Redhawk Caldera i could write it better than you ever felt it.

The weather hadn't been conducive for Penn to take another trip out to the sea to scrounge up more plants for Fennec, so he'd had to turn towards more conventional goods to leave at the borders for her. It rankled as the Blackthorn considered himself far above convention, but times were tough. He had to do what he had to do.

Snow littered his pelt from top to bottom as he rolled back onto his stomach and hoisted himself up onto all fours. He looked at the dead fox beside him and leaned down to give it a good sniff-over. It smelled like dead fox, but it also now smelled sufficiently like him. All that rolling all over it paid off. He grinned and picked it up, looking around the bleak landscape for a good spot to leave it for Fenn. He turned South and continued along the Caldera's borders, eyes peeled for a flat rock he could set it on, or a tree to lay it beneath.

When Towhee woke to all the telltale signs, she was sort of surprised to discover she could still think rationally. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she peeled herself off the cave floor and strode to the entrance to peek outside. Perhaps she was wrong. She squinted against the white glare as she sought a spot to pop a squat. As she relieved herself, the odor removed all doubt. She was definitely in season.

As she slowly climbed toward the caldera's rim, Towhee realized she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Would her brain go offline at any moment? Would the first guy she saw trigger it? What should she do? She had a lot of thoughts, yet indecision paralyzed her. The Sovereign pretty much turned into a statue on the ridge line, only her eyes moving as they slowly roved the borders below and spotted Penn.

Penn eventually came upon a tree that he found to be suitable enough. It even smelled a little like her, suggesting she'd been by it sometime within the last 24 hours. He dropped the fox's carcass there and tucked it against the trunk, smirking to himself as he lifted his head to gaze at his accomplishment. He imagined her finding it and getting pissed. He wondered if she would just leave it there. Probably not. She hadn't left behind the plants he'd brought her--he'd come back later to check.

Mission accomplished, he turned away to head back to Brecheliant. That's when the wind shifted and he caught a scent that was both familiar and a little strange. He glanced up the ridge to his back and spotted Towhee, watching him. He blinked at her, wondering how long she'd been there and also wondering if he cared to say anything to her. He really didn't. He meant to give her a smile and a wag of his tail, then head on out. But instead, he stood there, watching her, wondering why she smelled kinda weird.

She watched as he dropped what looked like a dead fox at the base of a tree. Towhee wondered why he was doing this, then wondered why she was wondering. Her hormones still hadn't taken over, as they did historically. She thought of Penn as a brother, similar to Eljay, but they didn't actually share blood. The idea of boning Phox was abhorrent on an instinctual level. It would never happen. But she'd thought about Eljay as a potential match before and now she gave Penn a considering look.

Perhaps in prior heats, she would've been driven toward him by pure impulse. But Towhee discarded the thought as far too awkward after only a few seconds of contemplation. She offered Penn a little wave but made no move to get any closer. She felt in total control still, though Towhee could only speak for herself.

Deliberately, she looked away, across the ridge. She really wished it was feasible to run out and find Kaertok. But Towhee knew it would be impossible to safely make any trips with the weather lately. And both of her Regents were indisposed. No, she couldn't leave the caldera, which meant she would either have to shift her priorities or simply let the opportunity pass her by this year.

Towhee snorted. "Like hell," she said, making up her mind and suddenly calling for @Reyes.

The longer Towhee stared at him, the more awkward he felt. He was still curious about her scent, but after a few minutes decided he wasn't intrigued enough to do anything about it. Part of him did actually look at Towhee like a sister, as unlikely as it was he'd ever admit to that. All of him looked at her like a grossly mannish woman that he wasn't in the least bit attracted to. Not even the peculiar, yet unacknowledged tingle in his hormones could convince him to try and tap that.

So, he eventually went with his initial reaction. He gave her a little wave back, then turned and continued on his way. He heard her calling for someone over his shoulder, but didn't care too much about it once he determined she wasn't calling Fennec for him.

Penn out, unless he's stopped :) Feel free to shanghai with thread with Reyes if'n ya wanna!

