Redhawk Caldera The hanging tree

Some of the quotes in this post are from a comic by Mr. Lovenstein.

Peregrine felt he was doing a halfway decent job at keeping busy and doing everything he could to keep the caldera thriving. Occasionally, he found himself sinking into a funk. When that happened during today's early patrol, he thought, Think of something that makes you happy! Naturally, he pictured his mate with a dozen pups suckling at her belly. His lips curved. Then an idea struck him. Rather than just focus on this one snapshot of their future, he would role play!

"What's that? You want to go hunting with daddy? Well! None of your older siblings really seemed that interested in being a hunter, so I really appreciate your interest, kiddo. What should we hunt, huh?" Peregrine paused, waiting for his invisible pup's answer. "Squirrel! That'll be a fun challenge. Come on, then!"

The Alpha male kicked up his heels and began loping toward a nearby grove of trees, one of the ones where he kept a stockpile as a matter of fact. He often spotted squirrels here, though he had yet to attempt hunting any. Perhaps because of this, they did not hide when Peregrine appeared. The two that he spotted did scurry higher into the trees but made no attempt to conceal themselves. One chattered at him noisily and the other sat up in the crook of a branch and turned an acorn over and over in its tiny paws.

"Here we have the humble squirrel, firebird," Peregrine said in his best David Attenborough impression. His dusky jade eyes fixed on the calmer of the two bushy-tailed rodents. "It lives in trees while eating the tree's babies." He paused. "Look at that sick fuck."