Sun Mote Copse throwing up the west side as we tear in the air

i'll probably put up a traveling thread before this but hey! i haven't! so whatever, we'll see if i do it. anyway, skip forward some time and bada bing bada boom, tegan's at the copse. oooo, bet you didn't expect that, didja?

he wasn't moping. tegan didn't look visibly distraught or upset or even angry, for that matter. and he hadn't talked to that many wolves in-between today and the other day to decide if he was broken or same old tegan or not. all his colorful vocabulary still existed, though, so that was good. either way, another line had been crossed. another bond had been entirely shattered. to tegan, bat was good as dead. and as i so dramatically had typed, this time, it was purposeful. so, whatever, fuck her. tegan had plenty of other things to deal with that weren't bat, such as being a beta. so, here we go.

he gave a hefty sigh, not really caring to see any members of the firebirds, but ultimately tilted back his head and howled for @Wildfire.

Kiwi was taking her role as official stand-in soveirgn very seriously, and a part of that was definitely handling anyone who came callin for her mom at the borders.  She sent up an answer, a signal Wildfire didn't need to show if she wasn't feeling it, and trotted towards the noise.

What do you want? She asked, blunt as always.  At least there was no edge to it.  With the hunting lately, and the new siblings, she was feelin pretty okay, lingering headache and doubts nonwithstanding.  She could tell he was a Redhawk, but that was about all she recognized.

fucking bitch. tegan knew right away this was his slut-ass sister's friend, and was right away ready to spit on her... but he kept his tongue dry for the time being. instead he kept up his mostly pleasant attitude, tail swaying. "sup -- it's tegan. i had some news from the redhawks i gotta deliver, you good to take a message?" he asked, hopping straight to the point.

Kiwi was oblivious to the thoughts running through Tegan's mind, and oblivious to the fact that this was the brother she and Clover had bonded over pranking all those months ago.  After all, it had fallen through for the most part.  But she did look at him with a lofty, 'are you kidding' expression as he explained... nothing.  No, you'll have to come back later.  Of course I can take a message.  What did she look like she was doing, hunting?

oh that fucking cunt. if tegan hadn't had such good emotional control at this moment (because let's face it, he typically had quite poor emotional restraint) he might've lunged across that border to tear her fuckin ears off. 

but, on the topic of poor emotional control, a slimy thought pulsed through tegan's mind and... for a moment, tegan was contemplating how everyone else failed to see how god damn intelligent he was. he was an intellectual genius. this was clover's best friend and... and... this was bat's sister. 

instead of shooting her something nasty in return -- which he had lined up, for the record, he was quick on his toes -- tegan shot her a sly smirk, tilting back his head to give her a quick look. "you seemed a little important to be just taking a message... but..." he tried as a small band-aid to their situation, whether or not it was smooth enough would be revealed soon, "basically, there was a promotion in the redhawks -- i'm a beta now -- and also, bat went to go live at lost creek hollow to repay them for taking care of her when she was injured." yep. those were the two big news. he wondered how far this would get him, or if this shit-stain was done with him now.

Hmph.  She wasn't buying it.  Only important people took messages, and she didn't think he knew what he was talking about.

She didn't care about the Redhawks, or their promotions or whatever.  The second part, though, made her lip curl.  She told you to come? She asked.  Well, big surprise there.  Bat was gone again, and again hadn't even fucking bothered to tell Wildfire goodbye herself.  Instead Kiwi got to do it.

Not too important to be an errand boy, I guess she muttered, her previous good mood a good deal diminished.  God she hated her sister.

well, it didn't work, and she was being a fucking bitch, which was really dragging tegan out of the mood to do anything except drive stones through her baby-puke eyeballs. "no, it's my job," he said, lip curling with agitation, "and it's called being an ambassador, i'm sorry no one trusts your dumbass with information. i bet you'd fuck it all up before you got the chance to deliver it." he began to sneer, tail now lashing in a bit more aggravation than it's previous friendly wagging.

She wouldn't have left the den so soon after whelping, except there were two compelling reasons: firstly, she was already getting cabin fever and, secondly, Kiwi hadn't come by to visit yet. Using this as an excuse to get outside and stretch her legs, Wildfire left the pups in @Eljay's very capable paws and promised to return in less than half an hour, whether or not she located the yearling.

