Redhawk Caldera Day 'n night

:D @Tiger first, then @Finley !

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The journey from the haunted wood back to Redhawk Caldera was a relatively quick one, thank goodness. Elwood couldn't wait to see the look on Finley's face when he showed up with Tiger. He hoped that she would be excited -- Tiger certainly seemed to be -- but there was a twinge of worry in his belly at the same time. He knew next to nothing about Finley's family or her life before the Teekon Wilds, so he hoped that he wouldn't be dredging up some old conflicts.

"Here we are," he said to his pale-furred companion as he halted at the borders. The squat mountain stood in front of them, its slopes in bloom -- quite a beautiful sight, he had to admit. "I'm not going to take you into the territory just yet, but I'll call for Finley," he said; although he was a Beta, he didn't want to go traipsing across the packlands with a stranger just yet. He needed to see how Finley would react to Tiger.

Briefly, he thought of the nickname that Tiger had called her sister -- Frog -- and wondered about its meaning as he tilted his head back and called for his girlfriend. "Finley! You have a visitor!" As his howl faded, he grinned and looked at Tiger.

It was probably midnight now, but time was irrelevant then and now in her excited giddiness. She wasn't sure how her sister would take her actual being discovered, but this big sister was quite excited. Tiger couldn't take in much of anything as her eyes looked for a gray dot on the horizon, and she nodded at his words but didn't really listen all that well.

Tiger could only think of Frog, and seeing her face again. Her mind could only guess at how she might react, but she was looking forward to actually seeing her. The Blackthorn could hardly believe her luck.

There had been many times since leaving her birth pack that Finley thought back on the family that she had left behind.  Very rarely was there any remorse remorse involved in her musings; she didn't regret leaving them at all.  It had been the right thing for her and she trusted that her family had felt the same.  They had all known her to be the highly spirited and uncontainable force of nature that she was, so none of them had seemed at all surprised when she and Colt had announced that they were going.  So no, it was with only affection and curiosity that the Blackthorn opened that particular door to her past - Just to peek at their faces and to wonder what they looked like now, what they were doing, and how many more of them that there were by now.


There were other doors in her mind that she kept locked tight, and though even stealing those glimpses of her family at times would threaten the integrity of the lock.  Thankfully it hadn't opened yet, not fully at least.  It would have to eventually if she was going to give herself fully to Elwood.
Somewhere in her fickle mind, she knew it too.  But every day she found a new reason to push it off - a new distraction, a new excuse, a new little lie she told herself to make it seem like maybe he really never did have to find out.  Maybe no one did.  Maybe she could just live and die with this huge cloud hanging over her head, making her reactions and feelings seem irrational, cold, cowardly or even needlessly cruel.  That would be worth it, right?  Just to avoid ever facing the demons on the other side of that door?  One scenario presented the possibility of losing all she loved forever.  The other was a certainty in her emotionally scarred mind and heart.

Finley was certainly of that mind as she made her way curiously towards the borders, obedient to her lover's call.  He had good timing as she'd already been searching for him since she hadn't seen him at all that day and was jonesin' for some Twiggy cuddles before bedtime.  As for who this visitor was that had come to see her specifically, she hadn't a clue who it could be.  Her initial thought was Finn, but were that the case she couldn't imagine why Elwood's voice hinted at excitement about it.  Unless he didn't know about their whole history... which could easily be the case...  Damn she had a lot of secrets from him..  She needed to work on that.  Or not.  Whatever.

The silver female was quick to close the distance between herself and her friendboy, her gaze shifting from him to the female at his side back to him.  "Hey love, what'd you bring me today?" she asked, reluctant to spare the female a glance.  She was obnoxiously pretty, and thus Fin hardened against her right off the bat.  Likely this was the reason it took her a moment to realize that she'd seen the girl's face before, but once she finished giving Elwood an affectionate kiss and turned to really look at her, the pieces began to fall into place in her memory.  Her eyes widened ever so slowly as her brain began to accept what she was seeing, her jaw dropping as well every step of the way.

