Heron Lake Plateau Front porch lookin in

this song was stuck in my head idek
aw though!! He's just hear to check in and update

He'd needed a while to get situated himself in his new role, but mostly he'd wanted to give both families time to grieve.  He had a hard time judging how long was enough, but today he felt it was about time to see how things were with Quixote and Raven.  Besides, they should probably know that he'd stepped up.

He howled when he got there, and he'd shown up empty pawed.  He hoped they didn't mind, but with so few adults, everything he could catch was going to go towards keeping the kids fed.  Especially since so many of their number weren't much up for hunting yet.

Hopefully @Quixote would come, though he wouldn't mind seeing @Raven again.  Towhee he could pass on, but gladly, she wouldn't hear anyway.  No hawk overhead; lovely.  He didn't know many of the others save Tegan, but his nephew was probably off ambassadoring somewhere.  Hopefully he was - Colt expected him to keep the name goin, least until Bronco grew up and could take over.

The weird oscillations of good and bad and unexpected and unknown did a good job at giving him a headache.  Maybe not a real headache, necessarily, but as soon as he started thinking about everything that had happened in this region of the map int he last... Month or so maybe, it started to make him feel pretty mentally exhausted and wish the whole damn thing would just go away.  These were supposed to be happy times.  Simple times.  It just seemed like whenever they were due a break and just be able to enjoy life a little, something had to happen to disrupt things, and then that might be followed by a few more things just for kicks.  It made him less social, so aside from quietly trying to put the puzzle pieces back together of this weird life he was living, perhaps it was unsurprising that he still hadn't gone over to see Firebirds.  That he still hadn't talked to Colt after that pack even formed.  Qui had issues, but at least they were pretty benign.

But he didn't forget who that howl was, even if it did make him feel like he was a bad friend or something.  Oh well.  Whatever the hell was going on with this pack, at least maybe he could use it as a new chapter or something -- try to turn over a new leaf.  At least Colt was someone he didn't feel like he had to treat with kid gloves, and he wondered how much his friend knew of what had happened on this side of the bog that separated the packs.  So, he showed up on the scene with a wag of his tail and his usual laid back demeanor (even if him being a bit weary of it all was somewhat visible through the cracks), Hey.  Been a while.  Everything going as okay as it can be?  Because dear lord he hoped Colt wasn't here to say stuff was exploding and they needed some help too, he wasn't sure if his brain could take it.

Qui looked tired but hell, so did he.  Probably not worth mentioning, since Colt figured his friend would let loose with it eventually if he wanted to and something was up.  Niamh had told him that Towhee was off and leaving, but by Colt's estimation, that had to be mostly a positive.  

Hey Qui, goin alright.  He smiled.  I'm a dad now, not sure if you heard.  That was the news he'd wanted to share most because it was the one that made him happiest.  The next was kinda, eh, and he shrugged before he'd even started.  And, funny enough, looks like I'm leadin the Firebirds for a while.  So much for free and easy.

He'd always made his view on leadership pretty clear to Quixote, so likely his friend understood the reluctance.  Wasn't so bad, though, so far.  How's the plateau? You and Raven?

Skimming threads, he probably didn't know.  Qui'd been so caught up in his own brain that he hadn't visited.  Stuff had been a pile of drama and bad news, so this really was a welcome respite.  His tail wagged, You're just gonna dump a ton of news on me. Congrats!  Whatcha got? They still in the little wiggler stage or they causing you trouble yet?  Niamh doing well?  Ray's still a few weeks out.  No maniacs in the pack this time, so hopefully things will go to plan.  But if Rannoch and Liffey brought one with them... Ugh.  Yeah, he was not tolerating that.  I thought it would have been -- actually Kiwi wasn't there, was she?  It was like suddenly on rewinding through the scene he realized a wolf or two was missing.  That's some really bad timing if so.  Was she back?  If so, he assumed Colt would answer that, no need to ask, there's already enough dialog in this post.  Welcome to the world of doing thankless jobs nobody else wants.

