Heron Lake Plateau what i have to work with

@Fire first please (lemme know if u want anything changed!). @Raven @Quixote

This place was pretty nice. It was easy to see why someone might settle here. He tried to give a grin to Ceara with the tail of a beaver between his teeth. It wasn't a very big beaver but hopefully it would be enough for the gesture to be clear.

When they approached what he assumed to be the borders, Moose set down the gift before he tossed a glance over at his fiery company. So, uh, would it be better if you or I called? He asked softly with a shy smile.

She appreciated the question, mulled it over for a moment.  Probably you.  Depending on who answers, you'll likely be asked what you can do for us.  She worried how it would look now that she had brought home another stray, but, ahhh.... the guy was nice, and it wasn't like she was actively out parading the Redhawks to everyone.

His head gave a firm nod at her answer. Moose quickly stuffed any nervous feelings to the back of his mind to be dealt with later. One deep breath in and he tipped his head back to let out a short call for the leader or leaders.

When it was done his head lowered again. He had never had too much patience (although he wasn't exactly pushy either) so these kinds of things widdled on his nerves. Perhaps if he could find something to focus on or look at the time would pass by much smoother.

Quixote had been fussing over assisting with tending to Raven's wounds went the call happened.  Well, this was awkward.  Okay, he could technically think of more awkward scenarios, but he hadn't expected that he'd be needed for any kind of business while Towhee and those he brought with her were out and about.  Why?  Who knew.  Quixote hadn't been exactly thinking clearly since this all went down.  Sigh.  I guess I don't have much of a choice.  I think you can reach the rest on your own, right?  She nodded -- they'd already taken care of her facial wounds and had pretty much finished up the ones on her neck -- so he continued. I'll be back as soon as I can.  I'm just a howl away.

Oh well.  He started off in the direction the howl had come from, trotting along at a good clip.  At least he'd healed up before Raven had gotten hurt, they'd be in a hell of a state if both alphas were out of commission and the beta off who knew where.  It didn't take long before he found the one who'd called, who was accompanied by Ceara.  The guy was an odd looking one -- kind of looking like a wolf in places but definitely not in others -- so probably not another Blackthorn.

Thankfully Quixote had gotten some sleep so didn't look quite as awful as he had last time he'd crossed paths with Ceara, not to mention making him able to string together a sentence.  Hopefully this would go without incident, as really, he did rather want to get back to Raven.  As he stopped, confident but not overbearingly posed, he looked to Ceara, then the stranger, So who've you got with you this time? It was less amused than last time, but he was attempting to keep things positive because it should theoretically make things easier.

His name is Moose.  I met him out in the Thicket, and made him hunt for me to make sure he could actually do it.  All wolves could hunt was a belief she'd once held but now... not so much.  Some wolves just plain sucked.  You should take the beaver back to Raven.

She stepped back to allow Moose to talk because she realized she was being kind of overbearing.  Oops!

His stance took on something a bit more submissive as a male showed up. Moose had been prepared to answer the question but it seemed Ceara was going to take the reins and so he let her. He stayed silent with a small smile on his face.

When it was finally his turn he flashed a thankful grin to the fiery female. Gently he nosed the beaver forward before prepping himself to speak. Um, I think Ceara covered most of it. I'm not looking for a free ride or anything. She made this place sound really amazing and I have nowhere to go so this was kind of a miracle, ya know?

Yikes! He sounded desperate now and he wasn't sure how to recover from that.

His surface level thought was wondering if even entertaining the idea of adding unknown wolves was good for the pack, which kind of surprised him.  Maybe this was similar to why Towhee was so suspicious of everyone.  Quixote felt like he was being a jerk, but at the same time didn't want to bring any new Screech-type risks in to the pack -- especially if it would endanger Raven or the upcoming pups.  Then again, he an outsider too -- or was -- so he knew that it wasn't a totally awful idea to give strangers chances.  A few months back, wasn't he planning on filling the same shoes Ceara was now?  At least he realized the hypocrisy before it had too much of an effect.