"Ti..ger?" Fin said slowly, canting her head.  Shock had paralyzed her from reacting any further, and thus she just stood there, gawking at her sister like a creep.

Despite the late hour, Finley was prompt in responding to Elwood's call. He spotted her from a distance as she descended the slope, and he jostled Tiger excitedly with his shoulder. She seemed a bit nervous, but overall, her energy was positive. Elwood refocused his bright yellow gaze on Finley as she approached, wondering if she would recognize her sister right off the bat.

She didn't -- there was no flicker of familiarity in her face as she neared, and she greeted Elwood without paying too much mind to the female at his side. But once she stepped back and reassessed the situation, recognition dawned on her. Almost immediately, she identified Tiger by name, and Elwood took a step back, allowing the two sisters some space as they reunited.

For now, he didn't say anything; he would give Tiger the opportunity to respond to Finley before explaining the situation further.

Tiger watched as Finley deliberately ignored her, a loud, Uh, dropping from her mouth without restraint. She had never known Finley to be rude, not to her; sometimes they had their moments, but really, Tiger loved all of her little siblings. They weren't as tight as Colt and Frog, sure, but damn if she deserved the you don't even exist treatment, even if only for five seconds! Those were some long ass seconds when it came to whether or not you'd be welcomed, and never did she feel less welcomed. Her heart dropped, wondering if maybe she'd done wrong by Frog; that hadn't been her intention. Tiger missed her in her absence, and so had come to find her. 

And join her again. 

It took seconds for recognition to dawn on her sisters face, and a warm smile was met with the tentative namedrop. Wow, for a second I thought you were dissing me and pretending I didn't exist. Good to see you remember me, though, she quips rambunctiously, dipping her head sheepishly. Yeah well, soon after you left I followed, thought it was time I went on my way. You're hard to find and with Winter, I had to hang around elsewhere a bit. Anyways, I told them all I had you to find by Spring so here I am, that, and she did not want kids with that leader who was dead set on them. Too soon. ...I see y'made a life here and all, really cool. D'you... mind me? Being there. Was she encroaching? Tiger was a bold one, but if she wasn't wanted by her sister, she'd head out.

Tiger began to respond, but Fin barely heard her.  Her mind was racing now as the initial shock began to wear off and a flurry of panic and glee began to battle in her head.  For one, Tiger was here, and that was just freakin' AWESOME.  She had always been fond of her sister.  They hadn't had the same bond as her and Colt, but they were still family.  So of course a part of her wanted to tackle the girl in a big bear hug and ask the bitch what she was doing there and what took her so long to join her.

But on the other hand... She was family.  And Fin might not have been the only Blackthorn Tiger had found since leaving the nest.  What if she'd found Colt?  What if Colt had...  Fin waded through the mess of crap in her mind to concentrate on Tiger's words.  If she had found Colt and he'd told her what had happened, Fin was sure she'd mention it.  She'd show some sign of knowing...  Tiger finished her little speech with a subtle and timid request.  Fin searched her face, her eyes.  There was no hate or disgust.  She didn't know.

Finley stood silent for a few moments after Tiger fell quiet, still muddling through her head to reassure herself that everything was okay, Tiger didn't know.  Only she and Colt knew.  Tiger didn't know.

Wait.

Tiger.

Tiger is here.

Like a silver bullet, Finley suddenly shot forward towards her sister, throwing both arms around the girls neck in a wolfish hug while nuzzling and licking her face and whining like an overly excited puppy.  She attempted to steady her weight with her back legs, but in all likelihood failed and fell over - Tiger possibly falling with her depending on whether or not Steph will allow me to powerplay ;)  Nevertheless, still squirming happily in a manner that was probably reminding Elwood a lot of Wildfire right about now, Fin finally found her voice again.  "The fuck, Tiger!" she barked happily, "Why the crap would I mind you!  How the - What the - OH MY GOSH WHAT THE."  Aaaand then her words were gone again.

