Heron Lake Plateau Back to the Future II

Clutching a partridge gently in her mouth, Niamh made the couple-hour trek to the plateau which reared up to the West above the forest. She knew to make her way to the northern borderlands where the slope was gentle enough for her to make her way to the borders, unlike the ridge of steep rock and dirt that faced the Copse. It had warmed up a bit as the day went on, so by the time noon hit, and Niamh reached the borders, she wasn't too chilly, especially given the fact that she'd been travelling and had kept herself warm. 

Part of her wanted to track Towhee down- but she wasn't entirely certain how welcome she was to simply traipse through the pack's territory now, regardless of the fact that she'd once lived here. She'd been told that Redhawks were welcome at the Copse- but they were still to have an escort with them, just so nobody who was new thought they were trespassing and treated them thusly. She assumed the same would be true for the Redhawks. So she sat where she was, hoping that she might spot Towhee in the distance. She wanted nothing more than to hide until Towhee passed, and then smack her right square on the hind end with the partridge she was carrying.

oh ohooo ! but it wasn't towhee! tegan was king, lately, of showing up when he wasn't wanted, which was entirely hilarious because he totally wasn't meaning to -- whereas a few weeks ago that was the sole purpose of his existence. funny how things play out, isn't it? 

as tegan patrolled, he spotted niamh with a deeply furrowed brow, his tail flicking once. why was she sitting like that? she looked dumb as fuck. who was she waiting for? probably towhee -- had she called? tegan didn't remember hearing her howl. ugh. maybe he'd gone momentarily deaf or something. he peered at her through the underbrush, calling out as he approached. "hey," he barked, coming to a halt a little bit aways, "what'd'ya want?" make it snappy tegan had theoretical places to be.

Niamh waited for quite some time patiently. Even if all members of the pack were patrolling at once in even intervals, she couldn't expect to see one too promptly just because of the size of their claimed terrain. She looked up for a moment, distracted by the sound of wings and scanned for any sign of birds, but looked down again when she heard someone approaching. It was Tegan, and she immediately felt an ache in her chest. She hadn't been around when he'd returned to the pack following Bat's death- but she'd been told that he'd been with her when it had happened. She wasn't sure how to bring it up, or how to talk to him about it. He didn't look like himself, and when he spoke, it was abruptly- as though he simply expected her to state her business and then leave. 

She opened her mouth to reply, dropping the partridge as she did so, but again she heard the sound of wings, and looked up to see X circling, so she chuffed, hoping to encourage him to join them. The hawk seemed to bear some of Towhee's grudge, but obliged, landing on the ground near them. "I just came to visit," She said. And truthfully, she hadn't really planned out who she'd wanted to see- but anyone would do. "Hey X...Do you think you could take this to @Towhee? Please?" She asked, wilting a bit under the hawk's stern gaze. "It's a gift, from me...But...Could you drop it on her head or something? She'll get it, I promise." She said, scooting the partridge closer to him so that he could take it. He picked it up, still giving her a slightly hard stare, before he took off, with the partridge in his claws. She had no idea whether he'd actually do as she asked or not. She looked back to Tegan. "You doing OK?"

no duh you're coming to visit. a single ear flicked at her comment, and he stared at her sort of plainly until X dropped down at niamh's request. then she spoke to the bird, who seemed to take the command and then take off again with the parcel. tegan stared up at the bird as it flew, his ears flicking upwards as niamh was suddenly asking how he was. he was silent, his gaze remaining on X until the bird was a decent ways off. like he didn't want the bird to hear him, or something. yeah, like a bird is gonna go tattle on him for being sad or something. 

"fine," tegan answered, letting his head and gaze drop back towards her. "i dunno. no ones here anymore." he tried to divert the conversation, his gaze narrowing on the blonde wolf before him. "i'm not mad at you, by the way," he added, nose dipping as he peered down the bridge of it, "for leaving. i don't blame you. i bet it's nice not to have to look at the same plateau every single day."

Tegan didn't seem fine- he seemed a bit flat, and seemed to dislike the move, which had taken his sister and his parents away from him. She decided to try and use a bit of humour to lighten the situation, bt wasn't sure afterwards if she'd gone too far or not. "Just nice not having to look at your mug every day." She said. She gave him a small smile, and then moved forward to nip his cheek gently. "An; you can be as mad at me as you want." She said, shrugging her shoulder. She wiggled her hips lightly. "Some day I'm gonna be your...." She said and stopped. Niamh wasn't the best at figuring out how all these Blackthorns were related. "Aunt someday. Or something like that."