Redhawk Caldera Leave your name, number and nightmare at the tone.

Nothing was going right. Nothing was working.

Finley had kept them within the main cavern, hiding in the dark as the hours, days, passed. She wanted to flee, but the only sure exit was blocked. She wanted to stay still and stay safe, but the food wouldn't last much longer. She wanted to scratch and tear and smash and break her way out the front door, even it if it killed her. But the snow and the ice simply would not budge. Unless Spring came upon them in the next few days, there was no hope of getting out the way they had come in.

Not that Finley had accepted that fact yet. But, soon enough.

The alpha listened to her goddaughter's footsteps as they moved away from the main puppy bundle. A recent deposit of pre-chewed meat onto the floor for the pups to share had left a lining of foam on her lips, which she licked up now as she listened to them all squirming about. She kept Towhee on her radar, but still her mind cursed for about the 457th time the fact that this had happened during the ONE TIME Raven had left the cave for an extended length. That was some shit.  This was all shit. They had come so far and endured so much... Was this really necessary?

She heard Towhee's movements cease and frowned as the sound of little growls took residence instead. She blinked into the dark in concerned bewilderment. What was there to be angry with trapped inside of the cave withthem? Finley reached to nose each of her charges who were making tentative nibbles at the regurgitated meat. Had Towhee been less of a distraction, she might have realized that she'd bumped the same pup twice and so was actually missing one more. But no, Finley was unaware as she stood and walked towards the little black and orange pup, chuffing gently.

Her muzzle bumped Towhee's rump first. She ran her nose along the pup's back until she reached the base of her neck, planting a few soothing kisses there before exploring further. There was a scent that tickled her nostrils that her mind would not accept. Her nose knew. Her senses knew. Her heart was likely perfectly aware as well, but it wasn't until she bumped against the cold, still body of her little Mumble that her brain began to translate from what every other piece of her was saying.

Oriole was dead.

Finley moaned in the darkness as the terrible, crushing realization began to engulf her.