Heron Lake Plateau Sooner rather than later

Taking Towhee's advice, Phox prepped himself for The Talk with @Raven. If Quixote tagged along, whatever, but Raven was the one he really cared about. She had been such a huge help to both him and Camilla, not to mention the fact that she had nursed him as a child. She was second only to Towhee (well, as far as adults went), and he wanted her to know of their plans first.

He traveled to a quiet clearing on the plateau, sat down, then sent up the call for her. In the meantime, his heart thumped loudly in his chest. He knew word would spread quickly (perhaps even to the Firebirds before he could make the trip there), and he wasn't exactly looking forward to defending his future choice.

Raven roused from her nap bleary-eyed and a little disoriented. She'd risen early that morning to tag along with Quixote on one of his usual rounds of the borders, but soon they'd parted ways as she became distracted by a variety of interesting plants she wanted to harvest for her stash. Winter had seen her stores depleted significantly as the pack continued to require medical attention while nature provided no replacements, but now that spring was here in full, she took every opportunity she could get to restock. Many of the plants needed to be processed in certain ways -- some needed to be set out in the sun to wilt, others needed the roots baked and dried, still others needed the leaves or blossoms stripped away -- and by the time she was finished, she was tired!

She had no doubt now that she was pregnant again, given how quickly her energy flagged in the afternoon heat. The subtle curve of her midsection removed all doubt, and nothing filled her with greater joy. As she yawned and stretched, she peered at her belly and grinned. Motherhood was not a cake walk by any means, but she enjoyed it tremendously.

As she shook out her coat and readied herself to go find and rejoin her mate, a call directed specifically at her caught her attention. It was Phox, and she wasted no time answering his summons. It didn't take long to find him, since the den in which she kept her medicine stash was located somewhat centrally within the territory. Inwardly relieved to see that he wasn't injured or anything, she greeted her brotherchild with a bright smile and a waving tail, touching his chin with her nose as she drew near. "Hey Phox! What's up?"

Phox had been so busy with the kids, he hadn't seen Raven in a few days, but seeing her now, he was sure of it: she and Quixote would be having more children this year. Welp, that answered Wildfire's question! Phox figured Raven probably would have given her the low-down while she'd been visiting. He wondered if she'd gotten her throat thing figured out. Hopefully so.

He smiled as she approached, closing his eyes at her mothersister gesture, which he returned with a lick to her cheek. I see you've brought some extras along for the ride, he said, eyeballing her midsection. No need to rush right into the potentially world-shattering news. He'd enjoy the smalltalk while he could.

She grinned at his observation, glad that it was becoming noticeable. Something about pregnancy filled her with pride, a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Perhaps this was part of being alpha, perhaps it was just part of who she was. Perhaps both. She nodded and replied cheerily, "Yep! Looks like I'm the clown car carrying around another batch of hellions." She almost mentioned that she hoped they all stuck around for the ride, thinking darkly back to the stillbirths of her previous season, but fortunately she remembered Phox's situation had been far worse -- she was, after all, at least still alive -- and she let that comment die before it had a chance to come out and bring to the surface wounds that had only just begun to heal for her poor brother.

"So what's going on?" she asked him, cutting straight to the chase. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy small talk, she'd just never been one to beat around the bush when someone, particularly family, needed her for something.

He could sense how excited she was about the next generation of Redhawks, and he grinned. It would be nice that they Fig and Fennec would get even more cousins this year. Between Raven's kids, Wildfire's kids, and his own, the Redhawks were practically taking over the Teekon Wilds. Which, of course, brought him to answering the question of why he had called upon Raven in the first place.

It won't be for another couple of months—when Fig and Fennec are older—but Towhee, the kids, and I are planning to leave the plateau and move somewhere nearby. If she wanted an explanation (an excuse?) as to why he was leaving, Phox was fully prepared to give one, but perhaps she would take the news at face-value and not dive deeper into it. I'd like to remain allies... like you've done with Wildfire and the Firebirds. His face and voice remained steady, trying to gauge how Raven was taking the news.

