Redhawk Caldera The Dark Flame

For anyone wanting to meet the sweet Nevouku!

Nevouku felt glad to have come here. A new home...and Sebastian was here too! Although he had yet to meet him once more, he was glad to be in safe paws...although he couldn't help but wonder just how Seb would react. He was nervous about their meeting, if it was to come. Finley had seemed nice, and had said that being here might help Seb. But still he was unsure.

Her godparents had been leaders for years, longer than Towhee had even been alive. She might claim the superior rank now, though she often deferred to their judgment, especially where new recruits were concerned. If it were solely up to her, nobody would ever be welcomed to the caldera, even though Towhee knew that wasn't a sustainable business model. She hoped to strike a balance over time but, meanwhile, she trusted the Betas to exercise expert judgment when it came to accepting newcomers.

She knew about the new guy, though Towhee couldn't remember his name at present. As she tracked him down by scent, she thought of Finley's remarks about this particular fellow. She'd warned the young Alpha that she might have trouble reading his lips. That didn't bode well, of course, but as she closed in on him, she reminded herself to have some patience.

She came up behind him, which wasn't ideal. Towhee rolled to a stop, trying to think of his name. "Nev..." she began, though Towhee honestly forgot the rest. "Nev? I'm Towhee, the Alpha."

Nevouku heard a voice, and jumped out of fright. Once he saw them, he ducked his head down as soon as he realized it was the alpha, tail low. "H-Hello Towhee. I did n-not mean to get sc-sc-scared" he said, with his stutter. "Th-thank you, for letting me stay." He put on a smile, a friendly smile. Or at least the best he could. Then he noticed that she looked quite...young. Very young, in fact.

When he jumped, so did Towhee; she hadn't expected it. Her muscles tensed and the fur along her spine bristled. She settled as he turned to face her, orange eyes immediately honing in on his mouth. Finley hadn't been kidding about the stutter. It made it almost impossible for Towhee to translate.

"I can't understand you," she said slowly. "Is there any way you can stop the stuttering? Even if you have to speak really slowly. I'm deaf," she added, "so I need to be able to read your lips."

Nevouku swallowed down any fear and nervousness. "Thank you f...for letting me in" the wolf said, and with each stutter he made a pause instead. Then he somewhat kind of stood there, silent. He wasn't really sure what to even say next to her. He guessed it must have been hard being deaf, and felt bad that his stutter made it harder.

This time when he spoke, Towhee could parse his meaning. She bobbed her head to show she followed him, then loosely shrugged her white-streaked shoulders. She didn't answer right away, instead deciding to drop to her haunches and make herself comfortable so she could properly focus her energy on conversing with Nev.

"Don't thank me yet," she eventually said. "I absolutely trust my Aunt Finley's judgment but you still have to prove your worth. What're you good at, Nev?" Towhee wondered.

Nevouku tipped his head a little as Towhee began speaking again. "H...Hunting" he said. "And tra...tracking." He had had many good teachers to help him learn tracking and hunting. Plenty of helpers and teachers. "Sebas...Sebastian taught me. I'm h...his step brother...of sorts."

She had to stare hard, then put the pieces together, to fully follow what Nev was saying. It was arduous but at least they could communicate. Towhee wasn't sure what she would've done if they couldn't even speak to one another. She supposed she might've tasked him with learning ptero as quickly as possible, because it just wouldn't fly for an Alpha and subordinate not to be able to communicate somehow.

"What the heck is a stepbrother?" Towhee wondered baldly.

Nevouku was a bit surprised to hear that. She did not know what a stepbrother was? "W...Well it's when...he and my s...sister became mates. She left an...and he kind of ad-adopted me." And he was ever thankful for that, as he still saw him as a brother. Sebastian had looked out for him, for so long.

Was a stepbrother the same thing as brother-in-law then? Towhee hardly came from a traditional family, so she decided to avoid pursuing the subject further. All that she needed to know was that Nev was connected to Sebastian. Although the latter was in bad shape lately, he'd gone to war for the Redhawks—and paid quite the price—and thus he had Towhee's respect.

Time would only tell if Nev would earn it too. "The pups just had their first hunt. They could use some more training. Could you oversee that for me?" She enjoyed assigning tasks like this. It made her feel purposeful, delegating her pack mates, and she hoped the same went for them.

Nevouku opened his mouth to answer...and all that came out was, "Uhhh...." Pups. He'd never trained pups...but he could no doubt try. "S-Sure. Yeah, I could t...try that. Something....small." Yes, something small. Nothing like a deer or anything. Or a moose...he would get in so much trouble if one of them got a hoof to the head.

Suddenly, Towhee was reminded of Eljay—not just because of the mention of the pups' hunt but also because she abruptly realized that Nev's mannerisms bore a resemblance to her cousin's. The two of them would probably get along, if they didn't make each other incredibly nervous.

"Good," she replied simply, then added, "I have another task for you. It's your job to integrate into this pack and get to know the members, which I'm sure you're aware of. But I want you to look for a specific wolf: Eljay. I think the two of you would get along."

Nevouku tipped his head to the side a bit as she spoke of another task for him. His ears perked forward to listen. Eljay. He would need to remember that name, and he nodded. "I'll be s...sure to find him. Where might I...I find him?" he asked, wondering if perhaps he could do so soon if he was close by.

"I don't know," the Alpha answered frankly. "Around," Towhee added unhelpfully. "You could try calling him." That was a luxury she would never really know—calling and being called, properly—although having X around certainly helped in that department.

Speaking of the hawk, Towhee saw the X circling overhead and knew it was time to strike out on a patrol. "Duty calls," she said, orange gaze dropping to the newest recruit's face again. "I'll leave you to it, Nev. See you around." With a flick of her tail, the Alpha departed toward the borders, feeling rather good about the brief encounter and the tasks she'd assigned the newest Redhawk, although only time would tell if he came through.

Nevouku nodded. He would go out to find him eventually. To have someone similar to him, someone to interact with. It would be great. "I'll do that...that when I get the time to" he said. Then she glanced up, and he did too to see...a hawk? To him it was just a hawk. 

"O...Okay" he answered back. Then she started off and he went in his own direction, feeling rather good about himself. He smiled all the way along.