Redhawk Caldera Circle of life

I'm basing the description off this image, though instead of mountains, it's overlooking Lake Rodney. I hope that makes geological sense.

He rose with the sun, his shadow filling the doorway of the den. Peregrine stood in its mouth for a moment, savoring this last morning here, then turned to face his family still snoozing behind him. "Time to get up," he said softly, his deep timbre filling the small lair. Had it seemed this small eight weeks ago, when Fox had birthed the puppies in here? Or did it just seem that way because they'd grown so much since that day? "Today's the day," he added a bit louder.

As usual, it took some coaxing to get the puppies to rouse. Peregrine left his mate in charge of that just long enough to fetch the leg of an elk killed over the weekend. This would be their final meal here at the pups' birthplace, not to mention one of their first without a milk supplement now that they were fully weaned. Then, rested and fed, the family would say goodbye to this den forever and move on and up to bigger, better things.

They lingered longer than usual after breakfast, the Alpha pair perhaps slightly reluctant to close this chapter of theirs and their pups' lives. But eventually, Peregrine said, "Okay, troops, let's get a move on!" He hiked a black foreleg in the air, pointing, then abruptly took off at a canter. The sounds of giggles, indignant cries and little feet smacking the earth told him that @Nightjar, @Wildfire, @Raven (and @Fox, too, of course) were in tow.

They arrived perhaps half an hour later, emerging at the edge of a sprawling clearing that sloped slightly downhill from where they stood and featured rolling hillocks beyond. In the distance yonder lay a majestic view of Lake Rodney. The site was protected by evergreen copses on nearly all sides, thick in some places and thin, almost sparse, in others. It was enormous compared to their previous home and would be the perfect place for the pups to stretch their legs and continue growing.

"So, what do you think?" Peregrine asked his collective family, turning to gauge their first impressions of their new digs.