Hideaway Strath Vapnatak.

*lures a @Wraen in here for storytelling?*

It had taken several days to coax X to come down to the ground so they could talk. Towhee understood the hawk's reluctance and tried to be patient, even while cursing Tegan's name over and over in her head. When X eventually joined her, they conversed in their rudimentary fashion for hours, with Towhee apologizing a lot at first and then the two of them catching up like what they were: two old, lifelong friends.

Today, X's familiar weight settled on Towhee's shoulder as the mercenary patrolled the pass. It made her heart flutter every time she felt the familiar pinch, the brush of X's feathers, the touch of her curved beak. Her heart was still sore for the mother's loss—and, yes, there was part of Towhee's brain still lagging over the fact that X had been female all this time—but, mostly, she was very relieved and very, very happy to be reunited.

Wraen had lived in Sun Mote Copse for half a year now and there was hardly any place in the vicinity of her home, which did not stir up certain memories. There were waterfalls, which she had explored together with Finbar. There was the ravine, where she had met Epic first. And there were numerous places, where she and Maia had passed time hunting, talking and having a good time. With all of these people having left now, she tried to find new grounds that would not painfully remind her about them. 

She walked through the cedar forest, keeping close to the river, when a thick trail of scents caught her attention. Though hardly visible to naked eye, for a trained tracker it was easy to vizualize a path that was frequented by a set of characters. Curious she followed it up until the source, which turned out to be a narrow entry. There in the middle she stopped and thought, whether to proceed or turn around. 

If Wraen's player has understood the georgaphy of Asterism Grove correctly, then Wraen had no way of knowing yet that one of the inhabitants and her bird companion was nearby.

The sharp tug on her ear caused Towhee to look up immediately, responding to X's cue if no time had passed at all. Her eyes immediately sought and found the reason for the hawk's signal. Pivoting on a black heel, the mercenary approached the stranger lingering in the pass, though as she closed the distance, she second-guessed the term "stranger." There was something familiar about the gray she-wolf, though not so obvious that the Kilonova could place her.

"Hey," she said, the greeting lacking tone of any kind. Coming to a stop, she began to sign as well as speak, her orange eyes squinting. -"Do I know you? You look familiar..."-

It's four full pages of threadlog and almost two years, since Wraen had met Towhee for the first and the last time. They had exchanged names and the image of the girl's face had been saved in a dusty folder among many other nameless photos of people that the owner of the memory library had encountered just once. Likewise - Towhee's face did ring a bell of familiarity, but that was about it.

Wraen furrowed her brow, trying to understand the other's manner of communication, which to her, who was unused and knew nothing of deafness, signing, pterodactylogy or anything else associated to it, was difficult. However, what delayed her answer for longer was the bird sitting on the wolf's shoulder (or the nearest equivalent of it). Incidentally this reminded her of a conversation with a nameless and faceless character, who had complained that he had been part of a pack, where birds were put before wolves. Or something like that. 

"Ummm... hi, I guess?" she said and retreated few steps. The funny way of the girl's speech combined with the bird, made her feel a tad bit more awkward than she should have.

She's speaking as well as signing. :)

Rather than answer her, the stranger backed up a few steps, looking wary. Towhee made a clicking sound and X swooped from her shoulder, winging upward to perch on a nearby pine bough. Meanwhile, the mercenary's attention remained fixed on the vaguely familiar she-wolf, trying to place her. Try as she might, she simply couldn't remember where they'd met, though with each passing second, she was certain they had met at some point in the past.

-"I'm Towhee and this is the border of Asterism Grove,"- the Kilonova said next, since there was nothing else for it. -"Can I ask who you are and what you're doing here?"- Maybe once she got a name, it would jog her memory. Or maybe the other wolf would recognize hers in turn?

I got that. I just have a difficult time visualizing, how exactly Towhee does the signing. Not with paws, I guess?

Wraen followed the bird's flight with her gaze, but did not feel very comforted with now it being up in the tree with a good look over the perimeter and chance to swoop down on her. Usually she paid birds no mind (unless they were on the menu for lunch of that day), but somehow a wolf that could control a bird was very disconcerning.

