Redhawk Caldera Scars to your beautiful

Peregrine felt oddly disconnected from everyone in the pack lately. Several of his pack mates—Finley, Shrike, Trick—were absent at any given time, off scouring the wilderness for the still missing Lucy. Elwood and Eljay were both keeping to themselves and the remaining Blackthorn pups, biding their time as they waited for news. Ferret and Jack were gone; Whip was distant; and Gannet probably just had better things to do than spend all his time with his old man. He barely knew Sassafras or Sasha.

And he felt old these days. He woke up stiff and sometimes sore each morning as the days grew colder. His body had healed from Ferret's attack but he felt like he was still in a bit of a funk over it. He still didn't think he and Fox should produce any more offspring. Well, she could—just not with him. Of course, that thought caused Peregrine's insides to twist. He could not bring himself to mention any of it to her, which created a distance between them even if she didn't realize it.

Trying to fight the depression seizing him, Peregrine forced the stiffness from his joints and headed toward the borders. He needed to do something constructive. He would start with a patrol and then maybe do some hunting afterward. The Alpha not so secretly hoped he would magically run into a pack mate somewhere along the way. Or, hell, even a stranger would do—anything to mix things up a little.

Hope you don't mind me xD

While Sebastian had told her and Ambrosia not to leave Brandy felt her paws wandering, and after her last memory of the alpha, she couldn't find it in her to stay - just a few hours away from the Fen would be okay, right? Its not like they needed her - the yearling was afraid to even cross paths with Odette now, and it made her jumpy. A walk would do her good. 

Walk she did - she didn't know what way her fiery legs took her, but when she caught sight of a rabbit, she went for it. Taking off right away, planning to enjoy the chase, she prolonged it too much: the thick scent of a border was coming up fast, and she didn't have time to leap. That and even being so close could anger these wolves - the Caldera wolves, if she remembered her mothers description of it. Ears flattening, she threw her weight back and slammed on the breaks - even if she did flop ungracefully to her side and bruse her shoulder, she stopped a couple feet before the border. Panting, she struggled to her feet right away, backing at least another few yards before pausing for a breather. All the while, her lemon eyes glared after the rabbits retreating form. 

                              "Lucky... Son... Of... A.... Bitch....." 

Peregrine's silent wish was granted when a fiery figure made a beeline for his borders. The speedy approach, coupled with the fact that the wolf was pursuing a rabbit toward his territory, immediately made the Alpha react defensively. His head went down but his tail went up, stiffening into an arch over his back. His lips drew back from his teeth as he lunged toward the stranger. She might have reminded him of Fox and Wildfire but he wouldn't hesitate to break her neck.

She seemed to catch herself and stop short, nearly toppling, and Peregrine slowed but didn't stop his own forceful approach. Catching her muttered words, a growl rumbled from his chest. She was the lucky one. And she might have stopped but she was still too close for his tastes. Every inch of his body sang with aggressive tension as he planted his feet a yard from her and leered.

"You need to turn around and leave," he said, even if on some level he was happy that she had appeared to distract him from his moody blues.

Shit. She'd been seen, and a dark man rushed forward, holding himself high and dominant - this was clearly the alpha male. At once, her posture fell - her tail brushed the ground, but did not tuck, and her head dropped to her chest- and she backed up a few more feet. Why she didn't run, she'd never know - but she told herself she needed to say something. She'd very nearly tresspassed on his land, caught his food - she would later be equally as confused why he didn't just attack on sight. 

                          "I know, I know, I'm so sorry - I stopped as soon as I scented the border."

Gulping a breath of air, Brandy shuffled back another foot or two. She didn't know what to say, what else to do - was she supposed to hunt something in return? Just leave?

                                                             "I-I can hunt something else and bring it back if you want - I don't want to get in trouble."

He sneered at her excuse, his refusal to accept it evident. He didn't think much of her apology either. Every muscle in Peregrine's body began to twitch as he prepared himself to lunge at her after all. But then the auburn stranger said the magic words. He didn't soften; he still stood there, glaring at her stonily. But it was enough to stay the imminent attack.

Obviously, she could just run off and never return, leaving him hanging. Either way, he would get rid of her. In the best case scenario, he'd get some food first. "Yes. Go," he said simply, turning his face slightly to favor her with his good eye, expression now going blank.

He rejected her words with a sneer, and Brandy fought the urge to challenge him - but she wouldn't dare pick a fight with the alpha of their neighbors: it already felt like she was on thin ice with Sebastian, far from her dream of beta, and making an enemy of Peregrine would not do her well.

