Heron Lake Plateau you're gonna go far, kid

Balls to the walls was right. Towhee had long been a role model for Fiadh, who wanted to be just as fierce and self-assured as her older sister when she was grown. The Alpha never seemed to let anything stop her; what better role model for the Blackthorns? Now that she was older, she thought she'd done a good job of following in Towhee's footsteps, although she didn't want to be ranked that high or anything... maybe Towhee didn't like that? Or maybe Towhee felt threatened by her, or just didn't like having someone take after her, or...

None of those things made sense. Even Clover's suggestion about Screech made no sense, though she smiled encouragingly for her sister. Clover was no different and had a high rank, so Towhee must not begrudge them for trying to be like her. What, then? What had she done that made her so different from Clover that their ranks should be so different? Try as she might, Fiadh couldn't think of anything.

"That's pretty weird," Fiadh remarked, frowning at this news of Towhee being unsure of herself. She had to wonder if going to the Alpha about her low rank had contributed. If it had... well, she still didn't believe she deserved to be ranked so low. She'd done everything possible to prove herself as far as she could tell. The only thing left that she could try was pursuing a trade, and she didn't even know what she liked well enough to do for life. "She did make some bad calls but she's still an awesome Alpha. I just wish she'd tell me what I did wrong so I can do better, but she didn't. That isn't her fault I guess, I should be able to tell what I did but I just can't. Maybe if we chase that ass away things will go back to normal..." Her tail gave a few halting shakes. Could she prove herself by ridding the pack of a toxic wolf hell-bent on destroying them?

She had no proof of that. Fiadh was just making exaggerated guesses, as kids do.

And then Clover's lip came out and she began to mimic Screech's whiny voice and Fiadh burst out laughing. "He sounded even more like a kid than we ever could!" she snorted between guffaws. What a whiner, thought Fiadh without sympathy for the estranged Redhawk. They'd had every reason to be defensive; not their fault his nose was broken or something.