Redhawk Caldera Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide [m]

Elwood nodded; he already knew that Peregrine and Fox trusted Finley explicitly, but it was nice to know that they felt the same way about him. There had been no hard feelings when they only called Finley to keep an eye on the litter, and if there had been, they would have dissipated as soon as he heard the news. Shifting his weight gently, the grey wolf listened quietly as his friend thought aloud, putting his feelings into words. He apologized for rambling, but Elwood hoped that it was therapeutic; though he didn't have any advice to give -- what was there to be said to a father who had just lost his week-old son? -- he wanted Peregrine to know that he was there for him, just as Finley was there for Fox.

"You're not a bad father," he said after a pause, his yellow eyes briefly meeting Peregrine's green. "It's a shame that you didn't get to know him and that Fox didn't get to name him, but...he was still a firebird, if only for a brief time." He wasn't really sure exactly what to say, but that last comment seemed to be fitting. Derp might not have had a chance to develop a personality, or to even open his eyes and ears, but he had been a firebird -- a member of a family (biological and otherwise) who loved him during his short time on earth.