Redtail Rise knock knock

Pantaleimon had travelled a while to get to Redtail Rise; the pack's territories were farther away than she had thought at first, and it had taken a while befores he found the right place; she had no map to steer herself in the right direction, after all. When she finally reached the pack, Pantaleimon made sure to stay back from the pack's territories; when she first smelled that another wolf had marked the territory, she halted, staying well beyond the borders.

Pan sat down there and threw her head back to call for @Reek . She wondered what had happened that he had departed from Redhawk Caldera without waiting for Pantaleimon to drop by; hopefully nothing bad, for Pantaleimon had not forgotten Reek, despite the short time they had shared their lives in Ankyra Sound, and she wished no ill upon him. Pan sat there and waited around midday, accompanied by a pleasant sun. She looked in the direction of the ocean briefly and let out a wistful sigh; the sea was so far away from Redhawk Caldera. It felt like forever since she had stood in its salty shallows, the waves lapping at her anckles...

Pants.

Tired eyes snapped awake when a familiar howl rose up in the distance. Reek roused himself from his midday nap and sprung to his paws in a quick and clumsy motion, causing him to knock around his den on wobbly knees.  Flailing like an excited madman, Reek peeled out of his humble hole in the ridge and sprinted his way to the border toward his friend and source of the howl.  

In truth, Reek's attempt to visit at Redhawk Caldera had been a disaster of epic proportions.  However, the fault lied with the raggedy wolf and his in-ability to hold his tongue.  But still, that didn't stop Reek from holding a grudge against the alpha male, especially because of the wounds he had inflicted.  The gash across his face had begun to scab over a peel away, but the scar it will leave would always remain a permanent reminder.

"Pants!" Shouted Reek once Pantaleimon came into eyeshot.  He doubled his pace until he arrived by his friends side. "Have I got so much stuff to tell you... But first!  How've you been buddy?"  The raggedy wolf smiled from ear to ear and his tail wagged excitedly behind him.  

Pantaleimon's patience was rewarded when Reek came into view. Pan's tail wagged excitedly as he came into view, and she bumped her nose softly into his shoulder in greeting. The first thing Pantaleimon noticed was the gash across Reek's face, causing a worried flattening of ears. Pantaleimon had learned that most males did not like to be fawned over, however, so she repressed the urge to instantly inspect her friend's wound.

"What happened?" asked Pantaleimon with a worried frown upon her face. Then, upon realising she had not answered Reek's query, she swiftly answered, "I'm good. The new pack's... It's pretty good. Just k-kinda nervous sometimes and don't always know how to... y'know, uhm... culture and stuff... But it's good. They've been k-kind." Pantaleimon had gotten more than she could have hoped, even if she was not fitting that well into the Caldera thus far. It would get better, she told herself, she just needed to try harder.

"Oh, this?" Asked Reek, motioning with a forepaw to the gash on the bridge of his snout.  To the injury that had been inflicted by Pantaleimon's leader himself, Peregrine.  "Does it look bad? I dunno— but, I think it makes me look... tough?"  The raggedy wolf couldn't help but wheeze a quick chuckle.  Tough was the last thing he looked, and he knew it.  Although Reek looked as if he had been run through the gauntlet, his frail frame and jovial demeanor detracted from his generally rugged appearance. 

"Funny thing is," he continued to explain. "I came to visit you... but you already know that, you obviously heard my howl.  Wish I could have stayed though, but, Mr. Alpha Male didn't take kindly to a few, er, minor comments I made about his parenting style after I patched up his unsupervised kid.  Ergo... gash."  

Although Reek had not been treated with such kindness after he shot off at the mouth, he was quite glad that Pantaleimon had found a proper home, especially one that would treat him as an equal.  "Obviously, I may not be the biggest fan of you're pack choice... but, I couldn't be more happy for you buddy."  Reek bent down to give Pants' a brotherly bump on the shoulder with one of his forepaws.  

