Redhawk Caldera winter's first flame

@Elwood and @Finley

Limping and weak did Charlotte approach. Her body ached from not only her healing wounds, but the relentless hunger winter had brought upon her. She was a coastal wolf, one who knew of warmth and salt-crusted paws. The Wilds were nothing like her home; they offered nothing but the bitter cold and wolves with really crappy social skills. Once she reached the first border she could, she called out to whoever would be listening. She offered no real skill, and thus, no real use, but she was young and soon enough, she would be able. Hopefully, it would be enough for the leaders who would surely soon approach.

hallo!

Four days in and they had already lost one of the newest Firebirds. Finley felt more exhausted than ever as she trudged along the borders. She was supposed to be marking, but instead she was merely gazing out across the plains. It was not lost on her that they were so few and there was every possibility that this was exactly why the little one had not survived. They were all overworked and slowly growing underfed as the caches began to run out and there weren't enough wolves to hunt and replenish them. The Caldera was in trouble as little as Finley liked to admit it. Not enough for her to panic, but enough that her mind had begun to work out how to fix things.

When she heard the call, the Alpha was quick to act. She raced along the borders until she spotted the girl at her doorstep. She had no way of knowing what this wolf was there for, but hope rose in her that they could call dibs on her. Finley could see as she came nearer that this one was not in the greatest shape. She was thin and looked sick, though there was no scent of disease on her. Fin stopped within a few yards of her, assuming the Alpha position as she looked the stranger up and down. Maybe if the girl wasn't actually there to try and join them, she'd be weak enough for Fin to kidnap anyway...

"You rang?" the Blackthorn said, quirking a single brow.

Hello, Charlotte croaked, I just...I was looking to join. It was her first time having to go about joining a pack, as well as her first experience with respecting authority. She looked around, scanning the area, before lowering herself and thinking of a plea. I'm willing to work; whatever you need, I can do it. All I need is a place where I can heal. Charlotte winced as she turned her body to show the other woman her wounds; they were beginning to scab and ooze, which brought about enough embarassment for her to look away from the Alpha's gaze and compose herself.

The girl said the magic words. The sight of her wounds did little to dissuade Finley from the decision she'd made already. Wounds could heal, particularly when there was a capable healer to help them along. The alpha had faith in her goddaughter's abilities. She'd heard the girl talk about medicines before in the time they'd spent together raising the Firebirds. She sounded smart, so Fin was certain that she was.

"You're in," said the Blackthorn without hesitation, "I'm Finley Blackthorn. I'm alpha of this pack alongside my mate, Elwood. We have a healer. Can you walk or do I need to fetch her?" Bringing Raven here would be a bit problematic considering either her or Fin herself needed to be with the newborns at all times. But then again, Eljay could probably handle them for a bit if the need arose. Elwood too, though she anticipated her mate might be a little gun shy considering what had happened the last time he'd been left alone with them.

A wave of relief washed over Charlotte as Finley explained that she'd been accepted. It seemed urgent, as though joining had been much easier than she'd peviously thought, but she wasn't going to complain about getting her way. Thank you, she whispered, I'm going to pull my weight, I swear. Then the question came up abour her mobility, to which she laughed lightly and shook her head. I can walk. Besides, she didn't want to make the wrong first impression on her pack mates, and pretending to be crippled didn't seem like the best move.

The girl seemed relieved, making Finley smile. She took the promise to pull her weight with a grain of salt, however. Plenty of wolves swore to be the greatest pack member the Caldera had ever seen and then disappeared on them a couple weeks later. She hoped it wouldn't be the case with this girl, but time would tell, and in the meantime Fin's only option was to hope for the best. She nodded when the girl confirmed that she could walk, then realized she needed a name still, otherwise Stevie was just going to have to keep saying "the girl" forever and ever.

"Did your parents name you anything?" Finley asked conversationally as she began to walk, steering them towards the whelping den where she was sure she could find Raven.

Charlotte followed without hesitation. Charlotte, she said, but my parents called me Char. I had a sister who called me Lotte, too. And her kids called me Charlie; well, all of them except for Juniper. She never really said much outside of "Hungry! Hungry mommy!" Charlotte sighed, thinking back on the joyous life she'd left behind. You have a mate, right? Any pups? She was off on a tangent, and a fairly intrusive one at that, but the poor girl didn't know how to stop it.

Now that she'd been accepted, Charlotte - as it seemed she was called, among other things - was quite talkative. Finley gave her a slightly wry smirk as she spoke of her family. Apparently she had a robust one, which was never a bad thing. Fin herself had come from a large family. It was the reason she was in the Teekon Wilds now instead of back with them at the Vale.

"I have four kids," Finley explained when prompted, "Eljay is my eldest. He's over a year now. Then there are the twins, Liffey and Lagan who are about sevne months. They have a sister, Lucy. She's.. not with the Caldera anymore." She hesitated in her explanation of Lucy. She didn't want to get into the details of what had happened to her daughter, so she tried to distract instead of allowing her the chance to question.

"What happened to you that got you all banged up like that?" Fin asked, peering again at the ugly wounds upon the girl's frame.

That's beautiful; I love children, Charlotte exclaimed, though she was quick to check herself. Finley then asked about her wounds and how they'd come about, to which she answered genuinely — I don't remember. She'd forced herself to forget, to erase every memory she'd taken from that night. Some things were easier to let go of than to hold onto, and Charlotte knew that to be true.

I'll let you wrap up in your next post? :) I tried to set it up so that it'll flow into Charlotte's next thread with raven nicely lol

Fin quirked a brow at her new packmate when she admitted that she didn't know where her injuries had come from. How could she not know? Was it so traumatic she'd blocked it from her memory? Or was she just dumb as crap? She didn't seem stupid, otherwise Fin would never have let her join. But then again, she'd barely asked the girl any questions, so how the hell would she even know...

"I'm gonna just let that one go," Fin commented as they rounded a bend and neared the whelping den. She called out a short howl as they approached to alert whoever was currently caretaking that she was there. "Wait here," Fin instructed as she trotted forward and ducked inside. She was inside for only a few minutes before she reappeared and returned to Charlotte.

"Well, my healer has stepped out for the moment and left my mate in charge," she informed the girl, "Why don't you start settling in and I'll send Raven your way when she gets back, which shouldn't be too long." So long as Charlotte was alright with that plan, Fin would return to the den and takeover mommy duty for a while.