Sunspire Mountains Professor Universe

@Towhee 

Dwin was sure that the area at the foot of the mountain range had still plenty to offer, but she was done with the forests and fields - on the whole they all looked the same with little variations here and there. Perhaps, spring and summertime would be more exciting time to explore the area again. Mountains - on the other hand - lured with snow-covered peaks, distant thundering sounds of ice and masses of snow moving and the wonderful smell. By chance she had found a little path used by wolves and mountain goats alike that led upwards and snaked through the cliffs and rocks in the mysterious depths of the range.

She did not think much about the logistics and practical implications of such an arduous journey - but her being already very thin with ribs and hips sticking out under her pelt indicated that lack of food had not stopped her up until now. However, the further up she got, the more stops along the way she had to make. Her heart unused to the elevation pounded hard and fast in her chest and very often she was out of breath. Sometimes the elevation was so steep that a single step took a lot of effort, whereas it would be nothing of importance, when made down below. By sheer stubborness, incapability of admitting her defeat and - frankly speaking - there being no difference between going forward or turning back, she finally made it to an area, where the path was more or less horizontal.

After a while it was leading downhill, revealing vale ahead, which hosted trees and fields. She was very tired, but the sight inspired her to continue to move closer and closer, in hopes of finding a refuge to rest for a while. When near, she caught scent of the first wolves in the area and her face fell. The area turned out to be occupied already. 

Her bouts of spontaneous emesis persisted, though Towhee had no choice but to work around them. At least she didn’t suffer from chronic nausea. No, her stomach would churn and eject its contents without warning and then it was at least over.

Today, she spent the early part of the afternoon gathering mushrooms and stashing them in the cave in the heart of Saffron Grove. After acquiring quite a pile, Towhee snacked on a few and then set off for a border patrol. She wondered when they would make their reappearance.

For a while, there was nothing of note, and then Towhee spotted a figure ahead. She squinted, shoulders tensing and tail stiffening. Growling under her breath, she hastened her step to reach what turned out to be a young, skinny girl with a pale gray coat and a stripe she would recognize anywhere.

The Theos halted, jaw tight as she regarded the girl a beat before muttering, You look just like her, thinking of her godmother, but you have his eyes, she added, thinking of Finley’s son. Are you one of his? Eljay’s?

Dwin had not heard of delirium induced by lack of food, but when an old, grumpy lady, clad in black and red materialized before her, gazed at her angrily before barking out an inquiry on her ancestors, she would have not excluded this diagnosis. The girl tilted her head to the side, stared at the wolf before her, who was nearly twice her size and obviously way better fed than her, and - oddly enough - smelled of puke more than anything else. 

"Uh... I cannot confirm or deny such claim," she replied, taking two steps back and sitting down just for the safety. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed her that the road was free, in case she needed to flee. "What is your name? And are you well - you smell odd?" she shot the questions back in the same way the lady had intially. Without giving her name or even saying hello.

That response made Towhee’s head rear back. What sort of answer was that? Her eyes narrowed. Meanwhile, she felt a pit in her stomach, thinking on her recent foray to the caldera. Was this some sort of retaliation for her faux pas?

This girl had gumption, Towhee thought when she demanded her name and pointed out that she smelled funny. Despite herself, the Theos laughed, a loud braying sound that sent a flock of birds scattering into the sky from a nearby tree.

Silencing herself and face shifting into a leer, Towhee replied, Well, you look odd. When was the last time you had a square meal, she asked, Blackthorn?

"Well, I starve, because some people steal my food rations," Dwin replied without missing a beat. "And I had my suspicions on, who could it be, and it seems that I was not wrong," she bit back the YOU, fat lady!, because it was never wise to tickle a dragon right on their doorstep. "You are a living, standing proof of food distribution inequality in this world. I guess that because of you I am not the only one living lean at the moment," a ve-e-e-ery lengthy way of claiming that insult in the middle of this paragraph.

"You throw around names as if I should feel bad about them," she shrugged. "Tell you what - you donate that thigh and leg of yours for the starving population in this world and I tell you my name and line of ancestors up to the seventh generation," she offered grinning like a villain from a vaudeville movie.

The young Blackthorn fired back, speaking at such great length that it rattled Towhee’s eyeballs trying to keep up with the lipreading. She had a sharp tongue, this one, and couldn’t possibly be the offspring of Eljay and Maia. On second thought, the way she spun a yarn made her think of her brother’s softhearted mate and her dearly departed sister, Wraen.

Okay, Towhee said right around the topic change from food distribution to name dropping. Okay. But she couldn’t get a word in edgewise, it seemed. OKAY, she said simultaneously with the word “generation,” eyes bugging now. STOP. TALKING, she begged, wiping a paw down her face and pulling down the skin beneath her eyeballs.

Her other paw moved to rub at her temple for a moment as Towhee tried to rest her eyes. When she felt recovered, they reopened and narrowed shrewdly on the gray girl again, though there was a flicker of amusement in that burning orange gaze.