Here, though?  It's been weird -- tons of things happening at once and damned if I know what to think of it.  If he'd had fingers he would have counted them off, Towhee and Phox took off for where the hell ever, sometime in the next few days we're gonna have a bunch of new members, and after they show up we'll be moving a territory south because screw this waterlogged hell.  Or at least so was the plan unless they argued it.  Probably not, it wasn't like as new arrivals they had much ground to argue it had tons of good memories or something.  If you met Rannoch and Liffey when they visited, they're the ones showing up with their family.  By the time things settle down the pups'll be here.  But he was at least looking forward to not feeling like he had to avoid stepping on any toes.  Once he fully realized what that all meant, he'd probably be pretty stoked about it.  New territory, new people, and no judgmental twerps who demanded he bend to their will or something.  The whole thing was kind of like a rock tumbler or tombola or something in his head.  He'd forget about one the things, then it would come back and hit the surface of his consciousness again, rinse, repeat.

He had dropped a lot on him, but couldn't help the huge grin that lit up at the thought of his kids.  Trouble and a half.  Both of them.  One girl, Nellie, and a son Bronco.  Perfect too, both.  Kiwi's gone, who the hell knows where, so I was kind of last pickings.  

Congrats though!  About Raven.  I heard about Towhee and Phox but not the rest.  Glad you're upgrading then.  He gave a small smile, conspiratorially.  He imagined Raven might be upset by Towhee and Phox hitting the road, but he also imagined Quixote might feel some relief.  Especially if they were already getting some numbers to replace.

He knew Liffey alright, though hadn't met her often.  Another of Fin's endless kids, but it was good to hear she was back and wanting to join the family again.  Was that the one who'd disappeared or the other? Oh no, shit, that was Lu-something.  Luna?

Anyway.  If you need anything, we'll try and help.  A bit short handed right now though, least far as adults go.  Especially since some are a little out of it still. And others were parents who had more than enough to keep them busy.

Once everyone's big enough, we'll have to have a playdate for 'em somewhere.  Depending on how things are going by the time things settle down, I could send myself or one of last year's batch over with the latest news.  Plan a bit more then.  Still, glad at least some things over on that side of the bog are positive though. Who it was who went to go do news deliveries kind of depended on how Raven felt about it when the time came.  But hey, always good to hear his friend was doing well.  And that maybe Niamh had really actually turned things around on her end of things -- or at least, he certainly hoped so.  Adding kids to the mix kind of made things more complicated if she hadn't.  You know what?  He was gonna assume she had and live in ignorance if it was otherwise.  Much easier.

Okay yeah, there was a certain amount of good things that theoretically came with this switchover, but there was also a certain degree of uncertainty that he wasn't sure what to do with.  Let's be real, he'd trusted others' judgement twice and been burned twice -- except then again, it was also Towhee's suggestions....  So.  Hm.  Eh, we'll see.  Last two promotions didn't go as planned, so we'll see how these folks do -- it was definitely Ray's idea rather than mine.  Goddamn he hoped it went well...  And he did kind of feel bad about doubting them but since it had been Raven suggesting the whole thing...

You guys can call on us as well if you need. I'm not entirely sure how many folks they'll be bringing with them, but things aren't gonna be too lively here until then either.  Honestly, if they weren't coming, none of these pack splits would really make sense. Like watch it turn out that everyone else's desire to be all independent and stuff ended up taking one pack and splitting it into three fragments, rather than anything useful.  Hopefully that wouldn't be the case.

We'll definitely give a shout.  He doubted that they would; the pack was essentially Blackthorns now, and he had a founded pride that assumed they'd manage just fine as a result.  He could definitely see a merge and co-leading as Raven's ideas.  He admired her a great deal, but also remembered how unsure she'd been as a leader.  Doubtless sharing the burden was easier than shouldering it alone.

Hell, if he couldn't relate to that...

I'll need to find me a second, if we get any bigger, he added, now on that thought.  Not sure if Niamh has any interest in leading with me, but even so, would be nice to have some help that wasn't also dealin with kids.  He had someone in mind, but she'd seemed rather glad to have been passed over before.  Would she want it if the time came?

It was probably going to be a good thing that the new pups would be arriving about the same time as the pack moved and all that. It'd give Qui a giant distraction and prevent him from doing anything particularly daft.  Convenient distraction might be a better description.  Anyway, hopefully stuff would go well.  Fingers/paws crossed.