The young man had taken to pacing or napping in the cave he shared with Towhee, talking less and less. He was nervous to be alone with his captain and a few days after his slip on the ice, found himself dreaming of their racing bodies through the snow. When he woke up and found the cave empty Reyes was immediately glad; he decided to leave the cave and do a small patrol, hoping the replay from his dream would fade from his mind before he ran in to anyone.

Just as he began to roam, Reyes caught a curious scent. He could not help but follow after it - and then there came a summoning call by Towhee, stopping him in his tracks. Why would his captain call for him? Maybe he had found the source of the tantalizing smell - or there was something amiss? Reyes huffed, then continued on his run.

He arrived not long after Penn's dispersal and started after the retreating figure. Rather than ask what was going on - because Reyes figured Towhee wouldn't understand him anyway - he began to look around. The alluring feeling had not left him; if anything the run and the dream had sparked an urge in Reyes he did not know how to quell.

But the only person here now was Towhee - and that filled Reyes with questions.

Hope ya don't mind!

Change was certain. Always had been. No matter how hard he resisted the natural ebb and flow of the universe, Whip-poor-will Redhawk often found himself at the mercy of not only the ever fluctuating winds, but also the incongruous wiles of his own uncertain spirit. The urge for permanence and certainty went so easily undermined by one so adept at self-sabotage. Whip was hardly even conscious of his own destructive efforts.

It was time to leave again.

He shuddered on the same breath the thought arrived. It was a feeling both familiar and unsettling, and one he knew he would not be likely to shake. A thought like this was an unwelcome tenant, living in his head rent free. It was a shame, he had thought, that it had to come at a time like this.

He felt her sleeping against the curve of his chest. The gentle rise and fall of every breath. It was almost peaceful, everything he thought he wanted -- and he felt it all turn to ash in his mouth.

He awoke to a bitter chill. He was alone. Gone was the rhythmic breathing of a partner abandoned, and in its place, only the dry whistle of the wind whipping through the underbrush remained. As Whip slowly emerged from a haphazardly dug den, he felt a profound emptiness inside. It was as familiar as the ground he tread.

The Pilgrimage, so he had come to call it, had become a rare source of constancy. At his lowest, Whip sought the wisdom of his father. Of course, it was wisdom that he would never receive. The dead, in his experience, were not often keen to reveal their secrets.

Yet still, he had come, and he felt a strange sort of peace as he saw the rise of the Caldera reach toward the sky. Not prone to nostalgia or sentiment, Whip hardly knew where it had come from -- however, his stomach started to lurch when he thought he smelled traces of a claim over his ancestral home.

Uncertainty settled over him, but he pressed on.

Distractions were abound, each scent strange and unfamiliar. All of his faculties were devoted to uncovering who had laid claim to something not belonging to them -- that was, until another scent took hold.

Attention scattered, a biological imperitive took hold. 

The choice to investigate was no longer his to make. His feet moved for him with a rare certainty as he altered his course toward the source.

KEKEKE

When she glanced back in Penn's direction, he was gone. There was another figure off in the distance a few miles west, perhaps moving in this direction. It was still too far off to be sure or make out any details, though Towhee stood and watched as she impatiently waited for Reyes to heed her summons.

He arrived promptly. He'd seemed out of sorts ever since his tumble, though as Reyes came closer, she felt an old, familiar tug in her midsection. "Hey," Towhee said, still a little taken aback by her own reserve. "There's really no delicate way to say this, so I'm just gonna..." She trailed off with a huff before continuing. "You're my comrade and my friend. I like you. I trust you. I choose you."

Her tail began to wave, fanning her scent and making it utterly impossible to ignore. She took a step toward Reyes, then stopped. Did he know what she was offering? Would he accept? What if he thought this made them mates? What if he wanted to be the Alpha male? Had Reyes ever even thought of any of these things? Did he want to be a dad? Would he even ask questions or would he simply let his instincts answer for him?

Towhee's orange eyes lingered on his face, full of anticipation, before cutting sideways as she noticed movement. She'd forgotten all about the approaching figure and saw now that he was barreling straight toward her.

After peering around at the slanting shadows and shafts of light between the trees for a minute or two Reyes faced his friend. They were standing proudly with their tail arched, and as Towhee began to fan their scent around, Reyes clued in to what was being said. It was not something he had expected.

