Redhawk Caldera I taste every molecule.

Later, Towhee would marvel at her impeccable timing. She was returning to the rendezvous site following a long and boring patrol. She tried to keep her approach quiet, well aware that this was about the time the pups went down for a nap. Right as she emerged from the long grass onto the cropped sedge of the main clearing, she saw a crimson blur moving toward the pile of sleeping puppies. The mercenary reacted immediately, springing toward the threat and crashing into it, the both of them tumbling and rolling.

Just as soon as Towhee could find purchase, she braced her feet and bore down on—later, she would identify it as a common red fox. Right now, she didn't bother. She simply ripped and tore with her teeth until the small assailant fell limp in a pool of its own blood. Panting, blood frothing on her lips, Towhee pushed away from the kill. It was only a fox—and a small one, at that—but it really could've hurt the pups.

As she waited to catch her breath, Towhee turned to check on @Clover, @Tegan, @Lucca and @Fiadh. Surely the sudden deadly tussle had roused them from sleep.

Phox didn't spend too much time with the pups, but it was not as though he ignored them completely. He was familiar enough with them, but he certainly had not bonded with them like he had with his older siblings (blood or otherwise) or his littermates (especially Towhee). Still, he did check on them occasionally, and the smell of blood immediately sent his heart racing when he approached the den. Thankfully, it appeared that Towhee had taken care of... whatever it was. It was kind of hard to tell what it had been when it was alive, but it wasn't big enough to be a wolf... at least not a fully-grown one. Towhee loved the pups, so he didn't even consider the possibility that it might have been one of them.

-What was it?- he asked, using their silent language to ask. He defaulted to it whenever he "spoke" to her, preferring it to get things across more clearly. It was easier to talk to others through spoken word, but he found communicating with Towhee to be easiest when they used their own language. Something about talking to her that way just made sense to him, even when he couldn't do it as well with others.

Much to Towhee's surprise, all four pups had slept soundly through the altercation. She blinked, wondering if they'd all gone deaf too, when a flash of movement spurred her to turn her head. This time, it was a black Phox that approached (ha, ha...). The irony of his question caused her lips to twitch into a smile.

-A fox,- she signed with a switch of her tail. -Can you believe them?- she added, gesturing disbelievingly at the four puppies. -They slept right through it! Surely we made some noise?- Towhee shrugged one white-streaked shoulder, then motioned for her brother to follow her as she plucked up the small red carcass and moved away from the napping whelps.

She paused again when she felt they were out of earshot, then planted her hindquarters. She still clutched the fox in her mouth as she said, -Hey, you'll never guess who I saw the other day...- Nonetheless, she lifted her brows, waiting for Phox to make a few guesses.

Phox shrugged when she mentioned how odd it was that the younger cubs had slept through the commotion. -Maybe your deafness wore off on them,- he teased. If that was possible, Phox would have been deafer than a doornail. He didn't often mention Towhee's inability to hear, but sometimes it did make for a good punchline. Besides, they had a good enough rapport he felt he could slide in an occasional joke. Then again, Towhee had a temper about as long as his toenail... so he could see her taking it the wrong way.

-Who's that?- he asked. A million faces flashed through his brain, but he couldn't really think of a single one that would be super shocking. Although Redhawk Caldera certainly had its core members, there seemed to be a lot of outsiders who came and went pretty freely. Or maybe she wasn't even referring to somebody from the caldera. There were other packs around, which Wifi was scary proof of.

He didn't bother trying to guess. Towhee rolled her eyes at this lack of effort, then bent down to spit the carcass onto the ground. Idly placing a paw over it, she looked up at him again and said aloud, "Titmouse." She paused for a split second, then squinted and added, "Or Screech, as he goes by now. He denied his identity and ran off like an ass. But how many wolves our age look exactly like a titmouse...?" She lifted her brows, then shook her head with a derisive (and overly loud) snort.

"Do you eat foxes?" she wondered in the next breath, peering down at her kill and wondering how best to portion it between them.