Of all the things Phox could have said -- literally all of them -- what he actually said was the last thing in the entire world she expected to hear. Like legit the last thing. She deflated like a sad balloon, the cheer of moments before hissing out of her in the span of less than a second at the words "leaving the plateau". The smile vanished, the waving tail fell like a bird dying in midair, and she was momentarily completely speechless. She just stared at her brother, feeling like her heart was going to fall through the floor of her chest and hit the ground. When she finally found her voice, it was barely above a whisper as she choked out, ".....Why?"

I love how Raven is coaching Phoebe through this same thing with Eljay in another thread. *stalks* <3

She deflated quickly, and for a moment, Phox wondered if she might collapse right onto the ground. He really didn't want to be the death of two mothers this year, whoops. Then came the question he had been dreading. He'd even contemplated straight-up lying to her, but the reason was one that he couldn't avoid, and he knew it would be better to come clean now.

Quixote. I know you love him, and I know he's great for you, but I just can't respect him as a leader. There wasn't any one thing that Quixote had done, but he hadn't really done anything as far as Phox could tell. He was, as Towhee so eloquently put it: milk toast. He was boring to Phox, and the Gamma needed something else.

I'm not asking you to choose me or him, he added. Well, Phox was essentially choosing for her, but he didn't see it that way. I'll still come visit with Towhee and the kids. He couldn't continue following somebody he didn't believe in. In fact, some part of him thought this might help mend the relationship (if it could be called that) with Quixote. Maybe being apart would be better for the both of them.

First he'd said the most unexpected thing, now he'd said the wrong thing. Or said it the wrong way, at least. Redhawks were never the type to mince words, but she took Phox's statements in about the worst way they could be taken. Raven was typically slow to anger, but the anguish and sadness she might have felt was almost immediately extinguished by a tide of it in the wake of Phox's words. Her ears turned rearward and her eyes gleamed with ire as she replied in a barbed tone, "Is it because he isn't a *~*real*~* Redhawk? Because that's a bone Towhee has picked to death since the day Quixote became alpha and I gotta be honest, I'm getting fucking sick of it." It hadn't been so long ago that Towhee had bullied Raven into alphaship again because for some reason, having a non-Redhawk in the driver's seat was unacceptable for her. So Raven had reluctantly agreed to retake her position and here they were again -- more whining about Quixote.

He was pretty sure he saw steam coming out of her ears in that instant, and Phox's ears slicked back in defense. I can't speak for Towhee, he said a bit quietly, but he doesn't inspire me. Redhawk or not, he's not somebody I want making decisions for me and my children. He sighed, wishing that there was some resolution where everybody was happy, but so far, that hadn't happened by doing nothing. Once we're away, there won't be anymore whinging from either me or Towhee. If they were no longer subjected to having Quixote as a leader, there would be nothing to whinge about. Putting distance between them and changing the dynamic was the last resort, and he hoped that Raven could (one day) see that.

"He doesn't inspire me."

That was his reason for turning his back on family. For deserting the pack he'd been born into. For waving a flaming, neon-lit bird finger in Raven's face. Presumably, Towhee was on board with this shit-show too, which baffled Raven even more. Towhee had always been hardcore, foaming-at-the-mouth, 5000% dyed-in-the-wool Redhawks. She was loyal. And if Raven remembered correctly, she had promised to always be there to back Raven up. So what the fuck was this? They were bye-Felicia-ing out because Quixote didn't ~inspire~ them?

She said nothing for several long seconds after Phox's final comment, the wheels turning in her head.

"You know what?" she finally said, her eyes narrowing as anger simmered in their honey depths. "If you aren't loyal to our family or to the wolf who runs himself ragged to keep you fed and safe, then you don't get to sit here and use up the resources he provides until deserting us is more convenient for you. You can all get the hell out now."

