Redhawk Caldera On into the gold river

Jan. 23: I'm going to conclude and archive this. :)

It further piqued her interest when Shrike referred to the caldera as "home," implying he wasn't just an old friend but that he'd lived here once before. Towhee spent about two seconds marveling at how often this seemed to happen (prodigal sons and daughters coming out of the woodwork) before her gaze shifted to Elwood to catch what he said. Her uncle welcomed them with open arms, though he did toss in a disclaimer about the war. Towhee's attention once more shifted back to the pair, speculative now. Allure spoke up first, mouth close to Shrike's ear. A hearing wolf probably wouldn't have made out her words, though Towhee read her lips with relative ease.

"You lived here previously?" the Gamma butted in. "And your name—" Her voice cut off when she abruptly remembered something. Turning to Elwood now, she said, "Redleaf? Wasn't that dad's last name, before they changed it to Redhawk?" And facing the pair once more, Towhee added, "You're relatives of Peregrine's?" She was rather used to blood relatives popping up here, yet they were usually from her own generation. She felt no differently toward these two than any other outsiders, though she wondered if they might be two more treasure troves of information about her father, not to mention that entire branch of the family tree.

Although Towhee thought she saw an unhappy look on Allure's face at the mention of Peregrine, Shrike obliged her by answering her questions. At some point, as they became engrossed in a conversation about the infamous Redhawk monarchs of yore, it became a foregone conclusion that Shrike and Allure would be staying despite the threat of war. Towhee made them (Shrike in particular) promise to tell her more stories sometime later, then left them in Elwood's care as she excused herself to start her delayed patrol.