Heron Lake Plateau alright, i'm lying, it's pleather
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details vague -- fuck a timeline i don't care what time he actually got home. reference it around today ish. i think. probably. i am pretty sure that @Hydra is traveling with him <3 

in the words of tegan himself, i'm a bad bitch, you can't kill me.

which was so true. motherfucker LIVED. L I  V  E D bitches! he went into the DEPTHS of black feather woods, battled the S C R EE CH himself and made it out ALIVE. concussed, maybe with permanent brain damage, but ALIVE BITCHES.

let's face it, tegan's brain cell count was lacking to begin with anyhow, no one would notice a thing. 

the hot sisters had helped him out despite probably thinking he was the world's biggest moron -- accurate -- and tegan had returned back to the plateau with hydra's guidance and @Lyra's herbs. boy was mufuckin golden. try and fuckin stop him. from what? idk. but try it.

he plopped down when they'd hit the borders-- i'm not sure why but something in tegan's mind was like 'hydra is here so we should probably call for someone'. and so he did just that. he lifted his head up and called for @Towhee, cause he loved towhee. bat would probably hear the call too. and maybe @Quixote and @Niamh. basically everyone in the pack. but he wanted his sister. pls.
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Like many others in the pack, Tegan’s absence had caused Niamh concern, though he might not have realized it. He’d been gone longer than she’d expected, had he simply gone to the borders of Blackfeather, had a quick chat, and then come directly back. She didn’t expect him to take on any other tasks, not while other wolves were out searching as well, making them run a bit slim in terms of numbers of adult wolves left to mind the pack. With Tegan away, and Raven and Colt out searching as well- and she’d be damned if she’d admit that her own brother, Ambrose, had wandered off as well without explaining where he was going- they were down four adult members, and that made a difference. Five, when you included the reason for the other four to be away, but she tried not to hold too big of a grudge against Ceara, in case she had been taken away against her will.

So when Tegan called out, sounding fairly tired, Niamh chuffed to herself, and bolted for the borders. Along the way, she caught Towhee’s scent, and wondered if she’d gotten the news from X...But then again, it was better not to leave things to chance. Tegan was back, and he was calling out for Towhee, which likely meant that he had something personal to say. She caught up with her Person and using both Ptero and spoken word, she informed her that Tegan had just called for her. He was back. Niamh still didn’t know what to think- whether he would come bearing good news or bad news, or what kind of condition he would be in.

She moved along with Towhee, not wanting to just bolt and run ahead because...Well, rude, though Towhee’s leg was definitely improving now. She didn’t want to jinx it, though, so she moved at the same pace as her friend, not pushing her or trying to slow her down as she knew intervening in any way would likely be useless. Plus, she wanted to see Tegan too. When she caught sight of him, he wasn’t in great condition, nor was he alone- but at least he was accompanied by a familiar face. Niamh glanced to Towhee, knowing that she was much closer to Hydra, but she couldn’t help but wonder why, exactly, Hydra was there. Tegan looked exhausted, having slumped to the ground, and he’d obviously been in a bit of a scuffle. Niamh gave Hydra an appreciative nod, but moved directly to Tegan’s side and lowered herself to the ground there. He had a kind of dazed look, one that she recognized. She reached out to touch his shoulder, with a soft whine, but she froze.

It wasn’t simply the dazed look that triggered her reaction. Niamh froze, as though she’d suddenly been hit in the spine by a dart. She too had been concussed once, and she had seen the effect that it had had on Screech. And though she knew almost immediately, due to the size of his pupils and the bleary look he had, that he had a concussion, she still found herself stiffen and found herself incapable of moving. Something held her fast, hovering her muzzle just above Tegan’s shoulder, but slowly, the fur along her spine began to lift strand by strand. She felt a strange feeling- the sort of sensation one might have in the middle of the night when awakened by a sound you couldn’t remember, and the brush of a cool wind when all the windows were already shut. She felt as though she was being watched by a ghost, but couldn’t yet pinpoint exactly why it was that her nerves responded in such a way. ”Tegan…” She voiced softly, eyes searching his face for an explanation. She looked to Hydra next, and then over her shoulder at Towhee. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had a feeling that she knew what had happened- but it all seemed far too surreal to be tangible.
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If there was one thing that could distract Towhee from dwelling on recent events, it was Tegan. When Niamh abruptly appeared in front of her, the brooding mercenary took a cagey step back before recovering. The message was soon relayed and they hastened to the borders. She had good and bad days with her leg and today was leaning a bit toward the latter. She moved as speedily as she could, hoping to find Tegan and Ceara both safe and sound.