Qui had to think a moment.  Who else was over at Firebirds? Finley and Elwood didn't want to lead any more, Eljay never seemed to be up to it before stuff went to hell, so who else was in that pack?  Surely they had to have nabbed a few people that he didn't know... Then again, there were a lot of family members in this section of the world, there could be someone's second cousin once removed or something that would be the perfect leader...  Or something.  Let's not think too hard right now.  I assume she's been doing better uh.  Mentally or whatever?  Things were kind of sketchy in multiple ways when she left, but...  How else would he phrase it?  He'd been glad she hadn't stuck around partially because he wasn't sure how to deal with it himself, but at the same time, he did hope she'd sorted out her issues.  What friendship they had had fizzled (he wasn't quite sure how that happened, but that was pretty typical), so it wasn't like he'd gone out of his way to ask.  He was the type who'd rather not keep pushing if he wasn't wanted, but had done what he thought would help her.

Colt wasn't sure what to comment on Niamh's mental state, though he felt a little offended on her behalf.  If anyone had the right to comment, it was him, but it wasn't really any of Quixote's business if he was going to put it like that.

She's doing fine, he responded, deciding to keep it straight and simple.  I think she's nervous about raising kids, but so am I, so I can't blame her.  Both of their first time and all.

And if it doesn't work out, you know you're always welcome with us, yeah? Colt added, smiling at his friend.  For now it was likely for the best the were split, what with all the kids and his opinion of Niamh and previous tension.  But now that Towhee had left, he saw no reason not to open the doors.  Bettin it will, anyway.  Raven usually has the right of it.

That was good at least.  Theoretically.  It wasn't like he or Raven had spoken to Niamh recently, so he just had to rely on what Colt said.  If he was the only messed up wolf this side of the mountains, it would be better for everyone.  I'm sure the kids'll do their best to make sure they test your limits one way or another.  But you've got a good group there who definitely know what they're doing and can help out.  Finley and Elwood had how many kids?  And though Eljay was probably not taking things well, certainly the distraction of a few more kids would help out.

He nodded. Hope it works.  Hope everything ends up working for the best.  Though with how odd things had turned over these last few months it left him sort of feeling like he didn't recognize the pack any more, and he hadn't had the time to sort through and work that out in the latest round of upheavals.  Kind of wonder what all of us would have thought if someone had gone back a year or something -- told us all back then how things would be now.  Maybe we could have prevented the worst bits. A shrug.  It wasn't like anything could be done now.  Not gonna guess if what's next is good or bad.  Just hope everyone'll be happy.  If anyone was going to be unhappy, maybe it'd just be him.  Maybe the whole pack splitting thing would turn out to be the best idea.  Or the worst.  How would things have gone if they hadn't stepped up in the first place and just let someone else do whatever they wanted?  Maybe things wouldn't have fractured as much...

wrappin this ;.;

Seein how it all turned out, Colt was a little glad he hadn't known.  He'd have been hella tempted to try and change it, sure, but everything had turned out pretty alright.  Good thing there was no way to turn around and screw that shit up more now.

Yeah, though she'll kill me if I don't grab her somethin to eat on my way out.  Good to see you, man.  I'll see ya around.  Colt smiled, thinking of maybe bringing the kids along someday and making a meeting of it.  If Raven was expecting too, that meant maybe his and Niamh's and theirs could keep each other occupied for a bit.  Tell Raven I said hey.

He turned to go with one last glance, letting Qui get any parting words in too.  There was no doubt in his mind he'd be back soon, and they could catch up more then, two new dads with years in front of them.  He might have stayed a little longer, said a little more, if it was possible to look ahead and see just how wrong that was.

Sad days indeed!

Yeah, will do!  May want to check the thicket -- bunch of young and dumb grouse there still haven't figured out how to bird.  Even Qui had half a chance of catching them.  Will see ya soon, I'd imagine, he suggested, even if it turned out it was not to be so.

Because the world was not a kind place.  When the pack was settled, when he was finally feeling like he was past the initial rush of the new pups, when things had calmed, Quixote would find that the world had changed. He would find that the world wasn't going to give them the break he wanted: his short list of friends would have a hole in the roster, and those that had threatened them all in the past weren't content to stay a mystery.  One of these times, they had to catch a break...