Redhawk Caldera unrequited sass

Set for like a day after Fox dies. I'm planning on having Magpie leave the Wilds and this seems like a good exit. :D

She hadn't wanted to come back to this place, but before she realized where her aimless wanderings had taken her, the caldera's slope was already looming before her. Ire was rekindled in her chest and words flooded unspoken to her tongue. They had never looked to her as family, never respected her— and when she came to them for help, the only blood relatives she knew, they had eaten her stillborn children and left her for dead. Magpie had survived despite everything and she wanted them to know it. Wanted them to finally give a shit about her.

The Corvidae halted at the edge of their border, her gaze indignant and posture proud. Magpie knew better than to start a fight, but the caldera's silhouette had sparked a long-stifled rage within her.

*be's vague about stuff that hasn't happened yet*

She waited until her heat passed. Then, without a word, Wildfire slipped away from Drageda. She went to the tree first, where she stayed for a day, then she plodded further southwest along the coast. When she reached a familiar forking delta, then turned inland. She navigated alongside the river for many miles over several days. She took a right at the lake, her eyes growing slightly less glassy as a familiar stump of a mountain rose up in front of her.

There was another familiar shape up ahead. A wild Magpie appears—again! It was Wildfire's first conscious thought in close to a week. With her heart fluttering in her chest, she closed the distance and walked up behind Magpie, woofing quietly under her breath.

Melancholy and motherhood did not mix well.

Thrice now, Finley had been named godmother to Firebirds, and not once had she ever planned for a day when she would actually be called upon to fulfill the duties that came with the title. Sure she had joked about offing Peregrine and Fox so that she could get her hands on their adorable little puppies, but she had never considered what it would be like to actually step in and mother their children. It was never supposed to happen, just as Peregrine and Fox were never supposed to have to step in for her or Elwood to take care of their kids. They were just titles given to each other to symbolize their friendship and trust. It wasn't supposed to be a safety net. It wasn't supposed to ever happen.

But it did. And now the pack felt broken, and Finley and Elwood were left to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, she herself felt broken with pieces of herself scattered around. There were so few of them now that two of their strongest were dead. She felt certain that they would soon be losing Whip. Maybe he was gone already. Finley couldn't blame him, though it saddened her to know she didn't have the relationship with him that might have prevented it. She'd nearly lost it with her own twins while hunting down Lucy, not realizing she'd already lost that one the day her daughter had been taken and Fin hadn't been there to stop it.

The Blackthorn shook her head and lifted a leg to mark a lone rock near the edge of their territory. It was not her typical job, but since Raven was currently caring for the pups and they had pretty much no one else to do it, she and @Elwood had decided to divide and conquer. Her thoughts were far from the task at hand though. So much in fact that she nearly failed to notice the sihlouettes in the distance that signified that the Caldera had visitors.

It didn't take long for her to come close enough to realize who it was exactly on their doorstep. It seemed such a strange coincidence that for a moment, Finley wondered if this had been some sort of plot. She knew about what had happened the last time Magpie came around, and she knew that it was likely Fox's sister was not there for a friendly visit. Were it not for the fact that Wildfire was with her, she would have named her murdering bitch and attacked the Corvidae on the spot. But Wildfire tempered her. Wildfire, who she had not seen in months and months.

Finley felt sick as she approached. She stopped a few yards from them and gazed at them both. She needed to tell them both about Fox and Peregrine. It was odd, how telling two wolves the same news were truly such very different conversations. They weren't ones she wanted to have simultaneously, but fate didn't seem to give any fucks about that. It didn't seem to give any about anything.

"Magpie," Fin said quietly, her tone far less welcoming than when her gaze shifted to Wildfire and she could not keep the emotion from her voice, "Wiffle."

She sat still despite the tension she felt in each of her muscles. It was oddly easy to wait. Though certainly dramatic, this place was perhaps the most consistent thing in Magpie's life; to be within its foothills was almost a comfort. The longer she waited, however, the more she realized this had been another one of her jacked up, why-do-you-keep-fucking-up-Magpie, I-mean-really-Magpie-why-do-you-keep-doing-this-to-yourself kinds of decisions. Just as she was about to give up on her nerve and retreat, leaving nothing but her scent behind, a woof broke the silence and the she-wolf winced. Her entire posture wilted, actually, knowing there would soon be a lancing pain at her throat.

