Blacktail Deer Plateau Beautiful girl, stay in my world

I'd love a thread with @Finley while she's healing before she's gone, if you've time for one!

News spread like wildfire through Blacktail Deer Plateau, likely due to the gossip-y teens that lived there, and the same was true when Finley was brought back to the pack following an attack of some sort. The details of it weren't shared, but Saena knew she was there. She didn't remember the female very well, but one fact stuck out to her: Finley had gone with Peregrine to Redhawk Caldera. It was an excellent opportunity to drill the female for deets.

Given the nature of her visit, Saena was careful to ensure Blue Willow was out when she headed toward the healer's den. It wouldn't do for the Beta female to overhear her; she was simply too involved, and Saena's opinions too twisted. When she arrived, the patchy juvenile hung around outside the den, poking her head in and chuffing lightly to see whether Finley was awake or not. She may have had questionable intentions, but the Redleaf wasn't rude enough to wake an injured wolf just for information.

I always have time for you!

In all the time that she'd lived at the Plateau, Fin had never been more popular than that one time when she'd shown up near dead at Lasher's side, broken and bleeding from an encounter with a totally unjustifiably pissed off bear. Visitors had come and gone, some wanting only a few words with Blue Willow while they peered curiously in at her sleeping patient, some looking to speak with the Blackthorn herself, only to be turned away when the healer told them of her need to rest.

Today was a bit unusual for Finley in the fact that she'd actually spent much of it awake. Blue had left her alone for the first time since she'd arrived, which Fin had taken as an opportunity to test her limits--something the healer had strictly forbidden her from doing. It turned out, she'd had a very good reason for setting that restriction.

Thus, it was in a rather awkward position that the young Virtute found her pack's former gamma. Fin had tried to stand, only to shriek with pain and collapse forward onto the ground as her front legs gave out from the pain. She laid with her arms stretched backwards underneath her towards her rear, her head flat across the ground, her rump still up in the air since she was utterly terrified of moving again and causing herself further pain. She looked up at Saena as the girl stepped into view, suddenly extremely aware of just how bizarre she probably looked.

"Heyyyy..." Fin said, making a pathetic attempt at some semblance of normality, "............sup."

It turned out Finley was very much awake, something Saena learned when she spotted the Redhawk female sprawled oddly out on the den floor. She gave her eyes a moment to adjust, during which they didn't move from the white-and-black female. Saena couldn't help but to ask, "the fuck are you doing?" as she stepped into the darkness. Surely Finley had a good reason for lying like that, for it looked awfully uncomfortable. Naturally, Saena was much too focused on the juicy gossip to be hard to really realize the Gamma might have been in pain.

She thought she knew exactly what she was going to say, but it turned out that Saena didn't have a clue where to start. She wanted to know all about Fox's inevitable reign of terror, how her father was a clueless imbecile who dumbly followed her tyrannical laws. She wanted to know how poorly the pack was faring, for Saena couldn't believe any fool would allow Peregrine's mate to lead them... but that thought bordered on painful, for although Saena relentlessly hated Fox for no reason, she knew her father was a good wolf. Was, until he got caught up with her.

Even though she wanted to ask these things, something else came over her instead. "You're from Redhawk Caldera," she said slowly in a voice that was cool, but slightly interested. She took a long pause in which Finley could reply any way she wished, and then rather abruptly, she said, "you shouldn't go back there."

The girl's reaction was not all too surprising. Fin did look like a complete jack ass. What did surprise her about it was.. actually rather surprising. "Excuse me!" she barked back, "Language! ...young lady..." Even as she said it, she felt weird. Her look of displeasure lasted for only a moment before she brushed it off, thinking fuck it to herself before she began to ease her rump back down to the floor.

She shut her eyes tightly and took a sharp breath as the pain shot through her from that simple movement. As she shifted her weight to try to make herself comfortable, each second of it excruciating. She nearly missed the girl's next words, but was easing into her new position just as the oddly cold words left her mouth.

Her eyes were shut as she responded with a pained sigh, "Yeah." Fin took a deep breath as she relaxed and finally turned her full attention to Saena, who rewarded with with some sagely advice. You shouldn't go back there." The Blackthorn fixed the girl with a blank stare for a moment before her brows furrowed, bewildered. "Kay..." she said after a beat, adding more slowly, ".....because it's on fire?" Fin quirked a brow at her, thoroughly intrigued now to see where this could possibly be heading.

"No," she said in respnse, settling herself sphinx-like on the floor. She ignored Finley's warning about language, mostly because the Gamma should have expected it from Perry's children. She watched the Gamma quietly for a while, then rolled her shoulders as if readying herself for a long discussion.

"My dad used to be an awesome guy," she said, feeling bitter to even think of it. "He'd do anything for his family. For my sisters, my brother, and me. His kids," Saena reminded Finley, in case she had no idea who she was speaking with. It was easy to forget that not all those associated with Peregrine knew of his kids—in fact, it would have been cutting to learn that most of his subordinates had never heard of them.

