Heron Lake Plateau oogum boogum

Kiwi had wandered off somewhere, and Sequoia decided to seek out other friends (potential or current) today instead. With that in mind, she began to seek out @Buckshot's color and any unfamiliar colors that might lead her to @Tegan. The latter one she was particularly interested in, since she had not met him and he was apparently a scout. Bat had said he lived around here, so she was bound to run into him eventually, right? Even if she didn't, perhaps she'd run into somebody else interesting. All the wolves here were pleasant so far, and she had no reason to think he would be anything but.

Bounding through a snow drift, she face-planted right in the middle of the thing. Only her hind legs and tail stuck out, wriggling as she tried to break free.

Unaware of the drama unfolding elsewhere, Wildfire returned to the plateau following another trip to Sun Mote Copse. Something about the place drew her, perhaps simply the peacefulness of the forest with its river views and breathtaking mountainous backdrop. But she was happy to be home and paused for a moment after crossing the borders to contemplate where to head next. She hadn't had a chance to tell the leaders about her conversation with Phex yet. With a flick of her inky tail, she began trotting toward the place where Quixote and Raven lived with their kids.

En route, she spotted a pair of legs and a tail thrusting out of a snowdrift. Wildfire laughed out loud at the sight, even as she hastened to assist. "Sequoia!" she called when she recognized the scent of her niece-turned-daughter (naughter? diece?). "Here, let me..." she added in the next breath, gently closing her teeth around the youth's tail and giving it a tug.

Whatever Sequoia had not estimated correctly, it had certainly not helped. She heard muffled noises outside of the snow, then a tugging on her tail. Ow! she yelped, That hurts! She had a good feeling her words were getting lost in the snow that was covering her, but it was reactionary more than anything. Instead of being pulled up, Sequoia slipped free of Wildfire's grip, digging herself further into the drift of snow. Once there, she was able to dig herself through the drift and out the other side.

Whew! she exclaimed, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. Don't know how I got myself into that pickle! Sequoia shook her coat, and snow went flying every which way. What's up, Wildfire? she asked, letting her head fall to one side, and that ear fell to the side in a half-flop.

When she heard some muffled shouting, Wildfire paused but did not release her grasp. It wasn't until she felt Sequoia's tail pulling in the other direction entirely that she relaxed her jaw and let it slip loose. A moment later, the youth popped up on the drift's other side, bits of powdery snow still clinging to her fur. Wildfire chuckled fondly at her comment.

"Not too much. I was just hanging out at the copse for a little bit, now I'm headed to see Quixote to talk about a possible alliance. Would you like to come with me?" She knew all about her "naughter's" aspirations and would be happy to help her, just like Phex. Actually, she was twice as thrilled to train Sequoia, who was one of her own.

As soon as Wildfire started speaking, Sequoia had a dozen question bubbling up to the surface. It was all she could do to keep them contained until Wifi stopped talking. Yeah! What's the copse? What kind of alliance? Does it have anything to do with Drageda? Did you know Quixote smells like his eyes?! She was an eager pupil, that much was clear, and the questions were rattled off in quick succession with nary a breath between.

Sequoia had never been part of an alliance before (at least not one she knew of), and talking to Quixote sounded big and important, because he was the leader here. She remembered him quite well, considering his eyes and his smell were practically the same color. She was also excited for the chance to further prove herself as a scout.

As Sequoia fired off questions, Wildfire grinned. I really ought to introduce her to Phex, she thought. Maybe I could start an ambassadorship class! She snorted lightly at the thought—and her "naughter's" inquisitive nature—and waited for the flow to stop before speaking.

"Sun Mote Copse. It's a few miles to the east. I'd love to take you there sometime, it's very pretty. I met a wolf named Phex there, she's from a pack nearby called Shadewood. She mentioned that her leadership wants to meet with ours to discuss hunting ground arrangements. I offered to pass the message along to our leaders. Since Quixote's the Alpha, I plan to go to him first." She paused for a quick breath. "No, nothing to do with Drageda. Really? Has that ever happened before?" Wildfire was a little familiar with Sequoia's ability (I assume) and she was curious about this particular development.

