Redhawk Caldera No matter how much it hurts, no matter how hard it gets, you gotta keep grinding.

Finley watched Towhee slump, defeated by her words. She frowned as the girl ducked her head and shut her eyes. The remainder of her words sat eagerly on the tip of her tongue, but she recognized that there was no point in saying them if Towhee wasn't going to look at her. She was tempted to tilt the Xi's head back up by nudging her chin with her muzzle, but resisted. This was obviously very difficult for the kid and Finley didn't want to make a mistake like she had with Liffey and push too hard.

The question Towhee posed took Fin completely by surprise. A bewildered expression passed noticeably across her face as Towhee spoke. She almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but she resisted and merely shook her head. "Don't you dare go anywhere," Fin replied slowly, emphasaizing each word to make sure her niece didn't miss a single one, "Ever."

She had seen too many of her children disappear to be naive enough to think they would all stay with her forever. She had already accepted that her latest four probably wouldn't, especially not if the pack remained as large as it was. But the kids that came before the last batch of Blackthorns were grandfathered into her old way of thinking, so not one of them was allowed to go. Towhee and Lagan least of all. Except she wasn't allowed to play favorites like that (she totally did).