Redhawk Caldera Squirrel? Bird? Groundhog? Can I eat it all?

Towhee came up with the nickname. It seemed to Alivia that Towhee was close to her grandson, like Alivia had been close to her own mother. Alivia wondered idly about Killdeer's actual mother (or father), who presumably would have been Towhee's child. Perhaps this mysterious parent would pop up at some point. You couldn't throw a stone without hitting a Redhawk in these parts, it seemed. 

She continued to sift through the cache, but she smiled as Amalia praised her curiosity. Thank the stars that the matriarch considered it to be a positive trait, because it was kind of the cornerstone of Alivia's personality. 

"It sounds like when it finally happened for you, it happened really fast," Alivia said of Amalia's whirlwind romance. "Worth the wait, though. The Redhawks seem pretty great, and their Caldera is kickass." If Amalia had settled down with any of those past crushes (both men AND women??) then she wouldn't have ended up here, after all. 

Alivia nodded knowingly when Amalia shared her feelings about Killdeer's oat-sewing. "It's different for men, I guess." Of course no one bats an eye at a man scratching the itch, but stars forbid a young woman arrive back home pregnant. 

"Where I came from, I had uh, offers.." Some more polite than others. "..But I couldn't carry pups unmarried. We were guests in that pack, and my mom thought it would be, um.." How did Ruenna put it exactly--? "..an improper way to repay them, to give them more mouths to feed." Her mom had needed her, and she couldn't afford to get tied down. 

Alivia watched with approval as Amalia choked down the rabbit. It was a very good thing, that in her eyes a question couldn't be dumb. But could a suggestion be dumb..?

"The groundhog burrow was in the prairie to the east of the Caldera," Alivia began. "We may want to secure some backup." As much as Alivia hated to admit it, they were probably not going to meet with success if Alivia was supposed to be the primary hunter, given that Amalia seemed to be one good gag away from becoming a walking barf cannon.  "It seemed like a pretty big burrow with a lot of ground to cover. There may be a few of 'em living out there, so if we had more hunters we could stock up." You know, just in case the cravings hit again.

A pack hunt could be fun, especially with all the new joiners. Let me know if you want to play it out, and I'll get it set up!