Redhawk Caldera meadowlarks

taking some liberties! set for 6/24 <3

when the puptivity had ended, and all parties filtered back to moonglow, chickadee went to kukutux and announced she wanted to leave for a time. @Aiolos had instructed her to go with another, and so she would take @Kivaluk.
the journey was not so hard, once she got her bearings. she pointed out landmarks to sivullik and helped him hunt. two days, perhaps not so many.
"mom! dad!" she called out for @Maia and @Eljay, @Ceridwen, jay, aiden, and teya too she guessed, though she really wanted to see her parents first. "watch your step,"' she told kivaluk as they chose their way down the side of the caldera, wind tousling her nape.

Eljay's ears perked up at the call. Moments later he realised who the voice belonged to, and he got into motion immediately; a little too fast, unfortunately, as he felt pain run through his back. Eljay stretched his body, nuzzled Maia and the children (and promised to bring Chickadee back to meet them) and then headed out towards the call. It was not just Chickadee, but somebody else, too. Eljay felt strangely defensive, what with having young children in the Caldera currently, but a smile painted his face when his daughter came into view.

Dee! He called out with a happy smile, and he trotted towards her with a slightly broken and stiff gait in order to wrap her into a hug.

Mom and Da were pretty busy but that was fine with Bluejay.  He’d brought his mother a few things he’d caught over the last few days but hadn’t lingered with his younger brothers and sisters just yet.  They were tiny, alright?  It made him nervous in a weird way, like someone was gonna step on one.

He couldn’t ignore that familiar call when it came, no matter what his sister might want first.  Deedee!!  Hey!!!!  He tore onto the scene, then came to an awkward stop behind their dad, a big (slightly goofy) grin on his face.  Kivaluk barely registered yet.  Did you come to see mom and the kids?  Where’d you go?  Then something clicked, finally, and he looked from one to the other with a teasing air.  Is this your boyfriend?

they take some paths that kivaluk is familiar with; haunted by the first hunter as he follows and tracks the herds ... and then they took paths that were new to him. foreign. his tracker's gaze points out landmarks of interest as they cut their way to brecheliant.

he hesitates but follows her as she leads the way down the caldera.

at the bottom she is rushed at by two males, each calling her 'dee' and he stands, a bit awkwardly as the older of the two spares him a look and feels relief when he is ultimately skipped over ( at least for now ).

until the younger male asks point blank if kivaluk was her boyfriend.

his ears flush with heat, remembering ( fondly ) the tangle of their limbs during their race and the urge he'd had to kiss her. that feeling hadn't gone anywhere but he hadn't thought this trip was the time to think or talk about it.

i'm kivaluk. he offers in introduction, not denying or agreeing with the question.

Dwin thought she had got over it, had let it go. Forgiven. For it was the right thing to do. Because Dee had nothing to apologize for. Because Dwin had done the same thing earlier that year without consulting anyone about it. Without asking, how that would make anyone else feel. And she knew that it was the same thing. There should not be a grudge. There should not be anger. It was in the past. Move on. 

But seeing her there on the borders now - all happy, beaming, returning home like a some kind of hero, made all that resentment Dwin had felt during those first weeks of Dee's disappearance explode and consume her. Dwin had worried. Dwin had searched for her. Dwin had still thought of her every day. Wondered, what Dee was doing. Whether she was doing anything at all in case that bloody creep had found her again and finished her job. And it had all been for nothing. Dwin's heart and trust had been broken, while Dee apparently had had time of her life.  

She had arrived a little later than the rest and kept her distance. Digging her claws in the ground, trying to compose herself. Not say things she would regret later. Her gaze burned in anger, watching, how her brother and dad embraced her, welcomed her back. Knowing she should do the same thing, but she could not. Deep inside she knew she was not fair. She should be happy that Dee seemed to be happy. Had found herself a new home. A new friend - so it seemed.

But Dee in her own hurt had left someone else hurting too.

It was only now that Dwin realized the extent of it. 

Dwin's love and care for her sister had not been enough. Worse. Slighted. Cast aside. Swapped. Left unappreciated. 

Sometimes being a good person is very difficult. 

"F*ck you, Dee," she snarled, putting all the disappointment and pain in her voice. "F*ck you!"  

With this she turned on her heel and left. 

Feeling worse than before. 

Having found out that hate did not make you feel better. 

It made you lonely instead. 

"daddy!" chickadee flung herself into his arms, though with a good deal more restraint. she had noticed his gait, and it evoked some deep fear in her, something she refused to think about now. 
jay next; she reached to tug him into a hug, then stopped stiff. "pups? mom! oh my god!" and her face filled with a huge smile. "more brothers and sister?" a long exhale; she turned to kivaluk, processing too late what her brother had asked!
and then taking in more swiftly that her packmate had not denied this at all. "we're friends but we live tog-- hey! dwin!" her belly too was warm, thinking of that minute, the same second flitting through kivaluk's head.
but something was terribly, horribly wrong, and chickadee's face fell the closer her sister approached.
and then;
hurt blossomed over her features, mixed with a good deal of confusion. and then knowing.
chickadee stood there a long time after dwin left, trembling; she forced herself not to cry and turned back to the audience, wiping a tear angrily from her face and avoiding kivaluk's eye. "well, um, c-can someone take me to mom?" she asked. "maybe dad? and jay, can you stay here? uncool of me to leave you alone like this," she apologized to her companion. "i'll be quick. don't let jay dare you to do anything," chickadee added, trying to inject humour into a situation quickly deflated by her sister's angry shout.

Chickadee eagerly met Eljay halfway to accept his hug with one of her own. Eljay smiled warmly as he enveloped his daughter into a hug. In the past, he would've been worried sick and asked her where she'd been and what had happened, but after many litters, Eljay had learned that it only pushed the children further away. He wished that she would have stayed here... But he understood that she needed to take her own path in life.

Jay arrived and immediately dropped the news about the pups, only to drop a further bomb by asking if the one who accompanied Chickadee was her boyfriend. Eljay merely chuckled while Chickadee started to explain that he was not.

Ceridwen then showed up, and Eljay could immediately see and sense that she was not feeling well. Before he could reach out to her, Ceridwen shouted and swore at her sister, petrifying Eljay in the moment.

He wished he could've had something profound to say or do. Later, he wished he'd left Dee in Jay's capable hands while he went to find Dwin... But in the moment, he didn't know what to do and when Chickadee was the first to continue the conversation and suggest seeing her mother and siblings, Eljay was quick to nod and agree. Yes - yes, let's do that! His voice was hasty and clearly shaken by what had happened, but in the moment he couldn't longer on it too much. It was nice to meet you, Eljay told Dee's friend, while he got ready to guide her to the rest of the family, completely forgetting to introduce himself.

sorry!! Feel free to skip him going forward <3

Awkwarddd.  Jay wasn’t sure how to react as Dwin flipped out on their sister and then bounced.  What was eating her?  He considered following for a moment, then decided against it.  Obviously she was po’d and chances that he’d just make it worse by tailing her were high.  She’d get over it, yeah?

Especially when, a moment later, Dee asked him to babysit her boyfriend.  Buzzkill.  He retorted, the grin that had disappeared coming back almost immediately.  Then he looked at the other dude.  I bet he doesn’t need dared in order to do something fun to kill some time.  Yeah?  The kids are cute, but totally boring after like… ten seconds.  There were a number of things they could do instead to keep themselves entertained, and Jay could prod him a little more for info.  Not annoyingly, but as the only Blackthorn kid who hadn’t really left home, there was a lot he wanted to know.