Redhawk Caldera i am the wild one break me in.

Takes place before this thread. @Fox <3

Finley was at it again. She had woken early that morning like she always had, but instead of going for a run along the circuit she had chosen through the Caldera, she slithered out into the sunlight and bolted in a straight line for the borders and beyond, making a beeline for some yet unknown destination. She knew only that she didn't want to be there anymore, not in the Caldera all safe and snug within those boundaries she had helped to build. Mostly because she had no desire to be safe and snug.

The girl was just outside of the pack's boundaries when she stopped near the shores of Lake Rodney to grab a drink. After her thirst was sated, she lifted her gaze to stare out across the smooth, clear water--looking and not seeing. There was an aching in the pit of her stomach that made her want to rip it straight out of her body, though she knew the only defense she had against it was to writhe around on the ground, ineffective and helplessly.

Her mind began to wander towards the cause of her distress, but with a snarl, she thrust herself back onto her paws and stalked off against it. With a deep grimace, she turned her attention to something--anything. And that anything suddenly turned itself into a gentle rattling sound that caused her to stop dead in her tracks.

Fin turned slowly, nostrils flaring as she caught its scent, eyes darting to capture its form somewhere in the tall grasses that surrounded her. Somewhere hidden nearby she knew was her next grand adventure. A grin coiled across her lips just as she saw a patch of grass not far away shift from the coiling of the rattlesnake within its lair.

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From afar, Fox had spotted Finley a ways off. Reluctant to leave the caldera, especially considering her rib was still painful to the touch, Fox had clung close to her home far more than she ventured out into the world beyond it. Still, she couldn't help but trail slowly behind her pack-mate, watching her go from one place to another. Fox made no attempt to conceal herself, but the wind must have been in her favor, or she was simply too far away for Finley to take notice of her.

The Gamma stopped suddenly and turned her direction toward the ground. Fox could not see from here what it was that Finley was so interested in, but she made no move closer. As far as she knew, Finley was still blissfully unaware of her leader's prying eyes.

Were it not for the fact that she was so determinedly trying to sniff out the rattlesnake, she likely would not have noticed her alpha sneaking up on her. As it was, Fox's scent, as faint as it was with the wind not quite in her favor, caught her attention quickly, and she turned to set her eyes upon her friend.

"Hey!" Fin said brightly, a smile dancing across her muzzle, "Look at you all walking around and junk." The snake was momentarily forgotten, even as it shook its tail threateningly at the sound of her voice.

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My dog just jumped over the couch and onto my lap when I called him to come to me. I'm glad that he left the other room, but not so glad that his foot landed right on my boob which is probably going to be bruised now. <__<

Still too far away to see (or hear) the eminent danger, but close enough to see and hear Finley, Fox wagged her tail and bobbed her head to greet the Gamma. “What were you lookin’ at over there?” she asked, not beating around the bush. She was curious, and she felt close enough to the Blackthorn that she didn't feel the need for proper introductions at every meeting. There were other questions that Fox wanted to ask, but she held on to them for now.

There were other things brewing in her mind, of course. She wondered if Peregrine and she would need help keeping the pack together in the future and whether or not Finley would be up to the task. A part of her felt like the Blackthorn girl did not want to be tethered like that, especially considering she had pursued the outrider title, but perhaps there was still a chance. In any case, she'd have to talk such a thing over with Perry before making any decisions.

Eeep ;_; Definitely been there! I hope ur booby is kay

It was good to see her alpha out and about again. She didn't know for certain where it was the fire-coated female had taken her fall, but Fin had done a great deal of exploring of their new territory and had came to the conclusion that it could have happened in a great many places. The Caldera seemed to be full of cliffs and steep slopes that any of them could unwittingly became victim too. It was fortunate for the rest of the pack that Fox had taken the first "plunge" so that they could all learn the lesson from her. It was not quite as fortunate for Fox, however.

Finley hesitated when Fox asked what she had been looking at. On one hand, Fox had proven herself to be an able companion on many of the gamma's little escapades. This however was a sport of a different kind... One where it was far more difficult to see what exactly was "fun" about it at all. "I thought I heard something nearby," she replied slowly, turning to cast her gaze across the field, "Something like a.... ahhhm.... ahm..... um... Well, I'm not sure what."