When Magpie finally looked, she was surprised to see that it was Wildfire— perhaps the last wolf she expected to see here. Her chartreuse eyes narrowing in confusion, "Wildfire, what—" are you doing here, the Corvidae had wanted to ask. But the pair had been interrupted almost immediately by the gray agouti female that had been Fox's second. She said nothing in response, noting the tension in Finley's greeting. Instead, Magpie merely sulked and tried not to roll her eyes at the way the woman spoke to Wildfire, as if she were still a pup.

She opened her mouth and spoke her first words in days. "I'm glad you're—" Simultaneously, Magpie said, "Wildfire, what—" Before either of them could decide who should go first, something else interrupted them both. Someone, rather. The yearling turned her head, her lips making a valiant effort to smile at her Aunt Finley's familiar face. It was such a good thing to see after this past week. But as the Bandrona's chestnut gaze wandered over her godmother's face, her own expression froze, then fell.

Nervously licking her lips, Wildfire shuffled to fully face the older of her two aunts, now standing more or less parallel with the silent Magpie. She sensed something amiss and her stomach muscles began to clench in trepidation. Could she bear more bad news? She had come here hoping to see her parents, get some comfort and wisdom, particularly from Fox. But the look on Finley's face told her that a bomb was about to drop and her hindquarters sank to the ground, her ears pressing flat and her breath catching in her throat as she eked out, "Something's happened."

Magpie didn't respond, but Finley didn't much care. Her eyes were on Wildfire who was quick to realize something was amiss. Sorrow tugged at her as she considered the task that had come to her. She had to tell her little Wiffle that her parents were dead. How in the hell was she supposed to say that to anyone let alone one of her favorite wolves in the world? This was supposed to be a happy moment - seeing Wildfire again after so long. She was supposed to be smiling and hugging the girl and happily telling her she had a buttload of new siblings to coo over. It wasn't supposed to be this bullshit. Finley wasn't supposed to break her heart.

"Your parents," she said, choking on her words in spite of how hard she struggled to hold steady, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. They're gone. They died." She took a deep breath, her eyes holding onto her goddaughter's face as she waited for her reaction. Maybe there would be questions, maybe there would be anger. Maybe there would be instant, numb acceptance if she was anything like her aunt upon hearing about Peregrine's death. Finley was prepared for whatever it may be. From either of them, she considered with a brief glance at Magpie. As much as she mistrusted Fox's sister, she couldn't stop her heart from going out to the older girl as well. Death did after all have a funny way of reminding people that certain enemies had once been family.

It wasn't that she didn't notice how torn up Finley was as she looked upon Wildfire (who was, on the technicality of blood, Magpie's niece and not hers), it was that the Corvidae couldn't bring herself to care. Fox and Peregrine had been the source of so much contention in the she-wolf's life, and the gray agouti woman was guilty by close association. Her niece had done right in getting away from this place and had been successful in establishing herself elsewhere— though Magpie felt some ire at that, simply because she was unable to do the same, she also felt immense pride for Wildfire. It likely shone in her eyes when she glanced at her, though the emotion was completely replaced with Finley's next words.

At that, Magpie was unsure how to react. She had come back here to give the Redhawk Royalty the piss for her troubles, but that seemed less appropriate now. Part of her felt sad, she supposed— that they'd never be able to work through their shit and hug it out like it was an episode of Full House— but another, awful, sinful, cruel part of her wanted to erupt into laughter. Sure, they had created this place and way, way too many babies— but they had died, and here Magpie was, the lowest of the low, and she was still alive. It wasn't exactly the kind of justice she had expected, but in her opinion, she had still won.

