Redhawk Caldera By any other name.

@Somnia feel free to weave in some gamekeeping if you want.

Once again, Fitz was on a greeting mission and as such he had headed to the lake in the Caldera. It was a pretty good bet that he should stumble upon a wolf there. When he arrived, quite early that morning, it was devoid of other wolves but even so, Fitz dutifully sat and waited. Who knew what the day would have planned for him.

A few drinks, were Fitz's source of entertainment until he realised that a lake may have fish. With sopping wet paws, Fitz attempted to catch fish (or practice, he was splashing so much that any fish that had been around would now be the other side of the lake). His paws dipped in, hooked under and came back up. Then the cycle was repeated with yet another huge splash as his paw went into the water and, surprisingly, another big one when it came back out.

I will, maybe not right away, but it'll happen. ^.^

Somnia climbed over the top of the ridge, and looked at the lake on the surface of the caldera. She spotted a wolf on the other side. From the scent that the wind blew over, she could tell it was a male, and he was a member of Redhawk Caldera. If he hadn't been a member, Somnia would've been astounded that he had made into the heart of the territory undetected. But he belonged here, so no worries.

Somnia scanned the rest of the top of the caldera. There was a lake, dirt, a few trees, and some grass. Nothing special. She would find another time to scan the surroundings in more detail, but for now, she had another pack-member to meet. She started padding around the lake.

She found herself lost in her thoughts after a couple seconds of walking. There weren't too many obstacles to watch out for, and thinking while walking was a common activity for Somnia. She thought of how her life was before coming here, and a nonphysical, dull pain crept over her. It wasn't quite regret, but more of a longing to have her family by her side. She had grown up with them for the first year and a half of her life, and now she hadn't seen them in about a month. While her parents were strict, and her brothers had enjoyed having her as a target for teasing and pranks, she still would of preferred to have them around rather than not.

Finding herself next to the unknown pack member, Somnia snapped out of her thoughts. Taking a breath, she plastered a smile on her face. "I'm Somnia. I joined a little less than two weeks ago." She failed to notice him trying to fish.

Fitz stopped fishing shortly before the female began to speak. He had heard her approaching and figured there was something else to do rather than this failed attempt at restocking their caches. "Hi Somnia, it's nice to have you here at the Caldera. I'm FitzDutiful, what brought you to our pack?"

FitzDutiful wasn't really sure where to start with a conversation. It was always a tough area for him. It wasn't that he had trouble actively talking to people, he was quite a smooth talking wolf when it came down to things, it was more that he wasn't quite sure where personal boundaries lay. As a want to be counsellor, FitzDutiful found himself privy to the vulnerable side of the wolves around him. He had yet to really have an encounter where someone kept him aloof, but that didn't mean he wanted to risk it.

Somnia dove headfirst into the tale, not pausing to think about what she was going to say. It was something that she had to learn how to do, even though it wouldn't be a regret this time. I lived most of my life in a small pack west of here. It was just my parents, my older brothers, and me. My brothers eventually left, wanting to start their own packs and have offspring. My parents wanted to disband our pack, since it was just the three of us then. They planned on joining a different pack, but they fought over which pack to join. They eventually went to split and went to the one they wanted, leaving me with the decision which one of them to follow. I couldn't decide, so I decided to pave out a life of my own. I stumbled along Redhawk Caldera, and it has become my new family." That was the long, detailed version of her story.

"I still miss them sometimes..." Somnia added in a quiet voice. Why she had decided to confide in this packmate she had just met over another she was more familiar with, she didn't know. Maybe it was Fitz's attitude. From what she could tell, he had a kind, calm attitude, one of those people who could listen to anything you had to say.

Somnia gave her life history from the brief question that FitzDutiful had asked. In some ways it was a good job he was going for a counsellor trade because everyone seemed to drop problems at his feet, even when he wasn't actively seeking them. It was also good that, as per his name sake, he dutifully sat and listened. It would all be a bit awkward if he were to get irate at these random tales.

As it was he found them all a source of inspiration for the storyteller trade that he also wanted to pursue. Hearing other people's stories was bound to be inspiration enough to create his own. But back to the problem at hand.

"Family is always a tricky one," he responded, kindly. As he looked over the female he put her age at not much younger than himself. That also made him question their differences - FitzDutiful hadn't thought about his family once since leaving. It was just, what he had wanted to do.

"I suppose it is harder when leaving isn't your choice, but give it time. Two weeks isn't exactly long, but I'm sure we can be a good family substitute." In truth, Fitz couldn't imagine a family without Fox and Peregrine now.

