Redhawk Caldera Squirrel? Bird? Groundhog? Can I eat it all?

Amalia woke up with her usual morning sickness. But it didn't hit her so heavily today. It wasn't like you know a ton of bricks on her head or something. Making her want to cry and sleep and blow chunks all at once, you know. Moderation.

But she did have this huge hankering for something sweet. And not just anything sweet. She wanted groundhog meat. And she wanted it right now. She honestly felt like perhaps she would do anything for that groundhog meat. And though she knew as soon as she bit into it. The morning sickness would come along and make her never want to eat it again. But right this second, she wanted it and she wanted it now.

So with a little bit of a hitch in her step, because heavens help us she can't walk while trying not to throw up, at least not in a straight line. She went in search of that which she wanted with single minded focus.

Forward date to May 2?

Alivia was an open-air sleeper and had been for a long time, so she was used to getting stumbled upon by bleary eyed wolves as they emerged from their dens in the morning. Back in the day, she had even caught a few walk-of-shamers stealing from their lovers' quarters in the wee hours. Even so, it came as a bit of a shock to be nearly bulldozed by a slightly rounded, seasick-looking packmate on the dawn of her first full day in the Caldera. 

"Whoa!" she woofed out, backing away a few steps and shaking her head to reorient after the quick awakening. Recovering herself, she wagged her tail and bowed her head low, trying to look submissive and apologetic in case her bark or her sudden appearance had startled the poor woman.  "Sorry, I'm- uh, I'm new.." 

Yea i can do that. I'll edit it so it shows up in your threadlog for that day too. She's not super round yet, only a little she'd be about 3.5 weeks. So that belly would start to show, but not barrel yet. :)

Amalia felt horribly guilty for having bulldozed a poor woman. She tilted her head and stopped. And boy did it make her stomach rocket real good. She felt the heave ho of that morning sickness and she swallowed it down. The burn in her throat making her eyes water.

Oh gracious I'm sorry. I'm Amalia. Welcome to teh Caldera. I'm Killdeer's mate.

She waved her tail and smiled sweetly. Even though behind that smile, she was fighting back the burning tides of bile and wanting to scream, and she really really wanted that groundhog. Like it was becoming a need at this point. She might tear someone apart if they didn't let her get one.

I'm actually really starving for a groundhog right now. I am trying to find one. I actually feel like if I Don't get one I may throw a little tantrum. So would you like to help me find one? I apologize in advance if I throw up. Pregnancy and all that.

Got it! Imma go make a lil edit. :)

Alivia backed up one more big step, not because the woman was scary or anything, but because she looked like she was going to toss her cookies all over the place. Alivia had spent enough time caring for sick wolves that she knew that about-to-puke look all too well. 

"Thanks!" Alivia said, returning Amalia's smile. "I'm Alivia." Amalia and Alivia. They could be sisters with those names. Or best friends. Alivia had never had a best friend, but she knew her mom had met hers right here in the Caldera. Who knows, maybe Alivia would follow suit. 

The words were tumbling out of Amalia's mouth (and than goodness it was only words, for now) and Alivia listened with close attention. Amalia sounded like she was in pretty dire straights. 

"--Yeah, yeah of course! Whatever I can do to help! I actually saw a burrow not too far from here, but I'm not much of a hunter..."  Alivia beckoned her packmate to follow, and would lead her away at whatever clip was most comfortable for her. 

"Cravings and nausea at the same time, huh?" Alivia chattered, "That doesn't really seem fair. Shouldn't it be one or the other?" She had thought that those two symptoms were naturally found at opposite ends of the spectrum, but Alivia had never been pregnant, so how was she to really know? 

"Congratulations, by the way." It belatedly occurred to Alivia that Amalia may not be feeling very celebratory at the moment.

Amalia noticed and her ears slicked to her heard. She hadn't meant to make the girl uncomfortable. She would do her measure best not to puke on the poor girl. Promise.

Nice to meet you, Alivia. A tilt of her head and a nod. Though the movement, made her stomach churn and her mouth fill with water. Oh fiddlesticks

She managed to keep it at bay again. But it was getting harder and harder to do so. She just needed to remember to move slower and breath through her nose.

She nodded and followed. Rather slowly to be fair. She wasn't sure she could hunt herself without just heaving all over the creature. Could that kill something? Could it drown in vomit? She wondered if she could sometimes, truthfully, because goodness.


Yes it's awful. somewhere some Devils doing a dance in delight. She shook her head.

