Cedar Sweep We opened a door (we shouldn't have).

References made with Houkie and co's permission. Dated for tomorrow (9/5). :')

Remedy, I wasn't sure if you'd want @Phox present for this so I was vague on purpose; he could be right beside her or elsewhere entirely, lol.

This is wide open!

In hindsight, Towhee wished she'd kept her mouth shut.

Her muscles twitched as @Raven reluctantly stepped back from their final touch, turned slowly and loped away. As the Redhawks' matriarch returned to the glade to prepare her family for yet another uprooting, she left Towhee standing there, screaming internally at her back. The instant Raven vanished from her sight, Towhee's quivering muscles gave out and she sank to the ground. Her whole body quaked and none too gently as her emotions rose up, choking the breath out of her.

Her thoughts were a jumble too. Shouldn't have said shit... fuckin' overreacted... what've I done?... she said they won't go far... fuckin' Blackfeathers!... Rave... god fucking damn it... fuck... She gulped in a deep breath, though she still felt a lot like she had her first day in the grove: like she'd somehow made a terrible mistake; like she couldn't get any fucking air in her lungs; like someone had picked up her world, shaken it badly, breaking and scattering bits and pieces everywhere.

It'd all happened so fast too. Only two days ago, she'd randomly stumbled across Rowan in the ravine. Just yesterday, she'd stood in this very same spot with Fen and cried wolf to the sister packs. And just like that, the collective imploded; as a direct result of that call, the Frosthawks were now making preparations to leave the Teekon Wilds altogether. And Towhee couldn't even blame them for wanting to escape the Blackfeathers, once and for all.

But, still. Even though she knew it had been the right, the only thing to do, Towhee really, really wished she'd just kept her damn mouth shut.

It might've been against the rules for him to leave the pack- but it was hard for his mom to keep a proper eye on him anyway, so Bronco was able to slip out of the pack's borders easily, and go off on a little jaunt by himself. Having learned how to track, he felt confident that he'd be able to smell his way back home, so long as there wasn't a torrential downpour. He'd had something to eat before he left, so he didn't have to worry about that, and he was fairly certain that nothing all that bad could happen to him anyway. He was tough, and big for his age- and no one would mess with his mom. 

Going out on his own didn't come without a bit of nervousness, so his bold stride didn't take long to change into a calm walk, but with his senses on high alert. His ears twitched at the sound of every bird flying overhead, and every scuttle of rodent or prey that left the area as soon as he passed through. 

He could tell there was another wolf not too far away when he caught Towhee's scent, and he recognized it. Unlike his mother, Bronco had a good memory for detail, and he was young enough yet that he still remembered getting visited by someone his mom had called "Aunt Towhee." He meandered this way and that, following his nose until he saw her- and there was no mistaking her. He uttered a happy woof, and pranced toward her proudly. "Antee Towhee!" He called out. He'd forgotten, of course, that Towhee was deaf. "I caught your scent all the way back there an' followed my nose all the way here!" He exclaimed proudly, ducking into a play-bow.

Not only did she already miss her sister horribly, Towhee lamented the loss of Raven's children; she would miss out on their growing up and training them as planned. She closed her eyes to shut out the world as she let the sorrow overwhelm her. She would have to make sure Fig and Fen were trained harder than ever, with one branch of the sister packs gone and the Blackfeathers infiltrating their corner of the wilderness.

But right now, she felt so powerless, and so angry. She seethed as she thought of Rowan, even cursed Raven's name a few times (mostly sadly, without any real malice). Her chest grew tighter and tighter until she felt like she might actually hyperventilate. Towhee's eyes flew open on a painful gasp and nearly swallowed her own tongue when she found her nose just inches from someone else's.

She was too much in her head to lash out, fortunately for little Bronco. "Buh," Towhee blurted uselessly, forgetting that she couldn't breathe. She sucked in a shaky breath, then said sharply, "Bronco, what're you doing here?" The Kilonova swept to her feet, looming over the youth as she looked around, as if expecting a whole flock of those filthy crows to materialize out of thin air.

