Redhawk Caldera speaking of

Also tagging @Lucy and @Liffey. TWO THOUSAND POSTS, GUYS.

Fox was the worst kind of friend. She'd pop up only when things were going well, and she would draw inward when things weren't going well. The past several months had fallen into the latter category, and Fox had made zero time to see Finley, Elwood, or their batch of new kidlets. In fact, the last time she'd had a legitimate conversation with Finley was when they'd been discussing the next litter. At least, she was pretty sure that was right. How old were the Finwood kids now, anyway? And which ones had wandered off? She really was a terrible friend.

Were they at the rendezvous site? Did they still live in the whelping den? Fox, you really are a piece of work.

Well, no time like the present to mend things! Acting as if she was up to date and on top of everything about her betas lives (never mind the fact that Finley wasn't technically beta anymore), Fox called upon @Elwood, @Finley, and uh... whoever their kids were. Did they even have names? This was another question that she pondered as she sat at the rendezvous site, contemplating all these questions.

Congrats on 2,000! :D Also, I'll be PPing Lagan!

When he heard Fox calling for the Blackthorn family as a whole, Elwood felt a pang. Two of them were missing and he had no idea when they would return. It was yet another reminder that Finley and Lucy were gone, the latter perhaps permanently. But he sighed and collected himself, trotting across the rendezvous site in an attempt to gather Liffey and Lagan to go see their Aunt Fox.

He couldn't find Liffey right off the bat, but he tracked down Lagan quickly. The boy was snacking, as he often was, but he grinned broadly up at his dad when he was beckoned. "Come on," Elwood said, and Lagan hopped up, leaving the remains of his meal behind as he hastened after the Beta male. Elwood sent up a separate howl for Liffey, hoping she would join them soon, and then set off towards Fox.

He spotted the petite leader reposed on the hillock and approached with Lagan bounding along at his side, the four-month-old's long legs making it easy for him to keep up. "What's up?" he greeted Fox, then turned to Lagan and said, "Say hi to Aunt Fox." Lagan obliged cheerfully: "Hi Aunt Fockths." Elwood suppressed a smile, wondering when and if his son would outgrow his lisp.

HIYA KIM.

Omg, I had no idea Fin was gone, too. JEEZ. Others are welcome to hop in (at any time).

Oh, right. Finley was gone. Fox totally knew that. Totally. Anyway...

Elwood strolled up with one of his kids in tow, and Fox's tail wagged from side to side. "Hello to you, too!" she replied to, uh, whichever one this was. He looked a lot like a little Elwood, and Fox thought it a shame that they could only name one of their kids after their father. Why couldn't all of them be named Elwood, anyway? Wouldn't that be an amusing family tradition!

But, apparently, this wasn't the time for silly thoughts like that. Elwood was, understandably somber. "I heard about the missing one," Fox said with a downturn of her lips. "I know I haven't been, uh, terribly attentive. After Peter... then Ferret. It's been hard this year." And while Fox was finally beginning to be on the upswing, it was pretty clear that Elwood & co. were taking a hit. "Any word on Finley? Maybe she's found the little one out there somewhere?" Fox asked, hopeful.

Liffey was bouncing busily across the Caldera, her eyes alight with excitement and purpose. She didn't know what had caused the trees to change colors and drop their leaves on the floor, but she could not have cared less as she dashed happily along the edge of the forest, plucking up the most vibrantly coloured ones between her teeth.

She had it in her head that she wanted to gift them to her loved ones, but she also wanted to keep them all herself. She had yet to determine how she would manage both, but her name echoing across the sky distracted her from her mission altogether. Liffey paused to turn, the pile of leaves between her teeth crinkling as she did so. As little as she wanted to stop what she was doing (it was very important, after all), the river set off back towards the center of the rendezvous site.

Her father was there with Lagan when she arrived. Liffey's tail wagged happily as she spotted them. She approached the gathering with happy, curious eyes and a smile shining somewhere behind the fan of red, orange and gold clasped gently in her jaws.

Although Fox didn't refer to Lagan or Lucy by name, Elwood had no suspicions that she didn't know what his children were called. She mentioned the other losses they had experienced this year -- Peter and Ferret -- and Elwood cast his eyes down for a moment. It had been a hard couple of months for the children of Redhawk Caldera, but he could only hope that Lucy's story wouldn't end as tragically as Peter's or Ferret's.

