Redhawk Caldera gone fishing

Pantaleimon had gotten stronger since joining Redhawk Caldera: Pan had eaten well, drunk well, and she had groomed herself. The only thing that Pantaleimon really missed was things to drape her fur with; presently, Pantaleimon looked rather normal: a large, bulky, white male with silver eyes, much like her mother, except, unfortunately, in male form.

Now it was time to meet with Fox, the pack's Alpha female; but Pantaleimon did not wish to arrive at her doorstep to meet her and their children without a gift and a proof of her capability. Pantaleimon decided it would be wise to go hunting first so that she could bring a gift. Pantaleimon figured that fishing would be something that was rarer among the Caldera when it came to qualities, since she knew most inland wolves to prefer hunting inland animals, and fishing was a skill that was more difficult to teach than hunting deer or spurting after rabbits, in Pantaleimon's humble opinion and experience in teaching others.

So the choice was made to go fishing. Pantaleimon found a lake near the frays of Redhawk Caldera's territories while the sun shone on her white fur, warming her up. Pantaleimon enjoyed spring, for swimming was much more comfortable in the warmer seasons, and she loved to swim. With the sun's warmth on her back, Pan stepped into the water and watched as the fish darted everywhere. Now began her waiting game, for she was alone and the shores were not convenient to fish from here. Pan stood in the water up to her stomach and waited for the fish to get used to her and return, so that she could swiftly pick one out of the water.

It had become somewhat of a habit for Finley the past few days to sneak out of the Caldera at the crack of dawn and then slip back in late, late at night, only to disappear once again before the light touched the territory.  It was a behavior she had employed frequently before when she was just another subordinate at the Plateau, but one that had fallen by the wayside when she had become the beta female of the Caldera.  Now, with the fever of Spring upon her, it was back with a vengeance.

Today though, she screwed up a little.  After spending the past few nights barely sleeping even a wink, her body apparently had had enough.  When she finally awoke to the sun's rays tugging back at her eyelids, she gave a start just before barking out a loud and angry  SHIT!!  Here it was midday and she was still deep within the heart of the Caldera.  After rolling grumpily about on the ground like a child throwing a temper tantrum, she finally dragged herself up and began to make her way towards the lake within the territory where she could grab a drink and maybe, just maybe finally take the metaphorical dive and swim to that mystical little island in the very center.

That's when she came across their newest recruit.  Now, someone in Fin's fever-addled brains, she remembered Peregrine telling her about this fellow.  It was probably while she was playing with the firebirds though, which meant she wasn't paying any attention to him.  Why did he want her to be his beta again?  Anyway... When Fin spotted the white male wading in their waters, her guard went up immediately and she stalked forward to give him a piece of her mind.  For whatever reason.

"Who the hell are you?" Fin barked at him from the shore, her eyes narrowed, head and tail lifted dominantly.  From his position, she couldn't quite catch Peregrine's scent upon his fur, and thus she assumed he was some outsider blatantly disrespecting their borders and loitering in their lake.

When the angry voice rung out, Pantaleimon instinctively scrunched together against the water's surface, making all of her precious work in vain. Fish darted everywhere at the moment Pantaleimon lowered her body, ears pressed against skull and tail loosely floating in the water. Pan turned to face the wolf, who demanded who she was. It was too far for Pan to actually see or smell who this wolf was; an intruder, but she guessed they would try to sneak past rather than demand who someone was, or someone of the Caldera. The latter was the most logical.

Pantaleimon was not sure how to respond right away, and it took a few seconds of awkward silence before Pan started to slowly scuttle towards the water's edge before responding (for shouting had never been one of Pan's fortes). "Uhm, I uhm - I'm P-Pantaleim-mon," Pan mumbled, barely audible, while she held her body low in the water's shallows and searched for a spot of ground that looked particularly interesting to focus her attention to, rather than this angry Redhawk Caldera wolf, not risking making eye contact.

Fin felt the hair bristling along her spine as she stared at the strange wolf.  Her angry words pulled from him the reaction that she'd hoped for, but left her no more aware of his allegiance with the Caldera, even after he stated his name.  Her brow furrowed and she gave him a scornful, confused glare as he stuttered at her.  Her temper was all but exhausted already, and the fact that she wasn't completely convinced that whatever he'd sputtered at her was his name was not helping much (the bow was nice, though).


"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" she snapped irritably, "What are you doing here?  You're within the borders of a pack, you know."