Pantaleimon smiled awkwardly when Reek said that he thought the gash made him look tough, unable to find the heart to tell him that it did not. The story that followed after, however, soon made Pantaleimon's smile fall off her face. She could not believe that Peregrine would hurt another wolf: he was always such a friendly wolf, and he had been even when she was a stranger from a conflicting pack when they had first met. It made no sense to Pantaleimon, and it was visible on her face that this caused conflicting feelings within.

Reek concluded that he wasn't the biggest fan of Pantaleimon's pack choice, which caused Pan to shrink a little (well, as far as she could, considering her large and broad build), even if Reek followed up saying that he was happy for Pantaleimon. "M-maybe I should've come with you," Pantaleimon murmured, although she knew that the world was not simply built up out of packs that were perfect and packs that were not. The world was a cruel place, and her words made no sense; she knew nothing of Redtail Rise. For all she knew, this place was as bad. And anyway, Redhawk Caldera had treated her well. Realising this after she had pledged loyalty to the Caldera, Pan quickly said, "Never mind, I shouldn't have said that."

Pantaleimon looked at the gash again, ears falling back, and said, "B-but I can't imagine P-perry would hurt someone like that, he... he's such a gentle wolf, I... thought. I g-guess wolves get protective over their pups." Pantaleimon did not wish to suggest that Reek had done something wrong, so she wisely kept her thoughts to herself that maybe Reek had said or done something offensive, beside saving the pup. "But I'm g-glad you saved the puppy. Uhm... which one was it?"

The raggedy wolf couldn't help but crack a smile when Pantaleimon let slip that he, possibly, should have followed Reek out of Ankyra Sound along with Wynter.  Despite the urge to shout 'well duh,' at his friend, Reek refrained.  If Pant's was happy, he was happy too.  However, a part of Reek did wish that Pants would have followed him into freedom instead of going to Redhawk Caldera.  With the decision to go their separate ways, Reek had lost his best-friend, his brother, to a group he now deemed less than desirable.  

However, his statement was quickly redacted in typical Pantaleimon fashion.  Although Reek wasn't one of those everything happens for a reason types, perhaps the random string of events and misfortune that the two faced, led them to the best possible outcome.  If Pant's had tagged along, who knows if Reek would have grown so close to Wynter.  Maybe their mateship would have never become official.

Pantaleimon went on to describe his alpha as a gentle man, and thanked Reek for his actions.  "Gentle... is the last word I'd use to describe him," Reek mused from behind a quick and awkward chuckle.  As long as the guy was nice to Pantaleimon, that was all that mattered.  "The pup, on the other-hand was as good as gold.  Sweet little thing... Wildfire or something.  All I know is she was red... and swollen."

"But that's unimportant," stated Reek as he tried to change the subject.  "I should probably tell you the reason I came to Redhawk Caldera to see you.  I, er, wanted to bring you news."  Reek paused to think of how to condense everything that had happened to him since Ankyra into a short snippet, and decided that doing that would be next to impossible.  Instead, he decided to divulge only the important details.  "You remember Wyn? We— we, uh, tied the knot a couple weeks ago.  We're planning to start a family, here... at the Rise!"

It was hard to imagine Peregrine assaulting anyone to Pantaleimon. He had been kind even before Pan had been a part of Redhawk Caldera. Now, the paradise Pan once thought the Caldera to be, a path to freedom that she could carve for herself, it didn't seem like such a lovely place. However, Pantaleimon did not wish ill upon the Caldera; it was still her home, and she would not repay Peregrine's kindness in taking her in, a wolf with a decent skillset and resume but without the social skills to sell herself, by betraying her pack over a spat with her friend.

Pan had not gotten to know the pups up close and personal yet, but she remembered Wildfire from when the pack went to the water to teach them to swim. Pantaleimon nodded as Reek mentioned her.

"If, uhm... If you visit again, you can call me from neutral territory," Pantaleimon instructed, not wanting Reek and Peregrine to get into a spat again. They were probably Pan's two most liked wolves, but as long as Peregrine had little pups to protect, introducing them to each other was a bad idea.

