Broken Antler Fen Go ahead, make my day

@Kerosene :)

Wildfire accompanied her father on a mid-morning patrol of the southwestern borders, then the two began heading home for lunch. En route, someone howled for Peregrine and he motioned for her to go ahead. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised before pivoting and heading back down the caldera's slopes. Her yellow eyes followed him until he disappeared, then the pup faced forward and began making the solo march home.

But something disrupted her upward journey too. A rabbit suddenly darted from a crevice and began tumbling downhill. Although no Gamekeeper, Wildfire reacted out of pure instinct. She gave chase, running precariously after the fleeing hare. She tripped toward the bottom of the decline and rolled to a stop with a grunt. Wildfire jumped to her feet and continued pursuing the hare along the shore of Lake Rodney.

Eventually, it pulled too far ahead and disappeared. Wildfire rolled to a stop, panting heavily. She started when she realized how far she was beyond her home's borders. Heart hammering anxiously in her chest, she swiveled and began loping back toward the caldera. But she slowed down after only a few yards, wincing at a severe stitch in her side.

Thanks for starting!

He'd not realized there was a pack to the southeast of them. His brief encounter with the Caldera alpha had proven otherwise and, of course, that meant Kerosene had the uncanny desire to stalk them from a distance. A good distance. He'd just come back from dropping of a delinquent back into the hands of their pack. He was not about to make himself a hypocrite by committing the same crimes, but that didn't mean he couldn't linger along the outside and look inwards from afar.

Unfortunately, the area he'd ended up in was somewhat wooded and spoiled the view. He lingered in the tree line, just before it broke out into a meadow and observed. From this distance, there was little to be seen, but eyeballing the territory across the horizon was enough for him. The pack had chosen their lands well. Good for them.

He rose to leave. There were lands further in either direction from here and he wished to peer into the void before meeting up with Tonravik and making their final return home. A figure in the distance, however, distracted him and his eyes locked onto a fiery form. Was that? Was that a fox?

Distracted now, he lowered his form and kept watch on the creature as it chased a rabbit. Forget the rabbit. If he could catch the fox it might make for a nice den lining when he and Tonravik finally got around to figuring that out. He stalked forward, watching as the thing turned to run again and stopped. There. He bolted, sprinting out after smaller canine.

Then realized exactly what it was.

He pulled back, sharply skidding to a halt. Puppy. Not a fox. And there was no way, no how he was going to mess with another pack's young. Not when he had his own on the way. Thinking quickly, he switched mindsets and remembered why he'd darted out in the first place. "You okay there, missy?" he asked. She'd stopped suddenly in her running and seemed almost in pain. He had some experience in healing. It seemed only natural to ask.

Oblivious to the threat behind her, Wildfire took rapid, shallow breaths in an attempt to alleviate the pain in her flank. She only cottoned on to the other wolf's presence when pounding footfalls approached swiftly to the rear. Barely swallowing a surprised yelp, the puppy spun. Her eyes went wide as a strange wolf skidded to a halt a few yards from her. His fur reminded her of her mother's (and her own), yet he was not a member of her family, nor of her pack. The pup instinctively hunched, keeping her muzzle low to protect her throat. Her gaze dropped and her ears pinned backward to demonstrate that she was no threat, though that was probably rather obvious, given her age and size.

"I'm okay," she whispered, still catching her breath. She felt incredibly uneasy, afraid even, but her Warrior and Outrider training of late gave her otherwise diffident spirit some conviction. "I... was hunting. I didn't catch it," the pup admitted a bit haltingly. "Who are you?" she then asked, amber eyes squinting slightly. He seemed harmless enough but Wildfire had been trained not to trust outsiders or appearances alone, especially those close to the borders. Her red fur prickled apprehensively. If he attacked, she would fight for her life, but both of them knew she wouldn't have a prayer out here.

Whoops. Too big. Too scary. He took a few paces backwards, allowing this pup more room to breathe as he lowered himself to the ground and lay on his belly. Hind paws were still tucked beneath him, leaving room for an easy escape if any adult entered into the area, but at least on the ground he was far less intimidating of a wolf than he was on all fours.

Ears turned forward, he listened as she explained. A failed hunt? "Better luck next time then," he mused, wishing her good fortune in her future endeavors. "Those things are pretty fast." From a distance, she'd looked like a full grown fox going after it. She'd done well. No doubt she'd be a master hunter if she chose to pursue something of that nature.

As for him? "Kero. Just out for an afternoon stroll," he affirmed, answering her question. She seemed skeptical of him as a stranger and so he elaborated. "Exploring. Out and about. Seeing what's out here." He shrugged where he sat and looked to her. "What about you, missy? Got a name?"