At about that time, Liffey arrived with a mouth full of leaves; the sight was enough to bring the smile back to Elwood's face. "Hey, Liffey," he said, then shifted back to answer Fox's questions. "Finley hasn't checked in at all. You know how she is. She probably won't step foot back here until she has some information about Lucy," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I hope we'll hear from her soon." With that topic concluded -- at least for now -- he turned his attention to Liffey.

Lagan had approached his sister and was eyeing her leaves with interest, perhaps deciding whether or not to try to steal them from her. "Whatcha got?" Elwood asked, golden eyes fixed on his remaining daughter.

Another one appeared, and Fox glanced at her before turning her attention to Elwood who (thankfully) called her out by name. The other little one still went nameless, but Fox figured she could weasel it out of one of the kids later on. She was a cute one, too, and held brightly-colored leaves in her little jaws. Maybe this round of Finwoods would turn out to be a little better adjusted than weak ol' Eljay. No matter how much Finley adored that kid, he was a little touched in the head as far as Fox could tell.

"Typical Finley," Fox agreed. It was Finley who had always been hunting bears and going on wild adventures, so it was no surprise that it was Finley who had embarked on a journey to bring their kid—Lucy—home. To be fair, these two kids didn't even look that much different. At least Fox's kids (sans Nightjar and Whip) were different enough in appearance that they could be easily identified.

"How old are these little buggers now, anyway?" Fox asked, directing the question at Elwood, but knowing either of the two kids could answer if they really wanted to.

Liffey grinned up at her dad as he greeted her, then dropped her eyes down to Lagan. He came towards her with apparent interest upon his features. She tilted her head to one side while watching him until Elwood took her attention again. He asked what she had, so Liffey deposited her collection at her paws, nosed them into a nice neat little pile, then looked up to answer.

"Leafs, daddy," she answered simply before glancing again at Lagan. Her grin widened and she giggled, feeling almost breathless with excitement about the HUGE bomb she was about to drop on them all. "I got them for everyone! Everyone can has one!" Her tail began to wag even more wildly. She turned her eyes upon each of them - including Fox - with expectant excitement. Obviously they were about to completely lose their shit over this enormous gift, after all.

I'm not sure how much/little I should be PPing Lagan, heh! *flails around*

Lagan reached out, ready to pull the leaves from his sister's mouth. His intentions weren't mean, of course; it was just what brothers did to sisters. Annoying her was his hobby. But before he could steal the brightly colored foliage, he was distracted by Fox's question -- and then Liffey's generous offer to share her prize with everyone.

"'m four monthth old," he replied, glancing at his father for confirmation. Elwood nodded. "Yep, they're getting big," the elder Blackthorn added, even as he turned his attention to Liffey. She had arranged her leaves neatly at her feet and was looking at her companions eagerly, waiting for them to take their gifts.

Of course, Lagan wasted no time -- he seized a couple of leaves recklessly, crumpling them between his teeth as he turned and flopped down onto the ground. The boy began to chew on them, using his paws to hold them as he ripped them. Elwood rolled his eyes, then carefully selected a bright yellow leaf. "Thanks, Liff," he said, with a sidelong glance at Fox. "How are your boys?" he asked conversationally; he knew that Whip had run into a bit of trouble recently, but Gannet seemed to be doing well overall.

PP all you want, bruh! That's what PPCs are fooooor.

"Leaves," Fox corrected, glancing at Elwood briefly to make sure she wasn't going to tick him off by doing so. Even if she did, so be it. Kids needed to learn how to talk good. Fox winced again when Liffey borked her grammar, but she didn't correct this time. One thing at a time. Liffey had offered everybody a leaf, and Fox took a bright green one from the pile and set it by her feet. "Gannet will like this one," she decided, not knowing if that was even remotely true.

"Four whole months?!" Fox exclaimed when the other little one boasted of his age. Hell, they were halfway to bouncing up into the adult ranks with the rest of the crew. Then again, Fox's own kids were almost there, too. They always grew up so dang fast.

