Porcupine Ridge Greenland fisheries.

After a few whirlwind days seeking Meerkat's whereabouts, Towhee finally began traveling back toward Moonglow. She followed Firefly Ravine south toward the mountains, making it nearly all the way across before seeking out a quiet glen near Porcupine Ridge. Here she stopped to rest for the night.

While she settled down to sleep, Towhee reflected on the past several days. After bumping into Rye unexpectedly, she'd gone to Duskfire Glacier only to discover Meerkat had evidently just bailed for Sapphique. Pretty thrown by this development, she'd quickly excused herself and headed toward the coast, where she'd finally found and caught up with her daughter.

Towhee wondered about this @Njord guy, though she didn't make Meerkat introduce him. Although curious, she didn't want to meddle this time. She just felt better, knowing she was okay, more than okay. It made her think of all the rest of her (living) kids: @Figment, @Fennec, @Alyx, @Quetzal, Caracal, Tierra and @Sphyra. Were they okay too? Were they out there, living their best lives?

She fell asleep on that hopeful thought, only to wake up sometime later. It was still dark. Towhee couldn't be sure what had woken her, though she pushed upright warily and swept her surroundings with fierce orange eyes.

the brief lesson he had given to the boy veteran had stayed in the man's mind.

it shone after ruenna's echoing words: that children born in mereo would be raised as soldiers.

and it reminded the imperator of the sons he might father in the canyon.

the eagle extended his stride and attempted to pull thoughts of the shadow from his mind. long drills, early mornings, and late nights had left him with little time alone.

the darkness before the sun brought him to a ridge. here he paused to catch his breath, quieting himself slowly. he felt the presence of eyes and glanced around until his own alit upon a torchlight pair in the darkness. "hail," he greeted, not yet approaching.

A swarthy stranger materialized from the gloom, his yellow eyes immediately reminding Towhee of her older sister. She saw his lips move, though between the darkness and the distance, she couldn't make out his words. She tried to read his body and face instead, eyes riveted on him as she cautiously moved nearer.

"Hello..." she said a bit warily, her voice even throatier than usual, having just roused from sleep. "I'm Towhee. Who," she wondered, coming to a stop a few yards away, noting that he was a little smaller than herself, "are you?" Towhee shifted her weight, ears drawing backward slightly.

towhee. the eagle knew this name and some of her history as applicable to mereo. "lady redhawk. i am germanicus, imperator of mereo and husband to lady ruenna."

he wondered if the former sovereign had come in search of her former co-leader. "the canyon is south of this place." it was not a true invitation unless she meant it to be so.

perhaps she did not wish to see anyone from her past.

perhaps ruenna did not wish to see towhee.

germanicus was quiet.

Now that they were nearer to each other—and her eyes had properly adjusted to the dark—it struck her that this man was rather ruggedly beautiful. So when his lips parted to say her own name with familiarity, her eyebrows crawled up her face. Then he titled himself Ruenna's husband and they flew clean off.

Well, well, well, Rue. Got damn, she thought with a smirk, thinking briefly of one of their last conversations before the disband. Towhee outright snorted when she caught herself wondering if Ruenna would mind sharing this one with her, per a joke she'd made at the time. How had she never mentioned he was like the Viggo Mortensen of wolves?

Belatedly, she realized she should probably offer some kind of verbal response. "I've heard a lot about you, Germanicus. Good to finally meet you. And, um, congrats on the nups." So her friend had gotten him to settle down, after all. Okay, seriously... good for you, Rue.

Towhee blinked a couple times then, remembering the other things he'd said. "Canyon? Mereo?" she repeated, a little dumbly, her questioning gaze and slightly cocked head requesting more information.

towhee seemed rather surprised by it all. it made germanicus wonder what exactly ruenna had said when she and the redhawk clan parted ways. "mereo is a military outpost in the redsand canyon. lady ruenna persuaded me that it not only be a place for soldiers. she has taken the role of matrona there and oversees the civilians."

he wondered for a moment what exactly she had said about him to towhee. 

and he pondered whether or not her smirk held any indication of this content.

his posture relaxed. but germanicus did not smile yet, save for a quick and passing twitch of his lips.

"Huh," Towhee said, imagining Ruenna in the context of a military outpost. The rest of what Germanicus told her made a little more sense, not that she doubted Rue's capabilities. It sounded like she'd found a great place for herself following the Redhawks' disband and Towhee could only be happy for her.

