Redhawk Caldera comeback story of a lifetime.

*attempts to catch a wild @Fox*

Fin hadn't taken Eljay out yet.  She hadn't even brought it up to him yet, even though Elwood had given his (begrudging) blessing.  It wasn't that she didn't want to go through with it; she very much wanted to go.  But part of her was quite reluctant to even suggest it to her son.  She never quite knew what to expect from him.  He might be quiet and sulky, but agree even though he didn't really want to.  He might have a complete meltdown and throw the biggest temper tantrum yet.  Or.. he might agree.  He might even be excited.

But probably not... Fin sighed as she trudged along the outer slopes of the Caldera.  Her nose was lowered towards the ground as she moved.  Periodically she would stop and stuff it into the snow to inspect a certain scent a little further.  But, soon enough, she would move on and the process would repeat itself.  She wasn't exactly hunting, but she wouldn't just not give chase to something if she happened to find it.  Mostly she was just trying to distract herself from the nagging inner monologue that kept running through what the conversation with her son was going to be like when she finally got the guts to start it.

It felt like it had been ages since Fox had actually spoken with Finley. To be fair, though, Fox had avoided most of the pack. She couldn't even come up with a solid reason why, except maybe her kids leaving... but that didn't even feel like a "real" excuse. Maybe she didn't need an excuse. She was the goddamn alpha was she not? If folks didn't like it, they could take their business elsewhere. And really, hadn't some of them done so already? Raven had gone, along with a few others who had passed through without Fox even getting to know them.

She sighed, lugging herself on in no particular direction. Maybe a new set of kids would give her purpose again.

Finley's scent popped into her nose just then, and Fox alerted to it with forward-pointing ears and a slightly more energized gait. Grey eyes scanned her surroundings until they locked onto that familiar figure. Feeling somewhat devious, Fox made a wide circle around the Blackthorn queen (hah!) and began to walk parallel, yet several feet away from, Finley. She would continue on like this for as long as it took Finley to realize that she was being followed.

Someone was following her.  The greatest predators know when they become prey.  So in tuned with their surroundings are they during the hunt that their awareness is not just limited to the prey they seek.  They hear all, see all, and smell all.  They feel the presence of another and the uninvited gaze that gets set upon their backs.  Even in the deepest moments of the hunt, they are aware of how the world shifts in their periphery.

Finley wasn't that great of a predator, however.  Yes, she could hunt and she could fight.  But she wasn't the greatest when it came to being fully aware.  She relied more on her ability to react quickly and to move quickly when danger became more apparent.  It had served her well thus far, and hopefully would do her some good here when Fox broke cover to attack.  For now though, Finley had come upon a rock that was half buried in the frozen earth and though there was no chance of there being anything of value beneath it, she began to dig eager at it in an attempt to unearth it, just to give her the satisfaction of knowing it hadn't thwarted her by being embedded in solid earth.  She definitely had some priority issues.

What are timelines, anyway?

Fox continued to lurk in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to break her cover and attack her best friend and confidant. When Finley began to start digging at the ground, Fox knew her moment had come. Springing (quite literally) into action, Fox launched her entire body at the unsuspecting victim. Finley was only slightly larger than herself, and Fox wouldn't have let a size difference stop her anyhow.

Forelegs outstretched, she aimed to pin her friend to the ground.

The rock was determined to remain wedged in the earth, but Finley's determination was something to behold. It took her a bit of effort, but it finally shifted slightly - a sign that it would soon be hers to... pick up.. and...... throw. Or whatever.

But Fin was robbed of that moment, for the second she cackled in triumph at her progress, a flash of red caught her attention. It was too late for her to dodge, but the beta was able to shift her legs to brace herself as fire crashed into titanium. She threw back her head as the woman hit her, taking the brunt of the blow in her shoulder rather than her face.

She staggered back, but swung her jaws quickly enough to snap at the offending red blob only then realizing that her attacker was Fox. "Bitch!" Fin barked delightedly before throwing herself at the woman with the intention of trying to smash her face into the ground.

