Redhawk Caldera somebody that i used to know

maybe @Stoic ?

Eljay had heard of the arrival of a new boy to the Caldera, and as ambitioning puppysitter he knew he needed to go and check it out. So he made his way towards the Firebirds' resting place. He walked carefully, trying not to rouse up too much sound, because of the conversation he'd had with uncle P the other day. Just thinking about it made his gut mingle and made him think about Peter. For a moment he considered searching for treasures for Peter again, a natural reaction to his nervosity, but then he pressed on.

Silently Eljay made his way along the rendezvous site, hoping to catch wind of the newest arrival to the pack, although he'd be totally happy spending time with Whip, Gannet or Ferret, too.

Redhawk Caldera was much more exciting than The Mountain, he decided. He was located where he had been left, at the spot everyone seemed to meet. Yet, he did not stay long, venturing not too far but enough to get an idea of where he had ended up. His feet did not slip as he climbed the sides of the giant rock, as he had grown accustomed to that living on Silvertip Mountain and walking it's slopes. But he found, he liked the rocks here better, more interesting than the slate gray colour of The Mountain. He immediatly set out to collect them, rebuilding his hobby from what he had left behind.

With his nose to the ground, he did not notice the stranger, standing not too far away. It was only when he straightened up, his eyes catching a glimpse of a gray figure did he turn around to meet the gaze of the boy. Stoic looked, watching the boy, before returning to his original hunt for the most precious rock. Stoic had no interest of making a connection with the wolves of Redhawk Caldera; Perry was an exception for the sole reason his father was his friend. Besides that, Stoic had no experiance interacting with others and did not deem social interaction a vital thing to his existence.

The talk with Uncle P had been harsh, and Eljay hadn't known what to do with it either. He shifted still between acceptance and denial, the moments of acceptance loaded with fits of sobbing and the moments of denial happy though fleeting.

Yet there was no denial as he stood and watched the puppy that was looking for rocks. His heart grasped in his chest as though clutched by an unseen force as he stared at the boy. Small and big differences were forgotten, the fact that there was a new boy in the pack and this was him was smoothed over. Of course he looked different, for it had been weeks since Eljay had seen little Peter, of course this couldn't be the new boy, because, well... This was clearly Peter.

For a moment he just stood and stared as the boy continued walking, and then he came into motion. Tail wagging and tears fogging up his eyes Eljay started to trot towards the boy while he exclaimed happily, "Peter! Oh, Petey, it's been so long! I thought you'd never come back!" The words were riddled with relief and happiness. He couldn't believe that after everything that had happened, Peter was still alive and he'd come home at last! "I have so many cool treasures and rocks and feathers that I've collected for you that I'm gonna show you!"

His hunt was abruptly halted as the stranger cried out, rushing to Stoic's frozen form in some sort of misplaced happiness. Stoic did not understand. He had gathered that the wolves of Redhawk Caldera were weird but.. this was a whole new level. In a instinctive shock, Stoic skidded out the way of the boy, his ears pressed against his skull in terror and dislike. Whoever this boy was, he was clearly not well. "I'm not Peter," His voice found him, a defiant yet quiet, for Peregrine was the one to name him, not this crazy male before him.

Yet, his ears pricked up as the word passed the boys mouth. Rocks. The boy would show him were all the good rocks were, even if the stranger seemed to out of it to be walking around by himself. Stoic contemplated this. There could be no harm going along with it, for Perry had promised he wouldn't be harmed.. right? Shrugging off his doubt, Stoic's new curiosity was placed in the other boy's claims. "Rocks?" He stepped a small step forward, the Peter thing forgotten. 

As the boy defensively turned away from him, Eljay halted in his tracks, the wag in his tail slowly fading and ears falling to the side in confusion. He frowned, realising his error and muttered, "Sorry..." He looked away, suddenly feeling painfully aware of his issues. It was a moment of clarity in which he realised all too well what he had just done — it felt like a mistake that he could never fix, and if Uncle P heard of it maybe he'd get kicked out of the pack. He was going mad, Uncle P was right, he couldn't go on like this.

Breath came out in tiny shocks as Eljay tried to keep himself together, falling back to one of his childhood panic attacks in this situation. He wanted to stop his thoughts and his weird breathing, he wanted to be normal, he had always wanted to be normal, but somehow he just couldn't manage.

The only thing that eventually stopped his hyperventilation was the pup's query in regard to the rocks he had offered to Peter. His breathing came to a steady halt and Eljay looked at Peter — or was it the new boy? he couldn't even tell anymore, the clarity gone and the fog blown back over his chaotic mind — and he nodded. "Yeah, uhm, I could — I c-could show them to you." It didn't matter for now which he thought the boy was — though his mind raced back and forth trying to decide, swapping between one reality and the other — because regardless, he was interested in the treasures that Eljay had collected for Peter.

Eljay chuffed in suggestion to follow. There was still an unsure churning in his stomach as he set out towards the treasure den, halting once to make sure that Peter was following.

He didn't understand what was up with this Peter guy. Who the heck was Peter? Everyone seemed to know him. Peregine had said that he looked like him, but where was the infamous Peter? It frusturated him. He didn't want to be Peter. His mind was made up, he would find this Peter and tell him to get his own life and stop being Stoic. It was about time people got over him, anyways.

He watched as the other boy looked away, reaslising his mistake, to Stoic's satisfaction. It did not bring him joy to see other correct himself, he simply liked the thought off correcting the other. Before, he never would have prevailed against his sister, Adeline. She had been a class A bully. Meanwhile, Stoic did not notice that Eljay's response to the revelation that he was infact, not Peter, was much more deep than he would ever know. 

But for now, he would settle on looking at these cool rocks Eljay spoke of.

"Ok!" He replied, quite eager to see these treasures the other boy spoke of. He didn't know what feather's looked liked but he was curious to find out. He continued to follow the other boy, even as he stopped. "My name is Stoic," He replied, but suddenly remembered his change of name. "For now," He added, with an awaiting tone. Hopefully, that cleared things up for he had no wish to ever be compared to Peter again.

The boy eventually decided to accept the offer of rocks and treasure, even though they were meant for (the real) Peter. Eljay decided that he would show it to the boy anyway, while feeling a little unstable. He couldn't understand how a boy could look so much like Peter, but wasn't him at the same time. Eljay nodded quietly at the mention of a name - Stoic - but then decided to focus on the positive; namely that the boy who looked like Peter was coming to see his rocks.

"Uhm, okay, you can follow me," Eljay said awkwardly and he started towards the location of the Peter-gift-den. They moved there in silence, unless the boy would say anything; Eljay didn't even consider introducing himself because in the confusion he had not realised the boy didn't know his name, as he had thought it to be Peter.