Redhawk Caldera Overcast

With two failed hunts under his belt recently, Elwood was feeling a bit disheartened. Granted, both times, they had been after larger prey, but with winter swiftly approaching he had been hoping to make some substantial additions to the pack's caches. He wasn't one to mope around for long, though, so after a lazy morning spent lounging near his den, the aspiring gamekeeper got to his feet and set out across the snow-covered ground.

There was a cold, biting wind and the sky was overcast, but rather than slow Elwood's progress, the nip in the air put a spring in his step. He made his way across the territory, weaving through the trees with his nose to the earth. His intention today was not to participate in an active hunt, but instead to track any potential large prey. The frigid breeze ruffled the black and grey fur along his spine, and he shivered delightfully as he sidestepped a large log.

There seemed to be a second wind growing strong inside of the Savoy girl. She had found herself in a rut and had neither the motivation or the courage to pull herself out, but with the coming chill and the thought of children running across the caldera, she was breathing new life. There was a steady focus on obtaining her trade, and using the information that Peregrine was offering her to get ahead of the game much faster than she would on her own. It was only the beginning, too, because she had spoken with Fox about forming pack activities and she would need a helping hand to get them off the ground. It would have been a difficult task to shake the confidence that she had built in herself.

Lean legs carried the female across the pack lands with a small swagger to her steps. There was an unfamiliar scent in the air that forced the coywolf female to cant her head to the left, catching sight of a grey-furred wolf she had yet to meet. Entirely lacking in her social skills, Siv let out a yip that filled the silence around them. Immediately recognizing that it was too loud, the girl flattened her lengthy ears to the top of her skull and cast the male an apologetic expression. “Hey there,” she followed with a sheepish expression, sauntering towards him with her narrow muzzle pointed towards the earth. “Looking for a hunting partner?”

OOC: Thanks for joining! :)

IC: With a snort, Elwood withdrew his nose from the cold ground, giving it a quick shake to remove the particles of frost that had gathered there. He hadn't had any luck so far in his tracking, but he wasn't ready to give up quite yet. The grey-furred Delta paused, taking in his surroundings with his ears and eyes, then changed direction.

He had only gone a few steps and hadn't yet lowered his snout to the snow again when a shrill yip pierced the air. Elwood ground to a halt, his hackles standing on end in alarm as he glanced wildly around. His gaze landed on a tall, slender female, making her way towards him with an apologetic countenance. It was safe to assume that it was she had that loosed the sudden cry; had Elwood been on the trail of his prey, he might have been annoyed. Instead, he smiled as she approached.

"Actually, I was just doing some tracking, but if we were to come across something delicious I wouldn't be opposed to a hunt," he quipped as the copper she-wolf drew nearer. "I'm Elwood," he added; he didn't recognize her by appearance, but she smelled of the caldera, so she was obviously a packmate he hadn't yet met.

i'm super sorry for the wait, friend! got back into the swing of things with the holidays being over so i'll be much more prompt in the future.

Waiting for a few words of disapproval, Siv was surprised when she was greeted by a smile from the grey-furred male. She returned the expression with a quick flash of her teeth and a short nod of her slender muzzle towards the earth. When he spoke, it was to explain that he was simply tracking. However, if they were to cross something that was catch-able, he would not be opposed. The male then introduced himself as Elwood. The Savoy girl bobbed her head and her dark lips curled upwards in a smile. He seemed like an easy-going fella. Definitely the type to fit well inside of the ranks of the caldera pack. Though, Siv was not often quick to judge – she found that the wolves she met within the pack were always suitable additions. It would have been very out of character for Peregrine or Fox to allow someone who wasn’t.

“I’m Siv Savoy,” she introduced in return, flagging her tail eagerly. “Elwood’s a pretty neat name. What’s it mean? Do you know?” she then proceeded to inquire of the grey-pelted male. The coywolf was an inquisitive young thing. The meaning behind names was one of her favored means of learning about others. While some were very fitting when it came to their calling, there were others who did not suit their names as much. Siv knew nothing about Elwood or what it meant, but she was certain that it would be a decent starter for conversation.

Not a problem! <3

Elwood's ears fanned forward as she she-wolf introduced herself. "Siv Savoy," she said, providing him with both her first and last name in a confident manner. He committed the name to his memory, matching it with her fiery appearance for future reference. She then asked about the history of his name, a bit of information that he was happy to provide. Had she met him a year or so ago, when he was a moody teenager, he might have told her how much he hated the name; but since then, it had grown on him considerably.

"It's a family name, actually," he said, giving his head a thoughtful tilt as he spoke. "I don't think it really means anything, but my father's name is Elwood, and his father was named Elwood, and so on." The moniker had been passed down in their family for generations -- he wasn't even sure how long ago it had originated. As he explained, he began to shuffle forward, not actively following any trail but keeping his feet moving just the same. "What about you? Siv Savoy is a sassy name," he quipped with a grin and a sidelong glance.

Rust-colored ears were drawn forward on her head as the male explained where his name had come from. “Oh, that’s super. So, you gonna carry on the tradition? Name your kid after yourself?” she then asked, fixing him with a wide-eyed curiosity. She thought it peculiar that names were passed down in such a manner, though not a particularly bad idea. It seemed, though, that it was primarily the males who wanted to continue their calling by passing it to their offspring. Sons carried the noble family name while daughters became wives and took the name of someone else. Not Siv, though… she wasn’t about to mess around like that. Her name was a point of pride – one of the only things she truly coveted. When she settled down, she would make it clear that her name was staying.

