Redhawk Caldera there is a divinity that sleeps inside your scars

Tag for visibility (but anyone is welcome!): @Raven, @Aaron, @Sassafras

It took every ounce of strength to return to the caldera once she realized she’d been gone for several days. She’d almost forgotten she had a home waiting for her and with a brief worry she may have caused them to think abandonment, she doesn’t stop until she crosses back over the borders. Her shoulder aches and the movement causes the wound on her flank to sting and reopen from pushing herself too far. The psychotic wolf that attacked her had definitely played a number on her pelt but she’s lucky none of them are too deep. Still, she needs to find something to prevent infection; there’s no telling how filthy that mouth had been prior to coming in contact with her.

She carries a long stem with a poppy seed pod in her jaws, careful not to shake it too loose for fear of losing the precious contents of what is inside. The high of the first one she’d eaten with Kitsch had worn off long ago and her body cries for more and it takes a lot of effort not to devour it in that moment, knowing she needs to save it. Perhaps she can plant it and regrow them somewhere private but within a pack territory, she knows the danger. For the moment, West searches for her little nook she’d taken to sleeping in to find it mostly undisturbed in her brief absence and buries the seed pot beneath pine and snow and dirt for safe keeping.

West picks herself back up and turns, seeking out another that might be able to help care for her wounds.

<3

Lagan's adventure was finally over. He'd had good times; like meeting a kid his age who he wasn't related to, and bad times; like when he got chased by a crazy guy who almost made him pee all over himself. But Lagan was glad he'd gone, he'd gotten to see some more of the world and it wasn't as bad as he'd thought. He'd even conquered one of his fears, monsters were just monsters, and they didn't always win. Even though he'd had fun outside of the Caldera, boy was he glad to be back. To see the familiar terrain, winter killed trees, and secret hangouts and such.

Lagan was rushing towards the cave, excited to go see Liffey or Eljay, or maybe even Raven so he could tell them about his adventure. He was going so fast, that he hardly noticed the female walking through the woods as he passed. When he realized that the scent he passed wasn't a familiar one, the boy spun around and ran back stopping when he saw her and giving her a confused look. Who're you? He asked curiously. He wasn't afraid, Lagan wasn't scared of nothing, especially in his own home. Besides, the lady smelled like Raven, so she must be trustworthy.

The lay of the land is still lost on West. She hasn’t had much time to really explore and get a feel for it and she didn’t want to call for help and bring more attention to herself. She’s already had plenty of help—even if she needs it now—she’d like to keep her profile low enough. Getting attacked so soon after joining really doesn’t help things along, even if it hadn’t been her fault. Nor does she think the attacker has anything against the caldera. She’d simply been fucking crazy. But her thoughts are interrupted by the sudden force of another.
 
West blinks a few times before she registers what’s happening.
 
“I’m West,” she introduces are a stupefied moment. She shakes her head to clear her mind but she whines and winces as it pulls against the wound on her shoulder. “I’m new,” she trails off, wondering if he’d been one of the wolves trapped in the cave when the snow collapsed around them. He certainly hadn’t been on the other end trying to get them out when she’d been around giving what effort she had to give.

When the woman said she was new, Lagan rolled his eyes playfully. Well duh I figured. He said sarcastically, then grinned. Feeling safer now that he knew she was part of the pack, Lagan bounded closer to her, his downy silver tail flapping up behind him. Maybe the boy was too trusting, or maybe he was just very confident, but before his adventure it would've been likely that he would've run to meet her before even knew her name. At least now he had a little bit of sense to ask who she was before being all friendly.

I'm Lagan, my mama and papa are Elwood and Finley. D'you know them? He asked, proud of his parents, he always loved to parade their names about like trophies.

The boy playfully rolls his eyes but West doesn’t find amusement in his words. She stares at him for a long moment as he continues to introduce himself and who he is. When she discovers his relation to her new alphas, her ears lower against her head and she tries to change her posture to be a better suiting to the circumstance. Her parents had been the leaders of her birth pack for some time and their daughters have been expected to lead certain aspects of the heights but she’d only colored them disappointed before she left. Lagan seemed to have more going for him than she had at the time.
 
“I have met your father but I have not had the chance to meet Finley yet,” she confesses. She recollects there are children involved somewhere in the pack and she suspects she’s holed up with them to keep them safe. West is not established enough with the Caldera to feel comfortable even entertaining the idea of visiting the young. “I look forward to it when I do, though,” she adds with another shake of her tail.

Lagan's smile faded a little when West didn't look very happy about his joke, his ears went down a bit for a moment. Not because he was frightened or angry, but because he was worried that he'd hurt her feelings. He definitely didn't want to do that, he was just making a little joke like he did with all his siblings. Maybe West didn't like jokes like he did. That seemed sad to him, not liking jokes. The woman seemed to shift her posture after he stated his parents names, which confused Lagan a little. He didn't think anything of them being alphas, and he didn't think of himself in a special position. Lagan still had a lot to learn.

You should meet my mom she's really awesome. She adopted all my baby cousins when Uncle P and Aunt Fox died and now their my baby siblings and also my nieces and nephews. So now my mom has like a kajillion babies but she's such a great mom she takes care of them all. Well my cousin Raven helps too because she has booby juice and the puppies needed that to survive and stuff. He explained, rambling on and on happily. West said something about looking forward to meeting his mom and Lagan nodded.

Well if you're gonna meet my mooooom than you should also try meeting my twin sister Liffey. She's really awesome and she looks exactly like me except her eyes are orange and mine are green and also she doesn't have a penis cause she's a girl. He added, wondering what Liffey was doing right now.

