Sun Mote Copse tie-dye koozie

A few days had come and gone. Phox had hashed things over again and again, trying to decide if he wanted to accept Towhee's offer. It was a grand one, but there were parts of his past that kept bubbling up every time he thought about it. What if things ended up like they had at the grove? He had failed the pack he had fricking created, so what was to say he wouldn't fail this one? Something about it just... didn't feel quite right.

The sky hadn't stopped raining for who-knows-how-long, and that too felt like some kind of ominous sign. For or against accepting the promotion, Phox couldn't know. Part of him knew that he was probably just clinging to some old feelings of unworthiness. Maybe he should just suck it up and help out.

Even when he spotted @Towhee and @Niamh chatting about who-knows-what, he didn't know what his decision would be. -Greetings, over-ladies,- he said, dipping his head only for several drops of water to fall right into his eyes. -About that promotion thing...-

-"So then I says to Mabel, I says"-  

Chuckling, and halfway through a poorly-paced joke with no real point, Niamh stopped abruptly and cast a smile in Phox's direction as he called out to the two women, huddled together. She shrugged with a grin and added, using smaller ptero gestures to have the same effect as lowering her voice- -"I'll finish this later."- To her approaching mate, she abruptly gestured for him to hustle up and join them. -"Hey Babe"- She greeted warmly, pleased with being addressed as an over-lady. Given her nature, it wasn't often that Niamh was referred to as a lady at all, so she was milking her promotion as much as she possibly could. 

He mentioned the promotion Towhee had offered, and Niamh didn't comment at first- having fixated instead on the droplets of water that splattered all over the bridge of his muzzle leaving little sparkling orbs that would've driven her nuts. She moved toward him, and gave him a somewhat sloppy lick across his muzzle, to fix his fur, though...Given how much rain there was, there wasn't much to be done. Wolves didn't come with windshield wipers. -"Oh?"- She commented, hoping he'd spill the beans when prompted for an answer.

Jokes aside, they needed to talk about the state of the union. And it wasn't just superficial chatter about changing the name or refreshing the ranks. No, they needed to discuss the fact that the copse was slowly sinking underwater. Towhee had gone back to check today and the river was still rising. It wasn't moving fast—the waterline had moved only a few feet overnight—but Towhee wanted a consult. She wasn't entirely sure what they could and should do, though it was certainly something the leadership should discuss, in case they needed to make some hasty decisions for the safety of the pack.

Speaking of which, Phox appeared from the rainfall, joining the huddle underneath a randomly chosen elm. Towhee shot him a quick smile, which didn't reach her eyes. They'd only just reunited with their older children the day before and she sorely wished they could just sit and chat about that. But it was all business today as she looked at him, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Whatever he decided, she wanted him to be part of this conversation.

The dice gods have spoken.

Phox waffled back and forth even as Niamh greeted him and Towhee did... whatever it was she was doing. Why was she looking so broody? Phox blinked, shaking the thought as he made the decision on the spot. -I humbly accept.- As the words came out of his mouth, he wasn't sure if he was proud, scared, or a complete dingus for making the decision that he did. There were other things that had been weighing on him, though. He too has passed by the river on his way here, and things were looking... well, floody.

-I've been telling the kids to stay away from the rivers. They're positively rushing right now, and I wouldn't even trust myself to swim in those waters.- He almost mentioned that Towhee should warn Meerkat, but he abruptly recalled that Meerkat had chosen to go live at Moonspear. All these kids coming and going had his head swimming, and all the water wasn't helping.

When Phox accepted the offered position, Niamh wanted to crack some joke about them having just rescinded the offer before he'd joined them- but now wasn't the time for more jokes. More importantly, cared about Phox, and was proud that he'd decided to take on leadership alongside her, which was where she felt he belonged. The three of them made an impressive power trio at the helm of their pack's leadership, Niamh thought, and it looked good on her to have a mate who was a good match in personality, looks and rank. -"Good,"- She said with a smile. She'd allowed him space to come to the decision on his own terms- which had been difficult, given her bias, but she'd already rehearsed what she might've done had he declined the offer and felt relieved that she wouldn't have to force that reaction out. 

Niamh had been doing her best to ignore the current situation, regarding the river's swollen edges, but she- like any other mother- agreed with the sentiment that in this state, it wasn't to be trusted by anyone. -"Me neither. And the swamp's pretty much one big lake, now. Shallow, but still.-" She noted, having seen the solid sheen of water where reeds, carpets of algae and lilypads used to be while patrolling the Western edge of the pack's territories. -"The rain's gotta stop sometime, h'ain't it?"- She asked, glancing up just in time to spot a falling drop of water- which she caught in her mouth with a snap of her jaws.

