Redhawk Caldera Round up the usual suspects

It had only been a week since the incident, yet already Wildfire felt much better. She was still sleeping more than usual and Tiger insisted that she keep eating yucky plants, yet she was able to run and play with her brother and sister and continue her Naturalist activities. She rarely, if ever, thought about the moment Junior had struck her. The visitor's unexpected attempt on her life certainly did not prevent Wildfire from enjoying the myriad of wolves who came calling to look in on her, mostly the gentle giant Sebastian. 

There was a notable absence in her slew of visitors, however. She had seen Elwood a time or two, yet Finley hadn't come by even once since the attack. Wildfire wasn't about to hold it against her aunt, though she missed her dearly. Today, she decided that if Finley couldn't come to her, she would go to Finley. Her parents didn't seem to mind that the pups had been straying from the rendezvous site, so she slipped away after lunch.

The one truly lingering effect of the incident was her inability to raise her voice. She could now speak softly, more or less, but never again would Wildfire be able to yell or even talk loudly. Howling was definitely out of the question too, at least for now. It made the search difficult, as she couldn't call her aunt's name as she meandered around the territory. She would have to rely on her senses to track the Beta female's location.

Looks like this happens after the army brats thread, but before Fox talks to Luke. Yay, timelines.

Even though the parents were more lenient on the whereabouts of their children, it did not mean that they could just go running off whenever they wished. Which was exactly why, when Fox saw Wildfire dawdling further and further away from the rest of the group, she decided to follow her. Magpie and Dove tended to be her go-to babysitters, and since the both of them were almost always around, Fox saw no problem with them watching the kids while she followed after the "runaway."

Fox kept far enough back so that Dhole wouldn't notice her right away. Not only that, but the mother was curious to see where her mini-me might be heading. Fox couldn't recall Wifi asking to go anywhere in particular today. Dhole did seem to be looking for something, though, and Fox was curious to see if she could find it on her own. If not, Fox was happy to intervene and help her out in whatever way she could. She was no excellent tracker, of course, but she did know the basics.

Wildfire heard a fly buzzing around her head and stopped, waiting for it to fly in front of her face so she could snap at it. But it never appeared. Two seconds later, she felt a stinging sensation on her neck as the insect bit one of her fresh scabs. The puppy yipped quietly and flinched. The fly zoomed away and she glared after it before trying to turn and lick her neck. Of course, she couldn't reach it.

Because of the way she was twisted, she spotted her mother in the distance and began to trot toward Fox. "Mama! A fly stinged me!" the youngster said indignantly, unaware that it had bitten her rather than stung her. She pouted for a moment before abruptly remembering out loud, "I was lookin' for Aunt Flea! I can't find her." This was said more quietly.

The only time she'd seen the Beta female had been at the brief impromptu pack meeting. The two of them hadn't interacted at all, though. Wildfire's brow furrowed and she pulled her lips tight to her teeth in a strange look of consternation. Then another thought crossed her mind that she recalled aloud, "Is Aunt Flea a Worrier?" And by that, of course, she meant Warrior. 

Wifi exclaimed that she'd been stung by a fly, to which Fox immediately feigned worry and horror. "You know what that means..." When Wildfire closed the gap between them, Fox finished her sentence. "Time to gnaw off a leg!" she said, nibbling on Wildfire's front paw with a cackle. A macabre joke, but one she hoped would get some kind of reaction. They were old enough now that Fox could finally start terrorizing them around every corner. Blowing things out of proportion, incorporating sarcasm, and most of all: scaring them half to death. It was going to be a fun year!

Not wanting to completely ignore Dhole's other concern and question about Finley, Fox answered as best as she could. "I think Finley might be sad about what happened." At least, that was the only explanation Fox could give. The times that Swiftcurrent Creek had needed to kill to protect their own, it had brought down the whole mood of the pack. "And she's not much a worrier... though she's an excellent warrior. So is Elwood, as am I. Is that what you want to be?"

Wildfire squealed and giggled, tickled by her mother's crazy sense of humor and the teeth nibbling at her foot. She used her free paw to bat at her mother's muzzle. Fox released her and the youngster liked to think she had successfully fended off her attacker, even though it was clear her mother just needed her mouth to speak.

What happened? the pup thought but did not ask outright. Instead, she thought hard about what Fox might be referencing. Ohhh. Strangely, she was perhaps among the least affected by Junior's attack. It had all happened too fast to really impact her, beyond the physical marks. She hadn't witnessed her half-sister's execution either, so that probably helped when it came to avoiding trauma.

