Redhawk Caldera I wanna party and fly

Though his mind remained on women and how he could proposition one to let him practice on them for the majority of the morning and early afternoon, eventually, Nightjar began to think of other things. Well, thinking was a bit of a long shot. The boy rarely thought of anything except "pumping iron", or in other words, sparring, hunting and running. But it was enough to take his mind off his red rocket, and as he rounded the southern borders, he was beginning to feel relatively normal again. The subconscious memory of his dream from the night before no longer held his immature loins in thrall, and the joy of patrolling coupled with the fresh, crisp air cleared up his head.

But then he remembered that the pack was roiling with unspoken trouble, and his shoulders pinched together with tension. He stopped and shook himself, and gazed inadvertently across the valley to the far mountains. That was apparently where Wildfire had settled down. He genuinely hoped his sister was well, as well as Raven. Though he'd been the one to crassly toss her out—and he still didn't have the emotional capacity to really regret doing what he thought was the right thing—he held no ill feelings and wanted the best for her.

Snorting fondly, the thick male turned and headed deeper into the territory. @Fox had seen Wildfire recently, if he remembered right, and thinking of his sister drove him to seek out his mother to ask about her.

His path intersected with a stranger.

Shar-Kali was diligently mapping the territory, having arrived in Redhawk Caldera only days prior - smack bang in the middle of the dramatic happenings. Fox - distracted but professional - had accepted her into the pack, and left the older woman to settle in. Though she was curious to know the source of the obvious tension in the air, Shar-Kali would wait to be told.

Or wheedle it out of a boy with poor self-control and loose lips - whatever came first.

He was Wildfire's age, and she hazarded a guess that this, too, was Fox's son. The red queen did not seem like the type to share breeding rights. Shar-Kali's white head popped out of the bare bushes a few paces to Nightjar's left, and she requested his attention with a gentle ahem. "Might you be another one of the red mother's children?" Polite but cool.

Eljay was admiring a snow flower somewhere in the territories — a beautiful white flower that nearly went unnoticed because of the patch of snow that it was in. Eljay stared at it with wide eyes, admiring its beauty and seemingly in thrall of the beautiful thing when suddenly he heard voices nearby. Head perked up and Eljay's hackles rose nervously, because he didn't instantly recognise the voice. He sensed no tension or trouble, though, and so Eljay quietly tiptoed closer, to find two wolves there. Eljay didn't know Nightjar very well, but he knew him well enough to know that this was him. Nightjar didn't really ever say anything to Eljay, and that made Eljay feel nervous around him, so the two hadn't really ever exchanged more than glances, if that.

There was someone new with Nightjar, which made Eljay feel frightened, because it meant that he was with two wolves he didn't know very well. Although Eljay stood at nearly Elwood and Finley's height now, at seven months of age, but his demeanour and behaviour was still very puppy-like and youthful. He looked away, instinctively growing submissive in the presence of the two adults, while he mumbled a bashful, "Oh, hiya Nightjar." Eljay was growing fearful he might've been intruding on something and that he was unwanted, but it was too late to take back his approach now.

As Nightjar walked, he bopped his head to some imaginary tune in his head, and paused only when he crossed paths with perhaps the crustiest old wolf he'd ever met. Oh, there was nothing wrong with Shar-Kali's hygiene or looks, as the woman had clearly aged well, but his keen nose picked up the scent of oldness and wrinkled ever so slightly. To top it off, the much older wolf spoke in a way that was neither slang nor casual, confirming Nightjar's suspicion that she was, in fact, a grandma.

His previous thoughts of woman went right out the door as his loins and gonads shrivelled up and died. "Yo," he said rather awkwardly, picking through the words Shar-Kali had uttered in search of the true meaning. He had to assume the red mother was Fox, because he had never met another red mother before. "Yeah, uh... who're you?" How do you know me, he might've asked if his head had quite caught up with his mouth, but in truth, Nightjar probably never would think of that.

The next to arrive was also not Fox, and also not someone Nightjar was overly friendly with. Raven and Wildfire had both adored Eljay since his birth, but unlike his sisters, Nightjar had been nothing but disdainful of the pup, who was not related by blood and therefore got none of his time or attention. Still, the kid was growing up now and was integrating into the pack, and Nightjar didn't often have a choice but to acknowledge him, but he did it in true jock fashion, with a smug smile and a chipper, "Sup, nerd."

