Redhawk Caldera I never told you what I do for a living

No need to match length! Mainly for @Towhee, @Phox, @Niamh but also whoever else wants to join after one of the leaders post. EDIT: FYI, the blizzard has masked her Saints scent, lmk if anyone wants to chat about this!

The Mackenzie knew she went too far but how far exactly?
 
There was no crossing over Boartusk Heights anymore as the blizzard obstructed all feasible paths into Tuktu Hinterlands. Cursing to herself, she knew she shouldn’t have followed that elk herd into Great Bear Wilderness. The Hinterlands, once abundant with prey, was now desolate. The food cache of the Saints was minimal and felt internally pressured to hold the weight of the Saints’ prey supply on her shoulders. She worked tirelessly. Even more, Derg had been further scarred by an ambush of bears.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.
 
A whiteout disoriented her sense of direction, making sky and earth an endless white realm. For days she felt like she was back at square one. Her aimless wandering through the blizzard had her meddling through Broken Antler Fen, then Haunted Wood, which sent her in a panic as she remembered “the trees with eyes” upon first coming to the Wilds. How the hell am I this far? She couldn’t count the days as to how long she had been on her own, but all of a sudden her days felt morbidly numbered.

She had to find shelter or else she would die.
 
Unbeknownst to her, she approached a border of another pack, reaching the ridgeline of the Caldera. The blizzard masked the territory bounds. She thought she turned back west and assumed this was the ridgeline to Boartusk Heights again. Tipping her muzzle back whilst shivering, she howled. A droning howl that was desperate, hoping to reach the ears of Kynareth, Nyra, anybody. She had no idea she was miles from home and felt the icy digits of death pet her fur. If she was out here any longer, the death toll would increase by one number more.

Worry churned her gut. She'd tried to convince Meerkat to stay until the snow stopped falling so hard, though her daughter had finally insisted on heading back to the glen today. "They need me, mom..." Towhee stared at the spot where the white flurries had swallowed Meerkat's pale figure, her mind reflective of the maelstrom. Prim was still out there somewhere. So were a bunch of roving apex predators, apparently. And there was no way of knowing if or when Meerkat would make it safely back home.

She finally turned. With little else to do, she began a patrol. Towhee tried to turn her thoughts toward happier things, like Phox's recent return. But then she thought of Fig and her heart ached. She envied her former (and stupider) self, who'd truly believed, if only for the space of five minutes, that all her children were under the same roof for once. Now that was definitely not the case. But she was grateful for those who stayed, including the honorary Bronco. Not all of them were in great shape but at least she could say they were safe.

That made her think of the bear, then the cougar. Were they really safe? Fucking fuck! Towhee cursed wildly in her head, her attention suddenly snapping to a dark figure near the foot of the caldera. It was hard to discern details, though she could make out a black pelt and a medium build. The stranger's head was thrown back, presumably in a howl. But for Towhee, the world remained a swirling hush.

"UM," she shouted, wondering if the wind would carry or silence her voice as she made her way toward the stranger, "UM, HELLO?!"

Her spine arched in a feline manner as she drew her core inward, attempting to draw in her figure on itself as she stood shivering. Standing frozen (literally and figuratively) with her ears at full attention, she listened for anyone returning her call. Only the disappointing whip and whistle of the torrent winds. Radio silence. A snort harshly blew from her snout, her dark brows frosted with icy flakes furrowing. She was royally screwed.
 
The Mackenzie was turning around to wander back into the pallid abyss, to walk until paws would become frostbitten and she would be swallowed by the winter until an ear swiveled back to catch a distant voice. She thought it first as the delusion of a voice inside her head as she was sleep-deprived, recovering from being poisoned not too long ago, and losing the bulk of weight she worked so hard to gain after the summer.
 
The voice was closer. Her head was at attention, silver eyes squinting in the flurry of white until a faint figure of black and red could be seen. Immediately Zsuzsa knew it was no Saint, although her nose couldn’t discern who the other was in this blizzard. She didn’t care at this point. “HEY!” She barked. “Here, coming to you!” Zsuzsa announced, the wind drowning her words, but sifting through the snow to meet the other. The cold left her breathless, a cold so sharp in her esophagus and so stinging in her nostrils.

Towhee didn't hear the stranger's wasted breaths, though she didn't need ears when her movements broadcast her intentions just as loudly as her voice. The Sovereign continued her own forward momentum so that the two of them would meet in the middle, the wind whipping the snowflakes in a flurry that might've been beautiful and magical if it wasn't so fucking annoying.

