Sun Mote Copse disco pervert

Word on the street was that the pack was preparing to splinter into two parts, one staying on the plateau and another headed east to settle Sun Mote Copse. Only Bat hadn't actually heard that through the grapevine; she'd heard it directly from the source, while trying to finally make nice with her mother. Bat seriously didn't know what to make of it. It was a foregone conclusion that where Wildfire went, Kiwi and Sequoia would follow. This was Bat's chance to get rid of them, only she'd literally just decided to bridge those gaps. She had mixed feelings, to say the least.

Ultimately, she knew she would likely go wherever @Tegan went, as he was the single most important wolf in her life these days, for better or for worse. Speaking of him, Bat badgered him into heading toward the copse this frosty morning to check out the place where Wildfire's groupies planned to put down roots. Bat had passed through it a few times before, though of course she'd never considered whether it would make a nice place to live. It was close to the falls, which was definitely a point in its favor.

Turning to her companion not long after arriving at the edge of the forest, Bat said, "So do you think you'll be staying or going?"

tegan came with because bat asked. tegan liked exploring, and this actually served a purpose. they travelled with their usual games and banter, but it died down a bit when they actually arrived at their destination. tegan was quiet when bat asked, but ultimately answered. kinda, anyway. 

moms getting old, he said quietly, ears flicking back a little bit, i’ll go wherever she goes... and towhee too, probably. it wasn’t a definitive answer, no, but it at least showed where tegan might go. he kind of wished he could stay at the plateau, but ultimately if finley wanted to go to the copse so would here. 

he looked to bat then. what about you?

His answer did not surprise her, not given recent events. He turned the question back on her and Bat checked herself from answering too quickly, lest Tegan cotton onto her. Ever since their (one-sided) fight, she was pretty sure she didn't want Tegan to know she was (still) sporting a huge crush (for some godforsaken reason).

"I'll probably follow you. We can't split up the dream team." She glanced away from him when a thought occurred to her and she queried, "What if your mom and Towhee end up in different places?"

Even as she asked, she began to plod forward into the copse, eyeing the spacious trees that vaguely reminded her of the sequoia forests near Drageda. When the thought popped into her head, Bat decided not to immediately suppress it. In any case, she liked this place better; the trees were much slenderer and the whole place felt very airy.

good shit, said tegan with a bright grin, gotta keep fuckin shhtuff up. or something.... continuing doing whatever they’re doing. either way! tegan was glad bat was staying. 

oh. tegan hadn’t thought about that... honestly he assumed towhee would follow her wherever too. well. then towhee’s gonna she’s a few tears over me, he said with a shrug. tough shit.

She tried very hard not to feel too pleased by Tegan's reaction, though quietly Bat enjoyed it immensely. They still didn't know if they'd be here or there, yet knowing they'd be together put some of her mixed-up feelings to rest, at least.

Her head tilted at his response about Towhee. "Can Towhee even cry?" she asked rhetorically. The idea of the mercenary shedding tears just didn't work. "I guess we'll be pretty close anyway, so it doesn't matter that much...?" It came out like a question because Bat didn't really know how that dynamic would work.

"Place is nice though," she said in the next breath. "Pretty sure it backs up to the river, then the mountain. Plenty of nice features."

hoooohh yeah, replied tegan with a lofty shake of his head, she’s an ugly crier too. all blubbery and snotty. all lies. tegan hadn’t seen towhee cry a day in his life. whatever, this was more fun. but then he shrugged. it’s not far. it’s not gonna be a big deal, i dunno. me and towhee a few territories apart i see one thing— i just don’t think i’d wanna be more than a sprint away from finley. he added, a little quieter, just in case. 

and then he shrugged again. you’re right, it’s pretyy nice. if finley moves i wouldn’t mind livin here. truthfully, tegan counted any place his family was at to be home. but that’s corny as shit, and he wouldn’t say that. 

what was drageda like? he asked, absentmindedly. he didn’t realize he cared until he asked.

"I get it," she reminded him with a smile, the tip of her pewter tail wiggling a bit. Due in part to the night he'd yelled at her, she understood the depth of Tegan's attachment to his mother. Even if Bat somehow managed to capture Tegan's fancy, she was aware she would always be the second woman in his life.

"Why do you call her Finley?" she laughingly asked in the next moment, quirking a brow at him. "Wildfire," she said out loud, just to try it, and boy that was, "Too weird."

It was kind of hard to believe her mother was going to be the commander of this place. Of course, that wouldn't be her title. Just as Bat was trying to picture Wildfire in such an esteemed role as Alpha, Tegan asked her about Drageda. She balked, though only for a heartbeat.

"You know what's sad? I don't really remember that well anymore," she revealed quietly, stopping to sniff at what was either a pile of mud or one gigantic dump (why did it smell like @Sequoia?). "I kinda repressed it for a while but now when I do think about it, it's like... I dunno... a rolling blackout." Was that a normal part of growing up or had Bat somehow fucked with her memory?

tegan shrugged. mommy is pussy shit, he started at first, and then tried again, i dunno. i call her mom too. just depends. on what? he didn’t know. something. his mood maybe, who he was talking to... maybe? who knows. 

and then bat got all sentimental. or deep? one of the two, maybe both. between you and me tegan wasn’t entirely sure what constituted as sentimental. like was it good? bad? he wasn’t positive. sheesh, pup, was his first response, leaning in to nudge her with like... some reassurance. i don’t really remember the plateau either. like, kinda, but we moved probably when i was your age. tegan remembered events there more than anything.

