Redhawk Caldera growing black irises in the sunshine

Needs to get ready for work. Throws up quick thread. B)

Rest did a body good but Njal wasn't the type to keep still; he was up at the crack of dawn and trundling through the territory as morning took root. By the time the afternoon hit, he had done a patrol of the northern reaches of the territory, and was returning to the lakeside. It was a cloudy day, but not a terrible one - the clouds were thick and bilious like cotton, and shining white against the vibrant blue of the sky. There was a bit of wind too, and the strange warmth of the air was making him uncomfortable - perhaps he'd go for a swim? Or check out the lake for real. There had to be something of value in the water aside from.. Well.. Water. With a slight hunger growing in the pit of his belly, Njal traced a route along the lake's edge until he found a suitable place to rest and watch, and then settled in place, with the hope that the lake wasn't totally void of life.

Is this open? I thought we could use it for our game of Telephone. I'm going to PP @Dove in here and you're welcome to do the same. ;)

The caldera's newest member had arrived and Wildfire couldn't be more excited. However, her parents informed her she would not be able to meet Elwood Jr for a few more days. She pouted, of course, but Wildfire was nothing if not obedient. She resisted the urge to sneak away to her aunt and uncle's (and new cousin's!) den... for now.

Fortunately, Aunt Dove provided a distraction by inviting Wildfire to accompany her to the inner lake for a quick dip. She bounded along in the white female's wake, up and over the caldera's rim. They stood there a moment, catching their breath, and that's when Wildfire spotted a form hunched by the water's edge. She squinted, trying to decide if it was Pan, Njal or someone new altogether.

But only getting closer would solve that mystery. Dove led the way down the decline and Wildfire bumbled after her, tripping and falling at least thrice. By the time the earth evened out underfoot, her chin was bleeding. Mindless of this, Wildfire slowly approached the figure. She sniffed the air. It was definitely Njal.

Drawing up alongside him, she queried sotto voce, "What'cha doing?"

Yeah, perfect! :>

The breeze drifted across the lake's surface and made it shift, slightly. Njal could see the faint greens, yellows, and blues as they moved - highlighted by the sun's beaming rays, or made pale by the clouds. It was peaceful here. Quiet enough to lull him in to a state of calm, so that his head began to droop, and he almost fell asleep - so much for fishing! But then a little voice sprang out of the foliage, and he was roused from his little stupor and made to pay attention. Njal lifted his head sharply, and very nearly smacked the top against a low branch - missing, thankfully - and then looked around for the owner of the voice.

Little Wildfire was perched nearby, watching him. Njal sighed the sleep from his mind, licked some drool off of his chin, and asked, "Pardon?" He'd missed what she had actually said, and only really clued in because he had heard a noise. "What are you doing out here -" He began to comment, and gave a fleeting glance around, in time to see a pale-coated adult lingering on the edge of the lake. The stranger was petite and quite fluffy, like a cloud, and she seemed more interested in having a bath than watching the child. Hm.

"-oh." It was good she had a guardian of some kind around.

He seemed both surprised and confused and didn't answer her question. "Were you sleepin'?" Wildfire guessed. "Sorry," she said sincerely, although her lips were curving into a small smile. "Are you awake now?" That was probably a dumb question but Njal still looked relatively out of it. She supposed she could (and possibly should) leave him alone, yet to tell the truth, she almost preferred his company over Dove's, despite barely knowing him. She didn't like her Aunt Dove very much.

Anyway, Dove seemed to be very preoccupied with her meticulous bath. Wildfire glanced at her, then back at Njal. "That's my Aunt Dove. She's..." Wildfire bit her tongue before she could say something disrespectful. "Hey," she continued in the next breath, seguing entirely, "do you wanna do some Outrider or Warrior training with me?" He could take his pick; she would be happy with either.

"No, I was not sleeping!" He started to protest, voice slightly agitated, but gave a soft sigh - he had started to fall asleep, and to admit to that was the equivalent of saying, 'I don't really care about the safety of this pack.' He wouldn't let it happen again. And what better way to stay awake than with some training? Njal smiled, his attention drifting back from the bathing wolf of white and focusing on the little girl. "Sure we can train. But I don't think we should go far from Dove."

But, he had an idea. "Can you tell me what outriders are for?" Njal asked her plainly, wondering just how devoted she was to the concept of being the pack's messenger - or maybe she just desired a good walk, a little adventure. Once she proved she knew what she was getting in to, they could play a little game.

Although her large ears flattened briefly, Njal did not seem as put out as he originally appeared and quickly agreed to do some training. Wildfire smiled, tail wagging. He pointed out that they shouldn't go far from Dove, which caused her to shoot another glance in her aunt's direction. She was now sitting beside the water, preening herself just like a bird might. The pup resisted the urge to roll her eyes before facing Njal again.

