Blacktail Deer Plateau somebody like me

AW but tagging @Osprey. :)

Junior hadn't seen her Uncle Atticus or Aunt Osprey since returning, so she sought them out now, her nose brushing along the forest floor. She could smell Osprey's scent just about everywhere, though she could barely catch any trace of her uncle. Then she remembered that he was in a coma of some sort and staying in Blue Willow's den for the most part.

Deciding to try visiting him later — even though the thought of her catatonic uncle filled her with disquiet — Osprey Jr. pursued her namesake more actively. When she figured she was getting close, she shouted, "Aunt Osprey! Can you hear me? It's Junior! I'm back!"

Osprey had woken up this morning and realized that the stuff she had gathered was slowly pushing her out of the den. How on Earth would you otherwise explain the fact that it had shrunk at least twice? Therefore with a bit of grumbling about, how important tidbits took over one's life, she decided to clear half of her treasures out. Her den was too nice to abandon it now and find another one.

She began by taking the bigger things out - sticks, parts of antlers and bones as well as some rocks. The last ones came as a surprise to her, because she couldn't remember for the world of bringing them inside. Could it be possible that she had been sleepwalking? No... she went in and examined the ground and walls of her den, most of which was made of sand, earth and... Plop. A little rock fell from the ceiling, hit her on the forehead and landed on the ground.

What the hell? Osprey lied down and then craned her neck to see, where had the offensive come from. She was distracted by a familiar voice calling her. Forgetting briefly about her troubles, she emerged from her den and met Junior with a broad smile. "Now, look, who has found her way back home," she said, approaching the girl. "All tall and grown up." The kids did grow up so fast.

Osprey had expected more flak after returning, more "I told you so!"s. Instead, everyone seemed to receive her rather warmly, which made Junior realize a) what a huge mistake she'd made in leaving in the first place and b) what a monumentally great idea it had been to come home. She belonged here, among these wolves.

"Watcha doing?" the youth inquired as she slunk up to her aunt. "You've got something —" she began, then craned her neck to blow a bit of dust off the top of her aunt's head. Only as she did so did she realize that Osprey had shrunk or, more likely, her aunt was right on the money. "Guess I did," she agreed with a lazy grin.

Apart from the very recent event, Osprey was more tolerant to people, who decided to leave the pack to find a way of their own. It was admirable and brave - she knew this from her experience, when she had decided to leave Flightless Falcons for good. Junior's decision to go with a new pack had come as a shock, because she was still a kid, even though she didn't quite look like one anymore. Yet she probably had learned a lot, even if her choice had proven to be wrong. Every experience counted.

Besides - Osprey wasn't so close to her niece as Peregrine had been and she was quite happy for that. She didn't have parent's responsibilities and could go about a lot of things easier. When Junior approached her, only then did she realize that the little girl wasn't that small anymore. They could look each other eye in eye and neither of them had to lean down or crane their necks back to see the other. "I was clearing out my den," she beckoned to her home. "Have you found a place to stay already?" she asked casually, returning to the den entrance and after a little thinking, choosing a sturdy piece of bone and bringing it further away from the spot.

The question about a den made Junior frown slightly. She had found one, as a matter of fact, and she had intended to ask her sisters to share it with her. It was their whelping den, after all. But because of Ty's outburst and subsequent flight, Junior hadn't been able to ask either one of them to join her there. She hadn't seen either one of them since then, either.

"Uh," she said, coming back to the present, "yeah. I'm staying in the old whelping den. What're you clearing out of yours...?" she wondered, trying not to dwell on Tytonidae's poisonous screech of, "I hate you!"

"Stuff," Osprey replied, putting the bone down and beginning to dig the moist earth there. When she had managed to make a shallow pit, she put it in with great care. "Here you go," she told it and then, using her muzzle and paws pushed the earth around and above it. "It turns out that I am a bit of a hoarder," Junior's namesake turned to the girl. "Probably response to the stress - I don't usually do that and I don't..." at this moment she paused, taking a glance at the small pile of various items she had pulled out already, "... remember, how I got most of these in the first place."

"How are you kids dealing with all of this situation?" she asked, having missed the moment of uneasiness in girl's tone previously. "You do not have to answer, if you don't want to," the choice was hers.

Junior watched in silence as Osprey buried the bone, her eyes shifting to follow her aunt's every movement. She blinked when addressed with another question and opened her mouth to answer, automatically prepared to spew her negative opinion of her father's actions. Two things stopped her: this was her dad's sister, for one thing, and for another, Junior didn't want anyone else hating her for her opinions. She needed to put a filter on this shit from now on.

"I don't mind," she began to assure her relative that the question didn't bother her. "I don't agree with what my dad and Fox did, to keep it simple. They did more damage than they even know." Her lips pursed. "What about you? If you hoard when you're stressed, you must be really stressed out about all this," Junior remarked, glancing into Osprey Sr.'s cluttered den.

