All of this was intentional. Somnia had spent the whole morning digging and filling the holes, putting prey pelts in most of them. Today she would be hosting her Caretaker game. Somnia had postponed it, as it was scent related and Peregrine had gotten sprayed by a skunk a week or two ago. Last time she had seen him, the smell was overpowering. It was already difficult to tell which holes had pelts in them based off of their scent, but with the skunk smell it would've been impossible!
But, Peregrine didn't smell as bad. The scent probably still lingered on him, but at least now one couldn't smell him from half a mile away! So, Somnia could now start her game. She howled, summoning Fox and Peregrine mainly, but also inviting everyone else. Her tone conveyed the impending sense of fun.
Presently, the Alpha male was making his way toward where he knew Ashton lived, to see if there was anything that might help with the nausea. Peregrine knew Fox wasn't likely to take anything, yet he didn't share in her reluctance when it came to medicine. He would gladly choke down some bitter plant if it meant his stomach would stop rolling. If nothing else, he wanted some mint leaves to stuff in his nostrils. The skunk smell, though fading, was not helping matters and then the scent of vomit that hung around the den was like adding insult to injury.
Somnia's summoning howl rose up into the air and Peregrine stopped. A strange gurgling began in the back of his throat, then emerged from his mouth in a loud, bubbling burp. "Ugh..." He swallowed. Should he go see what Somnia wanted or keep heading to Ashton's herb den? Belatedly, he realized she must be calling about her game project. Well, that made the decision simpler if not easier.
Groaning under his breath, Peregrine trotted onto the scene. "Hey, Som." He nodded to her, then loped down to the water to take a drink. That burp had left an acidic aftertaste in his mouth. The cold water seemed to help his stomach too, perhaps by numbing it. "What'cha got going on?" he added when he turned and trotted back toward the Gamma, licking drops of water from his black muzzle as he scanned the churned earth underfoot.
He wasn't the first to arrive; Peregrine was already there, though he looked a little green around the gills. The Alpha male appeared to have just sated his thirst at the edge of the lake, while Somnia was surrounded by mounds of dirt and snow that had evidently been unearthed. "Hey guys," he said, glancing around at Somnia's hard work as he drew to a halt near his companions. He then focused his gaze on the aspiring caretaker, his eyes bright and his ears pricked as he awaited her instructions.
A howl for the pack arose, the sound piercing through the peaceful surroundings. Prima got up and tidied herself before deeming the call to be from somewhere at the top of the caldera.
A smile dawned onto her lips. Truthfully she couldn't wait to visit the caldera again, as she'd seen the breathtaking view when Elwood had brought her up the top of the volcano. The petite girl was planning onto doing something fun around the caldera— jump off the ridge and into the lake, maybe? Theseus could join her this time, since he seemed to like that sort of stuff as much as she did. Well, during their little lake encounter, anyway.
Immediately she made her way up towards the mountain, following the path that Elwood had guided her through the last time— she remembered it surprisingly well, she noticed. When she got to the top, she saw few of her packmates— the swarthy Alpha, Peregrine, Elwood, and a female she did not know. She seemed to be standing in front of— dug up holes? Respectfully dipping her head to them as her tail swayed low, she settled herself somewhere nearby. ”Heyo, guys," She greeted the two males. Following that she turned to the wolfess that she didn't know, and offered her a smile and an introduction. ”Since not everyone's met me yet, I might as well run through this. Hey. I'm Prima, and I'm relatively new around here.”
"Looks different..." FitzDutiful said as he surveyed the scene before respectfully greeting the members of the pack that were higher ranked than himself. It actually appeared to be most of the pack. In fact the only higher ranking wolves that weren't here yet was one of his alphas and the other beta. Fox and Finley.
The delta awaited the fun that had been promised and hoped he could let go of duty enough to enjoy it.
Groaning, Fox plodded toward the clearing, putting on her best face. She didn't realize there was still a piece of vomit hanging from the corner of her mouth. Fox took a seat beside Peregrine, then decided she would be more comfortable laying down, so she did that instead. Her stomach threatened her with gurgling sounds, but Fox ignored them, directing her attention to those who had arrived, and finally to Somnia.
