Heron Lake Plateau Ka-tet.

It had been nearly a year ago when @Raven had come to her to confess about falling pregnant. Suffice it to say: a lot had gone down since then. As Towhee paged through her flip book of memories, a rather brooding look made itself at home on her swarthy face, which matched the darkening sky. A storm would roll in within the hour, one of the first of the coming spring season. Her nostrils twitched in response to the smell of ozone in the air.

She'd been going back and forth with an idea a lot lately, though finally she thought she was ready to pitch it to Raven and @Quixote. Although Towhee would not begrudge the latter his rank, it was time to restore order and put a Redhawk back in charge of the family's namesake pack. If Raven wasn't up for it, that was fine, but Towhee would resume the role in her stead; and she wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

It would've been more picture perfect for Raven to reclaim the rank alongside her mate or even for @Phox and @Camilla to rise up as the pack's qualified Alpha pair, as they seemed to be the only ones breeding this year. But Camilla as an Alpha? Towhee had come to like her but: sorry, no. This remedial solution struck her as a little bit jury-rigged but, at the very least, she'd matured and evened out over the past year and was now properly ready for the birthright her godparents had bequeathed to her long ago.

Moving away from the borders now, she climbed back up to the plateau and made her way to the place where her sister and brother-in-law kept house. A distant roll of thunder preceded her.

Quixote had just been off nabbing a bit of food from the cache.  Earlier in the day he'd told Raven he'd go grab something for them to share once he did a bit of a patrol, and now was that time.  He was heading back with a nearly whole deer leg clamped in his jaws.  It certainly looked stupid, but it was more than enough for them to share -- just as long as their swarm of kids were off doing independent things as they'd taken to doing more often.  It was probably a good thing, given they were approaching the time they'd be kicked into the adult ranks.  Vasa was probably the most free-spirited of the bunch, but considering she also had a penchant for coming back and seemingly trying to be as obnoxious as possible...

Qui did spot Towhee maybe heading the same way he was, but their paths weren't totally aligned.  He looked her way for a few seconds, wagged his tail, then went back to making sure he didn't trip over something stupid.  The leg kind of was screwing with some of his peripheral vision.  He didn't think much of her heading that way; people wanted to talk to Raven all the time.  Never him, really, and it was something he'd long ago came to accept.  He just really wasn't that appealing to have a conversation with and that probably wasn't going to change unless he got sent to some kind of reform school.  But hell, he did his job, so whatever. Deal with it or something.

Anyhoo, he was just walking along back to their thicket.  He'd be there before Towhee, but not by too much unless she told him to stop.

*blows the dust off her writing skills* It's been a while and my drunk husband is being very loud and distracting, so bear with the awkwardness, lol. <_<

At nearly nine months of age, the pups were mostly grown now and Raven...wasn't really ready for it. The burden of motherhood was a heavy one to carry in those early months, but once those precious moments were gone, she found she missed them terribly. The thought of potentially bringing forth another litter had lingered on her mind quite a bit, and though she had mentioned it to Quixote a few times, they hadn't really discussed it at any great length. Perhaps it was time to have a more serious conversation about it soon...

Heavy grey clouds blanketed the sky, smothering out what little warmth the early spring sun offered. The kids were off somewhere doing their own thing and Qui had gone off to snag some lunch, so for now, Raven was alone and the silence around her was almost deafening. She found herself thinking of puppies again, missing the constant ruckus and clamor for attention and care. She smiled a little sadly, remembering all those days when she was so thankful to leave their rowdy horde with a sitter so she could get just a few hours of quiet time to herself. Now, it often seemed like she had too much of that. As she observed the sky, soft, rustling whispers tickled the silence as the sparse trees of their "spot" swayed in the shifting wind -- a storm was brewing. The low roll of thunder that accompanied the thought removed any doubt from her mind, and she hoped Qui would be back soon.

A movement caught her eye then, and it took no time at all for her to see that it was Towhee heading her way. She grinned at her sister, but knew from the beta's pace and facial expression that she had Business^TM on her mind. With her attention focused on her approaching sibling, Raven was unaware of her mate's approach from a different direction. As Towhee drew near, she waved her tail behind her and greeted, "Hey, Tow!"