Instead, she found Tegan and Hydra. Towhee's lips parted in surprise, her gait a little sloppy as she descended to meet them. She was so relieved to see Tegan that she didn't really notice his condition. She wasn't a healer, in any case, and though she had sharp eyes to compensate for her useless ears, she probably wouldn't have recognized the signs anyway. He appeared to be in one piece, which was all that mattered to her as she pressed her nose into his ruff.

But Hydra's presence—and Ceara's lack thereof—begged a lot of questions. Eventually, she drew back to glance between them. "What happened?" Towhee asked simply.
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Hydra noted the confusion on Niamh's features, and took a polite step backward and dipped her head. She did not mean to stay very long, only long enough to clarify what had happened and why she had come at all, assuming Tegan was too proud to admit it given he had been to proud to give himself even a nights rest. He had been sick time and time again, but he had made it. When he did become sick, Hydra gave him the herbs and forced him to eat them, as Lyra had advised they'd help him through nausea and pain both. Up until their effects ended, it seemed to work. They had arrived here, after all... and fortunately, he was alive. 

Lyra thinks he has a very bad head injury, but he refused to rest. He did not look so good when we found him; I did not think it would be a good idea for him to travel alone like that. He came from Blackfeather Woods, she paused for a moment, and Hydra said gravely: He found Titmouse. If any were to hunt for Tegan afterward, I wanted to be sure they were dealt with. She paused so that Tegan could share his own story, waiting to see how his speech was and to fill in any blanks his head injury could have caused. Like Towhee, Hydra was no medic; she did not know what a head injury could do, but it was clear that Tegan was in no condition to deal with any threat.
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tegan accepted niamh's solemn greeting, and just gave her a small smile, his tail beating against the ground. "hey, b," he chirped, ears flattening. and then towhee arrived, who gave him a much friendlier greeting and stepped back to look at the two. tegan winced a little just began his head hurt with all that was happening around him, but he was fiiiine. fine fine fine. mild concussion, really. 

hydra explained, and tegan nodded along, smile fading the more and more she spoke."fuckin screech kidnapped ceara. she escaped though, i dunno where she went," he continued on from hydra's story, just because that was the reason he'd left to begin with.

"hydra's one cool cat," he tacked on, but not so enthusiastically in light of the currently topic. he wanted to make sure it was known though-- he really appreciated it. he added, a little quieter, "i had a weird vision, when i hit my head... i just wanted to be home." it might've been some sort of herb that he'd eaten, or maybe just the head injury, but either way, tegan accidentally let slip that he was a lil scared baby and totally missed his mama. 

besides the point, he looked between those in front of him, gave another shit-eating grin. "but i'm home now-- i'll rest now-- i promise."
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Tegan's quiet greeting gave Niamh a bit of relief, as hearing him speak reassured her that he was at least somewhat there. When she reflected on how she’d felt when she’d been concussed, she hadn’t really want to to speak to anyone either, and all noises and bright lights had hurt. She suspected, then, that Tegan would need some good rest, which was exactly what Hydra went on to tell them. She owed Hydra a debt, she decided- for having her sister take a look at him and especially for escorting him home. She would have thanked Hydra then to express her gratitude, but when the topic shifted so suddenly, she became all too aware- in all too short a period of time- why it was that part of her had gone on high alert when she’d approached Tegan.

It wasn’t the mention of Blackfeather that made her freeze again; she’d already been aware that that was where he was heading, thanks to Rory who had delivered that message. While it wasn’t good news to hear that he actually had gone there, and to see that he’d returned with a concussion, the fact that Tegan had meddled with the Blackfeather wolves at all was penultimate to the news that followed it. Niamh wasn’t sure how to process the information she was given, and the confusion showed on her face. Her brow furrowed, and she shook her head, and opened her mouth to speak- to reject the idea of there even being a Titmouse completely. He was dead. What did Hydra mean when she said Tegan found him? Tegan found Screech’s dead body?

But Tegan filled in the information next, which caused Niamh to sit upright in one swift motion, ears flattening against her skull. ”No,” She exclaimed, a small shake to her voice. She looked from Tegan to Hydra, but there was nothing but sincerity on their faces- grim, honest sincerity. She shook her head again, and finally looked to Towhee, who had been the one who had killed him. She’d torn out his throat, and thrown him over the cliff...No part of Niamh had ever doubted that. Towhee had nearly been killed by the whole ordeal, by falling down onto a small shelf on the cliffside- Niamh herself had pulled her up. Even now, she had absolutely no doubts that Towhee had done what she’d said- she’d believed that Screech had been dead for too long, now, for her to suddenly believe that he was actually alive.