Magpie did her best to look suitably sad, then, and murmured, "I'm so sorry, Wifi." It was the presence of her niece that tempered the Corvidae's reaction— had the fiery Redhawk been absent, she might have launched into some sort of gloating tirade, careful to dodge the attacks that Finley would surely have attempted to fling. But she couldn't do that to her niece, the only worthy family she had left in these Wilds. That was something, oddly, to feel sad about.

She had wanted to make a conquest here, solely so she could shove it down Fox and Peregrine's respective throats. Without them, there was no reason for her to stay— she could have left with Summer, to rule with him in some distant land, to have enough sex that the Redhawk brood would look small in comparison. Magpie's expression soured, though it was likely to be mistaken for grief.

She drew near her niece and gave a comforting lick against the she-wolf's cheek, before turning and leaving them both without another word. Fuck this place for fucking her over every chance it got.

Magpie out. Deuces.

She didn't know what to expect but it wasn't that. She had braced herself for something bad but... this was immeasurably worse than anything she could have anticipated. Not only one but both parents were dead. Wildfire's lips parted in speechless surprise as her brain attempted to process this new reality. She immediately tried to think of the last time she'd seen either one of them. Had she told them she loved them? Had she said a proper goodbye? Of course, she hadn't ever thought this might happen, so their exchanges had been light and brief. As their faces floated in her mind's eye, Wildfire felt like someone was crushing her heart, crumbling it into dust. She sank to the ground.

Magpie's quiet gestures were met with no reaction whatsoever. By the time Wildfire dragged her eyes upward, there was only one aunt standing there rather than two. She gazed up at Finley, all the sorrow in the world etched on her youthful face. Her mate had just dashed her dreams and now the legendary Peregrine and Fox were gone. The Bandrona felt bereft and isolated, despite the loved one standing mere feet away. Where her heart had been moments ago, it now felt like there was a giant, ragged hole punched through her. Heck, she even glanced down as if she might find she had sustained a mortal wound to the chest.

But she was perfectly intact, of course, and she dragged her amber eyes to her godmother's face again. "Wh—wh—at happened?" She could barely speak and when she did, her own voice broke some sort of dam somewhere in the back of her throat. A wretched sob broke free and then her eyes and nose were streaming too. Wildfire rocked back and forth a little bit, otherwise paralyzed by absolute grief as she wept.

Finley glanced at Magpie as the girl moved to offer to condolensces to Wildfire. She was thankful that their relationship had kept Fox's sister from saying anything bitter or spiteful, if only for the fact that Fin didn't think she would have been able to stop from trying to rip her face off if she dared to breathe a word of disrespect to her departed friends. Magpie left without another word, leaving Fin and Wildfire to themselves. The Blackthorn remained silent while her niece processed, though she moved slightly closer now that it didn't also mean moving nearer to Magpie.

Finley felt the wound in her own heart wrench back open as Wildfire broke down. She moved closer until she was near enough to reach out and touch her niece, though she didn't for the moment, instead simply making herself available if Wildfire sought that form of comfort from her. "Your dad passed away in his sleep a couple of months ago," Fin explained, feeling horrible for the words. How had so long passed and no one had gone to tell her? "Your mom died yesterday after giving birth. You have six new brothers and sisters."

There was only the faintest glimmer of light when she shared the news of the new Firebirds. It was a wonderful thing, and she had no doubt that Wildfire would have been thrilled to hear it under normal circumstances. In this case, however, Finley knew that it would never be enough to compensate for what they had lost. Nothing ever would be.

Somehow, the news that Peregrine was long dead hit her like a sledgehammer to the (already ragged) chest. "No," Wildfire moaned quietly, "no, no, please, no..." She'd just seen him not so long ago. Fox too, when she had come to Sleeping Dragon. The realization that they were no longer among the living kept washing through her, causing her insides to feel aching and empty. "I did—I didn't..." she mumbled to herself, voice hitching as she struggled not to lose control completely. But whatever Wildfire meant to say, it didn't make its way out as she lost that fight.

