Moonspear they come and go and go and come and go.

Penn had never really been one to guard borders. And even though it would appear he was doing so now, that wasn't exactly the case.

Moonspear was crowded.

It was weird to suddenly find himself part of a pack again, let alone one as large as Moonspear. He'd spent so much of his life as a lone wolf and while he had wanted a change (and he hadn't changed his mind about it), to be surrounded by so many was an adjustment.

And that's why he was spending his time on the fringes that day. He wasn't doing a patrol or marking borders or anything like that. He was just catching his breath.

@Towhee

It was so nice getting to catch up with some of her older kids and grandkids. It was exactly what Towhee needed, even if breaking the bad news about Maxim over and over really harshed her mellow. Maybe it was awful of her but she really didn’t want to think about him. She was out here to get away from that entire nightmare.

Her adult daughters could relate, of course. Towhee thought about yesterday’s brief conversation with Meerkat in particular as she headed toward the mount today. She hoped to meet her granddaughters, who were too little to come out to The Heartwood. “He’ll come back, mom, just like Njord did…”

Mm, she hummed under her breath as she made the final approach and saw… Penn…?

In hindsight, Penn was not at all surprised that his solitude was interrupted. There were 300 wolves in his new pack—obviously one of them would show up. He was surprised to find that it actually wasn’t a pack mate that appeared. At least, it wasn’t one he was aware was a pack mate.

Penn blinked stupidly at her, his face twisting into a surprised frown. ”Towhee?” he asked, mirroring her, ”D’you live here? …did I know that?” He wracked his brain, but couldn’t recall a memory where anyone had informed him of his sister’s presence here. God sister. Aunt. Non-related miscellaneous relative.

They sort of stared at one another for a few beats, then he asked her if he lived here. She glanced at the steep mountain slope just behind him, then returned her eyes to his face and shook her head.

No, I’m just visiting. There’s five of us camping out in The Heartwood, that way, Towhee told him, waving a paw in that direction but not elaborating further. I can’t even remember the last time I saw you… or if we even get along…

Oh, and by the way, what are your intentions with my daughter? Towhee squinted for a moment before schooling her expression, though the chuckle that rumbled out of her was as dry as Cabernet Sauvignon.

Anyway, how have you been?

I revised this slightly, since Penn came up in her (earlier) thread with Fennec. :)

”Ohhh okay,” Penn responded with a tone of relief. He caught himself quickly though and, for a brief moment, considered adding an explanation—that he was relieved to hear he wasn’t so dumb that he overlooked the fact that Fenn’s family was here, not that he was relieved to hear her family wasn’t living here. But then he remembered Towhee was deaf, so she probably missed it entirely.

Penn too couldn’t really remember when he’d last seen her. Probably not since he and Fenn had come home from their travels and he’d started down the path of fucking up all of the things. She probably was supposed to be pissed at him, but there was no need to be after so long. Right? He thought not, so with a wry smile he said, ”Probably best to not try too hard to remember.”

”I’m alright,” he answered honestly, ”Getting used to living with a pack again. I was on my own for a long time, so it’s a little odd being surrounded again. ‘Specially since this pack has the same number of members as it does trees.”

The way Penn talked, it made it seem like Moonspear was crawling with wolves. Towhee glanced up the mountain again as if expecting to see swarms of them. She did see a lot of trees. Her orange gaze returned to him and Towhee surprised herself by feeling mildly discouraged about this.

Her daughter’s words floated through her head again. Towhee’s jaw tightened but she let the scenario play out in her head. What if they wanted to join this village? Was there even enough room at the inn? Would such a large group even be welcome regardless? What about Epoch?

No, Towhee firmly told herself, blinking back to a focus to say, There must be something pretty special about this place. Who are the leaders, anyway? And what’s the culture like?

Penn had been jesting, of course, but the look on Towhee's face made him think she might not realize that. He quirked a brow and watched her thoughts play across her face, wondering what exactly was going on in there. He didn't ask, though, nor did he clarify his comment. Simply waited for her to respond.

He shrugged a little at the comment about there being something special about the place. If there was, he hadn't found it. "That would be Sialuk. I believe she leads alone," Penn answered, "I don't really know what to say about the culture. Normal? There haven't been any blood sacrifices or thunder dome style grudge matches. Not so far, anyway."

Sialuk? Sialuk… Why was that name so familiar? Had they met before? Towhee squinted, trying to remember. She couldn’t recall, though she was certain she’d at least heard of her before.

Towhee snorted at Penn’s quip. She thought of what Meerkat had told her about the place she referred to as her village. Duh, Towhee thought as she suddenly remembered where she’d heard Sialuk’s name mentioned before.

Meerkat mentioned that Sialuk is Kukutux’s daughter, she mused, wondering if this meant anything to him. Speaking of her—Meerkat, I mean—I actually came by in the hopes of seeing her and maybe meeting my newest grandchildren. Think you could call for her?

