Heron Lake Plateau The still, cold world.

Time stamping -72 hours (Nov 30).

There were some new (and old) faces in the ranks. Although they were relatives, Towhee didn't bother tracking them down right away. She let them settle in and reunite with Rory, whose real name was apparently Bat. Through @Raven, the Beta found out that Wildfire had never sent Rory Bat to them. She and @Tegan had lied about that and about her age. She supposed it was sort of moot now. Bat had proved herself an asset to the pack, regardless of the past's untruths.

All the same, the mercenary wanted to find Bat and ask her some things. She also wanted to start training the girl who insisted on traveling so much, oftentimes without accompaniment. Coincidentally, the young scout proved to be next to impossible to find. Towhee spent more than an hour nosing around the plateau, only to come up empty-handed. She huffed her annoyance.

She went looking for Wildfire instead, finding the spry redhead rather easily and asking if she knew Bat's current whereabouts. With a frown, Wildfire reported that she hadn't seen Bat and that she actually suspected the youth might be avoiding her. Oh great, thought Towhee. She made idle conversation with the Iota for a few minutes, then said she was late for her patrol. Did Wildfire want to come along? She seemed to consider it but shook her head, so Towhee disembarked for the borders alone.

After a routine circuit, she decided it was time to seek out some of the new folks she didn't know yet, seeing as Bat likely wouldn't turn up for a day or so. Towhee leisurely began to seek the scents of @Buckshot, @Kaala, @Kiwi and @Sequoia, familiarizing herself with them and deliberating who to try tracking down first.

After her talk with Bat, Kiwi had little further interest in seeking out her sister again, so the avoidance was twofold.  She hung around Wildfire a bit, but if her mother brought up Bat, she didn't get much response from her other daughter.  Kiwi kept her opinions to herself, but it was fairly obvious she was less than enthusiastic about the situation.

She didn't make a huge effort to introduce herself to the others here either, instead choosing to get familiar with the territory and throw herself into hunting.  Catching something always made her feel better.  She'd discovered the lake and taken note of all the new birds, though many had likely left for the winter by now.  What was there was interesting, though, and she had found a sort of zen in just watching them, observing how they worked.  Ironically, it was just what she had scoffed at when Artaax was training her, and yet here she was.

She spotted Towhee moving by at a distance, but didn't call out.  Instead her attention remained trained on the lake, where a late-staying heron was preening itself among the reeds.  She wasn't ready to disturb it just yet.

Out of the four remaining newbies, only one was related to her by blood (so far as she knew): Wildfire's daughter, Kiwi. Towhee singled out her scent and began plodding across the plateau's breadth. Like many such ventures, it led her lakeside. She slowed a bit as the approached, noting a tension in the youth's shoulders. Filing away that note, the Beta followed Kiwi's gaze out across the water, a little surprised to see a heron wading in the slushy reeds.

"What is that weirdo doing?" Towhee muttered under her breath as she sidled up alongside Kiwi, blinking openly at the stupid bird. Turning her face toward the juvenile, she said in her loud, clunky voice, "Hey, you're Kiwi right? I'm your Aunt Towhee, although you can just call me Towhee or Tow or Hee or whatever the hell." She punctuated this dry introduction with a little smirk.

Kiwi wasn't keen on being bothered right that moment, but she recognized the girl as one who mom had pointed out as not only important, but family. That put her in at least worth not pissing off immediately territory, and it meant that Kiwi didn't immediately tell her to leave her alone.

Though her voice.... Kiwi's ears flattened involuntarily as Towhee spoke, her tone and pronunciation all sorts of fucked.  What was she doing?

You don't have to yell, she said, annoyed, nose wrinkling as she looked at the older girl.  Nice enough, but she didn't seem super smart.  I am. What do you want?

The spark of amusement in Towhee's eyes died down considerably when the kid told her off for yelling. Remarks about her speech impediments didn't typically bother her, though it was Kiwi's last four words that rubbed her the wrong way: "What do you want?"

"Respect would be nice," the mercenary observed with an arched brow, giving Kiwi a bit of a look. Her flame-colored eyes then suddenly squinted and Towhee said, "Hang on a sec..." She paused, her squint intensifying. "If you have two mothers, how do you—how does that even work?" It was a rude question, but no more pointed than Kiwi's.