"Okay," she agreed, then considered his question. "Mama says Outriders are, um... antbassdoors?" Had she said that correctly? It didn't sound right. She paused to let Njal correct her if that was the case, then continued, "They travel a lot and sometimes pass messages. My Aunt Flea's one and she likes to explore and chase bears!" Wildfire shared. Now that sort of scared her, though she nonetheless hoped one day to join her godmother on such a crazy venture.

"Am-bassidors." He corrected quickly, but then fell silent while she delved in to her understanding. As soon as she mentioned bears though, Njal wanted to laugh. Clearly this girl had been influenced by the nefarious Finley, who Fox had told him about - maybe he should meet her one of these days? Except, wasn't she expecting? Hm. "You're right! Well done. Except that they don't hunt down bears and chase them - that's a very dangerous thing. That's more of a warrior thing." In his long life, Njal had not had to fight with a bear; he had fought cougars, and recently a bear had chased him, but the idea of looking for a bear was utterly alien. It was dangerous, and stupid.

"And warriors only fight bears when they have to - good warriors, anyway. Bad ones get eaten by them." This was veering off-topic. As soon as he mentioned this, Njal shook his head and got back to the point of their conversation.

"How about you show me how well you can pass a message?" Njal queried, and then as he settled down upon his chest, he took on a thoughtful expression. A brief look over Wildfire and he could see Dove's pale silhouette, still intent on cleaning herself and not exactly doing her duty in regards to the child; but his sentiments about that were put aside for the moment. "I want you to go over to Dove, and tell her, 'You missed a spot.' That's my message for her. Let me know if she has a response too, okay?"

He made a point, to which Wildfire replied, "She's a Warrior too!" The way the child talked about her Aunt Finley, it was clear she very much looked up to her. In fact, out of everyone in the pack, the Beta female was probably the youngster's main role model, above even her own mother and father. She wanted to be as fierce, spunky and downright cool as Finley. "She'd never get eaten by a bear."

Next, Njal mentioned something about passing a message for him. Her heart beat with anxious excitement. It might require interacting with strangers. But it turned out that he only wanted her to say something to Dove. Wildfire's nose wrinkled and she laughed. That was barely a challenge! Nonetheless, she would take it.

Dove was sweeping her tongue over her left forepaw when Wildfire trotted back over to her. She stopped and put it down, giving the child an impatient look. What do you want? "Njal says to tell you you missed a spot!" Wildfire said, causing the white lady's eyes to lift and narrow as she regarded the silvery male over Wildfire's head. She then looked down at herself, as if suddenly doubting the pristine condition of her coat.

When Dove presumably found not a single speck of dirt, she said coldly, "Tell this Njal to stop being a creepy perv." The she-wolf then turned her back, not only on the distant male but her niece as well. This earned a furrowed brow from Wildfire before she spun clumsily on a heel to rejoin Njal further down the shore.

"She said to tell you to stop being a creepy perv. What's a perv?" she asked innocently, taking a seat. She found herself much preferring his company over his aunt's, though Dove didn't let her talk with him long before bossily demanding Wildfire return with her to the pack's center.

Well that didn't work out so well. She did a fine job of relaying the message and the corresponding reply, but Njal saw the pale wolf turn a scrutinous eye upon him - even from that distance - and felt like he had ruined a possible friendship. And when Wildfire questioned him about her response, he could only give a little shrug and a small, gruff laugh. "She thinks I'm being rude. It was only a joke though." But that didn't detract from how rude it actually kind of was; then again, Njal wasn't aware of how meticulous Dove was when it came to her pelt. He'd never been very good at talking to the ladies, regardless.

"It looks like she wants you to leave now." He noticed, motioning with his nose over Wildfire's head. Dove had gotten up and looked rather irate, waiting for the girl. Njal couldn't get another word out before the distant she-wolf, apparently noticing how the two of them seemed to be plotting, shouted for Wildfire's attention. "You did good, kid. Maybe next time I'll get you to say something nicer." He lowered his head then, crouching low so that he could talk to Wifi on her level. "What'dya say?"

Thank you for helping me finish this! :D

Ah, Wildfire thought when Njal explained that perv was synonymous with rude. It would only be a matter of time before she called someone that and her parents either laughed at her, corrected her or both. Not that she had many rude relatives to call out, save for perhaps the evident hypocrite herself: Dove.

Indeed, her aunt was suddenly demanding that Wildfire leave with her. Although obedient, the youngster sighed through her nose and this time was unable to resist rolling her eyes. "Thanks," she said to Njal, flashing him a fleeting smile. She was about to ask him if he might have a message for anyone else that she could pass along but all she was able to add before Dove called her again was, "That sounds good." She then turned and hastily trotted after her rather bossy and impatient relative.