Redhawk Caldera Most people think I burn hot, it's actually quite the opposite.

Her belly rumbled with hunger as she made her way back to the rendezvous site. She helped herself to some leftover meat in a cache, then thought about looking for @Phox to talk to him first. Instead, Towhee just decided to bite the bullet and seek out @Elwood directly. He didn't appear to be in the clearing, so she headed back the way she had come until she struck his scent trail. Spending a lot of time with her brother had fashioned her into a fairly decent tracker, so it didn't take her long to find the Alpha male.

"Uncle Elwood?" she called out as she approached him from behind. She sidled up beside him, bumping her muzzle against his shoulder and then reaching up to offer his chin a respectful nudge. -Can I talk to you for a minute?- she asked, resorting to the comfort and speed of sign language.

Despite the fact that Titmouse was not in the immediate area and was with Liffey as far as they knew, Elwood still couldn't help but look for him when he was patrolling. He knew better than to be disappointed when there was no evidence of the pup's presence nearby, but he did wish that Liffey would bring him home -- or would at least let them know that he was okay.

He was returning from one such patrol when a voice called his name from behind. There was no mistaking that it was Towhee, and he smiled as he turned to greet his goddaughter. "Hey, Towhee," he said, signing her name as he spoke. He watched her closely as she gestured, and while his processing time was slower than Finley's or Raven's, he interpreted what she was asking after just a few seconds.

"Sure," he said, nodding; "What's up?"

He seemed more than open to conversation, which was a relief. The odd look he'd given her earlier still lurked in the back of her mind. She had sensed displeasure and disapproval, though she didn't really understand why. Towhee needed him to clear the air.

-Am I doing something wrong?- she asked bluntly, hoping her godfather would understand what she was asking and why. She bowed her head, big ears slightly splayed. They didn't work but the gesture was meant to tell him, "I'm listening." Despite her down-turned face, her orange eyes remained glued in the vicinity of her uncle's mouth so she wouldn't miss a word.

She wasted no time in asking a question, which momentarily left Elwood wondering what she meant. Doing something wrong? Then he remembered the earlier incident with Ashton -- and before that, her behavior towards Gannet. While Elwood hadn't said anything to reprimand her, he had given her a look that she had surely recognized to mean something.

"You mean at the borders?" he clarified, settling himself onto his haunches so that it would be easier for them to communicate. He was more comfortable using his words and letting her read his lips, but with his forepaws freed from the responsibility of holding him up or carrying him forward, he could use them if necessary.

"No," he said, shaking his head slowly as he considered how best to approach the topic. "You want to protect your family -- that's good, and that's important. I know you want to be a mercenary." He smiled. "But we have to use our best judgement. If it's a wolf that knows me, or Aunt Finley -- you can be protective without being...too harsh." He wasn't sure if he was doing a good job explaining himself, so he lifted a brow questioningly.

She nodded simply, eyes still shrewdly focused on his face. Each member of the pack communicated slightly differently with her; some had taken to her sign language with ease, while others preferred to speak, usually a little more slowly than normal, so that she could follow along. Her uncle fell somewhere in the middle but often tended to prefer verbalizing, so she was quite used to keeping her eyes on his mouth.

Towhee felt a thread of relief when he answered, though there was a "but..." in there. She listened carefully (in her way), wondering why he spoke extra slowly. It made it all the easier for her to understand, so she shrugged it off. Their brows furrowed at just about the same time as the Xi tried to parse out what he meant. She needed Elwood to clear the air, not muddy the waters.

-Too harsh?- she repeated, her eyes briefly flicking up to meet his own. This behavior may have presented a challenge from another wolf, yet it was Towhee's way of trying to convey meaning. There was an earnest look in them. She wanted to understand. Her gaze then dropped back down, lingering in the neighborhood of Elwood's chin.

Elwood nodded as Towhee asked for clarity. He found himself wishing that Finley or Raven were around, to help translate into sign language. It wasn't that he didn't believe she could understand him by reading his lips, but he worried that he would be talking too much. He knew, however, that she was capable of asking him to slow down or repeat himself if necessary.