"Bitch!" Finley screamed, though no matter the tone, Fox would have assumed it was in jest. "Takes one to know one!" Fox screeched back, dodging Finley's attempt to "smash her face into the ground." (Really, Stevie?) The Redhawk matriarch then giggled maniacally, chomping ever-so-gently down on her friend's ear. "You suck at being stalked, you know that?" Fox teased, letting go of Finley's ear to ask her that question. "You would have been so dead if I'd been, like, a cougar or something."

The second the word "cougar" slipped out of her mouth, Fox could have sworn her own scars from various large cats burned. "It's a good thing I'm just the head bitch in charge."

Fox was a crafty one. She dodged back from Finley's reach, effectively avoiding the face smashing (why you gotta judge, woman!). She stumbled slightly as she crashed into the ground instead of her prey friend. She growled as she felt jaws close around her ear, though it was just as playful a sound as any she'd made since realizing who her stalker was. She couldn't imagine actually snarling at her friend, which was rather a miracle considering how hard-headed and unrestrained both women tended to be.

Fin allowed herself to be overpowered and gnawed on for the moment. Knowing it wasn't a real fight allowed her the time to plot her next move, which was likely going to involve an upthrust with her shoulder as the weapon of choice, but she was happy to bide her time and allow her friend a moment to chat. She couldn't help but snicker at Fox's comment about being the HBIC. She knew very well that she and Peregrine were her alphas and she owed them her respect, and yet she'd never managed to figure out how to completely treat them like alphas. As evidence by what happened next.

"More like head suck ass in charge!" Fin crowed, overwhelming the world with her with (kind of not).  She chose that moment to push herself upwards, aiming to thrust her shoulder into Fox's chest in an effort to knock her down.  HBIC she may be, but that didn't mean her best friend wasn't going to pummel her into the ground. Lovingly, of course.

"How dare you?!" Fox replied, tail thrashing and a look of bemused astonishment on her face. "Besides, that still makes you second-best, Miss Second-Head Suck A—" Next thing Fox knew, she was being knocked to the ground by the (still second-best) female. Once Fox regained her footing and managed to shake most the dirt off, she stood face-to-face with her "nemesis" once again.

"That was a cheap shot!" she whined, knowing that she would have done the exact same thing, had she been in Finley's position. "That's it! I'm demoting you for the rest of the day!" Fox giggled with these last words, knowing that it wouldn't make a lick of a difference. Sure, she'd actually demoted Peregrine on occasion, but only when he deserved it.

Fin cackled triumphantly as she managed to splatter her friend onto the floor of the Caldera. She danced back as Fox pulled herself quickly onto all fours and planted herself a few feet away, her body arched in a play bow with her tail dancing above her. Her only response to having her awesome moves called a cheap shot was to scrunch up her face and stick out her tongue at the woman. It was a superior show of maturity, as most of the Blackthorn's actions were.

At Fox's stirring declaration, Finley gave her an exaggerated look of shock and dismay. "My god! Hit me where it hurts, why don't ya!" the beta replied, unable to help but smirk. She never really paid much attention to rank. She had always just kind of settled into the hierarchy wherever she fit rather than actually working for a top spot. Though truth be told, if she ever actually was stripped of her rank, she would NOT take it as nonchalantly as she often thought herself to be.

Fox snickered at Finley's comment, glad that she could make the appropriate insult. Deciding that Finley'd had enough physical and verbal beatings for the day, Fox plopped nonchalantly onto the ground, licking her right front paw absent-mindedly. "So are you and Twig gonna make us some more babies this year?" she asked, casual as could be. Obviously, Fox and Peregrine would be adding more pitter pattering feet to the mix, but considering how their last litter had gone, Fox wondered if her besties would try again.

She hoped that this year's litters would get along a bit better than last year. Perhaps the timing had just been off last time around... and maybe they could coordinate a bit more this year... though Fox had already jumped the gun on that potential plan (twice).