Phox scowled. Quixote? Providing? Phox had never seen him do a damn thing. Running himself ragged? Definitely hadn't seen that. But she had insulted Phox personally, and that crossed a line for him. Are you fucking kidding me, Raven? I've been hunting for this pack and keeping our caches filled since the day I came back. I hardly think I'm a leech. I hunt for my kids, for Towhee, for myself, and I give more back to the pack. There may have been a short period immediately following his injury when he had not been as active in doing his part, but this downright infuriated him. He had done nothing but put himself one hundred percent into this pack. He was seething now.

If you want to kick me out for telling you my feelings, then go right ahead, but know that our bridges will be burnt if you do that. Towhee told me to come to you now to give you time to prepare, but maybe I should have gone with my gut. He wanted to give her time to retract her accusations, her impulse decision, but it would be a one-time-only deal.

SO SPICY

She had a lot to say on the subject of what Qui did for their pack, but if he was too blind to recognize it himself, then it was a waste of time to argue. So fixated was he on guarding their borders that she'd made it almost all the way through her heat before he'd paid any attention to her, for crying out loud. But clearly Phox already had his mind made up about their "uninspiring" alpha male and nothing Raven said to him would change it. So she let that one go.

Her tone had cooled somewhat as her temper subsided (slightly), but there was still an iron hardness in it that came less from the doting mothersister side of her and more from the alpha who wanted to hulk out on someone right now. "You know...you're right -- what I said was total bullshit, and I'm sorry. Nobody can deny that you work your ass off for this pack, least of all me." Pissed though she was, she still had enough self-awareness to know when she was way over the line. "But you insult my mate and spit on his leadership when he's done nothing but work for this pack since day one. You're crawling up my ass because I've insulted your work ethic when you sit there and do the same to my face about Quixote's. Maybe you don't see what he does, I could understand that, but instead of just talking to me about your concerns, you blindside me with 'Heyyy fuck you, your mate sucks, we're out.' Dude. How exactly did you see this conversation ending when you started it like that?"

The kids were old enough to be left alone sometimes, although Towhee had a hard time walking away from them if nobody else was there to supervise. She forced herself to leave them unattended but not without several sharp reminders to stay put or else. She really wished X was around so she could ask the hawk to keep an eye on them, yet he'd been gone more often than not lately.

It would've been an understatement to say she was extremely distracted as she made her way to the borders for what would be the world's least attentive patrol ever. She found herself constantly thinking of Fig and Fen, worrying about them running away and getting into trouble of some sort. More than once, she slowed and considered turning around and going back. They need to learn to be independent, she argued with herself, just not too independent... yep, that's it, I'm going back...

But even as she swiveled, something caught Towhee's eye in the middle distance. She rolled to a stop, staring at what appeared to be a heated conversation between Raven and Phox. Oh no, oh SHIT, was all the mercenary had time to think before she burst into a gallop. "HEY HEY, PARTY PEOPLE, WHAT IS HAP-PEN-ING?!" she bellowed as she approached, trying to cut through the tension crackling through the air in between the two (she swore she saw lightning bolts shooting from Raven's eyes!). Towhee had a good guess as to the why, though she was more than a little taken aback that the two appeared to be on the verge of blows. Neither Phox nor Raven was the type, so what exactly had gone down here?

Phox didn't think he had insulted Quixote's work ethic (at least not out loud), but that was how Raven had taken it. Quite frankly, it was just a personal vendetta that had no merit (not that Phox would ever admit or see it that way). I guess I could have worded it better, Phox said sheepishly, feeling whatever anger he'd drummed up melt away. He had never claimed to be the smarted Redhawk (far from it), but he had always been blunt and honest to a fault. And quite honestly, of all the ways he'd seen this going, this was the last way he had seen it unfolding. But what can ya do? That's the fun of collaborative writing! ;)

