Redhawk Caldera Hello, gorgeous

There was a lot to think about lately, though Wildfire crammed it all into a filing cabinet in the back of her mind as she arrived at the rendezvous site and sauntered over to sit next to her father. "How're you feeling?" she asked him, stretching out her neck to gently tug on his nearer earlobe. Without waiting for an answer, she began to slump down beside him.

But he didn't give her a chance to hit the ground before he whirled. "Don't sneak up on me like that," he scolded her, muzzle wrinkled. "I didn't see you. I don't like it when people approach on my left side. Always walk up on my right." He softened with every word, though Wildfire had already sat up straight and scrambled a foot or so backward, a bit taken aback by his unfriendly reception.

"Okay, dad," she said quietly. The two of them lapsed into an awkward silence and Peregrine eventually laid his head on the ground. Wildfire sat there for as long as she could stand it, then hopped to her feet and said lightly, "I'm gonna get something to eat. I'll be back." She then scurried away. She probably would actually catch something to bring back to him, yet her real reason for leaving was because, well, he was being a grumpy asshole.

She walked in the direction of the caldera, sighing a bit. She couldn't blame him, of course. He had been hopeful about recovering the vision in his left eye. A week had passed now with no improvement. Her father was openly irate with Ashton for misdiagnosing him, which made Wildfire sad, of course. She hadn't seen the Healer lately but she her heart still skipped a beat every time she thought of him. As a matter of fact, she wondered if maybe she could locate the medic and catch up with him today.

We have a thread but I figured a less grumpy one would be good too!

Ever since Peregrine's seizure and loss of sight, Nightjar's mood had lightened somewhat toward his sisters. His jealousy had given way to the reality of tragedy and the effect it had. While he wasn't afraid of losing Peregrine to this ailment, as it proved to be non-life threatening, it rendered Peregrine weaker than before. This in turn made Nightjar ever the more protective—nevermind that just a few weeks ago he'd told his father that sick and injured wolves didn't deserve to live if they were too ill to feed themselves and live ordinary lives—and somehow, that extended to his mother and siblings as well, enough that any jealousy he'd felt over their accomplishments was gone.

After all, with Peregrine weakened, Nightjar was now (he thought) the strongest in the family. It was his duty, out of love and respect, to protect them. So he hung around the rendezvous site and he not-so-subtly tailed Raven every now and again. Wildfire was more difficult. His sister was good at giving everyone the slip, including him, though he often expertly tracked her scent to the border hours after she'd slipped away. He knew she went beyond there, but like his parents, Nightjar knew there was nothing he could do for her when she chose to wander away. Outside the borders, she was unprotected, and all he could do was wait for her to return.

She'd headed inward recently, Nightjar realized upon crossing over her scent trail not too far from the borders. Maybe a day ago at best. He paused to fall over on his side and roll in her trail, collecting yet another scent (today he'd collected moose droppings, sap, autumn flowers, and mouldy dirt in with his usual blend of grass, soil and stone). Satisfied that her scent on him and his on the ground told the tale of his passing by here, the male trotted through the trees with his nose to the floor, following Wildfire's winding scent to the rendezvous site. There, he found only a grumbly Peregrine, but as he was on a mission, Nightjar didn't stop long to greet his father. A chuff, and he was off again.

Wildfire was heading uphill and though she was much quicker on her feet than he was, Nightjar caught up eventually by loping. His tongue lolled when he saw her and his demeanour shifted to one of neutral relaxation. His tail drifted above his back in a familiar wave, then settled back between his thighs. He issued a soft series of whines to greet his sister, and as he drew near, he sought to nip and grapple with her jaw in a good-natured tussle.

I'm always down for NJ threads!

P.S. I enjoyed the realistic canine behaviors described in your post. It's great imagery. ^__^

Her ears twitched when she heard approaching footfalls. A masculine scent drifted her way, though it didn't belong to Ashton. She turned even as Nightjar sidled up next to her like her larger shadow, his snout knocking against hers in a friendly greeting. She greeted him in return by whipping her black tail back and forth, thumping his hip with it, and nipping ever so delicately at the long, rabbit-soft fur lining his ruff.