"Sorry, this is all great to hear," she added after another moment to contemplate it all, offering an explanatory if not particularly apologetic, "I just woke up." Towhee's lips twitched. It would've been great to catch up with Rue herself, though hearing all this was the next best thing.

"Hey, will you tell her I said 'hello'? And let her know I'm living with Moonglow now?" A little huff of laughter left her at that. Hadn't that been one of Rue's possible destinations? Neither one of them would've ever guessed she'd end up there. "I wish I could be there to see her face when you tell her that," Towhee murmured with another whiffle of laughter.

Towhee had inferred a sort of invitation in there with the directions, so the next thing she said was, "I'd love to go see her but I've been away and need to head back. Will you also tell her I'd love it if she visited?"

it seemed that towhee would not accompany him home after all. germanicus nodded. "i will tell her." he was not certain he had heard of this pack before. but the implication was that ruenna would know and find this information amusing.

that the woman had been sleeping was clear. he wanted to caution her of the cats that made the sunspire range their home. but she was larger than himself with a muscular build that suggested her own power. he would not insult her with the explanation of safety.

the idea of ruenna traveling for any length of time and alone rebuffed germanicus. he kept this trained from his features. "i will inform her of your wishes, lady redhawk. if you find yourself inside these mountains again, you will receive the hospitality of a good friend in mereo."

He agreed to tell her, then offered her an open invitation to Mereo's borders. "Thanks," Towhee replied, "on both counts. It's just Towhee, by the way. Do I look like a lady?" She huffed yet again.

Feeling more awake by the moment, it occurred to her to wonder conversationally, "What brings you out this way in the middle of the night?" Towhee didn't know the exact location of this canyon, yet she knew it must be many miles downrange, since she'd just passed through these mountains further south only days ago and saw no signs of habitation.

"you are a woman respected by lady ruenna," germanicus answered. but he would not press this issue. "i have been training with the soldiers for many weeks now and have not departed the canyon in some time." it had placed a strain upon his wandering self. 

but he was refreshed now. "i am not certain in which direction moonglow resides. i had thought you were here in search of her." germanicus had spotted no tracks that might indicate a pack within these mountains and so like towhee, he thought upon the miles that had separated towhee from her new pack.

Training for what? she wondered but something stopped Towhee from asking out loud. Ruenna was a dear friend of hers but she had only just met Germanicus. It seemed out of place to question him about his pack's business. She did worry that Rue might be out of her element in such a place, though she just had to trust that the former Sovereign knew exactly what she was doing.

"They are, uh..." Towhee paused, spinning a little to orient herself. She ended up facing due east, slanting her muzzle slightly in the direction Germanicus stood, which happened to be to the south. "Moonglow's just past these hot springs and some woods, if I'm not mistaken." She'd taken a wrong turn or two on this trip, yet she always managed to right herself in the end.

Speaking of which, "I was actually visiting my daughter, up near the coast. Just on the way home now." Towhee paused, pondering. "Rue might be interested to hear that Meerkat's found herself a guy and plans to have pups come spring. They're living with Sapphique."

That made her wonder: was Ruenna finally going to realize her dream and become a mother this season too? The thought made her grin. It was really none of her business, just like Mereo's goings-on, but Towhee decided she couldn't restrain herself when it came to this particular matter. She was far too invested in it personally.

"You mentioned Rue's a matrona, which sounds a lot like a matron. There's nobody out there who deserves to be a mother more than Rue. Do you two...?"

the imperator made a mental note of the landscape. moonglow still left much to the imagination in name alone. was it a place of fighters like the one he meant to make? he wondered what had drawn towhee to this unknown locale. 

reminding himself that ruenna might share more when he delivered towhee's news, germanicus filed away two new names: meerkat and another pack. a coastal realm. "congratulations are in order," he murmured. "the expanding of one's family is an important merit."

towhee spoke again and while the eagle pinpointed the direction of her inquiry, it shocked him all the same. an open flash of surprise crossed his face before he steeled his expression once more. but he was not angered. 

"children were always an agreed-upon part of our marriage." and he would say no more upon that front, turning aside to offer towhee a walk along the ridge.

his mind now was on ruenna and the feel of her body alongside his own. germanicus drew himself back to the present.

"Thanks... again," Towhee replied, beaming a bit like an idiot at this point. "I know I don't look the part any more than I do a lady but grandma is definitely my favorite title." And though she wished she could be nearer to said grandchildren, Towhee didn't want to infringe on the life her daughter was building, or rebuilding now that she'd started over yet again in Sapphique.

