Redhawk Caldera WSS: Prologue

He squinted a bit, as though trying to squeeze the truth out of her, which she then supplied a moment later. His brow relaxed, and he sighed softly when she explained, and though he still frowned a bit, he was glad that it was likely something that could be fixed with a bit of time and rest, like a sprain. He didn't figure he'd need to tell her to go see Fennec, and while it was his natural instinct to express sympathy over her pain, he felt that right now, she probably didn't want to hear it. "Yowch," He said, then. "That reminds me-" He said, lifting up his own paw to show her the claw he'd broken a week earlier. The claw from one of his outer toes had been cracked, and still hung off at an odd angle, having not fallen off yet. "I did this last week. Pretty gnarly, eh?" He said with a chuckle, knowing exactly how well that might go over...But it was kind of nice to have found something to cut through the tension. He set his paw back down, and drew in a breath when Alyx steered the topic back to something much more difficult to talk about. 

"Well," He began, haltingly at first. "Honestly, I would've loved to stay here, and be with you, Prim and Quetzal as you grew up. I was...I never really was sure how to feel about Mom having a new mate, after my Dad died," he admitted, and realized with a pause that he'd probably never spoken of Colt to any of his younger siblings. They hadn't asked- and he hadn't told them anything. It was something Niamh would have told them, but she, like Bronco, could hardly bear to speak of Colt's death. "But I was really excited to have younger siblings. I loved you guys before you were born," He said. Aside, to himself, he came to a quiet realization- he'd started loving his siblings around the same time he'd stopped loving his mother.

"This is...Probably going to...I dunno. And I don't want to change your feelings about her, or anything, but...Mom and I...We really, really don't get along. We had a fight, when you were young, a really bad one. So...As soon as I got the chance to get away from her...I took it." He admitted. "It wasn't favouritism, Alyx. I wasn't choosing Meerkat over you guys, and I hope you believe that. I just had to get away from her. I'm sorry." He murmured. Then he paused. He should be so skeptical, or so critical of his mother, but now that he thought about it, he had to wonder, and had to ask. "Has she...Treated you guys okay?" He ventured tentatively.