So this was the famed Towhee and, though Wraen failed to connect the name with the distant memory, she was aware of that theis was the person, who had visited Firebirds some time ago. "I am Wraen from Firebirds," she told, deciding not to delve in the details of, why the other she-wolf spoke the way she did. "I happened to be nearby, but I am not planning on either visiting or staying," she added.

Yep, it involves gesturing and signaling with her paws, as well as facial expressions and whatnot. It definitely leans toward semi-realism. Some characters just think she's randomly flailing, haha.

Wraen? Towhee repeated in her head but still she could not place her, not even when she declared herself a member of the Firebirds. The Kilonova's head tilted ever so slightly when the she-wolf made a point of declaring that she wasn't here to stay or visit. Towhee could've easily warned her away from the pass and let her return to her wandering.

But that tenuous connection prompted a dry laugh. -"Okay, I'll bite: what are you planning?"- she quipped, arching a brow. But before Wraen could answer her, she added, -"I'm Towhee and this is Asterism Grove, sister pack to the Firebirds and Frosthawks as well."-

Thanks for clarifying! Wraen's definitely one of them.

Wraen was still perplexed by the unusual manner of Towhee's speech, how her facial muscles twitched and, what was it with all the flailing of paws? But then again she had been on this Earth for three whole years, met many people, some of them way weirder than this one, and, since there did not seem to be obvious signs of insanity (yet), she let the matter to rest. Though later that day at home, she would try to mimic the paw movements and end up losing balance and falling on the ground more than once. 

"Not sure yet," Wraen shrugged. "I rarely plan beforehand - plans are made along the journey."

While she was busy trying to come up with a response to that, Towhee's subconscious suddenly made a connection between Asterism Grove, the pack she led with her brother, Phox, and a memory buried in time. Words from the past floated up from the deeps, replaying in her head: "He's not off hunting or tracking! None of this is an accident! He left! He left on purpose! He turned his back and he left like a fucking bitch ass coward!" The recollection pulled her lips downward, though she quickly dismissed the memories, banishing them back to where they'd come from.

-"I remember now. You were there that day, by Lake Rodney, when I was having a bit of meltdown about my brother. Hydra came later,"- she recalled. -"Do you remember?"- she wondered before adding, -"Ironically, the brother that went missing that day is the very one that leads this pack with me now."-

The fact that Towhee had recalled the exact details of, how they had met for the first time almost two years ago, did not help in any way to ease Wraen's awkwardness. She was still a bit wary about all the flailing with paws (and could not fathom a reason, why was this done), besides it made it difficult to focus - she wanted to look at the leader's face, but was fixated on the limbs instead. And then keeping track of the sound was not easier at all.

"Sorry, no," she shook her head, this particular memory did not ring a bell to her, because she had managed to annoy a lot of people with her witticisms and know-it-all-isms in the meanwhile. Towhee did not stand out and had been neither the first nor the last to suffer. "What's his name?" she asked, hopefully grabbing on a single straw and deciding that this time she will focus on words only. Would it be too weird, if she closed her eyes and did not look? 

She managed to keep her expression composed, but secretly she was glad that she had never taken the path of being an Ambassador. She would be a shame of the whole country.

Wraen didn't share in her recollection, though the more Towhee reflected back on that day, the gladder she was that her cohort didn't remember it. She had been embarrassingly emotional that day, screaming her grief at the skies, then at Wraen herself. The conversation with Hydra had calmed her in one sense and inflamed her in another. She mused about it all for a few beats before returning to the present.

-"His name is Phox, after our mother,"- Towhee replied, not really sure why she'd tacked on that little factoid. That first time they'd met, she'd unloaded on Wraen in a way that was entirely out of character; perhaps there was just something about her? -"Anyway, weren't you part of Moonspear back in the day?"- she questioned conversationally.

Perhaps there was something about Wraen. She was social and given a chance could talk someone's ears and head off. And at the same time she had a genuine interest in learning about the other person and she could compose herself so that she kept quite and listened attentively. Over time she had learned that very often people, who had troubles in life, simply needed a pair of sympathetic and understanding ears to hear them out. And that worked more miracles than finding the right words.

