Bramblepoint bartering, pleasantries, and consumption

Nothing of particular excitement happened, outside of the brief scare with the hellcat, Njord, and Seal. But they were on the mend under the care of the village's leader, and Phox continued to drift around in the background. He was growing restless and he knew it. So restless, in fact, that he had spent the day traveling from north of the mountain to its southern slopes, his step-stop-hop getting him there in slow, but decent time. He'd become rather adept on three legs, believe it or not. And while he didn't think he'd ever be back to his normal self, he did feel a lot better than he had when he'd first returned.

He slumped down near a bubbling brook, watching the water go by and wondering what he could do next. Maybe, if @Towhee came back around, he would take her up on her offer to go along. Phox had a feeling he would slow her down... so maybe it wasn't the best idea. He had thought that settling in Moonspear would settle his mind, but it hadn't done anything of the sort. Especially not when all the reasons he had wanted to stay had rather quickly vanished.

Whether or not she would hang around Kvarsheim a while longer, Towhee needed to pay a visit to Moonspear. First of all, she needed to tell Phox the good news! Second of all, she needed to catch up with @Sable, @Towhee Jr and the rest of her kids and grandkids. And last but not least, she wanted to see how Sialuk and @Maggak were doing.

She stopped at “her” spot in Bramblepoint and let the skin Jack had given her slide from her shoulders. The instant it hit the ground, Batman appeared out of thin air and landed on the point of one shoulder blade. Towhee snorted in greeting, then promptly began walking toward the foot of the mount.

When she stumbled across Phox resting beside a brook, Towhee immediately hollered, Hey, grandpa! Guess what, grandpa! Boy do I have news for you, grandpa!

Tags so people can hopefully reference her visit.

Towhee yelled "grandpa" no fewer than three times, and Phox squinted at her with all the suspicion in the world. At least it sounded like the news was good based on her tone and body language. It wasn't as though Phox had any good news to share, so maybe it would be best if she went first. -Well, lay it on me, grandma!- he demanded, slapping a front foot on the ground. It was only that moment that he noticed the thing clinging to her shoulder.

-Uh, I think you've got a passenger there,- he said, pointing to the little ugly winged creature.

She scoffed at his observation before realizing maybe he didn’t know about Batman. Towhee paused, face scrunched, then shook her head, all without actually commenting on his statement at all.

Dude, Fig had pups! Two of them! she crowed. You’ve gotta come with me back to K… look, I don’t have a damn clue how to say the pack’s name. But he lives there, with a girl, and they have babies.

She was too impatient to answer his question, apparently. Phox huffed, but he didn't have long to be mock-upset about the situation, because Towhee slapped him across the face with the good news. -He what?- Phox asked, even though he had understood her perfectly well. -You sure I'm not going deaf, because I'm pretty sure you just said Figment knocked somebody up.- He laughed then, imagining Fig as a dad. It wasn't really a far stretch. He'd always been the more level headed of his first litter of kids (no offense, Fennec). And although he hadn't always been in his life, Phox had always known that he would turn out just fine. He was a Redhawk, after all.

-So have you met them already? What about the girl; what's she like?- he asked, all in rapid succession. -And what's with the BAT?- he asked. Didn't they have a cousin or something named Bat? It did sound vaguely familiar, though it was so long ago, and their family was so large at this point, Phox would have a hard time remembering who was who. Maybe Bat had simply been a figment (hah!) of his imagination.

Maybe it was crude but Towhee brayed a laugh when Phox used their son’s name and the term “knocked up” in the same sentence. It was funny because it was true! She sounded exactly like a donkey with some sort of terrible head cold.

I could tell you all about them, Towhee replied to his inquisitions, but you should go and see for yourself. I’ll head back there after I spend a day or two catching up with everything here, if you wanna be my sidekick? Or I can be yours. I’m not picky.

On that note, he questioned her about her little passenger. Towhee snickered, then clicked her tongue against her teeth. This prompted Batman to crawl forward and come to rest between her ears, making it look as thought—irony of ironies—she now had two sets.

I can’t believe you haven’t noticed him until now, though he is teeny and he spends a lot of the time buried in my fur. He’s called Batman and he’s been my ride-or-die for about a month now. It’s not the same as having X but he’s a pretty awesome little dude, aren’t you, buddy?