Towhee's alarm made Bronco feel quite accomplished and proud of himself, so he jigged a little happy dance and lowered his chest down into a playbow, proudly waving his tail in a high arc above his haunches. He tilted his head a little bit when she spoke- and he had a hard time trying to decipher what it was she was saying, but he remembered, then, that his mom had mentioned that Towhee was deaf. He didn't quite understand the concept, of course, so when he replied, he practically shouted at her. 

"I JUST GONE OUT HUNTIN'!!" He bawled happily, bounding a few feet to one side before puffing out his chest with pride. "AN I SNUCK UP ON YOU! IF YOU'D-A BEEN A RABBIT, YOU'D BE DAAAAID!!" He yelled gleefully and bounded forward to bump his nose against Towhee's foreleg.

He pranced excitedly in front of her, his movements rapid and jerky, making it impossible for Towhee to read his lips. She had no idea he was shouting. She stared at him, picking up on his innocent excitement, and felt her guts twisting. If she'd run into him out here a few days prior, she wouldn't have thought anything of it. Now, she motioned him to come stand closer to her, while peering around suspiciously.

Was this the way of it now? Despite how much she'd miss Raven and the rest of them, and the safety of the sisterhood, she hadn't faulted her sister any more than she intended to follow her. But now Towhee questioned the wisdom of standing her ground. Would they always sense a threat, now that the Blackfeathers had oozed into their well, poisoning the sweet water?

Towhee angrily ground her teeth against the impulse to herd Niamh's son back to the copse. No. She refused to live like that. Their illusion of peace had been just that: an illusion. But even with the Frosthawks departing, they were still powerful, a united force with twice the strength of a single wolf pack. Nothing could stop the Blackfeathers from popping up like the disease they were, yet she was resolute that they could fight and beat that virus again, if it came. Fuck living in fear of the possibility.

Forcing herself to appear much calmer than she actually felt, Towhee peered down at the boy and said, -"Bronco, slow down and stand still so I can at least read your lips. Then repeat what you said."- She still couldn't help herself from looking about warily as she spoke, though she tried to force herself to let it go and concentrate on Bronco's small, eager face.

Bronco was old enough to sense when someone else's feelings were much different from his, and he knew that Towhee was tense, but he assumed she was just being an adult, and that that wasn't something a little horseing around couldn't fix. She didn't seem too irritated with him yet, but she did ask him to stand still. He could do that, but tilted his head to the side when she told him why she wanted him to stand still. Though his mother had explained such things to him, Bronco's selective listening often ruled out most of what Mom said as 'boring' or 'useless.'

"YOU CAN READ LIPS?" He shouted, quite amazed at that fact- having interpreted such a thing as being somewhat akin to reading someone's palm- except for wolves, it was their paw. A little trick his mother would do to keep him quiet for a few moments. "WHAT DO MINE SAY?" He asked loudly, before bounced closer to her and puckered his lips up, waiting expectantly for her to tell him his future based on how his lips looked.

Despite herself, Towhee met Bronco's question with a sharp, unbidden laugh. It was humorous enough on its own, but coupled with his puckered mouth, she even squeaked out a few subsequent titters. These were followed by a long sigh and her mouth twisted into an inscrutable expression. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry, she wanted to beat the shit out of someone...

Of course, she wouldn't harm a hair on Bronco's head, or any pup's for that matter, not even Rowan. A very dark look indeed passed across her face before she blinked loudly and shook her head at Bronco. -"They say you're a dingus,"- she finally answered him, albeit with a tight smile turning up the corners of her mouth to let him know she was only kidding him. -"Where're your par—where's your mom?"- She only remembered halfway through her sentence and almost kicked herself.

And then she felt extraordinarily sober all of a sudden. If Bronco could be bouncing around happily just weeks after his father's death, then Towhee should be able to pull herself up by her bootstraps too. Nobody close to her had died. Sure, her sister was leaving, along with her nieces and nephews, but they wouldn't be totally out of reach. And, sure, the Blackfeathers were the fly in the ointment, yet hadn't she'd just told herself she wouldn't let it get her down?

