Heron Lake Plateau You're all cops
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Ooc — Jennifer
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#1
All Welcome 
O hai it's been forever since an AW

Things had sort of settled down, for good or for bad.  He wasn't entirely sure.  Niamh's bit of drama had added a twist he hadn't been expecting -- what should have been a pretty simple pack split now had the shadow of Towhee's screaming fit hovering around it.  He hadn't talked to her about it, though he probably should.  Enough time had passed that maybe by now she'd had time to think about it.  He was also in the opinion that the falling out had probably taken the wind out of of the two-year-olds' sails when it came to them being pissy.  Probably.  Maybe.  If he was them, it probably would have, so he was just gonna roll with that.

So now Quixote wandered the borders as he often did.  Nothing interesting so far today, just the same scents, the odd prey item that crossed his path.  He was still trying to ponder what should be next when it came to his children's education -- a big hunt, probably?  Somehow that didn't seem fair to Kite -- and the same went for fighting.  It was kind of a puzzle.  The inky alpha stopped to sniff around at a favored game trail.  At least there should still be plenty of prey around.  Yeah.  A hunt might be a good idea, for whoever happened to show up.  At least that would give him something to think about while off on his standard walk.
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#2
This looked loney, hope ya dont mind

Rye was out for a jaunt within the RH territory, deciding it was a good enough day to begin learning the land. It was a beautiful place, the platue provided a wonderous sight of the lower landscape. Granted, it was mainly white with a hundreds of bare brown trees, their branches covered in white. Everything was covered in snow, Rye was beginning to dislike it, but that was typical of him, loving snow when it first falls then growing to hate it as winter kept packing it on. Sadly, there looked to be no shortage of snow anytime soon but there was hope yet, spring was getting closer. Snow would be a thing of the past, and heat would melt everything in its path. Rye was excited for it.

Continuing with his walk, Rye was closing in on the border when stark black caught his eye amidst the white. A wolf, within the territory but at the border. Rye's pace slowed, hesitation evident with his steps towards the unknown. Surely they were not tresspassers as Rye first thought they to be, well, no matter what, he was going to investigate.
 
His paws crushed the snow below him as he trotted towards the dark wolf, the unmistakable crunch of snow giving indication of his approach. As Rye neared, he glanced over the black wolf. Stocky was the word that came to Rye's mind but further assessment would have to wait, Rye was within speaking distance. It was time to find out just who this wolf was. "May I ask who you are?" He kept his voice neutral, not wanting to evoke hostility with the other wolf.
"If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.
So be strong tonight.
Remember who you are."
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Ooc — Jennifer
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#3
The one that showed up wasn't a familiar face.  That narrowed things down quite a bit -- just about everyone had been in the pack for forever or was someone he'd accepted unless he was totally forgetting someone else, which was possible.

He interpreted the question as just an abundance of caution -- or perhaps also being kind of bad at names like himself, it wasn't like Qui was named Bob -- so he was casually amused but not too much beyond a faint tug at his lips.  He figured that his rank would be obvious -- he certainly patrolled enough to make the borders smell like him, even if a lot of the time recently had ended up being solo jaunts or dragging along one of his kids.  Yeah, he should kind of fix that whole being off on his own thing -- again, back to the whole idea of scheduling another hunt.

Either way, he was a fairly casual dude, Quixote.  I know you by scent, not name I'm afraid, so you are...?  Sorry we hadn't crossed paths before now, it's been a weird season.  What he did know was that which could be figured out from scents from however long ago: that this guy had been welcomed into the territory, so he wasn't too concerned.  Just the whole limited conversations between himself and Towhee hadn't helped.  At least she probably erred on the side of turning people away.  Either way, figure out a few details, then he could figure out if it was back to patrols or onward to hunts or what...  First thing's first.
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#4
Sorry this is late, busy few days


Quixote. That name lit a few bulbs in Rye's brain but not the right ones, there was a missing link - or bulb - but where was it? The male scrubbed his brain, washing away the layer of dirt that seemingly coated his mind, like a layer of 'forget all dirt'. "Your name, it sounds familiar.." His voice trailed, eyes squinting as if to try to read though his memories. A sudden flash of a name, Towhee. It all came back to him, the females mention of the name and the dark males ranking. Alpha. "Oh.. You're the Alpha. My apologise, I didn't know who you are." Rye was quick to show proper respects with a bow of not only his head, but chest as well. 