Uttering her name did not seem to quench the female's anger much. As they drew nearer to one another, Pantaleimon could smell that she was a Redhawk Caldera wolf, but Pan did not understand why she was so angry. Were they all like that? When she was in the shallows, Pantaleimon pressed her body entirely to the ground, not sure what more she could do to make the female cool off.

When the female said that she was within the borders of a pack, Pantaleimon nodded quietly. A few seconds passed before Pan confirmed, "Y-yes, I know," rather quietly. Then, out of desperation and because she didn't know what else more she could do to cool the female off, Pantaleimon rolled on her back, displaying her belly; not because she thought it would make a difference, but because it was the only defense mechanism she knew to grab for in the moment.

So... he knew that he had trespassed.  That bold son of a bitch - standing there, boldly declaring he was knowingly trespassing??  Well.  Maybe not boldly.  More like sheepishly?  Or frightened..ly.  Terrifiedly really.  Huh... If he was so scared, why would he trespass at all?  Maybe it was all a bluff.  That's it!


Fin was preparing to fire another feisty, bitchy-as-hell retort at him and chase his ass the hell out of the Caldera when the hulking male suddenly rolled over and exposed his belly in complete submission to her.  The gesture took Fin completely by surprise, and thus left her completely blanking on how to respond.  Was he serious??  I mean.... Was he serious??

"Oh god damnit," FIn snapped after a few moments of stunned silence, "Get up, get up!  Gah, I hate that move..."  The beta rolled her eyes dramatically and stomped her front paws a little before plopping down onto her haunches, frustrated as hell with this whole thing.  She shut her eyes while fuming for a second or two before regarding him with an irritated scowl.  "If you know you're trespassing, then why are you so... pathetic about it?" she asked bluntly, "I mean.. shouldn't you challenge me or play stupid or something?  I mean, at least try to make a poorly thought-out run for it, good god man!"

Pantaleimon got up with a quick splash of water when the female commanded her to. "S-sorry," she stammered. "I didn't..." Pan mumbled, but trailed off, figuring it would not help the situation much to say that she didn't mean to be rude or intrude on... well, whatever she was intruding on. Pan remained crouched, too afraid to get up.

When the female told Pan about trespassing, Pantaleimon's ears flattened and she shook her head weakly. "No, I... I'm uhm, I'm part of this p-pack, P-Peregrine accepted me." Pantaleimon looked away from the female, at the ground, waiting for her to speak or move again and would accept whatever was to come.

The stranger was quick to correct his error of submission, which irritated her once again.  Unfortunately, she did not have the self-awareness to realize that she was being completely insane and irrational.  Not to mention a complete bitch to a wolf that was quite apparently trying desperately to appease her.  No, instead of all of those good thoughts she should have been having, she was actually considering whether or not she should bite him in the ass just to.. just to... I DON'T EVEN KNOW, BUT SHE NEEDS IT.


What she had not expected to happen was for the wolf to tell her that he was actually a member of the pack.  Her glare did not let up after the confession, but it did freeze completely except for the tiny twitch of the corner of her lips.  "Peregrine accepted you?" she asked slowly, embarrassment threatening to consume her entire being.  Maybe she'd heard him wrong.  Maybe he was just making shit up!  Or.. maybe she was an insane bitch that had just given the world's worst welcome-to-the-pack known to wolfkind.

The female remained angry as she stared upon Pantaleimon and asked for a confirmation of what Pan had just said. Pantaleimon swallowed dryly and said, "Y-yes," ears flattened against her head while she looked away, to the water. She did not dare look the female in the eye, too afraid to see one of many things: embarrassment, of which Pan would be the cause; anger, not caring that Peregrine had accepted Pan and wanting to hurt her regardless of what's what; or any other emotion, because no matter what expression would be upon the female's face, Pantaleimon guessed it would be awful for one of them, and that meant it would be awful for Pantaleimon, who would have failed in keeping one of the female residents of Redhawk Caldera pleased.

Y-yes...

Fin stared blankly at the wolf as he responded, her mind spinning as she tried to decide what to do.  Obviously she should admit her mistake and apologize profusely.  There probably needed to be some begging involved to ensure that he never mentioned this to Peregrine (Fox could know - she'd think it was hilarious).  For a wolf that tended to make a crapton of mistakes, she wasn't very good at dealing with the fallout.  As was likely evidenced by what she did when finally she unfroze from her panic.

"Welcome to the Caldera!!" Finley cried out suddenly, hopping forward into a play bow with her tail wagging frantically.  She gave him her best, biggest smile, forcing mirth to replace the embarrassment in her eyes.  "I was just messing with you, buddy!" she chirped brightly, totally lying her ass off, but hopefully making it work anyway, "What's a welcome-to-your-new-home without a little good-natured hazing, eh?  Eh??" 