Since Osprey was a bit put off by Peregrine's actions, she wouldn't have minded, if Junior had poured her heart out about the whole ordeal. There was still a lot she didn't know about Fox's relationship with her mate's children from the previous marriage, but it would have been nice to find out that they didn't get along. All the more reason to believe that this firey red-head was the bad guy in the story. At least for a while, until more important matters took place.

She was surprised, how well Junior had taken the news, knowing the fact that she had been daddy's favorite girl all along. "That's my way of how to get rid off it," Osprey flashed a knowing grin at the girl. "I mean - I hoard and I feel better. Judging by the amount of things I have got and that I have finally realized - this is not going to work - I can think of myself as almost healed from the problem."

"Seems logical..." Junior remarked, even though it actually didn't make much sense to her. She supposed she didn't understand, considering she wasn't much of a hoarder. Perhaps it had to do with her exploratory, nomadic nature. She never stayed in one place long, so she didn't bother having many possessions.

Since Osprey Sr. had only indirectly referenced her feelings on the matter, her niece inquired, "So, how do you feel about it? I mean... how come you didn't go with him?" If she had been present at the meeting, she would've been very taken aback by her aunt's angry response to her father's departure. She hadn't been there, however, so she had no idea where the elder Osprey really stood on the matter, aside from finding the situation stressful.

"Well... I was hurt, upset, disappointed and..." Osprey paused and furrowed her brow, looking for the appropriate word. Then she cast a quick glance at Junior, decided that if she was anything like Peregrine, she would have learned some of the "bad but handy language to express strong emotions" by now, therefore finished with, "... really pissed off at him. First I didn't follow him out of spite, then... I realized that it was the right decision."

It really was - it had been time for their paths to part, because she had realized that she couldn't live as her brother's subordinate anymore. She might not have high ambitions at the moment, but it didn't feel right to not have any say in making decisions. Besides - she feared that Fox's personality would be too much for her to bear. "A wise friend of mine told that "if you lose a person to someone, who makes him or her happy", then it is a good a thing," she cited Dante's words. "And he is happy - what else is there to say," she shrugged.

Hearing her Aunt Osprey curse, however mildly, made Junior smirk slightly. She found her aunt's words wise, perhaps even sage, though she didn't necessarily agree with them. She had a lot to say, on the matter, and recognized an opening when she saw one. She sensed that her fellow Osprey wouldn't mind if she vented her true feelings on the matter.

"What if you lose them to a power-hungry, selfish bitch? Because that's what I think Fox is," Junior said. "Do you know what he sees in her?" she questioned, her curiosity genuine. "She's not pretty, she's not smart and she definitely doesn't have a good personality. And she clearly doesn't give a shit about the people or things that matter to dad."

Junior's outburst was something Osprey had sort of expected, yet she still looked a little taken aback by the harsh words the young girl addressed to her father's new mate. As a sister, who was still holding grudge at Fox, she didn't try to clear the fiery maiden's name, yet most of the accusations seemed to be stemming from her niece's narrow view of things. It was evident that in her speech she spoke more about her own disappointment and less about the rest of the troubles, which Peregrine's decision made in haste had caused.

"If he is fine with that - I don't mind," she said. "Your father isn't a kid anymore - he will manage this. Unless he doesn't come to a realization that there is something wrong in his life, it is pointless for others to argue with him about it," this was the sole reason, why she wasn't going to mention the whole ordeal, when she was next to see Peregrine. "You'll simply make more enemies - and you don't want that, do you?"

"More enemies?" Junior echoed, wondering if she already had any. She wasn't about to argue semantics, however, and shook her head before adding, "I don't need to make dad into my enemy. Fox is doing a pretty good job of turning everyone against him without anyone else's help. He either doesn't see it or chooses not to see it. I don't know which is worse."

Osprey Jr. licked her lips and glanced away into the forest for a moment, then faced her aunt again. "My dad's choice doesn't affect only him either, clearly. Because of what he did, we're losing others." She paused and there was a guilt in that gulf of silence. "Ty, Saēna and I had a fight, for instance. Ty told us she hated us, then ran away," Junior admitted. "And the reason we fought? Because we were talking about dad and Fox."

Junior had some truth in her words, yet Osprey thought that she was overexaggerating things too much, but didn't comment on that. It seemed funny though, how the girl was so quick to make judgements, when she herself had returned only after Peregrine's departure. Of course, coming back home to meet sour and angry faces wasn't the best "welcome party" to have.

"What did you say to her to upset her so?" Osprey asked trying to understand the situation. Ty had been one of the few people that had taken Perry's leave well and without much fuss. "Sometimes it is not the fact itself, but the way we say it that matters."

Junior immediately felt defensive at Osprey's leading question. "We didn't say anything about Ty. We were talking about dad and Fox and how awful they've been lately. She got upset on their behalf, then instead of talking about it like a normal person, she freakin' lunged at me, then ran off like a little bitch!" Junior reported a bit heatedly, then immediately felt terrible for talking about her sister that way and looked guiltily at her paws.

