The Sunspire Wookiee the chew

It was tempting to stay in one place at least long enough to familiarize herself with the pack's territory but Junior decided it could wait. If she was going to live on the rise, there would be plenty of time to explore it later, right? Meanwhile, there was someplace she wanted to go. She could have swung by the plateau and visited with her loved ones there but she didn't feel nearly as compelled go to there as she did to the Sunspire, to tell Tytonidae that she was back in the area.

Maybe if I stay on the move, I won't get cabin fever, Junior mused as she made the long trek further inland, then south toward the Sunspire Mountains. Unlike her previous visit, she approached from the territory's opposite side and found herself looking up at the spire's northeastern face. The Outrider lifted her voice into the air, requesting @Tytonidae, and just hoped that the pack roamed the entire mountain and not just the parts of it overlooking Kintla Flatlands.

*smothers you*

(Others welcome! :))

The last voice Ty expected to call her sang crisp and clear through the fresh spring afternoon. Osprey had come to visit, yes, but she had stated that she was going back to where she'd come from. It made sense, after all, considering she had a mate and a pack to look after. Puzzled, though not quite as elated as she'd been the last time her sister had shown up, Tytonidae responded with a short howl of her own, just to let Osprey know that she was on her way to greet her.

As she traveled down the mountainside, she wondered what could have gone wrong. Had something happened to Swordfish, Osprey's mate? Had the pack dissolved? Had she done something to make them angry? Had Osprey found their mother? Was something wrong with Peregrine? All of those seemed like reasons that her sister might come back. Most of those were, well, not happy things, so Ty approached slowly, her ears pricked forward. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon." And why do you smell so much like Saena?

Ty seemed surprised to see her and Junior could see some of the concern in her sister's eyes. "Everything's okay," she said quickly, smiling and reaching out to touch noses with her litter mate. "I decided to leave Thief River Falls... and Swordfish," she explained, including the last part a bit reluctantly. She still felt horrible about that, and probably would for a long time. "You could say commitment isn't my thing." She took a deep breath, ears pressing forward to demonstrate her self-reproach.

"Anyway," she continued after a long pause, "I wanted to let you know I was back in the area. I'm actually hanging out with Saena's new pack. I've already told her not to count on me staying put," she quipped a bit sheepishly, "but I'll be there for the next little while, at least. Did you know about her...?" As far as Junior could recall, they hadn't discussed their sister's ambitions at their last meeting. The yearling couldn't guess what Tytonidae would make of the news.

I'm sure Junior's going to love being compared to her parents, lol.

"It's okay," Ty replied, "I don't think Dad is very good at it sometimes, either. Maybe it runs in the family. Come to think of it... Mom was even worse about it." Perhaps she'd changed. Nobody seemed to know where Hawkeye had gone. At least Dad had settled down, popped out a few kids, and seemed to be pretty stable. Their mother seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. Tytonidae had never judged either of her parents for their flighty ways, even though Osprey and Saena had disowned both of them. Ty preferred to keep those conversations to a minimum, though, and a change of subject was more than welcome.

"Her pack?" Ty questioned. "You mean the plateau? But you said new pack." The yearling's brow furrowed, not quite sure what was going on. "Did she relocate? Like you did?" Tytonidae asked Osprey. That had to be it. In fact, the thought of Saena being a leader didn't even cross the sooty girl's mind. There were a dozen other questions bubbling to the forefront of Ty's mind, but she managed to hold them back for now.

The comparison made Junior's jaw clench, though only for a split second. She had actually drawn the conclusion herself, except with a different twist: she often blamed them for the way she had developed. She dismissed all of that now and flashed Ty a quick, halfhearted smile. She made a fair point, after all, and it was inevitable that Junior had inherited some of their features. Much as she was loath to acknowledge it, they shared blood and genetics.

"She left the plateau to start her own pack," Junior confirmed, bobbing her head and holding Ty's emerald gaze as she tried to gauge her reaction to the news. "She wanted to be an Alpha but wasn't sure she fit into the plateau's leadership. So she's doing her own thing at a place called Redtail Rise. I don't know where the two of you stand but I'm sure it would be okay if you visited... if you wanted," she was quick to add.

So many feels.

Saena was... an Alpha? Already? Tytonidae supposed she should have been supportive of her sister, but Osprey's words only stung. "I'm sure it would be okay if you visited." Not "join us!" or "we'd love to have you come by!" Just a neutral comment about how the two of them had run off, started their own thing, and left Tytonidae out once again. The yearling tried to smile, but it came out more like a twisted grimace. "That's, uh, cool, I guess." Now she felt even more terrible about how little she'd accomplished. Saena and Osprey had their own pack, and Tytonidae didn't have anything. She was woefully incompetent.