Towhee went cross-eyed trying to look up at him, as if such a thing was actually possible. She then dropped her eyes and grinned at her brother, wondering what he thought of her little winged companion.

Any other wolf may have been offended by Towhee's laugh, but Phox was so dang used to it, he didn't even bat(!) an eye. It sounded as though Towhee planned to mill around here for a bit before heading back, but Phox didn't really have a keen feeling about going back to Moonglow. -Will you tell Meerkat I'm hanging out with you and not to worry?- he asked, though it was more rhetorical than anything. Of course she would tell her! Not that Meerkat was likely to worry, but Phox wanted to play things safe. No need in getting anybody worried about anything.

Towhee went on to explain a little about "Batman," which was perhaps the most unimaginative name Phox could think of. Not that the Redhawks were particularly clever when it came to naming things. Everybody was named after whatever animal they most resembled, which really wasn't all that fancy. Niamh and Camilla had always had much different ideas about what to name the kids, and several of Phox's own offspring didn't have traditional Redhawk names at all. Maybe it wasn't a tradition worth keeping around forever, though he did still feel like it connected him to his long-gone parents sometimes.

-I think I'll go ahead and start meandering toward... what did you say the pack was? K-something? Should I just head in the general direction and you can catch up?- he asked. It was going to take Towhee a lot less time to get there than him, considering his lack of a fourth leg.

He didn’t want to wait. Towhee couldn’t really blame him. Actually, she smirked at his enthusiasm and waved a paw as if to wave him away right this second.

You just go straight east from here. You can go straight up and over the mountains but it’s easier to turn south and go the long way around. There’s a forest on the far side, the smell of foxes is pretty unmistakable. You ought to like it there. Towhee winked. It’s a straight shot northeast from there. You can’t miss the boulders.

Despite her joking gesture a moment ago, she didn’t want to part ways just yet. Towhee didn’t want to keep him too long but it had only been a few minutes.

I don’t mind passing along a message to Meerkat. How is she? How’s everyone? And everything? Towhee wondered, unaware of the Pandora’s Box she was opening with that question.

Towhee gave him directions, which were about as clear as he could ask for. He wasn't particularly keen on going up over mountains (not minus one leg, anyway... and it hadn't grown back yet), so the southern route sounded much more pleasant. He'd been through there before—he was sure of it—though he couldn't say it had been recently. He'd figure it out, like he always did, and the stars were as good a guide as any if he managed to get himself turned around along the way. In fact, traveling at night sounded like a perfect idea, considering the temperatures lately. He could have sword this was one of the warmest summers he had ever lived through... but maybe that was just his age talking.

He was half-ready to take his first step when Towhee asked for an update, to which Phox sighed. -Your mini-me is off on some quest that Njord sent her on. Sounds like she's taking after Meerkat and wants to 'grow up' real fast or something like that. I mean sure, we were like that, but we had shit going on!- They'd been at war when Phox ran off. He still stood by that decision, even if it had temporarily put a rift between him and Towhee. -I haven't seen Sable in awhile... Lele either. It's the main reason I'm going to head out from there. I wanted to father your kids as much as I could, but now they're gone. Lele was my best prospect as far as... y'know, and it looks like she's moved on as well.- Phox ended this with a shrug. He wasn't particularly upset or disappointed. He was used to it.

She squinted, head cocking slightly as she licked her lips. Her children had opted to stay on the mountain rather than travel with her… just to leave and travel anyway? Her jaw clenched, though she made a conscious effort to loosen it and let out a breath. It would be hypocritical to hold it against them, though they were young…

Maybe he went with her? Towhee replied. And good for her, I suppose, she added, not entirely convincingly, although she was glad her daughter was doing something productive with her life.

Sighing a little, Towhee reached out, patted Phox’s shoulder and said, Yup, everybody leaves. You gotta get ahead of it and leave them first. It’s working really well for me. She winked. I won’t keep you. I’ll catch up when I can. Enjoy those babies.

Towhee gave him another love tap, then watched him head out before facing the mountain. She would call for Meerkat, she decided, oblivious to her daughter’s preoccupation and the entire fiasco with the cat—albeit, not for much longer.