He did, however, go for the copper girls offer - the words were barely out of his mouth before she'd turned and hared off back towards the haunted wood. Once the dark male was out of view, she began to track the nearest thing she scented - which so happened to be a fox. Growling lowly as she stalked forward, the yearling knew this struggle was about to suck major ass - and she didn't even get the fox meat afterwards! Never did it cross her mind to just run off and leave the alpha hanging; Ambrosia had raised her better than that, and if she said she was going to hunt to make up for her mistake then hunt she would. 

Five minutes of tracking found her turning a tree and finding it gnawing some other poor creature - well, at least it got its last meal. Brandy dropped into a crouch and circled completely behind it - just as the fiery creature lifted its head to scent her, the fire-footed yearling leapt. It had time to scramble to its paws and jump out of the way, but apparently wasn't very happy with her actions; turning and snapping its jaws right at her face. Its fangs sliced through her nose, but the warrior was swift to snap it up by the neck as it turned to run - its claws scrabbled against her jaw and shoulder, but she winced through it and grumbled about the blood dripping in her nose. This sucked. as the fiery thing went limp, finally, she trotted towards the Caldera once again - now it occurred to her to just turn home and leave, but that wasn't right. Loathe as she was to admit it, Peregrine deserved the respect, even if she thought he could be a little nicer - after all, she hadn't actually crossed the border. 

She was huffing, tired, and drooping by the time she returned to the borders - she'd certainly gotten her walk in today - and looked for the dark alpha.

Off she went with nary another word. Peregrine watched her until she disappeared, then stood there a few beats longer, wondering if she would come back. Eventually, he decided it was pretty damn unlikely. Nonetheless, he remained close to the borders, trotting perhaps a dozen yards into the territory and then sprawling in the grass. He would give her two hours. If she didn't show by then, he would write her off and resume his patrol.

He didn't mean to fall asleep. But by the time the she-wolf returned with her kill in tow, Peregrine was not only out cold, he had rolled onto his back. He was snoring, his tongue dangling from his mouth, and his legs were spread wide to display the family jewels. One of his forelegs was crooked over his chest, which he scratched idly in his sleep even as a long, low fart whined from his rear end.

I really meant to reply to this faster, but everytime I read it I just couldn't stop laughing. xD

He didn't find her as she thought he might, but eventually she tracked her way back to her previous scent trail - Peregrine's dark form was there in the distance, and Brandy approached with tail and head low.... Until she was close enough to take in the scene. Drawing to the halt as close to the borders as she dared, the yearling couldn't help the snort of laughter that burst through her nose. Choking on air, she dropped the fox - it was then that the alpha farted, and Brandy lost her cool, bursting out in laughter and taking a few steps back lest she surprise him. Was she supposed to wake him? Just leave the fox where it was? Maybe she should just take the kill back to her own home - but Peregrine would smell her fresh scent, she knew, and that might not be good. Funny as the Redhawk looked, she felt the need to wake him if he wasnt from her laughter.

:P

This will be my last post!

The burst of laughter startled him awake (and fired another blast of flatulence from his rear end, like a gunshot). Blinking rapidly, Peregrine stumbled to his feet and looked blearily at the russet she-wolf. "F—?" he began to mumble, then realized this wasn't his mate. With that said, there was a heap of red fur at her feet. "—ox?" he finished, playing it cool. It wasn't like she knew that was his wife's name.

"I'll be taking that," he announced, moving toward her and snagging the carcass with a paw, dragging it toward himself. He fought back a yawn even as he kept blinking too many times. "And you... should... scram." Peregrine was too sleep-warm and halfway out of it to rouse up any of his usual territorial aggression. He waved a broad paw at her dismissively, losing his fight against the yawn. "Ou-ou-out."

*very glad I got one thread with Peregrine* Gunna miss him!

The alpha's second fart brought another, harder laugh from her lungs, but at movement from the dark male, she fell silent and skittered backward before he'd even gotten out the word fox. The stumble went unnoticed, for she didn't know the name of his mate, and she dipped her head as the alpha claimed his prize. He warned her off again, but this time it wasn't as mean - even without the yawn, he seemed much happier than their first run-in. Smiling softly, she nodded before turning her bronzed body away and trotting back towards the Fen - she'd managed to make a half-assed friend, catch a fox, almost tresspass, and hurt her nose, but it wasn't a bad day at all.