She nipped at him when he nudged her, then shrugged. "Maybe it should bother me but it doesn't really," Bat admitted. "It's probably better this way." Those memories had a lot of potential to hurt her, especially if she thought about nomi or Artaax wanting to cut her throat. She swallowed a little thickly.

"I can't believe my mom's going to be an Alpha," Bat said conversationally, stopping when she heard the telltale sound of running water in the distance. "I mean, have you met her? She's so... emotional."

hey whatever you say, tegan replies with yet another shrug. i mean, who was he to tell her how she felt? if she said she was fine she was fine. it wasn’t like tegan handled others emotions well. last time he tried to have a heart to heart with someone he almost fucked em. sorry niamh. oh yikes— he’d already blocked that from his memory by now.

whoops. sorry bat :/ tegan tried to repress it again.

he looked at her and then made a thoughtful face. i haven’t talked to your mom since the first time i found you, he informed her with a short wag of his tail, i mean niamh is pretty emotional too, he added, then paused, that’s a bad example though cause she was demoted. i dunno, maybe she’ll surprise you.

Same here, kinda, Bat thought in reply to Tegan's comment, which kind of made her feel a bit guilty in retrospect. Her mom hadn't done anything wrong, aside from being a little (or a lot) overbearing, mostly in the past... a sigh clutched at the youth's chest. Whether or not they wound up in the same pack, she decided she would continue making efforts to see Wildfire on the reg. Sequoia too. And Kiwi, if she ever allowed it.

When her companion reminded her of the recent turnover in leadership, Bat's brow furrowed. She didn't pay much attention to stuff like ranks, though she remembered Quixote's announcement. "Is she okay?" Bat wondered, oblivious to Tegan's little would-be tryst with the woman in question. "I wonder if my mom would demote herself for being too emotionally unstable," she mused in the next breath, snorting a laugh.

They had now threaded much closer to the river that formed the "rear" of the territory. The trees thinned a bit, exposing a glimpse of the river through the slim trunks. She could see that much of it was frozen, though the noise of running water told her that there was some movement somewhere along the watercourse. Bat glanced at Tegan with a look that clearly said, Come check it out, and began to head for the bank.

"not my place," said tegan simply to bat's question, mostly cause he had no fucking idea. he'd like to know if she was okay... but he didn't, and likely never would not that they'd had that little run in. stupid. tegan didn't get it, he was way better than his old ass uncle. who he loved and looked up to. but... still... he pushed it aside. 

tegan snorted. "i don't think wolves are modest enough for that," he told her with a wave of his tail, "i'd never demote myself-- even if i was off my god damn rocker. shows weakness, and bitch i am not weak." and then, as an afterthought, tegan added, "but i don't think anyone will ever give me the opportunity to drive a pack into the ground."

When they reached the river, Bat realized they were even closer to the falls than she'd expected. She had to admit that her mother had selected a great place to settle. Whether or not she would end up here too was still a big question mark.

She turned to Tegan and asked, "Have you ever thought of starting your own pack? And taking your mom with you," Bat made sure to add hastily, lest Tegan bite her head off again. She didn't think it likely, yet it was not an experience she ever wanted to risk repeating. "Then it'd be all yours to drive into the ground."

actually, tegan had never thought about that. well, maybe he had once but he didn't really remember what his answer had been. he chewed on the question for a second, giving bat's second comment an amused chuff. "i mean, i guess.. yeah, i would do that," he admitted finally. but he didn't think finley would ever leave the plateau. well, she wouldn't leave the rest of the family. tegan was, by far, the most important one. but loyalty and shit, he got it.

"i don't think i'd make a great leader though," he added with a flick of an ear, looking down at bat, "i'm responsible to a fault, i'd rather just run wild and fuck shit up without worrying about dealing with that many wolves." also, truth be told, tegan had paid 0 attention to the territory around him this whole time. he did however, bend down to sniff at the river. what he had paid attention to looked pretty cool. then he looked back at the pup. "what about you? you wanna start your own place?"

"Yeah, you'd be a shit leader," Bat agreed affably. "No," she answered as soon as Tegan turned the question back on her. "I'm with you: I want to run wild. I don't think leaders are supposed to go wandering all over creation the way we do. And fuck responsibilities. Who wants those? Not me. I don't want anything that ties me down."

After the words left her mouth, Bat realized they could apply to other things: mates and pups, for instance. She licked her lips, almost nervously. She hadn't been thinking about that when she'd said it. She'd pretty much tied herself to Tegan, did that count? Especially now that she knew he would hold her back from traveling far and wide? She chewed the inside of her cheek so hard that she tasted blood in her mouth.

Rather abruptly, Bat spun and began marching back through the copse. "C'mon, let's get outta here."

tegan snorted. he would be a bomb ass leader... but that did not mean good, and he and bat were on the same page in that he'd be a shit leader. he was gonna argue with her next comment though-- about not being tied down, but she pretty suddenly was ready to go. i mean, tegan was tied to the redhawks. to bat, too, pretty much. he was limited in that he wouldn't leave his mom or towhee or, i guess bat at this point... but he was still living his best life. he wanted to reiterate that to her but... well, whatever. mute points. 

"ope," he said instead, turning on his heel and following after her. "leggo, lead the way, pup."