"Your body language with Gannet and Ashton. Even though you didn't know them, they were both up front about knowing your parents as well as me and Finley. They were not here to cause any harm," he said. "So while, as a mercenary --" here he smiled, addressing Towhee by her newly-earned title -- "your job is to guard the borders, it would be okay to be polite to them."

He paused, then added, "Although I can see why you would be suspicious of them, since you had never met them. But in that situation, you can always call for me or Aunt Fin."

Towhee began to squint partway into Elwood's explanation. Several dozen questions popped into her head, though she patiently waited for him to finish explaining and did her best to stay focused so she didn't miss anything. When he paused, she began preparing to fire off questions, but he preemptively answered a few of them by tagging on a final thought.

The Xi paused too, processing everything, then nodded before raising her first point. -But they're outsiders.- It wasn't a question so much as a point of contention. She wasn't attacking anyone and it simply wasn't in her nature to be overtly friendly with strangers, so why should Elwood ask this of her? -I don't know them and I don't know if they're telling the truth. I don't know if they mean harm or not.-

A contemplative pause followed as Towhee sorted through a few other thoughts she wanted to voice. -I'm not comfortable making nice with strangers,- she admitted a little hesitantly, biting her lip. She felt mildly defensive but she absolutely didn't want to butt heads with Elwood. He was her parent and her Alpha. But was he asking her to change her entire personality and philosophy?

Towhee raised a good point, and Elwood had to nod. He reminded himself that she was young -- only 4 months old, in fact! -- and still had a lot to learn about life, but the foundation for her beliefs was not wrong. Instinct told her that those outside of her family were not to be trusted, and how would she know anything about Ashton? Never mind the fact that Gannet was her kin; she had never had the chance to get to know him in her living memory.

But this posed a whole new question for Elwood. How best to guide his goddaughter's actions at the border? He realized now that it was unfair of him to expect her to greet everyone with a smile, even if it was someone who had once been with Redhawk Caldera. She was her mother's daughter in many ways, and it was becoming more obvious by the second. "I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with," he conceded after a moment.

"Just -- be careful. Call for me or Aunt Fin if you're not sure. You can always ask an 'outsider' to state their name and business, so you know right off the bat why they're here." Whether he liked it or not, he couldn't truly change Towhee's behavior. As she grew up, he could continue to coach her in diplomacy and defense, and hopefully maturity would bring an understanding about "outsiders." She didn't have to like them, but he feared that her brazen attitude would spell trouble for her one of these days.

"Just -- be careful. Call for me or Aunt Fin if you're not sure. You can always ask an 'outsider' to state their name and business, so you know right off the bat why they're here."

From a post I wrote before yours but in a thread dated after:

"State your name and business," she barked in her peculiar cadence.

This pleases me.

He seemed to understand where she was coming from and Towhee felt something loosen inside her with relief. She hadn't even realized there was a knot in her stomach until it came undone. She had thought Elwood was upset with her, that he was going to force her hand, but they appeared to have met in the middle for the most part. Towhee couldn't suddenly greet everyone with a smile, yet she could scale back a little on the blatant aggression at the borders.

"State your name and business," she repeated out loud, eyes flicking to her uncle's face to confirm that she had nailed the pronunciation. -I'm careful,- she added in ptero (Kat's new shorthand for the sign language) before conceding herself, -but I'll be even more careful.- She smiled tentatively. The air was clear now, wasn't it?

There was a pause for a beat before Towhee canted her head slightly and posed perhaps an unexpected question. -Can you tell me about them? Gannet? And Ashton?- She wanted her godfather to understand she would really make an effort, even though there was a slight look of distaste on her face even as she signed the letters for their names (the lack of a proper name sign for either a stark reminder of their outsider status).

:D

She tried out the statement that he had offered, letting the words roll off her tongue. As always, it sounded a bit garbled, but Elwood had no trouble understanding her and felt confident that she would get her point across to strangers, as well. He bobbed his head, pleased that they were coming to an agreement.

