Greatwater Lake miss thing

Maybe @Peregrine .. ? :)

So far, Grimm's collection of Teekon Wilds experiences had been about as fun as six warm turds in a hobo's blanket.

As far as she could tell, the weather was shitting on her exclusively. Against this background of #TotesTerrible, the companions offered up for her enjoyment had not exactly been the crème de la crème of socially well adjusted individuals. Or, you know, they were mice. Grimm wasn't so into socializing with mice.

Still, she soldiered on, moving south from Greatwater Lake in hopes of finding some reason to not to abandon the region. The forests beckoned, but she was two years old now and a woman grown; it was time to become an aggressive mountain wolf or join one of those weird salt water packs. Anything, as long as it didn't involve squeezing out a string of sausage-shaped offspring and praising the trees for their good health. God, how lame.

Although the recent elk hunt had been successful, the meat lasting for days, prey was otherwise growing scarcer as the temperatures plummeted. Determined not to come home empty-handed for the third day in a row, Peregrine set out from the caldera and ventured well into the territories beyond, seeking game—any game.

He saw a familiar lake shore in the distance and decided this was far as he would go. The swarthy wolf turned, though he glanced back when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. His jade eyes fixed on the figure of a young she-wolf. Peregrine's tail flicked as he deliberated; should he greet her or be on his way? Remembering how his last few encounters with strangers had gone, the Alpha grumbled under his breath and turned away from her.

From a distance, there was nothing to distinguish Peregrine from any other vaguely wolf-shaped smear of black.

When she saw him, Grimm's lonely mind did not stop to consider that her family was not the only wolf pack permitted to wear black. A pulse of happy energy catapulted her heart into her throat and her body into a headlong sprint in the unknown wolf's direction. It had to be Wessel, or Wrocław; the others never strayed far from their families.

"MUM IS GOING TO BE SOOO MAD AT YOU!" she hollered.

Peregrine's ears fell back as a girlish shout filled them. Brow quirking, he stopped and turned. His lips drew into a thin line as he saw the wolf running toward him. Her shout made him wonder briefly whether this was one of his siblings. But... no. He knew all of their faces and this lady wasn't familiar at all.

Deciding to humor her (versus walk away, as was his impulse upon realizing he didn't recognize her), Peregrine asked almost impatiently, "Who what now?"

"Who what now?"

The wolf that most definitely wasn't related to Grimm was kind enough to respond to her screaming with a question rather than a severed jugular. She put the brakes on as soon as she realized her mistake, skidding to a clumsy, splay-legged halt at Peregrine's feet.

"Ah. You're... no, mum will be totally fine with you doing whatever you want," the young girl fumbled, blinking up at the imposing Caldera leader. Close up, this surprise stranger was super-fine. Broad, tall, chiseled, black (was there any other colour?), with a musky scent that made her gum's tingle. Grimm's eyes roved unabashedly over the male's lower half.

"Do you have a pack here?" she asked, gathering her one white and three black legs into a less disastrous sitting position and re-focusing her brown eyes on Peregrine's face. After days upon days of miserable loneliness, this chance encounter represented her best opportunity yet to make something of her trip to the Teekon Wilds.

The stranger sprawled rather unceremoniously in front of him, then gazed upward with a wowed glint in her eyes. His ears remained pinned backward, though he couldn't help but be flattered by her admiring gaze. Of course, he wasn't going to reciprocate her interest but he couldn't help it if he was a stud and someone other than his wife happened to notice, could he?

"My 'mum' is dead," he reported, putting an emphasis on the somewhat strange (to him) term. "Yeah, I do," he answered her question. "Why do you ask, Ms...?"

"My 'mum' is dead," Mr. Universe informed his newest fan. So totally awkward. Grimm snapped her big mouth shut with an audible click, but Peregrine moved on before she could stammer out an apology.

"Have you got room for a cheeky little one?" she replied, getting straight down to business. Winter wasn't kind to a wolf on her own. "I haven't got fleas or anything, and I'm not sick or retarded." What a catch.

Peregrine was no stranger to recruitment. He was usually the one making the pitch, however, and only after evaluating the other wolf for its potential. Therefore, the stranger's straightforward query took him by surprise. He didn't even know her name, much less whether she would possibly fit in at the caldera. She hadn't exactly picked up on his request for one, either.