"Have you seen Ashton?" she wondered, then realized Nightjar might demand to know why she was looking for the Healer. "I, uh, wanted to warn him not to go near dad. He already wants to kill him and he's in an especially grouchy mood right now." Smooth save! she thought to herself, pretty sure Nightjar wasn't the type to over-analyze her words. He would likely take her explanation at face value.

He almost took the opportunity to sling a leg over Wildfire's shoulders. Almost. It was a dominant behaviour, though, and while Nightjar was coming to an age where he would begin to test the more dominant canines of the pack, he knew his place and it was below her. Maybe another time when he was more in the mood to spar and less in the mood to socialize normally, he would try pushing his sister's buttons. Jockeying for rank was healthy either way he looked at it. Surely Wildfire would agree, but maybe not today.

He was spared having to think about it any longer when she asked about Ashton. He fixed her with a blank look and responded with, "who's that?" Almost immediately his back tingled and the rougher guard hairs shifted slightly. The unfamiliar name brought with it the image of an unfamiliar wolf, and anyone unfamiliar was a threat in Nightjar's books, even if they were a member of the pack. Wildfire explained her reasons for wanting to find this Ashton, and while it was probably a valid concern, Nightjar himself thought it was pretty obvious to everyone else that Peregrine was in a shitty mood, and also thought his father deserved to give someone a beatdown. Unfortunately, Redhawk Caldera did not have a wolf that filled the role of omega. Maybe this unfamiliar man Wildfire spoke of could become that.

It was evident enough from her brother's stormy expression that he would've started the process himself if Ashton was anywhere to be found.

Nightjar grew suspicious, though not for the reason Wildfire officially feared. Her lips twitched in response to her brother's blank expression, followed by the subtle shift in his demeanor. He seemed quite ready to pummel Ashton for whatever he'd done to their father and possibly Wildfire herself.

"He's the medic, the one that assured dad he would regain his sight," she reminded him with another swish of her tail. "I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen," she added in a lower voice. "It's like your ear." They had never actively discussed Nightjar's handicap. Wildfire just knew, as if she recalled that day when she'd yelped in his ear and burst his eardrum. "It just doesn't work. He'll get used to it, though," Wildfire said optimistically, rolling her shoulders and trying not to think of the sting of her father's moody behavior toward her.

"Want to help me find him?" she asked in the next beat. She had other reasons for wanting to see Ashton, though she would let Nightjar think they merely wanted to pass along the warning.

Ah. The medic. Nightjar had seen fleeting glimpses of the man, but made no effort to get to know him. Peregrine's distaste toward the wolf that falsely promised his condition would be temporary was palpable and Nightjar, ever a pack wolf with a devotion to his family, shared in it. Without reason, of course. He'd never met Ashton, but surely if ever it happened, it would either be amusing or tragic.

"My ear never worked. I'm fine," he agreed, flapping it briefly. He didn't remember what had caused it. Nobody really knew whether he'd been born with it or whether Wildfire herself had caused it. She'd popped his eardrum, but there was something wrong on the level of nerves and electrical impulses even before that, unbeknownst to anyone. Nightjar Redhawk never would've heard even if his sister's voice had been gentler. It hardly bothered him, though. The biggest problem came from patrolling... and for that reason, he always patrolled with his right ear outward, counter-clockwise. An eye was a much bigger deal but Nightjar knew that his father could figure it out. He lived with a bum ear and it was barely noticeable.

"He's stupid," Nightjar reminded Wildfire blatantly. "Dad deserves to attack him." He'd lied to the alpha male. From the sounds of things, he'd said for sure things would improve, and yet Peregrine was still mostly blind in his eye. Why should they, loyal children of the alpha, warn such a wolf about his likely fate? Nightjar thought he should be punished for it, not warned. Not physically harmed, of course—Ashton was a pack mate after all—but reminded that he was the lowest of the low. Peregrine deserved this, or so the very literal Nightjar believed.

Still, he plodded after his sister dutifully when she suggested they go to find him, though it was for his own reasons. Nightjar wasn't capable of thinking or formulating very well, but he was thinking now... thinking that he would beat the crap out of Ashton on their father's behalf if they did find him.