Then Reek went on to say why he had come to the Caldera. While Pantaleimon only vaguely remembered Wynter and had never met her up close and personal, Pan smiled at Reek. "Oh! I..." Pantaleimon felt a pang of envy that she was no longer a part of Reek's life, felt jealous of Wynter for having him all to herself and for a moment, longed to be closer to Reek herself. She forced the smile to hold up while she hastily brought out: "That's great!"

Going back to the caldera was rather low on Reek's list of priorities after the disaster that ensued during his first and only visit.  Although he considered Pantaleimon to be his best friend, Reed didn't see any future visits happening anytime soon.  If Pants wanted to see him, he would have to come to the rise.  "If I make it down that way, I'll howl for you," Reek replied, hoping to diffuse the situation without straight out telling his friend that he wouldn't be coming back.  There were no hard feelings, but the caldera had made their point very clear.

"—But, you always have a place here at the Rise buddy," he continued, giving Pantaleimon an option to reach out himself.

"There's more Pants..." he continued, noting Pantaleimon's forced smile.  "I want you to stay. When me and Wyn eventually have our children, I want Uncle Pants to be there with us.   Er, as a, well— permanent fixture.  I know you're loyal to the Caldera and I don't want to pull you away from that, but I want you to consider it. Can you do that, for me?"

Pantaleimon did not expect a visit any time soon, but maybe things would diffuse over time and maybe they could all laugh of this one day. Peregrine was no an unreasonable wolf -- surely he would be able to get along with Reek in due time. Pan wasn't sure if Reek could just invite other wolves like that, offering a place at the Rise. His Alpha would have to agree, of course, and Pantaleimon knew that she was not that good at first impressions, even though she could hunt quite admirably and knew that she could make herself useful for packs that way.

Despite her doubt if Reek could invite her like that, Pantaleimon offered a soft "thanks" and a meek smile in reply.

When Reek posed the next question -- and extended the next offer -- Pantaleimon looked taken aback. She had offered her loyalty to the Caldera; surely she could not just wander off again. Pan also was not sure if it would be the life she wanted here, only to be there for Reek's pups with Wynter. And there was Peregrine, at the Caldera... "Uhm, thanks," Pantaleimon offered in mumbles. "I'll think about it. Can you... I mean, w-what does your Alpha think of this?" Surely, whoever Reek's Alpha was, he or she needed to agree with what Reek offered; Pantaleimon would not just leave the Caldera to settle somewhere else without any certainty. She only knew Reek, really, after all; she'd barely even met Wynter.

Wrap up soon? Thanks for the thread!

Although Reek doubted Pantaleimon would take his offer, his friend told him he would think about it.  The thing about Pants is, he was loyal to a fault and Reek found that to be a quite respectable quality.  However, that would make it very hard to pull him away from the ties he had made in Redhawk Caldera in the past month and a half.  The qualities that made him perfect for the rise would more than likely prevent him from joining it, and that was a total downer, but the raggedy wolf still smiled and nodded along with Pantaleimon as usual.  

"I'm sure she'd be fine with it," he reassured.  "Saena's fair, if you really wanted to join up with us, I doubt she'd turn you away."

"Come on," said Reek, changing the subject as he turned on his heels toward the territory. He walked past the borderline and beckoned Pantaleimon to follow. "Le'me show you around!"  

"I'll keep it in mind," Pan said with a soft smile when Reek mentioned Saena was a fair wolf and would consider the offer. It was time for showing around then, and Pantaleimon nodded when Reek turned towards the territory and offered for Pan to come in.

Feeling a little awkward entering territories that were not her pack's, Pantaleimon followed Reek. She looked over her shoulder once before turning back to Reek. With a soft smile, she followed Reek, and would tell little tidbits about her pack -- trying to avoid Perry as much as possible -- and the pups while being shown around, before eventually turning back home again.

aight! feel free to archive this as is or write one more reply :) can't wait til the next time these two meet in whatever circumstances :p