"Well shit, that's some compelling stuff," he drawled in response to her (admittedly funny) resume. "It's what you do bring to the table that matters more to me. Do you have a name?" he asked more bluntly this time.

He almost asked why she was so ready and eager to join his pack when she didn't even know his name in turn but he was pretty sure he could guess. For the moment, Peregrine didn't bother mentioning any personal details, like his rank or his marital status. He waited to hear from her first.

"Oh - sorry. It's Grimm. Not really Ms. Grimm .. just Grimm," she returned, and took a few seconds to ponder what she might offer in return for the safety of a pack. "And I just do regular wolf stuff, really. Oh - but I also know how to mix up a wicked potion to give you diarrhoea for like days." A necessary defence mechanism in a household of six oftentimes vindictive siblings. "But I don't know if that's useful.

Peregrine liked to think he had a good sense of humor and he did find her straightforward banter at least somewhat amusing. His patience was thinning, however, because she was some stranger who wasn't really making a good case for herself. He took his pack very seriously and wasn't going to take in some random silly stray.

"Grimm," he answered, "my name is Peregrine and I'm the Alpha of Redhawk Caldera. If you'd give me a more sincere list of your skills or at least some idea of your history and what you think you could contribute, I might consider you. You're not going to gain entry in my ranks with jokes, though. I can't take you seriously otherwise."

Laughs would only get her so far. It didn't take long for the Alpha to grow weary of Grimm's antics, and the tone with which he addressed the inexperienced loner now was entirely humourless.

I don't have any special skills! she wanted to shout, but that wouldn't help her case. Slowly, the black wolf with the discoloured hind leg got to her feet. "I'm young, strong, and healthy - and a good patrolman. If there's a forest near you, I can tell you what is and isn't poisonous... and what you can eat in a pinch." Laid bare like that, it sounded pathetic. "I have six brothers, so I'm not afraid of a few knocks, either. " She was clutching at straws. The pledge held her breath, and waited.

She might have thought it sounded pathetic, yet Peregrine was not so quick to judge. It sounded like she could be a Healer, a Naturalist or both. She mentioned patrolling and he could always use another Warden. True to her word, she also appeared young and healthy, though it would remain to be seen if she was actually strong.

"You seem really hellbent on joining my pack. Before I make a decision, I need you to understand two things. If you accept them, you can come home with me. If you don't, you can walk away. No hard feelings." Peregrine paused. "First of all, I have a mate and we'll be expecting pups soon. We expect everyone to do their part in helping rear them. Secondly, if you don't prove your worth within a few weeks, I will throw you out by your scruff."

There, he had given her fair warning. Grimm was welcome to take it or leave it. Either way, he would be heading back soon. He still needed to find prey of some sort. Perhaps if Grimm decided to come with him, he would put her to work right away by having her join his efforts.

His terms were fair. Grimm nodded enthusiastically after quelling the disappointment she felt upon hearing that Peregrine was already spoken for - but she should have anticipated that, and hadn't she always said that babies were lame?

"I will give you absolutely no reason to regret accepting me," she swore, tail twitching with the urge to wag out of control. "I'm all over babies; my brothers had loads. Pre-chewing food, burping, potty-training - you name it, I've done it." Unwillingly and under duress, but still. As the only girl for several generations, Grimm had been forced to aid her sisters in law whenever their abnormally sized broods were driving them to insanity.

My last post! We should have another in RHC soon! :D

"Well," Peregrine said, making no big to-do about her acceptance of his terms, "don't you just get better and better as we go?" He managed a small smile for her, then returned to a stoic expression and a more businesslike tone as he added, "We're going to head back in the direction of the caldera. En route, keep eyes, ears and nose out for prey. I swear to god, I will not go home empty-handed..."

Muttering quietly to himself, he motioned for his newest subordinate to come with him, then began trotting back in the direction of his their squat mountain home.

Wahoo!

Grimm restrained herself just long enough for Peregrine to trot past and allow her a moment's reprieve from his leaderly gaze. In the brief second before she fell into step beside her new Alpha, Grimm performed a most impressive celebratory mid-air pirouette. "On it, boss!" she barked for the first time in several thousand to come, and dutifully turned her attention to the crisscrossing network of scents in the air and on the ground. If Peregrine wanted prey, they would find it.

What was a Caldera, anyway?