Likely in response to the pup's agitated demeanor, the stranger made a pointed effort to appear less threatening. The tension did not leave Wildfire's body, nor did she fully trust his display. She did feel slightly relieved, however. His pleasant voice and amenable words didn't hurt matters, either.

With a final, long exhale, the youngster felt like she had caught her wind. The stitch had eased too. That was good, as it meant she might be able to run away if necessary. It also meant she could talk. "I'm..." She heard Fox's voice in her head: "Don't tell him our names or where we are from." "Dhole." Wildfire secretly felt proud of her quick thinking.

Despite her mother's lesson not to freely offer personal information, the pup thought it pertinent to add, "My mom and dad are the Alphas." She didn't name the pack, for the moment. She just hoped that mentioning their ranks might give him pause, if he was just trying to lure her into a false sense of security with the intent to attack. "You are kind of close to our pack." Even more reason to avoid messing with her.

That long exhale... Seemed as though this pup were a little more on guard and cautious that what he remembered. Then again, he was a total stranger so it was to be somewhat expected. All the same, he caught her hesitance as she offered up a name. Dhole. He grinned. "Nice to meet you, Miss Dhole."

His tail curled about his haunches as he raised himself back up to sit. Parent's were the Alpha's eh? "Ahh. Does that make you a princess?" he asked. Seemed he'd met one of them not too long ago. Seemed like an amicable fellow so long as his home and family remained safe. Considering Kerosene shared that sentiment, he wasn't too terribly worried. He wasn't going to go out of his way to do something he wouldn't want done to him in return.

However, she did seem awfully concerned that he was a little too close to her home. "Kind of, but not that close," he assured her. "I was just exploring and now that you appear to be alright, I can be on my way now." He paused for a moment and then glanced down at her. "Are you, actually, alright?"

The caldera's Alpha pair only referred to their children as princes and princesses rarely, mostly only as a joke. But the word princess triggered something in Wildfire's mind. "No," she replied unthinkingly, "but I'm an apprentice. A Naturalist and Warrior apprentice," she told Kero, putting a subtle emphasis on one word in particular. "And an Outrider apprentice, soon," she added.

Despite her hints (or perhaps because of them...), he seemed less like a threat with each passing moment. Wildfire wasn't dumb enough to let down her guard entirely, yet she relaxed somewhat with another low exhale. He explained that he was just out for a stroll and that he would be on his way. The word exploring piqued her interest, prompting the pup to look around herself for the first time. But before she could react, he asked her again if she was all right.

She bobbed her head. "Does this place have a name?" The words just popped out of her mouth as she scanned her surroundings a second time before her amber eyes returned to Kero.

Apparently he was terrible with kids. There was a part of him that knew this already, but since his own were on the way, he figured he might as well try. This one was a sharp pup, somewhat moody, and seemed as though she needed to warm up a bit in order to lighten up a bit. Stranger danger and all. Considering his own flippant outlook towards strangers, it was easy to forget not everyone took so kindly to a new face.

Oh. And this one had a very serious determined side. Naturalist and a Warrior. He'd best watch out for this one. Grinning, he parted his lips to comment when she added that tidbit about working towards becoming an outrider. But not yet. Soon. "Well why not right now?" he asked. "I do a little outriding. What do you want to know?" Better answering those questions than letting her little warrior side show. He wasn't particularly in the mood for ankle biting.

At the very least, she assured him she was okay and switched her focus to something else. He switched mindsets with her and glanced around. Did this area have a name? "I have no idea. The trees don't often speak of those things." He was still new to these wilds. He crossed lands, but their names were a secret to him. He knew them by what they were, not by what the wolves in these parts agreed to call them.

"Most of the time, wolves won't know. Someone who lives nearby? They might have a name for a place, but unless it's shared there's no real knowing. Directions and descriptions? Those are always more true." He quieted for a moment, thoughtful, before he continued. "Are you familiar with the cardinal directions? North and south? East and west?"

She didn't know quite to make of his question. She couldn't earn her stripes with the snap of a finger (or the wolfish equivalent of such). She still had quite a lot to learn before Wildfire could consider herself a formal Outrider apprentice. She was just as stumped by his second question. The youngster knew a few things about the trade but it was less about knowledge than it was about experience.

Dimly, she was aware that she was having just such an experience right now. She was both an ambassador (representing the caldera to Kero, even if she hadn't given the pack's name) and an explorer (having incidentally left the territory). She would have to reflect on these things, later. Right now, Wildfire focused on the present moment and the wolf standing before her.

