Redsand Canyon A boombox is not a toy!

The bulk of the Sunspire was just that. Something large and in the way. Past that mountain, Gramma Towhee and her man would take to their new home.

Leaving Killdeer and Fennec behind.

He supposed, as he patrolled the northwestern edge of Mereo, staring forlornly up to that spire, that he couldn't hold it against her. Wolves came and went. She had her own life; he couldn't expect her to stick around forever. He hadn't always, after all.

But. . .fuck.

Butt fuck. Lol.

His musings turned dirty pun brought him short, and he laughed a little, a single exhaled snort that brought fog in the air. 

It would be okay. She wouldn't be too far. And he still had Mom, after all.

The young soldier stood on the border, and turned his head once more to the mountain. Thinking. Hoping. Why couldn't they just stay together? He'd never get it.

Don't forget Tierra!! If she's known she'd been left off the list she'd have never let him live it down - fortunately, unless she somehow horribly managed to learn mind-reading, there was no way she ever would!

Hey, Killduck! I didn't know if you were staying!! Tierra came to a jogging stop in front of him and smiled. Oh, she had so much news to share!! Bragging probably wasn't something she was supposed to do, but no way was that about to stop her. Guess what Germanicus told me?

She never thought of Killer as a nephew. He was more of a sibling or cousin to her, and his mom was way more like a weird aunt than an actual sister. Why couldn't she have any normal siblings, especially sisters who were actually cool!?

Killduck? If he'd heard the name before, it had escaped his notice. He noticed it now, though, and whirled around to look at his. . .aunt, approaching him with a smile.

What's up? he asked, normally chipper voice a little dull. Still, he forced a smile of his own, trying to meet at least some of her positive energy.

Maybe her brother Cal—his ultimate bestie, for the restie—was coming back. Now that would be very good news.

She'd been tempted to go for Killduh but for some reason he looked a little off. Her news was about to totally make up for that, though! Because it was uh-mazing.

Now that mom's off doing whatever in Epoch, he totally gave me her old rank. Guess who gets to, like, give orders and stuff now? She grinned, clearly immensely pleased with herself. And why not?

I had to snag it before your weird mom did, no offense. You should, like, totally see if Maxim's rank is open though. I bet he'd give it to you easy since he and your mom are hooking up.

What, like she wouldn't notice something like that?

Oh, great. Tierra had come to rub her promotion in his face.

Except it was more than that.

Killdeer wasn't immune to gossip, but he tried to tune out any dirt that involved his mother. Especially his Mom doing. . .that.

Uh, what? he replied, brow scrunched together. Um. . .okay. That's. Weird. But. Yeah. Congrats to you, I guess.

The normally unflappable Killer was officially. . .uh, flapped, and he began to walk away from his cousin, disturbed in every possible way. Her promotion, the dynamics between Fennec and Germanicus, Towhee's departure. Fuck! It was just way too much to handle.

Yeah, no problem!! Want me to, like, put in a good word or something? She asked, following. If some part of her got the sense that Killdeer was ducking out on her, the bigger part tossed that aside as ridiculous because she was totally doing him a favor here.

It is weird though, isn't it?! I wasn't sure, but he's been staying with her. And he's been way less mopey. What's that even like!? He's.... basically a tree. Zero romance. Tierra rolled her eyes, then looked at Killdeer intently. He had to know, right?

Killdeer let Tierra's words spill over him like water, slowly percolating beneath, until her last breath hit him and he wheeled around and—

Shut up! he exclaimed. I don't wanna know about my Mom's. . .things! I don't wanna use those things to get a promotion!

He turned again, walking away, shaking his head and saying, Whatever, you wanna put in a good word, fine. But it's super gross. I'm not gonna try and coast off of that.

He was sad, mad, and disgusted. His shoulders were hunched high, his face scrunched so that his normally wide and expressive eyes were slits, burning into the ground.

Woahh, what was his problem!? Tierra pulled up and stared at him like he was insane. Jeeze, it's not like a big thing. What's your deal? Well, he was friends with Caracal, and her brother had been a baby about everything too. It made sense Killdeer would be too.

Mom does this shit all the time. It's not like it's a secret. You're never gonna get a girlfriend if you get weird about it. Tierra added laughingly, flicking her tail. He could be weird about it, whatevs. She was experienced and totally grown up when it came to this shit. That's why even the pharaoh hadn't been able to resist her. Killdeer probably couldn't even talk to a girl who wasn't family. Totally lame.

It's— He turned away, vehemently shaking his head, pulling a face. It's not about that. I just don't wanna hear about my Mom doing it. I don't care what you think about your mom doing it. And, oh, God, that opened the Towhee can of worms.

Tierra. He was not quite pleased with her forthrightness.

