Heron Lake Plateau there's an endless road to rediscover
if you must live, darling one, just live
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Joining 

So this was her home.

It wasn't so quaint as it was massive, and he had to crane his neck just to try to catch a glimpse of the piece of the land the pack actually lived upon. And his neck sure didn't crane that far. Tuathal still wasn't convinced that there weren't more Blackthorns here than Ceara had given credit for. His family seemed to have a way of showing up in places he least expected - though, since he wholly expected them now, maybe that meant a good thing for him here.

The edge of the land lowered until it rose in a gentle hill, able to be scaled. A tangle of scents continued around the rise, and he scented Ceara among them. Just like his sister, to plunge herself headfirst into any place like she'd been there from the start. She'd always been one to stick her neck out. Now, it was his turn, and he tipped back his head with a howl.
 
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Towhee no longer ruled supreme, however, she took her leader- and guardianship duties as seriously as ever. Despite the state of her face, she resumed a regular patrolling schedule. And though she couldn't possibly hear a howl, her feathered companion quickly flagged her attention, guiding her to the foot of the plateau's slope to ascertain a rangy stranger standing there. Her orange eyes were almost immediately drawn to the thick black striping down his back.

"...seriously?" was all Towhee said as she came to a stop a few feet away.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

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Ceara had been patrolling the borders, filled with mucho teenage angst over not only Tuathal's departure but Screech's head coma.  Of course the only boy friend she makes keels over right after they'd had a Moment.

But that call was not one that she could mistake for anyone else.  Her heart hummingbird beat as she fled to the edge of the Plateau and skid to a halt next to the packmate she didnt recognize.

"Tuathal!! You decided to stay?"
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The wolf who met him was neither his sister nor any Blackthorn he knew, and lucky for them both, she still had a hill to descend before having to deal with whatever poured from Tuathal's nerves. Of course he hadn't expected Ceara to be the one to answer his call, but even as much as he'd anticipated leadership, Tuathal realized he wasn't prepared to meet them at all.

He had never actually tried this before - joining a pack. Was there, like - something special he was supposed to do? Tuathal was already half distracted by the bird that seemed too close to the dark stranger to think of anything eloquent to say, so he simply started with the first spiel that came to mind. "Uh, hi. Hello there," she was still a bit of a distance away - was he talking loud enough? He raised his voice a fraction, just to be sure. "I'm - " but her voice cut in just then, strange and not completely right, and all he could finish with was an uncertain splay of his ears and a nervous, "heh," as her fiery gaze raked over every inch of him - and settled, without a doubt, upon the thick and blatant stripe she sounded like she'd seen enough of already.

Thank the stars Ceara scooted up just then. "Ceara." Tuathal flooded with relief and his eyes warmed at the unmaskable excitement in her voice. Had he decided to stay? "Oh - yeah," he gave a nervous laugh and shifted his attention back to the stranger, who he expected had at least a little more weight here than his newbie sister. "I'm Tuathal," he tried again, "I'm told your pack is the Blackthorn melting pot of the wilds. I was - uh, wondering if you had room for one more."
 
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Before he could properly react to her lackluster greeting, another wolf appeared on the scene. Towhee squinted as if the new arrival's brightly-colored coat hurt her eyes, which it sort of did. She immediately reminded the Beta of her older sister, Wildfire. She certainly looked like a vividly burning flame, though her name was Ceara, according to the first stranger. Like him, she wore a thick stripe down her back. It was pretty clear they were related.

A cursory sniff told Towhee that the she-wolf belonged here, even if she'd never personally met her. So her attention shifted back to the outsider. He introduced himself as Tuathal. His lips were particularly easy to read, which normally would've gone over well with her. But the more she looked at him, the more she realized he reminded her of Colt. Hopefully the similarities stopped at physical resemblance.

"We might have space, though being a Blackthorn isn't an automatic ticket to ride," Towhee said in her clunky cadence. She glanced at Ceara, hoping the woman wouldn't try to interfere. Facing Tuathal again, she continued, "What would you contribute if you were accepted into this pack?"
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

I archive threads if my partner goes inactive and/or there are no new replies for several weeks. I'm more than happy to continue an archived thread if you're interested. Just revive it (via maintenance) and tag me in your next reply. :)
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Ha ha.  What?  She'd never been asked any of these questions.  There was no doubt in her mind that her brother was useful, and she bit her tongue to keep from interjecting.  He could speak for himself, she knew, but she wanted nothing more than to defend him (even if there was no need).  

Maybe it was only the fact that she had to concentrate to understand the Redhawk that kept her from blurting out every reason Tuathal was The Best™.

She stood in silence, but the anticipation rolled off of her in waves.

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Well shoot the dog, of course he knew his stripe wasn't free admission. It was really nothing more than a mark along his back, defining his heritage, but not deciding his worth. That was something he forged for himself, and Tuathal found himself nodding in silent understanding - though he realized, a bit late, that his nerves had carried the nod a beat through the time he should have been talking.

Oh - uh - "Of course," he corrected, and dipped a more sombre nod. Something was off about the dark stranger; her voice alerted him to this, along with the way her eyes seemed to focus on his mouth instead of the space nearer his eyes. Her brain seemed well functioning, though, and he wondered if she simply had an impediment with her speech. His own voice shifted in the slightest anyway to something clearer and more pronounced, an instinctive response to what he found amiss in the other. "My everything." He answered, and couldn't it really be summed up as that? "I don't make promises I don't intend to keep, and I assure you, I'll give you my all. I think it's without saying I can hunt, and I know how to survive. I'm a warrior - it's what I've trained to be, and I'll continue to hunt for, care for, provide for, and protect your pack, to the best that I can, if you'll have me." He swallowed and found himself glancing at Ceara, perhaps for affirmation. Wondering whether he'd said enough. If he was even enough - but he knew at the end of the day, he'd only spoken that which he held to be true.
 
