Northstar Vale Steampunk dogfight.

Towhee returned to Lotus Spring after her early evening patrol and found herself alone there. While she waited for her mate and kids to appear for supper, she nosed around the willows on the eastern bank, just idly exploring a bit.

She ventured deeper into the grove than she had ever gone before and found a particularly gnarled tree growing out of the craggy slopes. She ducked beneath its bare, dangling fronds, her heart skipping a beat when she found a small opening in the rocky hillside very reminiscent of the Hobbit Hole.

It was only about half the size and when she poked her head inside, the scale was certainly smaller than the airy, open burrow tucked inside the caldera. Nonetheless, it would very much suit her family of four, with room to spare to accommodate some small additions a few months from now.

She had meant to patiently wait for @Maxim to arrive in his own time but Towhee couldn’t resist the urge to raise her snout and howl for him.

I starred the map to show its location! :)

he had taken leo out for a track / patrol. presenting it as a patrol to his daughter while he kept an eye on herd paths. noting the old hoof marks of deer, wondering if one was the golden stag that arsenio had spoken of.

but out rang the familiar call of towhee.

so he nudged along leo, encouraging her to report her findings afterwards while he went to see her mother. to no surprise it was at the lotus spring. only...he had to actually poke around some. along the rocky walls he found towhee. a tree offering sheltering to her and the stones.

his tail waved as his head tilted to try and gleam as much as he could from the outside.

-what is this?-

As soon as Maxim got here, she decided their first order of business would be to nab their prized goatskin and drag it in here. She knew exactly where she wanted to place it: up against the wall on the right-hand side. There was a small concave curve in the wall there where Towhee could see herself curling to nurse pups.

She glanced up when the light dimmed, Maxim’s silhouette blocking the weak November sunlight. Her tail waved in response to his as she padded toward the threshold and bumped their snouts together in greeting. Her discovery had put her in such a good mood, she even went so far as to give him a big, wet kiss, from the corner of his mouth all the way up and over his eyeball.

It’s home, she answered his question, taking a step back and motioning for him to join her inside the cozy space, that is, if you like it as much as I do. Or, well, even if you don’t, ‘cause I already love it, Towhee snickered.

sorry for the delay :D finished up moving this weekend!

he gave a thoughtful hum, knowing she might not hear it, but still. home. it would be a good place for it. near the lotus springs, plenty of cover from the harsher elements.

-it's home alright.- he told her with a winding grin. quickly he moved to be a bit closer to her. inside their new home. spacious and warm. plenty of room... this said with a sidelong look towards her.

spring existed practically every day in his mind now. knowing that they could have more, here, together.

Well, that’s apropos! I hope it went smoothly. There’s no need to apologize. Always post at whatever speed suits you. :)

Fortunately, Maxim readily agreed with her. Towhee gave him a long, introspective look, just to make sure he really meant it and wasn’t simply acquiescing. Jokes aside, she wanted him to feel comfy here. She cared what he and the kids thought, though they could always find their own digs if they didn’t like her choice. He was stuck with her.

There’s room for Jack and Leo, if they wanna hang, Towhee said after accepting Maxim’s word, and littles too, of course. It actually reminds me of where I lived at the caldera. I called it the Hobbit Hole. It was quite a bit larger, though I kinda like how cozy this feels. I’d like to come up with a name for it too. What’cha think?

<3

he did, deeply, wish that their children would still wish to hang around when the new ones came into the world. he felt they had done well raising them and that the influence of them on new children would help.

and perhaps some part of him selfishly wanted another year of helping hands and family surrounding them.

well, he started off with as he made sure he had her attention. almost a year together he had come to learn these things! we had a mini redhawk caldera in mereo. why not a hobbit hole junior? he teased as he aimed for an affection ruffle of fur. he had no clue if she desired new names, a new start.

yet he hoped she might think him thoughtful for remembering such things!

She would give him, like, ten out of ten points for sentimentality but maybe two out of ten for creativity. Towhee smirked fondly at his suggestion. She pretended to lean away from Maxim’s attempt to ruffle her fur, though she quickly snapped back and happily permitted it. She reached to nibble at whatever part of him she could reach.

What if we gave it a name in your native language instead? Towhee thought aloud, slanting her muzzle to catch his eye. I think we meant to give the kids middle names in it—oops!—but here’s our chance to give a nod to your history, yeah?

somehow he suddenly felt shy and sheepish. his own history had been set aside in favor of mereo, then it had been practically forgotten as he emerged himself into the redhawk life.

he had once found familiarity with aquene in a shared language. now that too seemed so far away.

bashful, he sort of shuffled his paws for a moment while towhee ruffled fur.

i fear it will be too hard for you to say! but i would call it... насест красного ястреба in my tongue, i think. a quick little exhale through a nervous smile. it is redhawk roost.

You’re gonna have to repeat it about a thousand more times, Towhee agreed, the language so unfamiliar it barely read as one to her well-trained eyes, but I definitely think that suits.

She thought about mentioning The Roost on Heron Lake Plateau, another meaningful landmark. It was where Orca and X were both buried. Hadn’t she told Jack about it not so long ago? But she kept it to herself now, not because it was a secret or she didn’t think Maxim was interested. She just wanted to focus on his background at the moment.

Let’s do that now. Practice the name, she said, making a sweeping gesture even as she settled down in their new digs, and then tell me stories about your past. We haven’t talked about it enough. It’s not too late to change the kids’ names, is it? she quipped.