Towhee began to speak of Sialuk's lineage, which earned her nothing more from Penn than a blank stare. He didn't know the name Kukutux, in spite of the fact that he had met her once, coincidentally when she had propositioned him to be a husband to Sialuk herself. She moved on from the topic quickly enough, though, asking instead about Meerkat. A wolf Penn actually did know.

"You want me to call her? Why, did you forget her name?" Penn asked, quirking a brow at her. He had zero idea how insensitive he was being, but in his defense—Towhee seemed to be communicating just fine. How was he to know why she didn't howl?

Now it was her turn to stare blankly. Oh, maybe he didn’t remember that she was deaf. Or even if he did, he might not understand that she often asked someone else to howl and then translate any responses for her.

You asked for it, she deadpanned two seconds before unleashing an earsplitting sound just like those obnoxious kids screeching at the pizza place Kat was at a few minutes ago.

Afterward, she said, Let me know if she responds? Still deaf A-F.

Meerkat jumped at the noise, immediately recognizing her mother’s signature howl. On any other day, she would’ve been thrilled to invite Towhee directly to her ulaq. But @Orca II had complained of a tummy ache just minutes ago, so she knew now wasn’t the right time for visitors.

Knowing Towhee couldn’t hear any reply, Meerkat called for someone to keep an eye on the girls for a few minutes. Once that was arranged, she hastened down the mountainside to meet her mom in person. She saw that Penn was there and wished she’d known that. Then she would’ve just howled back. Oh, well.

Hey, mom! Hiya, Penn. I have bad news. Orca isn’t feeling well. I’m sure her breakfast just didn’t settle well. How about you come back in a few hours? Meerkat said with a frown. An idea struck her and she added, We can meet at the healing den. I’ll show you where it is. You should bring your littles too. It can be a play date!

Penn was surprised by the look she gave him, even more so when she spoke. His ears perked in curiosity just before she began screeching to the sky, at which point he regretted everything. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

"Ah, fuck..." Penn moaned, grimacing as he tried to tuck at least one ear against his shoulder to shield it from the noice. He frowned at her when she stopped, but couldn't really fault her. He had asked for it.

"I forgot about that," Penn commented, "Can't you take lessons or something? I get that you can't hear, but your normal speech doesn't make me want to shove rocks in my ears. Surely it's not hopeless..."

It didn't take long for Meerkat to magically teleport there because it's Wolf. Penn gave her a smile and watched as she spoke to her mother. She mentioned a playdate with their kids and instantly, Penn felt the need to excuse himself. It appeared to be family time now, and while he knew he was kinda sorta family, he didn't really feel too much like it. He was quiet for the moment, though, waiting for an opportune moment to excuse himself.

Towhee couldn’t help but smirk at Penn’s obvious discomfort, shooting him an I told you so look. She just hoped he wasn’t deaf now, otherwise how would they know if Meerkat responded?

I usually have others call for me, she told him. And haven’t you heard? You can’t teach old dogs new tricks…

It wasn’t long before Meerkat came loping down the mountainside to meet them and break the bad news about Orca. A frown tugged at Towhee’s lips. Sure, she was disappointed to postpone the visit, though that wasn’t a big deal. She just hated to hear that her granddaughter wasn’t feeling well.

Yeah, of course, she readily agreed to Meerkat’s proposal. Show me real fast, then get back to your baby. And give her a kiss from grandma.

She prepared to follow her daughter, though she wasn’t just going to dip on Penn without acknowledging their brief and somewhat silly reunion. She caught his eye and nodded her head at him.

I’d say we get along okay. For now. She smiled darkly, truly hoping she never had occasion to rip off Penn’s face for hurting Fennec. See you later, Penn, and sorry about your ears.

Meerkat knew how much her mom wanted to meet Orca and Seal. She wanted the girls and their grandmother to meet just as badly. It was only a few hours’ delay, really, and hopefully Orca would be feeling much better. It would also be a lot of fun to see all the puppies play together. And wouldn’t it be grand if Phox was there as well, seeing as he was their other grandparent?

Definitely, she said simply, then glanced at Penn. Meerkat neither wanted to leave him out nor put him on the spot. You’ll know exactly when and where to be if you want to watch a bunch of baby Redhawks bumbling around—or if you want to avoid that at all costs, she joshed.

After giving him a little wave, Meerkat motioned for Towhee to follow her and showed her the way to the currently vacant ulaq where Moonspear put its ill and injured. It was just inside the pack borders, which she imagined was actually more comfortable for her mom. Really, it should work out well for everybody involved.

Penn smirked at Towhee’s comment, huffing a small laugh to himself. ”Haven’t you heard? You can do anything you set your mind to,” he paused then and pretended to have an epiphany, ”Ohhhh right…” Of course she hadn’t heard that.

His opportunity to scoot presented itself quickly. He chortled at Towhee’s comment and gave a nod of agreement. They did seem to get along, which was somewhat of a relief. He’d never had a problem with pissing people off, never worried about being disliked. But it was still infinitely nicer to have friends.

”I’ll recover,” Penn said to Towhee, sharing a smile with both of them before taking off to wander further down the borders with one last, ”Have fun!”