Redhawk Caldera block up

Continuing from here, it’s backdated to the 5th!

It didn’t take long to travel from the fen to the caldera’s familiar outskirts. Since @Bridget was with him, they did not pause at the borders but instead began to climb the slopes. With every step, Caracal’s nostalgia grew.

And so did his trepidation. As much as he wanted to meet @Sorana, he couldn’t stop thinking about how @Reyes had acted toward him the last time they’d seen one another. They had never been on the best footing, truth be told. And he barely knew @Teya at all.

Bridget made some comment about how they were nearing the den site now when Caracal glanced ahead and spotted the dogwood tree. Unbidden, the fur on the back of his neck stood up, as if reacting to the ghost of his father’s fangs nearly a year before.

light pp, if you want me to pp Teya out lmk <3 and I can! Otherwise I left it open to either

While Caracal hesitated, Bridget came into the space with zero qualms. She did stop at the den mouth briefly, however, checking to be sure Teya was awake and open to company before ducking inside. Teya, hey. Caracal here wanted to meet his little sister. If you want, I can keep an eye on them too, for a bit? The last part was for her only. She didn't want to offend Caracal because she figured it wasn't personal - but it was still hard to gauge where Teya was at. The offer was to let her escape for a moment if she chose to take it.

Whatever the answer, she turned sideways and stepped over so that Caracal could see the pup. She was still tiny, albeit growing quickly. Here's the little ladybug herself. If either Teya or Sorana seemed uncomfortable with his presence, she'd keep him at a distance, but for now she simply watched.

Ever since his introduction to his newest daughter Reyes had been head-over-heels smitten with her, and even with the tension between himself and Teya, the man wanted to do right by the girl. If he wasn't bringing fresh food for Teya he was guarding the entrance to the Hobbit Hole.

Unfortunately for Reyes, he wasn't present for the arrival of his elder son and Bridget; but he was not far off, arriving to the densite with a swatch of black-and-white fur hanging from his teeth. He had encountered a young skunk and gotten the drop on it, and thought the curiously patterned bolt of striped fur would make a good gift.

As he neared the entrance he heard a voice, saw a shape moving at the den mouth, and immediately dropped the gift - surging in close with a defensive puff spiking his fur. Bridget was all the way inside the den and showing off his daughter to a stranger.

Hey get out of there!

With the full awareness of how he would look, Reyes snapped at the air and wedged inside to try and protect Sorana.

Sorana and Caracal could have been fast friends if things didn't go sideways so quickly.

With her hearing having finally sharpened along with the straightening of her ears, Sorana had completed her transformation from soft, fuzzy potato to insatiably curious ball of energy. She was quick to respond to visitors with her characteristic bright smiles and whirling tail, only the company she received was typically of the familiar variety.

This time, it was someone new. Sorana hesitated a moment to blink up at Caracal, and that was all she was able to do before Reyes appeared in front of her to physically bar their way. Sorana's relationship with her daddy was not so different from the one she had with mama — infinitely trusting and deeply loving — so this reaction to the stranger was alarming.

Sorana shuffled back to hide behind Reyes, peeking past with wide eyes at Bridget. She trusted the bright-furred tripod inherently because Teya did, but in that moment, it was clear her daddy held her heart completely, because in that look was a flash of confusion and fear.

Not of Reyes, but of Bridget and Caracal.

teya instinctively responded to caracal's presence with a bristle. he was a boy and he was not hers. but he was reyes', and she hoped that would soften the young wolf toward his newest sibling. without bridget's close involvement, she would have never agreed so soon.
tensely she let the boy closer, offering him a small smile of apology. she had nothing against caracal, and maybe even having him close would alleviate the coldness between reyes and herself.
ironically it was the crimson man himself who dashed that first hope. in one moment it was sorana inching toward her brother, the next her father's presence dominated every space in the den.
teya grabbed their child and pulled her out of any potential strike of a confused paw. "reyes! it caracal!" she hissed, surprised and embarrassed and perhaps more of the former, to see his protectiveness lash toward his own son. 
reyes adored sorana. teya still grappled with that.
she stood to her paws. "we all go outside den, now," she said in a clipped voice. caracal could visit his sister in the sunshine and reyes wouldn't be expanded and harsh inside the den.