A few had gathered by the time she arrived, and though her intention was to greet everyone, her attention was immediately stolen as her gaze landed on Fox. The beta cantered eagerly up to her besty and flopped down onto her belly, perpendicular to her so that when she laid her head down in the snow upon her paws, her nose was only inches away from the side of the alpha's stomach. "Hi birdies!" Fin chirped with a happily wagging tail. She poked at Fox's fur gently and giggled--a ritual meant to be a greeting for both Fox and the little buggers growing within.
After a few moments, Fin remembered suddenly that there were others gathered and that this was probably rather awkward for them (as well as for Fox). Reigning in her self control, she shuffled about to face everyone else. She smiled a bit abashedly as her gaze flickered from wolf to wolf, though her tail never ceased to happily flail about.
While Somnia waited for wolves to come, she greeted all that appeared. First one on the scene was Peregrine. He greeted her before going down to the lake to drink. With a grimace, she noted to herself that he didn't look too good. When he came back up and asked what was up, she stated the obvious, for she didn't want to explain until everyone was there. "Hello Perry, and my Caretaker game."
Next came Elwood. "Welcome Elwood!" Somnia trotted up to him, amiably bumping shoulders. During that, another wolf appeared in her peripheral vision. This wolf Somnia didn't know, but the Caldera's newest member took it upon herself to make it known who she was. She walked over to Prima, stopping right in front of the girl. "Hello Prima. I'm Somnia, nice to meet you. I hope you find the Caldera as pleasurable as the rest of us." It wasn't much of an introduction, but there were others to greet.
"Hey Fitz! It's nice to see you." Somnia took a step in his direction and offered a smile before she got side-tracked. Fox was now here. She didn't look as bad as Peregrine, but the vomit on the side of her face made it obvious. It seemed like today was a bad day for her game. Still, Somnia approached her, as well as Peregrine by her side. "Pleased to see you, Fox." Then, directed at both the Alphas, "You guys don't look too good, you're welcome to sit this one out if you don't feel up to it." It would be a shame, as having Fox and Peregrine participating was the part she was looking forward to most, but their health came first.
Somnia hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should mention the vomit on the side of Fox's face. In the end, she chose to do it. "Fox... You got a little something right... there." She took a step closer, pointing her nose right at the spot. Except, Somnia had her clumsy moments, and now seemed to be one of them. She had somehow ended up closer than she had originally planned, a lot closer. Somnia stood there awkwardly for a moment, her nose in contact with the puke hanging from the corner of Fox's mouth. After a moment, she her delayed reaction kicked in and she jumped back, the vomit deciding to hitchhike on her nose. That resulted in hurriedly wiping it off in the grass.
"Never mind, I took care of it..." Somnia murmured as she took a step back, ready to turn-tail and run off to socialize with someone else. But then Finley appeared, making a grand-entrance bellyflop next to Fox. She froze, watching Finley talk to Fox's stomach. When she was done, Somnia greeted her, deciding to ignore the antic. "Hello, Ms. Beta." She said with a small smirk. It was a reference to their one encounter near Lake Rodney, where Somnia had said she'd call Finley by her title, so that Finley could get used to it faster. She had completely forgotten to do it in their last meetings, but better late than never.
It looked as if no one else was coming. Somnia noted to herself that Ashton wasn't there, but it was time to start whether he was there or not. She made her way into what seemed most like the center of the group. "Okay everyone," she started with a loud bark , "I'll now explain my game. I'm sure you've all seen the filled in holes by now. Some of them have small game pelts, others don't. You see the line of holes over there that aren't filled in? Those represent caches. You'll chose one, and do whatever you see fit to mark it as yours. After that, the game will start. Within the allotted amount of time, you're to use your nose to figure out which holes have pelts and which do not. The pelts represent prey, and when you find one, you'll put it in your 'cache'. Each pelt in your cache equals one point at the end of the game. But, it won't be that simple. I'll be causing havoc while you try to do so. But to make it fair, you get an extra point if you survive my tormenting."
