Heron Lake Plateau dope

PAGING @Towhee @Raven @Quixote but i'm guessing raven won't show for obvious reasons <3 pls let @Sapphira post first!!

tegan brought sapphira to the borders relatively fast-- since, ya know, they weren't far. she seemed sorta stressed out, for some reason. she was frickin cool as fuck lookin and also seemed real nice, and somethin about medics idk. either way, she was with him, and therefore he was fairly positive he could get her into the pack with ease. 

granted, she'd have to do all the talking, he was just kinda representing her or whatever. 

he gave his newfound friend and potential hoe a nudge to the shoulder. "you should call for them, but i'll be beside you the whole time, promisee," he said, broad smile. smooth tegan, you're a fuckin prince-- what, with that smolder? god damn hot damn chivalrous ass man. knockin' em dead. or something-- you decide if you're swooning or nah.

Well, they were here. Sapphira took in a deep breath to somewhat gather herself. She simply nodded at Tegan's words, blissfully unaware of his inner dialogue before lifting her snout to the air. A melodic howl pierced the still air from between her dark lips to summon the Redhawk's available higher-ups.

And now, they wait. She shifted anxiously where she stood, trying to keep her mind clear and her posture relatively relaxed.

Following the return to the plateau and Screech's dispatch, life had more or less returned to normal. Niamh resumed her usual patrol, meandering along the border and keeping guard though she felt the threat had lessened considerably. They wouldn't have to worry about Screech, or the likes of him, any more. She hoped word would spread, so that others would know not to chance anything by coming to the plateau. They had established a reputation, one she intended to keep. 

So when a feminine howl came from the borders, Niamh answered it, to alert the visitor that she was on her way, before she picked up a gallop and made a beeline toward the borders. She was surprised to see Tegan alongside the female, but could tell from his relaxed posture that he wasn't meeting her- but that he'd brought her. One ear flicked back, unsure exactly what to make of this, but was struck by the female's bold, pretty colouration. She was on the thin side, but had a kind look to her graceful, long muzzle, and a keen light in her sapphire eyes. There was a mildness about her that proclaimed no devil, and obviously, if she knew Tegan, then she'd passed some sort of personality test. 

Then again, she wasn't sure, entirely, if she wanted to admit others based on Tegan's credentials, as much as she did enjoy spending time with him. This she waited to see. 

"Hullo," She said, greeting them both, and tipping her head to Tegan. She flicked her tongue over her lips, vaguely aware that her mouth still bled from where her upper left canine had been pulled free. It stained just the left side of her lower jaw, but was not nearly as horrific as it had been the day before. "I'm Niamh; one of our lea'ers will be here soon." She said, still avoiding words that caused her to touch the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She turned to Tegan. "Frien' of yours?" She asked, willing for either of them to put forward an introduction.

still waiting for leadership but wanted to post again bc ... i have muse for this thread rn...

here came niamh! haha, his hoes were meeting. he wondered if this would ever become a problem-- if they'd fight over him or something. prolly not, they'd probably never even become his hoes. but, whatever, tegan let his mind wander. but-- wait, hol up? what the fuck.

"whoa-- niamh what..." he began, then paused as he remembered exactly what he was doing. what happened to her face? i mean, it still looked real good, but he saw the missing canine and the blood on her lip when she was talking-- and she was talking funny. did he miss something? obviously-- but what did he miss? he gave a quick glance between the girls, ending with a look at niamh that said we'll talk later, and then continued. "this is sapphira, i met her today but she's looking for a pack-- passed all my tests."

Quixote wasn't the type to announce he was showing up to meet folks.  They either could wait or they could wander off and honestly, if they got impatient he didn't really care.  Niamh apparently was the sort to answer and she sounded a lot closer than he was.  He still wasn't entirely sure what he thought of strangers...  He'd been one of them, Screech was no longer a threat, but the pups had arrived, and now there were a few spares elsewhere in the territory?  Ugh.  It was one of the things that Quixote definitely disagreed with Raven on -- while she leaned all caring and maternal, he was wary that the choice to let that family in would somehow cause problems for theirs.