Awful weather aside, she felt immense delight and relief when Phox formally accepted the position. -"Awesome,"- she said at the same time as Niamh's, -"Good."- This time, her smile did reach her eyes, though it was still short-lived. They would have to celebrate sometime later, after they figured out what to do about the (so far, minor) flooding.

-"Good thinking, Mr Regent,"- Towhee rejoined to Phox's remark. Turning to Niam, she said, -"Don't know. You'd think so, but..."- She paused, huffing a breath. -"I didn't know the swamp was on the rise too. Even if it isn't particularly dangerous, I'm worried about the copse getting washed away. I mean, not literally, but water could destroy our caches and dens. And if it doesn't drain soon, it could become a swamp itself."-

Towhee sighed and reached up a paw to knead at her temple as she contemplated. She closed her eyes too, just for a moment. When she opened them, she said, -"We should probably have a plan to go to higher ground, just in case it comes to that. Where's the closest, highest place we could go? The plateau? Think it's flooding up there?"- It was, after all, Heron Lake Plateau. Another sigh escaped her as she thought of X buried up there, missing the hawk particularly at a moment like this.

He hadn't known about the swamp, but it made sense. All that rain had to go somewhere. The plateau might work, but... -I'm worried about the sides collapsing on the plateau, like what happened at the grove. I know that was from earthquakes, but those sides are sheer as it is, and if somebody was too close to the edge or trying to come up for the bottom, it could get ugly.- The mountains to the east were out of the question unless they wanted to cross the river, and Phox didn't think that was a smart plan at all, even if they did manage to find a decent bridge of some sort.

-What if we went to the mountain beyond the glade?- he asked. -So long as the bog isn't completely flooded, we should be able to get there.- And honestly, wasn't that the only way they could go if they wanted to avoid any river crossings? South made sense to him, based on the lay of the land. -We should let everybody in the Firebirds know where to meet once we do decide on where our higher ground is. Might be a good idea to have a secondary location for any kind of emergency like this.- That was a mistake he had made in the grove. Once they'd been cut off, they'd scattered.

Mr Regent; that sounded nice. Mr. Regent was also her husband, and she was Mrs. Regent, so things- aside from the imminent threat of flooding, and facing a potentially dangerous relocation- were pretty much the way they were supposed to be. It was fortunate that these promotions had come at this time- otherwise, Niamh wouldn't have had something small but precious to use to stoke her ego and attitude. It'd given her a little bit of a boost- just what she'd needed. But that wouldn't keep her and the rest of the pack with their heads above water. 

The corners of Niamh's lips pulled down as Towhee expressed concern that the copse could wash away. Niamh hadn't considered the possibility- she'd seen the swamp take on water after a rain, or after snowmelt- just not this much. But with the ground as saturated as it was, it had nowhere to run off, anymore and Towhee made a valid point. Their buried food supplies would be marinating in bogwater if the rain didn't stop soon; the thought of it made Niamh grimace. 

Her eyes widened when Towhee suggested that they come up with a plan for evacuation, if it was necessary. It didn't take much for Niamh to go from 0 to full-on doomsday prepper, but she reminded herself that they were just coming up with a plan- not that it was actually happening. Heron Lake Plateau was the first place Towhee recommended and at first, her ears tipped forward- but then turned back. As much as she liked the thought of going back to the Plateau, for nostalgia's sake...It was- for all the reasons Phox would voice two seconds later- probably not the best option. She felt a twinge in her heart when he mentioned the collapse at the grove, and her sympathetic gaze roved from Phox to Towhee- knowing how hard that'd been on both of them. She felt her throat clench when Phox then pointed out the slippery slopes that surrounded the Plateau, and how easy it would be to fall down them. That was how she'd met Colt. Her gaze fell to the ground for a moment. She had no comment on the Plateau, but her expression said enough; she had her doubts about it. 

Phox then suggested a mountain and strangely, her first thought was Moonspear even though that was in a completely different direction, and much further away. Funny how the two words had become so strongly tethered to one another, since her son and chibling had gone to live there. The mountain Phox spoke of would be a fair journey away- the kids had never gone that far, and it would mean crossing the bog, which- as he pointed out- might also suffer from rising water levels. She felt her throat clench again- what if the bog did flood- the'd be surrounded in the Copse, with the water slowly creeping in from every side. Could the kids handle that kind of swim? Would the current be too strong? And would they get sick, from being so wet for so long? Part of her wanted to strike while the iron was hot, and get out of the Copse before it flooded, before they had to worry about risking their children's lives because they decided to try and wait out the rain. They had no idea if it would stop or not- but was it worth chancing their lives, when they could simply evacuate, for precaution's sake? Even if the rain did stop while they were halfway there- at least it would mean they'd avoided potential disaster, didn't it?

