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

Towhee wilted. It wasn't immediately discernable to Finley if it was done under the influence of disappointment or relief, but the answer to that question became clear soon enough. Fin didn't want to treat her like a kid in this conversation, but in the end, she couldn't resist scooting closer and wrapping her goddaughter in a wolfish embrace just after the girl gave her a trembling smile and a sign of acceptance.

Fin held her for a few moments before shifting away to make sure Towhee could see her before she spoke. -You're deaf,- Finley signed, bluntly, but she's totally going somewhere with it, -And that is a limitation that is difficult in a wolf pack. You have a harder time hunting. We have a harder time communicating with you - we can't give you commands during a hunt, we have to be careful during discussions to make sure you don't miss anything, we can't call you to us during a crisis. But, no one is perfect. We all have limitations. I, for example, am not great at conflict resolution. I mostly just make things worse, if I didn't cause the conflict in the first place. I also don't know anything whatsoever about nature - every time it rains, I'm taken by surprise. And even though I was a scout for a while, I really didn't have a good sense of direction. Honestly, I just liked to run around and get in trouble, and your dad was nice enough to call it 'scouting'.-

She paused briefly before concluding her speech, -The point is, no one is good at everything. Everyone has things they're bad at, but everyone has qualities that redeem them. You want to know why it doesn't matter really that we can't call you during a crisis? Because you'll already be on the front lines, calling us to come to you. It doesn't matter that we can't hunt with you, because while we hunt, you're guarding the borders, making sure no one sneaks up on us while we're distracted. Having flaws makes you normal. Being awesome at other things makes you... awesome. And we need awesome wolves in this pack, so once again I say... You are staying right here with us. For eternity.-