Her brow furrowed when Nightjar insulted the medic, then said their father should attack him. Although she was a Warrior, Wildfire was not the most confrontational of wolves, so even if she hadn't had a crush on Ashton, she probably still would have said, "I don't think Ashton meant to misdiagnose dad. I think he really believed what he said. He just shouldn't have given him false hope," she allowed, biting at her lower lip. She felt the need to come to the hippie Healer's defense, even though it was his fault Peregrine had been sour with her.

"Maybe we should do something else," she decided aloud a beat later. After all, she wanted to approach Ashton for very different reasons and Wildfire didn't want to get in the middle of a fight between her brother and the medic. "I guess we should just let dad chew him out if that's what's gonna happen. Speaking of dad, I told him I was getting something to eat. Maybe we can hunt some fresh game for him? You're good at catching small prey, right...?" Her amber eyes scrutinized his face. Like any wolf worth its salt, she could make kills, though it wasn't her forte. She would require Nightjar's assistance.

Nightjar almost told Wildfire what he'd told Peregrine—that wolves didn't need healers, that it was pointless to waste effort on a wolf that might perish and was a weak link in the pack, and that this Ashton fellow was a complete waste of a wolf for pursuing a career he clearly sucked at—but he stayed his tongue. This was their father, and Raven was an aspiring healer, and he didn't need to insult them both in the same breath. Besides, Peregrine's affliction was certainly unfortunate, but even a completely inexperienced wolf like Nightjar could tell that it was far from life-threatening. Peregrine would continue to live and so he didn't need a healer at all in Nightjar's narrow opinion.

"He lied," Nightjar said with finality. That alone was enough reason for Peregrine to be able to beat the crap out of him. Maybe Ashton hadn't meant to, as Wildfire suggested, but maybe he'd done it to make himself seem better at his trade. Whatever the case may be, Nightjar himself would never trust a wolf who lied outright, even by mistake, and like Fox, he was not one to trust healers in the first place. Even Raven would be hard-pressed to get him to take any sort of herbal treatment, let alone a stranger with a track record for misdiagnosing patients.

Wildfire suggested they go hunting and Nightjar shook out his fur and agreed with a hearty rumble. However much he disagreed with his sister on the subject of Ashton and healers in general, it was without ill will and he would always enjoy physical pursuits with her. "I'm okay," he responded. He was too slow and lacked the finesse of true hunters, so more often than not his prey escaped with its life, but he was okay. He'd caught a few things. Rumbling affectionately, he aimed a rough nip at Wildfire's cheek and murmured, "last one to catch something has to..." he paused, pondering it for a while, before saying, "take a mud bath."

It wasn't much of a punishment, because mud baths were absolutely delightful in the heat of summer, and it was far from creative because he wasn't exactly smart, but it was something.

Over the coming days, lack of interaction would cause her crush to simmer anyway but Nightjar's (and Peregrine's) opinion of Ashton would also help extinguish it. In the meantime, she was happy to focus on something else entirely. Her brother was game for hunting (pun intended) and declared himself merely okay. Naturally, Wildfire wanted to reassure him that he was much more than merely okay (they had executed that coyote together not long ago, for instance) but before she could, he proposed a bit of a challenge.

"A mud bath? That's not bad at all," Wildfire playfully taunted in reply. "How about a poop bath instead? I'm sure we can find a moose pie around here somewhere." She wiggled her eyebrows at him, then swatted playfully at Nightjar before breaking into a lope. Momentarily forgetting that she was more likely to lose this bet, she pressed her nose to the loam to begin discerning viable scent trails.

He swiped his tongue over his nose and squared his shoulders. A moose pie was about as interesting as mud in his opinion, but at least the scent was more fitting for losing a challenge. Wildfire seemed to agree, having been the one to suggest it, when she moved off to commence her hunting attempt.

Meanwhile, her brother turned 180 degrees and headed back the way he'd came. He traveled several yards before dropping his nose to the ground and snuffling loudly at the bases of trees and amongst spindly bushes. It took some time, but eventually he caught the scent of something new—a skunk, unbeknownst to him—and he was off after it as quickly as he could discern its direction.

He would never meet up with Wildfire again, though, for the skunk, when he found it, would prove a most formidable foe and he would run for the caldera's lake to douse its awful stench instead.