Somnia hadn't expected Fitz to give her advice from her small bit of whining, but it was accepted. She gave a slight dip of her head as a thanks. It had been only two weeks as he had pointed out, (well, a little longer as she spent some days between transferring packs). Somnia would accept Redhawk Caldera as family, she already was beginning to, but forgetting about the severed bonds with her blood-related family would take some time.

Redhawk Caldera didn't even seem to be close to anything her old pack was, but maybe that was for the best. After all, no one here seemed to indulge in irritating pranks like her brothers. Being trapped in her den for others found it amusing was one thing Somnia was glad to leave behind.

"What about your reason for joining, Fitz?" Somnia asked, curious about the wolf in front of her who accepted the role of helping her without a thought.

Somnia turned the question about joining the Caldera back upon him. He was a little surprised she didn't know the history of the pack but then, after two weeks, why would she? He took it upon himself to fill her in, which actually wasn't as complicated as he had thought it to be.

"When Peregrine announced that he and Fox were leaving Blacktail Deer Plateau to found the Caldera, I chose to join them along with Finley. There was no other reason other than I had got close to Perry and Fox and didn't know many other wolves there."

Strangely it actually brought the conversation to a stand still from his point of view. What more was there to add? He didn't really know where to take the conversation from here and neither did he know what to add. For once in his life, FitzDutiful was completely speechless and had no idea what to do now. Maybe this was why he excelled at helping others.

Somnia new bits and pieces of the pack's tiny history, but Fitz helped piece some of it together. Fox and Peregrine had been in Blacktail Deer Plateau, decided to start a new pack, so came here with followers. Fitz here was one of those followers. It also sounded like he hadn't been with the plateau wolves long if he didn't know a lot of them.

"What about before you lived at Blacktail Deer Plateau?" Somnia questioned further. She hoped that Fitz didn't mind all the questions. At least she was progressing the conversation.

FitzDutiful thought carefully about he had done before he reached the Plateau and the truth was that he had led a very boring life. He said as much. "In truth, there's really not much to tell. I lived in my father's pack and then, when I was old enough I left. Not because I was forced out or because I was unhappy. Just because all I wanted to do was find myself and that was difficult to do at home. I wandered for a short while, came across the Plateau and decided to stay there. When they moved here, it was never in doubt and so here I came."

Fitz smiled at the female beside him, wondering if she thought his life boring. "Unfortunately, not everyone has an exciting tale to tell." he joked, careful in case she took offence somehow. "I really hope you manage to make yourself at home here, it's a lovely place and we're lucky to have Peregrine and Fox in charge." It never occurred to Fitz that not everyone would see it that way, but that was the opinion he held and the only one he cared about when it came to his pack and his home.

Somnia listened to Fitz's tale, nodding her head slightly in understanding. "The ordinary is what makes extraordinary things special." She replied in agreement to his joke. "Thanks," Somnia said, nodding in agreement to his opinion about the Caldera. It was full of interesting wolves that made her feel at home, and they hadn't given her a reason to hate them.

Somnia's focus shifted to the lake, leading to a question she'd been wondering about for a while now. "Are there fish in this lake?" It had come out of the blue, but she wanted to know. After all, there were no rivers leading to the lake, and it had originated from the volcano's long ago eruption. If you think about it, it was technically a gigantic hole filled with rainwater. How would fish get into it with no other source than the rain?

Somnia's attention turned to the lake that FitzDutiful had been fishing in, with a question about whether any fish was even in the lake. "It's a lake," replied Fitz, his knowledge of gamekeeping practically non-existent. "Don't all lakes have fish?" He had no idea that fish needed a way to get into a lake, or that lakes needed a source of any kind.

As far as FitzDutiful knew, any body of water usually contained the slippery things called fish. If the jumpy things called frogs were around then it was a definitely case that fish were about too. He hadn't seen any frogs in this lake, yet, but then fish didn't always mean frogs. FitzDutiful didn't have the knowledge to go through the thought process that Somnia had and so, he just looked at her quizzically while waiting for the answer to his question.

"Not all lakes have fish," Somnia started, preparing to explain, "Once this was a volcano. Then the top came off and left a huge dent in the ground; the lake without water. It became a lake from the rain filling it in faster than the rainwater could evaporate. So it's pretty much a giant puddle. How would fish get into it if there are no rivers or streams connecting to it? Well, I suppose that when it rains a lot it could overflow and create it's own streams, but it would have to be a real bad flood for fish to be able to swim up the caldera and into the lake." Whew... A little sidetracked about one way fish could be in it, but it still worked.