Now, the question was whether she could torment everyone during one game session. If Fox and Peregrine participated, there would be six participants. If not, there would be four. Could she cause that much havoc? Either way, probably not, and she wanted everyone to at least get a taste of her tormenting. That meant it was assistant time. Somnia locked eyes with Elwood. "You guys can choose your hole for a cache and wait for the game to start. But first, Elwood, would you like to be my assistant chaos-creator?"
There was a bit of commotion, from Somnia accidentally touching the crusty vomit that clung to Fox's chin, to Finley greeting Fox's belly. The smallest she-wolf of the group was seemingly the center of attention, and for good reason -- though her pregnancy wasn't outwardly evident yet (save for her apparent nausea), the pack was already anticipating the arrival of her pups.
When Somnia barked to gain the group's focus, Elwood obediently shifted his gaze. He listened carefully as she explained her game -- it sounded a bit complex at first, but he thought he had the gist of it. The players' responsibility was to search for the pelts that she had hidden within the mounds of dirt and snow, and return them to their own "cache" nearby -- empty holes that Elwood hadn't noticed until that moment. He nodded his understanding, and then Somnia upped the ante -- she would be doing her best to make the task difficult for her packmates.
To top it off, she then turned to Elwood and asked him to be her accomplice. Though he wouldn't be participating in the competition, he was more than happy to help his friend and he approached her eagerly. He affectionately bumped her shoulder with his head and said, "I thought you'd never ask!" He then turned to face the rest of the crew, his eyes dancing with excitement as he waited for the antics to begin.
Meanwhile, Finley came flouncing onto the scene, fully embracing her role as excited aunt and godmother. She seemed even more enthusiastic than the expecting parents, though that was due in part to their mutual queasiness. Peregrine smiled indulgently at the upbeat Beta female, trying to ignore the sour aftertaste in his mouth. The Firebirds would never be wanting for love and attention, that was for sure, nor for adventures.
When Somnia addressed the gathered crowd (and thankfully took care of the upchuck on Fox's face), Peregrine's eyes shifted in her direction. He wanted to participate in the Gamma's game, yet he wasn't sure he could. He glanced at Fox to see whether she felt up to playing. Perhaps he would take his cue from her.
If they couldn't, he would happily observe from the sidelines. Perhaps that was even preferable; it would give him the opportunity to really ascertain Somnia's execution of her game. As far as Peregrine was concerned, though, he was already quite impressed with her endeavor. She was the first to finish and it was clear how much time and energy she had dedicated to the project. For this reason and others, the Alpha was already considering her a shoe-in for primary Caretaker.
There it was.
So, Somnia was going to cause havoc was she? With Elwood? He didn't let his feelings show on his face but FitzDutiful was in a very sly mood today. He was going to do this best to outsmart them. While he was trying to think strategy, Peregrine seemed to be letting Fox decide whether they were going to participate. Fitz felt sorry for the two of them - no one had ever told him about his downside of family life. On the upside, at least he would get to see the process first-hand through their experience.
Back to the strategy at hand, FitzDutiful went for a hole less central, more on the outskirts. His strategy was with hope that the more central ones would have more wolves passing over and more chance of disruption. It might prove foolhardy but Fitz was dancing with lady luck today. Peeing to claim it as his own, he awaited further instructions.
As hard as Fox tried to follow, she was still left a little bit clueless by the end of the explanation. They were supposed to pick a hole, and find the furs to put in their own fake caches. Or something like that. Fox was fuzzy on the details, but it seemed simple enough. She wondered if her children would enjoy the game. Fox saw Peregrine's pointed look, and then she pulled the front half of her body up, getting her into a sitting position. She nudged her mate's armpit, letting him know she was in for it.
That meant that it would be her, Peregrine, Prima, and Fitz going for the prize. FitzDutiful chose his "cache" first, and after giving Perry a nudge under his chin, Fox chose her own, near the middle. Maybe, if she didn't think about how nauseated she felt, she could avoid further intestinal distress.
Somnia gave a wag of her tail as Elwood agreed with being her accomplice. Fox was up for it, and followed Fitz's lead with choosing a cache. Once all of the wolves playing chose a hole, she started the game. "Ready..... Set.... GO!" She barked eagerly.