A small smile. Thanks. I am excited most of the time. When I am sick I tend to be unhappy, but it's not the little un's fault.

Despite clearly feeling terrible, Amalia was still better company than a lot of wolves that Alivia had come across in her travels. Alivia had really lucked out, being recruiting into this pack. She could already see why Redhawk Caldera had been so dear to her mother's heart. 

"They say the worse the sickness is, the more girls you're having. Sweet cravings also mean girls." She continued to chatter, hoping it might help Amalia take her mind off her discomfort. "Do you think Killdeer will make a good girl dad?" 

A little further, and she then slowed. "There's a cache up ahead. I promise we'll get you that fresh groundhog, but what do you think about having quick bite now just to hold you over?" Putting something on the stomach was known to help with pregnancy nausea, and even if it didn't help one bit, sometimes it was preferable just to have something solid to throw up other than bile.

Amalia blinked. She hadn't ever heard that wives tale, but it warmedher. How cute and sweet. To have girls. Though at this point she just hoped they weren't so sickly and frail cause she couldn't keep anything down. Gender be damned.

She nodded. He already is. Killer has had liason with other females before he and I got together he has girls and boys. Though only two girls left. The rest have moved on to other places.

She thought about it. She really wanted that groundhog, but she probably should try something.Well alright, but something small.

"Killer," Alivia said, echoing the nickname with a laugh. "I like that!

Killdeer had multiple litters with other females? Maybe they should have been calling him Ladykiller. 

A little twinge of something-- jealousy? fomo?--  twisted in Alivia's gut. It was crazy to think that there were wolves out there that were her age, running around having litters of children, founding packs.. and here Alivia was with nothing to show for her own three years of life. 

"Do you ever feel weird about that?" she blurted. "Like.. that he has this whole life he lived before you? Girlfriends, grown children.." Is that how all the men out there were? Was Alivia hopelessly behind? Was it stupid of her to be holding out for love and marriage when everyone else was out there boinking each other and popping out pups on an assembly line?  "..Never mind," she rushed to say with a shake of her head, "That was a dumb question. You have a previous life too, after all." 

She pulled up to the cache and started sorting through it for Amalia. It was good to keep her mouth busy, so there was no danger of her asking any more stupid questions. Hopefully the matriarch would stay back a ways; the sight of so much stored food would probably turn her stomach. After a minute of rummaging, Alivia emerged with a limp rabbit. It wasn't a groundhog, but it was kind of close. And it was the freshest thing she could find. She place the rabbit in front of Amalia and looked up at her with a hopeful expression.

Amalia chuckled. I do too, but I can't take credit for it. It's a nickname his grandma gave him I believe. Regardless it suits him.

Amalia was surprised, but not put off. Rather she liked this younger female more so when she realized she was curious about her. And she smiled.

Amalia moved with purpose, but before she could touch the girl, to show her she was fine with her questions. Alivia dipped her head into the cache. So Amalia settled instead to her haunches and watched with patience and when Alivia popped back up with a rabbit. A soft smile, but she didn't eat it yet.

Firstly please never think that you can't ask me something. Curiosity is how we learn regardless of how blunt the question is. I myself often do the same thing.

Amalia shifted and spoke. As for your question. No I Don't suppose it bothers me. Now if they were to show back up and try now and he gave in. I'd be furious. But also I'm older than Killer and frankly I didn't think that marriage and babies would ever happen for me. It just never came about. I give my heart freely, but usually it was merely platonic. And almost every man or woman that I had a crush on left at some point and I never told them. So, when Killer confessed. I will admit I was surprised and a bit like oh gosh what do i do now.

She chuckled softly then. I did care, but was unsure how to handle it or what to do with it as I had never been in that situation. And they were in his past these girls. Before he and I were possibly even friends. And if we were friends we weren't best friends. So no I don't begrude him his sowing of oats.

Amalia bent to take a small bite of the rabbit. Swallowing hastily despite her want to throw it back up. And for the record as far as I am concerned there are no dumb questions.

Towhee came up with the nickname. It seemed to Alivia that Towhee was close to her grandson, like Alivia had been close to her own mother. Alivia wondered idly about Killdeer's actual mother (or father), who presumably would have been Towhee's child. Perhaps this mysterious parent would pop up at some point. You couldn't throw a stone without hitting a Redhawk in these parts, it seemed. 

She continued to sift through the cache, but she smiled as Amalia praised her curiosity. Thank the stars that the matriarch considered it to be a positive trait, because it was kind of the cornerstone of Alivia's personality. 