“Say, maybe I’ll do that. Name my daughter Siv, break the chains of society eh?” she then teased with a short laugh. “Did you get called Junior a lot? I mean, you don’t look like a Junior to me, but I hear a lot of kids get called that when they have the same name as their pops.” He was far too noble in appearance to go by such a nickname.

The question that followed was in reference to her own name. Furrowed brows met his inquiry and she frowned thoughtfully. “Mom never told me what my name meant. Probably something awful like lumpy or bonehead… I caused my ma a lot of trouble when I was younger,” she explained with a fleeting smile. The coywolf girl then began to second-guess her decision to call her child Siv.

I like Siv! :)

Siv had an animated way of speaking that Elwood found he liked. She was engaging and charming, and while small talk could sometimes be boring, he had the feeling that wouldn't be the case with her. He pursed his lips thoughtfully when she asked if he would be giving his offspring the family name. It wasn't something he had considered at length -- not yet, anyway. And, besides, that wasn't a decision that he would be making alone. His mate -- whoever she would be -- would have a say in the naming of the children, too.

"You know, I'm not even really sure yet," he replied, flicking one ear as he spoke. "I do like the idea of carrying on the tradition, but since I'm not with my family pack anymore, I wouldn't be opposed to starting new traditions here." Truthfully, he would just have to see how things played out over time, but Siv had certainly given him some food for thought.

He laughed as she proposed that she would give her daughter her name. "Yeah, maybe I can talk to Peregrine and get that passed as a rule here. Anyone who has kids has to name them after themselves. Guess we'll have a whole herd of Peregrines and Foxes running around soon," he quipped -- it wasn't quite time for the Alpha pair to conceive, but it would be happening within the next month or so, from what Peregrine had said. Elwood then shook his head, addressing the next question that Siv posed. "Nah, no one called me Junior, although I did get called Kid quite a bit. Someone tried to call me Woody once, and I was not a fan of that," he chuckled.

Casting a sidelong glance at his copper-toned companion, he said, "Somehow, I doubt that Siv means bonehead or lumpy. Probably something more like...tall, or feisty." He grinned, wondering what the implications of her name really were. "You've got some alliteration going on there, though. Ssssiv Ssssavoy," he noted, drawing out the first syllable of her name as though he was tasting it.

Aw, thank you! If you couldn't already tell, I think Elwood is great. <3

Elwood was a good guy. Siv could tell as much by the amount of patience he seemed to have for her incessant chatter. Oftentimes, she was turned away because of her prattling nature, but the grey-furred male seemed to take it in strides. In fact, he was openly engaging in conversation, which made for a much better experience for the young lady. Of course, the coywolf had only just met him, but she already liked the cut of his jib.

Her lengthy ears were held forward as he pondered carrying on his family’s tradition of Elwoods. For some, family was a touchy subject. While the Beta male did not seem at all perturbed at the mention of them, Siv was not one for prying. “Hey, you could switch it up a bit and like… reverse your name for your kid?” she suggested with a lopsided grin. “Doo…wle,” she then attempted to annunciate her brilliant plan, finding that it didn’t sound at all as nice as she had intended. Dark lips curled downwards in a frown and she blinked a few times in hopes of taking it in; wondering if it sounded better over time. “Or not it’s pretty awful…” her blue gaze darted towards him with a sheepish expression imprinted on her face.

The male’s next suggestion was to pass a rule that all children be named after their parents. Her slender muzzle crinkled at the thought and the Savoy woman – almost instantly – burst into giggles. “Oh, man, that’d be swell. Could you imagine the confusion?” And in her mind, all she could see were several tens of pups scuttling about, confused at each beckoning for a Fox or Peregrine. Tuning in again, Siv could not help but to chuckle softly at the idea of the male being called Woody, even once. Though she did not want to offend him, she stifled her laugh as quickly as possible.

“Y’know when you say my name like that, it sounds pretty rad. And alliteration is fly, son,” she exclaimed quickly, a teasing tone in her voice. “Don’t you forget it!” Because she certainly wouldn’t forget the nickname Woody for quite some time.

“Man, I feel a little bad. You came out here to track and now I’ve got you naming pups and demanding pack rules,” Siv then remarked with a toothy grin. To be fair, she was enjoying the man’s company. Elwood was quite the interesting man, and the coywolf found herself charmed by his communication. It wasn’t very often that the girl met someone so willing to indulge in her silliness.

<3

Edit 1/21: Editing in a conclusion. If you want to revive at any point, just let me know!

"Oh, I'm going to do that," Elwood replied promptly when Siv suggested that he reverse his own name before giving it to his child. "You've now doomed my firstborn to a life of Doowle," he laughed. Some names might have sounded kind of neat backwards, but his wasn't one of them.

He paused for a moment, imagining -- like Siv -- what the caldera would look like if it was overrun by mini Peregrines and Foxes. Tiny little black and red pups, wreaking havoc everywhere they went -- and leaving confusion in their wake. The thought was dizzying, but he knew that even if the Alphas' children weren't named after them, they would still be busy little buggers.

Siv then redirected the conversation, indicating that she had interrupted him and then completely derailed him. He chuckled, shaking his head gently. "Nah, it's not a big deal. If we come across something interesting, we can shut our yaps for a bit," he said, sweeping his nose across the snow and inhaling. No exciting scents jumped out at him, so he shrugged his shoulders and kept moving forward slowly. "So how long have you been with the caldera?" he asked, genuinely curious. Some wolves, like Finley and FitzDutiful, had come from Blacktail Deer Plateau with Peregrine and Fox -- and others, like himself, had joined them after the fact.

Over the next few hours, Elwood enjoyed getting to know Siv. He quickly added her to his list of friends within the caldera, and though she wasn't someone he would spend a lot of time with in the future, he was glad to have her company on that day.