She slumped to the ground, limp and lost in her grief. For several long moments, she didn't acknowledge Finley's quiet, supportive presence. As if suddenly remembering she was there, the yearling moved to cling to her godmother's feet. She felt miserable and pathetic but she'd just lost both parents in one fell swoop. How could that news not break her? For the moment, she couldn't even register the news about her baby brothers and sisters.

Somehow, telling Wildfire about the death of her parents was far, far worse than learning the news herself. Her heart had broken in a way that there had been moments when she'd truly believed that she would never survive it. The pain had been emotionally and even physically impairing in a way that seemed impossible. But this... Seeing this, being the one to say the words that caused this. Finley felt the aching void of Peregrine and Fox's absence more than ever as she moved to meet her niece's embrace and enfold her in one of her own. It was too cruel that they were both expected to go on without the alpha pair - Wildfire without her parents, and Fin without her best friends, her family.

There was nothing Finley could say as she pulled Wildfire close, doing all she could to completely envelope the girl. The usual words of comfort were lies. It's okay... you're okay... you'll be okay... Only the latter was not a lie, but it was so far off that it seemed one. It wasn't okay that Peregrine and Fox were gone. Wildfire wasn't okay now that they were. She would be, Finley knew. But it would always feel and be wrong that these two desperately important figures were no longer living, breathing characters in their lives. It was always going to hurt. Not as terrible and constant as it did now, but the rest of their lives would forever be plagued with moments when the wrongness of being without them would strike just as terrible and heartbreaking as ever.

So, Finley said very softly the only thing that she could, the only thing that was true: "I've got you, Wiffle."

She wept on her godmother's feet for what might have been hours. Finley wrapped around her but didn't offer any meaningless platitudes. She just held Wildfire and let her know she wasn't alone in her grief. Although the Bandrona didn't acknowledge the comforting words, she clung all the more tightly to the gray she-wolf, crying until Finley's toes were surely soaked with saltwater and Wildfire herself succumbed to exhaustion.

She didn't sleep, just quieted and went still. For a long while, Wildfire just lay there in silence, still latched to her aunt's feet. Eventually, she sniffled and opened her mouth to say something. What came out was a croak. She clapped her mouth shut, cleared her throat and tried again. "You—mentioned—pups?" It came out rather stilted and though her tears had ebbed, two globules formed on her eyelids, wobbling precariously before streaking down her cheeks.

Finley didn't mind the dampness on her fur caused by her niece's tears. She didn't even mind that the position she was in was causing her shoulder to cramp somewhat. She just wanted to be there for her little Wiffle. In a way, it was a comfort for herself too to be able to share the grief with someone who felt their loss on a similar level. Elwood had loved the alpha pair as well, but Finley felt truly as though Peregrine and Fox had saved her somehow. They had given her a life she hadn't thought it was possible for her to have. They'd made her a leader. She would have likely have been skewered on an antler, dead, a long time ago were it not for the two of them. They were so very important to her, just like they were to Wildfire.

The alpha had no problem with the quiet that enveloped them, so she let it linger for as long as her goddaughter needed. When she spoke, Finley lifted her head from its resting spot upon Wildfire's back to listen before answering. "Yes," she replied, "Six of them. Three girls and three boys."

When her aunt repeated the news about the pups, including additional details, tears continued running down Wildfire's ruddy cheeks. She couldn't help but think of the puppies she wasn't having anytime soon. Pain lanced through her chest and she drew in a shaky, sobbing breath. Of course, Finley wouldn't know the difference; she would surely chalk it up to lingering pain over her parents' deaths.

Wildfire briefly wondered if she should burden her godmother with the goings-on in her life, especially now that Fox wasn't here to help her unpack her baggage. But she dismissed the idea out of hand, not because she didn't trust Finley but because the woman already had enough on her shoulders, what with with surely leading the caldera and mothering the orphaned newborns now.

"You and Elwood are raising them?" she asked, although she was already pretty sure of the answer. She, of course, didn't know about her prodigal sister's recent return or involvement with the puppies. "What are their names?" she wondered, momentarily forgetting her parents' tradition entirely and not even contemplating whether or not the Blackthorns planned to uphold it.

