Redhawk Caldera i walked ten thousand miles, ten thousand miles to see you.

@Fox and @Peregrine ARE NOT ALLOWED >:| lololololol i kid i kid I don't think you would've listened to me anyway COME HUG ME

Edit: I love accidently deleting threads.

It would have made so much sense for something terrible to have happened to Finley while on her journey home. After all, there had been nothing but terrible things happening to just about everyone she knew ever since she'd first set eyes upon that bear so many days ago. Families torn apart, romances ripped asunder, pack bonds broken, individual pain pushed past the breaking point, baby-making paused. Had Fin known what sort of havoc would be wrought along that long chain of events that started with her playful attack of that dangerous, violent predator... She probably still would have done it. But after all, it had been really fun, if only for a few seconds before Lasher had appeared.

But, it seemed that luck was finally on the Blackthorn's side for she arrived at the Caldera at long last--thin, sickly, clearly in need of a bath, and exhausted, but home. "Oh, you beautiful, weird-looking mountain, you..." she whined to herself as she neared the borders. Her legs trembled from both weakness and excitement as she decided to celebrate her almost-homeness by collapsing in the freshly fallen snow just past the invisible boundaries.

Fin laid there for a moment, unwilling to do anything else as she simply breathed and enjoyed the fact that she was laying on her own lands. The snow was delightfully cold against her aching limbs, so she decided to share the feeling with her entire body and began to roll around and flail about in it, much like a happy little puppy who found a super cool smell/thing on the ground that they wanted to smear all over themselves. It was painful to do with her injury, but as she swung her legs across the ground and made snow angels wolfies, she could hardly have cared.

Not nearly as much as I love being tagged in nonexistent ones! You click the link and it's like:

The last thing Peregrine expected to find on this rather boring patrol was a Finley lying directly in his path. When he first saw the shape from a distance, he wondered if a rock had tumbled down the slopes and come to rest on their borders. He thought of using it as a watchtower. Then the small boulder moved and he realized his mistake. It was a wolf. His slow trot morphed almost immediately into a canter as he intended to apprehend the interloper.

When he came within one hundred yards of her, recognition struck him and Peregrine unleashed a rather girlish cry of, "Finley!" into the cold November air. Gleeful but concerned, he sped to her side and stood over her, tail waving powerfully even as he bent down to nose her. Was she all right? Had the plateau wolves treated her well? Where was her escort?

"Welcome home, Buttface McGee!" Peregrine said once he finished assessing her and saw that she was thin and filthy but definitely on the mend. "Need some food? A blanket? Some hot cocoa, perhaps? Hey, where's Koda anyway? I can't believe they sent you back here alone," he said, his tone suddenly lowering in disapproval. Of course, he could believe it—at least, that Dante was capable of it now—but it really surprised him that Blue Willow would let it happen.

Fin paused in her wriggling when she heard her name suddenly cried out from afar. She was lying upon her back with her paws tucked over her body as twisted her neck to look, upside down, across the snow to see a black figure speeding towards her. Recognition hit her immediately and she kicked her legs to whirl onto her stomach just as Peregrine approached and leaned down to poke at her with his nose. Her tag wagged furiously, her bum wriggling right along with it (and omg I just realized that I was wagging my own bum back and forth in my computer chair do I do this all the time when I write!??). She poked back at him, sniffling and whining happily as she pressed her head and cheeks against whatever bits of his head, neck and legs were within her reach.

"That's beta-face to you, slave," Fin barked back with a grin, even as he continued almost feverishly offering her various comforts. She allowed him to finish before speaking again. "First off, I will take all of the above, thank you," she said before her smile faltered slightly as they moved onto the unpleasant subject, far too quickly for her taste, "And yeah, no Koda. Things got super... wonky." Wonky. Yeah, wonky was a good word for it.

Peregrine only grinned at her epithet. Even though they were both being facetious, he decided to actually provide the things he'd offered (sans the hot cocoa). Motioning for Finley to hold on a moment, he ran and fetched the skin he'd been drying, as well as a few lumps of meat from the nearest stockpile. He bundled everything into his mouth and galloped back to his prodigal co-leader.