-"We should tell the pack, yes"- Came her answer, though she was still obviously somewhat distracted by her thoughts. -"That mountain's probably the closest high ground, without having to cross the river, which is a non-option,"- She said. -"I could go an' check it out, to see what the going's like, or we could send-"- Who? Who would she suggest? In all honesty, she considered herself to be the best candidate. Put those long legs to some good use. -"I can go."- She said, casting a glance to each of them, in case they had obvious reservations about her going off on the errand.

Orca was up there too, of course. Towhee wondered if the little island was currently underwater. She swallowed, looking to Phox as he pointed out the plateau's pitfalls. She couldn't help but think of Fennec. Her orange eyes flicked to take in Niamh's pensive expression, which Towhee took to mean she also had her reservations. Okay, she thought, so the plateau's out.

Where else could they go? Phox immediately proved his worth by suggesting the mountain just beyond the glade. Towhee squinted. For a moment, she mistakenly thought he was referring to the mountain where Orca had fallen to her death. She was no ranger, though she slowly realized that couldn't be right. That mountain was much further west. There was a smaller one, closer at hand, to the south; that must be the one of which he spoke.

Niamh promptly offered to go, also proving her salt. Towhee felt a pang. She didn't want to send her new Regent into danger, though this was what leaders did: they took the risks for the benefit of the pack. -"I'm okay with that,"- she said, eyes skirting to Phox. Was he? -"Once you get back, we can spread the word, assuming it's our best bet. Does that sound like a plan?"-

Niamh was the last wolf Phox wanted to send, but he knew that she was likely the most fit for the job. He didn't want to put Fig, Penn, or Fenn under that kind of pressure since they'd just gotten back, and he wasn't even sure if they were going to stick around. That thought left him with a feeling of dread, but he forced it aside. They had bigger fish to fry. He wished for a moment that he could go with her, as two bodies were always better than one, but he knew staying here was smarter in the end. If he had still been "just" an Honoree, he might have considered it, but the pack likely wouldn't survive losing two out of three leaders in one fell swoop.

-I don't know of a better wolf for the job,- Phox said, smiling weakly. -Just be careful out there, mmkay?- The trio needed her. -And if it takes more than a few days, we'll send somebody out to find you, so don't take any detours.-

Normally, she might not have even thought twice about going on a scouting mission, especially one that was as close as Nimbus Summit. It wasn't the distance that daunted her, but the dread of knowing that she had to do it for the reason that she was potentially mapping out an evacuation route...And that was an uncomfortable thought. She knew the kids would be safe without her for a few days, and that Towhee and Phox (and their other packmates, of course) would see to it that their children would be taken care of, even if something happened while she was away. 

-"Done deal."- She said, then, giving a half-smile to Phox to show that she did appreciate his support...Though all three of them seemed to sense that there might be some impending change looming in the future. They could only do their best to make sure that they could get out, if need be. -"I'll go straight there and back. Shouldn't take more'n four days, I figure. I'll leave first thing the mornin',"- She said. She'd have to grab the kids before then, give them a snuggle and tell them to mind their manners while she was gone...But she told herself not to worry. Just a routine scouting mission, right?

Her brother looked a little concerned, though he didn't protest the plan. Niamh set a timeline for the next morning and Towhee could only nod and then glance at the soaking wet wilderness around them. She hoped the summit was drier, though more than that, Towhee just wished the rain would stop so the water could recede and they wouldn't have to think of uprooting, even temporarily.

-"While you're gone, Phox and the kids and me, we'll do an anti-rain dance,"- Towhee quipped. -"Should we get some food in you before you go?"- she suggested in the next breath, making a motion with her paw toward one of the caches. They might as well empty them before they went totally soggy.

Phox loathed to think about redoing all the caches, but he was fairly certain he'd be starting over from scratch once the rain did stop. Either here or in their secondary location. Neither of those options sounded particularly pleasant, but the damage was likely already done. All that work... but at least they still had plenty of time before winter rolled around, and that was when the caches would really come in handy.

-I think there's some dry food in a cache near the old den.- He had been saving it for an emergency, but it seemed like this was as good a time as any to make use of it.

Last reply for me (sorry that took a while) feel free to add another reply or archive <3

Niamh breathed a sigh of relief at Towhee's suggestion and nodded with a faint smile tugging at her lips. The mention of food almost never failed to get Niamh's spirits up a bit, so she was quick to jump on board with the idea of having a meal before she left. The journey wouldn't be too long- but she wouldn't have caches to rely on along her journey. Taking Phox's suggestion, they set off so that Niamh could grab a bite to eat, round up the children and kiss their noggins, and then have a brief sleep before setting out on her scouting journey.