He sucked in a sharp breath, the sound of Bridget’s voice drawing his attention back toward her and their destination. She spoke to Teya, out of view inside the den. Caracal hung back, reluctant to intrude. He would politely wait for a proper invitation. There was always a chance he wouldn’t be welcome, he knew that.

He was equal parts delighted and surprised when Teya didn’t dismiss him. Shooting her a slightly awkward grin, he took a step closer to the den’s interior. He caught a glimpse of tiny Sorana, his heart melting at the sight of her sweet little face, when Reyes charged onto the scene and forcefully shouldered past the two visitors.

The commotion triggered the yearling. He yelped and scrambled backward, urinating all over himself as his tail went to tuck between his legs. He dropped to the ground and scuttled away, freezing to peer over his shoulder. What if Reyes was after Sorana, the way he had once come after Caracal? His insides twisted and a whine burst from his throat.

That wasn’t the case. Rather the opposite, really. Fright rapidly gave way to embarrassment when Caracal realized he’d overreacted to the present situation. Confused, trembling and unable to look at any of them—Bridget, in particular—the yearling turned and fled.

She could see Teya's hesitance and was perfectly fine going at her friend's pace on this. Caracal's desire to see his sister would never have overridden her friend's comfort zone, but of course, Reyes didn't know that. She'd been careful not to be around when he was and that had, apparently, been the right call. She backed up but her surprise was quick to turn to fury.

Reyes, what the - Caracal?! She noticed him taking off, but it was too late. He was gone before she had the chance to tell him to stay.

Of course now Sorana was cowering behind her dad. It wasn't only Caracal who had been treated as a threat, and Bridget had to clench her teeth to prevent something she'd regret from coming out. She would never let anything happen to their pup and the fact that he insinuated that was both insulting and, in her opinion, incredibly moronic. Before this moment she'd held him in a friendly neutrality, but right now, she wondered what the fuck her friend saw in him.

You have got to be kidding me. She finally said, her voice low. She was too angry for much else. As fucked up as this was, it wasn't her place, but it showed how little Reyes thought of her pretty clearly. She looked from Teya back to Reyes, then turned around. I'm going to go apologize. Apparently she had overstepped. She wouldn't make that mistake again.

If they didn't argue, she'd go try to find him before he got too far. This wasn't his fault and she couldn't leave it like that.

Reyes had spotted the dark shape enter the den, not recognizing who it was until after his warning was issued and everyone had begun to churn around him. He hadn't seen Caracal, but it was Teya's hissing voice that clued him in to his son's presence, brief as it was. Bridget looked surprised and then agitated as she was ushered out by Reyes' pointed stare as well as Teya's command that everyone exit the space.

It felt like, for once, Teya was on his side about this.

Reyes chose to take his time about leaving his daughter's side. He glared while Bridget turned around, but soon enough dropped his snout towards Sorana to tap the top of her head softly. Its alright Sorana. I didn't mean to scare you.

After a second or two of this his gaze flashed to Teya, as if to extend the statement to her as well, after-the-fact. He wasn't worried about anything yet; it hadn't crossed Reyes' mind that he'd been a little more forceful than he should've been, or that it might not have been his place to insert himself in this way. This was his daughter though — his fresh start — and seeing some woman he barely knew showing her off definitely screwed with his brain.

Sorana tumbled back against Teya with the force of the pull and gave her head a little shake. Her ears twitched back to the sound of Teya’s harsh tone, then slammed forward to listen to the keening cries outside. Things happened so quickly that she couldn’t parse what was going on; soon there was only Reyes, Teya, and her left in the den.