The thunder went unheard, though Towhee paused ever so slightly as if sensing its resonance. She then proceeded toward her destination, smiling as soon as she spotted her sister. Her own tail waved and she opened her mouth to speak when movement caught her eye. Quixote had just arrived back home, by the look of it, and the Beta nodded to acknowledge him. She felt her heart thud a little harder as she found herself outnumbered, though Towhee steadied herself with a breath. This was not meant to be a confrontation.

"Hey, I'm glad I caught both of you," she said. "I wanted to bring up something and any offense is unintended but I'm going to speak frankly," Towhee added, cutting straight to the chase. She glanced at each in turn, then spat it out. "I'd like to see a Redhawk in the Alpha rank. Rave, if you're not up for stepping back up, that's fine; I'm not going to bully you twice. But if you don't want it, I'm going to—politely—insist that it be given to me."

Looking directly at Quixote, she said, "I don't aspire to unseat you and this isn't meant personally. It just doesn't sit right with me, not having a Redhawk in charge. And though I know I'm up to the task these days," she finished, orange eyes moving now to Raven, "I still think you should reconsider taking it yourself. But I'm sure we can work it out, one way or another."

He trotted up  to Raven, sat the meat down, and nosed her cheek, I was gonna say it looks like it was just us for lunch but..  So much for that.  Towhee was here.  And now that she was close enough to see her expression, it didn't seem like it was just a random social call.  Great.  Being Quixote, he expected the worst, but he listened.

But how could what she said not rankle him?  That somehow just because of not sharing their blood, he was somehow not really worth it.  Or not to be trusted or something.  After being willing to make unpopular choices for the sake of the pack, to keep things together for them, he was still not their family and they totally needed someone who was born with the last name to rule from the top.  He wasn't entirely sure because whatever type of nepotism this was, but it just seemed stupid -- he wasn't a fan.  He wasn't an outsider by his choice, he was one by theirs and he hadn't realized it ran that deep.  It was just a name.  Why didn't he count after all his loyalty, his family?  Did his children not count because by being the next generation meant they were only half "pure" Redhawk or something twisted like that?

He frowned, looking away from Towhee, past Raven for a second to try to neutralize his expression a bit more.  Could he even work around Towhee if Raven didn't want the rank that he still saw as belonging to her?  To a certain point, he wasn't sure, but for Ray and the kids, Qui would kind of have to.  When he looked back to his mate, his expression was conflicted, not really knowing what emotion should actually be displayed, and with a slight backwards tip of his ears he said, You already know what I want.  He'd do anything and everything needed to make Raven feel comfortable to step up beside him again.  That had felt right, but the idea of sharing with Towhee seemed the opposite these days.

Though initially unaware of her mate’s approach, a shift of the fitful breeze brought her a waft of his scent and she smiled affectionately at him as he drew near. Returning his greetings with kisses to his cheek, she eyed their lunch appreciatively and felt a wash of gratitude warm her heart. There was no question that she was well-fed and well-loved, the majority of which was thanks to him. He’d been nothing short of a wonderfully attentive companion, and not for the first time she found herself in awe of the luck she’d stumbled upon in finding him.

Her sister’s words came then, and the unspoken message they carried was a dash of ice water on her insides. After all this time, Quixote still wasn’t a Redhawk? After raising her children, leading their pack for most of a year, and integrating himself into the fabric of their family in nearly every way possible, he still wasn’t one of them? Her face became an inscrutable mask then, blank save for the rearward flick of an ear and the subtle chill that entered her eyes. When had Towhee become the authority on who was and was not a Redhawk anyway? Who had made her the bloodline police? It hadn’t been a problem when the pack was run by Blackthorns, so why was it such an issue now? Much as she wanted to call her sister out on this dynastic BS, that was an argument for another time. For now, a much bigger question loomed.

Could she step back up into the position she’d given up? Should she? The whole reason she has abdicated it was because she hadn’t felt she was strong or focused enough to be the leader the Redhawks needed. But...was Towhee? She herself had made some questionable decisions in her time at the helm, and Raven liked to think that things had been a lot more stable since she and Qui had taken over — her mate deserving more of the credit than she. In the months since, she and Qui had discussed this very topic at great length and he had all but begged her to come back. She had so many doubts, but chief among them: ”Do you think the pack would accept me as their leader again? I mean...I kind of wilted like a dying flower after that showdown with Caiaphas...” The question was directed at both of them, and while she wasn’t overly eager to resume her place as alpha female, she was willing to consider it if they both truly thought it was what was best for their pack.