It seemed that Finley was safe from further onslaught for now, and so the beta stood straight and gave a hearty shake of her coat. Her tongue rolled out of her mouth as she panted with a happy grin. She was beginning to feel reckless. Not the reckless she'd been when she'd attempted to abandon her family reckless, but the reckless she'd felt when she'd nearly been killed by a bear and had had to stay at the Plateau for a couple of weeks. With a grin, she began to contemplate the ways she could act this out, heedless of her sobering role as mother and mate until Fox suddenly and casually smacked her in the face with it.

Fin contemplated the question for a few seconds, then gave an equally casual shrug. "I dunno," she quipped with a grin, "You know how I like these things to be surprises." It was still a bit of a sore spot, how things had gone down with her last litter. Alpha Fox may have been, but it still had stung the way she'd handled the news of her first pregnancy. She thought herself over it at this point, and so it felt like fun to laugh about her prior indiscretions.

"Well, it would be nice to know," Fox scoffed, grinning at her bestie. "Does Twig know if you're gonna make more babies?" Fox asked. She couldn't recall if she had asked him already or not, but it didn't really matter. What if Elwood had told Finley about the question (assuming she'd asked him). Fox flopped on the ground, sprawling on her right side. She batted half-heartedly in Finley's direction.

Fox laughed at her comment, but did not relent in her pursuit of an answer. Fin shrugged away from her friend's weak attempt to reach her and moved a few paces across the empty landscape. She couldn't think of anything amusing to say in response, and so she just gave a shrug. "We haven't really talked about it at all," she admitted, "He's probably afraid to bring it up, considering how awesome things went the first time..." Or maybe he doesn't even want to have more with me... Finley frowned at the thought and forced herself to drop it from her mind. It was a self-pitying thought and she had little tolerance for it.

"Maybe I'll just go find him a pet duck or something," she added after a beat, reasoning inwardly that perhaps he just wanted something to take care of. But with both her and Eljay in his life, there didn't seem to be any shortage of needy loved ones.

"What?" Fox asked, confused. "Eljay turned out... fine!" Sure, he was a little soft and a little shy, but he wasn't anything horrible like Junior had been. A pet duck didn't sounds like a good idea at all. "I mean, I guess if he's hungry for duck, that would help." Fox knew that she wouldn't be able to resist eating a tasty bird if Peregrine got one for her. In fact, the only thing she probably wouldn't eat would be a fox. She couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I think Perry would be fine with you two having another go at it, too," Fox added. Finley and Elwood were a great couple, and they'd done nothing but support their alphas through the thick and thin of things.

Fox had no idea what Finley was refering to, and for a moment, the Blackthorn felt a venomous taste in her mouth. It was stupid of her to have not derailed this conversation already for she knew there was nothing that could come of it that would make her feel better about what had happened between them. Fox was not going to apologize of her own volition, nor would she even begin to suspect that she had even done her best friend wrong. She was not that sort of wolf. Were roles reversed, Finley would not have been either.

Fin quirked a brow at her friend, the only response she would provide to her comment about Eljay. She loved her son and believed in him, in spite of what others might say of his weak, anxious nature. He had been the one to survive, and only Finley and Elwood would ever realize just what strength that meant he had. "I'll keep it in mind," Fin replied, attempting to sound as nonchalant as she could, "Being pregnant sure is a freaking suckfest though, isn't it? Fat, cranky, hungry, throw-uppy. Ugh, the kids are cute but the shit you have to go through to get to 'em." Literally, if she recalled correctly the parts her author did NOT wish to write out.

Wrap this one up? Finally trying to close out some old threads and this is by far the oldest. xP

"Right?" Fox said, agreeing about the suckfest that was being pregnant. "The guys have no idea what we have to go through." Fox punctuated that statement with an emphatic yawn, even going as far as stretching and wriggling her tail in the process. "Good lords, I'm tired. You wanna take a nap? You can be the little spoon!" Everybody knows being the little spoon is the best.