I wanna get promoted because Germanicus thinks I'm worthy, Killdeer reiterated, turning back toward his cousin-aunt-whatever. I don't want him to even take. . .that. . .into consideration.

He huffed a sigh. So, cool. You get to give orders. You here to give orders to me now? he queried, raising a brow.

Tierra scoffed out a laugh that wasn't exactly genuine, but wasn't unfriendly either. Pfft, no. I was joking. Like I care about actually giving orders outside of, like, actual stuff. Do whatever you want. Germ doesn't do it based on that, though, fyi. He's got, like, this whole ridiculous list of stuff he wants you to do. But whatever, you do you. She shrugged dismissively at him, still finding it weird.

She would've taken any bump she could get because it wasn't how you got there, right? It was how you did once you had it. If she rocked leadership it barely mattered that Germy raised her just because of her mom or some other stupid reason only he would know about.

Killdeer was so weird. Then again, duh... his mom was a weirdo too. It suddenly made sense.

A whole ridiculous list of stuff.

So what'd he ask you to do? Killer asked the girl, cocking his head. What put you into your new role?

He walked slowly away from her, stalking along the periphery, golden eyes watching her as he moved.

He could live without news of his mother.

But he wasn't uninterested in Tierra's rise.

For this one? He just asked if I was ambitious. Tierra put a paw to her chest, mocking Germanicus' nose in the air style (or at least, the style as she wanted to see it). I guess I just had to ask or something. It's leadership that has a ton of, like, crazy secret requirements. You gotta learn something other than fighting, even though he has us sparring like twenty four seven. Like, what else are we supposed to do besides spar and patrol?! And on top of that, you have to have actual battle experience. I'm pretty sure he just made up those rules after Reyson said that's what he had, but whatever. Tierra shrugged.

I told him it wasn't fair he hadn't told any of us any of it before, and instead just like, offered the place to Reyson. Like, what if we wanted to go for it, and now we are super far behind because he was holding out?! He agreed at least. But it's still totally dumb. Tierra rolled her eyes and made an annoyed chuffing sound. Especially since Reyson spends most of his time in Epoch. Sometimes he even stays overnight. Her annoyance turned into a grin, the look she usually wore dishing gossip. I swear I saw him coming back one morning. I bet he's totally banging someone there. Germanicus didn't say anything about a mission when she brought it up to him!! So she had to be right.

God, she was talkative. And he thought himself talkative. Yeah, right.

He stood through it all, even the news about Reyson. . .banging. . .someone in Epoch. Okay, whatever.

What other sorts of things does he want you to know? Killdeer asked, latching onto the most intriguing part of that diatribe. He didn't want to be promoted based on sex or nepotism, so he was interested in knowing what Germanicus was looking for in a leader.

And, besides, the more he asked about technical stuff, the less Tierra would talk about his mother's sex life. Like, yuck.

I don’t know. Other stuff. She shrugged. He’d been super unspecific which was totally not helpful. Probably whatever you want that isn’t, like, fighting. Im going to work on diplomacy and stuff. He probably could too, but she hoped he didn’t just copy her entirely. That would be pretty dumb.

That sounds interesting, Killdeer replied. I don't really care that much about fighting—just about keeping others safe. What's diplomacy like?

He didn't have a lot of background on their neighbors and allies, save his father didn't live too far away and there was a pack just over yonder.

It seemed more up his alley than brute force.

Maybe she could teach him.

It's meeting other packs and carrying messages and stuff. You have to make sure they don't, like, hate you... or if they do, you're real nice about it so they can't actually do anything. Mostly it's traveling. Tierra shrugged, as if it was no big deal, though she was extremely proud every time she took a trip. She wasn't about to say it was easy (that would so undercut her abilities in it) but she could definitely say it was no big deal for her.

Color him intrigued. His face had morphed from disgusted to thoughtful, and he nodded along with her explanation, half-distracted by visions of him loping up and done the mountains, making visits to far-flung packs. 

And hey, he could visit his Dad—!

Thanks, Killdeer said, giving her an approximation of a smile. He was still undoubtedly rubbed the wrong way, but the change in subject had helped. I gotta get back to this patrol. Wanna help?

An olive branch, one he almost expected her to refuse. But he could play nice if she didn't. At least, he thought he could.

eek sorry! wanna fade?

Tierra made a face as he invited her to patrol. It wasn’t him, just the whole ‘walk the same way and stare at nothing because nothing ever happens’ bit.

Sure, but if anything better comes up, I totally might bounce early. Like, obviously.

At least she could entertain herself pumping him for deets about her weird older sister. She’d avoid the whole Germanicus thing, just so she didn’t, like, give him some kind of complex. But maybe she could sort out how the heck they worked if she got some background deets.