Redhawk Caldera There's not a road I know that leads to anywhere

Just a few days ago, all had been good with the world. All it took was one terrible mistake to bring it all crashing down around his ears. He blamed no one but himself (and Junior). He did not protest his various punishments. In fact, Fox had offered to ease up on him and he had refused. He did his best to focus on the pups and make sure they didn't see even a hint of his inner strife, while working hard to earn redemption.

A moment came when Wildfire was asleep beside a visiting Magpie, and Nightjar and Raven had slunk away, the latter likely due to her new fear of him. Peregrine didn't know what to do with himself, so he left the clearing and made his way down the mountainside. He could hunt, patrol or both. As he descended, he felt so much older all of a sudden. Little did he know that he looked it too; it was as if he had rolled in bleach.

His foot touched the base of the mountain and he decided he didn't feel up to dealing with possible callers at his border. What would he say if someone familiar inevitably showed up? Despite his oath to fortify the borders, he felt a bit fragile for that at the moment. Instead, he stayed close to the territory's interior, scouting around for prey. He was a Master Gamekeeper, after all, and it was the least he could do to bring fresh meat back to his family, particularly the healing Wildfire.

Tiger, although filled in on everything, personally didn't find Peregrine to blame. There had to be a reason he brought in his daughter... perhaps she had pretended to want redemption, or something. Now wasn't the time to ask, or investigate, or probe. So she wouldn't. But it just so happened that her path crossed with that of -- who was that? Was that Peregrine? No... couldn't be... his fur?

"Peregrine...?" she tests from afar, ears flattening atop her own head. If it wasn't him, her character would change plenty. And if there had been news of his dethroning and demotion, it was evident she did not know it (she had traveled to find more herbs), so she was submissive as ever.

In the aftermath of Junior's vicious plot to kill them, the children of the Caldera were discomfited. Wildfire was in recovery, rarely peeking out of the badger den while her wounds closed and her flesh stitched itself back up. Tiger was a constant companion of the young Redleaf-DiSarinno's now. Raven was reclusive, moreso than ever before, and skirted around their father any chance she got. Even the adults were bothered; where Fox was now a firecracker with an almost over-zealous intensity, Peregrine was in the dumps.

Nightjar was different. The incident had not traumatized him or even really affected him at all. Because he hearkened to his instincts far more than his feelings, the boy understood what had happened was out of necessity. He felt nothing for the wolf Peregrine beheaded; two seconds prior to the event, she was a sister, but it was so brief and so unexpected that Nightjar didn't even care that she was dead. At the time, he'd feared for Wildfire, but after that calmed down and his sister was stabilized, Nightjar's life went pretty much back to normal, except for one thing.

Peregrine was now everything Nightjar aspired to be in the future.

It wasn't just because Peregrine was already pretty cool. It definitely wasn't because he'd been demoted to the bottom of the heap, which Nightjar didn't even realize (or care about—ranks meant little to him except in disputes). It was because Peregrine had dispatched his own daughter as a threat, and because he'd done so so easily and brutally. Peregrine had, overnight, become the most badass wolf in the entire Caldera, and Nightjar wanted his Warrior prowess.

So it was that the almost-three-month-old didn't bat an eyelash when he left the rendezvous site and followed Peregrine's scent trail diligently. Nightjar knew he would probably be in trouble for leaving the area, but screw it. His father wasn't there and, frankly, he didn't think his mother, sisters, or godparents were nearly as cool or fierce as him, even though they'd been part of the scuffle as well. When he heard a voice calling his father's name, Nightjar sped up, and stopped when he spotted his newly greyed parent with Tiger nearby.

He found a promising scent trail that led into a small cave at the caldera's foot. It ended at a crevice through which he could not possibly hope to pass, so Peregrine turned around and reemerged into the daylight. He paused, waiting for his eyes to readjust, when a voice caused him to jerk his head. His jade eyes found Tiger. She was looking at him strangely. He returned her stare a moment, then remembered to drop his gaze. Just like that, the rest of him drooped too.

He didn't know what to say, though his son's sudden appearance caused an equally sudden shift in demeanor. He straightened and stiffened so he did not look so downtrodden. Peregrine moved toward Nightjar, opening his mouth to rebuke the boy for following him... but he was twelve weeks old now, so perhaps it was just as well that he was wandering on his own. And with Wildfire down for the count and Raven avoiding him—among other things—he wasn't about to turn away his son.

"NJ, what are you doing here?" he asked, managing the thinnest of smiles simply so Nightjar wouldn't fear punishment. His eyes flicked to Tiger, then back to his boy.

It was him! And as he turned, his disposition and posture changed. With it, Tigers expression, quite visibly twisted into a classic wtf???? expression. Uh, what? "What're you doing!" she hisses, looking now to little NJ approaching them and begging him with her eyes to stop this game. Your kid'll see! At the least he built himself up some, and that made her happier.

"Cool fur," she comments then, keeping it light. "Different." Peregrine speaks to his son, now, and Tiger looks at him. Of course he'd want to be around his dad, Tiger imagined, particularly after all the events that had unfolded.

Even though he was surely disobeying the rules by being here, aside from Peregrine's question, neither of the adults scolded him for his solo adventuring. Nightjar took that to mean he was perfectly allowed to do this whenever he wanted to. "Daddy!" he exclaimed, padding right up to Peregrine and staring up at him. Sure, something weird was going on with the (former) Alpha's fur, but Nightjar could never mistake his father even if he paled fifty shades. He glanced to Tiger then and nodded vigorously, agreeing with her comment on Peregrine's new white accessories, but his attention soon went back to his newest idol.