There was an awkward moment of silence in which Pantaleimon just stared at the water and wished for the moment to be over as soon as possible. When the silence was broken by the female by leaping forward into a play bow, Pantaleimon visibly startled, ears flattening against neck and flinching uncomfortably. Luckily for the stranger, Pantaleimon wasn't staring anywhere near her face, not daring to show the slightest sign of confidence in fear of it being mistaken for something or other.

While she explained that she was just messing with Pan, Pantaleimon awkwardly nodded. She knew nothing of traditions in these parts, so for all she knew, it might have been true. Uncomfortably she asked, "Should, uhm... s-should I expect more of these, uhm... 'hazings'?" Pantaleimon didn't know the word, although its meaning was evident by the way she had been treated. If she should expect more, then at least Pantaleimon could mentally prepare for more of this, and maybe she'd handle it a bit better next time. Pan wasn't sure what a good way to handle this would be, but it probably wasn't anywhere near how she had handled it.

Fin bit her lip as she awaited her packmate's reaction.  He gave it after only a moment of hesitation in which he apparently was trying to figure out what the crap was going on.  Her ears slipped back at his question, at which she laughed brusquely.  "Yeah, I doubt it," the beta answered, perfectly honestly as she was the only one dumb enough to mistake Pan for a trespasser and also likely the only one obnoxious enough to actually haze him as a joke, "Nah, they leave that up to me.  Hope I didn't freak you out too badly, Panna.. Panty... Pan."

It was a relief that this should be the only 'hazing' that Pantaleimon was going to get. She did not like them one bit, too frail and insecure to really take any of that stuff. When the stranger asked if she hadn't freaked Pan out too much, she quickly shook her head. "No," Pan lied, but it was only a white lie to make the strange female feel better if she felt bad.

"What, uhm... What's your name?" Pantaleimon asked carefully, not wanting to overstep her priviledges but eager to learn who this crazy wolf was nevertheless. She followed up with a quiet, "Do you want to fish?" As that's what she'd been doing in the first place, and she was eager to do something she excelled at rather than, well, this.

Pan insisted that he hadn't been too bothered by Fin's display, which she was fairly certain was a lie.  The man had very nearly wet himself in his desperation to show her submission after all, a fact that had simply irritated her before, but she now felt thoroughly guilty about.  "Good man!" she said with a grin and a pleased prod to his shoulder.


With that, she was quite ready to leave him be and go find a hole to crawl into where she could die of shame.  To her surprise however, Pan did something rather unexpected - Asked for her name and invited her to fish with him.  Fin regarded him with a startled expression.  He seriously wanted her to stick around?  After how she'd bullied him?  What a peculiar dude...

"I'm Finley," the beta replied after a moment, her look of confusion fading away into a warm smile, "And yeah, sure.  I love fishing!"  Actually, she rather hated fishing, but if he could lie to save face, then so could she.

The female introduced herself as Finley, a name that Pantaleimon recognised: she was one of the Betas. The more important half of the Beta pair; the Beta Female. This only confirmed Pantaleimon's thoughts further; it was good that she had submitted to the female, even if she had been irritated (or pretended to be) at the time. If it was a test of any sort, then surely Pantaleimon had to have passed it.

With a frail smile on her lips, Pantaleimon turned back to the water. "H-how do you usually fish?" asked Pantaleimon. "I know some, uhm, chase them, or s-something, but I usually just stand still for some time. Then the f-fish come closer, so you can grab them." Pantaleimon walked up to her belly into the water and waited there, looking at Finley to see what she preferred.

Finley stepped into the water a few feet away from Pantaleimon, but parallel to him so that she could keep an eye on his actions.  She had no intention of pretending to be some sort of expert at fishing - after all, she knew there wouldn't be any use since he was about to see in her action anyway.  Her best bet was to try and copy the obviously more talented Pan.


"I uh... I'm more the chase 'em type," Fin admitted with a sheepish grin, "I mean, I try to be the stand-still-and-wait type, but I'm not all that good at being patient."

"Oh," Pantaleimon said when Finley said that she was better at chasing them than standing still and catching. She supposed that it was another way to do it. Pantaleimon instructed, "You can chase them f-from the other side, over there, uhm... I'll try to catch then." In the same amount of time, Pan might've caught a fish by herself, but she knew all too well how to include and please others, particularly females, of the pack who were not as knowledgeable about the prizes of the sea -- or in this case, lake -- just yet.