Blinking crystals out of her eyes, Towhee wondered if she'd be able to carry a conversation at all. She could hardly see the other woman's lips. Well, she would give it the good ole college try. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT?" she bellowed, a lot louder than was necessary in their much closer quarters.

Coming in much closer proximity, Zsuzsa could make the details out of the black and red female a little better. Hearing her words ring loud and clear now, the Mackenzie kept a considerable distance away from the female but enough to be in a decent speaking distance where she wasn’t competing with the barraging wind. Freezing and on the verge of fucking death. She responded mentally as her introduction, sharing a similar sentiment of annoyance with this ridiculous blizzard but keeping that reply to herself.
 
Wincing at the biting wind against her face, her tail curled between her hind legs to trap whatever heat she could. “Zsuzsa, from the west.” It was vague and intended to keep it that way. Her more important response was to follow. “Shelter, if there is any around?” It was an honest ask from a stranger such as herself, giving the ol’ college try on her end as well. She could just very well be told to piss off, but hopefully the spirit of pack mentality could be the savior in this situation.

Okay, yeah, no, Towhee thought as the stranger spoke, only for her words to be absolutely obscured by the swirling snow. Despite this defeatist inner monologue, she did manage to catch a single word: "shelter." It made a lot of sense, given the context of the situation, so rather than trying to get her to repeat herself, Towhee made a pragmatic decision and lifted a foreleg to emphatically motion for the she-wolf to follow her.

Although she often sheltered family and friends, Towhee certainly wasn't about to bring a perfect stranger into her realm. But she did lead the dark woman toward a snowbank she'd noticed earlier while patrolling the borders. Signaling for her to stop and wait now, Towhee began to scrape at the snow. It was the sort that molded easily, so it wasn't too long before she'd dug out a little makeshift burrow.

Stuffing herself inside it and hissing as her back and sides pressed against hard-packed snow, Towhee once more used her forelimbs to gesture the stranger closer. "BEST I CAN DO," she said, forgetting to lower her volume now that they were out of the wind. "WHO ARE YOU? AND WHAT'RE YOU DOING OUT IN THIS?"

The conversation was futile (and pointless) in the midst of the white-out. Seeing the gesture made by the female’s forepaw, Zsuzsa would clamber behind to be led to better cover. All the while she wondered how she did not encounter this female before. In Zsuzsa’s mind, she thought she was still relatively close to the Hinterlands. The Mackenzie waited silently as the female worked on a temporary burrow. The first thing Zsuzsa noted was her hospitable nature with what she was able to work within this given situation. Once it was suitable to crawl in, Zsuzsa followed. It was tightly packed but bearable. At least they didn’t need to compete with the wind anymore.
 
”It’ll work. No complaints.” She responded with a half-amused smirk at the female’s shouting. ”Name's Zsuzsa.” She repeated her name, assuming the female could hear her much better now than when she stated the same before. ”Stalking elk. No prey in the west, at all. Followed them east, then lost them. Then was lost myself.” Her voice was solemn. The prey completely disappeared from the Hinterlands, leaving the Saints on low supply. ”And you?” She was just as curious about this female in this blizzard, wondering if she too suffered a similar famine.

Lipreading was much more feasible here, especially considering the cramped quarters. Towhee squinted when the she-wolf introduced herself, then explained that a prey shortage had driven her here. The mentions of elk and the west triggered something in the back of her mind. She filed away that information in a cabinet somewhere back there, her eyes shifting sideways when Zsuzsa said, "And you?"

"I LIVE HERE," Towhee answered. Perhaps she noticed a twitch in her company's ears or simply remembered herself, because when she spoke again, she'd lowered her voice. "These are the borders of Redhawk Caldera." She paused, wondering if she should say anything else. She wasn't much of one for small talk, especially with strangers, but they were packed in here like sardines and she couldn't just leave Zsuzsa here unattended.

"So you're part of a pack...?" she probed after a moment.

ty for kudos <3

With the female proclaiming a holler of her residence, Zsuzsa’s initial hope in chancing another in this blizzard suddenly dulled. Redhawk Caldera? She had no clue what and who the Caldera was composed of, no less heard of the name. Her mind jogged through the sub-territories of the Hinterlands. King Elk Forest… that’s Kingslend. There’s nobody else. Moonspear and Firefly Glen were more North, so… where the hell did she end up? Feeling her spirit and heart sink further, this was bad. The Saints would proclaim her dead in this blizzard. She would feel terrible if any Saints risked their lives sending a search party out for her. Seeing as how she was now having an internal conflict and her silver gaze held what was a thousand-yard stare, Zsuzsa nearly missed the female’s investigative query.
 