Am I getting fat? she asked in an entirely hopeful way, blinking down at her disappointingly trim flank and frowning.

There was no baby bump yet, though as she raised her eyes back to her small guest, Towhee’s gravid state made itself known in a fountain of vomit suddenly and forcefully deposited at the young woman’s feet.

Dwin fell silent, though it was kind of confusing to be asked to "shut up" in a polite voice. She observed Ms Grumpy get her bearings and she almost felt sorry for her too. Upon closer look she turned out to be an older citizen and the young Blackthorn had inherent respect to them. Okay, the utmost part was resreved to her immediate family, but some of it she did spare for people outside the circle.

"Fatness ir relative," she shrugged. "Compared to me you are fat and I hate you for that with burning passion and all my heart," Dwin said with a good-natured smile. "Compared to my Uncle... no the BIG FISH of the Big water thingie - you are lean as a fly," she replied, giving chance for the other wolf to give her five... vomits? Dwin looked at the pool of vomit then up at the woman, then back at the vomit. Her eyes scanned the contents, in case there was something of value to eat (remember - these are canines and vomit is just as good food as any, if the situation is dire).

"You do not have to throw baby food at me," she said, referring to that time in her life, when she was in transition from eating milk to something solid. "I have all permanent teeth," she grinned with her pearly whites. 

It was really too bad Towhee missed the girl’s latest soliloquy, as it was quite entertaining. Alas, she was too busy vomiting and then looking down at the vomit with a sort of curious expression on her face. Was that a whole mushroom? Damn, she needed to chew her food better…

Her orange eyes flicked up in time to catch the remark about baby food, which made her sour lips turn up at one corner. Towhee supposed her timing had been comical and, well, if this starving teenager needed the nutrients, she was welcome to them.

But hot soup is such a comforting meal in winter, she countered the quip about teeth. And I made this for you, Towhee insisted, gesturing expectantly at the bile-y broth.

Dwin arched her eyebrows, rolled eyes and huffed. Yeah, right... 

"To be honest, my stomach cooks better things than yours," she said, taking a step sideways and backwards, just in case Lady Pukershroom decided to grace the table with more of her cooking. "I guess it is probably the age thing, what do you think?" she asked, smiling innocently. "I can easily imagine that a stomach can get tired over years of working and then will simply lose the touch and give up eventually. Don't want to alarm you, but..." she looked down at the puddle of, where something slimy and oddly shaped was lying in. "... I say that either you seek a replacement or do something to cheer the old organ up. Otherwise, what will you do, when your gut starts to protest and have a strike? You want to eat and then - whoa - you are not our boss, lady, you either start treating us the gods we are or we will take you down with us," she suggested. 

"Or - what if your stomach wants a career change? It is very obvious by the content of this," she beckoned to the vomit with her forepaw. "That he is far from happy. He might just decide to quit and start a new life elsewhere. Become a star. Or find someone that truly appreciates him! And then, what will you do - steal one from someone else? Kindapping just as Stomachnapping is a criminal offence, you know. The latter is even worse, because that involves murder!"

Towhee did her best to follow the latest monologue, equally comical and tiresome. Eventually, she had no choice but to close her eyes and miss the latter half of it just trying to convince her eyeballs not to spontaneously combust.

When she reopened them, she caught the last handful of words: “—because that involves murder!” Where had this child come from? She was a Blackthorn, of that much Towhee was dead certain, but she wasn’t quite like her meek and mild predecessors. Maybe she really was channeling Finley.

Look, I appreciate your clever wittiness or witty cleverness, whatever, Towhee said, but if you don’t want this, then I’m afraid I’m going to have to pack it up and take it to someone else. She leveled the spindly stranger with a weighty gaze. Do you have any actual business here, or are you just rambling like that mouth of yours? she wondered without malice.

"Well, I offered you a fair trade - food for information on my family tree up to the seventh generation," Dwin reminded, talking slowly and with a patience one reserves to old people or babies. She had figured by now that the lady in front of her did not pick up things as quickly as other people she had met along the way - which could be due to age. After all, if Eljay - her dad - got stiff and creaky joints and therefore could no longer play for hours - couldn't the same kind of deterioration happen to one's brain? Perhaps, Honorable Lady Pukington was suffering from brain... arthritis? 

"Well, you are the one, who stopped me and started to talk to me," she said and paused, waiting for this fact to sink in. "And then you told me that I looked odd, then told me to shut up, then wanted to know, if you were fat, offered hot - disgusting - soup, and now - again you ask, why am I here talking to you," she summed up the netto weight of their encounter. "So - all in all - I could ask you the very same thing," she finished and just in case the old lass had forgotten, what she had asked, Dwin was happy to oblige and repeat. "So - do you have a business here or do you simply stop strangers and weird them out for fun or as a hobby?"

I know you’re clever enough to realize you’re standing on a pack’s borders, Towhee countered with an arched eyebrow, and it’s common practice for a guardian to stop and question loiterers.

But she waved her paw dismissively and demanded, Tell me your name and your parents’ names. We’ll start from there.

