her shoulder to see, what had caught Lucca's interest on her back. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing wrong with it. "And I am sorry to say, but Redhawk plateau does not ring a single bell to me. So, you will have to elaborate a little on this subject."

He gave a chuff of laughter at her comment; he didn't disagree with her there. It also intrigued him, though. Had she come from another familial pack of Blackthorns? If she was a dispersal, she had taken her sweet, sweet time in doing so — lady was old (not that Lucca could talk, of all the wildlings, he most of all was unlikely to ever disperse and leave their dear parents). She didn't share in his excitement, but that didn't dull his lifted spirits. "Oh, why aren't you proud of it?" he asked with a quizzical tilt of his head. Compared to most he had met, they were indeed some funny-sounding names, but Lucca sorta liked it. It was like they all had a secret identity that only they knew about.

At Apple's words, the boy gave a nod of understanding. It was beginning to dawn on him that not everyone actually knew of places by name. "My family live there! With another big family called the Redhawks; they originally led at a place called Redhawk Caldera but then we moved." He didn't elaborate on the reasoning for their move; it was both a distant and unsavoury memory. He shuffled in place for a second before his brow crumpled in quiet concentration. "I, uh, don't know where it is exactly..." His words were awkward, sheepish that he couldn't recall the direction of his own home. "But there's a biiig lake in the middle of the territory with a bunch of birds! And a waterfall! Hard to miss; there's also a grove of apple trees nearby, too!" At this he gave a Tegan-esque wink, as if this was a sales pitch for the Plateau.

"Come on - I have always been under impression that, whoever came up with this tradition, was a show-off. Why give children difficult names, when they run by nicknames the rest of their lives? Kind of seems to me that someone wanted to appear very smart and witty, but was far from practical," Apple replied, being in full agreement with people, who thought that official names of pedigree dogs were more often long and stupid to satisfy someone's vanity than being of any other value. Give person a solid, simple name and be done with it.

"Don't you pull apple jokes on me - it might turn out the last thing in your life that you do. Believe me, I have heard plenty of them and I do not find them even remotely funny," she warned the young man playfully. The rest of the lenghty description went past her ears, except the mention of his family sharing home with another. This picked up her interest, because she really wanted to find out, who was spreading Blackthorn awesomeness in this corner of the world. "What's your parents' names? And which one of them is a Blackthorn by blood? I may know him or her," she asked.

Suddenly, the lady went on a short, unexpected rant about their names, and Lucca's ears fell back apologetically, feeling slightly dismayed. He almost took personal offence to that fact that one of their own family members thought that the tradition altogether was rather absurd. Oh, was all he said afterwards - a small, pitiful sound that betrayed his reticent nature. He just thought they were kinda neat.

Her next words still had a bite to them - her threat in particular shooting an icy cold shiver down his spine - but leaned more towards joviality, and Lucca managed a meek smile in return. It was clear he was simply an easy boy to frighten Sorry, he mumbled to the ground, before she asked about his parents. Oh! he said, perking back up. Uh, Finley's my mum's name, and Elwood's my pa! As for who bore the Blackthorn name originally? I-I'm not sure...I think Finley; she has that black stripe down her back!

Having spotted that Lucca's face got longer and longer, while listening to her banter about name traditions of Blackthorn family, Apple realized that the young man had not understood the joke and took it personally. As if she was demeaning something he held in great value. Therefore she felt the need to explain a bit: "Believe me, when you have kids of your own - you will understand that calling a "JO!" is way more easier than "JHEAHLTEETO". Especially, if that said Jo is in big trouble and you want to give him a good and hearty boxing of ears."

"Finley and Elwood, Finley and Elwood... hmmm... I have to say that I quite like your pa's name. I bet he is just as handsome and charming as his name sounds," she shot Lucca a conspiratorial look and then returned to digging through the dusty chambers of her memory, in order to find out, if any of the two rang the bell for her. And came up with exactly nothing, because she had been a wee-whelp eons ago, no wonder that she did not remember Finley, who had left the pack quite early and at the first opportunity. It could be that this Finley perso was born later and Apple had no knowing of, how many litters her parents had managed to bring in the world, before calling it a day. 

"Sorry, neither of them seem to be familiar. Blackthorns are a huge family, therefore I would not be surprised, if they did not know or remember me either," she concluded. "One thing I am sure of - none of my own brood were Finleys and Elwoods. Come to think of it, it's a pity."

He cracked a still small, but slightly wider smile at her explanation, and then listened attentively as she gave him a small tip for when he had pups. The thought alone was terrifying, made even worse when he realised one day his siblings would have kids too! Maybe. If they ever managed to slow their roll. He tucked the name Jo away as a possible future name for his own brood (if that would ever happen) with a soft snicker, remembering how Finley used to call each of them Fee, Fi, Fo, and Fum (wait a second, did this mean then that they had three names?)

The quirky old woman then fell deep into concentration, and Lucca stared curiously, tail thumping idly upon the ground. Unfortunately, she did not recognise their names, but he did beam at her comment. "He is!" he managed to squeak in with a puff of his chest. He admired everyone in the Redhawk pack, but Elwood he respected most of all. Mostly because he was his father, but also because he was the kind of wolf Lucca aspired to be — courteous, patient, and rational. The boy still had a long way to go.

He couldn't hide his mild disappoint when Apple concluded she did not know of them, but nodded at her statement. There was no denying that — they were a huge family. "That's okay!" he said with a grin. This just meant she could have the pleasure of meeting them all! "If you ever come by the Plateau—" and if I ever find my way back, he thought sourly —"Just introduce yourself as a Blackthorn and you'll find them immediately!"

"I do not doubt that I will," Apple replied, now feeling quite convinced that she had to meet the two, before she kicked the bucket. After so many years spent with the same Blackthorns around her, it would be refreshing to meet more distant family members too. Lucca - being one of them - had proved to be a very nice companion.

"So, can you tell me, where exactly is this plateau, where your folk live, located?" she asked, because they were in the middle of nowhere and there was no yellow-brick road visible either that would take her to the family manor right away. "I can't guarantee that I will remember every landmark, but... hey, I have got a better idea. You being from there - I presume - you can walk with me there too?"

For, whatever reason they did not walk there and Apple reached Redhawks few months later on her own.