Easier said than done, she mused inwardly even as outwardly, she said, -"Think you could take me to your mom, kiddo?"-

Bronco snorted and pulled his head back indignantly, furrowing his brow and sticking his tongue out at Towhee. He laughed, though, and having caught on to the sign Towhee'd made, he tested it out for himself. "YOU'RE the -DINGUS-" He touted proudly, giving her a cheshire grin, clearly proud of the fact that he'd picked up not only a new name to call someone, but how to sign it as well. Those were the only things he was really interested in learning in Ptero anyway, the same way one might gravitate toward swear words first when learning a new language. 

Towhee's sudden catch drew Bronco's attention the fact that she'd had to correct herself, as certain expressions no longer described his family. Those changes still stung, whenever he had to switch from saying "Mom and Dad," or "Parents." His ears fell back, and he looked away, then, wilting visibly. Now it was just Mom, and she wasn't terribly exciting. He shrugged his shoulder. "Prolly patrollin'" He said, forgetting yet again to face Towhee when he spoke. 

He sighed and shrugged again, and began to claw at the ground when Towhee asked him to take her to his Mom, but he nodded. He didn't want to go back, nor did he want to go back to his Mom. "Yeah," He groaned, and without another word, began to plod sullenly back toward the pack's borders.

-"You're not wrong, kid,"- Towhee replied when he threw the word "dingus" back at her. She took a deep breath and tried to quiet her mind and steady her emotions. Even as she was doing so, she saw the way Bronco wilted. She didn't catch what he said (or that he'd spoken at all), though she recognized the moment when he agreed to take her to Niamh and began to plod in the direction of the copse.

She frowned, thoughts shifting from the Blackfeathers and all the angst they were sowing to whatever was suddenly weighing on those young shoulders. Towhee wondered if it had to do with her near slip and her frown deepened. It had been an entirely honest mistake and she'd tried to catch herself, though she still felt like a dick.

-"Hey,"- she said, reaching out to gently poke him, -"you can call me all the names you want, if it makes you feel better. I can even teach you the signs for them."-

Bronco had zoned out somewhat, resigned to simply lead Towhee back to his boring, nagging Mom, figuring she'd likely squeal on him for going out so far on his own. He could, of course, ditch Towhee and run back and deny everything- but he knew his Mom would believe Towhee over him- and he guessed that Towhee could probably also outrun him. 

He startled slightly when she poked him, but calmed quickly. She offered to let him call her names, but he didn't really want to, or need to. He did, however, think he could use an arsenal of ptero-words for his friends, though. And maybe he could even get away with calling his Mom something silly without her knowing. "What kinda words d'you know?" He asked. "Like...Ones others wouldn't know?" He asked, hoping maybe she had some good made-up swear words or insults she could teach him.

-"I know all the words,"- she replied with a cocky grin, then chortled as she considered his question. She was sure she could come up with some creative swears for him. Towhee thought about keeping them strictly "PG-13," though she was kind of like this kid's aunt and she was pretty sure that teaching her nieces and nephews naughty things to drive their folks crazy was somewhere in the job description.

She resorted to signing only as they strolled along. -Shit stain, fuck face, cock gobbler,- were a few of her favorites. Towhee arched her eyebrows at him, wondering if he'd caught the motions and silently urging him to repeat them back to her. She wanted to make sure he had them down pat before she unleashed Bronco on his mother.

Bronco raised his gaze to glance at the boastful Towhee, who claimed that she knew everything there was to know about words in her Ptero language- and it made sense, so he wouldn't challenge her on it. She was the one who'd made it up, right? And she'd taught it to others, right? So as the creator, of course she would know everything- and she would be the boss, too, when it came to creating new words, which was exactly what Bronco wanted to learn. Enough of the old, over-used insults; he wanted new stuff. 

He watched her as she showed him a couple signs, and they made him both blush and cackle simultaneously. Carefully, slowly, he made them back to her- half aware that if most other wolves caught him doing those signs, he'd get a flogging for it. -Shit stain, fuck face, cock....cock gobbler,- The last one made him laugh and took a few tries to get it right, as it was too hard to sign without losing his shit laughing. "What about..." He said, deciding that between the two of them, they could come up with some new ones. "Shit-splatter?" He asked. He tried to speak as clearly as possibly so she could figure out what he was saying, and make a sign out of it. "Uhm...Ass licker," He said, but he was drawing some blanks and simply falling back on combinations of other foul words he'd already heard used before. "penis breath?" He felt a bit self-conscious using those words around an adult- but he also didn't give a damn. He had to stock up on ammunition- and this was the only way to do it.

