Redhawk Caldera When I am king, you will be first against the wall

The progidal son returns.

In the back of his mind, Whip knew the Caldera would always be there. It was his birthright, passed on along with the legacy of his late father and mother; the pack was the crown jewel of his family. There was a part of Whip -- a small part -- that felt the Caldera rightfully belonged to him despite his year long absence and his self-supposed shirking of the Redhawk name. He hadn't been ready to return home, and truthfully, he never really intended to.

Whip had spent most of his adult life trying to kill his past. But there was a way to do so while still acknowledging its importance and his family's legacy. It was time to come home.

He came to the border from the north and stopped. Whip had been gone far too long to simply traipse back in, they likely wouldn't even recognize him. It was also a possibility that no one he knew remained. The thought of his homeland occupied by strangers made Whip uneasy. However, there was one constant Whip was sure of: the Blackthorns, who surely stayed. He called for @Elwood and waited.

Towhee was drowsing on the slopes when X pecked her awake, flapping his wings and pointing his sharp beak toward the northern borderline. She blinked the sleep from her orange eyes and sat up, squinting in that direction. When she lurched onto all fours and craned forward, eyes narrowed into tiny slits, her lips parted in an audible gasp.

She brushed past the hawk, then began running downhill, making a beeline toward the borders. She still couldn't believe her eyes and Towhee didn't know how to feel. To add to the confusion, the scent was all wrong as she closed the space and found herself gaping in confusion at... well, not Nightjar, after all.

Well, this wasn't Elwood. Whip didn't recognize the girl who met him at the border, but he knew her features well. Well enough to recognize her despite seeing her for the first time. In her face Whip saw his parents and he instantly knew that she was one of the siblings he had abandoned. One of the brood who killed Fox just before he left in a fit. He didn't hold a grudge, but he couldn't help but subconsiously think it was their fault.

She oogled at him, gawking in a way that made Whip feel uncomfortable. He stared back, narrowing his eyes and waiting for the girl to say something, anything. But, it seemed she was content to simply stare. Is she fucking touched? "Ok, so how's this going to work? You talk? I talk? What?" He spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

The instant his mouth began moving, Towhee snapped out of her momentary trance. "You look just like him—Nightjar," she said baldly. "Who are you?" And what that, she morphed into proper interrogation mode. She stiffened, head and tail raising. "And why are you here?" she added, covering the whole "state your name and business" bit pretty effectively despite still fighting the queer feeling she'd seen a ghost.

Nightjar. Whip had met him once; he left little impression. But when they briefly met, it had been like looking at his reflection which was remarkably surreal. He supposed his older older brother was still here and he then understood the confusion. What confused Whip, however, was the girl's voice. It was so awkward and clunky; like a pup learning how to speak. He didn't know she was deaf, nor had he ever met anyone similar -- he just assumed she actually was touched in the head.

"Whip Redhawk," he answered plainly. "I used to live here and I want to come home."

"Whip," he said. It took Towhee a moment but she did place the name; this was yet another one of her elder siblings. Everything sort of clicked into place then. Still, she frowned slightly as she tried to parse her thoughts and feelings. She wished she could look away from his face, but then she wouldn't be able to converse with him.

"I'm Towhee Redhawk," she told him, "your younger sister. One of them, anyway." She paused. She hadn't quite relaxed, though her body language was more neutral than anything now. "Have you called for Elwood and Finley?" she asked. It did not yet occur to her that she should explain the question.

Towhee. Another goddamn bird. Creative folk his parents were. Whip nodded and supposed it was good to be back among family again. He would be safe here; fed, and he could make it through the winter in peace and semi-seclusion. Perhaps he should have done this earlier -- or rather, never left in the first place. So much could be undone. So much avoided.

He squinted, confused. "Yeah," he said, "Elwood." How could she not hear him? She was right here. "How'd you not hear that?"

Oh. "I can't hear anything," Towhee explained, swallowing back yet another queer feeling as she remembered her camaraderie with Nightjar over their (partially) shared handicap. "I'm deaf."

After giving Whip a moment to absorb that, she said, "I'm sure he'll be here soon. Why did you leave? And what brings you back?" Even as she posed these questions, Towhee suddenly grew very aware of her change in attitude toward prodigal siblings versus just a few short months ago. Her tail gave a twitch. Hopefully her uncle would notice too, so she could beef up her resume for that Beta rank.

"Oh," said Whip, realization dawing on him. He started speaking louder, like that would help her understand or something. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh." That made so much more sense, but one thing still didn't completely add up to Whip. If she couldn't hear him, how was she able to communicate with him so fluidly with speech. Sure, there was a slight impediment, but Whip would have been completely unaware had she not told him.

He went on to answer her question. "I don't really know any more to be honest," he told her. "When Mom died -- being so close to Dad too, I just -- I couldn't stay, you know?" He just wanted to clear his head for a while, but after getting tangled up with the Nereides, things spiraled out of control. He sighed. "Life out there isn't what I thought it would be. I should have never left."