He was about to ask if this meant they could stay when Towhee came crashing in, completely changing the mood for the third time in about ten seconds. Phox was getting some serious emotional whiplash. He glanced at Raven, wondering if he should wait for her to explain, but then thought better of it. -I told Raven about our plans, and about how Quixote is milk toast.- That last bit was a sign he'd used only with Towhee, so it was likely that Raven wouldn't catch on to what it was. -She wanted to kick us out, but... I don't think she's going to do that now?- he half-asked, letting Raven decide if that

Phox seemed to relax, and with this change Raven felt some of tension ease out of her own stance and demeanor. She was still furious, make no mistake. But while her temper was black and terrible, she had never been the type to maintain it for very long. She nodded to his assent, recognizing that that was about as close to an apology as she was likely to get from him. One thing about Phox she knew to be true was that he was honest -- sometimes brutally so -- and while he might have worded his sentiments regarding Quixote poorly, she knew it was legitimately how he felt and no matter how this clusterfuck shook out, that was a problem none of them could ignore.

Towhee suddenly arrived in the way only Towhee could, and it might have been funny as hell had Raven not been a hairsbreadth from strangling her brother only moments before. Phox quickly explained to Towhee what was going on, not understanding the sign he used to describe her mate at the end and certainly not wanting to know it. To the question left suspended at the end of his comments, Raven said nothing. Her decision was not made yet. She just looked at him for a moment, her gaze heavy with the bitterness and betrayal she felt, before turning her eyes to Towhee. She maintained her silence, waiting to see what Towhee had to say about all of this.

She hadn't caught a single word of the exchange, though her brother quickly signed a brief explanation. Towhee wondered if he'd actually said those words. Judging by the thundercloud hovering over Raven's brow: yes, he had. Her stomach nearly fell out of her butt at the next few signs. This had never really registered as a possibility—as far as she could tell, Wildfire's aspirations had gone smoother than Astroglide—so what had gone so terribly wrong?

Suddenly, Towhee recollected her recent encounter with Tegan, when he'd insulted Phox for seemingly no reason whatsoever (although she'd later found out there was a reason). She had been seriously annoyed and he was her brother, not her mate. It was entirely possible, then, that Raven looked so steamed just because Phox had insulted Quixote, especially when Towhee considered just how many times Raven had had to field criticism of bother herself and her fellow Alpha.

Facing their older sister, Towhee frowned. -Look, I don't know what he said but please... I do not want to leave on bad terms. Please,- she repeated firmly. Drawing in a breath and glancing at Phox, then back to their older sister, she added, -You KNOW I didn't make this decision lightly, not with my history. But I think it's the best option for all involved if Phox and I spin off and do our own thing, just like Wildfire did. The two of us will stop heckling you guys and do our own thing. You'll run things your way, we'll run things our way. You'll raise your kids, we'll raise ours. That's what it's really about: focusing on our families.-

They would always be family, though Towhee hoped Raven knew what she meant about their smaller, nuclear groups. Their opinions on Quixote aside, this wasn't about bad blood or broken faith. It wasn't supposed to be a negative thing. Of course, neither had Wildfire's idea to create the Firebirds and Towhee had taken that very poorly indeed. So she could see it from both sides and empathize. She just honestly hoped the three (well, four) of them could reach an understanding about it all.

Nice try.

But before you go and get all grumpiddy grump at Fig, I just want it to be known that it was 100% Fenn's idea. She was the first one to get bored. She was the first one to step outside of the den. She was the first one to get bored again and bounce off after Towhee. Fig was completely innocent. When @Fennec first stepped outside, Fig had paced back and forth at the mouth of the den, whimpering like a mother fucker for a good five minutes before he calmed down enough to creep out after her. He was just feeling comfortable again Fenn decided it was time to get into more trouble. His first response was to once again pace around, whimpering like mad. But then she was out of sight, and he had no choice. He ran after her.

And that's the story I'm sticking to. If Starr's post says otherwise, just ignore it, she's wrong.