He was glad, too, when she promised to continue to be careful. His sternness had come from a place of concern for her safety, mostly; and while she was territorial like her parents, she didn't seem to possess the same hot-headedness that had characterized Fox. He hoped that she wouldn't go charging headlong into any unpredictable situations without a second thought.

Elwood smiled as she asked to learn more about Gannet and Ashton. He would be happy to oblige her, especially because it would help her comprehend why he had reacted to them differently than a set of complete strangers. "First, I want to give you something else to think about -- I was an outsider, once. I didn't belong to Redhawk Caldera, and your dad accepted me into his ranks even though I was a stranger. And Aunt Fin was an outsider, too, before she came to Blacktail Deer Plateau and met your parents." He raised his brows, gauging her reaction, before answering Towhee's previous questions.

"Gannet, you know, is your brother. You should spend some time with him and get to know him. He'd like that. And Ashton was a member of our pack a long time ago, around the time that I joined. He's a pretty experienced medic. Did you notice the funny way he talks?" he asked. "As long as I've known him, that's how he communicates. It takes some getting used to," he admitted with a chuckle.

Although Towhee couldn't hear, she nonetheless listened carefully in her own way as Elwood offered another perspective that called back to her recent story time with Finley. Having given her this food for thought, her uncle the moved on to oblige her request. He urged her to get to know Gannet (she balked inwardly but schooled her face) and then mentioned Ashton's odd manner of speaking. She had noticed, actually, and she was none too pleased.

-I couldn't understand most of what he was saying,- she complained, which was really a large part of Towhee's beef with outsiders; communicating with them was challenging at best, impossible at worst. -And he called me a 'doll.' I didn't like that. I told him not to. But he kept doing it.- Here was evidence of why she shouldn't like him, outside of his unknown status, and she quirked a brow at her uncle to see what he'd make of it. But then she shook her head a moment later, as if to say, "Forget it."

-I'll find Gannet sometime,- she signed slowly (and a bit reluctantly, to tell the truth), -but I'll have to think about Ashton.- Towhee raised her eyebrows, then smiled a little cheekily at her godfather, happy with the outcome of their discussion.

Elwood shook his head apologetically. Unfortunately, he couldn't see a way to change Ashton's speech patterns, although he suspected that the male would make efforts if Elwood asked him. But the odds that he would be spending much time with Towhee anyway were slim. He wasn't even sure of the next time he would see the hippie.

"It's good that you told him you don't like being called 'doll,'" he said, glad that Towhee had stuck up for herself. "It just might take him some time to listen. But he doesn't mean you any disrespect. He's...an interesting character. He's got a lot of crazy stories to share." Returning Towhee's playful grin, Elwood added, "But I don't expect you to become best friends with him or anything."

He paused, then said, "Gannet, though...I think you might like him if you give him a chance."

He seemed proud of her for sticking up for herself, which made the pup's tail wave. He tried to explain that it was just Ashton's manner of speaking, which made her brow furrow a little bit. It was equal parts exasperating and endearing to her, the way her godfather always saw the bright side and gave everybody the benefit of the doubt. He was perhaps the kindest soul she knew and she was very fond of him, despite their differences.

She was smiling a silly little smile as he spoke of Gannet and Elwood likely thought she was open to the idea of bonding with her older brother when really she hadn't caught any of the words. She nodded in response to her uncle's guidance in general, still grateful for this constructive conversation. And though she had missed his last few words about Gannet, she coincidentally decided she would make an effort to give him a chance if only to appease her beloved godfather.

-Thanks for talking with me, Uncle Elwood,- she signed. -I'm going to go find Phox. I'll see you later?- Towhee paused, waiting to be dismissed before she took off in search of her brother to catch him up on the latest goings-on.

-You're welcome,- Elwood signed in return, using one of the few signs that he knew without a doubt. He nodded his head as a way to nonverbally dismiss Towhee to go track down Phox, and he watched her go with a faint smile on his face. He was pleased with their conversation and Towhee's future as a mercenary. She still had much to learn, but he believed that she would put her best foot forward and give a good effort to take into account the advice that he had given her.

Once she was out of sight, Elwood turned and meandered in the opposite direction, intending to go talk with Finley.