"Can you teach me to do wha' you did?" he asked, eyes brimming with a plea and admiration. Maybe admiration for murder wasn't something that either of his parents would want to see in him, but Nightjar had thought fighting was the coolest thing in the world from the day he could leave the den on his own, so it wasn't really surprising that he thought Peregrine killing someone was the coolest thing ever. Besides, he was sort of a wolf and killing was sort of normal, so it wasn't that weird. As if to confirm that Peregrine was super cool, Nightjar abruptly turned to Tiger and asked, "he was the cooles', right?"

Tiger seemed alarmed about something, though Peregrine didn't have time to guess why. Nightjar came closer and he welcomed his son's nearness with a wide sweep of his tail. While Tiger remarked on his changed appearance, his son's exclamation teased the ghost of a smile onto his suddenly grayed muzzle. Two of his three children appeared unaffected by what they had witnessed, which was good. Now he only needed to convince Raven that he would never, ever hurt her...

The boy's sudden declaration took him by surprise, causing the former Alpha's mouth to twist into a frown of consternation. Something about this scenario and his son's fascination with the dead Junior gave him a very morbid case of déjà vu. It brought him back to the day when he had discovered Pura gnawing on his dead loved ones' bones. Well, they hadn't been Junior's, after all, but at the time, he hadn't known that yet.

Suppressing a shudder, Peregrine decided to turn this macabre fascination into something good for the youngster's development. "It is never a happy thing, killing our kind, but it must be done sometimes to protect our family and pack. I only killed Junior because she threatened Wildfire. It has always been my way to eliminate threats. If you want to follow in my footsteps, NJ, I'd love to teach you to be a Warden. Is that what you want?" he asked, tentatively reaching out to touch his son's muzzle with his own.

Tiger knew nothing of Peregrine's other sons fascination with macabre things. All she saw was a little boy who idolized his dad. Tiger was a ball of damn mush at this point, her eyes wide and full of blatant adoration, and when he addressed her, Tiger nodded vehemently. "Yeah! Best dad ever award. Your dad, big, strong, protector of the Caldera. What a lucky kid you are, to have a dad like that," Tiger turns and ogles Peregrine as Nightjar had, perceiving him in a similar light. 

But the father offered solemn, sound advice; of the necessity of killing to protect. Her head turned toward Nightjar, as his father mentioned Warden. "I bet you'd make a good one," she offers NJ, and she meant it. His spirit toward the incident alone lent her that thought. 

It wasn't really the death of Junior that fascinated Nightjar—he was a little dim-witted, but leagues away from being as fucked up as Pura, whom he would probably never meet—but the swift and precise way it was dealt. His parents had both handled it with such deadly accuracy that it was almost unbelievable, but it was Peregrine that stood out in Nightjar's eyes. Maybe it was because his father was similarly male or because he had dealt the final blow, but his dad was definitely cooler than his mom when it came to killing half-sisters.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed loudly. All of his play fights throughout his life were shaping him up to be a fine Warrior, but Warden was almost the same thing. More likely than not, Nightjar would hold both trades... and probably nothing else. He wasn't exactly smart enough for finer pursuits and nothing else interested him yet. "I wanna beat bad guys up!" He nodded excitedly, then quickly asked Tiger, "do you beat bad guys up, too?"

NJ makes my day.

His son's next declaration made Peregrine's eyes flicker. Yes, he could definitely hone this interest into something healthy, for both the young cub and the pack. Beating up bad guys was a fine endeavor, after all. Peregrine would be happy for Nightjar to follow in his footsteps in that manner. He would bypass the softer variations on the theme of guardianship and head directly into zero tolerance territory, which was how he had always dealt with unwanted guests in the past. In a way, it was good to return to his roots. He just would have preferred a different path than the one that had led him here.

"We'll beat up all the bad guys," the father promised in a low, proud tone, then licked his lips and glanced in Tiger's direction. He hadn't exactly been inclusive of her, despite her positive comments, but he favored her now with a quick, tight-lipped smile as he waited to hear what she would say to Nightjar.

I'll let this be a faja/son thread

Tiger looked at the two. It was clear Peregrine had all eyes for his son, which she understood, kind of. She didn't have kids. So everyone else was sort of her life. She lived through others. She would leave the pair be, sure he needed some time with his kids. But first, "Heck yeah, I do, but not as well as your old man does!" She takes a few steps back. "I'll let you guys be. I bet your dad has some secret moves to show you." Her eyes grow bigger, and she grins. Tiger nods to the pair. "Alright, see yous." And then she departs.

Since we have another, I'm going to conclude this for us, @Nightjar. :)

Although Tiger was more than welcome to stick around, she sensed that the father and son needed some time alone, so she excused herself. "See you around," Peregrine called softly after her, his eyes tracking her movements until she moved out of view. They then flicked back to the eager Nightjar and a soft smile lifted his lips.

"What do you think of beating up some small animals for your sister to eat?" the Gamekeeper wondered aloud, then motioned for his son to join him. "I'll teach you everything I know about dealing with bad guys. But let's practice on some innocent bunnies first, eh?" He bent down, his breath ruffling the untidy fur on the boy's head, before standing up straight and leading the pup away in the direction of a nearby warren.