After a little while of travel, the excitement of what they were doing began to catch up to Fig. His tail began to wag as they walked and explored and he even giggled a few times, particularly when he'd had to race to Fenn and bodily redirected her away from the edge of a stream (silly Fenn!), or when he'd run ahead to snatch a large stick out of her path before she tripped on it (she's the silliest sister!). So by the time they caught up with their wayward Aunt, Fig was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Right up until... Well, until they caught up with their wayward Aunt. Then, he was terrified again. The moment he spotted the adults, Fig made to grab Fenn by the scruff and pull her down into the grass with him to hide (her attempting to waltz right up to them was NOT the good kind of silly). When she resisted, he whined urgently to make her stop, anxious to not be so loud that he would draw attention to themselves, but also trying to be loud enough that she knew this was not a drill. They were totally boned if they didn't hide like now.

Oh no brother, this was 100% Fenn's fault.  But also Towhee's for LEAVING THEM with absolutely nothing to do and expecting them to stay put.  That was like setting a... well... a puppy on the ground, walking away, and figuring they won't follow.  Nope.  She was on that train.

And this was going great! See, there was no danger to the outside! She traipsed along without a ton of worry, zigging this way and that as she checked out anything that looked, smelled, or sounded cool.  Fig was doing whatever it was Fig did, picking up sticks and shoving her, jeeze.

Until they reached Towhee and Phox.  And while Fig made to hide, Fenn broke out in a run.... running straight for dad, who turned out to be Raven, because they were both dark and she couldn't see shit.

Towhee, as usual, was much better at words, despite not actually speaking out loud. Funny how that worked. When she was done, he furrowed his brow in sudden realization, -Who's watching the ki– In comes Fennec, crashing right into Raven. Well, wasn't *that* odd. Then again, not terribly odd, considering by this point Phox was pretty damn sure that his daughter was blind as a bat. Perhaps he should have named her after her cousin instead. She certainly had the ears for it.

Fig?! he called out, realizing that where one of them went, the other one was never too far off. Funny how much they were like their father and aunt that way.

Despite her typically gentle nature, Raven had no problem being a hard-ass when a situation called for it...unless it was Towhee she was dealing with.

She was putty in Towhee's hands. The alpha could never be angry with her sister, and it certainly helped that Towhee was strangely better at diplomacy than Phox was. As the younger Redhawk explained, Raven felt the last dregs of her anger slowly seep away, leaving her feeling tired and defeated in its wake. Was this the way things would always be? Friends and loved ones would always leave and break her heart? She knew it didn't have to be bad -- it hadn't been bad at all when Wifi had left, after all -- but Towhee had been by her side literally since birth. The concept of living without her around here was alien to her. She hated it.

She sighed, all resentment gone from her face. Only sadness lingered in her eyes now as she looked at Towhee and said in a somber tone, signing along with her words mostly out of habit by now, -"I wish there was something I could say to make you reconsider, but it sounds like you two are pretty set on--"- She was suddenly interrupted by the soft whuppeting of footfalls on grass immediately preceding the impact of a tiny wrecking ball hitting her square in the legs. She wasn't hit hard at all, but since she was using one of her paws to sign and thus standing on only three legs, she stumbled awkwardly and nearly fell over on her side, making a lot of less-than-graceful sounds in the process. A bewildered glance revealed that Fennec had been her assailant, and she couldn't help the gale of giggles that took her then. These damn kids, omg. They were so Redhawks!

She affectionately ruffled the fuzz on Fenn's head with her tongue and, with a gentle nudge in the right direction, directed her toward her dad. Phox's attention was on finding his wayward son, who surely had to be close by. The thorny subject at hand was momentarily put on pause while Raven scanned their surroundings and sniffed the air, thinking she smelled the other half of Phox's dastardly duo but uncertain if it was just residual scent clinging to Fenn's fur.