Although he knew Wildfire from when she had been her when he was a child, he did not know her children... let alone her niece who was also milling about. He had run into Sequoia briefly, and they had introduced one another, but she had run off to do whatever it was she spent all her time doing shortly after that. She seemed uninterested in making small talk, so he had shrugged it off and gone about his business.

Eventually, he caught up with Towhee, and he found her asking Wifi's daughter a question. Kiwi, was it? He was pretty sure that was what Sequoia had told him. Having two toons in a single pack can be pretty nifty for passing along simple information like this, instead of just hearing it "through the grapevine" or some other vague channel. He wasn't exactly eavesdropping when he dropped in on their conversation, as he only heard the last question, but it was a curious one. Phox was learned enough to know how babby was formed.

He slid up alongside Towhee and quirked a brow, waiting for the Wifi-lookalike to answer the question.

Respect.  Why should she?  Kiwi still wasn't sold on this pack, honestly.  Wildfire might like them because they were old family, but so far, Kiwi wasn't impressed by many she'd seen.  A good part of that was probably because she was trying to figure out what Bat had found that was so great as to make her stay here.  Her current guess? Her sister couldn't deal with having to compete with her and their other siblings, so she'd turned coward and come here to hide.

And, yknow, all that other stuff she'd said when Kiwi had yelled at her.

Her fur lifted when Towhee made a jab at her moms, though... much as she was angry with Nomi, such things had always been a major hot point for her.  "I dont know, why don't you ask my mom yourself?"  What Kiwi did or didn't know, I don't honestly know, but I imagine she knew on some level she had a dad in the pack, and maybe even who it was.  But she wasn't about to go into it with this loud stranger, or with this other wolf who creepily showed up without saying anything.  She eyed him too, in a way that was decidedly unfriendly and bordering snobbish.  "Who're you?  It's rude to listen in."  Apparently no one taught him manners here.

I should be asleep!!! Oops.

Kiwi fired back without missing a beat. Towhee's brow arched again, although she was mildly impressed despite herself. That was some quick comeback, plus an entirely fair point. Before she could open her mouth to respond, a familiar black figure sidled up beside her. Towhee afforded Phox a quick sideways glance, then returned her attention to the youth.

"I'll have to ask her sometime," she mused idly. "I'm not yelling on purpose, by the way. I was born deaf, so my volume controls are broken." Towhee did the wolfish equivalent of thumbing in her brother's direction. "This guy is actually my hearing aid, as well as my translator. Isn't that right, Phox?" Her face turned sideways so their eyes locked.

Kiwi was quick to explain that she didn't actually know how it worked, and that she was not going to be answering anytime soon. Not only that, but she gave Phox a pointed look and a question, to which his lip twitched upward for a split second. Towhee, or any other close family member, could talk down to him like that, but he did not like it coming from some teenage wannabe badass. Thankfully, Towhee managed a quick answer in response to Kiwi's quip, and Phox nodded in agreement.

It's rude to talk to your superiors like that, too, he added for good measure. Besides, I don't think I was exactly 'listening in.' You're having a conversation right out here in the open. Phox looked around to solidify his point. Unless they were up to no good (which he now suspected based on Kiwi's behavior), there was nothing to hide, right?

Kiwi was used to adults not taking her sass back well, and wasn't expecting a positive reaction here either. But instead of getting offended, Towhee seemed to actually consider the suggestion.  Of course, it was a good one.  Interestingly enough, there was a modicum of respect now where there hasn't been before.

Towards her.  The other? Not so much.  Who did he think he was, thinking he was superior? He didn't even know her.

If I meet one I'll keep it in mind. She responded angrily, forgetting for a minute that Towhee was there.  Then she glanced and remembered, and her ears fell slightly.  Sorry.  I didn't mean... I'm just going to go.  Immediate dislike for Phox, and she wasn't in the mood for a fight right now, not when she had already alienated one member of this pack.  She stood, preparing to leave them to it.

On one hand, Towhee didn't appreciate blatant shows of disrespect among pack members. She wasn't one for overbearing posturing, yet she expected her pack mates to conduct themselves appropriately. On the other, it was kind of fun watching this young girl sass her brother. Her brows lifted as she looked at him, wondering how he would respond to the underhanded remark. But then Kiwi said something and Towhee turned sharply, catching the apology right before the youth prepared to slink away.