If Nightjar had indeed been cut from the same cloth as his lovely little sister, there was little evidence of it in his response. Shar-Kali could not hide her disdain completely, but downgraded from lip curl to frown - he held a higher rank, though she could not imagine how such a travesty had come to pass. He was a boy at the height of pubescent confusion; what sane parent would put such a creature in charge of anything except keeping his penis under control?

"Shar-Kali," the elder replied, turning her sharp, inquisitve stare on the Nerd, whatever that was. unlike his brazen packmate - or brother, perhaps? - this boy was a wobbly jelly tot of a wolf despite his size. "Your name is Nerd?" Shar-Kali asked, showing her age.

It soon became evident that Nightjar and the other wolf weren't really friends and that Eljay wasn't intruding on anything, really. Eljay felt relieved and relaxed a little, though his body language remained naturally submissive.

The woman asked him if he was called 'Nerd', and Eljay shook his head. "It's like a nickname, " he explained. "My name is Eljay." He glanced briefly at Nightjar, almost as if he was getting permission or feedback that he was saying the right things, then back to the lady.

Shar-Kali. It was a pretty weird name but the jockish yearling played it cool. She might've been a grandma but that was no reason not to show at least a little politeness. "I'm Nightjar," he told her, and then Eljay piped up to inform her that nerd was not his name, but rather, a nickname. If only it was so endearing. Nightjar meant it truly maliciously, in a, "this-guy-still-pees-the-bed," kind of way.

But he held his tongue and told the older female, "yep, Nerd is the lil bro's nickname. He also loves bein' called Pipsqueak and Dweebus." All of these things accurately described how Nightjar saw Eljay: inferior. It wasn't necessarily malevolent, but he just had no respect for the guy, especially because he wasn't a sibling and Nightjar wanted nothing to do with him. It only had a little to do with the fact that up until recently, Eljay had cried for his mommy and daddy on a nearly regular basis.

Eljay knew that nerd wasn't exactly a friendly name, but he didn't want the other wolf to know that. He was used to Nightjar calling him names, anyway, what little times they actually interacted.

When Nightjar elaborated on the names, Eljay frowned, not sure if he should pretend that it was okay, or if he should tell Nightjar that it wasn't okay. "Uhm, I guess," he said eventually, though it was clear from his voice that he wasn't feeling comfortable with the names. "I like Eljay better," he said eventually, quietly, as though he feared that Nightjar might tell him off for it. The lady was forgotten for the moment.

"His favourite is Weenie," countered Nightjar. Truthfully, picking on Eljay was low, even for him, but he was a bit of a bully at heart and he had never forgiven Eljay for crying and whining at his first pack hunt. Even before that he had had no time for the kid, but it was sure to take a bold move to impress Nightjar Redhawk, especially from a squirt like Eljay.

When Shar-Kali dismissed herself for what he was sure was disgust with the smaller boy (and was, in fact, disgust with himself), Nightjar bumped his shoulder roughly and not at all companionably against Eljay's and murmured, "smell ya later, Nerdzilla," before heading off with a snort.

Eljay opened his mouth to counter that his favourite nickname wasn't in fact 'Weenie' when Shar-Kali made herself scarce. Eljay cast Nightjar a questioning glance that insecurely asked whether it was anything he did. He didn't need to verbally make his question clear, for the look on Nightjar's face showed that he had done things to chase her off. Eljay bit his lip, feeling bad for being such a weenie.

Before the situation could get uncomfortable, Nightjar bumped against his shoulder and said a good bye of sorts. Eljay let out a held back "oomph" as Nightjar bumped him, and then said: "Bye, Nightjar!" with as much friendliness as he could muster. Eljay just wanted Nightjar to like him and perhaps that was why he was so friendly in return. He hadn't been faced with much hostility in his life and Eljay wasn't sure at all how to deal with it now that he was faced with it.

With a heavy feeling on his mind, Eljay started making his way back to the den and to his parents, who did love him.