Not only that, but a figure came bounding towards them both seemingly out of nowhere. Reyes was distracted enough by the exceptionally gay preposition of his leader and had done a poor job of keeping his wits sharp; the stranger barrelled closer, prompting Reyes to turn and face them instead of answering Towhee.

Has this been the plan all along? Draw him in close, feign friendship, have some fun with him and then...? He could only think of the pirates that had once been his crew; it turned his stomach knowing what they had done together, what they had done to him. Was he cursed? Did he have a neon sign emblazoned over his head drawing the attention of men for their own gratification?

Reyes' body tensed and his head lowered. He glared at the approaching stranger and moved carefully, purposefully, so that both the newcomer and Towhee were easy to track. For all he knew this was a set up - just like last time - and Reyes would never go through that again.

Ever the slave to impulse, Whip found himself sequestered to the passenger seat of his own body. Heady as her scent was, his higher functions all but ceased to be. All the remained was the skeletal framework of instinct compelling him to act.

He approached with a confident stride, placing himself between the female wolf and her suitor. He laid eyes on his competitor first, thinking first to separate him before turning his attentions on their desired prize. He was a ragged thing. Small, but seemingly agile, Whip surmised that he was little more than an adolescent. Shame, really -- to get tied up in this.

Lips peeled back revealing a nasty snarl. Saliva dripped from pearly, jagged teeth. This was the game that nature demanded the strong play. Whip was no stranger to it himself. He understood what it meant to fight, to maim, to kill if necessary.

He spoke naught, but he made his intent clear.

Soon, she found a stranger inserted between herself and Reyes. The interloper snarled at her comrade, obviously challenging him for Towhee's attention. In past years, she would've thrilled at this development. It would've made her blood run hot to watch two men fight for her.

But there was something very different about this season. And never before had she stood on her own soil and mindfully chosen a suitor. Now that she'd made up her mind, the Sovereign wouldn't tolerate anyone interfering with her plans.

Towhee bellowed, "Get the fuck away from him!" She crouched. "And get the fuck off our lawn!" she added as she sprang, skipping the usual target (the throat) to go after the family jewels instead.

Reyes' suspicions were confirmed by the manner in which the stranger approached them. He moved in close to Towhee and spun to stare Reyes down, then launched after him with a snarl grating at the air. As confused as Reyes felt he was on the cusp of becoming a man in entirety, so his own hormones were raging; he had woken up to that lingering scent and been drawn here for a reason.

Plus, having taken enough shit from men who thought they could control him, Reyes wasn't about to back down from a challenge made by a stranger. Towhee's shout and subsequent retaliation towards the stranger shifted Reyes' position: this was truly a stranger to his captain, and an interloper upon their claim. He did not know if he could trust Towhee's word and so he faltered, hesitating until he saw the black-orange-white smear of their body diving towards the other wolf.

Reyes snarled and lunged for the man's grizzled face, his teeth snapping carelessly at air a few times before he adjusted his angle of attack and made a real try to grab at Whip; whatever Reyes was feeling, whatever had been proposed to him, was thrown aside in lieu of the danger this trespasser presented.

There was a moment, albeit brief, where Whip believed he had the upper hand. Though he had not yet chosen violence, perhaps the threat alone would be enough. There were rules -- rules that governed all behavior. Rules that Whip had learned through trial and strife. After all, it was foolish to walk into a fight one could not win.

He snorted dismissively, thinking himself to already be the victor. Yet, in his own hubris, he discounted the autonomy of the female. Surely, he had expected her to watch and revel in this primal display. To only let the strongest earn her favor. However, the realization that he had been wrong came when chaos broke loose.

So too did another strange revelation turn Whip's stomach. Wide eyed with surprise, Whip hardly had anytime to react to the unique and memorable cadence of his sister's voice.

Motherfu-

They descended on him with a fervor that Whip did not expect. Reacting quickly, he did his best to turn away from his sister's onslaught to keep his sensitive bits out of the line of fire. However, in doing so, he left himself completely exposed to the other male.

"Towhee?!" Whip exclaimed incredulously as he was forced to the ground. "Fucking Towhee?!"

