Redhawk Caldera gather round

A familiar metallic odor drew her to the far outskirts of the rendezvous site. Wildfire stopped next to a smear of dried blood, giving it a cursory sniff. There was no carcass in sight (little did she know she had eaten it for lunch earlier), though there were signs of a struggle. For a good while, the little sleuth inspected the area, trying to figure out what had transpired here. In the course of her investigation, she eventually found the dead badger's den, which was still rife with its scent. Wildfire stepped inside.

Perhaps ten minutes later, the sound of a howl resonated on the air and the pup's red head popped out of the misshapen hole, ears pricked. She wanted to keep exploring the den, yet she also wanted to heed the sound of her mother's voice. Wildfire emerged fully into the evening light, then squatted near the pool of sticky brown blood. She urinated, marking the spot.

As she ran to meet her mother closer to the rendezvous site's heart, Wildfire stopped every so often to squeeze out a few more drops of urine. In this way, she left herself a trail to lead her back to the den. She wanted to show it to Raven and Nightjar. Maybe it could become their fort. Maybe they could even sleep there! Wildfire was breathless with excitement when she finally found her way to the center of the clearing where Fox stood, back-lit by the sunset.

"Mama, hi!" Wildfire said, trotting up to nibble at the Alpha female's chin. "I finded s'fing cool!" Cool was, ironically, one of the fiery child's favorite terms lately.