"Here," he saw, throwing it all at her rather unceremoniously. The stiff, crusty skin draped over Finley's back legs and the meat fell in the snow beside her. "What do you mean by 'wonky'?" Peregrine asked as he promptly settled himself beside her.

Fin canted her head as Peregrine turned to leave her for a few minutes as he fetched her the items she requested. She hadn't actually anticipated that he'd be able to do it, but soon she was snuggled under a blanket with some tasty meats to gnaw happily on. She munched a few bites before giving him an appraising look. How exactly to go about telling him that his daughter was evil... hmmm... Best to do it with some tact.

"Well, that little brat of a kid you have kicked me out," Yes, tact, "Like, literally kicked me out. She came bursting into Blue's den shouting some nonsense about how my 'kind' weren't welcome on their turf anymore, then she attempted to throw me out, but I hit her..." Fin paused, her ears twitching backwards apologetically, "I mean... Not hard, but......... I hit your kid."

She paused for another moment, feeling a little awkward before deciding to add a little more. "Everything just got crazy there. They brought Junior in one night with all these cuts on her arms and there was some random half-starved kid they brought back too, then Junior got really sick with fever and almost leaped off the frickin' Plateau before I stopped her and everything was all.. tense and weird and it was just a fucking shit show," Fin shook her head, "I'm actually a little glad they made me leave. Not thrilled with their execution of the dismissal, but.. I got to come home."

Finley's opening line caused Peregrine to freeze, his face suddenly pensive as her story unfurled. For a brief moment, he wondered if Finley was behind his daughter's injuries. But the timeline didn't make sense. It sounded as if Junior had acted upon Dante's decree and kicked Finley off the plateau. Her gall appalled him even as it impressed him. By the sound of it, she'd taken a turn for the worse since he'd last seen her. Finley's use of the term shit show sounded painfully apt.

"But... Junior's okay?" he queried, unable to stop himself from being a father first in this moment. He quickly rectified that by adding, "And you... you're okay?" The swarthy wolf paused to let her answer that before asking, "They let her kick you out...? Dante said you could stay, that his decision wouldn't go into effect until you were ready to come home. What the fuck...?" Peregrine's brow furrowed. This had escalated quickly, hadn't it?

"Well..." he said after a long pause, exhaling. "It's probably best if we avoid them and I can only hope they avoid us too. Even the ones I like. It just sounds like it's gonna be crapshittery all around if we try to mix." His lips drooped into a frown. "This... isn't what I'd hoped for," he admitted, "but what's important is that you are home, where you belong, in one piece. The pack's whole again. We don't need any of those buttsore buttfaces at the plateau..." He laughed, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Fin nodded in response to his questions. She was okay, Junior was okay, they were all physically okay. Mentally, emotionaly? They were maybe a bit damaged there, but otherwise... "Yes, Junior's fine," she assured him, "That big guy of yours.. Pura, I think, threw her in a river. It helped break her fever and she was up and out and about by the time I left. She was well enough to try to pick me up and throw me off the Plateau, anyway."

Fin wasn't privvy on all of the details on what had happened to Junior and the rest. She was unaware of the conversations that had happened outside of Blue's den or while she was sleeping. In fact, up until that point, she had been quite convinced that Junior had made the whole the-Caldera-is-no-longer-friends-with-us crap up, but suddenly it occurred to Fin what it was her friend had just said.

"Wait... Was that stuff true?" Fin asked moments after her smile at the buttsore buttfaces had faded, "All of that... what did you call it.... crapshittery about the Plateau and Caldera being enemies or something?" The only wolf from the Plateau she'd seen since her flight had been Blue, who had strangely failed to confirm the rumors Junior had been perpetuating.

