Heron Lake Plateau oh to be alone with you

Feel free to drop in if available / it makes sense! Set after the confrontation with RHC & the confrontation between Towhee and Titmouse. He wants to get everyone up to speed (and I'm not sure who everyone is.)

He was fuming by the time he'd worked his way across the plateau, and panting hard from the run which only exacerbated everything, but Screech had to be away from Towhee. He couldn't trust himself around her right now. Besides that, he needed to locate @Redshank and @Niamh - maybe hunt for @Sorina or see if he could find the strange wolf @Zombie (because Java doesn't know who exactly aligned themselves with Screech in the past three IC days whoops). He ran until he couldn't make out any wolf-shapes behind him, and the scent of his already thinning markers had faded from the air. He cast his nose back and called for his friends, and then settled in to an agitated lope along the hillside in the north of the territory; somewhere upon the plateau, among the scrub, his friends were waiting. They had a lot to talk about - and he had a not-so-great proposition for them.

Yesss I was waiting for this >:D

After the chaos that was their encounter with the Redhawk clan, Redshank had fled to tend to his wounds (either physical or emotional or both depending how that other thread plays out), losing Screech and that new girl, Niamh, in the process. He now emerged from the thicket he had disappeared into that fringed the Plateau, spending the next few hours trailing the borders, hoping he would come across his friends again. He didn't trust his apparent family, or that head bitch, and so didn't dare call for him lest he attract their attention.

To his relief, Screech instead let out a howl of his own, and the Cairn came running.

He spotted him striding along the northern edge of what could of been their home, clearly distressed. "Screech!" He barrelled towards him, breaking through the low lying shrubs as if he couldn't get to his friend soon enough. "Dude, where were you? Are you okay?" It was a moment of rare, genuine concern, but Redshank was quick to reign it in, his face twisting into its usual scowl once again as he spat, "those fuckers."

Sour beyond belief, Niamh fled  the entire situation, hating both herself for having to flee and the dark wolf who’d taken their lands. She wanted nothing more than to recruit a full pack of wolves, return to the lake and then kick their tails into next week. It didn’t matter anymore that it was just turf- it was theirs, and she wanted revenge. 

She got distracted by her own anger and drifted from Screech’s trail, but when he called out, she looped back and found him, along with Redshank. Nearly breathless- whether from running or from anger- she did her best to issue a resentful growl when Redshank spoke. ”Some kind of shitstorm that was,” She hissed, and sat down to nurse a wound. ”Damnit; that place was ours!”

Just gonna skip and post because so much is happening & I don't want this thread to get lost in the timeline, lol!

The boy found Redshank first and before he could speak any response — there was Niamh, sharing a similar sentiment. They were both still reeling. Screech could still taste Towhee's blood upon his teeth; he rolled a glob of it around in his mouth and then spat, ridding himself of the taste while carrying the attention of both of his friends. He was agitated, but he had to use his words carefully or else things wouldn't work out — Screech didn't want to lose either of them, but he knew they wouldn't be super keen on what he was about to say.

I found Towhee, kicked her ass a bit. That was couched in truth; they had fought. Whether Towhee was sufficiently curb-stomped was up to interpretation. Even after mentioning this though, Screech didn't look happy. Shit was said. We came to an... agreement. She offered us a chance to join the 'hawks and stay on our land as part of their pack. At any other time Screech might've been thrilled to bring his best buddy home to his family and show him off, and he certainly pined for a moment like this where he could be reunited with them. This was just all... Wrong.

He hastily looked to Niamh, and with a sigh he mentioned, You didn't sign up for any of this. If you want to back out — he spared a small glance to Redshank next, — I won't hold it against you. They're my fucked up family. I... I can't give up this chance to be with them again, or at least to try. I've — we, we have been through too much shit to let this stop us from living our lives. Fuck them — you know? We'd still live on our land. We could make life hell as they adjust, and maybe... Maybe they'll move somewhere better.

On one hand he wanted them to stay, but on the other, maybe it would be safer if they didn't. They could test fate — and the might of Redhawk — by slowly driving them out with cunning and patience (which they had limited reserves of to begin with), or fall in line. Screech waited and watched them both, aware of how confusing the situation was and yet still hoping that they were all on good terms — that they wouldn't abandon him now, even if they'd lost the battle.

His opinion of the Redhawks fell lower — if that was even possible — when he saw Screech hurl a gob of blood onto the ground. His hackles raised and he uttered a low growl, wanting to race right back into the Plateau to tear apart those bastards. Why his friend even considered them his family still was a mystery. He gave a mistrustful side glance towards Niamh as she arrived, remembering how she sided with the dark woman back there. Despite her sharing the same attitude towards the band of Redhawks, he still shifted his weight, possessively moving closer to Screech a little.