"They're both doing better," she replied to Elwood's question about Whip and Gannet. "I took them to see Wildfire, and both of them seemed to enjoy that." Their trek north had been an easy, uneventful one, sans the spotting of Saena... but even that hadn't resulted in anything major. Fox was glad she'd gotten to spend some quality time with both of her sons. It was a rare opportunity, and all of them had seemed to enjoy it.

Everyone selected a leaf, much to Liffey's pleasure. What she did NOT like, however, was the manner in which her twin barreled forward to snatch his own, and it was this that drew her attention completely. Her jaw dropped in horror as he seized them haphazardly between his teeth, crumpling and even tearing them as he did so. She huffed with indignance and even hurt that he would treat her gift so poorly - and also that he would ruin leaves that she had intended to decorate their family den with. I mean, they were his. But really, they were hers.

"Laggy!" she whined, pacing forward but not actually lifting a paw against him, "Laggy no, you're ruuuning them!"  She turned her gaze up to Elwood, heartbreak apparently in her eyes. "Daddy" she implored with a whimper, tears beginning to flood her eyes. She had worked so hard, and she just knew that her brother would ruin them all and her life would be over.

Elwood wanted to hear more about Fox's trip with Whip and Gannet, but held off on asking for details. Liffey apparently had a much bigger problem to contend with: Lagan's destruction of the leaves. He hadn't thought that Lagan was doing anything wrong, but the crocodile tears filling Liffey's eyes indicated otherwise. She couldn't stand the sight of her gifts being "ruuuned."

"Stop," Elwood said quietly, giving Lagan a nudge. The boy glanced up at his dad and blinked, then looked at his sister's crumpled expression. Appearing sheepish, he began to mouth the leaves more gently, then stopped altogether. "Thorry," he murmured, and, satisfied with this turn of events, Elwood refocused his attention on Fox.

"Anyway. Sounds like fun, taking the boys to see Wildfire. Did they like traveling?" he asked. Some wolves, like Finley and Wildfire, loved the open road -- while others, like Elwood himself, were perfectly content to stay at home. Whip and Gannet both struck him as homebodies, but he couldn't be sure.

Liffey threw a mother-fuckin fit when Lagan mishandled the leaves she’d given him. Why were all of Finley and Elwood’s children so… weak? Fox twisted her face into mild disgust when they complained at each other, trying to remember if any of her children had been so awful. Whip had been an idiot, and Ferret had been a dick, but none of her own had whined nearly as much. Maybe they knew it wouldn’t get them anywhere in life. The Blackthorns, on the other hand, seemed to use it to get anything and everything. It explained why Eljay had turned out the way he did.

Elwood instructed Lagan to stop, and the boy did so, though Fox wasn’t entirely convinced that he was going to stop for good. ”I think so,” Fox replied. She had always been more of a homebody, but it had been nice to get out. ”They were a little iffy at first, but I think getting out and seeing the world did them some good.” She idly wondered if any of the Blackthorn kids would get that itch someday… assuming they were ever allowed to break free from their invisible parental leash.

Elwood intervened and made her brother stop, but Liffey still gave him a reproachful look as she walked towards him to inspect his leaves. After making certain he hadn't destroyed them completely, she settled down beside him. With a white paw, she pulled one of her favorite leaves over in front of her. Her tail began to wag gently as she admired it, content to keep quiet while the grown ups talked about boring things.

As the adults continued their conversation -- and Liffey's fussing ceased -- Lagan quickly grew bored. Imagining that he was quite stealthy, he left his now-mushy and damp pile of leaves and got to his feet, slinking away to find something better to do. Elwood watched him out of the corner of his eye, not bothered by his son's short attention span and wondering if Liffey would follow him.

"Maybe you have some scouts-to-be on your hands," he replied to Fox, speaking of Gannet and Whip. He had no idea that Fox held such a negative opinion of his own children; he saw Liffey as spunky and bright, and Lagan as outgoing and brave. They were both the opposite of their older brother in their own ways, and he had reason to believe that one or both of them would follow in their mother's footsteps as an adventurer. Obviously, Eljay would never take after Finley in that way, but he was becoming a skilled caregiver, despite his overly-sensitive nature.

