Redhawk Caldera Boom and bust

Number of characters in this thread so far: 7. Number of said characters played by Kat: 4.

The kids were playing hide-and-seek, Peregrine lazily supervising from the fringes of the rendezvous site, when the call went up in the air. He immediately pushed himself upright and swiveled, half-shouting, "Wildfire!" to nobody in particular. His feet itched to run toward the borders, yet he stilled himself long enough to look around for any or all of the pups. None were in view (they were good at this game), though he hoped they were in earshot when he yelled more loudly, "Hey! Your sister's here! Come with me or you'll miss out!" He took off without another word or a backward glance.

When he neared the borders, he arrived with company: Ferret and Gannet had trailed after him. He grinned over his shoulder at them, asking, "Where's Whip? And the lost boy?" (He'd taken to calling his new charge that over the past day or so.) But he scarcely waited for an answer before facing forward and trotting to close the distance between himself and Wildfire, as well as the wolves already gathered around her. A dubious, inquisitive squint was directed at the stranger lurking off in the background, though after a wary assessment, he focused on his wayward daughter.

"Wifi! I'm so glad to see you," Peregrine said, gently bustling Eljay to one side (but careful not to actually push him aside) so that he could press his muzzle against her cheek, then his chest against her shoulder in a wolfish embrace. "We heard you left Moonspear and weren't sure where you went," he breathed against her closer ear before remembering to pull back and say, "Wifi, these are two of your brothers, Ferret and Gannet. Whip's around here somewhere with Jack: a stray we just took in, actually." He paused for a beat, glancing almost painstakingly at Eljay before gently breaking the last bit of news. "'Fraid we lost Peter during the famine."

Although Wildfire was nothing like Junior—the two were like night and day, really—the swarthy Alpha made a point to stand somewhat in between Wildfire and her little brothers and took a second to exchange a meaningful glance with Elwood that subtly said, Stay alert. Although she was family, she was also an outsider, not to mention her companion in the background. And though it had been over a year since his eldest's treacherous act, he had never forgotten the brutal lesson he'd learned that day. Considering she had been the victim, Peregrine knew she would understand.