Although neither one protested, Towhee could see that her point didn't sit well with either her sister or her mate. She could've just left it there, since nobody was actually arguing with her, but the look that flashed across Raven's face prompted Towhee to open her mouth to defend her position. She clapped it shut at the medicine woman's question, which was more than fair.

Towhee contemplated for a moment, then decided to roll her answer into what she'd already been about to say. "It's not just our birthright, as the offspring of Peregrine and Fox, it's also our responsibility. It's about our parents' legacy. Everyone in this pack is a Redhawk by name but not all of us are Redhawks by blood." Her orange eyes skirted sideways to Quixote for half a second, though they mostly trained on Raven. "That doesn't make them without merit, obviously, but it's not right that one of their progeny isn't leading this pack." And nobody could change her mind.

She let that point hover in the air between the three of them for a beat, then continued, "And I still think it makes more sense for you, since you're the eldest and Qui's already Alpha male, but I'm not here to push anyone in or out of ranks. I'd accept you readily as my leader, given the case I've just made, but if anyone does take issue with it, they can come talk to us about it, right? What Caiaphas tried to do was a fucking dick move. It's not going to happen again."

Towhee reigned in her irritation over the recollection of that incident, then finished with, "If you have any doubts at all, I can step up. I can even step up temporarily if you want to take some time to rebuild the pack's confidence and trust in your ability to lead, then we can trade when you're ready." She rolled her white-streaked shoulders. "Just as long as one of us is there to represent our heritage."

She was talking around him. Like why was this such a big deal? Honestly the way she talked really was starting to sound kind of cultish to him.  Or something like that.  It felt risky, like that might be a tyrant's excuse to gain power or something -- let's remember Quixote's anarchic roots, if someone was gonna have power, it better be for a real reason.  A name or bloodline should not dictate who lead, and he felt a lot like if Towhee got alphaship again, they'd be back to wondering if she'd set off another bomb -- the way it was, he could act to maybe put a lid on rash decisions... If she was a leader, wouldn't he just be tossed aside, no matter how much she said that wouldn't be the case?  Nobody ever came to him with their concerns, they went to her.

Slightly frustrated but doing his best to not show that he felt insulted, Did I miss something? Last I checked you were a leader. But just somehow that's just not good enough to satisfy that any more? The whole damn pack apparently checks with you first on everything anyway. So what was the point other than to work around limits he might add? He looked back to Raven, The rank has always belonged to you, screw the rest. Just blame me if you have to.  Like come on, he made a good boogeyman.  If this was enough push to get his mate up beside him again in the ranks, he'd take it.

I will prioritize this thread, but feel free to skip me if I don’t move quickly enough.

Quixote and Raven’s thirdborn had faded into the background of pack life for a time, learning to manage her condition while nursing her unrequited (and unconfessed) crush on Eljay. At six months of age, she still had no inkling of what she wanted to do with her life or who she wanted to become. She was happy just spending time with her family; they made her feel safe and secure and stable. Thus, when a failed fishing attempt aggravated the familiar pangs of self-doubt, she immediately sought out the company of her parents. According to her first-class sniffer, Aunt Towhee was here to visit, but that only quickened Kite’s jittering steps; the beta’s resilience was an inspiration to the fledging. She paused at the sound of voices. Raven and Quixote were unfailingly supportive and always had time to spend on their rowdy brood, but Kite didn’t want to intrude upon official business.

“…as their leader again?”

Eavesdropping was a nasty habit, but nobody had ever told Kite that. She didn’t even know that what she was doing had a name; to her, she was just listening to other people talking. She wasn’t even being sneaky about it — she was just standing very still, her head cocked and her muzzle slightly parted. It was easy to hear Towhee, even at a distance, but the concepts she introduced were foreign and unfamiliar. Some of the vocabulary, too, had yet to make an appearance in the young wolf’s personal lexicon. What was a progeny? A birthright? Unable to stifle her curiosity any longer, she continued the rest of the way to her parents’ sleeping place. “Mom, you’re gonna be alpha again?” she asked innocently, without trepidation or reluctance, aiming her mouth toward Towhee and signing the words she knew to keep her aunt in the loop. Then, more doubtfully, “Am I a progeny, too?” She didn’t think she really wanted to be a progeny if they couldn’t all be progenies.