He seemed to find the signs amusing, as did she as Bronco repeated them back to her. She arched an eyebrow, wondering if he'd intuited any of their meanings on his own, since she hadn't bothered vocalizing them. Towhee guessed he must've, because he didn't ask. And now he came up with a few more curses of his own. Assuming he was just intuitive (what little boy wouldn't immediately recognize such crude gestures?), she shrugged and obliged his requests.

Teaching her nephew of sorts a bunch of swears had served as a good distraction for them both, though soon they were straddling the copse's borders. Towhee swept them with her orange gaze, seeing no sign of Niamh, and faced Bronco to ask, -"Think you could call your mom for me?"-

Bronco quietly tried the new gestures a couple times on his own, finding it relatively simple to not only guess their meaning without actually stating the words aloud, but the act of making those gestures was oddly satisfying as well. Everything about swear words felt as though he did truely intend to toss shade at someone. The sharper the movements, the more punctuated they seemed- though for now, he kapt his movements fairly reserved, as he didn't want to be caught enjoying anything too much. 

When they reached the borders, Bronco almost didn't even think to stop until Towhee spoke. He tilted his head to the side for a moment- couldn't Towhee just come in and go about however she wanted? She was family, after all- but instead she decided to ask him to call for his Mom and he sighed. He wasn't sure why she asked him to call, as she could do so on her own, couldn't she? But he obliged nonetheless, tilting his head back- and it was then that an idea hit him. 

Towhee wouldn't be able to hear if he faked it, would she? 

So he faked a howl- and did make a half-hearted squawling sound, just so she could see his throat clench and move with the vibration of sound- but he wasn't nearly loud enough to summon his mother unless she happened to be within earshot of their conversation. "She'll prolly be here in a minute. She's kinda keen like that," He explained, albeit with a touch of nervousness. He fidgeted. "What d'you want her for?" He asked then, curious, and half-hoping it was nothing serious. Otherwise he'd really get in trouble for not actually summoning his mother.

He seemed a little perplexed about her request, though he obliged her a moment later. As she watched Bronco turn back toward her and drop a question, Towhee felt her insides clench. The buoyancy of their lighthearted conversation sank as if weighed down with ballast as she remembered why exactly she wanted to speak with Niamh.

-"Just boring business crap,"- she answered him with a shake of her head, her eyes bland and her mouth drawn. -"You don't have to hang here if you don't want. It was fun talking to you, shitbreath,"- Towhee said, eking out a small smile as she stretched a forepaw to him for a fist bump.

Boring business crap? Bronco's ears fell a bit when he heard that. This implied not only that Towhee wasn't here to discuss something exciting, but also the fact that she was assuming he wouldn't take an interest in whatever business she had with his Mom. It was like being sent out to play on the playground by himself so the adults could chit-chat and laugh and talk about things they liked, without having to include him. He doubted, slightly, that Towhee'd only come for business. He suspected, instead, that she'd come to see Niamh and to hang out with her. He felt slightly jealous- and ashamed of the fact that he hadn't even really called for his mother yet- but he figured Towhee was at least being polite in the way she was trying to send him off so she and Niamh could talk, so he bobbed his head in agreement. 

He haphazardly thumped his paw against hers, and couldn't hold back a small, crooked smile when she gave him a nickname. It cheered him up a bit, to think that Towhee might actually think he was kind of cool. He tried to hide his disappointment, and lifted his chin a bit. "Have fun talking boring adult shit with my -cock gobbler- Mom," He drawled. It was probably stepping over a line, for him to call his own mother such a thing- so he hastily added. "See you later, [i]-Dingus-"! He spoke and signed enthusiastically, before he sped off, so as to avoid any reprecussions for having called his Mom a 'cock gobbler.' 

About 10 minutes later, he'd remember that he hadn't actually called for his Mom- and only then would he cal out for her, telling her to go to the borders where he'd left Towhee behind. Little did he know, though- his Mom would find her own way there before he'd even get around to calling out. 