But the topic swung to Germanicus's own possible brood and held there. Towhee could plainly see the effect of her inquiry on his face, which made her curious. It made her even more curious, the way he worded his reply. The sentiment itself wasn't so strange, just the way he said it made her think of something Meerkat had told her when talking about her dealings with Issorartuyok: "Mom, he talks about marriage and kids like they're business transactions or something..."

Germanicus turned abruptly and Towhee began to say, "S—" Then she realized he only meant to walk. Not entirely sure if she was invited, she hesitated for a beat before falling into step beside him, matching her strides with the soldier's.

Something about this line of conversation jogged her memory about yet another. "I believe that Crowfeather and Germanicus are a package deal Not that—! I mean, you know what I mean..." It made her wonder if Crowfeather was part of Mereo. The obvious conclusion was yes, so it didn't bear asking about, she supposed.

"I'm glad Rue found you," Towhee said now, "and that you two decided to settle down together. I already know Rue's a brilliant leader and she's gonna be an amazing mom. Your Mereo couldn't have a better matriarch. And she deserves all of it. Hell, Rue deserves the world." No homo...

he liked to hear towhee speak so highly of ruenna. germanicus had not once doubted his choice in the lady redsand. he hoped it was the same for her. and yet he felt the slight stirring beneath his breastbone that the eagle now recognized as fear.

doubt. 

towhee talked more of ruenna's qualities. she seemed particularly interested in seeing her companion as part of motherhood. "her vision for mereo has changed it from a cold place into something more inviting. i am thankful for her guidance and her affection."

here the imperator's face moved into something like another smile. "she is indeed all you have said. i hope to provide her a life with the level of contentment she deserves." and he wondered again if towhee had come this way to ask after the lady redsand, even if she lived elsewhere. they had served together for a long while. it was not farfetched that towhee would want to know these things.

It didn't surprise her in the least to hear that Ruenna had found a hard place and softened its edges. That's just what she did. "She had the same effect on the caldera, when we ruled together. I was the brawn, she was the brains of the operation... and the heart. She's really good at balancing things out. And she's a hell of a diplomat," which was something Towhee had often undervalued, frankly.

Germanicus promised to give Ruenna the life she deserved and Towhee could only twitch her tail and smile. Of course, hearing about Rue's happy ending—and Meerkat's too—made her a little more aware of her own station in life these days. She wasn't unhappy, by any means, but without any plans or prospects of her own, it did make her feel a bit adrift. She'd always been a leader, a mother, and now she was neither. What was her purpose?

You're a kisisak and a mentor, Towhee reminded herself. Guardianship was important. Yet after witnessing Kukutux's heat, then hearing about everyone else's plans for litters, it did make her wonder about her stance. She would not soon forget how it had made her feel, discussing her right to breed with the "moon woman." Towhee didn't begrudge her personally, it just didn't feel right, not after years of being a matriarch in her own damn right...

Blinking, she realized her thoughts had wandered off on her. "Sorry, I... hmmm." Towhee paused to gather her thoughts in order to convey them to her companion in some iteration. "I keep seeing and hearing about all these happy pairings popping up everywhere lately. Which is great. I just really thought I was past all of it myself and..." She let out a breath. "Now I'm not so sure." And why was she telling him this? "Uh..."

heart. brains. balance. towhee's continued praise of ruenna spoke to a long time of carefully built and maintained respect. it boded well for their relationship as co-leaders, he thought. 

but ruenna and towhee had not been married. germanicus wondered now if this might contrive or affect the otherwise firm working relationship that he shared with the lady redsand.

the moonglow woman spoke now of her own unsurety. it was not something with which he was intimately familiar. women were held to different and often higher standards by those around them. 

"it is never too late to choose what you desire. even if it is not something you wishes before. we are not static creatures."

Germanicus handled her overshare tactfully, reminding her that she could change her mind. Towhee gave him a sheepish look and nodded, lapsing into contemplative silence. He was right, of course, though she needn't unload any further on a brand new acquaintance, even if he was one of her bestie's husbands.

"I should head back," she announced a little later, "and let you enjoy some of that peace and quiet you were after. Thanks for humoring me, Germanicus. It really was good to meet you. And I appreciate you passing along my messages to Rue."

germanicus nodded. "the pleasure was mine, towhee." at her request he had dropped the honorific. it felt odd to him but the roman supposed it did not matter. "travel safely."

he would watch her go for a moment and then he would turn back to his patrol. but germanicus would discover that his heart no longer remained obscured with the want to be alone.

he returned to mereo directly. to ruenna directly.