Redhawk Caldera giraffes are unable to cough.

It had been three weeks since her son's birth and though Fin could and would happily tell anyone and everyone every single little detail about her perfect little boy and all of his wonderful, lovable shenanigans (which included sleeping a lot and.. end), she quite suddenly one day realized that she would have had absolutely nothing whatsoever to say about herself.


The epiphany had come completely out of no where.  Her mate had just returned from fetching some dinner for his family and as Finley had tucked in, it had occurred to her that she hadn't hunted so much as a mouse since Eljay's birth.  Then she found herself wondering when the last time was that she'd left the den for more than the three minutes it took to relieve herself.

With a kiss to her mate's chin and about thirty or forty to Eljay's face, Finley strode from the den and wandered out again into the world.  She felt like a fawn climbing to its legs for the first time - she literally felt wobbly like her limbs had forgotten how to hold her upright for more than a few minutes at a time.  It became quite obvious that she really needed to ease herself into this...

But, not even having a baby (even the world's most perfect and precious baby) would stop Finley Blackthorn from being Finley Blackthorn.  Shrugging off her concern over the deterioration of her physical prowess from being cooped up at home, being sucked on endlessly for the past few weeks, Fin broke into a sprint, away from her den and out into the wild.  Her body was pissed as hell, but the freedom that suddenly burned within her set a fire in her soul that kepy all other feelings at bay.  She had forgotten about this, had forgotten about what it was not only to be a wolf, but to be her - wild, reckless, and carefree.

After about a half hour, Finley found herself near the center of the Caldera where she slowed.  She gave herself a good shake just before trotting curtly towards the water's edge so she could grab herself a drink.  When she lifted her head, she simply began to wander - her moment of exhilaration had passed, and now she quietly and contentedly refocused her energies on figuring out what to do with this little sliver of freedom she'd grabbed for herself.