If denial was the first stage in grief, it had to be the first stage in finding out that the dead lived, too.

Not only was she shocked to hear that Screech was alive- which was still too incredulous to be true- but apparently he had kidnapped Ceara. ”No,” She voiced again, this time with more conviction to her voice. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head viciously. ”He can’t be alive. Towhee killed him.” She insisted. Apparently Ceara had escaped, but all that went overlooked. Tegan was somehow trying to convince her that Screech had come back from the dead, joined Blackfeather, and kidnapped Ceara. Incredulously, a sick chuckle rolled forth from her throat as she shook her head, but it faltered and faded. ”He’s dead….He’s…Ahahah...What do you mean he- Ahahahah! He’s alive?!” She said, and the sickening laughter returned, and her eyes widened with panic. ”And that he’s- Ahahahahah! He’s with- with Blackfeather, and-” She said, her words split by raucous laughter which made her sides heave. She couldn’t stand it- she left Tegan’s side, still shaking her head and doing her best to control the panicked laughter. She was able to mute it for a second or to by holding her breath, but it would return again as soon as she breathed in. ”I don’t….I can’t…” She said, eyes wide with disbelief and fear. Why was she laughing? Why was she reacting like this? She began to hyperventilate, sucking in huge gasps of air, and forced herself to sit down, giving herself some space from the others as she did not want to be touched at the moment. In the need for oxygen, though, the laughter subsided and she simply sat and panted until black dots danced in front of her eyes. She hung her head, tongue lolling out, and she stared at the ground.

Screech was alive. And he was with Blackfeather. She trembled, but she wasn’t sure it was because of the excessive amount of oxygen in her system, or the sudden wash of ice cold fear and rage that had slipped through her veins. Wildly, she lifted her gaze, and licked some of the spittle from her lips which had begun to form a white froth at the corners of her mouth. She’d kill him. And he wouldn’t come back from the dead this time.
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As much as she liked Hydra and loved Tegan, Towhee didn't catch much of what either one said past, "He found Titmouse..." It was as if all her neurons came to a screeching halt. She froze, eyes glazing with a faint red mist at the edges so that their moving lips became a blur. Utterly oblivious to Niamh's hysterical reaction beside her, the mercenary simply stood there like a stone statue. A movie reel played in her mind and only when it came to its grim conclusion did she snap out of it and look sharply at her companions.

Of course they wouldn't lie to her, yet Towhee couldn't help the incredulity. "Screech is alive? How?" The images flashed in her head again. She'd not only torn out his throat, she'd pitched him into the sea from a great height. "Fuck," she spat, momentarily at a loss for words otherwise.
-Signing.- | "Speaking." | -"Signing & speaking."- | "Mouthing (inaudible)." | Thoughts.

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Hydra's gaze switched from Towhee to Niamh, the others reaction strange to Hydra. Her gaze shifted from one wolf to the other, trying to get Towhee to look at the other—but Towhee was no medic either, Hydra knew, and the Beta grit her teeth, unsure of what to do in this situation. She was an outsider here, but it seemed to Hydra like something was amiss. The strange laugh, the posture, the spittle and the froth... but at the end, Hydra observed the mad rage there, and was able to attribute the sickly reaction to that. A fury that was sickening. That, at least, Hydra could understand. Her own eyes flashed as she looked to Niamh again with a slight tilt to her head; it was an affliction they seemed to share. 

Different symptoms, same end. 

Tegan spoke, and Hydra blinked. Lyra said to find your medic once you arrived here. You should do that, she advised, but that was all she could truly do. Tegan was the master of his own fate and head injury. Its improvement (or lack thereof) was up to him. Towhee had spoken now, and Hydra's gaze shifted back to the other who seemed calm, unlike her counterpart, despite her evident vexation. Hydra could only shake her head. I do not know. But I do not intend to let it go on, should I find him, his grievance might have been long ago, but its permanence effected her still. Hydra had lost Galaxy to him, after all, and it seemed that he was still a threat to the wilds—what with him kidnapping the woman he had. Who knew what else he might do, if permitted to live? 

