Redhawk Caldera Vessel

Ponyboy cringed as the tiger leapt toward him, only to hear a jarring, crackling noise and the sound of bodies hitting the stone floor. When he looked up, he was no longer alone with the tiger, but a wolf had come in as well, knocking it aside. A wolf with tawny fur, a dorsal stripe- kind, golden eyes but-

His breath caught. 

It couldn't be. 

His Dad had tattered ears, and so many scars and clawmarks on his face...His Dad had a bit of a limp, and coarse, shaggy fur. His Dad had looked thin, frail- and in his worst memories, his eyes had been sunken and lost their glimmer. It was the only way he had been able to remember his Dad looking when he went through his memories- and it was why it hurt so much to think about him at all. 

The man stepped between him and the tiger, and he caught a glimpse of the man's eye, long enough to see the affection it held. 

And it was just the drop of recognition that his memory needed to get a good kickstart. 

He remembered seeing his father- incredibly fuzzy at first, but he smelled of fresh air and cedar and lightly of fish too. The image sharpened as he traced his way through later memories- to see a man with a face covered in scars, but so full of mirth and happiness, too. He saw a broad grin, he heard his father's buoyant laugh, and heard the dulcet tones he used when he spoke to Mom. He remembered the little squeeze he'd be given whenever he offered an apology, and the rumbling sound his Dad made when he was beat at a game of Bobstones. 

Healed and whole, this man was 

"Dad?" 

He barely whispered it. An ear flicked back, but the man didn't tear his gaze away from the tiger, and the next minute, it leapt. 

"Dad, NO!"