Firefly Glen Love where you're at
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Ooc — Kim
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@Finley Forward dated a few days, tags for reference!

After tossing the idea around for weeks, Finley and Elwood had finally decided to bite the bullet and make the journey to the Sunspire to meet their grandchildren. Summer was quickly turning into fall, and before they knew it, winter would be here -- and the frigid, snowy weather would surely ground them and keep them from leaving the plateau for any extended period of time. They were aging, and they knew that they needed to take advantage of both the mild weather and their present physical states. If they waited until the following spring, the pups wouldn't really be pups anymore; and who could say if Finwood would be conditioned for travel?

Ever the planner, Elwood had carefully considered the directions given to him by Coelho and Pyro. Of course, he also took into consideration the fact that his mate had spent most of her life as a scout, and that while she had been off the road for some time, she surely knew the Teekon Wilds better than he did. So he decided early on that he would allow for any deviations she suggested, and he would just hope that they wouldn't run into any trouble.

After saying goodbye to their family and packmates -- and making sure that @Clover would keep an eye on six-month-old @Tywyll and @Cinder -- the Blackthorns had set off in the early morning, feeling invigorated by the cool air and rising sun. They moved through unfamiliar land for the first few days, without any notable mishaps, and then started to recognize landmarks -- Moonspear's peak stretched towards the sky over their shoulders just as Firefly Glen opened up in front of them.

"Not too much farther," he said, bumping Finley's shoulder amiably as they strolled along. "And we haven't even had to fight any bears yet!" was his next quip. So far, their biggest enemy had been fatigue; he couldn't deny that this was exhausting, even with their slow pace.
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Ooc — Stevie
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For once (when it comes to travel plans, anyway), Finley left the decisions about the when and where and how up to her mate to decide. The thought of meeting her grandkids filled her with nervous excitement, as did the prospect of leaving the territory for a little adventuring. With the former, she was more excited than nervous. The latter, she was more nervous. A lot more nervous. Like, she was pretty convinced she was never going to make it back alive kind of nervous. With that sort of emotion filling her head, it seemed best that she didn't make any of their travel decisions.

It was a pretty smart move for a lot of reasons, one of those being that she was able to just relax and enjoy the journey once it became apparent that she was not likely to die from it. Her bum hip didn't protest the exertion as much as she'd anticipated. It was steadily growing more and more sore, and so she was pleased when Elwood announced that it wouldn't be too much longer before she was able to get a few days of recovery time.

She gave her mate a wry grin as he struck up conversation with her again. "My reputation 'round these parts must still be alive and well," she replied, looking smug, "They're all hiding from me. You're welcome for that." Fin nipped at his cheek teasingly.
 
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Ooc — Kim
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"Thank goodness, because I don't know if I'm up for bear fighting," Elwood replied with a chuckle. He grinned as she nipped at his cheek, slowing his pace. He wanted to get to the Sunspire soon -- and knew that Finley did too -- but they had made surprisingly good time so far and he suspected that they had time for a short break.

Casting a sidelong glance at her, he asked, "Do you miss scouting?" He was happy to have her consistently at home, but he wondered if she ever yearned for her younger days when she had had more freedom.
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Ooc — Stevie
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Fin grinned at her mate's response, then gave a nod and added in a hushed voice, "You and me both." She gave a quick glance around then as though making sure none of the bears in question had heard her confession. The journey itself so far had proven that she'd been overly paranoid about her ability to survive the undertaking, but that didn't mean she was willing to put her ability to survive a bear fight to the same test.

His question made her pause thoughtfully. She hadn't really considered scouting much since being injured at Blackfeather. She'd been convinced that the long-lasting damage done to her leg had put the final nail in that particular hobby's coffin. Fin thought back further though, to just after she had given up the trade and realized, "Not really. The fun and excitement in scouting was always in the adventure. Which is to say, in the danger. Danger isn't as appealing when you've got ninety kids, plus a husband who would be utterly helpless without you." She cast him another smirk.
 
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Ooc — Kim
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Finley's thoughtful reply didn't really surprise him. As she had grown older and matured, her interests and abilities had changed; and while he was sure that she would always look back fondly on her days of scouting, there were plenty of other aspects of life to keep her busy now. Like the aforementioned ninety kids and helpless husband.

"Well, really, we deal with our share of danger having all those kids around, I guess," he said with a snort of laughter. It seemed that each litter had been more reckless -- for the most part, Tywyll and Cinder were nothing like their eldest brother, Eljay. And the affectionately named foursome of "wildlings" certainly always managed to live up to that title.

He hummed introspectively at the thought of his children -- and their children. Liffey had been rebellious when she lived with her family, balking against her mother's control; he wondered what she was like now as a mother. "What do you think the grandkids will be like?" he mused aloud.
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Ooc — Stevie
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Fin smled at her mate's assessment, judging him to be completely on point. It was odd how vastly different each of her children had turned out to be, but not in an at all upsetting way. She loved each of their individual personalities, admired them for all of their strengths and all of their flaws. So when it came to her mate's question regarding their grandchildren, she was already well on her way down that thought process to give an honest shrug of defeat.

"I have no idea," she answered, "I think our kids have made it pretty clear that there's no guarantee your child will come out being anything like you. And they can also come out being nothing whatsoever like each other, so... Your guess is as good as mine." She thought of Eljay and Clover, Lagan and Fiadh, Lucy and Tegan. Every one of them was so different in a hundred ways, though rather similar in a hundred more. Sure, they'd all been raised in different ways under different circumstances, but that if nothing else made it clear to her that blood was not the dominating factor in how someone would turn out.

She paused then, thinking of something more mischievous. "Plus what do we even really know about this Rannoch dude?" she questioned with a playful smirk, "Sure he seems all nice and proud and honorable, but what is he really like? What's he hiding?" The sway of her tail showed that she didn't really think her daughter's mate had any deep, dark secrets. But still, it was fun.
 
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Ooc — Kim
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"That's true," he agreed, allowing his thoughts to follow a train similar to hers. Out of their ten children, no two were alike. Sure, there were similarities -- he could already see Tywyll starting to take after Tegan -- but there were far more differences that made each child his or her own individual. He felt a brief ache in his heart as he wondered about Lucy; others had dispersed at the appropriate age, like Lagan and Fiadh, but she had been taken from their family far too soon and they never really had time to get to know her.

Finley's comments about Rannoch caused Elwood's left brow to quirk. He considered her statement seriously for a moment before noticing the playful movement of her tail. But even though she was joking, her words did strike a chord in Elwood. They were lucky that Liffey had chosen someone who seemed to be an upstanding young man; but what if she hadn't? What if Clover or Fiadh ended up with someone who couldn't be trusted? There wasn't much they could do about it, but it still sent a chill down his spine.

He managed to push those negative thoughts away, though, and returned Finley's smirk. "You mean he might have an evil twin? Or he might be an evil twin?" he asked.

The pair continued to muse as they made their way toward their destination, excitement and anticipation building with each step.