Rye rose, facing Quixote once more. The male slightly laughed but it was more so out of embarassment than amusment, he should've kept better tabs on this but it was too late. Back to the matter at hand, his name; "Rye Black, I joined your pack not too long ago. A female by the name of Towhee, she was the one who let me in. It is nice to finally meet you. Sorry for the cautious attitude, I just didn't know if you were friendly or foe." Rye explained. 
"If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.
So be strong tonight.
Remember who you are."
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#5
No prob!  Life happens. :D

Hah.  Okay, so a little more clueless than Quixote had thought, but whatever.  Mistakes happened and as long as it wasn't something irreparably damaging to the pack then eh... He'd probably overlook it -- maybe not come to him when in need of leaps of logic, but it wasn't the end of the world.  He had plenty of his own faults that would probably make someone look at him askance.  So, he kept good humor about it, Yeah.  Again, my fault, I think.  Probably a bit too much time dealing with the kids lately.  Things recently hadn't exactly made him want to be social beyond that group.  It was something he'd have to work at, because it probably didn't reflect good on him in the end.  Maybe he should talk a bit more to Raven about it.  If he expected everyone else to change, then why shouldn't he?  Hell of a lot of work though.  The sooner he could convince Raven to be back up beside him, the better, as that would probably take the pressure off.

Yes, Towhee does a good job with intercepting folks at the borders.  Some caution is usually a good thing -- hopefully not so much here as in other places.  Did you come from somewhere where it might be needed?  At least that Qui could understand.  He wasn't exactly from a bright and happy background, and that brought its fare share of baggage.
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#6
The word 'kids' stuck out to Rye like a sore paw. Having kids was a thing Rye was tremendously against, the thought of becoming a father petrified the male. His fears came from responsibility and the colossal amounts of it that came with kids. Too many if, ands or buts tagged along with the minature wolves. Not to mention the slim to none chance Rye would ever find a mate willing to put up with him. "Kids?" He remarked, "How do you handle being a father? Do you like being one?" His questions came from the heart, whether Rye knew it or not. While yes, Rye wasn't for having kids there was always that stubborn part of him that wanted to try. That part of him was pure instinct and Rye knew eventually he would give in but thankfully that day was far off, or so he hoped.

Rye thought about Qui's question, the male remembered a few instances of intruders within his pack but he was always kept away from it all when he was young. As Rye got older there was less and less problems due to peace agreements and such. So he decided to chalk up his caution to him being protective cause it wasn't far fetched to say he was protective. "No, not much was needed in my old pack. We had a few rivals but peace was made between most, if not all by now. In truth, I was just being a little protective. Wary too of course, I hadn't seen you around before and I know little to nothing about the packs around the land. I assumed some things and chose caution, thankfully it wasn't needed." Rye gave a small smile, a quiet sigh released. The male dreaded the thought if Qui was an intruder, a fight would surly ensue and Rye was none too sure he would come out on top. A thought that was filled to the brim with shame, what wolf couldn't fight good? "I do hope this pack has no rivals but only in a perfect world would a pack be rival-less. So I'm going to assume there is at least one?"
"If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.
So be strong tonight.
Remember who you are."
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Ooc — Jennifer
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#7
Quixote was pretty proud of his family when you got right down to it, but he wasn't the kind of guy who'd corner someone and show them like a billion random pictures of his kids and just not shut up about them -- he had to make sure that all his responsibilities were covered.  And there were still some things that he wasn't going to mention to just anyone.  Some fell into the category of "dude, you don't need to know that" and others into the category of stuff that Qui wished he could forget.  There were always downs to counter the ups.  Not always been easy, but it was something I think I'd always wanted.  Not always been easy, not always expected.  Things seem to have a tendency to go a little crazy around here in unexpected ways sometimes, so my mate, Raven, stepped down to focus more on caring for them.  But they'll be in the adult ranks with the rest of us soon enough.  Time flies. They're a good bunch, but I'm biased -- they're maybe a little goofy at times, though. And then hopefully Raven would join him back as alpha again, dammit.

He listened to Rye tell his story, but the then the topic shifted and Qui forgot what he was going to ask, distracted by the pack's history.  Yep, everyone had to have some sort of skeleton in their closet, didn't they?  Even packs.  Blackfeather was a good boogeyman, far enough away now that they weren't as big of a threat, but still something you had to think about.  He nodded, restrained, Yeah, Blackfeather Woods, though I'm not sure if they're still around or not.  Our pack used to be at a place called Redhawk Caldera -- I think they were our nearest neighbors at the time, just to make it worse.  Their members were being all kind of awful, attacking folks in just about any pack for no reason, even kidnapping them -- including Raven's sister who's leading over at Firebirds now.  We teamed up with her pack at the time, attacked Blackfeather and drove them out of their forest.  After a while they came back so we left instead.  We'd hoped this'd be far enough that they wouldn't bug us any more, but they've reared their ugly head a few more times but it's been a while now... Maybe they'll stay gone.  He hoped so.  They weren't in a good position to do that all again, both in members and in distance.  He wasn't putting any of his pups through a war if he had any say in it.  Okay, there were a few other kind of questionable packs but he didn't actually expect trouble from them, Quixote just wasn't sure he totally trusted them to be reliable.
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#8
So, so sorry, I've miraculously lost track of this thread but I shall not again. Once more, I am reaaly sorry!
 


