Redhawk Caldera falling from high places, falling through lost spaces

Set after the pack activity, before puppies~ Not really sure what to expect in the aftermath of the activity, but I want more threads!

Magpie was still in physical pain, but she wasn't one to sit still— she felt worse the longer she remained inactive, the longer she remained at the edge of the pack's social interactions. As independent as she was, the yearling wasn't really made for isolation. And she certainly wasn't very happy occupying the lowest positions in the pack; the youth had to admit that a big part of her was glad that Peregrine had shown her favor over Dove. What loyalty did she have to the white female, anyway? She was a half-sister, but Magpie knew nothing about her. Whatever familial loyalty had been about to be forged had been squarely stamped out by Peregrine— and now that the yearling's mind had begun to clear, she found a developing conviction.

She would prove to the entire pack that she was better than her pale sister. Peregrine had unknowingly ignited the flame of competition within Magpie, and her sights were suddenly more ambitious than simply earning her place here— she would earn a high place. Earning her trades would be her start, but they wouldn't be the end. It was reckless to push her body beyond its limits without a healer, but her naturalist skills gave her enough rudimentary knowledge of herbs to consume those that would ease her pain. It was likely wiser to pursue that particular skill for the moment— searching and collecting plants that would be useful to a future healer— but Peregrine had emphasized gamekeeping.

Magpie wasn't about to let her injuries keep her from earning the trade as quickly as possible, but it would be foolish to believe she could catch anything of value in her current state. Luckily, tracking and observing were as much a part of the job as actually hunting, though arguably far more boring. She wouldn't love it, but it would suffice until she had healed enough to resume normal activity. Limping away from the caldera's center, Magpie slowly began to make her way towards the territory's elevated western edge.

I think it's about time Magpie has a friend. :)

The wounded girl had caught Somnia's attention during the pack activity. It was a shame that she hadn't gotten to interact with her much, if at all. At the very least, Somnia knew her name. She must've been the infamous Magpie, for her scent was familiar. Somnia knew that she was part of the pack right when she joined, and her scent had been around the Caldera for Somnia's first week or two here. Even more of a giveaway was the fact that her pelt resembled the coloring of a magpie.

Right after the pack activity had ended, Somnia started looking for her. She wanted to make sure Magpie was alright, for Fox's half-sister looked absolutely dreadful with all those injuries she was sporting. Perhaps Somnia could even go as far as to help her out while she recovered.

"Hey, Magpie!" Somnia called out to the black and white wolf, not realizing how creepy knowing her name without being told could sound, "Wait up!" Somnia jogged over, not wanting to cause the wounded girl any unnecessary discomfort by making her move more than necessary.

I was kinda hoping you'd join!! <3

As invigorating as it had been to be surrounded by so many wolves, Magpie was somewhat relieved to be free of expectation and left to her own devices. If she wanted to prove herself to be a better asset to the caldera than Dove— despite her injuries— she needed to keep the promise she had given Peregrine. Hunting and tracking didn't really appeal to her (at least, not more than usual for wolf), but it would help her reach the ambitious goals she suddenly found herself with. From the edge of the caldera, she might be able to survey the land below for herd patterns— and direct the pack toward fruitful hunts, even if it would be some time before she could participate, herself.

She froze at the sound of another calling her name, a voice she didn't recognized. Magpie turned her pounding head slowly, now aware enough to know that any swift movements would only serve to make her nauseous, to inspect the wolf that approached. Others might have been unnerved by their name being called by a complete stranger, but the yearling was used to it— she was referred to as 'Magpie' for a reason, and it wasn't her true name, anyway. But that was a fact she held closely guarded.

"Hey," she offered, welcoming. If she had heard the female's name— during the previous activities or otherwise— Magpie couldn't remember it. Instead of asking and potentially a fool, she opted to simply ask, "What's up?" Her progress towards the caldera's edge was halted for the moment, but she didn't mind; perhaps she could convince this pack mate to join her, and she wouldn't be so bored just sitting and staring at prey she wouldn't be able to catch.