Raven was on the fence with regard to Towhee's feelings on the matter of birthrights to leadership. In her opinion, leadership was earned, not guaranteed or freely given simply due to one's parentage, birth order, or surname. She could see where her sister was coming from, but felt that perhaps she was just too young to understand that none of them were entitled to the pack's uppermost ranks simply because they shared its name. Her face betrayed her mixed feelings, but as Towhee continued to speak she remained silent and contemplative, listening.

She still hadn't really gathered her thoughts into a coherent whole when Quixote broke in, voicing his feelings on the subject. That last bit -- "just blame me if you have to" -- confused her, as she didn't know what she'd be blaming him for or why. Pressuring her into leadership? That wasn't an issue. He already knew she was too stubborn to be pushed into doing anything she didn't really want to do. But for his comments leading up to that, she found she couldn't blame him for the bitterness that crept into his words, nor could she even really disagree. Despite Towhee's less prominent position in the pack, sometimes it did feel that, in a way, she still ran the pack. Raven didn't fault her for it, because she knew that Towhee was closer with most of the younger members than either she or Qui were, and Towhee had at one point been their alpha -- an alpha that all of the younger folks could perhaps relate to better than the older duo now running the show. It made sense. But it was easy to see how that might be a thorn in the paw for the actual alpha(s) of a pack. Preferring to allow Towhee to address Qui's comments before launching in with her own, she remained quiet for the moment -- until Kite showed up.

Ah, their little eavesdropper. <3 She knew Kite had no idea what she might want to do with her life, but Raven was already thinking the girl might have a promising future as some sort of scout or spy. She had a knack for finding out information she didn't always have any business knowing. Raven loved that about her, regardless of the potential trouble it might bring down the road. "Not sure," she answered softly to the first question, her tail wagging as Kite approached. She touched her daughter's pale face lightly with her nose in greeting, appreciating as always how lovely she was becoming as she blossomed into adulthood. "And yes," she continued in answer to the second inquiry, "You are my progeny. My child. You and your brothers and sister."

Towhee met Quixote's remarks with a look of genuine bewilderment. Since when did everyone check with her? Since when did anyone check with her? It didn't feel that way to her at all. She shook her head lightly. If there was no difference between Alpha and Beta, none of this would be a big deal. But they both knew there was a difference. And Towhee wouldn't be satisfied until one of Peregrine and Fox's heirs was in the Alpha rank.

Although his comment to Raven was likely meant to spite her in part, Towhee agreed with the sentiment otherwise. "I don't think we should just 'screw the rest,'" she said levelly, "but I'm all for blaming Qui."

Before she could say much else on the matter, Kite suddenly joined the adults' conversation. Although Towhee was fond of her sister's kids, she felt a little impatient at the youth's interruption. This was important business and they still hadn't arrived at a resolution, though maybe the kid could play a part in convincing her mother to reprise her role.

Ah, the differences in perspective between characters.  

And he was going to say something kind of snarky when Kite popped on in to the scene -- he ditched whatever it was basically immediately at that point.  Not worth it, probably.  They'd avoided too many "A wild pup appears!" type of awkward scenarios thus far, so it made sense for one to happen.  Quixote wasn't exactly sure whether Kite's presence would help or not or how much derailing would occur. To a certain point he was afraid that Kite would maybe swing Raven away from retaking her spot as alpha, but who knew.  He did kind of have a somewhat pessimistic view of life.  Still, he was always happy to see his kids (even if Owen sometimes seemed a bit nuts).  Hey, Kite! was all he got to say before Raven answered her questions.  He was glad she did, he wasn't entirely sure how to go from here.

He floundered a little, I mean, Ray, if you want to just think about it some more... Shrug.  It had been a while already.  What else could he do to convince her, to support her?  I got your back, no matter what.  As if it weren't obvious enough by now already.  It was up to Raven in the end, and he'd just have to put up with the result he didn't want if that's what she chose.  So it goes.

Kite’s tail whipped into helicopter rotor mode when Raven’s nose grazed her cheek, and the bright smile engendered by this warm reception was divided evenly as she tipped her head and fixed her sunny expression on her father’s face. Moving around so much set off a round of the jitters, but she rode them out gamely. “Oh,” she intoned softly upon learning that “progeny” was just a fancy word for “children”. Putting together what she’d overheard, “Well,” she volunteered shyly, even though she hadn’t been asked, “if you both be alpha together, then you match.” Her tone suggested that she thought this was a good thing, even if she followed up with a doubtful, “If you married dad, why isn’t he progeny, too?”