Finley's question earned a look that answered her before Peregrine even opened his mouth to say, "Dante came here a few days ago and basically told me that myself and the rest of the caldera's wolves were no longer welcome anywhere near the plateau. It felt like—it was—a gigantic and unnecessary slap in the damn face. He didn't use the word enemies but he might as well have. And he didn't give any kind of real explanation either," he finished sourly.

He lapsed into a grumpy silence, though the knowledge that Pura had reappeared and had helped his sister was at least good news. So was the fact that Junior was healthy enough to be a bitch to Finley. That was a good sign, though Peregrine still had to wonder what on earth had happened to his daughter and why nobody would just tell him forthrightly. Even Finley didn't seem keen to offer up any useful information, though he simply assumed she wasn't privy to the details.

"That reminds me," he blurted suddenly. "I told Dante his wolves were still welcome here, though I'm not so sure anymore. But anyway, I'm not going to try to micromanage you guys. So if you still want to meet up with plateau wolves—well outside their territory, of course, per Dante the Dick's decree—then that's your own personal business." Peregrine sort of stared at Finley then, wondering if she would tell him about her little friend at the plateau.

Peregrine's words were completely unexpected, which was just plain dumb because Junior had said as much when she'd kicked her out. She probably should've have believed that something was up. "That's just bizarre as shit," Fin replied bluntly when Peregrine had finished. Dante had been so perfectly normal and kind to her when she'd been at the Plateau. Why would he suddenly change his entire personality like this?

Her alpha pulled her from her thoughts before she was able to fall too deep into them. She peered at him, somehow sensing that he might be trying to pull something from her. But Fin wasn't biting. "I don't think I'll be going anywhere for a while," she replied, "But gee willikers, thanks fer bein' so durn thoughtful, boss!" She gave him a cheeky grin.

Finley didn't play along. She seemed rather disinclined to pick up the bait, actually, and while Peregrine found this very interesting, he did not push. He would do that later, when he had given his returned Beta female some time to rest and relax.

"Let's get you somewhere more comfortable," the Alpha suggested. "Do you have a den picked out yet? I know of a few you can use either temporarily or permanently if you don't. I do think we should get you out of the elements. Do you care if I send Ashton to have a look at you? He's our aspiring Healer, in case you didn't know. He seems to know his stuff."

Peregrine didn't pry further, a fact for which Finley was grateful. She wanted nothing more than to forget that Finn ever existed. Stubborn woman as she was, she was quite determined that she would succeed in that endeavor too. Fin sighed gently in relief at the idea of getting to rest again after her arduous journey, shaking her head when asked if she had a den there already. She'd wanted to get to know the Caldera more before settling in anywhere, but at that point was willing to settle for anything with a roof and a nearby water source.

His next comment caused her to pause. "Ashton? That yellow wolf that says 'dude' a shit ton?" Fin asked, giving Peregrine a skeptical, perplexed look, "The first time I met him, he fell out of a tree. He's going to play doctor for us?" Of course, it was hypocritical for her to be so judgmental of the wolf. After all, she herself dabbled in remedies and she was a freaking train wreck.

"I have just the place in mind then," he replied when Finley shook her head no. "It's about halfway up the slope. Think you can make it?" he queried seriously. "Feel free to lean on me." With that, he turned and began to pick his way slowly up the caldera, presumably with the Beta female in tow.

"Yeah, he's a bit eccentric, isn't he? Not at all like Willow," he mused with a slight frown. "But like I said, he seems to know his stuff. That's what counts, right? And, hey," he added, arching his neck to look back at her, "can you really judge anyone for being crazy and falling out of trees and stuff? Mrs. Bearfighter? Hmmm?"

They proceed upward, Peregrine setting the pace and keeping things as slow and easy as possible. He did not speak for a moment or two, then finally said, "So I guess you caught the part about being Beta." He smirked when he thought back on her playfully derisive greeting: "That's Beta-face to you, slave." "Think you're up for it? Fox and I decided we wanted you in leadership right before you went MIA. Somehow, your bear-fighting buffoonery didn't change our minds, Shenanigans." That was to be her nickname from now on.