Hydra shifted her weight. Blackfeather may still have your wolf, she rumbled, and if there is a price for Blackfeather to pay, let it be him. We can then make certain of his death, once and for all, and if Blackfeather did not pay it, Hydra felt it might be time that she let slip her dogs of war. She wondered if Niamh and Towhee were willing to aid in that campaign, independent of their packs if Redhawk had no desire to find themselves involved in the same battle. Perhaps they were jaded from the last outcome, despite their victory; Hydra, however, only wanted to see one dead. As for the rest, well, so long as they did not get in her way she did not much care.
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tegan couldn't tell if it was this damn head injury, or if niamh was seriously flying off the rails. his ears pressed to his skull, trying to drown out her terrible, maniacal laughing, and he waited for her to finish. his eyes squinted, but she didn't seem to slow her roll. so, yeah, looked like she was losing her mind. "look, he's alive, okay? titmouse is alive," tegan said, a little harshly-- partially due to his injury and partially because he couldn't tell if niamh was just seriously undermining his authority... as always. "i saw him. his scent's on me, he's got a giant scar where towhee ripped his throat out and he can hardly talk." it was true. if they chose not to believe him then fuck them. 

ouch. his head hurt. 

hydra advised he leave, and tegan looked at her with a sidelong glance. ugh. fine. the adults can talk. stupid ole tegan could go curl up somewhere and pout like a baby...

actually-- yeah, that was exactly what he was gonna do. he did not feel good. "imma go rave," he sputtered, and then began to waddle off, ears still pressed to his skull and eyes half-open. cause ouch that sky was bright.
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Anxiety riddled Niamh’s frame with a gentle but constant shake, but she seemed to calm when Hydra spoke, confirming that he was still alive. She couldn’t believe it- and certainly did not want to. It simply didn’t make sense for him to be alive- not considering the state he’d been in when they’d forced him out, and especially not considering the fact that Towhee had torn out his throat and launched him over the cliffside which had almost taken her life as well. Niamh, of course, did not doubt for one moment that Towhee hadn’t done what she’d said she’d done. If she said she’d torn his throat out and sent him over the cliff, she believed it. There was no reason she wouldn’t- this wasn’t something that Tohee would lie about, and there was no way that Towhee would secretly want Screech to be alive...Right? She seemed too startled at the news to be faking it. Niamh shook her head; she couldn’t doubt her person. Hydra said that he should be the price paid if anything happened to Ceara, and Niamh agreed- but regardless of whether Ceara had escaped or not, she still wanted Screech to pay. He was supposed to die months ago...So his punishment was long overdue.

Tegan gave them more details, confirming that Towhee had in fact done a great deal of damage to Screech, and she knew that she had recognized the scent that had clung to the guard hairs her friend had. He excused himself to go and find Raven, which Niamh knew was a good idea- and having had a concussion previously, she felt pity for him. She too stood up, and pressed her muzzle reassuringly against Towhee’s neck, though she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to say to her friend. All she knew was that she didn’t necessarily want Tegan wandering off on his own squinting the way he was, so she decided to go with him.

”Thanks, Hydra,” She said, her voice still shaky, but earnest. -I’m going to go with Tegan, make sure he finds Raven.- She said, both speaking the words and signing for Towhee. Everything was so difficult to comprehend at that moment that she felt she should communicate in two ways, lest one go over Towhee’s head. Niamh herself wasn’t even listening or seeing straight, considering the news they’d just been dealt. She looked back to Hydra again. ”I’ll talk to Quixote...Screech has lived too long, and is clearly still wreaking havoc. He will pay...If you get to him before we do, don’t hesitate. Just let us know.” She said. As much as she wanted to see it for her own eyes, considering the act he’d just pulled, surviving despite all odds, she knew she couldn’t necessarily leave her pack in the lurch by going off on a murder mission of her own. With that, she nodded appreciatively, and turned to accompany Tegan, so that he didn’t bump into too many obstacles on his search for their medic.
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After spitting out the epithet, Towhee plunged right back into a stony silence, oblivious to her surroundings as she contemplated what this meant and what should be done. Only when Tegan began to waddle away did she snap back to attention. She frowned thoughtfully at his strange pace, worry threading through her and blooming into a full-blown fear for her brother's well-being.

Niamh signed that she was going to help Tegan get to Raven. "I'm coming too," she said loudly, then watched as the Beta turned to say something to Hydra. While that happened, the mercenary slipped up beside Tegan, offering any support he might need. When she glanced back at the she-wolves, Niamh was moving toward Tegan's other flank.

Towhee hated to desert Hydra at the borders like this, especially after helping Tegan home, although there was no way she would let him out of her sight right now. "Thank you, Hydra," she said as sincerely as she could manage, holding her friend's gaze. She wished she could say she'd come find her another time, or join her on the hunt for Screech. But Towhee hadn't even really begun to process the news. So all she could offer her ally was an apologetic bow before she faced forward and coaxed Tegan into a steady walk toward the medic's den.
-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. :)