She hadn't gone far when the howl went up at the borders, followed by the Regent's rejoinder. Knowing exactly where to find her daughter now, Wildfire began to make her way toward the western edge of the territory. She moved slowly because she was still sore from giving birth, so by the time she finally arrived, Kiwi and their visitor were already in the middle of what sounded like a heated conversation.

She caught the last few words: "...no one trusts your dumbass with information. I bet you'd fuck it all up before you got the chance to deliver it." Wildfire blinked, her black tail giving a lash as she stepped into view and loudly said, "I beg your pardon?" Her body was stiff as a board as she gave the visitor a hard stare, galled that a Blackthorn (and Redhawk) should speak to her Regent this way.

She struck a nerve, and his response brought her a fair amount of satisfaction.  She knew it wasn't true, her mom trusted her with just about everything, but making this wolf who was apparently tight with Bat angry had suddenly been way too tempting to resist.

Then she heard Wildfire behind and turned abruptly, her mouth clamping shut on the remark she had almost thrown back.  Whew.  Bullet dodged.

She thought about saying something, but then decided not to, and instead stepped back with an agitated lash of her tail.  Let him be the one to break the news, since he was an ambassador or whatever.

as wildfire approached, tegan had 15 different 'oh shit' moments roll through his brain, but he didn't let it show. instead, he held his ground, standing firmly, tail lashing, eyes stilling burning a hole through kiwi. 

"i'm apparently no good at my job, so let your daughter deliver the news," the word daughter was rolled as a sneer, muzzle still wrinkled with agitation. "the redhawks bid you a marvelous day," he said, and then dipped. because fuck this. he began to move east.

Wildfire's expression remained rather stony as their visitor dropped a few more sarcastic comments before turning to leave. The Sovereign's jaw clenched. She would definitely have to speak to @Raven about this unacceptable behavior.

Moving closer to Kiwi now that he was gone, she asked the obvious question: "What was that about?"

She couldn't help the glimmer of satisfaction as he left, obviously bested, though she was nonchalant as she shrugged.  Not sure what his problem was.  But he came to say that Bat apparently left.  Without saying goodbye.  Again.

Her tone was neutral, but internally, she knew that was it for her and her sister. They were done.  She'd never tried to or cared to even talk to Kiwi after that first run in, and in Kiwi's eyes she treated their mom like shit despite her still (pointlessly) forgiving her every time. Last straw, last care.  Like Artaax, just another family member who she'd outgrown.

She's staying with another pack, apparently.  She watched to gauge her mom's reaction for the news.  A part of her hoped she would finally be mad, but it was a small and somewhat futile hope.

If she were older and wiser, she might have realized how deeply it hurt to know her sister had written her off so easily, just as deeply as it had when her big brother had attacked her in cold blood.  But walls were easier - if she built them, then she didn't have to feel whatever was on the other side.

She glanced in the direction their mouthy visitor had gone, trying to remember his name, but turned her attention back to Kiwi as she answered her mother's question. "Oh," she said without surprise. "Yeah, she mentioned she might go there and offer to repay her debt to them. I told her I thought it was a good idea, actually, although I wish she'd postponed it until after she'd met her new siblings." She frowned lightly at that. "She'll be back soon though," she added, wondering if the messenger had mentioned that part.

"And speaking of them—your new brother and sister, I mean—would you like to come meet them?" the Sovereign asked brightly in the next moment.

Cool, back soon or not, she was done caring.  Though 'met her new siblings' made her fur itch... no way she was going to be a big sister to them.  At least not a better one than Kiwi would be.  If she wasn't resolved before to help them be amazing, she was definitely resolved now.

Sure! she answered with almost matching enthusiasm and smiling.  She had nothing to worry about, everything about her life here was super on track! What happened over on the Redhawk side didn't even matter.

When Kiwi enthusiastically agreed, Wildfire's tail wagged hard enough to become a black blur (and make her achy nether region protest). Without saying anything else, the Sovereign bumped her daughter with her snout and then swiveled, eagerly pacing back toward the den.

"Found her!" she exclaimed to her mate, who moved aside a bit to allow Wildfire to step into the felled tree and curl up beside the two tiny pups. They squirmed toward her teats like moths to a flame as she settled down. After making sure they latched, her chestnut gaze drifted back up to the Regent, her whole face glowing as she waited to see what Kiwi thought of @Weejay and @Elfie.

