Bramblepoint Will it ever stop

Life was simple at the moment, if not easy. Especially now that Killdeer and Amalia had come to stay, Towhee took it upon herself to patrol the caldera at least daily, twice if she could manage it. In her spare time, she gathered what herbs and other supplies she could for her granddaughter-in-law, then added her sparse catches to the few stockpiles. She slumped into the Hobbit Hole each and every night, a little achy but content as she drifted to sleep with her grandson’s smell in her nose.

The day dawned gray and drizzly, though this didn’t deter the elder Redhawk from her morning circuit. It began and ended on the northern edge of the territory. When she finished, she gazed into the nearby woods and thought of Fennec for a moment. Towhee hoped she might turn up someday soon to see what they were doing with the place… well, see in the ways her blind daughter could.

She pivoted, preparing to scale the nearby slope, when the wet breeze wafted a familiar scent into her nose. Towhee paused, trying to remember the last time she’d seen Rodyn. She supposed it had been at the end of summer, when she’d been struggling to produce enough milk for Bushtit. She could barely remember those days of duress now, though she probably owed Rodyn some gratitude. Regardless, she would like to see him.

Pushing through the underbrush, she followed her nose to a small clearing, the light rain clearing up as she spotted Rodyn among the brambles. Even after all this time, her heart skipped a beat when she saw him… then sank a little as she studied him. He looked rather downtrodden, though maybe he was just under the weather. Towhee glanced at the ugly sky, then settled her orange eyes on him as she strode forward.

Hey, you.