Soon enough, Towhee realized they really were the family jewels. As he jerked his hindquarters out of reach, her jaws snapped shut on nothing but the whisk of his masculine musk. He whirled to face her and recognition struck them both instantaneously. She didn't actually catch his epithet, nor whatever else he yelled, though she could see the way his face distorted even as he was wrestled to the ground.

Her own turned into a grimace of instinctive disgust as she backpedaled, fur still bristling. She shifted to align herself closer to Reyes, though she kept her eyes fixed on her brother. Towhee couldn't recollect his name right now, nor the last time they'd spoken. The look of distaste remained etched into her swarthy features as she stared down at him for several beats, angry words building momentum in her throat.

"Dude, I'm your sister," she spat. Something flashed in her eyes. "And just because we're related, it doesn't mean you can fucking walk in the door like you live here!" Towhee's tail lashed in agitation, once more spreading her scent everywhere as she pressed, "The fuck is wrong with you?"

The confidence in the rival male was short-lived. Reyes watched them pivot away from Towhee's oncoming teeth and open themselves up for his own, and so when Reyes hit the stranger he hit them hard; gripping, pushing them in to the dirt, using whatever leverage he could attain in that moment of confusion. 

Once the stranger was forced to the ground Reyes clued-in on the conversation being shouted between the two of them; it sounded as though this man knew the captain. More importantly, as Towhee admonished the man, new information came to light and caused Reyes' jaw to slacken.

Dude, I'm your sister, Towhee openly derided. Reyes sank back from the stranger he had previously pinned to the earth as if they had a particularly contagious case of mange. He looked at Towhee as they went off and as he sank back, grew exponentially more confused.

Birdy—you're a pearl?

A wave of revulsion crashed over Whip's laid out body while bile rose threateningly in his throat. The disgust that washed over his face would not be so easily washed off. "Oh god," he mumbled to no one in particular as he struggled back to his feet. "I'm going to vomit -- I'm actually going to vomit."  

He wretched over himself, dry heaving with ragged breath. He wanted no part in this. Every single part of this stupid trip back had been a mistake."What's wrong with me?!" Whip cried out in exasperation, defensive of his own embarrassment. Deflect. Deflect. "Jesus Towhee, neither of us have the time for me to go throu--"

The swish of her tail hit him like a brick through a window. "Stop that," Whip barked immediately, better self cutting through the heady haze. "This is confusing and I do not like it."

She could see that her brother was saying something, though Towhee couldn't possible catch any of it with all the melodramatic heaving. Similarly, she didn't catch Reyes's question at all as he backed away from the prostrate male. Towhee shot him a brief, grateful glance, then turned back toward her brother and finally caught some of his words as he told her to stop.

"Quit whining and get out," Towhee replied. At any other time, she would've seen him out herself, if not asked Reyes to do it. But she wanted to stay here, near the safety of the(ir) cave. She still had business with Reyes and she wasn't going to let the wayward Whip waylay her any longer.

And she could've left it there, though she abruptly remembered his name. "Whip," she said frostily, feeling a fresh wave of repulsion. But with the moniker came a few memories and Towhee found herself saying, "If you have official business here, go to the borders and call for @Phox or @Eljay." Maybe one of them would make time for the prodigal Redhawk, though he'd officially run out of it here.

"Now leave!"

Reyes snapped at the stranger in a corrective manner when they tried to give Towhee orders; this was Redhawk land, as as far as the boy was concerned, this asshole wasn't a Redhawk.

Towhee's desire was clear enough when it came to this stranger, although it took a minute for Reyes to return from his out-of-body experience and react. For the time being he'd ignore the confusion of Towhee's masculinity and all the feelings he'd been experiencing and fighting against, putting all that confusion to work in the form of all-out aggression.

He snarled and lunged, snapping his teeth near Whip's face in an effort to shut him up and get him moving.

Wrapping for us!

Maybe he didn't move quickly enough for her tastes or perhaps Towhee simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to yell again. This time, it was, "Beat it, doofus!" Especially with Reyes driving in the message with his teeth, she knew Whip wasn't stupid enough to do anything after that but make like a banana and split.