Hideaway Strath Could have been my happy ever after

@Towhee 
Date: 10th June

Leen searched for Towhee high and low through the Strath. He didn't creep, well if he did he wouldn't be seen. Perhaps she'd developed a sixth sense for detecting people. He sure hoped so, fuck getting ripped by the lass. 

He thought he saw a flash of orange but looking again he saw nothing. Probably a flower hidden under the swaying leaves. At least the trees gave cover from the weather, be it rain or shine.
"Where is she?" he muttered out loud in the vain hope someone close by would hear and point him in the right direction. It'd been what, four days? And he'd still not managed to catch her between wandering the surroundings and looking for recruits. Well, his tracking skills were certainly abysmal there was no doubt about it, but he'd've thought he could find a soon-to-be pack mate. He just didn't want to wander far before he spoke to her.

She knew there was a wolf called Leen living here now, though Towhee hadn't bothered finding him to introduce herself, mostly because she was too busy dealing with her emotional crises and then, well, Dingo. But today she felt even better than yesterday—not great, not even good, but very okay. So she sought him out, at last... or let him find her, depending on how you look at it.

"You must be Leen," Towhee spoke, gliding up behind him like a wraith. The air was dim, a sunny day quickly growing overcast as a storm blew in over the mountains. She studied him, noting his salt and pepper fur and eyes the same orange shade as her own.

A presence drifted up beside his own wandering form, turning to look at a blank canvas of his own face -- or as alike as he could remember himself looking like. His brow quirked, a frank grin lighting his expression. 
Now remember, look at her so she can see you talking.

"Indeed. If I'm correct, you'd be Towhee." At least I fucking hope so.
His tail swayed softly, glad to finally be of her acquaintance. "Well, I'm just glad I didn't sneak up on you." In fact it'd been the other way around, but Leen was nothing of a fighter and certainly wasn't prepared to take on any challenge of sorts. He laughed softly, feeling comfortable in her company. 

"No, I'm Fig," Towhee quipped in response, then shook her head. "Indeed, I'm the infamous Towhee..." Of course, this was a fresh start of sorts and he likely didn't know much if at all about her or the Redhawks. Although she could see the way he faced her and kept his head up and she instantly knew Phox had informed him of her deafness ahead of time. He confirmed as much when he made a very indirect reference to it.

"Yeah, you're lucky you didn't," she answered, eyes suddenly narrowing as her fur seemed to bristle in warning, "I'm known to fart explosively when startled." Towhee huffed a laugh at her own joke; it was the first time she'd done so since leaving the plateau. "So what's your story, Leen? Why are you here? What do you do?"

He snorted in mild amusement. Did people really know her to be infamous? Perhaps he shouldn't use her name whilst recruiting, though he'd make the decision on the person at the time.
He half laid his ears back in the uncertainty of her sudden turn. Women eh?
But his caution was met with a joke that he too laughed at, shaking his head before looking to her again.
"What a sophisticated defense system." He threw back with a gleam to his eye and a smile on his face. 

"I'm here because, firstly, it sounds like you need help with two kids and trying to form a pack. Secondly, I'm here because I like you and your brother." Even though he'd only just met them, he sensed they'd be strong. This pack would be strong. It would be made better if he could find enough damn people, too. "My story is one you will not know of, Lady." His tone was firm but not ominous and he didn't let his face give away any details. Those would be for later.
He paused in case she had anything to snap at him but then carried on regardless of her comment.
"I'm an ambassador and chronicler. Not much about fighting nor is my tracking very good but I can feed myself well enough." He raised a brow, wondering if he had answered most of her questions. Well, certainly not about his past but his current state was laid bare.

His first two reasons didn't sit quite right with her. They didn't need him and how could he like her, they'd only just met? But Towhee did not react outwardly. She stared astutely at his lips, listening in her way. Of course she didn't know his story yet, he hadn't told her. Towhee ground her teeth together (audibly, though she didn't realize), her patience thinning even as she reminded herself that support was definitely helpful.

"You're a chronicler too," she mused aloud. "Tell me your story," she insisted in the next breath, then tacked on another command, "and don't call me 'lady.'"

His brows knitted together, his nose wrinkling in a half repulsed look like something just died in front of him. In fact, something probably just did. His hope of having his privacy for a start and it seemed like the downfall of his appearance to her. Or so it seemed through the grinding of her teeth in an act of impatience. 