Speaking of families, the two youngest members of the Pho-Tow squad appeared out of goddamn nowhere. Well, one of them did, ramming into Raven's legs like a furry bowling ball. Towhee missed her brother's half sentence entirely as she blinked at this development, totally nonplussed. She'd read the Guidebook, damn it! It had clearly said:

By the 5 week mark, pups may accompany adults on short trips away from the den.

Oh, maybe that was her mistake: she shouldn't have left them alone, she should have brought them with her. Well, they were here now, so... no harm, no foul? Except she could only see the one (Fen), where was the other? Surely her blind daughter hadn't found her way here via magic. Fig was around here somewhere, for sure...

Her orange gaze found Phox. She couldn't hear him calling for their son, though she could read his body language clearly. Wanting to do her part, Towhee called out, "FIGLET!" and began scouring their surroundings.

Although 98% of her attention was on locating her son, the remaining 2% of Towhee's brain registered the twosome's unceremonious arrival here as both exemplar and metaphor. Although she had never envisioned her life going like this—she would never have kids and certainly never leave her birth pack—Fig and Fen had come out of fuckin' nowhere and wiped out everything she thought she knew about her world.

Along with their father, they were taking Towhee to new and uncharted places. Hopefully Raven would come around and understand that. And if she didn't, maybe she could just be glad to be rid of these two adorably naughty baby faces... oh, and Fig and Fen too. ;)

Fen got away from him in the end, leaving Fig to huddle there with his eyes huge and mouth hanging open in shock at her audacity. It was as though she didn't even know the meaning of the or else Towhee had threatened them with! Granted, he didn't either, but he also wasn't eager to find out. But, it seemed his sister was determined they learn the meaning of it today, or so it seemed as she barreled across the grass and smashed into Aunt Raven like a damn buffoon playing at all kinds of buffoonery.

Fig cowered against the ground when he heard them calling for him. He considered bailing for a moment, but of course he didn't. As if he was going to do anything in his life without Fen.

He stood and walked over to his parents like a man walking the plank, with his head and tail slung low with guilt and shame. When he made it to them, he stopped in the center of the three of them and flopped mournfully onto the ground between them with his little ears splayed to either side of his head and his chin between his paws. He craned his eyeballs to peek up at them, making the saddest puppy face known to man as he awaited his fate.

Fenn, unlike her brother, had no shame.  To have that she had to care about breaking the rules, but when the rules were terrible there was no way she was to be expected to follow them.  Why would she do a silly thing like that?

Raven took her mistake with grace and gave her a kiss, then set her on the right path.  Oohhhh, ok, the other dark shape.

She charged for that one as well and this time was rewarded with dad's leg instead.  Fenna Feeya folla  she announced.  Then she rolled over sideways in front of her dad, inviting him to a good old wrestle.

Oh HELL no, sister. Fig's head shot up as Fen informed their father that she had been the one to follow him. At least, that was his interpretation of her babbling. And he was so offended by it that he forced me to skip the posting order and break all of the rules of RP, just so he could have his say in the matter, which went something like "FendiddiFIRS!! Fendidfirs!!!" as he looked frantically between his evil sister and their parents, determined that they understand where to place their blame. But as soon as his statement had been made, he went back to melting into a remorseful puddle of puppy on the ground.

I think it's my turn!

Fig looked like he was in trouble, but Phox didn't really see it that way. Sure, they'd been asked to stay at the den, but how much could their guardians really expect them to follow orders? They were toddlers at best, and they'd always been ahead of the curve, despite their early arrival. Phox was just happy that both Fig and Fenn had made their way here rather than wander off and have something happen to them. With the kids accounted for, Phox steered the conversation back on topic.

-I really do think it will be best for everybody.- Phox and Quixote had never bonded, and he didn't see that changing anytime soon. Maybe if they weren't living together, it wouldn't feel like such a festering problem. -And like Wildfire said, we can get all the kids together in a couple of months.- Phox fully intended on sticking with that plan.