Somnia waited a few moments, letting the game progress a little before causing havoc. The question was who to cause havoc to. Fox was her top priority, as she was the parent that she was demonstrating her Caretaker abilities to. Should she engage in conflict with her, or steal from her cache to cause havoc? Engaging in conflict was the option that stood out. She could always steal from someone else.
She bounded towards Fox, a snarl escaping her, but her tail wagged playfully. "I'm a mountain lion, and I'm attacking you because I have babies in the nearby area!" Trying to fight light a mountain lion and not a wolf, she swung one of her paws at Fox.
One of two things would cause her to stop bugging Fox. If her Alpha moved out of the direct area, Somnia would stop. After all, the scenario she set up was that she was attacking Fox because she was too close. Or, if Fox 'attacked' her, she could act as if Fox defeated her, and then skedaddle to bug someone else.
Although he understood how it was all supposed to work, the Alpha male couldn't help a flare of protectiveness when Somnia struck out at his pregnant mate. Paying no attention to himself or his chosen cache, he stepped closer to Fox. He didn't say or do anything, as he knew his mate wasn't some damsel in distress. He just... loomed, in case she needed him to tell the "mountain lion" to back off.
As his packmates assembled themselves according to her instructions, presumably selecting their caches and then sniffing out a location to start digging, he hung back. He watched for a few moments, then took Somnia's lead when she started to harass Fox. His first target was Finley, and he lingered around her while she worked, stubbornly putting himself directly in her way and snapping at her ears and tail whenever he could.
He soon began alternating between Finley and Prima, darting from one she-wolf back to the other as he heckled them. He didn't offer a scenario to either of them, just attempted to make it as difficult as possible for them to complete their tasks.
The scene continued to transpire and soon Somnia was up and addressing the entire crew that had gathered. Fin paid close attention as she explained the rules of the game she'd invented, but she quickly became lost as... Well, she was Finley, and paying attention for a long time was hard. She assumed that she'd gotten the gist of it, though, so she sort of zoned out while nibbling at a hard clump of snow between her forepaws.
That was, until she suddenly called Elwood up to join her as her assistant chaos-creator and Finley's blood suddenly froze in her veins. Jealousy swept through her, white hot, even stronger than it had when she'd been all hormonal at their Christmas dinner. Fin took a deep breath and urged the feeling to pass - Elwood didn't belong to her, and besides, he and Somnia were just friends, there was nothing going on.... WHY DID SHE PICK HIM THEN no, no, no shush Fin, quiet down you silly bitch...
Before she even realized it, her packmates were up and staking their claims on the holes at the opposite end of the play arena. Fin quickly hopped up and joined them, picking whatever hole was left and then turning just in time to hear Somnia shouting "Go!" and setting them all in action. Fin darted forward with the rest, sniffing at the ground eagerly until she came across what seemed to be a promising pile of upturned dirt. She began to dig, but barely even paid attention as she quickly shot her gaze across the playing field to see where Elwood was and what he was doing.
She didn't have to try all too hard to find him, for suddenly he was above her, harassing her as she dug. Her heart felt lighter as she playfully snapped back at him and hopped around, trying to shove him out of her way with her body. Though he had slowed her technically, Elwood's attention spurred her back into the game, and she dug with greater fervor to finally unearth her first skin, which she ripped the rest of the way out of the ground to carry as quickly as she could back to her hole, triumphantly waving it through the air like a flag as she went.
As he dodged his way to the first cache he noticed Somnia was stalling Fox as a mountain lion and Perry seemed distracted in a lurking capacity. All the better for him. He sprang for the hole and just as he uncovered his first fur, he noticed Elwood distracting Finley. As he dropped his first claim into his hole she had got past him, swinging her catch proud as Elwood put some pressure on Prima.
It seemed as though his strategy had worked. He was already uncovering his second pelt as Finley was dropping hers. Making his way back, quickly, to keep his lead he was careful to remain inconspicuous. He didn't want anyone paying too much attention to him so he could win this game!
Surprisingly enough, the game had taken her mind off of the nausea, and she was enjoying herself. Wolves rushed back and forth to try and fill up their caches, and although Fox was far behind them (currently digging her way toward another empty pile of dirt), she couldn't help but think that this was what Redhawk Caldera was supposed to be. Lighthearted, fun, and familial. It was exactly the kind of environment she wanted to raise her children in.