So far Moose seemed to be acting appropriately, but the real thing was trying to figure out other questions that could further test his temperament.   Hardly needed a guess to see it was kinda obvious Ceara was kind of a pushy person.  He gave her a sort of over-the-glasses kind of look, Obviously, but got a few things to do first.  Yeah sure, he was still a noob at being alpha, but he had a few of his priorities straight.  Kinda.  Either way, that beaver was going back to their little hideaway ASAP.

Anyway.  Dunno how much she mentioned to you, but I'm Quixote, one of the alphas -- the other being Raven, my mate, which now after all the drama felt a lot less weird to say, oddly enough.  Always can use more good hunters.  But if this all goes well for you and you get to come on over to this side of the borders, what'd be the thing you're looking forward to the most about being in a pack again?  It was the closest thing he could think of as a mini personality test on such short notice.  It wasn't too much of a stretch to assume everyone came from a pack, right?

She felt kind of stupid.  She hadn't meant for Quixote to take the beaver back to Raven right now and she understood that he had to assess this guy before he went about his way.  Feeling daft and ashamed, she ducked her head and let the others speak.

As the fiery female grew silent, Moose knew it was him who had to do the talking with Quixote now. Which was kind of intimidating but he believed in himself! Sort of.

Company - a family unit - will be nice to have again. Just kind of sucks being alone all the time without anyone to lean on or help out in return. He likely would have gone bonkers if he had stayed alone much longer. Maybe even turned back around to go home because the free land beyond borders wasn't nearly as exciting as the older wolves had made it sound.

He gave the dark male a small smile with hopes that his answer would suffice. If not, well, at least he had been honest.

He probably had been a bit more snarky than he otherwise would, but given what all had happened recently, could you blame him for being a bit more pointy than usual?  Eh.  Maybe he'd cheer up sometime.

Quixote nodded.  It seemed a reasonable enough answer and didn't set off any alarm bells.  Well, it's definitely a family-oriented pack, so if you pull your weight, don't cause trouble and all that, it may be what you're looking for.  Ceara's been doing a great job around here, so if you need a guide for what might get you on everyone's good side, she's a good one to ask.  And thankfully, Moose had already met her, so no awkward trying to point him around at some random non-present person, huzzah!  Quixote was also trusting her on this one, that their past time together had been a good initial interview, that Moose's response here wasn't a lie.  

He looked to Ceara, Perhaps you'd want to give him a quick tour, go over who he might run into and stuff?  He probably should have mentioned Towhee specifically, but well... A pause and his gaze drifted back towards the center of the territory, I should get back.  Because honestly, though he tried, Quixote still wasn't all that focused -- being away from Raven even just this long was making him a bit anxious.  He did take a couple of steps forward, preparing to grab the beaver and make his exit once they answered.  If Ceara wanted to explain everything, Quixote was leaving it up to her.

@Fire feel free to respond or I'll archive it in a few days<3

Huh...that was easier than what he had braced himself for. He had been expecting a million questions and maybe a task or two. Thank you. The male murmured with a small smile as he glanced from Quixote to Ceara. He felt a billion times better knowing at least one of the alphas 1.) didn't hate his answer and 2.) seemed to accept the gift pretty well.

His gaze glanced over towards Ceara as his tail swished behind him. Moose wouldn't mind a tour from someone who actually lived her but he supposed he could walk himself around too if she had somewhere else she had to be.

Quixote's relatively spiky mood caused Ceara's to wither and die, and it was only when he parted from them that she realized she had been holding her breath.  So, it's official.  You're a Redhawk now.  She grinned and winked at Moose before taking a few steps in the territory.  Why don't I show you the new digs?

Just a mini post to officially scram. :P

He excused himself without any further fanfare.  Quixote later on would probably think he'd done an awful job of it all, even though it wasn't really a big deal as long as Moose didn't cause waves.  Whether or not he'd realize he'd been a bit of a jerk to Ceara, who knew.  He took the beaver and returned to Raven to continue his fretting about.  It was going to take a fair amount of time for him to think of much else for any extended time other than his mate's (and therefore, the pups') safety.  They were left to their own devices.