The pressure was on, and yet it was not. Here she was yet again being faced with the decision to step up or step aside. As inclined as she was to opt for the latter, she knew how badly Qui wanted her by his side in running the show. She understood that they would both accept her decision if she chose to maintain her lesser position, but it would come at the cost of Towhee leading alongside Qui. That didn't bother Raven, but it did make more sense for the mate of the alpha to be the one leading alongside him. And as much as she liked to avoid admitting it, they had made a great team. And they still did, no doubt, for even after her abdication she had continued to act as a sounding board whenever he needed one regarding the logistics of leading the pack. But somehow they'd made a wonderfully effective alpha pair, their uniquely different personalities and management styles creating a balanced sort of symmetry that lended itself quite well to leadership.

She thought on it for a bit, taking the moment to answer Kite's question with a gently playful nudge of her nose to the girl's neck, "Only my kids can be my progeny, dear. Your dad can't be my child and still be my mate." (..............ALTHOUGH IT COULD BE ARGUED THAT THAT WASN'T A PROBLEM FOR RAVEN, KEK). Returning her full attention to the matter at hand, she gave Qui a meaningful look and then answered the question that hung over them all. "Okay, you win. I'll do it. But...give me a little time before it's official. I'd like to visit Wildfire and meet her kids, and I need to do some serious restocking in my medicine cache too. I don't want anyone else getting sand in their vaginas over me 'neglecting my duties' again." That last bit was spoken with a roll of her eyes, though she meant it despite her sardonic manner. She knew that once she took her place alongside Quixote in the hierarchy, she would have to once again dedicate herself wholly to the pack and nothing else. And -- perhaps selfishly -- there were other things she wanted to attend to first.

When at last Raven made a decision and announced it, Towhee felt something shift in her chest. Or maybe it was her shoulders. Like a weight lifting off them. A weight she hadn't even known was there. Something righted itself in her world. Order was restored: one of Peregrine's and Fox's direct descendants would be Alpha again and it satisfied something deep within Towhee. She wasn't mad at all that it wasn't her. She and Raven were both eligible candidates, each bringing something different to the table. Towhee was happy to play second fiddle to her older sister again.

"Okay," she said agreeably (well, for her), "cool." And that was all there was to it, really. It wasn't the outcome she had expected but it was a welcome one. (And maybe, just maybe, it had been her secret, unconscious plan all along...) "Good talk," she added, favoring Raven with a little bit of dopey, smug smirk and even turning to shine it upon Quixote for a moment.

Turning to Kit, Towhee said, "Your parents are both gonna be Alphas again soon. And maybe, one day, when our generation"—she gestured at herself and the girl's parents—"gets old and crusty, you or one of your siblings might be next in line." Or one of Phox's and Camilla's. The legendary blood of Peregrine and Fox ran in any of their veins and they were all perfectly eligible heirs if, of course, they proved their worthiness along with their bloodline.

Kids were kind of great when it came to asking questions that sounded really weird to adults, even ones that were as old as Kite and co. were now.  It wasn't something that got old (at least if you weren't the one answering the really awkward questions), but this all would have to be something that'd have to be relayed to the rest of the family, no matter what got said in reply

However, the answer came and it was one he'd wanted to hear for a long time.  His tail immediately stated thwacking against the ground rather frantically, and for a second there he shifted his weight like he was going to hop up and tackle Raven or something but he stopped himself short.  Yeah, that would certainly right the world a bit.  His reasoning didn't align with Towhee's exactly, but there was a little overlap.  Kinda.  Maybe?  Whatever. It was unimportant.  Raven was going to be alpha again and that was all that really needed to be taken out of it.  And did he really need to say more?  Hadn't he said enough?  Whatever Raven needed or wanted, he'd make it happen, as always.

You guys are getting pretty close to being adults anyway.  We can start shaping you up so you're ready if you think we're getting crusty already.  It was said with a wink, of course.  They were totally a bunch of rickety old folks in comparison to the newest generation, weren't they?  Yeah, in actuality they still had quite a few good years to go, but it was about perspective.