"That changed when Fox showed up. He slowly stopped caring about anything else. He didn't care when Junior got upset about their new puppies, when he'd have done anything for her before." She paused, licking her lips. "After how abruptly he said he was leaving, I'm not sure why you went with him, but you should rethink it. He isn't the same anymore. He only cares about Fox, and she only cares about herself. She never tried to get to know us, thinks we're a waste of her—and his—time. She thought this whole pack was a waste of her time," Saena finished. Of course, it was an assumption, but an accurate one from her perspective.

"He visited, you know. A couple days ago. He didn't bother coming to see any of his kids. It's like we don't exist, all because she didn't care for this pack and my dad does whatever she says." She shrugged her narrow shoulders as if to say it didn't bother her too much, but in reality it bothered her a great deal. Naturally, she didn't mention how she would refuse to see him, as it wasn't relevant. "She might be a friend or something now, but she'll toss you aside too, and he'll do anything she says. That pack... it's not a family. It's all about her.

Stay. Stay here with us, where you belong. You started here. This is a family. This pack doesn't exist for the gain of one—it's made from love, not greed. Don't go back there. Fox doesn't care about you, or anyone, and... My dad was a great guy before, but he's not that guy anymore."

Fin listened quietly as the girl began to weave her story--a story that turned into a plea for her to remain at the Plateau. Several things struck her as very odd about all of this, the least of them being that Saena wanted her to stay so badly. That was strange in itself--wasn't this the first time they'd ever really talked? No, what she found most unusual was the demonic picture she painted of Fox.

Was this really what they all thought of Fox? That she was some selfish temptress who'd fiendishly wrapped Peregrine around her claws and begun to play him like her own personal puppet? And did they really think so little of Peregrine that they actually believed he'd become so cold and so... pathetic as to be so easily manipulated into "changing" that drastically? It was all very strange to Fin, and as the girl spoke, she thought of all the ways she could poke holes in all of the theories she presented.

But, in the end, she went Fin-ish with it. "My god..." she replied, lowering her gaze to the ground between her paws, "You're right. I don't know how I could have been so blind... They.. They must have brainwashed me or something... I feel so foolish..."

A feeling of relief swept through Saena when Finley finally realized she'd been duped. The juvenile firmly believed all that she'd said—why else would Peregrine not bother checking in with his children but that he no longer cared?—and, though she didn't know Finley at all, felt it was her moral obligation to inform Peregrine's subordinate just what sort of pack she'd joined. Perhaps Saena would take to calling it Fox's Legion, for that more accurately described the purpose of Redhawk Caldera in her faulty opinion.

"Great," she said softly, feeling far more at ease than she had in the past month or so. She didn't argue that they'd brainwashed Finley. While she didn't believe it was something as nefarious as brainwashing, she did believe it was a trick. Fox was probably a good actress and was capable of convincing others she cared about them. That was why Peregrine fell for her in the first place, it had to be. But Fox was a duplicitous homewrecker who took what she wanted and threw everything else aside. Saena had to make others see it as clearly as she could.

"They just make you think they care," she said softly, "but as soon as something better comes along, they show they don't. They did it to all of us. Real friends would come see you when you're sick, but my dad was your only visitor. The wolves here, we're a true family. We take care of our own and know better than to throw aside those we care for. We all would have come. You'll like it here a lot more." Smiling, the tricked juvenile said, "I'm Saena. I'll let Dante know you want to stay with us when I see him."

She let the silence lapse for a moment and, assuming Finley was still playing along with her ruse, Saena asked, "how'd you get hurt?"

Fin watched Saena as she spoke with wide eyes, nodding along as though she were clinging to every word. It was like a preacher singing gospel to the lost and hungry souls of his congregation. Any minute now, Fin would throw up her arms and sing hallelujah as she was swept away by the girl's truly ground-breaking words.

"I just can't believe it..." she said a moment after Saena had finished speaking, "I mean, I thought they were my friends. Peregrine even came and asked me to be their beta when I got back... I was so excited, honored at the time, but now... Now it's like.. Do they want me to be their beta because they think I'm a trustworthy, deserving wolf? Or did he give it to me just to draw me further into Fox's web?"

Fin shook her head sadly, glancing up only briefly when Saena asked about her injuries. She looked away as though ashamed. "I... I thought I was helping the pack at the time..." she admitted slowly, "But now I can see it was probably all some diabolical trick. Fox told me the bear had been stealing from our caches, that it was a threat to our safety. She... She asked me to go stop it. I don't know why I was such a fool to actually have tried... I nearly died, Saena." She turned and gave the juvenile a pathetic, dopey sad face that was very reminiscent of that cat from the Shrek movies that looked all adorably sad just before it sprung its trap.

However much Saena hated Fox and wanted others to share that hatred, something about the way Finley spoke was almost too emphatic. The juvenile pushed this niggling thought away, eager as always for someone to be on her team regarding the mateship of her father with the red-furred Swiftcurrent ex-Alpha. Likening Fox to a spider, while probably overdoing it, appealed greatly to the scorned daughter of her husband.