Today was going great for her, actually.  She'd bested that guy, her mom seemed super happy, and now she was finally going to go see her siblings.  Who she hadn't been avoiding.  She'd just been, Y'know, busy and all.

They were really something.  She stared when she first saw them, amazed at how... kinda ugly they were.  They're great! She lied, then peered a little closer.  How long until they can see?

LOL.

If Kiwi was fibbing, Wildfire didn't cotton on at all. When her elder daughter declared that they were great, she positively beamed at her. Her tail wiggled as if getting ready to thump, though the Sovereign quelled the urge, lest the vibrations disturb the babes.

"Their eyes will open when they're a week or two," Wildfire answered, "and their ears a little after that. They'll develop and grow like crazy after that. They might look like potatoes now but they'll be miniature wolves before you know it. You're welcome to touch them," she invited, nosing their small backs and glancing back up at the Regent.

It would probably be rude to say no thanks and duck out, but they were tiny and looked super fragile and Kiwi wasn't all that interested in messing with them too much.  Okay, She said, clearly hesitant this time, but she did lean down to give a light brush and a sniff to each.

Two weeks at least before she could do anything with them.  She'd keep that in mind, and would probably visit sometimes, but she didn't have too much interest in potatoes who couldn't really do much.  What are their names? She asked, stepping back again to give her mom some room.

Kiwi touched them tentatively and Wildfire's heart thumped happily in her chest. "They're formally named Whisky Jack and Elwood III," she answered the yearling's question, "but we're calling them Weejay and Elfie." Wildfire bit her lip, wondering if the Regent would find the nicknames silly. She personally loved them.

Their names were about as bad as her own, she thought, then immediately thought of the girl who had named her 'powergirl'.  Picturing the way she'd looked at her brought a flush of heat to her face, and she briefly smiled, though she tried to disguise it as being a response to her mom's words once she realized.  Those are great, she said, sitting down for a moment to look at them all.  They were tiny and ugly, but they were kinda cool too.

Is Kiwi a nickname? She asked, suddenly curious.  Bat was, and these two had some.  Was hers and she had just never realized it?

Kiwi seemed to like the names, ridiculous as they sounded, and Wildfire's heart smiled. Evidently, the nicknames prompted some curiosity from the yearling. The Sovereign chuckled under her breath.

"Nope, that's the whole thing. Short and sweet, kinda like you." She winked, then laughed a bit more loudly. "It's the name of a bird. Whisky Jack is named for a bird as well, as is your older brother, Robin. It's sort of a family tradition, being named for birds or other animals."

And though she'd never given it much thought before, Wildfire followed that thread of thought and said, "Maybe one day you can continue the tradition. Do you picture yourself as a mother someday?"

She wrinkled her nose.  No! Uh, not that it's a bad thing. She amended that quickly.  She loved Wildfire and definitely wouldn't insult it, but she couldnt imagine for a variety of reasons ever wanting kids.  Least of which, how could she stop working for that long?  Her time was too valuable to be stuck in a den.

It was too bad too her name wasn't a nickname, but allowing that to bother her would only credit the white girl's making fun of it. She couldn't have that.  That's okay, right? She asked suddenly, wondering if Wildfire would be disappointed.

It would have been a lie to say Wildfire didn't feel a twinge of disappointment, though she absolutely wouldn't hold it against Kiwi at all. "Of course it's okay," she said, for whatever reason reminded of how she'd been berated once upon a time for having no interest in leadership. "It's a cliché but... it takes all kinds." She grinned a little as she added, "You do you, Kiwi." She was hip to the lingo. And the sentiment was genuine.

Just then, Elfie let out a small wail, then a long sigh and an even longer stream of excrement. The smell hit her almost before the warm liquid did. "I can see what you mean," Wildfire quipped, riffing off her yearling daughter's lack of desire for kids, then chuckled. "You don't have to stick around for this. Go on, I'll see you later."

For the second time, Kiwi's nose wrinkled as her new sibling interrupted the moment.  Wow was she glad Wildfire wasn't upset because no way.  

Okay, thanks!! I'm gonna go check on things, I'll let you know tonight.  She gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then bailed ASAP.

Most of Kiwi's visits would be keeping her mom informed on pack life, at least until the pups were a tad bigger and a tad more mobile.