Hideaway Strath Vapnatak.

*lures a @Wraen in here for storytelling?*

It had taken several days to coax X to come down to the ground so they could talk. Towhee understood the hawk's reluctance and tried to be patient, even while cursing Tegan's name over and over in her head. When X eventually joined her, they conversed in their rudimentary fashion for hours, with Towhee apologizing a lot at first and then the two of them catching up like what they were: two old, lifelong friends.

Today, X's familiar weight settled on Towhee's shoulder as the mercenary patrolled the pass. It made her heart flutter every time she felt the familiar pinch, the brush of X's feathers, the touch of her curved beak. Her heart was still sore for the mother's loss—and, yes, there was part of Towhee's brain still lagging over the fact that X had been female all this time—but, mostly, she was very relieved and very, very happy to be reunited.