Redhawk Caldera See it come together

@Raissa @Peregrine @Fox - Kat, Remedy. I hope you're okay with an IC joining thread for Raissa. Since everything leading up to this has been so IC based it'll be nice to keep it going.

FitzDutiful felt nervous. Today was the day that Raissa would join the Calera, if Peregrine and Fox would let her. Fitz didn't see any reason that they wouldn't, especially after his previous conversation with Fox, almost a month ago now.

That conversation had prompted him to go and visit Raissa, to persuade her to come and join his family and enjoy a life under the sun instead of in the shadows. FitzDutiful was blissfully unaware of the wolf Raissa had been, her manipulations and scheming that would have only been enhanced has she stayed at the woods. That was a different life though. His plea had been successful and she had agreed to join! They had set out to come straight away until they realised that she should probably tell her pack she was leaving.

That had worried Fitz. He had been concerned that she would be held hostage or worse, killed, by a pack that he knew nothing of. He remembered how awkward the Caldera's move had been from the Plateau and dreaded to think of the same happening for Raissa with no one to protect her.

She had survived and, finally, after weeks of waiting - this was happening. Sending up a howl for his alphas to come and accept his girl, (was he allowed to call her that now?) he stood with Raissa outside the pack lands, shoulder to shoulder, a sign of unity paired with the occasional caress of his muzzle to hers.

Yay! I'm excited!! And sorry, this post is sort of all over the place :/ and her ankle is broken now, so yeah...

Getting out had been tricky, that was for sure. But there was no way the patchwork girl would let Fitz know that. It would be pointless to worry him with stupid things that had happened in the past. Now standing shoulder to shoulder with the wolf she hoped to spend most of her life with, she felt right. She felt like she could forget all the things she had done in the past and move on to a better future.

She smiled as the weak winter sun warmed her colorful fur. Hopefully the alphas would like her. If they didn't accept her, she didn't know what she would do with herself. Her anxious feelings showed as she twitched her ears and shuffled her paws in the light dusting of snow that was scattered across the wilds. Hopefully they would just get here soon, that way she wouldn't have to worry anymore.

Soon after Fitz had found her again, Raissa had gone back into the woods to tell her pack farewell. When she found them, they were already conducting some sort of meeting. Thinking it was the perfect time, the wonderstruck girl had blurted that she was leaving. Their response could've turned horrific if she hadn't run in time.

That, my dear, is how you make enemies.

Her old alpha's words rung in her ears as she stood waiting for acceptance. What if Meldresi launched an attack on the caldera wolves all because of her? Shaking her tri-colored head, she pushed the terrible thoughts back and focused on what lay ahead.

hi there! sorry ya'll, they sent in the B team :P

Peregrine and Fox sure had good timing when it came to promotions. First she'd been too physically crippled to do her job. Then, she was too emotionally crippled. Finley was not accustomed to being so useless, and she was quite ready now to put an end to it.

After a few hours of trudging along the borders and adding strength to their scent markings, Fin was starting to feel just as useless as she'd ever been. Maybe if there'd been something to fight off or some good sized game to hunt, she might have felt a little better about herself. But that was probably just her restlness nature talking again. If she wasn't risking her life, she wasn't really living it. Such was the Blackthorn's moronic belief, anyway.

Eventually, her wanderings brought her across something of interest (FINALLY). Her gaze landed upon a familiar face as she rounded a bend. The smile that the sight of him brought was quickly replaced by a look of curiousity and intrigue when she spotted the woman at his side. The presence of a stranger caused her posture to shift, so it was with head and tail held high that the beta approached the pair.

"Sup Fitzgerald," Fin said as she approached, her expression perfectly friendly. She looked between her friend and the stranger, quickly assessing the situation. They seemed to be friends, which was neat. What they were doing though still remained to be seen.

Happy to have ya!

With Raissa's injured ankle, FitzDutiful was anxious to get her to his den so that she could rest and he could take care of her. Properly for once. It took some time before anyone came along and then, when they did it was Finley.

FitzDutiful was happy to see Finley, for she had the power too, but it would be he did feel slightly worried now. He had talked to both Fox and Peregrine about Raissa at one point or another and they had known the situation. With them the situation would have been painless. None of these thoughts were seen externally, however, as FitzDutiful approached Finley to greet her properly, before returning to Raissa.

"It's good to see you up and about again, Fin!" He remembered fondly how Finley had been one of the first pack wolves that he had counselled. "I'd like to introduce you to Raissa. She's left her pack and we were hoping you would be okay with her living here. With us, me. Us. At the Caldera."

FitzDutiful began to stumble over his words, a little flustered, and so he reverted to gaze fondly Raissa before looking back at Finley. The hope that she would be accepted was obvious in his gaze.

Raissa smiled warmly as Fitz tripped over his own words trying to explain the situation. He was so cute. Turning her bright orange eyes back to the female, she observed the way she acted. The wolves of this pack were definitely more friendly than those of her old pack. It was refreshing to not have someone wanting to rip your throat out at all times.

When Fitz mention her staying with him, her smile widened. She knew immediately that the choice she had made was the right one and her whole body filled with happiness. At one point she had been worried about what the other wolves would think about her leaving her pack, but now she was too excited and happy to care at all.

She dipped her head respectfully to the higher ranking wolf, her giving a low wag. "Hi, I'm Raissa." she said, smiling happily at the she-wolf before turning her gaze back to Fitz, excitement sparkling in her eyes.

Fitz sure was acting peculiar. It was a good peculiar. A happy one. He had been so calm and collected when they'd met, but now he was... giddy. That was the only word for it. Apparently this cinder-eyed female at his side had some sort of effect on him. As was even further evidenced by the way he referred to them as an "us", although he certainly fumbled over the word enough.