She wasn't really in the business of handling moody teenagers, so Towhee made no attempt to call her back. Let 'er go, she thought with an inward shrug. Facing Phox again, she nudged him with her elbow. "Do you need some ice for that burn?" In the next moment, she hoisted a forelimb to the back of his head, hoping to smash his face into the snow at their feet.

Her (admittedly clever) retort cause Phox to look confused, annoyed, and angry all at the same time. It only lasted a second or two before she apologized and promptly excused herself, leaving Towhee to put in an insulting word. She then proceeded to smush his face into the snow, which he hadn't been expecting even one bit. Were they all out to pester him today?! Slipping out from under her grip, he shook as much of the snow off of him as he could.

Phox paused only a second before going in for a full tackle. He wasn't much of a fighter, even at this age, but he knew how to wrestle when he needed to. Besides, maybe this would be a good way to blow off some steam.

A loud cackle escaped Towhee when Phox face-planted, then resurfaced a moment later with white powder clinging to his whiskers. "You got a little someth—" He pounced before she could get out all the words, the suddenness of his spring and his proximity allowing him to sack Towhee into the snow.

She went down with a noise that was half laugh, half snarl. She shoved at Phox, then rolled to get out from beneath him. As soon as she righted herself, she struck out a foreleg to smack the look right off his face.

They were equally matched when it came to size (*sensible chuckle*), but Towhee clearly had the upper hand when it came to tactics. Before he knew it, she'd slipped out of his grasp and was slapping him right in the face. He did not do it with any amount of thought included, but he stepped forward and licked her nose. Immediately after, a feeling of straight-up exhilarating horror flooded into his stomach. He thought of Camilla and Niamh in the same second for reasons he could not explain, and he stared blankly at Towhee, stunned by his own (involuntary?) actions.

Her hit connected. "Fuck!" Towhee spat, the impact sending a jolt of pain up her foreleg. She could only blame herself, of course... or she could blame Phox.

But before she could say or do anything else, he caught her totally off guard by licking her nose. Towhee blinked, whatever actual anger she felt ebbing away. When he stepped back, she automatically asked, "Do I have a bat in the cave?" and began trying to stick her own tongue up her nose, in case Phox hadn't taken care of it.

Phox could have sworn his testicles leapt right into his stomach, but somehow Towhee managed to save face and blame it all on a booger. Typical smart(?) sister. Phox was able to snap out of his own stunned state and into a semi-casual one. Yeah, he could shake this off and pretend it was nothing, right? He could totally pretend he hadn't just tried to snog his sister. Yep, he definitely hadn't done anything like that, yep. Yep, yep, yep. Everything was juuuust fine.

He chuckled awkwardly as she tried to fish out the snot that wasn't even there. I think you got it, he chuckled awkwardly. Wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible he did his damndest to make it happen. Camilla caught a fox the other day. I think she's a pretty good hunter. Yep, Towhee was totally gonna take this conversation change really well. Totally. Just talk about another girl, and all the weird impulses would go away, right?

She had to stop trying to pick her own nose in order to concentrate on his words. She couldn't hear his tone, of course, but Towhee was hell'a good at reading body language. And Phox's had gone very weird at some point in the last minute. Totally oblivious, Towhee squinted suspiciously.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes as he suddenly brought up his waifu, Towhee quipped wryly, "Aww, you mean your little wifey caught a Phox," complete with obnoxious, sloppy kissy faces.

Without giving Phox much of a chance to react to that, Towhee socked him square in the shoulder and then darted past him. "Towhee Redhawk: 1, Phox Redhawk: 0!" She then ran off as quickly as her bum leg allowed, presumably to try catching up with those other newbies she hadn't met yet, all the while wondering if Phox had picked up on the significance of what she'd just said.

She's not my— Towhee smacked him, HEY! The mention of the family name was not lost on him, and in that instant, he knew that he was finally on her good side. That was good, except for the part where he was not looking forward to the constant torment she had just displayed. (Just kidding, he loved it!) We'll see how long that score lasts! he called after her. She looked like a dork trying to run with her one bad leg.

As for him, he decided to find out what Camilla was up to. Maybe wifing her wouldn't be such a—no, Phox. That's a terrible idea.