"And Wildfire's doing well?" he asked in the next breath; he imagined that she had been thrilled when Fox and the two boys showed up on her doorstep.

Liffey and Lagan went quiet, apparently fine with letting the “adults” talk amongst themselves for the time being. It wouldn’t surprise Fox one bit if either Whip or Gannet ended up being scouts. Wildfire had slid into that role easily, and Fox suspected that was part of her reason for ending up in another pack. Fox had never been unhappy with Wifi for leaving them. The Redhawk matriarch had, in fact, left her own home around a year old.

”Yeah,” Fox replied, ”She’s got herself a lady mate. She’s a leader. Seems like she’s got it figured out.” Just like her mother, Dhole was ambitious and driven. In that way, she had definitely taken after her parents.

As much as she loved her leaves, there was only so much even Liffey's imagination could do with them. Her father's voice caught her attention and she glanced up, watching him and then Fox with faint interest. Adults usually didn't talk about anything cool, or so she had determined. But still, they sometimes sparked her imagination or said things that were worth learning more about.

This time, they spoke of Wildfire. Liffey knew that name. She reached with her back paw to scratch an itch just behind her ear as she began to wonder about this girl that was her cousin and Gannet's and Whip's older sister. She remembered that there was another one too. Another brother. His name was weird... Nine..jams? She shook her head and settled back onto the ground. Ninja, her mom had called him. That was it - Ninja. Liffey laid her head down and let her mind wander, thinking now of what adventures Wiffle and Ninja might have had together in the Caldera back when they were her age.

Wrap up soon? :)

The conversation between the adults continued easily, though with her brother gone, Liffey appeared to be bored. Elwood spared a quick glance at her before refocusing his attention on Fox, who had mentioned Wildfire's leadership position and her mate. A small smile tugged at the corners of Elwood's lips. Wildfire had gone through a rough patch that even her parents didn't know about, and he was happy to hear that she had found her niche.

"Sounds like it!" he said, agreeing that Wildfire seemed to have figured out her life and what she wanted out of it. "Did you get to meet the lady mate?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. To Liffey, he said quietly, "We'll go home soon." It was clear she was getting antsy, but she wasn't quite ready to leave her father's side.

Feel free to wrap up!

"Briefly, yeah," Fox replied. Thur had been... stoic, to say the least. Maybe a little bit drab, but maybe that was what Dhole wanted and/or needed. Fox was certainly less-talkative than Peregrine, but Thur had seemed downright... unimpressed with Wifi's family showing up to say hello. Perhaps something had happened there that Fox and the kids weren't privy to.

Liffey seemed bored, but at least a little less crazy, and Fox wasn't so deaf that she didn't hear Elwood's comment to his daughter. "I'll let you go. I was planning on going for a bit of a hunt, anyway. Stretch the legs and all." Her hunt would most likely be unsuccessful, but at least it would get her moving.

I apparently don't know how to end threads tonight.

Liffey started slightly when she heard her father's voice so near to her ear. She glanced up at him, offering a smile and a wag of her tail even though she had been too distracted to hear what he'd said. Her mind had been off with her super cool older cousins as she'd imagined them hunting bears and facing down ghosts in the Haunted Forest to the South - or was it the East?

Liffey frowned, wondering, and then feeling slightly disheartened that she didn't know. She bit her lip with a tiny, secret smile as she determined that one day, she would know exactly where it was. She'd know where everything was, just like her mom. She'd go on adventures too like her cousins, and maybe one day she'd even get to go see Wildfire and her.. What had they called it? Lady mate? Yeah, she'd totally get to meet her awesome cousin Wildfire and her Lady Mate. One day, when she was big and brave too.

He was a little disappointed when Fox didn't elaborate on Wildfire's mate. He was curious about the she-wolf that had caught his niece's eye, but he supposed that perhaps it was something a bit too private for Fox to share. Perhaps Wildfire would tell Elwood about the mysterious "T" on her next visit, or maybe he would venture to her new pack and see her with his own eyes. He smirked, knowing that was likely never to happen; he hadn't traveled more than a few miles away from the caldera ever since he arrived there two years prior.

Fox excused herself and Elwood barked a farewell after her, then moved to guide Liffey back towards the rendezvous site, slipping into comfortable conversation with his daughter as they went.