Now I feel special, <3

While Somnia probably should've been biased when it came to Magpie, she wasn't. Even with helping Peregrine when he was upset with Fox over her, and when he had recently said both of Fox's sisters hated him, Somnia didn't see much wrong with Magpie yet... Not counting the physical injuries. Besides, Somnia liked to try and get to know people instead of actually thinking she knew them based off of what people said.

"Hey, I'm Somnia," she said, unaware of already saying hey, "I just wanted to see how you were holding up, and if there were any ways I could assist you." She left the reason why unsaid; it was pretty obvious that Magpie was temporarily handy-capped in her current state. Have I mentioned that she looks dreadful?

As for first impressions on attitude, Magpie didn't seem too bad. She hadn't responded rudely, as Dove would have. While Peregrine may have disliked all of Fox's sisters here, so far, this one wasn't too bad.

If Magpie had known how close Somnia was to Peregrine, or how much about her the Alpha had confided in her, the yearling might have behaved very differently. Overcompensate, perhaps, to prove Peregrine spoke false— or perhaps the other direction, lashing out at her pack mate with the assumption she was already hated. Luckily for them both, the black-and-white female was unfamiliar with this stranger's status. Weary from all the turmoil lately, and the fight quite literally beaten from her, Magpie was no longer perpetually defensive. She had almost died bringing that goat back, but it appeared to have been worth it.

"Somnia," she repeated absently, attempting to ensure that it would be committed to memory. "Are you a healer?" Magpie then questioned, more direct. She wanted to say that the caldera had no healers, though she couldn't remember where she got the notion from. "I've been eating feverfew when I can find it, and it helps with the pain, but I'm not getting better any faster for it," Magpie admitted. Her knowledge of medicine was limited, and she was eager to heal as quickly as she could— never mind that it had only been a few days since her fall, and it would definitely take more time than that for her to be completely well again.

Right after introductions, the question of if she was a healer had sprung up, along with the mention of some plant she had never heard of. "No, the only thing I know about healing is that Lavender's scent is calming." Somnia replied with a grimace as she thought of Ashton. Despite the amounts of time she had stuck around the now-gone Healer, the only healing knowledge that managed to lodge itself in her head was that Lavender helped to calm.... His den had always smelled nice, perhaps it was the Lavender? Woah! You're getting quite off topic now. She told herself mentally.

Trying to offer her services once more, she informed Magpie on what she could do. "I'm a Gamekeeper though. I could easily hunt for you so you don't have to eat frozen, half-rotten meat out of the caches. I can't guarantee it's true, but I would think eating fresh meat would help..." Despite distracting herself by talking to Magpie, the urge to go in Ashton's den was still there. Before she could mentally tell herself no, she found herself asking Magpie, "There used to be a Healer. If you know about herbs, I could bring you to his den and you could see if there's any left that you an use."

Magpie nodded her agreement; she knew that about lavender, too, and also that the scent had the ability to calm some wolves so much that they'd fall asleep. Her knowledge of medicine was more complete then Somnia's, then, thanks to her time amongst the Corvidae— she supposed they knew the importance of healing because they moved around so much, and couldn't really store herbs anywhere. She had wanted to become an outrider, but Peregrine had called them useless... and he had also said they were in need of healers. Perhaps that's what she had remembered. In any case, learning to heal would be an immediate benefit to her...

Somnia was talking about hunting for her, suddenly, and the yearling found herself bristling slightly in response. If she was a Gamekeeper, did Peregrine really need Magpie to be one? It wasn't the other female's fault— the yearling was simply competitive and ambitious— but her offer felt slightly patronizing. "I was actually going to see if there are any herds nearby," she tilted her head towards the caldera's elevated edge. "I told Peregrine I'd train to become a Gamekeeper, but... I can't really hunt right now." Magpie shrugged unhappily, but finally sighed, "It's nice of you to offer. Mind coming to get me when you do? I can at least... watch, as part of my training?"

The information her companion revealed about the previous healer brought Magpie's attention back towards that particular subject... she couldn't really explore anything outside of the caldera while she was laid up, so she had to admit training as an outrider would be possible, if not useless. Perhaps it would be better to strengthen her skills as a healer— she could always explore territories outside the caldera in search of herbs and get her scenery fix that way. "Mind if we sit and check out the current deer hotspots first?" she asked, wanting to rest her ankle, "I'd love to see if he had any stores left, later, though." It was a breath of fresh air to have a pack mate that was actually helpful, verses turning everything into a battle to be won.