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The fiery bystander remained quiet (for all Towhee knew) as the Beta watched Tuathal's lips move to form all the right answers. Of course, he could just possess a silver tongue, for all she knew. But that could go for any faceless stranger saying any number of things at the borders. It was the first few weeks after acceptance that really revealed a wolf's worth. It would be the same with Tuathal here, though the stripe vouched for him somewhat.

"All right," she acknowledged his reply before her orange gaze settled fully on Ceara. "Take him to Quixote or Raven right away. They'll get the final say. But you can let them know that he has my—Towhee's—approval." Turning to face him once more, she nodded to Tuathal and then glanced upward, locating X quickly. "I have a patrol to finish. I'll catch you both later, I'm sure," was all she said before striding away to resume her duties.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

I archive threads if my partner goes inactive and/or there are no new replies for several weeks. I'm more than happy to continue an archived thread if you're interested. Just revive it (via maintenance) and tag me in your next reply. :)
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#9
It wasn't like the meeting had taken very long.  What had taken long was Quixote crossing half the planet at a reasonable-paced walk.  He was still hurting from his misadventure earlier, and though not as bad as earlier, he just didn't want to aggravate anything and make the process drag on more than it already was.

Even despite the long sight-lines prevalent across the plateau, by the time the black smear of Quixote's silhouette appeared, Towhee was already heading off on her patrol again.  Ceara and some other unfamiliar person were still together, assumedly, so Quixote headed towards them to find out what that earlier howl was about.  Regardless of whether they came to meet him halfway or not, his initial question would be in the same tone of amused almost-disappointment as he looked over the Blackthorn-striped dude, I managed to miss everything?  Quixote was a little bit dirt-dusted, and though he'd shaken off his fur, a few motes clung stubbornly to it on his head and paws.  He'd been off digging for something, obviously.
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Quickie to get this moving.  Sorry for the wait!

Any bit of resentment she might have unjustly held towards Towhee for interrogating Tuathal had dissipated, replaced with an eager and grateful grin that split from ear to ear.  Of course she was convinced, because Tuathal had the most convincing speech ever.. and she knew it to be true.  She had grown up alongside him, and this competitive streak had to come from somewhere.

Her paws worked the ground in her excitement as Quixote arrived.  She wouldn't even have to hunt him down!  Hey, um, so this is my brother.  He was.. looking for a place to stay, although I'm sure he can speak for himself.  Um.  Towhee just stopped by, and she said he has her approval...?

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And it seemed his words were enough - or maybe that his Blackthorn stripe was actually more of a voucher than Towhee let on. In any case, he'd managed to talk his way through the gatekeeper and proceed to stage two: meet and greet the leaders. Now, that was a thought that made his chest squeeze with excitement or something erring on doom. He tried to cover both with a tentative smile when Towhee nodded farewell. "Yeah, catch you later - " But his words came once she had already turned away, and it seemed that maybe she didn't hear him - or maybe she just didn't care. Oh. Yeah. Okay, that's... fine. He rolled his shoulders to try to shake the weird edge that left him with.

But he barely found time to even turn to Ceara when a dark shape refocused on the top of the slope, and he snapped himself to attention. Had Towhee changed her mind? No - this wolf was definitely someone different - and Tuathal blinked, uncertain if the man was actually expecting an answer... other than just... yeah, you kind of did.

Ceara seemed savvy enough to speak, at least, and while he side-eyed her for how little she left him with to tell, for once he wasn't actually sure if that bothered him. Pitching himself to Towhee had drained him more than he'd expected, so he simply let his sister talk until she didn't anymore. Only then did he tip his head to the alpha (must've been Quixote, since Raven was a she and this was definitely a dude) and tried to interject some sort of addition to his sister's spiel. "Hey. I'm, yeah. Tuathal," ... and he stopped, and fell silent with the shift of a frown, because geez, she really didn't leave him much of anything to say, "Um. I'd like to join you - er, join your pack. I can hunt, fight, do all those wolfish things - but, Towhee said you have the final say."
 
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Sorry for the drama-induced delay! If you want him to be PPCed after your next post here, I can do so -- or if you wanna go wrap up other threads first (that I think are going on?? IDEK any more SO MUCH DRAMA HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN) I can give him a real rank now!

Hopefully he'd be moving along faster soon -- couldn't let Towhee think he was being too much of a slacker.  Or maybe he could.  Who freaking knew.  He hadn't really talked to her much recently so for all he knew she thought he was doing a bad job, though he suspected if that was the case he'd probably know about it directly.

Either the fact that he missed all the official business amused him greatly or he was just in a pretty ok mood despite the aches.  First to Ceara, I assume that since he's your brother, you get to chew on him if he steps out of line and are the one responsible for giving him the tour, eh?  She was certainly quick to step up to do just about anything anyone ever needed, so if anyone was going to make sure Tuathal wasn't up to mischief, certainly it would be that sibling out of all the Blackthorns.

Then to the newbie, So, Tuathal, since she asked all the normal boring questions, anything else worth knowing?  Not necessarily stuff that'd effect joining as much, I pretty much trust Towhee's opinion on that -- more like about who you are or whatever.  If that even makes sense.  Probably didn't.  Quixote wasn't exactly the greatest at wording things but hoped that was enough to get the vague idea he had across.  Just you know.. Who was this dude that he was trusting Towhee's judgement on, blah blah.
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Ceara chuckled somewhat uncomfortably.  Yeah, I don't mind giving him the tour at all.  That meant he was part of the pack, right?  Right. 

Tuathal gave Quixote some satisfactory answers, and then the pair parted from the Alpha to go check out the new digs.