Pantaleimon waited in place until Finley would go to the directed place, and chase the fish her way. In the meantime, fish were already beginning to gather around Pantaleimon's feet, but she would not snap at them yet; instead waiting for the wave of fish that Finley would send her way.

She could see her companion deflate a little at her response.  Her tail slipped back and forth across the top of the water, making ripples that she watched dance steadily past her forelegs.  His suggestion brought a smile to her face.  Instead of politely encouraging her to get some practice at her patience, he devised a way that she could be just as energetic as she wanted to be and they might still end up catching a fish or two.


"You got it," Fin replied brightly before wading along the shore.  Once she'd made it a decent enough distance away, she aimed to wade into deeper waters.  She eventually decided she was satisfied with her position, standing with the water about halfway up her sides and her toes nice and squished in the sand.  She turned to aim towards Pan then, giving him a bright smile and a yip or two to let him know that she was poised and ready for the chasing.

Finley seemed pleased with the suggestion of chasing so that she would not have to try and be patient. Patience was one of Pantaleimon's fortes, so it was alright that she would hold this position and Finley would chase. Even if they would catch an equal amount of fish, at least they would do it together, as pack mates. As a new member of the pack, Pantaleimon could use some pack mate bonding.

After Finley had taken position and looked at Pantaleimon, Pan nodded at her Beta Female, hoping she'd catch the signal. She then waited for Finley to chase the fish her way.

Fin waited until she saw the significant nod from Pantaleimon before she sprang forward to chase the fish towards him.  It was difficult of course, considering the ground beneath her feet slipped easily out from under her and she had the density of the water to force herself through.  But, with the difficulty came the necessary tumult of splashing and churning water that would send the fishies jetting right towards her packmate.

When she came within a few feet of Pan, Fin turned to surge a path towards the shore.  When the water was just an inch or so below her belly, she stopped and turned back to see if he'd had any luck snatching one or two fish for their lunch.  Her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she panted, dripping wet and breathless from the fun of the "hunt".

Adrenaline rushed through Pantaleimon's veins as Finley chased the fish closer and closer. She waited patiently while the fish that had already gathered around her feet fled in fear for the coming wave and wolf. Pan closely looked at the fish in the water and ducked her head down into the water to try and catch one of the fish that swam past her feet, fleeing from Finley.

Pan managed to snatched one of the fish, and once she snapped her jaws around it, taking it from the water, Pan instantly turned around and threw it towards the shore. Since Finley had gone fast there were no more fish left around Pan's feet, so she splashed towards the shore, where the fish was flopping out its last breaths.

Considering Finley was both Beta and female, Pantaleimon looked from fish to Finley and then dropped her head and tail, waiting for the Beta to eat. If she then thought Pan to deserve a meal, they could always hunt together; or Pan could catch some on her own once Finley was gone.

Wanna fade out in your next post and we can has a new one soon? :D

Fin grinned broadly once she spotted Pan with a fish clasped tightly in his jaws.  She gave her coat a good, hard, sending drops of water flying away from her body every which way.  Once she settled, her coat was nice and fluffy with little spikes all over.  She paid it no mind, though.  She'd always been preoccupied with her appearance, but she was completely confident that she looked devastatingly gorgeous no matter what state her fur was in.


Just as was expected of a subordinate, Pan was quick to bow away from the kill he'd tossed at Finley's feet.  The beta regarded it for a moment - she was rather hungry.  Leaning down, she dug her teeth into the soft flesh of the fish's belly, crunching right through the bones to swallow a couple of mouthfuls.  Her hunger mildly sated for the moment, she turned her attention back to Pan.

"Wanna do it again?" she asked, her tail wagging.  She was happy to help him out for as long as it took to get him fed as well.  After all, she kind of owed him for being a total piece of crap.

yes, that's fine :D i'll archive :3

As expected, Finley ate the fish. Pan had not been that hungry, and had mostly intended to catch something to present to Fox, although she found herself growing a little hungry when she watched Finley eat.

When the Beta Female suggested going for another run, Pantaleimon nodded in silent agreement. Though hunting the fish alone would likely be faster, it would be good for teamwork to try and hunt with the pack's Beta.

The two fished for a little while, gathering some more fish until both their appetites were sated. Pan ended up forgetting to fish one extra to bring to Fox, and ended up weaseling out of visiting Fox that very day, to begin with. The two wolves went their separate ways, and Pan scoured the borders for a little while before going inland, deeper into the Caldera's territory, again.