Somnia's offer was accepted, and she had no problems with Magpie tagging along to watch. She could even give Magpie some tips and tricks when it came to hunting if she wanted to be a Gamekeeper. There was going to be a lot of hunting in Somnia's near future. First, she was going to help hunt for Fox and the unborn pups. Second, she was going to help hunt for Magpie. Then, even though it wasn't hunting, being a Caretaker was going to take up most of her spare time.

Somnia gave a nod to Magpie's first question. As for the second, Somnia got slightly disappointed, but still agreed with a, "Sure." She had said later, not never, which meant there was still a chance that they could do it after visiting the deer hotspots. Even if they didn't get to that, who said Somnia had to visit Ashton's den with Magpie? She could always visit it by herself, albeit not for medicine reasons.

"Since you're a aspiring Gamekeeper that's been here before, you should be able to lead us to the deer hotspots, correct?" Somnia questioned with a smile. Even if Magpie was now a cripple, she had voiced her desire to be a Gamekeeper. Part of being a Gamekeeper was knowing the best spots for prey. Even if Magpie somehow didn't know the deer hotspots, Somnia could just tell her, thus teaching her Gamekeeper knowledge.

Magpie began limping towards the caldera's edge at Somnia's agreement, motioning her to follow. She didn't quite key in on the other female's disappointment, but she had meant it when she was interested in taking a look at any left over herbs— it was just that, for right now, she was focused on earning the title of Gamekeeper as quickly as possible. It wasn't her favorite pastime, but Peregrine was making it clear that it was the only way to mend whatever had gone wrong between them. If it meant her relationship with Fox could grow without his interference, becoming a stronger hunter would be worth it.

"I can't really go too far," the yearling responded; her hind leg was still carefully carried above the ground, for her ankle still couldn't bear much weight without an insufferable amount of pain. It was reduced to a dull throb if she didn't try to walk on it. "I was going to overlook the wilderness, and see if there are any strong looking herds— if they're following any sort of pattern, too, so when the pack is ready to hunt, we'll know exactly where to go." It went without saying that she was unlikely to join in, but she could absorb all the information she could to heighten the pack's chance of success.

Before much longer, the pair reached the edge of the territory, where the caldera sloped gently upwards, then dropped down in a sharp edge. Magpie sat on the smooth incline, just close enough to the dropoff that they could see the wilderness below, and sighed in relief. It had been difficult walking this far on three legs, but she knew it was better for her than standing idle. Her green eyes surveyed the lands below, looking for the small dots that were ungulates.

Even with her injuries, the yearling led Somnia to a ridge on the Caldera that gave the gift of seeing far, far away. It was only after they reached their destination that Somnia realized with a pang of guilt that she should've assisted Magpie. Still, the view was fascinating enough to take her mind off of it. There were so many dots clustered in groups! Ungulates, her brain corrected.

This winter hadn't been harsh on the wolves, so it must've been the same for the prey, Somnia decided. Well, if there were a bunch of them about, why weren't they hunting them more? In the coming days she would have to set up a hunt. Somnia turned it into a mental sticky-note before letting her mind stray to strategies.

Well, they were sitting on this sharp drop-off. It was too high for any creature to get onto it from the ground bellow. What if the wolves could corner one against it? Somnia voiced her idea, wanting to get another opinion on it. "Do you think that managing to drive one of them to the bottom of here and cornering them would make a successful hunting strategy?"

Fading... :'(

Even if Somnia had offered help, the yearling likely would have refused. She had learned from Ivev that stretching a wounded leg was good for it— without movement, it would atrophy, and that would make movement difficult for the rest of her life. It was her internal misunderstanding that assistance probably wouldn't interfere with the healing, but in Magpie's mind... if moving was good, moving on your own was better.

Magpie nodded, listening to the Gamma's plans, stewing over it internally. Though gamekeeping didn't appeal to the yearling as a whole, the strategic side of it seemed suddenly very interesting. The pair fell into a deep conversation about strategizing, preparing for a future hunt, until the yearling grew weary enough to retreat back to her den.