Fox looked at her companion quizzically, wondering what exactly Finley had been up to. Maybe the Blackthorn didn't even know what she'd been up to. It was easy to get confused, Fox supposed, but she'd only done such things while partaking in the herbs Finley had brought her. “Something dangerous, no doubt,” she teased, knowing that Finley had a knack for getting herself into trouble. Fox probably fell into that category as well, but she didn't dwell on it for too long.

“As much as I loved our last adventure, I think I’m better off observing this time around,” she added, not wanting to make her injuries any worse. “That is, if you don’t mind an audience.” Fox's lip curled into a grin and looked beyond Finley, trying to see whatever it was that had caught the Gamma's attention.

Fin felt a little throb of joy as Fox correctly guessed that what she was doing was likely dangerous. It pleased her that her friend knew her well enough to be able to confidently say that. It had been a long time since Fin had bonded with another like she had with Peregrine and Fox. She had always liked the companions she'd met on the road, but never enough to stick with them for as long as she had the two of them. Only one other had ever won her affection so, but she was mad at him at that moment, so he didn't matter.

"I don't mind, so long as you excuse any errors in my performance," Fin said with a smirk, "I haven't had time to rehearse after all." She gave a sweeping bow towards the alpha before turning her attention back towards her hunt. Her nostrils flared as she scented the air and began to creep further through the tall grasses, ears perked and listening.

Fox giggled, always amused by Finley's antics. It was true that Fox had not befriended many. And those that she had, she had quickly burned bridges with. Her girlfriends of the creek—Tuwawi, Bazi, Magpie, Bones, and so on—had surely given up on her after the mishap with the Sunspire wolves (or sooner, in the case of Bones). Sure, Magpie was back, but that did not mean that the girl hadn't given up on her. Although Fox had apologized, something rare for the vixen, she had not felt that her apology was accepted, and it had hardly been acknowledged. Perhaps she was asking too much, but she did feel like she was doing the avian girl a great service by allowing her to stay here under the watchful eye of herself and Peregrine (not to mention the other Redhawk Caldera wolves).

The fireball's ears shifted forward and her eyes focused intently on Finley as the Gamma began to make her way through the grass. Fox's bottom was planted firmly on the ground, the sensation of anxiousness and anticipation welling with each passing moment. She could feel the air around her practically buzzing with the hesitation that came before something was about to happen. Her leathery, wet nose twitched, and the young leader spoke an expectant, “Well?”

The grass brushed across Fin's cheeks as she swayed her head across the ground, searching for a scent. There was plenty there to smell, but all she really was able to glean was that she was going in the wrong direction. With a frustrated growl, she turned and headed in another direction. She was beginning to wonder why she hadn't heard the rattle of its tail, if it meant that the snake had left, or if she was just really, really going in the wrong direction.

Fin lifted her head to peer across the plains, biting her bottom lip with a single canine as her brows furrowed thoughtfully. She turned to peer back at Fox when the woman spoke up, sharing a mild frown and a shake of her head. "I know I heard it around here somewhere. I wonder if it--" Fin stopped abruptly. The rest of her words got stuck in her throat as she took a few steps forward and suddenly the rattling began again. Her eyes widened in excitement as her ears perked and targeted the noise. With an eager grin, she paced forward towards the sound.

Finley went one way, and then another, causing Fox's brow to move upward. Then, suddenly, Finley stopped still and stared at the ground. This time, Fox was close enough that she could pick up on the rattling noise. “It what?” she asked excitedly, taking a step closer and trying to see what her friend was looking at. She still couldn't see anything but the grass and the earth, but maybe Fin's eyes were keener than her own. “Do you see anything?” Fox's own grey eyes squinted in the afternoon light, hoping that it would somehow make seeing the thing easier.

Fox's questions fell on ears that were far too focused on the tantalizing sound of the rattle to hear them. Fin prowled forward until the grasses suddenly disappeared to make way for a small, rocky clearing. Fin cast her gaze around until her eyes finally landed on the serpent, coiled upon a flat rock, soaking up what little it could of the Autumn sun.

"There you are..." Fin said aloud to it, her eyes sparkling with their typical mischievous fire. The rattlesnake peered at her with leery, angry eyes as it rattling became louder. It reared its head back over its body while Finley stood and watched. The sound was like music to Fin's ears, and she canted her head back and forth with amusement, pondering the situation and what she would be doing next.

