Redhawk Caldera My biggest enemy is me

So, this was it. The fabled Redhawk Caldera.

Alyx honestly thought it was pretty damn unsightly and unwelcoming. Having been born in a lovely, homey forest, the rugged terrain of the Caldera was about as comfortable as a bed of pinecones. There was a lot of forest here, too, but of the mountainous variety, with sturdy conifers packed close together instead of the tall, scattered hardwoods she was accustomed to. The air was colder here.

Everyone else seemed excited to be here, though, so she kept her thoughts to herself. Mostly, she was just upset about how far away from Rusalka they were now. They were closer to Moonspear and Firefly Glen, which meant they were closer to Bronco and Meerkat and Fennec, but what was so special about those packs, anyway? Alyx, for one, didn’t think it was a very good reason to leave their lovely hinterland home. Those crazy elk cultists and Saint Blahblahblahs could stuff it, in her opinion. They should have stayed home.

Maybe if she just walked long enough up the rocky green slope, she’d find whatever it was that everyone liked about the Caldera.

It would take several days before they truly (re)established themselves here. But not long after arriving, Towhee made the climb up to the top lip of the caldera to take in the views. Her orange eyes lingered on the sunken lake itself for a while, then flicked to the sweeping wilderness sprawling on every side. She let out a low howl, just a quick note to announce their presence and declare their intentions, before resuming her surveillance.

There was Lake Rodney glistering to the west, the glare of the sun making her squint. Beyond that lay the mountains, with Moonspear visible to the northwest. Directly north lay Bramblepoint, a lovely swatch of trees that would surely make a great rendezvous point between the trio of sister packs. Towhee hummed under her breath at the thought, then somewhat reluctantly looked east, toward Blackfeather Woods, before finishing her visual sweep with a glimpse of the dark forest directly south.

Thus surveyed—and not without a couple pangs of nostalgia—Towhee redirected her attention to matters much closer at hand. Her eyes dropped to her feet as she began to carefully pick her way downward, only to notice Alyx climbing in her general direction.

"Yo, kiddo," she called out a greeting, the tip of her tail twitching as she kept moving, trying very hard not to fall on her ass.

The more she walked, the more she thought she would never really understand the appeal of the place. Maybe she would discover its charm in time, but would it ever really compare with Sun Mote Copse? There was always something about one's first home that spoke to their heart, and maybe that was why Towhee and Phox were keen to return to the Caldera, but Alyx would forever miss the Copse, even if she found her place here.

Towhee's howl caused her to perk her ears, but running into her other mom was sort of a mistake. She'd been avidly avoiding all three of her parents since they completely squashed all of her hopes and dreams about moving to Rusalka. If they wanted something from her, they could come to her themselves; Alyx Redhawk would not beg for their approval or their forgiveness, no siree. That was just the sullen teenage hormones speaking, of course, and she genuinely was a good kid on the inside who loved her family even in her dramatics, so when Towhee found her and greeted her, she managed a smile, albeit a tight-lipped one.

Yo, she said with a noncommittal tone and flap of her paw, only to hang awkwardly in place, fidgeting. There wasn't really anything she wanted to say, but she also wasn't the type of jerk kid to roll her eyes and walk away from her parent, either.

She really did try, though Towhee was apparently destined to fall on these slopes, just like her mother before her. Her left foreleg slid on some scree, causing the ankle to buckle and the Sovereign to pitch forward. Her chin hit the dirt and she bit her tongue. Copper and pain filled her mouth, though her tongue still worked well enough to spit out an angry, "God, fuck!"

It took her a moment to right herself, during which she mumbled something about, "Fuck this fucking caldera, I swear to fuck..." She then sucked in a breath, decided not to let this little fall ruin what was a momentous reprisal of their birthplace and legacy... and remembered Alyx was standing right there, witness to the Sovereign's majestic display of falling on her ass and swearing a blue streak.

"I meant to do that," she quipped, peeling her lips back in a bloodstained smile. "Did you know your grandma actually wiped out here and that's how the Redhawks came to live on this—the Teekon Wilds' very own asshole?" She was truly happy to be back here, though she sure as shit wasn't selling it to someone who probably needed a convincing sales pitch. But, well, Towhee had her own history with this place that couldn't be entirely forgiven or forgotten, apparently.

Turns out Towhee was too busy eating shit to have possibly noticed her daughter's dismissive response, which was just as well. Nothing really broke the ice like breaking your face on the ground, and it was better than being told off for having attitude.

She couldn't suppress the snort of laughter when Towhee biffed it, swearing up a storm. That was more curse words strung together at once than Alyx had ever heard, and even though as a teenager she was drawn to such rebellious and vulgar language, it made her cringe, even more than Towhee's bloody grin did. She should've asked if her mom was alright, but she didn't. She assumed that Towhee immediately changing the subject proved she was perfectly fine.

If it's so shitty, why did we move here? she asked, clearly as unimpressed with the Caldera as Towhee was at that exact moment. A part of her was interested to know why her grandmother would stay in a place like this after recovering, too, but Fox was dead and gone. Towhee was the one who had brought them back here, which was pretty weird considering she didn't seem very fond of the place.

12/6: I'm gonna conclude this for us, just ping me if you want me to edit any of the assumptions I made. :)

Perhaps she should've chastised Alyx for swearing, yet she'd just dropped a whole lot of "F" bombs herself and, truth be told, Towhee didn't even particularly notice or care when her kids swore. And when she did, she encouraged it. She snorted at the question because it was a fair one, especially after that display...

"It's not perfect," the Sovereign replied, reaching up her foreleg to wipe some pink spittle from her lips, "but it really does have some merits, I swear. And I guess it's not really the caldera's fault that I'm clumsy as fuck." Towhee paused, giving Alyx an introspective look. "I could show you some of them, tell you a bit more about the family's history here," she offered, since she hadn't paid her historian credentials a bit of attention in ages, "unless you'd rather explore on your own."

She had a feeling the strong-willed young woman would opt to explore independently, so her tail gave a happy twitch of surprise when Alyx took her up on her offer of a tour. "Shit, was actually hoping you'd tell me to fuck off," she joked, bumping her muzzle against one of the girl's shoulders before saying, "Alright. Come along, little dogie."