Thankfully, there wasn't another brood waiting at the borders this time.  Instead when he slowed from a trot to a walk, it was Niamh (as expected), some grey and white-splotched woman, and Tegan.  Damn, these Blackthorns had way better luck recruiting people than he ever did.  Either way, he approached casual but confident, as always.  So, who've you got here?  Quixote looked between the three of them.  Heck, he'd take answers from anyone, just go ahead and answer.  If Tegan had gone and brought her over from some random no-wolf's land, then he'd probably done sort of an initial interview to make sure she wasn't secretly a serial killer or something.

Sorry for the wait!

Sapphira was concerned when she smelled blood, noticing the dribble on the cream wolf's chin. The woman, who introduced herself as Niamh, was also talking oddly, as if it hurt to move her tongue in a specific spot. Then she noticed it: a freshly-missing canine. What happened? The medic in Sapphira was tempted to speak up and ask if she was alright, but Tegan spoke first. So, she just gave a small smile and said, Hello. It's nice to meet you, Niamh.

Before she could get to explaining, a black male appeared. From his posture, she quickly deduced that he was the alpha. Taking the initiative, she introduced herself. My name is Sapphira; I met Tegan not too far off, She began, gently gesturing towards him with her snout. I would like to be a part of your pack, if you'll have me. Her heart really started to pound in her chest now, pumping adrenaline through her body. I have medical experience I'll gladly lend you. She stopped there, not wanting to ramble on too much.

Feel free to skip Niamh as needed :)

Tegan met her appearance with surprise and she stared at him for a moment, not registering what his question was about. Then she remembered her mild speech impediment, plus the absence of her upper canine- and that she hadn't see him since she and Towhee had returned. She nodded her head, but regarded him with a warm resolution with with she meant to express the sentiment that she would indeed tell him what had happened, later. This wasn't something she wanted to talk about in front of a stranger- especially not one who was considering joining- though she'd have to find out, sooner or later. 

Her name was Sapphira, and she had a decent enough look about her. She was definitely pretty- s she assumed that was likely one of Tegan's first criteria that she'd have to pass...Ok, so that was a joke, but still, quite likely all the same. She bobbed her head in greeting to the female when she  spoke, and then glanced toward Quixote, who'd taken time out of his busy day to come and greet the newcomer. Niamh sat quietly and listened to the female introduce herself, and her lips pulled downward- but she nodded slightly with approval- when she said she was trained as a medic. With Raven busy with the pups and Ceara just learning about plants still, they could use another healer. Surely Quixote knew how often the Redhawk wolves seemed to need medical attention. But the bill was not hers to pass.

tegan nodded-- all this was true. he had no other comments, everything seemed to be said and he didn't feel the need to voice his dumbass extra thoughts today. he just kept on nodding, like a dumb little bobblehead sitting on someones car dash. that's all tegan was today.

world's stupidest post to keep this moving <3

Making the assumption that Raven would have mentioned Niamh's injury and/or treated it offscreen maybe, he hadn't really been phased by it -- or maybe he just plain hadn't noticed, who freakin' knows.  Anyway, Tegan & friend were getting the majority of the attention anyway.

As the obvious king of introductions, he started off simply, I'm Quixote.  I do think having an additional healer around may be a good thing.  It'd probably be good for there to be another medic, right?  And he didn't know that Blondine was a medic too(?) so having someone else around to help Raven out while she was busy with the pups or what-have-you would be good, right?  Would Raven want to meet her too?  Hm.  At least Quixote would have a few minutes to figure that out.

He'd taken to asking slightly off the wall questions, especially to those that tagged along with one of the already-accepted members, I'd assume since Tegan brought you here, he thinks you're an ok wolf.  But, what would be the thing about yourself that you think would guarantee you get in, regardless of what I was planning to ask?  There was also the fact that he had no idea which question and which answer would be the best, but at least so far nobody'd said anything that set off any giant warning klaxons of doom.

The alpha introduced himself as Quixote—an interesting name, but she liked it. Sapphira felt relieved somewhat to hear him say another medic just might be welcome. With a dip of her head, she said, I'm pleased to meet you, Quixote.