Speaking of them, they were due to turn up any minute now, back at the spring. Hopefully Maxim would hear them, especially if they called out. Towhee looked forward to their supper, though in the meantime, she settled in for whatever stories her mate wanted to share.

he carried some of the shyness with him further as she asked after his past. it felt like it had just been yesterday that he had told arsenio he did not think of the past anymore. not when he had towhee, the children, her family.

but first he would run her through the name until she grew tired of it. then, and only then, would he move onto stories. uncertain just how much he had to share.

it was a rigid place, home. not too different from mereo, i think it is why i joined. but the location was very different. a dense forest full of green seemingly year round! but siblings did not stay long. not brothers at least. he was not the best story teller, as evident from the way he jumped about, however she had asked and he planned to deliver.

She focused all of her attention on her mate’s lips as Maxim spoke of his home. Towhee wondered if any of this was painful for him to recollect. She sensed a slight hesitation in him—which she tried to soothe with an encouraging bump—but it didn’t seem like he minded too much.

Why not brothers? Towhee asked the obvious question. Where did they go?

we dispersed out into the world, each spring, when father felt we were old enough. i suppose he did not want sons coddled by their mother all their life — or overthrowing him, maybe. only he realized now that he had no worries of such with his own son. the opposite truthfully. he wished to keep jacksnipe close forever! leo too!

i believe my mother would have kept all of her children home forever if she could have, though.

Damn, seemed like the only appropriate thing to say, though she did think to add, I mean, it’s great to raise your kids to be self-sufficient and prepare yourself for them to disperse, of course. But you’re supposed to secretly hope they stay with you forever, Towhee muttered.

Of course, she was preaching to the choir. It made her even more thankful for Maxim and how well they vibed. What if he’d taken after his dad and insisted their kids fuck off at a certain age? Her whole being recoiled at the mere thought. She had come a long way since her early days of motherhood and knew when to let go. But Towhee would never be the type to push her children from the nest, even if she would always be the wind beneath their wings if they did decide to spread them.

I’m really glad we’re on the same page about this stuff, she voiced her thoughts aloud. So, exactly how old were you when you first went off on your own? And what did you hope to find when you left the place you were born?

i left last winter, when i was near...mature. before i arrived to mereo. here he laughed a little, warm and comical. 'out you go!' he had said, perhaps not as nice. but he was not wounded by it. that was a thing he had known would come, that he had watched all his brothers before go through.

i had thought i would become a big man on my own somehow. that i may...make a place, much like my father had. only i had no clue how to do that and the winter is not kind alone!

and now he was here, alongside a wife while two kids ran among epoch. a tactician becoming a tracker, destined to teach the youth that they would not send off much like his own parents had.

it was not what he had imagined. it was better.

His mention of last winter jarred Towhee. She often forgot how young he was but it was more than that. She felt like they’d been together always. She welcomed the fuzzy feeling it gave her, though there was always that small but sharp edge of fear. She’d gotten pretty good at ignoring it these days.

We all feel invincible when we’re young, don’t we? she mused in reply to his story. And then the real world hits… and hits… and hits.

Towhee briefly wondered about all her grown children who weren’t here, wondering if they’d found happiness or hardship. She wondered if she had more grandchildren out there, via Fig and the twins. Was Caracal still rambling or had he settled again? Sphyra was probably out there ruling her own version of Mereo.

She refocused her attention on the present conversation, as well as one they’d had not so long ago. Towhee had no desire or intentions to leave Epoch anytime soon, though she could absolutely picture herself establishing a pack with Maxim one day. Like the reminder of Maxim’s youth, she was a little surprised to find herself aching to rule again. She’d really thought those days were over.

But she’d thought she’d never be a mother again, not so long ago. And now Towhee looked forward to several more years of litters with her husband. Her husband! Still ignoring the voice of pessimism from the back of her mind, she let herself lean into the dream of making their own kingdom one day, surrounded by all their children. It was idyllic to the point of ridiculousness, possibly, but it was worth aspiring to, wasn’t it?

I’m so happy, she said, a little apropos of nothing, gazing around their new digs and then catching Maxim’s eye, that we ended up here, I mean. I never would’ve pictured most of this for myself, she continued, leaning forward to touch their muzzles together, but I have zero complaints.

could be a fade? <3

hits. hits. hits.

he wondered if he had been actually hit yet. he supposed the fear he had felt that he might lose towhee last spring with her seizures had been a hit. only he had been so fortunate as to keep her, her care coming from the best they could have asked for.

had it been a hit to leave mereo right as he approached something akin to the top? no, he thought not, when he had gained all of this in return.

he only dropped his line of thinking when she spoke, touched. his tail was quick to began a thumping cadence behind him. he did not need boning all the time when they had this. the good talks and the kinder touches that they allowed themselves to have in love.

i am happy, and in love! he declared with a beaming warmth. entirely uncertain if she would catch his words, but finding it in him to say them openly nonetheless. he found himself wishing to be husbandly and fatherly now.

i should find leo and jack, we can gather the pelt and dinner for you.

I’ll wrap it and put it under the tree. :)

Towhee did catch his declaration. She’d thought she was being sappy but Maxim definitely took the cake.

You are so cringe, she replied, grinning.

She pressed a paw to his face, pretending like she was about to shove it. Instead, she splayed her toes and pecked kisses in between them, determined to top his saccharine display of affection.

Soon, Maxim drew away and said he would round up their children, their prized goatskin and some supper. Good grief, could she be more gone on the guy?

Sounds good, Towhee replied cheekily, wiggling her ears before settling back to wait with a happy sigh.