”A pack? …No.” Zsuzsa spouted as if the concept was absurd. The Saints was a double-edged sword for all parties involved. Just like many who came to pick and choose their affairs with the Saints, Zsuzsa herself had to pick and choose her means of perseverance. The blizzard masked her scent well and hell, she had no idea what a Redhawk smelled like, so she would play a masquerade for the time being. ”Would Redhawk be in need of another to survive through this?” Zsuzsa questioned. A big ask for a "loner" like her but at this rate, she would rather do the lowest of pack duties than freeze to death out here.

Towhee watched the other's face, noting the various emotions that floated across it. The query seemed to surprise Zsuza. The Sovereign was surprised, in turn, to hear that she wasn't part of a pack. Had she been tracking elk all on her own? Why would she bother, if there was no one to hunt it with her? She found it strange, though not enough to pursue it, even within her own head.

"We're doing okay but we could always use more able bodies," Towhee replied. "If you'd like to join our ranks, I can offer you some better shelter than this. In exchange, I'd just ask for your contributions, loyalty, yada yada..." She made a flippant gesture with her paw.

Glancing at the conditions just outside their impromptu shelter for a moment, she eventually turned to face Zsuza again. "While we wait for this to die down a bit, tell me about yourself. Where are you from? Why are you on your own? What are your skills, aside from tracking?"

With her ears perking a little higher and her head straightening taller on her neck, that ask was not as overambitious as she assumed. Redhawk required the customary attributes sought out in a potential recruit. ”Fair enough.” She responded with a nod, as those were all simple requirements for any “loner” to meet. ”Although… puppies are not my forte, but I can tolerate them.” At least she was being honest from the get-go. Protecting puppies, sure. No problem. Any day she could do that. Anything else beyond that which consisted of grooming and care, well… those were uncharted waters yet for the Mackenzie.
 
The raging wind of the blizzard was not slowing down and for the time being, Zsuzsa would be content indulging whatever the female wanted to know (fast-forwarding over anything dealing with the Saints) ”I’m from the Or’arde Weald, many miles away from these Wilds.” Her tongue danced with the accent of her homage when she described it. ”Natural vagabond, I suppose. Can never seem to sit still.” She shrugged in good nature. ”Well… hunting and scavenging for the most part, but also studying prey. Calculating movements, anticipating patterns.” Zsuzsa remarked but wouldn’t bore the female with the romantics of it. ”Can also sub in with patrolling and brawling if it comes to it.” She may be tall and lithe but preferred the more gritty and confrontational duties.

I wasn't sure if you wanted to be formally titled, so just let me know! :)

The remark about puppies struck Towhee as a little out of nowhere, plus it put a bit of a bad taste in her mouth. But she didn't comment, waiting for Zsuzsa to finish. There was no way in hell she could make sense of the woman's birthplace, though she did catch the bit about it being miles away. The mention of being unable to sit still didn't bode well for any sense of permanency. That would've prompted Towhee to turn her away, once upon a time, but the Sovereign had come to accept that most wolves actually didn't stick around for long.

"Consider yourself a Redhawk recruit then," Towhee replied after a few beats of ponderous silence. "And if the day comes when you want to resume wandering, just do me a favor and let me know. It's not that hard to say goodbye." The implied ire in that statement wasn't directed at Zsuzsa but all those who'd come—and gone, often without a word—before her.

Go ahead and title!

Zsuzsa kept a poker face as the female pondered in silence. Studying her with steel eyes, she could tell there was some mental debate about this situation. Fair enough, the Mackenzie would have taken the same stance if this took place on Saints borders.
 
Once the black and red female granted permission as a Redhawk recruit, a small smile formed on her dark maw and her ears perked up in delight at the decision. ”I really do appreciate that during these times.” Zsuzsa offered in sincere gratitude. She would live to see another day thankfully. At the mention of saying goodbye once wanderlust kicked in again (or really when the harsh conditions would die down from this blizzard), Zsuzsa nodded. ”Didn’t catch your name?” She added. After the female would provide this tidbit, Zsuzsa would follow her to wherever she decided to direct her first in the Caldera.

*officially welcomes* :D

Zsuzsa nodded and Towhee took that to mean she understood and assented to her terms. It was then pointed out to her that she hadn't bothered with an introduction. She might've felt like a heel, except she remembered that they'd first met up in the blizzard, so she gave herself a pass.

"Towhee," she said simply, falling quiet. Eventually, the weather would calm down enough to allow them to venture from their shelter, at which point she would lead Zsuzsa to the ridge line and encourage her to move freely—well, as freely as possible, given the fuck tons of snow—around her new home.