His next question, however, made her panic. What was one thing about her that'd guarantee her getting in? Oh god, was there a specific answer he was looking for? Her heart rate shot up again, and her legs felt weak, but she forced them to keep her standing. Think think think... what was her best strength? After a moment's thought, Sapphira willed herself to sound somewhat confident in her response as she answered, I am very dependable as both a medic and a member of my pack. Even in a new pack, I will give my all, and my skills will not disappoint. Did that sound good? Was it too much? Too serious? Well, she'd find out in a second.

There really wasn't much a loner could say that would surprise Niamh, so even when Quixote asked her what would guarantee her a spot, Niamh didn't expect anything spectacular. Wolves were, after all, limited to a few categories that they could specialize in, unless of course they were a bit older and more experienced. But apart from the usual trades, there wasn't really anything that had surprised Niamh- no wolves with skills she'd never heard of, or had never considered to be a skill. Like if a wolf had showed up that could climb trees and catch birds that way- that would impress her. 

But as it was, she was apparently your typical, dependable wolf whose skills would not disappoint- not that Niamh had done much better when she'd come back to join the pack. She glanced to Quixote, to see if that would suffice.

i mean, tegan thought it was suffice. but, whatever. big shrug. he merely stood with his tail waving as sapphira talked, glancing to quixote to see what he would say. 

can we keep her? pplleeeeaaaaasssseee??? his cute lil seafoam eyes seemed to beg.

Sorry if the post is a little sketchy in places as I'm exhausted right now, but I feel like this thread's had enough delays without me adding more! <3

Honestly he didn't know what he'd expected as a response.  He was still figuring it all out, and it'd probably take more experimenting to find a question that got the right answers, though with the pack as full as it was, there'd probably be a lot more turning folks away than there would be conversations like this for the foreseeable future.  Either way, no red flags.  You'll find a lot of the wolves here are family.  But even as an outsider, pull your weight and you should find you'll fit in well.

Tegan, I assume you'll be wanting to show Sapphira around and give her the run-down on anything else important?  Quixote wasn't exactly a tour guide, after all -- go through the effort to pick up some loners, you were gonna have to go make sure they knew where they were going.  And if she turned out to be a homicidal maniac, it was Tegan's fault too, huzzah!

Then to Sapphira, Once you're settled in, you probably should find a chance to talk to @Raven.  She's been the one taking care of all us idiots when we do incredibly stupid things, after all, and from his wry smirk it was obvious he was including himself in that number.  Seemed like there was a while there where everyone was getting messed up from dumb mistakes.  He did give a questioning glance to Niamh then -- unless she needed help with what happened to her?  He wasn't gonna force medical attention on anyone who didn't appear to be outright dying.

Humorously, Tegan begged Quixote with his eyes. It helped her calm down just a bit. Then, Quixote said, "You'll find a lot of the wolves here are family. But even as an outsider, pull your weight and you should find you'll fit in well." Sapphira's eyes lit up, and she nodded in affirmation. Quixote then spoke to Tegan, assuming he'd be the one to show her around. I'm sure he'd be super happy about that, Sapphira snorted internally.

Turning back to her, the alpha said, "Once you're settled in, you probably should find a chance to talk to Raven. She's been the one taking care of all us idiots when we do incredibly stupid things, after all." He smirked, and the medic could have collapsed with relief. Instead, she smiled back.

I will. Thank you so much, She said with a sheepish dip of her head, tail wagging softly behind her. That was it! She was a Redhawk now! Sapphira was filled with exhilaration, ready to become familiar with the place and everyone in it.

If there was anything Niamh was sure of, it was that Tegan seemed to really want to have this girl around. She was pretty- but at the same time, Niamh wanted to make sure that Tegan's reputation wasn't banked on vouching for this girl. Niamh had yet to really recruit someone into the pack- likely because she'd have to know a stranger for some time before she'd vouch for them- there was no way she was going to let someone trick her into letting them eventually sully her good name. 

Hopefully she would be an adequate healer, at least, and she smply nodded when Quixote gave his judgement. She ran her tongue over her teeth, wincing slightly when she touched the sore spot where her tooth had been, but hid it well. She blinked, and looked to Tegan to catch his reaction, and then returned her glance to Sapphira. She stood up, and bobbed her head to her new packmate. "Welcome 'o the pack, Sapphira," She said, and began to pick her away along the borders as she had been before.