He explained that he didn't know the area's name, if it had one. "Does that mean we can name it?" she wondered aloud, then paused and shook her head. "No. What does a cardinal have to do with directions?" she asked, curious despite her wariness. Then Kero mentioned north, south, east and west and she admitted, "I've heard those words before. But I dunno what they mean, exactly."

She was quick, this one, in asking if they could name the area. He lifted his head, glancing around at the surrounding terrain for a moment before replying. "Sure. What would you like to call it? Is there anything here this place reminds you of? Something someone else might notice about this place and be able to recognize it for too?" Simple names were always best. Something that went with the nature of the land. Something common between wolves so they might appropriately communicate the land with one another.

He laughed, the soft sound escaping his muzzle as she continued. "It's not cardinal like the bird. More like... cardinal like chief or principle or most important." The name was a touch confusing, but just like the names of places, so long as multiple individuals agreed on the meaning of the words, the name held true.

"Four directions. North, south, east, and west," he repeated, setting up the framework for the rest of his spiel. "The sun rises in the east," he said, turning his nose and lifting a paw in that direction, "and sets in the west." He lifted his nose in an arch only to let it fall in the direction of the west where the sun fell in the evening. "So then you have North and South between both of those. Never eat soggy worms. North," he pointed in the direction of each in turn, "east, south and west. In that order."

He glanced at the young wolf and searched her expression to see whether or not she was following. "It's good to know directions when you travel. That way you can tell someone what direction something is in relation to wherever you happen to be." Big words... Hmm... "What direction would you say your home is from here? My home is to the north, but west of here. So. Northwest."

She did not have an immediate answer to his question. She had barely looked around the place. Wildfire stored that idea in a filing cabinet in the back of her mind, to be rifled through later. For now, she listened carefully as Kero began to explain these cardinal directions of his. She would be lying if she said she comprehended right away. Even after a lengthy explanation and a demonstration, Wildfire wasn't quite following. The concept was a bit abstract for her young mind, though she did her best to digest it all.

"What do soggy worms have to do with it?" she couldn't help but ask in response to the non sequitur, the acronym whooshing right over her head. "I don't know," she admitted after a brief pause, then glanced over her shoulder. She peered at the caldera, then looked back at him, paused a few seconds longer, then decided to tell him, "I'm from Redhawk Caldera back there," in the hopes that he could tell her the direction. This was a difficult subject, yet Wildfire badly wanted to understand it. It seemed extremely important knowledge for someone aspiring to be a traveler.

Ahh. Right. Too much too fast. "Worms are gross, especially wet ones. Never eat soggy worms." Valuable life lesson right there. "It also helps me remember the order of the directions. Never, north. Eat, east. Soggy, south. Worms, west." Truth be told, he didn't need to remember that mnemonic anymore, but it was the way it had been taught to him so he tried relaying the information to her. Tried. He clearly wasn't a caretaker for a reason, but fortunately his patience held strong.

"Which direction does the sun rise in again? Do you remember?" He ignored her question as he backed up a little bit and explored the more basic of information. She seemed sharp. With a little help, she could figure it out for herself and have this direction thing figured out in no time. "Where did the sun rise this morning? Can you point in that direction?"

When he said the words back to back like that, the assonance stood out and it clicked in her head. "Oh!" She nodded, then scrunched her smudged nose and actually smiled slightly. What a strange way to remember it! Then again, Wildfire had to admit it would definitely stick in her head forevermore.

Kero tested her comprehension by posing another question. "Um, east?" she guessed, thinking back on what he'd said just moments ago. As for his second question, she stared at him a bit blankly with another, "Um..." She glanced over her little red shoulder again, trying to remember anything about the sunrise today or any other day, for that matter.

Turning to face him, Wildfire thought out loud. "The rendezvous site's kinda shady in the morning," she said slowly. She felt the cogs in her mind grinding away, as she began to grasp the concept. "But in the evening," she continued, speaking faster now, "we can see the sunset over Lake Rodney." As she mentioned the lake by name, she turned to glance at it. It lined up nearly perfectly with the caldera from here.

Wildfire remembered a time when she had struggled to take a poop. Her mother had called it consternation or something like that. Well, she felt the same way right now, only mentally. Her brow furrowed as she tried to connect the dots, though she couldn't quite manage it. Her yellow eyes ended up lingering a bit helplessly (but thirstily—for knowledge, that is) upon Kero's face.

