Heron Lake Plateau yeet

Bat made a point of saying her goodbyes to @Terance, @Ibis and anyone else who might care or notice her absence. She felt like she'd done a good job repaying their kindness and it was time to head back to the plateau. The plan was to pay a visit for a few days, then really get started on her plan to travel, now that spring was here.

Of course, she stopped by Sun Mote Copse on her way back west. Wildfire herself appeared at the borders to greet her, then ushered her into the territory, where she met @Weejay and @Elfie. They were so small! Bat spent about half an hour there, though the novelty wore off pretty quickly. They weren't much more than blobs right now. Maybe the next time she swung by, they would actually be able to do stuff together.

Finally, she rolled up at the base of Heron Lake Plateau. Unaware of all the drama surrounding @Tegan (and, hell, the rest of the pack), Bat planted her paws and howled for her best buddy.

tegan had been patrolling because ... there was nothing else to do. he was back to being useless and not caring in the slightest about his rank. it was easier that way. but... well, if he didn't care why was he patrolling? fuck -- that might've been a conflict of interest. damn, he'd figure it out another day.

anyhoo. 

when bat called, tegan was a little surprised. it hadn't been too long since he'd returned, much less did he expect bat to be rolling up anytime soon. he almost wanted to ignore her... save it for towhee... but, well, towhee was deaf. so, whatever. he could be mature (???????) and handle this. 

he rolled up, tail swinging, ears pricking, and went, "oh shit, hey." nice.

As soon as he came within reach, Bat yeeted herself at Tegan. Wow, she'd missed him more than she'd even realized! Her pewter legs came up to wrap around his neck as she butted her head against his. "Hey!" she crowed into his ear. "I missed you, ugly," she quipped, huffing a laugh against his jawbone before releasing him and stepping back.

"How've you been?" she wanted to know in the very next breath, tail swaying hither and thither. Bat was glad to note that her crush hadn't suddenly resurfaced upon reuniting, though her heart burned with a fierce love for her friend anyway. Tegan would always be her most special (in all senses of the word) friend, no matter where life took her.

haven't finished the qui thread but i don't think anything crazy is gonna happen...

"who're you calling ugly, ugly?" tegan replied, quick and casual as ever. and as she pulled him into an embrace, tegan draped a casual limb over her to reciprocate, in true, tegan fashion. you ever seen him uncool? hell no, not a day in his life. dude smooth as hell. fuck you if you thought he'd lose the act over this. 

he shrugged when they pulled apart. "dandy, found screech, made some friends, quit the beta gig. back to being a kickass hell bringer," he answered with a wave of his tail, "how was the hollow?"

Bat's brows arched in surprise as he casually informed her of the latest goings-on in his life. "Screech?" she repeated in disbelief, brow furrowing now as she added, "You... quit? Why?" He'd sort of given a reason, though she was still surprised. "Not that I blame you," she said. "I absolutely approve of this decision." But she was still curious about the motive.

When he queried about the hollow, she smiled lightly and shrugged. "Oh, it was fine. I did a lot of hunting, brought some food to the new mothers in the pack. It wasn't particularly exciting and I didn't spend much time with anyone in particular. But I feel better for having repaid them."

he nodded, yeah, screech. "yeah, i think black feather woods is back," he replied. not that it mattered. there was literally nothing they could do. and then tegan shrugged. "didn't feel right," was all he said. because what else was there to say? he didn't really care to confide in bat anymore. i mean, look, he got it. he was definitely being a little overdramatic and was holding grudges a little too seriously. but honestly? he was pretty sure that bat was fully under the impression he totally had abandonment issues (not that he had fully admitted that to himself) and also knew how badly her last disappearance had shaken him up. to not trust him enough to tell him before they left? yeah, bat was definitely a grade a friend. 

change his mind. 

he gave another nod. "well good, i'm glad. you should probably call for quixote or towhee or ... yeah no those are your two options. i'm as useless as you are."

Bat didn't possess much firsthand experience with the whole Blackfeather debacle, though she knew it was a serious matter. Her lips pursed but she did not press Tegan for any further details right now. She would rather focus on being reunited with her pal.

He urged her to call for the resident leaders and Bat let out a breath. "I'm not actually here to stay. Remember what I said about doing a bunch of traveling? I plan to hang out nearby for a few days, catch up with you and anyone else who wants to see my beautiful face. Then I'm gonna hit the road again, for real. "

She felt herself growing tenser with every word. She'd mentioned this to him at the hollow, hadn't she? Or had she? Bat couldn't remember and didn't mean to blindside him again. But he hadn't reacted nearly as poorly as she'd anticipated then, so hopefully this wasn't going to be a big deal either way.

tegan just stared at her for a moment, green eyes blinking as she finished out her comment about leaving. his ears, finally, gave a single flick and he shrugged. "great. better let towhee and quixote know," he told her as blandly as a saltine cracker without any of the salt. if that was what she wanted, tegan really didn't care. if tegan cared more he might've felt blindsided, but she'd lost his trust already, so it had roughly a quarter of the emotional ouchies that it should've. 

at least, he was being pretty stubborn about it all, so it probably hurt more than he was allowing himself to hurt.

He just sort of stared at her. Bat stared back, the cogs of her mind spinning. She was pretty sure she'd mentioned this to him. Only when he spoke did it trigger an actual memory. She totally had told him this, because she'd mentioned always considering Redhawks home, as long as she was welcome.

None of that really mattered though. "Yeah," she replied, her eyes searching his face, "I will." Bat paused, then couldn't help but let all her prior insecurities well up inside her. Tegan had seemed entirely too casual about this whole thing back at the hollow, in hindsight. Was he playing it cool but secretly harboring all sorts of bad feels?

"Everything okay?" she queried, then awkwardly added, "Wanna, like, patrol and catch up and stuff?"

didn't really matter if she told him or not, he didn't officially remember many things (also probably because he didn't fully believe her when she told him). so they stood where they stood regardless. at her question, he almost scoffed out loud. 


instead, tegan just shook his head. "i promised i'd go visit my mom sometime soon. i gotta prepare for that," he informed her with a wave of his tail, "i'll see you around, though." or maybe not. maybe she'd slip out in the middle of the night and he'd never fuckin see her dumbass face again.

"O—okay," Bat managed as Tegan promptly disembarked. She turned to watch him leave, debating with herself. If he was going to the Firebirds, she could go with him. But something told her he didn't want her to do that. After all, he could've asked her along.

Feeling a little deflated, Bat stared ponderously at the borders for a few minutes. She then decided to howl for one of the leaders, after all. A while later, she was greeted by Towhee and X, the former of whom told her to stick to the adjacent territories if she wasn't here to commit to the pack.

Bat understood and fully intended to respect the Beta's wishes. But the cool reception from two of her favorite Redhawks definitely called for some time alone to think. She retreated into the nearby thicket to do some of that.