With no way of knowing that Bridget and Caracal had violated the sanctity of the den-site without clear permission, Sorana was mired in her confusion, but it melted away when daddy turned to her. She rubbed her side kitten-like against his muzzle and toddled into the space between his legs, pausing only a moment before pressing her face affectionately against the left one.

"i not scared, reyes, i —" her voice broke off in frustration. teya took a deep breath, genuinely not wanting to snap at reyes despite how tense she now felt when he was around. "maybe you go with bridget. or after her. go apologize to caracal. make this right."
she should be happy; she should feel secure that reyes was willing to rout his mostly grown children from his previous marriage all in protection of first herself, and then sorana.
but it did not. she felt more isolated and more ashamed.
desperately the raven looked to their daughter, softening somewhat. "i want her to know them. and them to know her," teya murmured after a time, voice at last devoid of the edge she had carried into the conversation.

Worried that he'd scared his daughter the same way he'd once scared his son, it was Sorana's forgiving nuzzles that eased the doubt from Reyes' mind. Teya's exasperated voice brought some of that back. He half expected to be chased from the den and denied access to this fresh start, the same way Towhee had banished him from his last family - but that didn't happen.

I... Wasn't thinking about that, Reyes admitted. He didn't know why Bridget was so important; he'd gone and fetched her as asked, and now what, he was being replaced? By a woman? The man refused to let that thought take root - there was no room for it.

I saw someone enter the den that I didn't know and I had to protect her - and you. It's kind of my job, you know? He was trying to make light of the situation already. Looking down at Sorana after he spoke, Reyes nudged at the crown of her head again. A little excitement never hurt anyone, aye, Sorana?

Bahhlabuuh ptthhft, said Sorana at the rumbling touch of Reyes' nose on her scalp. She tipped his chin up to look at the underside of his with such vigor that she toppled onto her bottom with a little oomph, followed by a smiling look to her mother. She would wonder where brightness had gone later before remembering that daddy hadn't wanted brightness there... There was bound to be a lot of confusion about Bridget and how Sorana should behave toward her in the coming days.

frustrated tears threatened to sting teya's eyes. she didn't understand them, and so she was secondarily angry under the first irritation. was reyes being daft on purpose? if he had just stopped to assess the situation he would have seen it was caracal. "bridget not bring anyone to den who harmful," she said in a thick voice, then swallowed and shut off her words at once.
the raven did not want to say something she would regret. "will you go, after? later?" she asked again, tenaciously hugging to the idea.

Reyes was invested in Sorana, or appeared to be, and refused to look at Teya while she spoke - ordering him about.

Apparently it hadn't been enough that he'd fetched the little gimp from the wilderness and in the process, missed the birth of his daughter (glossing over the fact he had wanted her aborted initially...) but now he was to accept this stranger in to their safe space? No question?

His voice was level for Sorana's sake; but cold, too. He sighed through his nose and looked to the doorway, then shook his head lightly - I don't see the point. I have nothing to apologize for.

Skippable from here!

Daddy and mama were being boring. Sorana soon realized they were going to keep on talking instead of playing with her and retreated further into the den to lie down with a small huff. She didn't fault them — they had no faults in the eyes of their daughter — but after the excitement of earlier, she wasn't keen on sitting around listening to them speak.

She watched a spider crawling up the den wall and occupied herself with thoughts of whether it got bored, too, or not. Sora didn't think that was possible. If she had eight legs, she would never be bored! Well, that's what she thought, anyway.

just like that the conversation was over. reyes felt fully justified having frightened his own child so badly the boy pissed himself. he would not go to apologize. he would stay here and choose sorana over any possible mending with her older siblings.
she opened her mouth.
she shut it.
"all right," teya said quietly. she straightened and commanded herself not to weep, not now. she would have to be the one to straighten things out with caracal, despite the fact that she had no idea where he'd run. maybe bridget would know.
"going to fish," the raven mumbled, drawing from both reyes and sorana. he was a good father and would tend the girl well while she herself hunted.
the tears came anyway, just not until she was out of eye and earshot.