It was hard to talk about the new firebirds to Wildfire. For one awful moment, she wondered what the girl would think of them. Was it worth it to Wildfire? To have six new siblings when it meant she'd had to give up her mother? Fin licked her lips anxiously and brushed the thought aside. As a mother herself, she knew without question that she would have given her own life for that of her children. She'd almost had to with the twins and Lucy, and there'd been no hesitation for her that she was going to get those kids into the world, no matter what it cost her.

But that was an unneccessary train of thought. "Yeah, and Raven is helping," Fin explained, "She came back shortly after Peregrine... She had a false pregnancy so her body is producing milk. She's their wet nurse." It really was lucky that her goddaughter had come back at all. Though, Fin supposed, Raven was her daughter now. Wildfire too, in a way. They were too old to need a mom, and Fin would never be a replacement, not even to the newest pups. Still, it was a thought.

"We haven't named them yet," Fin replied, "We're sticking with your mom's tradition to wait to name them officially. Some are earning their nicknames already, though." A bittersweet smile glanced upon Fin's lips. "They have big personalities, just like their predecessors. And their parents."

The news about Raven surprised Wildfire, a silver lining if there ever was one. It actually sounded like she was key to the pups' survival. "Oh... wow..." the Bandrona said a little lamely even as Finley explained that they did intend to respect the former monarchs' naming conventions. Wildfire bobbed her head and managed a very brief, thin and watery smile which had a lot less to do with the pups than with the knowledge that Raven was back here and helping. It was truly serendipitous.

"Is Rave with them now?" Wildfire guessed. She had no idea what she planned to do next but suddenly she knew she couldn't leave the area until she had a chance to catch up with her. "Can you tell her I'll be nearby...? I'd like to see her. But..." She couldn't guess whether or not Finley was open to the notion of permitting her into the pack territory. It was a moot point anyway, as the Bandrona refused to set foot on the caldera's soil. It wouldn't feel right for one thing and, honestly, she couldn't stomach the idea of seeing the pups right now for a few reasons.

"I think I'm gonna stay in Bramblepoint for a few days," she decided aloud, finally pushing herself upright again. She felt strangely heavy, as if the yoke of her parents' death was literally weighing down on her shoulders. "Take a few days to process..." Wildfire said quietly, rolling her weary shoulders and then leaning forward to press her nose against her godmother's cheek, a gentle, melancholy sigh ruffling the gray fur there.

Wildfire replied to her words, and all Fin could do was feel thankful that she was managing to hold onto herself as opposed to falling victim again to the misery. She knew that it would not last long, but all things considered, she was proving how incredibly strong she was. Finley placed a kiss on the girl's crown without explanation before nodding to confirm that she would pass Wildfire's message along to her sister. Raven would be pleased to hear that her littermate was around. Fin would make sure that they got to spend some time together before Wildfire returned home.

"If you need anything at all, just call me, okay?" Fin told her, reached around to give her another embrace, "Now or ever. You always have your Aunt Flea." She smiled, but found it difficult. Peregrine's and Fox's deaths so near made it so hard to make such promises. It was too fresh, the realization that life was a gift, not a promise. But still, Finley wanted her goddaughter to know. She'd never be able to replace her parents, but there was still someone who loved her just as good as one.

Wildfire nodded as she leaned into Finley's embrace. "I know," she breathed against the other woman's neck. "The same—goes for me," she added, voice hitching a little. "I know I'm far away but you're always welcome to come find me at Drageda. Oh," she realized even as she spoke, "we recently relocated. We're living on the coast now, near a redwood forest and some cliffs northeast of the Sunspires." Wildfire knew her aunt had been quite the roguish explorer once, so she shouldn't have any trouble finding it if she ever set out for a visit.

"Thank you, Aunt Flea," were Wildfire's final words as she snuggled tightly against her aunt one last time, then drew away to make her slow departure. "Please give everyone my love." It would hopefully give them some small measure of comfort in this tragic phase of their lives. "Bye." She managed another weak smile for her godmother, then reluctantly turned and began padding north toward the forest, where she would more likely than not find a shrub to hide under and weep for days.