Yeah, let's go sometime! Sequoia interjected when Wildfire mentioned they should go sometime. She was literally always down for some adventuring, and she was really starting to get the itch since they had gotten here and settled in a bit. As to the question asked about Quixote's eyes, Sequoia nodded. Buckshot kinda smells like his fur, but nobody's ever smelled like their eyes like he does. Most of the time, the smell color seemed completely disassociated with the rest of the wolf. Sequoia had always wondered where the colors came from, but she hadn't been able to find a conclusive answer or even anybody who smelled the same way she did.

In all the scouting you did, did you ever meet somebody who could smell colors? she asked. Daddy Dio didn't really seem to know what I was talking about when I explained it to him, and neither does anybody else. I think they try to, but it's different to me. Perhaps, if she'd been a different sort of child, she would have felt singled out. Instead, Sequoia had taken to thinking that this was some special gift that only she had been granted because she was just that awesome.

Wildfire wanted to suggest they invite Bat or Kiwi along but she put a pin in that thought to revisit later. At the moment, she found the topic of Sequoia's special ability to be quite interesting. It was hard to understand what exactly she meant about smelling colors, though Wildfire didn't doubt Sequoia's extra sense, nor worry about it, for that matter. It was harmless, as far as she could tell.

"No, you're the only one I've ever known to have that talent," Wildfire said, unable to resist the urge to lift a petite paw and gently boop Sequoia's snoot, in an entirely motherly way. "I don't understand it completely but I think it sounds pretty cool. Remind me: what color am I?"

Once Sequoia answered that, the redhead decided to bring up her earlier thought. "Should we ask Bat or Kiwi to come with us to visit the copse, maybe tomorrow morning?" She doubted Bat would want to come—actually, the sisters might void one another—but Wildfire wanted to at least invite them.

A "talent," huh? She was definitely going to let this go straight to her head and grow her ego a few sizes bigger... as if it needed the encouragement. Sequoia took a deep breath in, as if to refresh her memory on what color Wildfire was, even though she knew it well at this point. You're like the sky when there are just a few wispy clouds in the afternoon. It wasn't the dark sky of the twilight or deep evening blue. Nor was it the color of water, which was much darker. Sequoia was pretty sure she'd seen some flowers that were the same color, but she wasn't sure what to call them, so the sky was the closest alternative.

Maybe just one of them, Sequoia suggested, casting Wildfire a knowing glance. Each time she had mentioned Kiwi's name in front of Bat (or the other way around), they'd gotten cold and distant, like they didn't want to talk to each other. Sequoia understood it well, considering she had never gotten along with her litter mates. I don't think they like each other very much.

Although she didn't say anything, the look on her face was delighted when Sequoia described her color. She couldn't guess as to why the universe (or whatever) had attributed that particular shade to her... but she couldn't complain. It did cross her mind that maybe it was the color of tears, of which Wildfire had shed plenty in her time.

Sequoia pointed out the obvious rift between the sisters. Wildfire sighed and nodded. "Kiwi's still upset that Bat left Drageda in the first place. And Bat seems to resent both of us for showing up here." That animosity didn't seem to include Sequoia, though instead of being upset about that, she was just grateful. "I'm not really sure what to do except... keep trying. If you have any brilliant ideas how to get them to make up, I'm all ears." She paused to consider and added, "Let's ask Kiwi." Out of the two, she was definitely the more likely to accept anyway. She'd work on Bat another time.

"Okay, you ready to go find Quixote?" she invited in the next breath, readying her step.

Since @Quixote's probably tied up in plots right now, I figure we could fade here and figure out what happened behind the scenes? :)

Whew, at least their mother knew about it, so Sequoia didn't quite feel like the bearer of bad news. Again, Seq found it odd that anybody would be mad at somebody for leaving, but she let that go for now. If she could just get Kiwi to understand that leaving wasn't all that bad... besides! They were back together now with the Redhawks, so what was the big deal? Yeah, I guess we just gotta keep trying, Sequoia agreed. Once again, she felt like she was out-maturing her peers. Not to the extent that she had with her litter mates, but c'mon! Just get along, you two! Kiwi did seem like the better option, considering Bat was a scout by trade and she'd probably already been there.

Wildfire suggested they go find Quixote, and Sequoia nodded. To Quixote! she proclaimed, and she began marching in whatever direction his scent color was strongest.