Bonesplinter Ravine She say she love me at dusk

@Towhee. Tags for ref

 

He'd decided to explore more of the ravine, with or without @Moonshadow and @Moonshine. They'd dragged him out and he wanted to explore at least somewhat and look for Star.
He wasn't very hopeful, though.

He was nosing about some bones and fur, thinking about home. Of Tundra and her border patrols, Maegi praying to the Daedra. Did she pray for his and his family's safety?
Then he thought of all the other youth there, the scowls he got. The fights he had. He didn't realize until now that they actually hated him. But he protected them? Why did they hate him? He was more entitled to live in the woods than them; his namesake was Blackfeather. No one had ever heard of Melonii Woods before, have they?
He scowled, biting down on a femur of some dead ungulate to release frustrations.

Every time Towhee decided to stray from the grove, she seemed to stumble across a wandering pup. What are the odds? she mused as she watched this one from a ledge above, noting his standard agouti fur and youthful build. Her orange eyes swept left to right, yet she saw no sign of a parent or even another pup anywhere in the ravine.

If not for the dangerous surroundings, Towhee might've left him alone. But as a mother, she couldn't resist from shouting, "You, hey, you! What are you doing down there by yourself?" unaware that her overly loud voice boomed obnoxiously off the rock walls. She didn't wait for an answer (especially since she wouldn't be able to lipread from up here), instead beginning to pick her way down toward him.

-"Well?"- she said when she reached him, signing along this time, an eyebrow quirked at the ruddy youngster.

A voice shattered his thoughts from above. Instantly, he turned, crouching, looking for the source with a growl bubbling up. What did this person want?
He watched them come towards him, his ears lay back and his position defensive.

He waited until they were close to talk so he didn't have to yell.
"Exploring. I'm not alone." He was alone right now, but his family wasn't far. But was did this stranger know.
"Why were you spying?" His voice held his curiosity. What did this woman want?

The pup seemed to recognize her presence as an innate threat. Good for you, kid, she thought approvingly. Her brow arched further at his accusation about spying and she huffed a laugh. Feisty! She quieted, gazing around and still seeing no sign of anyone else. She clicked her tongue, orange gaze coming back to rest on his young face.

-"Because I'm a goddamn ninja, that's why."-

His brows quirked. He'd not heard of Ninja before.
Plus why was she still yelling?
"The hell is a ninja?" He didn't trust the woman; not yet at least.

He studied her, noted her leg and the way her ears perched atop her head as if she were a youth. His eyes narrowed, wondering if he could indeed start to trust her. She was inquiring about him being alone. Other knowing that you wer alone was surely bad. It meant no onew as protecting your back.
So no, he didn't trust her yet.

-"If you have to ask, you'll never know,"- Towhee responded sagely. If she'd known him better, she might have offered to teach him. But she didn't know the first thing about this kid, except that she was almost positive he didn't belong to one of the sister packs. Or did he? It wasn't as if she kept track of every single pup born to their wildly prolific family.

-"Who are you, anyway, kid?"- she pressed, her own expression mistrustful too, though more so curious.

His brows furrowed. What kinda shit deal was she pulling? 
She should tell him, the young were to be educated not flipped off or shoved aside. He scowled with venom, trying to figure out this strangers agenda.

His ears flicked with uncertainty.
This woman was strange. "You don't need tuh keep yelling." He muttered, giving her another salted look.
"I'm Rowan Asenda-Blackfeather." He didn't know any history on who the war was with or where they lived. He assumed he'd never had to worry about it. He said his name with pride, looking at her with a grin now. Though the thought of blackfeather made him happy.
"What's yours?"

He retorted that she needn't yell and Towhee smirked, sucking in a deep breath in preparation to raise her voice even more just because she was a savage that way. But all the air escaped her in a loud bluster when the kid gave a name. He was a Blackfeather.

Two of Towhee's strongest impulses immediately waged war. As a mother, she couldn't imagine harming a pup, even a mouthy one. Hell, she wouldn't have considered it fair play even before Fig and Fen. But as a Redhawk, she wanted to wipe his kind from the face of the earth. That he was standing here before her was just a reminder of how all their efforts to eliminate the thread had been in vain.

You shouldn't exist, Towhee thought, giving Rowan a venomous look. Out loud, she ground out, -"You and whoever you're with need to get out of this area now."- It was meant as more of a warning than a threat but if there were Blackfeathers on this side of the Barrier Mountains, all bets were off and Towhee wouldn't hesitate to bring down the might of all the Redhawks on their heads.

His ears pressed back, cowering at her tone.
She turned in an instant. He could see the hate in her eyes, see how she meant harm in her posture. His lips curled up again, warning her against harming him. Even touching him would be an abomination. 

He rocked his weight backward, pressing his tail upward defiantly. He couldn't cower because some stranger didn't like his name.
"Why? I ain't doing nothing wrong."
The confusion easily ebbed into his voice. Who was she? Who in the Void did she think she was?
He wasn't trespassing, he knew that, and he sure as hell hadn't hurt anyone. What had offended the shouting woman so?
He took a cautionary glance to the side -- the direction nhe'd came -- hoping to see his Mother or sister. Or even his forsaken brother.

Congrats on 100 posts! :D

He cowered at first, appealing to her maternal instincts, but then he straightened up and challenged her. Towhee didn't have time to consider his age as she bared her teeth at him with a loud growl. He hadn't personally wronged her, yet his very existence was wrong. And the fact that he was this close to the Redhawks, who had gone through so much trouble to get away from the stinking Blackfeathers.

He glanced off to the side as if waiting for someone to come to his aid. Towhee's hackles bristled and she snapped her jaws. -"Just get the fuck outta here, kid. There are three packs close by that want to kill all your kind."- And if that wasn't clear enough of a message, she snarled sharply and darted toward him, hoping to get him to retreat.

Thanks! And congrats on scarring rowan for life xD

She was really yelling now, he rose up to her challenge for a few moments with his own defiant snarl. He knew how to hide well enough, all he needed was a hole. If these three packs were all like this lumbering, limping woman he'd easily survive. Much to fuel his own ego.

But her words struck him. They wanted to kill his kind? What was his kind? Blackfeather? 
Did they want to kill those living in Blackfeather? Surely there was no war, that's what Maegi had said.
She darted at him and he lunged, snapping his teeth at her. If he were lucky, he'd catch her lip. But he wasn't waiting around to hold on.
The boy darted off, running as fast as he could so he could find his family and do exactly what she'd said.
Get the fuck outta here.

He knew the world was dangerous and this was the reason why he did not want to leave the woods.

Lmk if his cheap shot is ok, he's a rascal

Haha, it's totally cool! Thank you for the rad thread. :D

He surged up, catching Towhee totally by surprise and earning her a small slash on the cleft between nose and upper lip. He then darted away, as if fearing retribution for the blood he'd spilled. The Kilonova leered after him and even took a few deliberate steps after him, yet she did not give chase. She had told him to go and he'd done as she'd bade him. Hopefully he would meet up with whatever brethren were nearby and they'd all promptly leave the area like she'd warned.

But Towhee was nothing if not fanatical about their sworn enemies. Not long after Rowan disappeared further down the ravine, she climbed back up the rock wall and cantered toward the grove, licking her bloodied lip every so often. How had they accessed the ravine? She pondered this over and over as she hastened home, prepared to notify her brother immediately, then quite probably call the other sister packs to arms against the Blackfeathers caught behind enemy lines.