"She must have been really upset," Osprey remarked thoughtfully and lied down, deciding to have a rest and prepare herself for a long conversation. She looked at the objects, which were scattered around her and after a little thought she picked up a stick, put it between her paws and chewed at one end for a moment. She used this time to collect her thoughts of the conversation and situation in general. "Has she come back yet?" she asked, knowing that this was important for Junior - otherwise she wouldn't be so agitated herself.

"Obviously," Junior agreed. It could have come across as catty but her tone was one of simple agreement. "No," she added sullenly. "And I have no idea where she went. To the spire, to be with mom? To the caldera, to be with dad? Who knows? And if I go looking for her and find her, she'll probably just yell at me and attack me again. So I haven't even bothered," she admitted unhappily.

"If you don't know, where to look for, then it is probably wise to stay, where you are and wait," Osprey agreed thoughtfully, remembering her own fruitless search for Crete, who had disappeared without a trace from the plateau. "But I think that you should make peace with her once she returns," she offered her piece of advice, but she left the choice - whether to take it or not - to Junior. "We don't get to choose our relatives, but they are the most important people, when you get in trouble," she said, leaving out the juicier version of the sentence ("get your ass in") out.

"But enough with advising," she sprang to her feet and shook her coat. "You are a big girl - you will get through this. Now, why don't you come and help me out. Please?" she went over to her den and invited Junior to come nearer.

"I plan on it but she's the aggressor, not me," Osprey Jr. replied a bit grumpily, although it wasn't directed at her aunt. "I know that. She's my sister," she added to show that she understood her elder's point and agreed with it. Nothing was worth being at odds with Tytonidae—nothing.

"With that?" Junior asked with typical teenage laziness and reluctance in her tone even as she rose to join Osprey.

"Yup, with this one," Osprey replied and without casting a glance back to see, whether her niece had come to help or not, she got back inside her den. Now that she had taken quite a lot of stuff out, there was more space than before. She cast a quick glance around, feeling satisfied with the new order, then went over to a corner, where there lied some half-burried hare skins and old caches, and began to dig.

At that moment a shower of small rocks and sand hit her head. Osprey managed to jump back, but not in the right time to avoid a part of the sandy ceiling just crash over her body and pin her to the ground. "Bloody hell," she moaned, trying to blink sand away from her eyes.

Although Junior obeyed, she was already planning on doing as little as possible. Why should she clean out Aunt Osprey's den, even if she did rather enjoy the woman's company? She was thinking such typically teenage thoughts when the roof abruptly collapsed on her aunt.

"Oh, damn! Are you okay, Aunt Osprey?!" Junior yelled, springing toward the downed she-wolf and nudging her dusty, dirty cheek. Her aunt moaned. "Do you need me to call Aunt Willow?"

It felt really like on the day, when Osprey had first met Tytonidae. Their encounter had begun with her falling face-first in a shallow pit. Now that you thought of it - a more superstitial person would assume that meeting either of Peregrine's daughters meant a trouble of sandy kind. Since Osprey wasn't like that with her eyes watering and nose itching from inside, she thought of the irony - it appeared that the den wanted to clear itself out of her too.

"I am fine," she said, trying to get rid of the sand, that lied in a thin layer on her tongue and made talking quite uncomfortable. "A-A-A-CHOOOO!" she sneezed with saliva and tiny droplets of mud splurting in every direction. "Goddamnit..." she sweared, trying to move under the thick layer of the sand and being quite relieved that she could still feel her feet and tail.

Her aunt reassured her that she was fine, though Junior continued staring at her uncertainly. Only when Osprey sneezed violently, then cursed, did the tension start to leave her body. She even cracked a smile, enjoying the unusual sound of her aunt cussing.

"Um, so... is your den done for?" the youth questioned after a moment, eyeballing the damage. She felt bad for Osprey, though perhaps this meant she would get out of helping her.

Osprey wiggled and managed to break free from the sand that had her trapped against the den's floor. She got to her feet, walked past Junior and shook her coat, wrapping her surroundings in a cloud of dust. This caused her to sneeze again.

"We'll see - apart from it's desire to burry me alive, it is a pretty decent place to live in," she said, knowing well that she wasn't going to return there and that she would need to hunt for a new den soon. Or dig an entirely new one. Either way - she needed to do it quickly - before it became too cold and the earth to hard to work with.

"I think we are done here," Osprey said, casting a glance at her former treasures, which now appeared to her as nothing but junk you could get anywhere. "Want to go hunting?" she offered, thinking that after all of this she deserved a good meal.

ooc: maybe you can fade out this in your next post? Thanks for the thread! I enjoyed it thoroughly - as usual. :)

Sure! Same here. :)

The elder Osprey didn't seem particularly perturbed about the state of her den. Junior surveyed the damage a moment, then looked dubiously at her aunt. Although the youth said nothing, she found her respect for her namesake grow right then. She admired Osprey's ability to brush off an obstacle like it was nothing to her.

Hunting wasn't her favorite past time but the payoff was usually worth it, should they succeed. "Sure, I could eat," she replied, falling into step beside the paler Osprey as they set off on the game trail.