Busted.

Niamh actually caught sight of her son's fleeing rear end as he sped off into the pack's claimed territory, and away from the borders where she'd assumed he'd been patrolling. She hadn't been too far away and had just been on her way out to patrol, and assumed that she might as well pick up where Bronco left off, and check out why it was that he'd taken off running as though someone had lit his tail on fire. At least it was good to see him moving faster than a snail's pace; it seemed as though as the boy grew, the less he wanted to zip about, and the more he simply wanted to lounge around or meander along the borders without any real goal of making good time. 

She caught Towhee's scent, though, and quickened her pace, assuming that she might still be in the area. Lo and behold, she was- waiting at the borders where Bronco had left her. She perked her ears and laughed, gesturing off over her shoulder toward where Bronco had beat a hasty retreat. -I dunno what you said to him, but I haven't seen that kid move that fast in ages.- She chuckled. -What brings you here, aside from terrorizing my brat of a son?-

On any other day, she would've found Bronco's parting comments hilarious. Presently, she could only manage a slightly wider smile as he returned her thump and then scampered away into the copse. She was prepared to settle in for a bit of a wait when Niamh appeared, her timing impeccable.

At her friend's remark, she glanced after Bronco, the tiniest smirk turning up the corner of her mouth. But by the time her attention returned to Niamh, it had gone. She held her cohort's gaze steadily for a beat, wondering how she was doing, before deciding to just rip off the band-aid.

-"Raven is taking the pack elsewhere, somewhere outside Teekon Wilds,"- she said, every sign nuanced with her distress. -"Because of the Blackfeather sightings. Just like that."- Towhee sagged after delivering the news. -"I just thought you guys should know,"- she finished, gesturing in the general direction of the Firebirds' homestead at Niamh's back.

Since this is pretty outdated, could we nudge it toward a conclusion? :)

Her sense of humour dissipated when she realized that Towhee hadn't come for just another visit to see her and see what was new. This wasn't a simple coffee and gossip afternoon at all- her friend had come to tell her something important. Just as Towhee began to speak, she heard Bronco hastily call out for her- telling her that Towhee was at the border, which perplexed Niamh a touch. She supposed, then, that Bronco was supposed to call out for her earlier, and had forgotten to do so...What a guardian he was, greeting someone at the borders and then leaving them alone- and forgetting to call out for whoever it was that was meant to meet their visitor. She'd have to have a chat with him afterwards to make fun of him for his blunder. 

Towhee's news surprised Niamh. Phox had told Niamh about the Redhawks becoming the Frosthawks, and at first, Niamh was simply set to roll her eyes. Sure, Raven and Quixote were moving the band somewhere else. Who was even left in the pack anyway, besides the two of them, possibly a couple of their kids, and Rannoch and Liffey? It was quite possibly just them, that little familial group. Niamh didn't envy them for having such a small pack- the Firebirds weren't really doing much better- practically all of them, except for Wraen (who was technically a distant relative of Niamh's) were related. Well, not practically- literally. 

When Towhee brought up the Blackfeathers who had come too close to their area, Niamh sighed. -I ran into them too, and I sent that batch of ill-bred Blackfeathers on their way. They had no right to be this close, but I think it was more by stupid accident than anything,- Niamh said. She didn't want to make excuses for them, nor did she want to necessarily hint that they were harmless...She did feel that way- it had simply been a mother searching for one of her kids, while two of her other foolish children had been wandering around in the area as well, simply waiting to be killed by any vengeful former Redhawk. Niamh believed that she'd put a good bit of fear in them before she'd sent them packing. Apparently Raven was too triggered by the incident to chance there being any future incidents, and had decided to move her entire pack completely away from the area- yet again. Niamh sighed. It was all a bit over-dramatic, in her opinion, which was somewhat ridiculous, considering that Quixote was still possibly one of the most boring wolves she'd ever met. She would have assumed he wouldn't give into that sort of hysteria. -C'mon. Let's get caught up,- She said, inviting her friend in with her, so that they weren't just talking on the borders. She wanted a bit more information, and also shared her experience with the Blackfeathers with her friend, making sure to be clear that she too did not appreciate the fact that they had come this far South.