"It sounds like when it finally happened for you, it happened really fast," Alivia said of Amalia's whirlwind romance. "Worth the wait, though. The Redhawks seem pretty great, and their Caldera is kickass." If Amalia had settled down with any of those past crushes (both men AND women??) then she wouldn't have ended up here, after all. 

Alivia nodded knowingly when Amalia shared her feelings about Killdeer's oat-sewing. "It's different for men, I guess." Of course no one bats an eye at a man scratching the itch, but stars forbid a young woman arrive back home pregnant. 

"Where I came from, I had uh, offers.." Some more polite than others. "..But I couldn't carry pups unmarried. We were guests in that pack, and my mom thought it would be, um.." How did Ruenna put it exactly--? "..an improper way to repay them, to give them more mouths to feed." Her mom had needed her, and she couldn't afford to get tied down. 

Alivia watched with approval as Amalia choked down the rabbit. It was a very good thing, that in her eyes a question couldn't be dumb. But could a suggestion be dumb..?

"The groundhog burrow was in the prairie to the east of the Caldera," Alivia began. "We may want to secure some backup." As much as Alivia hated to admit it, they were probably not going to meet with success if Alivia was supposed to be the primary hunter, given that Amalia seemed to be one good gag away from becoming a walking barf cannon.  "It seemed like a pretty big burrow with a lot of ground to cover. There may be a few of 'em living out there, so if we had more hunters we could stock up." You know, just in case the cravings hit again.

A pack hunt could be fun, especially with all the new joiners. Let me know if you want to play it out, and I'll get it set up!

Amalia missed her mother. She had never been close to her father. He had been fair and just. But he had also had certain ideas about how children should act. And he rejected the world he had lived in that both she and Alaric coveted.

Amalia settled firmer in her seat and shook her head. Actually, it was a slow burn. I had known Killer for much longer than we had gotten together. I have known him since i First came to the teekon oh my goodness. Two years ago maybe, no three. And we were very good friends for probably more than a year. When Well killer realized first that he was in love with me. I knew i found him attractive and funny. But I also thought I was only ever meant to be a friend. So I never explored those feelings sort of just kept them tight to my chest. It wasn't until he confessed that I realized I could feel them too and let myself.

Amalia listened and spoke softly. I can't speak for Killer of course. But I personally would not mind other pups among our ranks. And if it was something you would want to do. Talk to us of course. But I can't imagine I'd say no.

Amalia listened and smiled a little sadly. Yes I suppose that I'm not much help in a hunt. Would you believe me if I told you normally I am a pretty good small game hunter.

On cue, she gagged a little. But yea. But you know I think that plan has merit if you wouldn't mind spear heading it?

I'm fine with a pack hunt <3

Amalia said she had known Killdeer for three years, and the matriarch didn't look that old to Alivia. How long exactly had it taken them to get from Killdeer's confession to married packleaders with kids on the way? Even though it had taken a while for them to realize their feelings for another, the actual romance aspect of Amalia and Killdeer's relationship still sounded like a whirlwind to Alivia.

"You have a cute love story," Alivia noted with a smile. "I haven't been friends with anyone that long. Everyone always leaves." Her smile wavered a bit. "..But if I do ever have friend who sticks around, maybe that means he's The One." 

Alivia blinked in surprise as Amalia gave her blessing for her to have pups. It was definitely not what she had been seeking out when she shared her anecdote. She hadn't even considered the idea, truthfully. 

"Oh! ..Um, I guess it's something to think about," she laughed. "But for the moment, I don't have anyone willing to be Dad." A certain golden-accented mien instantly popped up in mind, surprising even Alivia herself. Did @Cinar come to mind because he was their only single male packmate... or, was it possible there was something more to it? "Cinar is kind of hot, right? Maybe I'll float the idea." She couldn't help but chortle at her own suggestion, imagining the look on his face. 

"Would you believe me if I told you normally I am a pretty good small game hunter."

"Sure I would," Alivia answered with a grin, "And I bet you'll be even better after raising a litter of pups," she joked. Watching over and chasing after babies had some distinct similarities to stalking prey, she imagined. 

Amalia liked the her suggestion of calling some packmates together for the hunt, providing some proof that Alivia occasionally had an idea that wasn't terrible (although the terrible ones still vastly outnumbered the good ones). "I've SO got this!" she assured Amalia, tail wagging in excitement at the thought of a pack hunt.