A territorial mate looming nearby wasn't what Somnia expected to happen when she started to 'harass' Fox. She took a step back reflexively, before remembering that she was supposed to be bugging Fox. With a mock snarl, the fiery female barreled past Somnia, who gave a playful snap in the air well above her receding tail.
With Peregrine nearby it would be easiest to make him her next victim. Except, he didn't look to be in a playful mood. Not wanting to linger around long enough to cause discomfort, she gave Peregrine a mock growl before quickly snapping the air near his side. Once that was over, Somnia quickly scampered away.
She looked around quickly for a new target. Elwood was harassing Finley and Prima, and she already delayed Fox and Peregrine, so that left Fitz. Somnia kept her eye on him, albeit feigning still looking around for a target. She slowly moved in the direction of the caches, trying to act inconspicuous. When she saw that Fitz was occupied with his next hole, Somnia darted to his cache, grabbing the two pelts inside of it before running off in the other direction.
Fox seemed to be doing just fine, though Peregrine realized he wasn't at all playing the game. Rather than jump into things, he decided to move to the sidelines and observe. He practically walked into Somnia's jaws as she pretended to snap at him. He flashed her a quick smile as if to say, That's okay, then quickly moved out of the others' way. It was a good thing he did, too, for he felt his gut begin to rumble.
He had barely reached the edge of the makeshift arena when his hindquarters suddenly dipped and he had explosive diarrhea in front of everyone. When the smell of his own excrement hit him, Peregrine almost threw up in his mouth again. Groaning, he waved for everyone to keep on playing the game, then did his best to begin covering the mess with some of the freshly churned dirt Somnia had thankfully left lying around.
As he buried his scat, Peregrine couldn't help but muse, Am I destined to spoil every pack gathering with my bodily fluids? He laughed, albeit with a grimace, at his own silent joke and then sat back on his haunches to watch the game.
He was distracted only momentarily by Peregrine's bathroom issues on the sidelines, and unknowingly had the same thought as the tummy-troubled leader. Peregrine always makes a statement at these things, he reflected fleetingly, then focused again on Finley. He sat right on top of her cache, so that she couldn't place her prize inside -- though if she tried to knock him over, she probably wouldn't find it to be a very difficult task.
Peregrine momentarily stole his attention and he left a partially dug hole unattended. It was unlikely to hold a pelt now. Moving on he started digging at another, hoping his hole would net him another success. He dug quickly, frantically, keeping an eye on his cache in case he needed to return back. Sometimes it was better to defend what one had instead of trying to populate more.
She skidded to a stop about a yard or so away from him, her eyes widened in surprise. "You ballthy mudder fucker...!" she barked at him through a mouthful of whatever fur it was she had in her mouth, her eyes narrowing. Only seconds passed before her shock was turning into a devious grin. She lowered her head and hunched down, dragging her front paws across the ground like a bull preparing for the charge. Suddenly she sprang forward, fully intent on skull bashing him off of her cache so that she could continue to win the crap out of this game.
Somnia went on to terrorize a few of the others, giving Fox plenty of time to grab a couple more pelts for her own cache. She hadn't been counting how many she had, but she felt she was doing about average (if not a little below). Peregrine had scampered off to somewhere, although Fox was far too focused on the game to notice the interesting sights and smells that he produced. Either that, or he had managed to cover it up quickly enough that it never even got to her.
Fox noted that there was a bit of scampering and shouting this way and that, but she remained focused on the task, grabbing up as many pelts as she could and stuffing them into her makeshift cache.
Somnia was a bit disappointed when Fitz didn't give chase to recover his stolen pelts. It was a good decision on his part, as he could get more than two pelts in the time it would've taken to recover the two. A good chase would just have to wait until another time.
Everyone had been hassled, so Somnia just meandered around the playing field, watching everyone. Her eyes eventually landed on Finley and Elwood. She chuckled a little bit as Finley tried to get Elwood off her cache. After those two settled it, Somnia let out a few sharp barks. "Time's up! Drop what you got, and count what you have in your cache!"
Everyone had been harassed, so it would come down to who got the most pelts.