Hideaway Strath All this music must fade.

She couldn't take it a second longer. In spite of the dangers and despite her lack of a spotter, Towhee launched herself up the rock wall, moving so haphazardly and quickly that she was halfway up before her twinging ribs forced her to slow, stop and ascertain the situation while catching her breath.

Heart thudding in her throat, her eyes swept the steep, slippery slope of stones beneath her, then traveled up and overhead. Either way, she was taking an enormous risk. Might as fucking well, she thought, flinging herself further uphill, scrambling for purchase and recklessly defying death as she ascended at breakneck speed.

Near the top, a loose rock gave way beneath her bad hind leg and she fell, sliding backward about ten feet before a sharp stone stopped her fall by penetrating a solid two inches into her thigh. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Towhee righted herself and took a moment to inspect the wound. As her tongue curled out to clean it tentatively, her orange eyes lifted, drinking in an absolutely breathtaking view of Asterism Grove.

I know I am selfish, but I could not resist. :D

Ever since Elfie had found out that he was afraid of heights, he had not attempted to climb that high again. Once you had the knowledge that there was a painful and possibly lethal way down, you could not un-know it. Sooner or later it creeped up on him, made him freeze, shake and tremble inside. 

It was pathetic and it was so not Blackthorn way.

Funny that at this time he would think of Pox of all people. His younger uncle, who would rather leave a wolf-shaped hole in a concrete wall than attempt using open door few feet away. He would not give up. Even if it was for stubbornly stupid reasons. Then Elfie thought of Bronco, who would probably snigger and laugh at his lack of courage, if he was there. And it gave him the anger and motivation to go and attempt again.

What he had not anticipated (but now he would learn that idiotic stubborness was not a trait reserved for Blackthorns only) was that his aunt would want to try again as well. Without spotters. Without anyone to help, if something bad happened. She slipped, she fell and Elfie's heart almost stopped. "What the hell do you think you are doing?!" he yelled, running up to the rock wall and tilting his head backwards so that he had Towhee above him in clear view.

Phox knew he hadn't been a very good father or brother lately. He was still distraught over the loss of Fennec, and being trapped in the grove certainly wasn't helping things. He had done nothing but mope around, barely interacting with anybody in the pack at all, and he hadn't been eating very well. He wasn't quite as skin-and-bones as he had been when he had returned to the Teekon Wilds last year, but he certainly wasn't his summer self.

He headed toward the landslide in order to... well, he wasn't sure what. But what he saw when he got there was a bit worrying. Towhee was some amount up the steep slope, bleeding from her leg, and Elfie was calling out to her from below. Phox quickened his pace, coming up alongside the younger wolf but keeping his attention on Towhee.

-Towhee, you dolt! What are you doing up there?! You're gonna get yourself killed!- he shouted and signed angrily.

Happy to have you both! :D

Now wasn't the time to sit and take in the view. With a grunt, Towhee slowly turned her back on the grove and faced the rock wall again, trying to ignore the blood pulsing down her thigh. She'd come this far and she was hellbent on reaching the top. The climb down the other side would be equally if not more treacherous but she didn't feel she had a choice. Even though she'd always been a homebody, Towhee would rather risk her life than stay imprisoned in the grove.

As a matter of fact, no matter how much she'd loved their home prior, she realized she never wanted to come back here. Once she reached the other side safely, she would do whatever it took to liberate the rest of her pack mates. She wouldn't rest until they were all freed from their prison cell too. But even if they somehow managed to tunnel through the rocks and make an escape hatch, the place was ruined for her.

She didn't think about any of that now. Towhee applied all of her focus to climbing the remaining heights. Oblivious to the two wolves shouting at her back below, she slowly picked her way to the apex. Once there, a pinched little gasp escaped her. She was lightheaded, her leg soaked with blood, but she was was halfway there and hell'a determined. Towhee refused to look back (remaining totally unaware of Elfie and Phox), instead inching downward.

Her orange gaze only flicked upward once to glance at the copse spread out below. Towhee thought of calling out for her godparents or someone, anyone, from the Firebirds. Instead, she saved her breath and just kept crawling, creeping and stumbling until she eventually collapsed on the far side of the wall.

Towhee did not listen to either Elfie or her brother Phox. In five or ten minutes of frustrated anger the boy watched his aunt make her slow progress to the top of the rock mountain and then after a brief respite disappear over the rim. He realized two things - first that she had not heard him due to her need to face the one, who talked. Second - she had got out. She was free!

"She did it!" he looked at Phox incredulously. "She bloody did it!" he approached the wall and sniffed the trail of Towhee's path. "What should we do know?" he asked, wondering, if he could do the same thing.

Well, shit. She just kept on going, and she certainly wasn't looking back to see the two wolves who looked on helplessly at the bottom of the landslide. If Figment hadn't been here, Phox would have barreled after her. He couldn't stand the thought of losing all of his family, though. Why hadn't she told anybody she was going to attempt the climb? It was reckless, dangerous, and just plain selfish of her to do such a thing without any warning at all. Phox emitted an angry growl as she disappeared over the edge.

He would have to call the pack together now and figure out what they were going to do next. Clearly, Asterism Grove was splintering, and there wasn't much he could do about it. With one leader on the outside and another on the inside, they couldn't possibly be united. Already, a plan was forming in his head. If Towhee could make it up and over, so could the rest of them. It wouldn't be easy, but it would be easier if the lot of them worked together.

Once safely on the other side, he would deal with Towhee.

He didn’t give Elfie an audible answer. Instead, he merely let his gaze linger on the younger wolf before turning away toward the center of the grove. He needed to find Figment and let him know what had happened.

Phox looked at Elfie and then, without saying another word, turned on his heel and left him alone. The boy felt too baffled by this lack of response to feel insulted for being ignored and overlooked. True - aside from Towhee - he did not know anyone else in the grove that well, but was this the reason to treat him that way? The more he dwelled on it, the more it seemed unfair to leave him out of all the affairs. It did not occur to him that Phox's attitude had nothing to do with the Blackthorn boy personally, but that he was very concerned about his immediate family.

Since he had nothing better to do, Elfie took a post next to the rock-pile and with his head tilted back and ears cupped attentively forward, he observed and listened for any sound that would indicate Towhee's safe passage.