Then, Whip squinted and wondered aloud; "Wait. How can you understand me if you can't hear me?"

She smirked slightly when his lips formed an "o" in response to her revelation. She otherwise ignored Whip's reaction, pleased when he moved on quickly too. He mentioned their parents and Towhee's expression noticeably perked. Her lips parted as a dozen half-formed questions cropped up in her head, though he went right back to the hearing impairment.

"I can read lips," she explained dismissively. "You were close to them?" Towhee pressed. "Where've you been?" she added, curious despite herself. "I should have never left," he'd said. She didn't comment on it, though she both agreed and approved.

Towhee's explanation was enough for Whip and he failed to press further regarding her deficiency. She had more questions to ask, and he had more answers to give. "I guess," said Whip. His mercurial temperment had always been a thorn in the side of both of his parents. He was the forgotten middle child, acting out for attention and love while inadvertantly driving a wedge between himself and the rest of his family. "I was always closer to Dad," he explained. "When he passed, I didn't take it so well." Whip remembered how much he resented Kaizer for trying to replace him -- how much he hated that imposter and wanted to see him hurt.

When it came to the place from which Whip came, he did not wish to talk about Themiscyra in any detail. Like some shadowy specter that followed him wherever he went, the events that transpired there were something he hoped to someday forget. "West. By the coast," was all the explanation he hoped to give.

As Elwood approached, a good few minutes after the initial howl went up, he briefly had the same revelation as Towhee. The wolf standing with his goddaughter looked just like Nightjar, and he had to do a double take before he realized that the scent didn't match up with the appearance. Even then, it took him a few seconds to identify just who he was looking at.

"Whip?" he asked, glancing from the boy to Towhee and back again. There were questions rolling around in his mind -- the most prominent being, "Where have you been?" -- but he bit his tongue for the moment, holding off on the inquiry until his suspicions had been confirmed.

He had been closer to Peregrine and had left in the wake of his passing. Towhee had never lost anyone like that, so she couldn't possibly empathize, though it did make a sort of sense. She couldn't help but be reminded of Nightjar yet again; he had once spoken similarly of their parents: "As for mum and dad... I didn't really hang out with mom much. Dad was pretty cool though." He had been the one to tell her that Fox likely would've culled her if she had lived.

"Evidently Fox—mom—would've eaten me or something," Towhee commented casually. Just then, Elwood materialized. She glanced sideways at him, expecting to see a joyful expression at yet another prodigal Redhawk returning to the roost. He looked more confused than happy and it quickly dawned on Towhee that her godfather might be struggling with that same feeling of having seen a ghost. "It's Whip," she confirmed helpfully.

Yeah, that sounded like Mom. Fox didn't tolerate weakness in the way one would expect from a nurturing mother. Whip supposed he couldn't blame her despite the rift it tore between them in his early adolescence. The strong survived at the expense of the weak. That was the way the world worked. Perhaps, in some warped way, it was mercy to put down the poor souls who were inferior. It was a dark, morbid kindness.

Whip didn't dwell long on the thought, for they were soon joined by Elwood. Whip fixed his gaze on his godfather's face. He looked just the same as he did a year ago, as if nothing had changed over the course of a year even though everything had. "In the flesh," said Whip. "Like I was just telling my sister, I think it's time I came home Uncle El."

Towhee was the first to verify that this was Whip, and the boy himself elaborated an instant later. The young guardian must have already filled him in on their relationship, because Whip referred to her as his sister. Once upon a time, that might not have made any difference to Towhee, but she seemed to be getting along with him well enough.

"Welcome home," Elwood said, his tail stirring gently behind him. "You've missed quite a bit while you've been gone, but before I fill you in, tell me about where you've been," he urged. He would, of course, explain the situation that the pack found themselves in, and wondered if Towhee had mentioned the war yet.

Gonna conclude this, since it's been sitting a few weeks. :)

In the past, this would've been the point where Towhee dismissed herself, perhaps moodily, leaving her uncle to deal with the prodigal son alone. But this time, the mercenary glanced at her godfather and signed, -Could I do it, Uncle Elwood? I'll fill him in about the war in exchange for some stories about dad. He says they were close.- Naturally, Elwood and others had told her plenty about both her parents, yet the aspiring historian never failed to seize an opportunity to better get to know her legendary predecessors.

Assuming the Alpha male didn't mind that she took the wheel, Towhee faced Whip, giving him an opportunity to answer Elwood's question. When he was done, she piped up and said, "I'm actually going to take over from here. I want to hear more about dad. And I'll bring you up to speed on what's happening around here." She shot her godfather a final glance as if to double-check, Is that okay?

Soon enough, the brother and sister were plodding along through a slushy trough around the perimeter, Towhee firing dozens of questions at Whip, who fielded them expertly. The Gamma felt she already knew her parents pretty well because of all the stories she'd been told throughout her life, yet she was always happy to flesh out her knowledge that much more. It made Peregrine and Fox feel more three-dimensional, less imaginary and more real.