"Oh, I have met Pox!" her face lit up, happy that there finally was a topic they shared. "Sorry, Phox - one of Finley's kids named very similar. A habit..." she corrected herself. "That's ancient history," she retorted in a way that indicated she was not going to dwell on this subject. "Is there something you would like Finely or Colt or Elwood to know?" she grasped at the second straw she saw in the sea of awkwardness that was about to engulf her. "I could bring back news or anything, really," she said.

Wraen dismissed her query entirely, though Towhee didn't mind overly much, nor dwell on it. The she-wolf distracted her not only with the mention of one of her nieces or nephews (she didn't know any Pox, though those kids had a dozen different names) but with an offer to take a message back to the Firebirds.

-"I was just there not too long ago, so I don't think I have anything new to tell them,"- the Kilonova reported, -"but which one is Pox?"-

Well, it was worth a try at least. Wraen sagged a bit, but remained, where she was. After all it was Towhee's front lawn she was standing on and the owner to the property had a certain right to detain her as long as she wished. Pluse, inter-pack relations were important. She would not want to make a bad impression. 

"Small, gray, like the rest of them?" she was not helpful with a description, because all Finwood's took after Finley and Elwood. Personalities differed though. "You have to see him to understand," she added. "Finley says that he is a 100% essence of Blackthorns, but then again - she attributes that to all of the kids there," she said with a smile. Now kids were an easy topic to dwell on.

"How are yours doing?" she asked, recalling that one of the two had little children of their own.

Another wolf may not have noticed the slight sag, yet Towhee was more attentive when it came to body language. She licked her lips, wondering at Wraen's discomfiture. Although she answered the mercenary's question, then asked one of her own, the Kilonova felt as though she should let the wanderer be on her way. Towhee wasn't one for small talk anyway.

-"I've met and seen him, presumably, but there's billions of them and they all have a dozen ridiculous names each,"- Towhee scoffed lightly. -"My kids are doing just fine, probably because they have totally normal and easy names: Fig and Fen."- One of her white-streaked shoulders rose and fell in a shrug, intuiting that Wraen wasn't particularly interested in the details beyond that.

-"Well,"- she said in the next beat, -"you said you had no plans to stay or visit, so I'll let you go. Nice meeting you, Wraen,"- the Kilonova said with a dip of her snout and a little wry smile, -"again."-

And their conversation and meeting would have ended here and then had it not been for Wraen's curiousity finally winning over being polite and discrete about idiosyncrasies of other. Because, quite honestly, the most awkward thing about the whole deal was that Towhee's behaviour was odd and scary to a person, who was not used to it or seen it daily. 

"Ah... alright," she nodded in agreement. Seemed to ponder something and instead of a "farewell" she blurted out The Question (that Towhee had probably heard and had to explain many times before same way a senior high-school student has to tell everyone, what he or she is going to do after graduation; to every person they meet, all year long - annoying). "Hey, uh, I will come off as rude, but, what does this mean?" she balanced on her haunches in a "sit pretty" pose and flailed with her paws a bit, before having to use them to avoid falling down. 

"I can't wrap my mind around it and can't decide, whether I should fear for my life or... embrace the diversity," she said with a half-humorous expression.

But it seemed Wraen wasn't quite finished with her yet. Even as Towhee made to pivot back toward the hideaway's inner sanctums, the visitor waylaid her with a question. It struck her as a little strange that Wraen would only ask now, at the conversation's close, but the way she inquired teased a wry smile from the Kilonova.

-"It's a sign language called ptero,"- she explained patiently, too experienced with this subject to take any offense. -"I'm deaf. And it's a habit, even around those who aren't familiar with it."- She shrugged, unapologetic.

"Wow, that's brilliant," of all the possible explanations she had had in mind, Towhee being deaf had been somewhere at the bottom of the box called "Miscellaneous". A second later she realized that she might have come off as rude unintentionally and felt that she should explain: "Not that you are deaf, of course, but this!" She flailed with her paws and almost falled down again.

"So, how does it work?" she asked, suddenly in no hurry to go anywhere, her eyes alight with curiousity and willingness to learn. "The wing language."