He turned then to the one-eyed boy as he spoke, features falling as he mentioned a certain agreement he and this Towhee had come to. Like hell he would he was about to become a Redhawk. He opened his mouth to interject. Screech couldn't possibly be considering taking up her offer...but then he continued and Redshank was stunned into silence.

He swung a glance at Niamh, then back to his friend. Even with his proposition that they may move on if they caused enough ruckus, Redshank wasn't convinced that Screech didn't just prefer them over his own friends. Friends who had stood by him and had had his back during the fight. "What the fuck?" he suddenly shouted, voice breaking. "You're joining them?" He bristled even more, tail lashing in frustration. He would've slapped Screech if he could. "After all that? After everything they've done t'you? You said it y'self — they're a fucked up family, they don't even care about you." Redshank disregarded whether that was actually true or not, too caught up in the heat of the moment to actually consider Screech still wanted to be with his family. "Y'can't just..." What about their plan?

She’s lurking. Feel free to skip unless she’s acknowledged!

Upon hearing the howl, she nearly went in the opposite direction; something forced her to rethink her decision and send her, instead, heading right towards the one-eyed male. When she arrived, Sorina kept back enough to be missed if they weren’t attentive, but close enough to hear what was going on—which seemed like a pretty shit situation. She arrived early enough to hear Screech share the offer that was extended to them, what she assumed his plan of attack was, and then the shouts of the other male. Ugh.

The decision was not an easy one to make, especially not for her; she’d never been a part of a pack before, so even the idea of hanging around with Screech and his crew had been… something. Nevertheless, she hung around for the time being, listening in on what was happening as it unfolded, wondering to herself if she even had a reason to stay (other than to terrorise her favourite nearly-blind boy).

Niamh was glad to hear that Screech had been able to stand up to Towhee after all, and had obviously kicked her around a bit. She wished she’d been able to take a chunk out of someone as well, but getting away and finding Screech again had been more important.

The wary gaze Redshank gave her was not missed- and was met with one of indignant confusion. What the hell was that all about? She had no idea, still, that he regarded her as a turncoat, that he thought she’d taken Raven’s side while she’d actually positioned herself there to protect Screech’s blind side.

Her gaze focused back on Screech, hardening at first when he said he wanted to join the Redhawks. She growled softly- she felt betrayed. She and Redshank had just defended his ass to a whole pack of wolves, and he’d just gone and given in without telling them...But as he continued, it appeared that he had a plan. Redshank didn’t seem to care, and seemed more betrayed than anything- but Niamh was intrigued.

”Are you sure they’ll just allow the lot of us to join with them, after everything that just happened?” She asked. She frowned. ”Even if they do let us in, they’ll probably treat us like shit...” She said, trailing off as her attention was snagged by the scent of another female in the area. She curled her tail over her back and growled, searching the girl out and making it clear with posture alone that the three of them were busy- and she was unwelcome.

Redshank had the response that Screech expected, but even if he saw it coming it didn't make it any better. He did not want to put an end to everything they'd been working towards; now was maybe not the time to continue pursuing it though, and he hoped with time that Redshank would understand that. As he opened his mouth to respond Screech caught sight of Sorina, of all people, lurking with the others — and for a split second him mind went blank, giving Niamh a moment to speak up herself.

She had doubts too. Hell, so did Screech. It was hard for him to come to terms with this arrangement and he wasn't going to force any of them to stay - even if they were all (or almost all) very important to him. He answered her first: Their leader, my sister Towhee, offers us one chance. If we join them then we can live on our land as part of their pack — I know, it sucks balls, but it's better than having to start over entirely. Whether they're welcoming or not, the rest of the pack has to fall in line with her, but he did have an idea in regards to that — something that may keep Redshank around as well. But for the time being we know this land, we've been here longer. If we can somehow... I dunno, get the pack to turn on Towhee... Maybe they'll realize it was all a mistake and leave. 

It was unlikely. Probably impossible. But Screech needed them to know he wasn't going to merely accept the situation and become his sister's bitch. Maybe this would appeal to Redshank - if he affiliated himself or not, the other boy was good at causing mischief and they could work together to keep one another safe. Shank, he finally addressed his friend, I don't like this any more than you do, but they are my family. If we find a way to drive them out -- you'd stay, right? But we can't go for the kids. I can't believe my sister would force the pack to move with little kids like that — but we stay away from them, they're off limits. Aside from that, I say we try and use what we have against the rest of them. Are you in?

They were a gang of rogues, united under one cause - or so he liked to think. It was entirely possible that none of them wanted to tempt fate like that; the opinion of the pack was important and they already had a negative image, but if they could manipulate that -- play nice maybe, cause that image to shift in their favor and begin undoing Towhee's rule -- maybe they'd have a shot to earn back their land.