Heron Lake Plateau It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone,

Screech had a very limited understanding of how things worked in his family, all things considered. He'd been against their invasion of his land from the start but, having lived with them for a few weeks now, they'd grown on him a little. It was strange when Towhee had stepped down and stranger still when Raven had taken over — well, that was for different reasons but still — everything he thought he understood fit in to a very narrow view of the world. He needed to expand his thinking and become a more accepting individual and get a handle on his temper; these were things he didn't go out of his way to consider as he patrolled the territory, but bits and pieces flit in and out of his head as he wandered lethargically across the plateau.

In other words, he was really fuckin' bored and getting existential about it, which was a bad sign overall. 

It wasn't surprising when he encountered others on his patrols, although for the most part he avoided contact with various facets of the pack; obviously he'd keep away from Raven, and Towhee was usually on her little island these days. Niamh was avoiding him so that wasn't an issue. The rest of them were Blackthorns (and idiot kids to boot). But as he rounded a bend and faced the central lake, he caught sight of a flash of fiery amber that made him do a double-take. The stranger seemed to be hard at work herself — or focused on thoughts like he was. Had he found a kindred spirit?

He called out to her over an expanse of reeds, uh -- hey! and sauntered on over, putting aside whatever reservations he usually held for meeting strangers or interacting with his weird family. Who the hell was this pretty lady? Then again, he wasn't sure what to do next, so......... he just sort of looked at her like a total dipshit.