Redhawk Caldera Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little hell to raise.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was tough on all of them," Towhee agreed with a thoughtful stitch to her brow. "And Raven was in time to save the rest of us. There were four of us left: Titmouse, Orca, Phox and me." She paused, wetting her lips with her tongue and peering absently at the rainy world beyond their meager shelter. "Tit left a while ago. He disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to him. I was really mad at first. I thought he decided to run away. He was always a bit of a butthead." She smirked.

Her expression slowly fell slack then. "But maybe he was taken. I don't know. One of Elwood's and Finley's previous pups was kidnapped last year. So maybe..." She trailed off, just barely suppressing a small shudder that passed through her. Her tale had taken a dark turn, full of dead and disappeared puppies.

That brought her thoughts full circle, as she remembered what had been plaguing her mind before Sebastian's arrival: she had been musing about leaving, specifically taking leave of her brother. Towhee's throat immediately clenched and she found she was done telling stories. She wanted—needed—to be alone with her thoughts, even if she had appreciated the momentary distraction.

"Hey, I have to go—patrol," Towhee said a bit perfunctorily. "See you around." Without another word and without waiting for a reaction, the guardian ducked out from the tree and disappeared into the rain.