Part of being a chronicler was weaving tales, so that would be something he'd try now. Or should he come out with the truth?
The best lies were mixed with the truth.
"I lived in a nomadic pack that passed through this land as soon as we could leave the den. We lived in the north, I left them to settle in a pack and make my trades. I was captured by those humans, or so the dogs call them. I was released after a year and made my way here."
Well, it was the truth and he'd not lied. But the story wasn't all the truth. Not that he'd expect Towhee, who seemed to think oh so highly of herself, to be bothered much longer.

He pulled a face as if she'd just asked him to stomp a puppy to death. Towhee squinted, not quite sure what to make of that reaction, though before she could formulate one of her own, he obliged her request. Once more, she listened closely. There was nothing strange about his tale, except for the mention of humans. Perhaps that explained his disgusted expression. She was intrigued now.

Ignoring the cues that implied he didn't much like talking about it, Towhee pressed, "What was it like living with humans? I don't know much of anything about them."

He felt like recoiling.
Like that cage was closing in on him again, the muzzle that stopped his mouth from opening, hampered his breathing.
He took a steadying breath, looking to the sky and remembering freedom. Freedom. He was here, not there. Not again.
He looked back to her, a sadness in his eyes that he tried to cover with his current happiness.
"Hey, I can't give away all my stories in one sitting can I." He threw a grin onto his face and suppressed that panic that had arose within him. Leen thought he was over that crap.

"At a time I tell a story and you're there, I'll make sure it's about them." He gave her a promise. Perhaps he'd tell those stories to Fig and Fenn; that's if they were interested in stories.

Now another look came over his face, one of profound terror. He looked haunted. Rather than continue his tale, he begged pardon to continue the story another day. The whole thing was utterly mysterious. Towhee quirked a brow but held her tongue rather than force the issue.

"Fair enough," she replied, then wondered, "My brother obviously told you about my deafness. Did he mention ptero to you?"

"Ptero?" His face changed to childlike interest, wanting to know what it was. Was it a secret language? A place? He'd learned a little of most languages communities spoke but never before a form of sign language.
"He didn't. Care to show me?" His tail started its soft sway again, the former topic gone from his mind. Perhaps if he'd chosen to settle with another pack, or even start something on his own, he wouldn't know of this ptero thing. 

Ah, her brother must not have mentioned it to him, based on his reaction. That was curious, although no matter. Towhee bobbed her head in assent when Leen asked to learn. She'd be happy to teach him... normally. Her limbs felt uncooperative at the mere thought of signing right now. Her heart just wasn't in it.

"Yes," she said aloud, "later though." Towhee couldn't explain her reticence but why should she? He had opted out of telling more of his tale, so she wouldn't beat herself up about this.

Changing the subject, Towhee siad, "You said you're an ambassador too." She tried not to think about Tegan when she said the word "ambassador." "Did Phox mention that we could probably use your help recruiting? I think we'll be just fine if we stay small, at least during the summer, but some more able bodies would be good too."

Later didn't sound too bad. A later promise for a later promise. Sounded good, in his opinion. Once the borders were being patrolled more and their kids' safety was ensured they could lay off a bit more.

"Yes of course." He licked his lips quickly, his mouth feeling a little dry. "I wanted to meet you before I started out. Making sure you didn't have any other requirements other than no crazies and helpful people." He gave her a tilt of the head. If he brought back someone she didn't want in the pack, Phox wouldn't. Leen would have to be hard in his vetting, looking at the runover he was getting from the siblings. 

Leen's phrasing tugged Towhee's lips into a smile, which was accompanied by a second puff of laughter. "Yeah, we don't want any of those crazy or helpful people around here," she joked.

She hadn't meant to dismiss him off on his task so soon, yet he'd accomplished what he'd come here to do (meet her) and there was plenty Towhee needed to do as well. "I'm sure we'll bump into one another again soon, Leen. 'Til then, I'm gonna go make water all over our borders," she drawled in her flat timbre before turning and disappearing to another corner of the strath, the storm blustering at her back.

He rolled his eyes with a grin of his own. Such sass. Well, at least hus work shouldn’t be too cut out. 
”Don’t flood the place, eh.” He called out after her, moving off in his own direction to start his work with a spring to his step.