Fin followed her alpha obediently, eager to see where he would lead her. She was exhausted and in pain to tell the truth, but god knows her stubborn ass didn't show it as she gritted her teeth and trudged up the slope at Peregrine's side. She canted her head as he talked about Ashton. "Woah, woah, fighting bears and falling out of trees are two way different things," she argued playfully, "It takes skill and brains to fight a bear, just like it takes skill and brains to not fall out of trees, and I'm pretty sure only one of us has fallen out of a tree around here, mmkay." Of course, in the end she would trust Peregrine's judgment, but like hell she'd just admit that to him.

Fin fell into step with him as they walked a little ways in silence together, focusing on each step to mentally will the pain away. Perry caught her attention again, causing Fin to grin. "Yeah I did, eventually..." she didn't want to admit exactly how long it had been after he'd left that she realized what he'd said and what it meant. "Pfft, and you call me crazy when you're the one who trusts me with responsibility," she said with a smirk, "I guess we're all a little touched in the head here. God help the poor minions."

"You might be right," Peregrine said, slowing and drawing to a stop on a small ledge shaded by a pair of spruce trees, half their branches shorn away by wind. "Actually, there's no maybe about it. This is the place," he said, pointing his black snout at a small crevice between the tree trunks. "It's small but cozy. Has a good view too. I don't think we'll both fit, so head on in and try it on for size," the Alpha invited, lifting a paw to usher Finley into the tiny cave.

"Before I go find Ashton and send him over here to give you a check-up, is there anything else I can do? Maybe starting with a bath?" he suggested lightly. He would be happy to groom her if she wanted it, though Peregrine would leave that up to Finley. "Or I can send Fox, if you'd be more comfortable with a feminine touch," he added with a playful twitch of his tail.

Fin chuckled softly at his response. Yeah, they were all out of their minds in the Caldera. They could easily blame it on the residual volcanic ash that was totally a non-issue after probably centuries of dormancy, but who would ever think to question them? Her gaze fell upon the hollowed out space between the two trees and immediately she felt relief wash over her. She hobbled eagerly forward, barely listening except to catch onto the comment that allowed her to respond with "Cause you're butt's too big, eh?" with a cackle.

She dove into the little hole like a........ The only metaphors I can come up with are creepy and gross. It was snug inside, but comfortably deep and thus quite cozy. Fin spun in a few circles to make certain she was about to lay down in the best spot before plopping down and poking her head back out into the cold air to peek at Peregrine.

"I appreciate that, however I am flawless and would really rather just pass the hell out," Fin replied with a smile, "But for future reference, Fox is way more my type than you." Which was not to say that she swung that way, she just... did not swing towards Peregrine.

Muh last post. :D <3

"Well, hey, if you two decide to kick up a little something between yourselves, I won't complain," Peregrine retorted with a wink. "As soon as I see her, I'll tell her you're back and send her this way," he promised with a touch more sincerity, taking a step forward and leaning down so he could nip the tip of his Beta's ear.

"I'll deliver more food in a bit. Rest up, Shenanigans," were his words of parting before he trotted further up the slope. He paused long enough to howl a message to @Ashton, then proceeded to climb to the caldera's top, where he planted his feet and howled the good news to the entire pack now: "Finley's back!"

Woo! @Ashton I'll start a separate one for us, that kay?

"Who's to say we haven't already?" Fin teased with a devious smile, excitement tingling in her belly at the thought of seeing Fox again. They had so much to discuss, so much drama, so much happenings, so much gossip omg omg omg she was so excited her bum was wriggling with the force of her wagging tail.

As Peregrine left, Fin watched him ponderously. Only just after he disappeared out of sight past the ridge, a thought occurred to her and she barked out after him. "Tell him if he calls me any form of the word 'dude', I'm ripping his tongue out!" she shouted, hoping he heard. With that, she settled in for slumber, Peregrine's announcement to the pack of her homecoming fading into just another scene in her dreams.