We're like a month away from the year mark! You just wanna give up???

Fin smirked at her friend's statement. Men seriously had no idea how lucky they were. Pregnancy and giving birth were one thing, but even the aftermath of actually raising puppies. She'd like to see Elwood having his nips tugging on day and night for weeks on end, see how happy he felt at the end of the line.

Finley was quick to catch Fox's yawn and to emit one of her own. She shook her coat lightly as a little squeak escaped her throat. Turning towards her friend, she gave a cheeky grin at the offer. "What if the boys find us, do you think they could handle the sight?" she asked, already turning them towards a copse that she knew would provide good shelter for their snuggle session.

If you insist!

”Handle it?” Fox said, amused, ”I think they’d more than handle it.” She knew that Peregrine would be all for watching her get it on with another lady, but she wasn’t entirely sure Elwood would have the same mindset. In fact, once upon a time, Fox had run the idea past Finley, but her friend hadn’t been receptive to it. Ah well, there were other ways to get that fix. Starling was one such way, and Fox thought fondly of her tryst with the near stranger.

The Redhawk matriarch meandered toward the copse, bumping into Finley on occasion for shits and giggles. ”You think we’ll live here, in Redhawk Caldera, forever?” Fox asked. She couldn’t think of a single reason to leave their home, but it was something that occasionally slipped into her thoughts. Would there ever come a time when either of them didn’t want to live here? Or when they would be forced out?

*cries 5eva*

Fin smirked at her friend's assessment. She'd never really asked Elwood his opinion of lady lovin', but she surmised it was about the same as any other hot-blooded male's. Not that it was ever something he would encounter in his own mate. Reckless and crazy she may be, but she had determined a long time ago that her sexual adventures were only to be had with male counterparts. Lady bits simply did not interest her.

The Blackthorn returned Fox's bumps with nips and nudges of her own. She kept her eyes on the terrain all the while, even when she answered the question that was posed. "I don't see why not," she said, though there was a wistfulness in her voice as she continued, "It would be exciting to move again. Super impractical and unneccessary, but still."

They reached the copse in only a few minutes time and only seconds after that for Finley to locate the spot she wanted. There was nothing particularly notable about the spot, but still, when she reached it, she fell onto her shoulder and rolled about as dogs did. She eventually rolled back onto her stomach, her forelegs splayed and her ears back and she snorted with a shake of her head. She grinned then, shifting so that her paws were tucked beneath her chest like a lamb. "C'mere, big spoon," Finley crooned then, her tail wagging as she laid her head down.

I'll cry at your funeral, too, bb. <3

Fox had lived in exactly four places her entire life. This was apparently some phenomenon, considering how often others moved around. Fox had lived in her natal pack, Swiftcurrent Creek, Blacktail Deer Plateau, and here: Redhawk Caldera. She had no intention of moving unless it became uninhabitable... but it had been so cozy here for so long, she couldn't really imagine that happening. She stuck her tongue out at Finley's remark, amused that her bestie would ever consider that a "fun" adventure. The last time Fox had moved, she'd slipped down the side of this very mountain and bruised a rib. That had been one hell of a time.

She flopped down beside Finley, mimicking the traditional back-scratching pre-nap ritual. Not wasting any time, Fox cozied right up to her beta, nibbling on her ear momentarily before drifting off to sleep in a matter of minutes.

<3

Big spoon complied, and Finley relaxed into the comfortable snuggle time that was hers to enjoy as both a wolf and her alpha's bff. It didn't take long for her to drift off to sleep, but as she did, the thoughts Fox had inspired continued to stir in her brain. Would they really stay at the Caldera forever? Would it always be like this? As much as Finley had thirsted for excitement and adventure in her youth, there was a large part of her that had to admit that she was perfectly content with her life now and it's lack of those things she had once coveted. A smile slipped across her muzzle just before she let all thought go and let sleep take her.