Heron Lake Plateau i'm not just pieces of meat between pieces of bread.

The boys being cared for by Lucca gave Eljay some time on his own too. It was weird, but he didn't always like being part of such a large family; he'd loved when he actually felt useful, but the next generations were all very capable too and it often left him feeling out of place. It was much the same feeling that had made him leave Redhawk Caldera in the first place -- feeling useless and as if he may as well not be there -- but Eljay wasn't too sure what to do about it. He mentally noted to himself that he should seek out Raven, still, as they hadn't really talked since he had returned. The move hadn't helped, and now she was an Alpha; casting both a boundary of hierarchy between them and making him feel like she was always too busy for him to demand some of her time, anyway.

This territory wasn't Eljay's favourite place. As a matter of fact, he hated it. It pretended to be home but it very clearly wasn't. He just wanted to move back to Redhawk Caldera, for it was their home, not this... place. Eljay was out moping about while searching for suitable places for the pups' rendezvous site when he saw mommy in the distance. "Oh," he murmured under his breath when he saw her leg sink into the grime and Eljay trotted her way with a hasty pace. He just wanted to make sure she wasn't stuck, or anything. Just as he almost reached mommy Eljay felt his legs sink into the same muck he was on his way to save mommy from, and with a sucking sound his legs were slurped pretty tightly into the mud up to his knee joint. Oops.