A mate? Right the second half to the pup
operation, an important half at that. That second half would surely make having kids a little more tolerable but even so, Rye would still hold firm in his no kids policy. Though nature calls at the most inopportune times. "Ah, I see. Well, I'd say good luck to you but it would seem you've got it handled pretty well." He said, laughing lightly but he pondered on what the other male said. He always wanted to be a father? That baffled Rye a bit. Sure pups are cute but they grow up and become pains in the flank. Rye was sure Quixote knew but he went ahead and did so anyways? Anywho, he wasn't going to press the matter any further.

The talk of Blackfeather woods made them sound like a nasty bunch, full of brutes and mongrels. Concern was quick to make an appearance but Rye shoved it back down, and simply nodded in response. His eyebrows pushed against each other as Quixote continued down the list, confusion replacing his concern. He couldn't wrap his head around hurting others for no apparent reason. Rye understood evil was littered throughout any land but that? That was pure evil. That brought up a mighty problem, for the umpteenth time while at RH. Rye didn't know how to fight all that well and he knew he couldn't live not knowing how. He would have to say something, and what better time? "I realize this is a horrendous time to say this but, I'm no expert in the field of fighting. I need to spar, to get much better than I currently am. If Black Woods is as bad as you say, then I feel I should prepare myself better. Who could, or should I learn from?" As much as Rye hated admitting he wasn't the strongest hammer in the shed, he was glad it was finally off his chest. Now all thats left is to get better, do better and hopefully never have to use his future fighting skills. A peaceful life within RH would be a blessing.
"If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.
So be strong tonight.
Remember who you are."
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Ooc — Jennifer
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#9
No prob! Life happens. And I'm attempting to catch up via mobile so this'll probably be a little weird on my end...

Yeah, the whole thing was a headache that refused to leave. Perhaps the distance made them soft, perhaps the drama he kept trying to avoid made him irresponsible. Qui did his best, though... But it probably wasn't enough. Here it'd probably be myself or Towhee. Not too sure about some of the folks in Firebirds but I'm sure they have to have one or two, for their own sake. It's definitely something that I gotta make sure the pack is on top of. I'm sure my kids are gonna be wanting to go off on adventures, so gotta make sure they're able to defend themselves and all that.  Not sure where the time went. If only they didn't have to worry. If only Blackfeather had been entirely eliminated... Sure there were other dangers out there but he wasn't aware of them specifically -- they were just kind if nebulous dangerous things that maybe existed... Or didn't.
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#10
Rye nodded his head and hummed in response, his slience some indication at his thoughts entertaining his attention span. He was tossing around the idea of asking Quixote to spar. Rye thought the alpha would make a good sparring buddy as anyone. Sparring with Quixote would surely produce good fighting skills, Towhee as well. However Rye would have to ask for a sparring match against Towhe some other time in the future. For now he was gonna ask for a quick sparring lesson. "Would you care for a quick spar? Of course you don't have to, if you've got other plans." A sparring match could always be put off for later.
"If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.
So be strong tonight.
Remember who you are."
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Ooc — Jennifer
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#11
Probably better to wrap up given all the recent drama!  I'm fine assuming they had a couple of off-screen spars if you want.  Can do an actual played out one once the pack moves maybe? :D

Wow actually scrolling back to the start of this thread, it be old, yo.  He was still moping about all the drama with Niamh and Firebirds.  Unfortunately for Qui there were only a few short breaks between other new and improved drama coming up in the future. Eh.  Maybe not today -- don't think my brain's in it right now.  But feel free to hit me up later for one.  It's not like I"m planning on going anywhere.  Unlike some of the others.  He was kinda stuck here, for good and for bad -- it was one aspect where the world could just orbit around him.  They gave him the job, he was gonna do it.  Probably should be finishing the patrol, though.  You can come if you want.
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#12
Works for me! An actual spar would be nice, though when everything gets settled of course! Archiving.

Rye nodded, no biggie. Anothet time, he understood he was a busy man. Pups and all, though he wasn't sure how grown they were. Either way, kids were still kids. They always need some sort of supervision. 
Rye decided to head back to the lake, and maybe a pit stop at the cache. He said his goodbyes and went on his way.
"If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow.
So be strong tonight.
Remember who you are."