Fox did not move closer, her gut instincts telling her that whatever Finley was getting into, she wanted to be far, far away from it. And yet, she couldn't pull herself away. She was glued to the scene, even as she spotted the rattling tail that was attached to a rather formidable looking serpent. Fox stared wide-eyed at the creature, finally breaking her gaze away when she saw Finley's head bobbing one way and then another. Fox could have sworn that the snake did the same, but she was probably just imagining things.

“Finley…” she trailed off, an uneasy tone in her voice. She wanted to pull the girl back and tell her not to do whatever it was she was about to do, but she simply couldn't bring herself to break the suspense that hung in the air.

Fin was lost in the moment as she and the venomous serpent had their staredown. She began to test it, putting one paw of the other forward slightly and moving her head the opposite direction to see which the snake paid more attention to. She was feeling it out, trying to learn how it would react so that she could plan her own attack accordingly. The snake eyed her warily the whole time, every so often punctuating its steady rattle with a brief crescendo to warn her when she was pushing too far.

Somewhere nearby, she heard her name being spoken. Fin pulled back her paw and looked over to see Fox standing near her, a nervous look upon her face. The smile never left the Blackthorn's face as she looked at her friend. "What?" she asked sweetly, "Haven't you ever tried rattlesnake meat before? It's actually quite delicious." Probably she added silently.

Fox shook her head at Finley's question. “Can’t say that I have…” she replied, watching as Finley continued to inch toward her intended meal. The fiery Alpha had no clue that snakes could be lethal, especially considering how tiny they were in comparison to a wolf or something bigger, like a bear. Still, the noise it made caused her to be uneasy, and she wanted no part of this meal until that terrible rattling stopped. Even then, Fox was wary of anything that made such unnatural noises.

"You're in for a treat then," Fin replied with a smirk, turning her attention back to the snake. She had never actually managed to kill one before, and she really wasn't too confident that today would be the day she finally succeeded in such an endeavor. But Fox didn't need to know that. Nor did she need to know about the many times she'd been bitten by the non-venomous kind when entertaining one of these tangles. Some things were just better left unsaid.

The two predators stared each other down for a few more minutes, each testing the other and making judgments on how to react if the other made a move. Finally, Fin sucked in a deep breath and lashed a paw out at the snake, who moved almost in the same exact instant to reach its fangs out at her flying limb. Fin's movement was partnered with a sideways jump, which was what truly saved her life as the snake's head sailed harmlessly past her to snap at the space her shoulder had been in only seconds before. Her attacking paw managed its goal--to tap on the crackling rattle at the end of its coiled tail--before Fin pulled it back as fast as she could and backpedalled away from the snake faster than she'd likely ever even managed to run before in her life.

"MOVE!" Fin barked at Fox as she whirled around and darted away, a laugh already dancing along her voice as the viper began to hiss and rattle in fury in her wake. She made it a few yards before she deemed it safe and pulled herself to a stop and turned back to see where her alpha had gotten off to. She had no doubt that Fox would have made it unscathed from the encounter, for if Fin knew one thing, it was that snakes did not play chase.

Come back to RHC so we can have more threads, woman!

A treat, hm? Fox was fairly certain that this was not going to end well (unlike their last daredevil stunt at that crazy underwater cave), but she wasn't about to turn down a free meal. Especially when it was something as exotic as snake meat. Still, when Finley stared down her intended prey, Fox couldn't help but shuffle backward a few steps. She just had such a bad feeling about the whole thing, and she couldn't quite pinpoint why it was.

When the serpent darted at Finley, and Finley darted away from it, Fox took a leap backward, terror gripping her for a moment before she realized Finley had come out of it unscathed. “Damn, woman. You’ve really got that daredevil streak with the wild things, don’t you?” Fox, of course, had her own streak of daring, but it was more targeted toward wolves. And these days, she rarely acted upon it. The other packs were far away, so she felt no need to seek them out and terrorize them.

“What do you say we go find something less… exotic to eat, eh?” the fiery Alpha suggested.

Okay! :D

Fin couldn't help but laugh at the look on Fox's face, her tail continuing to wag through the flame-pelted woman's comments. "Eh, maybe a little," she admitted with a casual shrug. At her suggestion to maybe hunt for something less could-totally-kill-them, she gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "I guess, if you want to be boring about it..." she said in fake exasperation, changing her attitude only seconds later to her usual friendly manner and turning trot off as she and her friend went to hunt some birds or something.