Raissa was her name. Slowly, the little cogs in her brain started clicking together as she remembered vaguely a conversation with Peregrine or Fox or.. someone. Something about a girl that Fitz was into. Apparently this was her. And if that was the case, her place in the pack likely was already sealed. But Fin wouldn't be doing her job if she didn't cover all the bases.

"Nice to meet you, Raissa," Fin greeted with an amiable smile, "We've heard some tidbits about you. Some white dude around here keeps gushing about how purdy you are." She bumped her shoulder fondly against the counselor before she continued. "I have to wonder what your former pack thinks of you leaving them?" The last thing Fin wanted was for some goon squad coming after them to take her back.

Finley appeared to be receiving Raissa well, even going so far as to try and embarrass FitzDutiful in front of her. However, that wasn't going to happen. Fitz was proud to have Raissa with him and didn't mind her knowing that she had been the subject of conversation. If anything that was likely to help her understand exactly how much Fitz had wanted to be with her.

For now, the silver speckled wolf kept quiet, allowing Raissa the time to answer the question that Finley posed. In some ways he was curious to see what she said for himself. It had been something that he had avoided going into on their journey here. She had said it was okay and it had seemed clear she didn't want to go into any more detail and so he had left it at that, even if he had the feeling there was more to it than just being okay. Although the Caldera was accepting of wolves that had previously left, the Plateau had not and so FitzDutiful was under no illusion that everything would be fine and dandy with the Blackfeather Woods too.

At the mention of Fitz talking about her she grinned and looked up at him to find that he was just smiling about it, like he didn't care if the whole world new he had been talking about her. That just made her grin widen and she affectionately bumped her shoulder against his. But then the she-wolf asked the dreaded question. "I have to wonder what your former pack thinks of you leaving them?"

Well if you considered a death threat from you're alpha and former fling a good farewell, then everything was fine. But the tri-colored lass didn't think that was the case.

Shuffling her feet, her southern tainted voice came out more nervous then she would have liked, especially with Fitz watching her.

"Um, well, about that..." she trailed off, her gaze focused on the ground. "They were okay with it, I guess. They just don't want me to come back. Ever." she admitted. It wasn't exactly lying, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

Fitz kept quiet as she spoke with Raissa, which was good. The beta wasn't here to learn more about him after all (as much as she liked him, of course). She watched the girl quietly, noting the little shuffle of her paws and the tinge of nervousness upon her voice. She thought for a moment that Raissa was about to admit something awful to her, but in the end, it wasn't so bad.

"Don't ever come back," Fin repeated, "Well that's alright. Weren't you from that super dark creepy as crap pack by the lake? Why would you even want to go back?" The beta chuckled softly, remembering the giant, black brute she'd met there who had told her about Adair. She shook her head lightly as she reminisced, completely forgetting to consider the fact that Raissa's story didn't quite add up to the nervous way she had just acted about telling it. Whoops.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here," she said after a moment with a wag of her tail, "I trust that Fitbit here will show you around and teach you everything you need to know. Do good stuff, kay?" And with that, Fin gave them both a smile and turned to head back up towards the Caldera. She was hungry suddenly and taking care of Fin was priority number one for Fin.

Whoop! New thread soon Dakotah?

Finley didn't seem to see the way that Raissa acted, but Fitz did. He wasn't about to mention it though. Something had happened, but they had let Raissa go. Fitz trusted her enough to say something if it was potentially going to cause some form of pack war. If it wasn't that serious then it wasn't serious enough for him to push her to say anything.

Regardless, Raissa was accepted by Finley and FitzDutiful beamed with joy. "Come with me." he said, happily. Taking the steps into Caldera territory and waiting for her to join him in their new home. "I'll show you where my den is. We can make a new one if you'd rather." It didn't occur to him that she might want her own den, that she may not want to live with him. She'd come here because of him and he was now dedicated to her. She was his girlfriend as far as FitzDutiful was concerned and the only thing was to make it official - though not right now.

For today, though, FitzDutiful would show Raissa around her new home.

Yes! Lets do one where Fitz shows her around a bit :3

The thoughts of the threats from her former pack vanished from her head as she heard Finley say the magic words. She grinned as pure excitement blossomed in her chest, becoming almost unbearable.

"I definitely want to see you're den! I wouldn't want you to abandon your home, and I'm sure it's simply wonderful!" she assured him, her eyes twinkling as she thought of all the things that would happen from here on out.

Reaching her muzzle out, she kissed Fitz's cheek before thinking about what she was doing. Bewildered, she pulled back quickly and looked at him through worried eyes, scared that he would think they were moving too fast. She had never been serious with anyone before, so the whole girlfriend thing was a different world to her.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I was just so excited..." she trailed off, casting her eyes to the ground, an uncharacteristic blush heating her cheeks.

Fading out

Raissa reassured FitzDutiful that she wanted to see his den. She didn't say she wanted to stay there but, who knew what would happen. She was more than welcome to stay there if she wanted it and FitzDutiful was feeling pretty confident that she knew it. In fact, she seemed to be taking this in the same direction that he wanted to go in for she reached out and kissed him.

He was momentarily stunned but recovered quickly as she pulled back and apologised. "Don't ever apologise for that." he said, moving into the space that she had pulled back from in order to return a kiss. "Come on, let's see your new home." With that, FitzDutiful led Raissa into the pack lands, their home lands, and began to show her the sights that lay between here and his den.

Same :)

His temporarily stunned face only made her feel worse. Until he told her never to apologize for that and then returned her action. The happy grin broke out onto her face once again and she happily followed him into the caldera, that one step making a huge impact.