Now that she thought back to it, Fitz probably wasn't looking for an explanation, just a yes or no. Somnia often took explaining things to an extreme, while others just stared at her, trying to make sense of it all.

FitzDutiful listened to Somnia like a perfect gentlemen. He was very interested in finding out the ways fish got into water and how their lake had come to form. Eventually, Somnia finished and no more seemed to be able to come. FitzDutiful smiled at her. "You sure know a lot about this stuff? Are you a gamekeeper? Or gamekeeper in training maybe, because this is definitely the kind of knowledge that seems invaluable to that trade."

Although Fitz could help with a hunt as well as the next wolf, he had no particular interest in game-keeping. As long as he knew how to bring down his meals he wasn't particularly bothered if he knew the best go-to areas to find the food. He was happy leaving that to another wolf to deal with. Fitz had always been better with his softer skills anyway.

Somnia smiled when Fitz asked her if she was involved with the Gamekeeper trade. She was around a couple hunts away from earning the trade. One of her goals was to earn it soon, and she must've been on the right track if he could tell her goal from her explanation. After all, she knew the criteria, she could hunt, and she knew the knowledge associated with it. What more did she need to be a Gamekeeper, other than more practice in the field.

"Yeah! I'm an aspiring Gamekeeper, but I'll have the trade soon if I keep up the effort. What about you? Do you have any trades that you either have or are working on? Somnia barked. Her tail wagged, sweeping the cold , hard ground. What trades were Fitz interested in? She couldn't tell much about his physical skills, for she hadn't seen him in action. As for his mental skills, even though he didn't seem enlightened in the subjects of fish and lakes, his knowledge could lie elsewhere. He definitely had the social skills though. Fitz had sat and listened to her, even out his own input in to help like it was second nature.

Christmas madness craziness!

"I wish you the best luck in being able to accomplish that soon!" Fitz responded with enthusiasm before the question was turning back upon himself. He thought for a moment before he replied. There was one trade he was definitely after but he wasn't entirely sure about the others.

"I want to become a pack counsellor," he replied firmly, nodding his head as he did so. "As for that, I'm tempted by Naturalist, Chronicler and Warden, Healer and Caretaker. I'm not quite sure which ones to pick. I figure I can either be mediocre in all of them or focus in a few and actually earn recognition for them. With so many options it's hard to narrow down the best ones to go for."

I know. :)

Somnia gave him a smile, a silent way of showing her thanks, when Fitz wished her luck. "I want to become a Counselor too, eventually. That one has to be a bit hard to achieve, as problems to solve don't spring up from nowhere. Good luck with that." Although they both wanted to earn the trade and there was a limited amount of problems within the pack, which was a good thing, Somnia would let Fitz take care of them. She also had the Gamekeeper trade to pursue, so while she did that, Fitz could hopefully earn the trade before she directed her attention towards it more.

Somnia knew how Fitz felt with not being able to decide the other trades. She was in the same boat with her third trade. "Maybe if you start with focusing on determining what you want to do for your second trade first?" Somnia suggested. "It could be easier trying to figure out one instead of two for the moment. Another tip would be to think about the one that suits you best. Or, if there's a trade that could really help the pack out." That was her thought process on it. It had helped her narrow it down to three choices: Naturalist, Warden, and Caretaker.

Tying this up as it's fairly old now, feel free to reply or just archive. New thread soon?

Somnia had some good suggestions for how to pick a second trade and FitzDutiful considered her words carefully. Naturalist or Warden - they were the two that FitzDutiful felt either called to him (Naturalist) or would help the pack (Warden). Pleased with his decisions he nodded at her in complete agreement.

"That sounds good. I like the idea of both Naturalist and Warden, but I'll think on them carefully before making any hasty decisions". FitzDutiful, true to his name, would determine which trades would est suit the pack over what he wanted most. Though, thinking about it, he had two options left and maybe one of each wouldn't be a bad idea. He was beginning to learn that just doing what was "dutiful" wasn't always the best course of action.

"I think you'll make a good counsellor," He said with a smile as he stretched out his legs. "Alas, I must take my leave. I've a prior commitment to see to. Good luck with everything and if ever you need advice - I'm here." With that, FitzDutiful tottered off, feeling much happier with his decisions.

Sure! :)

Fitz agreed to her suggestions, which was a good confidence-booster for Somnia. She nodded in agreement when talked about being careful and not being hasty.

"Thanks, good luck to you too. I'm sure everything will work out the way it's supposed to. I'll make sure to come to you with my problems. Bye!" With a smile and a tail wag, Somnia watched Fitz depart. Once he had left, she redirected her attention to the lake, ready to determine whether it held fish or not.