Blackfoot Forest Rabenballade.

Unaware that she was retracing Meerkat's steps, Towhee continued walking east for no particular reason. She knew she should try to find retreat as soon as possible, at least for the winter. But as disoriented as she felt without a home base, Towhee leaned into the newfound freedom. She didn't have to worry about anybody but herself now. She could be anyone, do anything, go anywhere she wanted.

She picked her way through a smelly forest on the far side of the mountains, wondering when the loneliness would hit her. Towhee figured the novelty of her total liberation would wear off quickly. She should find a pack before that happened. The thought of trying to join up with a group of strangers was equal parts abhorrent and weirdly thrilling, though it was a necessary evil.

"Right?" she huffed to herself. "Right." Towhee paused in her step to peer ahead through the forest, wondering if talking to herself was a bad sign. It was a nice change of pace, not feeling angry and miserable about her circumstances for once. Feeling optimistic. But sometimes she really did wonder if she was actually losing her mind. "Right..."

He drifted closer to the land his wanderlust consistently called to--as much as the drifter roved through valleys, he was always called back to Teekon... and he could feel the itch in his paws as he considered the creek where everything had started. Winter upon them, Pippin had displaced himself from the Ostrega gathering in Sedona once more, the precarious predicament of a winter alone worrying him far less now in his aging years than in his youth.

Hunkering down somewhere was the plan. It was simply a matter of where, for now.

What he did not expect was the dark form that seemed to trek through the unknown woods like a lost child. Before, even a year ago, anger might have filled him just at the sight of her--now, he simply felt indifference.

Molten gold eyes blinked, considering if he skirt away. After all, if the wind favored him, he could likely avoid her. It would probably leave his day more peaceful.

But Pippin had never been one for peace, and so the agouti wolf stalked forward, widening his pace around her to enter her vision before giving her a blank stare. "Bit far from home," he noted, the disdain in his tone irrelevant to the woman who would only read his lips.

"...the fuck is that smell?" she griped as she moved along, only for the realization to strike. "Oh. Fuckin' foxes..." Why had her family continuously called themselves after these disgustingly pungent critters? That made her think of her brother, of course, and Towhee slowed, stopped, wondering if she ought to go check on him at Frosthawks.

Maybe she would do that, after she tromped around the wilderness a bit more. Decision made, she began walking again. It was so unlike her, to want to wander around by herself, especially after encouraging everyone to find a pack as soon as possible. But Towhee was actually enjoying herself, weirdly enough, and...

The sight of another wolf scattered her thoughts. She came to a sudden halt, eyeing the stranger. Wait, no, that wasn't a stranger. Towhee's eyes widened as recognition registered. When was the last time she'd seen Pippin? She vaguely remembered a disagreement over Meerkat. She hadn't seen him since. Hadn't he vanished, right after insisting he wanted to be involved in the girl's life?

But it was such ancient history, she couldn't really remember, nor was there any particular feelings left beside a vague sense of distaste. Judging by the look on his face, the feeling was mutual. The longer she stared, though, the more her own vague ire dissipated. And it didn't turn into simple ambivalence.

It turned into something else, which prompted her to say, "Hey, Pippin."

Strange, the relationship the two had. Humping like rabbits one day, disdain for one another the next. There had been a time that Pippin had felt a certain connection to Towhee— a camaraderie and loyalty he hadn’t given to many in his lifetime.

Hell, to none in his life time.

He pushed his mind from the loose threads of their past, gaze sweeping over her for a moment before rolling his shoulders back in a light stretch, certain this would be a rather short interlude. “Not like you to be away from the Redhawks. What are you looking for out here?” The assumption, being, she purposefully sought something to bring her away from her family.

She wondered if he might ignore her, though he engaged. "Oh," she replied, "you'll get a kick out of this. The pack whittled away and disbanded. All my kids left me and I'm absolutely and entirely on my own." Towhee looked around casually as she imparted this information, though her eyes soon came to settle on his face to see his reaction.

Slowly moving a little closer to him, she wondered, "And just what have the hell have you been up to since last we argued?"

There was a lot to unpack from that statement—kids, as in she had more? Or was she referring to her brother’s kids, who she insisted were her own, as well as her children his—in some borderline inappropriate family affair? Uncle and Aunt had apparently not been a good enough title for the Redhawk pair—the entire scenario leaving a sort of ‘yuck’ factor with him.

The pack was gone. Her family gone. She openly stated he was probably vindictive enough get enjoyment from that notion—boy, was she right.

“What, Meerkat run off to find her real dad, then?”

Because really, who would be happy knowing their assumed father was actually their uncle?
Still, even he flinched at the snark that spiked his words, and he huffed, grimacing slightly and shrugging once more. “Sorry. Still working on thinking before I speak. If it helps, pretty much every lonely lone wolf is out here because family and pack fell apart.”

He would have paused, but he almost was expecting her to implode at his words so he hurried on to answer her question—

“Hung out with Wraen a lot, and Maia. Found some family at Moonspear and stayed there until it blew up…” He didn’t remember much after that, as if a chunk of his life had gone missing. But he wasn’t about to impart that to Towhee. Pippin never had been one to impart much about his life. “Same shit, different day.”

She could've taken offense, though instead, Towhee barked a laugh. "Actually, Meerkat's doing really well for herself. She's got a guy, probably gonna pop out a few kiddos in the spring. She's living at Duskfire Glacier now, if you wanna show up like you said you wanted to but never did." They were fighting words, although more sarcastic than actually malicious. "She actually did find her bio dad. He's dead. But I'm sure she wouldn't mind catching up with you," she added, still giving off that weirdly casual vibe.

Pippin quickly dropped his own acerbic demeanor. Towhee shrugged at him, as if to say it was okay, she didn't need an apology. And she didn't even blame him. His words definitely didn't help, though she didn't say that. She let him finish, his mention of Wraen's name causing a sinking feeling in her stomach. It had been months now but the grief still felt fresh whenever it revisited her.

Should she tell him? Towhee could be an asshole but there was no part that would delight in dropping this bomb on Pippin. "Wraen died," she said quietly, "in the summer." Thinking about the loss—and Pippin's astute comment—shone some new perspective on her whole situation. "That's the rub, though. In the end, everybody leaves or dies. But now that I have nothing, I have nothing to lose. It sounds emo as fuck but..." But it kind of wasn't?