Redhawk Caldera they sing to ra

@Fox <3 link to roll

She has not forgotten the man -- after a brief rest, Hatshepsut forces herself to rouse. The pain has gone from her ankle; this relieves the Egyptian, and she sets a brisk clip for herself as she attempts to capture prey once more. Fish go ignored; it is the flesh of earth she wishes, and though the weakened she-wolf fails a handful of times at her lunges, the last of many procures her a thin hare.

The urge to consume it is overwhelming, and tears of frustration spill along her cheeks as she carries the carcass along the scent trail left by the wolves of the man's pack, until she comes to their marked borders. 

He had not lied about the four children; surely he is the father of the one whom she saw in the wood. Hatshepsut lies down the body and places a forepaw over it; the furred bundle is her sacrifice for entry. A low howl floats from her parched throat; she is ashamed of how weak she has become.

Do you mind writing past tense with me? I find it hard to follow present tense. :)

Fox was worn. Her eye had finally opened, but the view from it was cloudy. It was as if everything was covered in a fog that did not lift. Nothing had changed about it over the past week, and Fox did not think that it ever would. She supposed she should be thankful for the partial vision she had retained, but it sure didn't feel like a great gift.

A howl caught her attention (thank goodness her ears were still good-as-new), and with Peregrine gone exploring, Fox figured she would answer it. She responded almost immediately, her own voice answering with a more succinct note to let the other know she was on her way. The going was slow, seeing as Fox was attempting to conserve her energy, but she made it in decent time.

Forgetful as she was, she didn't make the connection that this was the woman who had been there with Ferret weeks earlier. She had been more focused on her son at the time, and right now she was more focused on the hare laying beneath the stranger. She lifted her right brow, accentuating her marred eye.

sure!

Soon a woman came, the same she had seen in the wood with the boy. Despite the innate stiffness of her neck, Hatshepsut bent her head in a small bow, keeping her paw over the kill. "A man with black fur said he would grant me entry into your pack if I was able to hunt for his children," the Egyptian murmured in her clipped tones. 

She did not look up; she did not again speak, merely awaiting the word of the reddish woman who appeared to be queen.

Fox assumed she had to be talking about Peregrine. Panther didn't have any children, and he sure as hell didn't have the authority to accept a loner. "Must've been Peregrine," Fox replied. "Well, a promise is a promise. What's your name?" Not that Fox would need a name to grant her acceptance, but it was nice to know who she was talking to. Namely so she could bitch her out later when she inevitably did something wrong.

The Alpha's eyes hadn't left the hare, as if staring at it long enough might magically make it levitate toward her so she could give it to the children.

Peregrine. The Egyptian put the name aside, and pushed the hare forward. "For you; for the cubs," she murmured. "I am Hatshepsut." As with the man, she longed to give her titles, to hold her head proudly as she spoke, but she did neither of these things, though she desperately hoped that the ruddy woman would not shorten or abbreviate her name into something unlike her, something that did not hold the proud elegance of Karnak.

She waited, each muscle tense with wanting and dread.

"Hap... et... a-shut?" Fox questioned, knowing full=well that she'd butchered the name beyond recognition. How was she supposed to get it on the first try, anywho? Why couldn't these wolves have normal, pronounceable names. "Fox" was easy. "Peregrine" was easy. Even Elwood and Finley had easy names. Perhaps that was why her own lineage was all about keeping things simple: just use the words you know.

"I'm Fox. We don't let new members near the rendezvous site for the first couple of weeks, so keep that in mind. Gotta screen the new ones, y'know?" Fox paused, making sure Hap-et-a-shut got the gist of it. "Of course, you're welcome to interact with them outside that." It wasn't like they could keep tabs on everybody at all times... Ferret had proven that much.

She was itching to take the hare back to the kids, but Fox waited as patiently as she could, wondering if the newcomer would have any more questions.

The Regent fought the urge to bristle, to close her eyes in silent rage at the way that the woman murdered her name beyond recognition. And though it cut at her like a finely-made knife, Hatshepsut gave a single nod. She would answer to the carcass of a title.

Though she did not know it, a seed of hatred for the red woman's inability to even attempt respect had taken root within the Egyptian, though it was not a sensation she would ever allow herself to address. Despite her new rank as a subordinate, despite the brokenness of her name, she was the superior to this ruddy fellahin in all ways.

"I understand," she said simply, bowing again before Fox and awaiting her dismissal.

If she'd been corrected, Fox likely would have made another attempt. Seeing as she hadn't, Fox assumed she had pronounced the name correctly. The alpha failed to pick up on the seething vibes coming from the newest recruit, completely oblivious as usual. With nothing much more to say, and plenty to do, she gave Hap-et-a-shut a final nod and made her way back to the rendezvous site.