There wasn't much for Elwood to contribute initially, so he just grinned and settled back onto his haunches, watching the reunion as it played out. They seemed to be equally happy to see each other, though Tiger proved herself to be more eloquent in her excitement than Finley was. The latter stammered and cursed and then, when she couldn't contain herself any longer, tackled her sibling to the ground.

An amused Elwood shook his head gently, his face still wrinkled into a smile. Tiger had explained the broad version of how she wound up in Redhawk Caldera, so he took the opportunity to fill in the details -- though he wasn't sure that Finley would hear him over her ecstasy. "Can you believe it? I ran into her in the creepy woods not far from here. After talking for a few minutes, we realized that we had you in common, so I brought her back," he said, his tail thumping the ground cheerfully. He liked Tiger -- she was funny and witty, much like her sister. And Finley's approval went a long way with Elwood; if Tiger had been a disliked sibling, he would have mirrored her feelings with little hesitation.

It took seconds for true recognition to dawn on her sisters face, but those seconds felt like hours to Tiger, who was figuratively sitting by the edge of her seat. How would she be regarded? Would Finley want anything to do with her anymore, or had her moving on from their birth-pack been a "I want to get away from each and every one of you" power move? 

Suddenly Finley sprung up at her, and Tiger didn't have the time to withdraw so shocked was she. But Tiger made no moves to remove herself, frantically reciprocating, tail whipping left and right and slapping her own hindquarters in the process. Her sisters whines were responded to in kind, and Tiger felt like a kid again. At her sisters words, she had to laugh. "I dunno!!! I HAD TO BE SURE!!!!!!!!!" Tiger didn't care much for the opinions of others, but she certainly did care for Finley's. Blood and all that being thicker than water... 

She smirked at Elwoods words while still watching Finley, not even thinking of her younger brother Colt, then. "Yeah he found me alright," she threw a pointed look at Elwood then, YOU AIN'T GUNNA TELL HER HOW YOU FIND ME THO, HOMIE, YA DIG?????? the expression demanded, and she grinned toothily at him before looking back to her sister. "So, a beta aannnnnndddddd a boyfriend? I sure missed a lot this Winter,"

Fin couldn't help but laugh at Tiger's own response to her excitement.  She glanced briefly at Elwood as he added his own part to the story, but her attention was almost immediately reclaimed by her sibling.  She gave the pair of them a grin before launching herself once more at Tiger, this time wrapping her arms around the girl's neck and officially dragging her down to the ground with her.


"I love it, Twig! Thank you!" Fin barked happily at her friendboy, tail wagging as she clung to Tiger's neck.  She gave him a grin before looking down at her sister, giving her a big, slobbery lick on the side of her head, "You really did!  But, you do realize that's not surprising, right?  You were always a little uh...... negatively quick" Fin quipped with a grin, struggling against whatever retaliation Tiger was enacting against her for her tacklehug.

My last post! :)

Nothing made Elwood happier than to see Finley happy, so he was very much enjoying watching her interaction with Tiger. The sisters had a lot of catching up to do and he didn't want to invade their space, so he took a step back, still grinning.

"I'm gonna leave you guys to it," he said, his tail waving gently behind him. He leaned down and planted a kiss between Finley's ears, then said, "I'll catch ya later, okay?" With a last glance at Tiger -- he hoped to get to know her better soon -- he turned and departed.

I'ma gonna close this on up :)

Elwood made to leave, which Fin couldn't fault him for doing.  He had definitely become a bit of a third wheel at the reunion of the Blackthorn sisters, and the pair did have a lot of catching up to do that he didn't necessarily need to be present for.  Still, she gave him a pouty face when he leaned in to kiss her and turned to leave.  It was gone in the next second when Tiger called back her attention with a jest about something or other, to which Fin just gave her a look and untangled herself from her littermate.

"Come on, let's get you set up in the Caldera and find you something to eat," Fin urged with a devious grin, "You look way thinner than me, which I will NOT have.  I'm the thin one, remember?"  With a cackle, Fin turned and trotted towards the Caldera with Tiger in tow.