It seemed to click. Her face lit up as the pieces of the puzzle fell together and she correctly remembered what direction the sun rose in. "East. That's right." He nodded and listened as the cogs began to turn within her head. She was picking up the concept pretty quickly, which was good. She'd make an excellent outrider in her time, but first. The basics.

"And what direction is Lake Rodney from your home if the sun sets in the...?" he waited for her to fill in the blank. With a look like that on her face? She was definitely thinking hard. Perhaps a bit too hard, but as long as she was learning and seemed more content to hang out as opposed to her earlier defensiveness, he wasn't going to comment on it. She had this. She just needed a little bit of prompting to help connect those dots.

Her tail gave a single wag when he affirmed her answer, then fell still again when he pushed her to fill in another blank. Wildfire licked her lips, then said, "West," a bit more confidently than she had said its counterpart's name, east. "The sun sets in the west and rises in the east. Right?" She had that part down pat now.

"What about the moon?" she queried next, her inner Naturalist showing. "Does it do the same thing? And," she continued, eyes casting left and right as she thought out loud some more, "isn't there something called a North Star?" Hadn't her mother mentioned that in one of her myriad of stories? The memory was fuzzy at best. "If it's the North Star, does that mean it rises in the north? Or sets in the north? Or both?"

Yup. She had it. "Right. Exactly. So if that direction is east and that direction is west... which direction is your home?" She had all the pieces now. Time to use that mnemonic and determine where her home was at. She was sharp, this little one. Her parents must be proud.

Then she rattled off a lot more questions. The moon? "No. Don't use the moon. It's a fickle thing and much harder to read." It still generally rose in the direction of the east and set in the west, but seasons altered it's course from slightly northeast to slightly southeast and it was better to gather one's directional bearings in the sunlight and form visual references to refer to from there. He didn't trust the moon.

The stars however? Well that was a slightly different topic entirely and a far more complex conversation than he wanted to have during this short interlude with a pup who's parents would certainly be looking for it soon. All the same he laughed as she tried to decide where the north star rose and fell from. "The north star doesn't rise or fall. It stays in one place. North. That's why it's called the north star."

There was more to it than that... and he didn't want to lead her further astray on that one so he decided not to venture further in that direction. "You should ask your parents about that one. I bet they know much more about the north star than I do." They also likely knew a better way to explain it to a young mind like hers. "For now, just focus on the basics. North, east, south, and west. What are they called again?"

Thanks for the awesome teaching opportunity! :)

The conversation about home fell away as they discussed the moon and stars (well, one star in particular). Wildfire took in this knowledge like a sponge soaking up water, absorbing it. Kero mentioned her parents and she bobbed her head as if to agree with him. Fox had already spoken to her of the sun, moon and stars a few times. Surely the pup could pick her mother's brain a bit more.

But she wasn't done picking Kero's. "North, east, south, west," she repeated after him, her smile now lighting up her face. "Never eat soggy worms," she added, scrunching up her nose. "Home is..." Wildfire paused to really consider everything they had talked about over the last quarter of an hour. They were facing the direction the sun set, so... "West," she blurted unthinkingly, then shook her head and corrected herself. "No, east. Home is east. Right?"

Speaking of home, they both knew she should be heading back there. Wildfire let out a breath through her nostrils, then regarded Kero with a careful, grateful look. "Thanks for telling me about the directions, Kero," she said. She had no idea if she would ever see him again and didn't yet know whether or not she minded that, important lesson aside. "Goodbye," the youth said simply, bowing her head.

The puppy turned, although her eyes remained on him even as she began to trot. Only when she had gone several dozen yards did she face forward and really speed up, her paws carrying her back to the caldera. East, Wildfire thought, smiling to herself.

Thanks for the quick thread!

She was picking it all up quickly. It was actually kind of nice to watch someone put all the pieces of the puzzle together and begin to figure things out. There was something absolutely fascinating about watching her figure everything out and she proved herself to be somewhat of a sponge towards knowledge she was interested in. He could only imagine what she'd tell her parents after this excursion. Never eat soggy worms. Heh. He wondered how that would go over.

"Erm. Northeast," he corrected, slightly, but she was half right. It'd been a little bit of a trick question. "You can combine north or south with east and west, to get diagonal directions." She could ponder over that one on her journey home. All the same, he pointing, giving her an additional visual reference as she trotted off. "You're very welcome. Safe travels, Miss Dhole."

Speaking of, it was about time he headed back towards the Spine. He saw her off, watching her form fade into the distance before he turned to head in his own direction. Northwest. If he could meet up with Tonravik in the next few hours or so, they still had enough daylight to make it back by morning.

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