Heron Lake Plateau the way the hunter

*yeets this blackthorn boo towards u*

since his meeting with kiwi and the affirmation that there were, indeed, a lot of blackthorns wandering around the wilds ailill sets out in an effort to find them. some of them. one of them, even. having a family as large and impressive as ailill's own tends to make one a bit of a family man; there was a certain pride attached to it and a want to find that of his own kin. frog'd set out so many years ago ( long before ailill was born ) and numerous of his older siblings, including one of his own littermates jackalope had made their way to these wilds. trying to track them all down would be a task but he figures he has to start somewhere. it's this determination that ultimately drives him towards the borders of the redhawks ( though he doesn't know their pack name ). he ensures there's more than an amicable and respectful distance between their scent markers and his body before he tips his head back and lets out a short call to announce his presence on their borders.

So we're just gonna say no matter what happened in that other thread, Quixote still existed and probably hadn't ragequit his rank or something, everything else might be slightly up in the air.  Or if everything explodes, then some timey-wimey stuff happened and well, so it goes.

Anyway, Quixote was out on one of his patrols and wasn't too far when the howl was heard, so he set off that way to see who it was.  He really hadn't done too much recruiting lately, and wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, but if people still kept randomly showing up at the borders, maybe it wasn't necessary.  Of course, now that he thought that, it probably wouldn't be someone wanting to join, but some messenger wanting to talk about an alliance or something.  Go figure.

But there was someone waiting there, and he was first on the scene.  Wait, was that another Blackthorn?  It could just be coincidence but thus far he hadn't run into someone who just had a stripe by chance.  Whatever.  He'd figure it out.  He plodded on up, his stance confident but not overbearingly dominant or anything.  Qui was just his pretty casual self, but knew in these kind of things meetings he was certainly at an advantage.  Greetings.  Can I help you?

it didn't take long for someone to come greet him at the borders and for that ailill is grateful. he's not the kind of man that enjoys staying still for too long and this can sometimes lend into impatience. his patience, however brief, is awarded swiftly and he dips his head in a respectful greeting as the ebony male approaches. the other man gets straight to the point after a simple greeting — an additional fact that ailill is quick to admire. it's tempting to skip all the boring formalities all together and give a straight to the point answer but he doesn't possess the same luxury as the other male.

i'm ailill blackthorn, beginning with his name strikes him as a good point to start, his golden gaze searching the stranger's expression for any recognition. there's many blackthorns but ailill has no idea how spread out they are. either way, he surmises, it wasn't like he expected a free pass even if the name 'blackthorn' is known. he's gotta try to get accepted on his own merits and he wouldn't have it any other way. and while i'm looking for my family i'm also in search of a home. while the idea of joining a pack has him a bit hesitant he knows there's strategic value in it.

He uttered a single laugh.  Yep.  This guy was one of them.  He was right.  I'm Quixote, alpha here for the Redhawks.  And yeah, you're in the right place.  Depending on who you're related to, we've got a few of your relatives here, and quite a few more are in Firebirds east of here.  He could understand if Ailill would rather be with the more of his family... So maybe here wasn't going to be the final stop on his trip.  Might as well let him know...

With some bemusement, he continued, So, you interested in the Blackthorn-family-swarm experience or something a little low key?  We'd be the latter.  Certainly the number in Firebirds was only going to be growing if Eljay was going to be a new father along with the Finwoods having another batch as well...  It was interesting how things worked out -- here was mostly Redhawks, there was mostly Blackthorns.  Sure, there was some crossover, but they'd done a pretty good job doing an even split.

Anyway, depending on how he answered, Qui could either point him in the right direction or move on to other questions.

there's a moment that the other man offers a single laugh when ailill gives his name in which the blackthorn is stuck trying to decipher whether that laugh was a good laugh or a bad laugh. while he didn't think his family had a tendency for destructive behavior they had a wide array of personalities between them and some were certainly bigger than others. he hedges on the side of caution here — because they are strangers — a slight tension in the junction of his shoulders that relaxes slightly when the other man introduces himself.

quixote. alpha. redhawks. yes, a few blackthorns lived here. more at a place quixote called firebirds. firebirds? redhawks? man, this wolves had a thing for birds, didn't they? just left the original blackthorn swarm, actually, he quips with a cheeky grin. he wanted to be based close to his fam but that didn't necessarily mean he wanted to re-submerge himself back into the swarm. sometimes low key isn't a bad thing. family swarms can be a bit overwhelming at times. i want to be close to them but it might do me some good to interact with wolves that i'm not related to. he says with a soft chuckle; because other than the stray stranger here and there most of his interactions for majority of ailill's life thus far has been largely his fam bam or his womb fam.

For the most part Blackthorns hadn't been too crazy.  A little odd at times, perhaps, but not bad people, as far as Quixote could tell. It made them fairly safe to accept into the pack with minimal interrogation unless something had changed.  Honestly, the only one of the bunch he really had questions about  (unless someone was being forgotten) had been Ceara, and that was more because Quixote just seemed to have a different experience speaking to her than everyone else.  He just didn't get it.  Not an issue now though -- she was gone to wherever she'd wandered off to.

Instead, there was the dude in front of him.  Ailill seemed to have a reasonable sense of humor about things, so that was always nice... But what about beyond that?  Definitely higher chance of that here, then. Wouldn't be surprised if another dozen are added to Firebirds this spring.  Hyperbole, of course, but who knew for real.  After this, Qui would have to ask who he was related to, as it seemed like the Blackthorns were spread out over such a wide age range that he could be Finley's brother or he could be a nephew or something.  So, tell me about yourself, Ailill.  Not doubting you've got the standard skills, but any fortes?  At least Qui had gotten a bit better at figuring out what to ask, too.  He still didn't know if he was always asking the right thing, but at least there were the usual things to go through first.

you joke but there were nine of us in my litter alone, ailill says with a light hearted grimace. pretty sure my mom's superpower was having massive litters of kids so if any of my sisters are like her then a dozen is probably pretty possible. how she and they didn't die is one of those never-to-be-solved universe mysteries but he wasn't about to complain. he was alive as a result of one of those massive litters and his general consensus was: he enjoyed living. he offers quixote a small and simple shrug of his shoulders.

well, i like the idea of being a jack of all trades, personally. i'm adaptable and can focus my energy on whatever trades are most needed to suit a pack, he has a small hope that his adaptability might give him a bit of an edge. but up until i left the original blackthorn swarm i'd been focusing on mercenary and hunter. specifically warrior and tracking. he was proficiently skilled in both though he knows that the trade off doesn't quite work for word of mouth alone. no doubt if he was accepted he'd have to prove himself in those areas all over again — which was fine. he was more than capable.

That's absolutely ridiculous.  Seriously.  That many pups sounded borderline absurd.  At least with all the past kids then they weren't alone in wrangling them.  That many over a lifetime sounds like plenty to me, he nodded to emphasize this fact.

Anyway, yeah, anyway... I think things are pretty evenly spread in the pack, so you'll have the choice to do what you want and see if there's anyone you'd particularly like working with or whatnot.  So c'mon.  He indicated to wave Ailill across the border.  And if you get yourself hurt, my mate Raven is the one here folks go to.  Towhee and Tegan are betas... Because he still didn't know that Tegan was MIA and not coming back.  She's deaf, he's a Blackthorn too. Uh.  I'm probably not the one you want doing tours if you wanted one.  So anything you'd want to know or do I just do the 'welcome to the pack' nonsense?  Which he was sort of already doing.  Oops?  Something?