"You are a deserving wolf, I'm sure of it," Saena reassured Finley. There was a small part of her that felt somewhat bad about convincing Finley to abandon her Beta promotion, but Saena was able to swallow that down. The Alpha rank in the pack was vacant, after all. The pale Redleaf-DiSarinno would never go so far as to suggest Finley would have it, but she was certain a little sweet talking could convince Dante of her competence. "But do you really want to be their Beta? They—at least she—won't listen to you. She didn't even listen to Blue Willow when Blue was her Alpha." That story had got around, albeit not with its details intact.

She listened raptly as the injured Redhawker explained what happened with the bear. A surge of anger welled up in Saena's stomach when Finley explained that it was Fox who had sent her after the bear. Everyone knew that bears weren't to be trifled with except by a strong and resilient pack; sending one wolf to wrestle a bear was suicide. "Wow," Saena breathed, frowning for Finley, "I'm... appalled. I had no idea she was that big a bitch. I mean, I knew she was selfish and only cared about herself, but... that... that's almost murder."

Though she kept it hidden from her features, Fin was very surprised when Saena so easily believed that Fox had set her up to have her killed. For a moment, she simply marvelled over how gullible and dumb kids could be. It somehow never occurred to her that she was an adult and she was clearly taking advantage of an emotionally distressed youngster and that she was going straight to hell for doing so. No, in her mind there was nothing wrong with what she was doing, but that was because she had a hard time understanding that kids and adults were different and needed to be treated and understood differently.

She was gonna be an awesome mom one day.

"I don't know... I hate to believe it of her, she's been so good to me. Maybe she thought I really could take care of it, maybe she didn't think at all," Fin reasoned with a sigh, shaking her head. "You know... when they left, I thought, 'wow, what an amazing thing they're doing together. They went out and found a land all their own to start their new family in.' That whole Caldera, I thought one day they could show it to their kids and say they did it all for them, kind of like how Peregrine had you kids here and then stepped aside to leave it to you. This Plateau is all yours now with him gone. Sure he gave it to Dante and Blue for safekeeping, but once you guys are of age, it's like.. your birthright, y'know? And I dunno, I just wanted to be a part of something like that from the beginning..."

Fin licked her lips and gave a soft whine. She forced herself to roll her shoulders to keep her muscles from growing too tight, grimacing as pain again shot through her body. Nevertheless, she kept on truckin', "I never had that with my parents. They made me leave to find my own place instead of moving on so that I could rise and flourish in their place. They were so selfish..."

Doubt it, Saena thought bitterly to herself when Finley went on to say Fox was good to her. The only thing Fox was good to was herself, at least in her narrow-minded view of things. She'd made the woman out to be a terrible wolf, someone she never wanted to associate with and would never understand. In some ways, she and Fox were alike, but to be compared to someone she considered scum would have angered Saena greatly.

The longer Finley spoke, the narrower the juvenile's eyes became. She was assaulted with a strange mix of emotions as she absorbed what Finley said, primarily due to the pure logic that the Redhawk female presented. It was cleverly done, and it worked almost perfectly on Saena; suddenly she was questioning whether or not she'd looked at things all wrong. Of course, even developing the belief that Peregrine had left the pack to his children wouldn't excuse him from his uncaring behaviour, but it stilled Saena's tongue for a long while. Eventually, she decided it was nothing but a bunch of lies, and she realized that Finley was just as bad as her father and Fox.

Still, this information tucked itself in the back of her mind, where it would stew for a long time. No matter how convincing Finley was, Saena refused to believe that was what Peregrine had done. She thought he'd still have made the effort to see them if he'd left them the pack, and anyway, there was no way Dante and Blue Willow would just give the pack to Peregrine's kids. Even when Finley brought up her own parents, who had stayed in their home, and called them selfish, Saena didn't entirely buy it.

"You're a liar," she said, her lip curling into a little snarl, though she was unsure about it and clearly shaken by what Finley'd said. Feeling like the female was messing with her, Saena was suddenly no longer interested in whether Finley stayed or left. "My dad didn't leave anything to us, except a view of his ass as he walked away." As for her parents, well, the only thing Saena had to say to that was, "real parents don't leave their children or kick their children out," as she turned stiffly and walked away without another glance at Finley. When she was out of sight of the den, though, her haughty demeanour dropped and she retreated to be alone, trying to come up with any solid reason not to believe Finley's convincing point about the plateau.

The juvenile reacted just as Fin suspected she would, for she wasn't as young and naive as to believe that someone would bend so quickly to an opposing viewpoint. She didn't raise her voice to deny that she had lied, nor did she try to stop her as she stalked off in a temper. The Blackthorn merely watched her retreat, hoping quietly that what she'd said might change the Saena's attitude towards her father. Sure, Peregrine had made mistakes, but he and Fox were not the villains his kids seemed so determined to think they were. Fin knew she likely couldn't convince her of that, but at least she could encourage a less negative view of it all.

Fin laid her head back down upon the ground and closed her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep, she played in her mind the day she'd left her birth pack. Her father had actually been the first in line to beg her not to go, a fact that inspired the sweet little smile that slipped across her lips as she slipped into her dreams.