Ty felt her heart thrumming in her chest, a mixture of emotions flowing through her, and none of them good. It reminded her all too much of the time Osprey and Saena had been bashing their father over and over again. She knew that if she didn't leave soon, things were going to get ugly real quick. "Is that all?" she asked, perhaps a bit more curtly than intended. Saena was barely related to them, and yet Osprey seemed to like her so much more. It hurt.

Tytonidae's demeanor changed abruptly, becoming curt and icy. Junior swallowed, her ears drawing back. "No," she said softly at her sister's question, eyes searching. "Something's wrong. What is it, Ty?" Perhaps she and Saena weren't on good terms after all. Junior couldn't have guessed that her lack of invitation had hurt her sister's feelings and made her feel left out. She had no idea that Tytonidae felt overshadowed by the two of them and their accomplishments (which Junior had largely squandered anyhow).

"I want the three of us to be on good terms," Junior said in a low but firm voice. "Is there anything I can do to make that happen?"

"You and Saena just... I don't know. I thought you and me were supposed to be close," Tytonidae finished this sentiment in a mumble. "Saena didn't even talk to me. Did you know she hasn't even come to visit me once since I moved here? I know she doesn't like any of her parents, but I hardly ever did anything to her. I only called both of you out for being so mean to dad." Even Osprey had visited, and she had been far, far away. Saena had only been at the plateau.

It was like none of them really gave a damn about her. Except, of course, for their father. And some part of Ty felt like their mother cared, too. But clearly Saena continued to ignore her and pretend she didn't exist. Just like she did with the rest of her family. It was stupid. Tytonidae was extremely forgiving, but there was a point where it was not outrageous to think that the cousin she'd grown up with might ask her to be a part of the pack she'd been founding. In short, Ty felt left out. "You two are practically best friends," Ty pouted.

She was afraid Tytonidae might dismiss her or even walk away. Instead, she divulged the reason behind her sudden change in tone. Junior listened patiently, licking her lips slowly and letting her sister's words absorb. She didn't feel any more or less bonded to her biological litter mate than to her two adopted siblings, yet she wisely didn't say anything about that. In fact, she didn't say anything, letting Ty finish.

"I'm so sorry, Ty. It's hurtful when people go away and don't come back to visit," the slightly darker yearling began after a moment of thought. Ty was such a sweet spirit, it was her first instinct to agree with and placate her. "Maybe Saena thinks she's not welcome around you. If you like, I can tell her you'd love if she visited you. And I love you just as much as I love her. And Pura, wherever he is," she added.

She took a breath, her cheeks puffing briefly. "I for one would love it if you came and lived with us. But I figured you like it here, since you've been here so long. I'd never ask you to leave your pack and Summer, you know? But, I mean, if you wanted, you could totally come to Redtail Rise, I'm sure. You could bring him with you too. That could be fun. I still need to meet him," she observed with a wry smile.

Oh man, Ty is gonna not feel bad about the way she treats Osprey here once she finds out what she did. o_o

Maybe it was easy for Osprey to just glaze over her feelings and move on to happier things. And maybe Ty had been like that, too. But it wasn't as easy for her now. "I don’t know," she replied, defeat in her voice. "I need to think about it." Tytonidae sighed, feigned a smile, and shrugged. She honestly wasn't sure what she wanted to do about any of it. Ever since their falling out, things hadn't really been the same with either of her sisters. She was beginning to doubt that things would ever go back to the way that they had been.

"Tell Saena I said hi, I guess. I need to... go figure some stuff out." Yes, that was it. "I’ll see you around?" That was assuming that Osprey would come around at all after this. Maybe she'd be too put off by her sister's words. Not wanting to get pulled back into more conversation, Ty made her exit.

Her sister didn't cotton onto the idea, not that Junior had necessarily expected that. "Take all the time you need, Ty," she said softly. "I hope you feel better. And do whatever makes you happiest. I know that's a giant cliche and everything but I mean it, okay?" She bumped Tytonidae's muzzle with her own. "I will. Come see me sometime if you want, else I'll be back soon to visit you again."

With a sweep of her tail and final nudge, Junior gave her sister her time and space by withdrawing and beginning the journey back to Redtail Rise. She would definitely tell Saena about her conversation with Ty, in the hopes that the three of them could get together and put their sore pasts behind them. Her siblings were the only family she truly had left and Junior just wanted the four of them to get along.