"Am I? Because I am clever enough to know, that the actual border is - over there," Dwin waved a wolf's-length behind Towhee. She could be very annoying, when it came to winning arguments based on minute details and technicalities. "So - in theory - you might have trespassed in my realm," she shrugged, but for the sake of safety checked the landscape behind her. She did not know, when would the old hag's patience run thin, and she would have to take a hasty exit from the area. 

"What difference would my name make to you?" she tilted her head to the side. "Or my parents' names - it is not like you are gonna call them to scold me for treating elders with less respect than they deserve?" that would be hilarious. Getting Eljay out of Brecheliant. "Besides - you did not give either your name or the name of your pack. For all I know - you may be stranger just like me, pretending to be someone you are not," she finished.

There was no reason to look where the young lady pointed, seeing as Towhee knew every inch of these borders. But she took the opportunity to rest her eyes again. She knew she would miss some stuff but she was pretty sure it wouldn’t matter too much.

She looked back in time to catch the third degree about her relations. Okay, was she just being obtuse now? Towhee arched a brow again. This girl was funny but she was also really starting to exasperate the Redhawk.

How can I tell you anything about your family tree if I don’t know who you or your family is?

Yup, the lady definitely had some mental problems. She seemed to not have heard a thing Dwin had earlier said and asked a question that was totally unrelated to the subject covered earlier. It really started to feel like talking to a rock wall. It was good to vent or go through lengthy monologues, but it did not give back any feedback. Well, in defence of walls you did not expect them to think or talk. But this...

Dwin sighed and rolled her eyes. Be patient, be patient. She breathed in and breathed out and then replied as calmly as possible: "You are the one asking about my family tree. Twice already. And I offered to tell you everything in exchange for food. Your trade offer was not... oh, okay... I think that for a half-digested mushroom I could mention someone that matches the treat..."

And no one equally bad came to her mind, though there were names in the family tree that did not have a story. "Sorry, no one that bad. Do you have anyone in your family that is like a half-digested mushroom and with biley-sticky stuff around?"

Now they were talking in circles. Around the word “mushroom,” Towhee decided to give up. She could feel a killer headache coming on and a nap in her little roost was very appealing.

Just you, Towhee snarked. If you’re one of Eljay’s, you’re my niece. I never bothered making a distinction but with you, I think I’ll make an exception and emphasize that you’re adopted.

And without any more warning than the first batch, the Theos abruptly threw up again. There was no nausea, though it happened so forcefully she would’ve sworn her stomach was turning inside out.

Take it or leave it, she muttered, wiping at her mouth and gesturing at the larger puddle of spew. Better yet, take it and just leave.

"For some reason you are not the first person to tell me this," Dwin referred to her encounter with Rykor. She had toyed with this idea later on and had come to a conclusion that it did not make any difference. Even if she had been the only one of her litter to be found in a parsley bush and brought home, she had been loved and cared for just the same way as her siblings. Still it was not very nice to hear people making these claims, especially, when they knew so very little about her family or who she was. 

For this reason she gradually began to dislike the lady. And when she was puked at for the second time - the "temperature" grew some degress colder. "Yeah, I will refuse. Thank you for your effort," she replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voic and took a step back just to be out of reach of being puked on for the third time. "Well... there is a distinction, whether you are really a family or just a name in the tree. Family are there, they show interest and they know, who is who. You obviously do not - and I have never heard of you either. Let alone met you," she said. At least neither mom, nor dad had ever mentioned her having a grumpy, puking aunt living in the mountains. 

"And from the interaction now - I am not sure, if I want to either know your name or add the story of the person behind it," she concluded. "You are not very nice," she added, though she did realize that part of it was her own doing too. Her personality was a lot for many people.

Sorry - Dwin decided not to like Towhee. :(

LOL, it’s okay. I really enjoyed this interaction! :)

Towhee stared at the svelte young woman, wondering, How could you have heard of me if I never said my name? She didn’t bother voicing this thought aloud, nor taking it overly personally when the visitor declared Towhee wasn’t very nice. That was patently true.

You got me, she said, feeling very done.

Her head was pounding. Her abdominal muscles felt sore. And she would be lying if she said she wasn’t actually quite intrigued by this entertaining character on her doorstep, though Towhee’s mood had officially soured by now.

In other circumstances, she might’ve offered a parting jab or at least stood there until the unwanted guest left. But Towhee just turned and left, desperate to reach the roost. She knew her pack mates would take care of the girl in the unlikely event she tried to trespass—if she didn’t talk them to death first.

Dwin usually was not the one to get tired from talking, but this encounter had drained her as well. She was relieved that the lady finally decided to turn around and leave, thus bringing an end to their conversation. Though Dwin's narrator could tell her a lot of, what she had missed by not getting to know her, sometimes people simply do not click, no matter how awesome they are on their own. 

She watched the other go, spent some time to establish, where the borderline ran and then followed her initial path that led downwards from the Sunspire mountains and would eventually lead her home.