The excitement slips from the boy’s face and West doesn’t break her own expression, watching as he processes it. Soon enough, he’s back to what they are talking about as he continues to speak about his mother. He learns more in his rushed ramble than he has from the others but she hadn’t been as invested in the beginning as she needs to make herself. The exhaustion, and now the new wounds still fresh on her body—something the boy hasn’t noticed—she’d rather move on and find someone that can help. However, she doesn’t want to be rude to the leaders’ son and earn herself a demerit.
 
However, the term booby juice catches her off guard and she can’t help the bellowing laugh escape from mouth that she almost misses the entire next sentence. Naturally, she only catches the tail end: doesn’t have a penis cause she’s a girl. This time, she tries to stifle her laugh because the extra movement pulls on the wounds, reopening a developing scab that causes a streak of blood to run down her shoulder and then her leg.
 
“You’re one of a kind, aren’t you?” she says but, for all she knows, perhaps Finley and Liffey are just the same.

Lagan wasn't quite sure what West was laughing about, but boy was he glad to see he do so. So as not to look like a fool, Lagan paused during his speeches to laugh whenever she did, and tried his best to frighten out what was so funny. He ended up with the conclusion that he was just a really funny guy, and he wasn't even trying. That was a fun thought, that made him happy. He almost missed the blood trailing down West's shoulder and leg, but when she made her comment he looked back at her and noticed.

His eyes widened when he saw it, and he started to get a little worried. The boy knew that blood usually meant violence and Lagan very much detested violence. Thanks for the compliment, but just for your information you're like bleeding everywhere. He said, trying not to look freaked out but having a hard time tearing his gaze away from the oozing scab.

It lingers a little awkwardly between them but Lagan eventually speaks up, noticing her wounds are seeping more now than they had been. She heaves a sigh and looks over at her shoulder. She needs to find help tending to it soon. Instead, she turns to the boy and nods his head. “Yeah, someone attacked me while I was out,” she explains, wrinkling her nose. “I was looking for Raven. Have you seen her?”

Nope, Lagan said with a shake of his head. And he had an explanation for why he hadn't seen her, which unfortunately for West he was going to tell. I've been on an adventure for the past day or two, I met this guy my age in some woods and this creepy old dude who wanted to play hide and seek for some reason but it wasn't very fun it was pretty boring actually. So I just got home and your the first person I've seen here yet. He said, dragging on and on and moving his head around as he spoke.

But you know I'm gonna be a caretaker someday so maybe I could be a medic too! I could try to help you with your bloody holes if you want? He asked, but didn't wait for an answer before he walked forwards and started investigating the wound.

The boy goes on to explain why he doesn’t know where Raven is and she tries to open her mouth to get him to stop. The information isn’t relevant and he continues to delay her help, something that has been delayed since the moment she ran into him. When he offers his help, she stumbles over her thoughts and bites back the first words that come to mind. How much can he really help if he hadn’t noticed the wounds before now and further delayed her from getting any help at all?

Still, she bites the bullet and reluctantly nods her head.

“Okay. Do you know where the herb cache is?” she asks. If he wants to pursue such a career, then surely he’s already learned a few things and can at least point her in the proper direction.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh... Lagan said in response to her question. The herb cache? What was that? He didn't really know what a cache was, but he knew what a stash was. Maybe she'd just misspoken, or something like that. Lagan chuckled a little to himself, wondering if she'd caught her little slip up or if he was the only one who noticed (he's a dummy). Nope! But I can find it! Don't worry I have a GREAT sense of direction I can find anything. He said, turning around and preparing to start walking.

Hmm. He said thoughtfully, looking all around him then back at West. I'm thinking... it's this way. He decided, pointing west (haha) of them.

West begins to wonder how much effort she has to give in to this, watching the boy sort through his thoughts and assure her that he knows what he’s doing. Even though she does little to hide her annoyance, he’s still yet to pick up on it and instead he begins to go in a direction he thinks the cache may be in. He puts several steps between them as he begins before she starts to move, reluctant to follow him at all. Sure that she could find the cache quick herself, or Raven at least, she follows him anyway.

Poor Lagan really had no idea how done West was with him. If people didn't want his company, usually they'd be very straightforward with him and just tell him. He'd never had to pick up on hints and clues that he was being annoying before. So he assumed West just looked grumpy. If she wanted him gone she really could just say so, but until then he was going to just keep on "helping" her.

He trotted on through the woods, using his inner compass (which definitely didn't exist/work) to find the cache. It took him on multiple paths, over a hill then down the hill and back into the woods. Finally he found it, it smelled like a whole lot of weird weird flowers and spices, so he figured that must be it. He rushed towards it and moved some of the vegetation covering it out of the way. Found it! Yes! He said to himself, adding a tally mark to his mental awesomeness board. Here you go West! He said to her, looking behind him excitedly.

west doesn't deserve lagan

At one point, West has to stop and keep herself calm. She has to remind herself that she can’t push her wounds to the limit and she also can’t get frustrated with someone trying to help. The pack is a family and a crime against one will likely be a crime against all of them. Before she gets left behind by the boy, she picks up her pace and closes the distance between them and reverts back just as many times as it takes him to finally get what they’re looking for.

“Thanks,” she says as he uncovers the prize she’s been looking for. It had felt weird in the beginning to ask for such things but the boy simply just hands it all over in one fell swoop. It’s far easier than having to start her own though she’s certain if she had to search for it on her own, she probably would have found it long ago.

West lowers her head and picks out a few things, hums quietly, and selects one more item, before she turns to the kid. “I think I got it from here.” Promptly, she puts her head back down and scoops up the things she’d selected, hesitating before leaving in case there’s something else he needs to say. She nods her head once before she turns and leaves before she gets stuck in another one of his traps.