Gyrfalcon's Keep can't stop the swag

Mama @Thistle Cloud! :)

Junior woke that morning with a start and yelled, "The festival!" so loud that it echoed off the nearest trees. She leaped to her feet and began racing across the plateau, headed directly to its borders. En route, she raced past her father heading inland from a patrol. Seeing his distraught daughter, he hailed her. Reluctantly, Osprey paused and turned to face him.

"What's up, pup? What's wrong?"

"We forgot about the festival!" Junior shouted, lip quivering.

It only took a second for it to click in his head. "Oh. Shit. I'm sorry, Junior. What can I do?" He canted his head, frowning guiltily.

"I gotta go visit them! Right now!"

"Okay, okay. Hold up. Take a deep breath," Peregrine commanded. "Now... would you like me to go with you?"

Osprey Jr. pondered this a moment, then shook her head. "No. I wanna go there and tell 'em I'm sorry and then spend the day there." She paused, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Can I, dad?"

Noticing the way she called him dad versus daddy, the Alpha felt his heart lurch. "Of course, Junior. Be back by nightfall, okay? Be safe out there, little Outrider."

Tossing her father a crooked, grateful smile, Osprey Jr. spun and galloped to the towpath leading down into neutral territory. She loped along the river and, in her desperation to reach the bay as quickly as possible, cut northwest toward Gyrfalcon's Keep. She quickly scaled the runty peak, then began to pick her way down its opposite face. She could see Stavanger Bay in the distance and it brought a breathless smile to her dark face.