It always pleased Towhee when someone expressed interest in ptero and this time was no different. She took no offense at Wraen's fascination or questioning. She had been ready to depart, though now she fully faced the visitor again so she could better demonstrate.

-"I'm making signs for the words I'm speaking,"- the mercenary explained. -"It takes a lot of time and practice to understand and speak it, though many of my loved ones are familiar with it."- That made Towhee think: ptero could basically be considered the official language of the three sister packs comprising the Redhawk collective inhabiting the hinterlands... after the common tongue, of course.

"Oh, wow, that's... wow..." Wraen had little else to utter, because it was pretty difficult to listen carefully and pay attention and decipher, what sign applied to what word. Frankly speaking, she felt like person standing in front of a world-famous abstract art, seeing lines and smudges of colours, and waiting for someone else to come and explain, what artist had had in mind. 

"So, you have a sign for every word or you have signs for whole sentences? Or ideas?" she asked, trying to get into the subject. It did not seem likely that with the limited range of Towhee's paw movement and immovable phalanxes it was possible to have a diverse language. But maybe the secret lied in details.

Wraen seemed so utterly impressed that Towhee couldn't hold back a grin. It really was cool how she and Raven had developed this language from scratch, then spread it among others. It wasn't just an effective way to communicate with the resident deaf wolf, it was also a sort of secret code, a way to convey information clandestinely between members of the tightly-knit packs.

-"There's not a sign for every single word, no,"- Towhee replied, -"there's several that express more of a phrase or even just ideas, yeah. It's hard to explain, you'd understand better if you learned. You know, my godparents are pretty fluent, so you could always ask them for lessons if you'd like to learn it."- They'd already spoken of their newest batch of kids, so hopefully Wraen knew she was talking about Elwood and Finley.

"Wow," Wraen seriously needed to update her vocabulary on expressing awe and amazement. -Let's see, what Mother Google has in store...- In the meanwhile she made effort at wrapping her mind around all the new information on the most peculiar language on Earth. She had toyed with words as a kid, but had never thought that the ways of expressing oneself could be so diverse.

"How did you come up with it?" she asked and a second later another question popped up in her head. "If you can't hear me, how can you... well... hear me? I am not signing or anything?"

-"When my older sister, Rave, realized I couldn't hear, she and I started some basic signing. Over time, it developed into an entire language of its own,"- Towhee explained. Her lips twitched, amused by Wraen's next query. -"I'm very good at reading lips. Some, like yours, are easy to read. Others, not so much. It's kind of a mixed bag, though I can follow most speakers well enough, so long as they look at me when they talk. I'm also very used to and good at piecing together meanings through contextual clues. I kinda have to be, if I want to keep up."-

The Kilonova shifted her weight, though not impatiently. She had only been prepared to leave in deference to Wraen's schedule. But this was honestly one of her favorite subjects and she would be glad to linger here and tell her as much as Wraen wanted to know about ptero.

"So, if I turn my back on you," Wraen got up briefly and turned to sit with her back facing Towhee, she then looked over her shoulder and smiled, "then the visual sound is off?" This was the most unusual thing. The only sense she could silence by will was the sight, however, try as she might, ears, smell, taste, touch - were impossible to control that way. Here she was presented with a living example of, how you could get on creatively without one of the senses. Truly amazing.

She shifted then back to "Spectacle No.1 today" and asked: "Can you teach me the simplest sign? My balance is not the best, but I think that I can manage one without falling face-first in the dirt."

-"That's right,"- Towhee agreed with a huff of dry laughter as Wraen pivoted. -"I can't hear you at all. I was born this way, so I don't even really know what sound is..."- She'd never really tried to wrap her head around it either; what was the point? Luckily, she had grown up without feeling like she was really missing out on anything and did not tend to linger on the "dis" part of "disability."

She grinned wryly at Wraen's next request. -"Sure."- Towhee paused, as if to make sure she was paying attention, then waved. -"That means 'hello.' Bet you didn't know you already knew some ptero."- She chortled at her own joke, shook her head, then said, -"This means, 'I am Towhee,'"- and she made a point to slow down her movements as she made her name sign.