"Yeah," the child said simply when Fox called her attention back to the subject at hand: Warriors. "How do I be a Warrior?" Wildfire wanted to know. Since the pack briefing, she had been filled in a bit more on the new military approach but there was still a lot to learn about actually becoming a fighter, especially considering she was essentially the wolfish equivalent of a Quaker.

Excellent. It seemed that, although her daughter was taken with the sky and the world around her, she also had enough of her parents' go-get-'em attitude to take interest in the more physical skills as well. "First," Fox began, "You have to act before your opponents do." Unlike a warden, warriors were meant to go out and preemptively attack before a warden was even needed. They were shit-stirrers, for sure, and it was a large part of the reason Fox had nabbed that as her first real bit of knowledge. Wardens tended to guard the borders, but warriors fought off anything that looked even remotely like a threat.

"It's a little bit like hunting, I suppose... Instead of prey, you're hunting wolves who might do you—or your family—harm. It's exactly the reason I intervened when that wolf tried to hurt you." Even mentioning it aloud caused Fox's blood to boil. Moments like that were the reason Fox had trained. "Sometimes, words don't always get the message across, so we have to use our teeth." Granted, Fox tended to use her teeth first and her words as a last resort. "A warrior is brave and never backs down in a fight." Fox let those words hang in the air, giving Dhole a chance to interject if she had any insight or questions.

Wildfire wasn't familiar with that term: opponents. Before she could ask, Fox continued, comparing the trade to hunting. The child's lips pressed together as she listened and absorbed the information. She liked the idea of helping to protect her family, never mind that she didn't have the natural build nor other proclivities of a would-be Warrior. She didn't feel any doubt, at least until her mother mentioned bravery and fighting. Wildfire's tongue swirled around in her mouth, pressing thoughtfully into her cheek.

"Can you be a brave fighter even if you're little?" was her first question. Fox had mentioned that she was a Warrior herself and Finley was one as well. Yet even though they were rather sprightly females, to Wildfire they were still big. They were adults. She was just a puppy and the smallest one, to boot. Nightjar and Raven were quickly becoming gigantic, like their dad, leaving Wildfire in their dust. She was easily the smallest member of the pack. Was she even capable of pursuing this calling?

"Of course you can!" Fox beamed. "Sometimes, it's better for the guy you're fighting to think you're not as brave, just because you're small. Pretty much every grown-up wolf is bigger than me, and I'm way braver than a lot of them," she added with a grin. Fox had never been stunted, despite her size. If anything, it had made her grow up stronger and tougher because of it. She got called names more often than she could recount... anything from "wimp" to "weakling" to "pipsqueak." She'd shown each and every one of them that she was none of those things.

Fox chuckled, remembering Perry's first nickname for her. "Even Dud used to call me 'Lil' Weenie!' Can you believe that?" she asked, tsking and shaking her head. "I think he learned his lesson after he realized what a big ol' badass I was." Cursing around the children was not something Fox had ever tried to hide (or prevent). Words were words, after all. "If you really wanted to, I'll bet you could beat up both of your siblings," she added, wanting to make sure that Dhole had enough confidence. There was absolutely no reason she couldn't be just as capable as Raven and Nightjar.

Fox responded exuberantly, making it very, very clear that size didn't matter. Wildfire grinned through her mother's spiel, her black tail waving back and forth. The puppy badly wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps by becoming the next big little thing in the Warrior realm. Wildfire giggled when Fox told her about her father's nickname for her, clicking her tongue. Then, quite abruptly, the smile vanished from her face.

"No!" she blurted, shaking her head so rapidly that her ears audibly flapped. "I would never hurt NJ and Rave!" she said emphatically. Sure, she wrestled with them from time to time but she would never purposefully harm her siblings. That was the entire point, wasn't it? She wanted to protect them. "I wanna keep them safe," she insisted, running her tongue over her lips as her amber eyes lifted briefly to Fox's face. Surely her mother had been joking about beating them up... but Wildfire still stood by her passionate response all the same.

Fox had to keep herself from laughing. "Oh dear," she said, "I meant you could beat them up in a friendly way." Squabbles among siblings were nothing out of the ordinary. The pups had always gotten along fairly well, but Fox knew the day might come when they started "fighting" more aggressively for a spot at the top. All three of them were perfectly capable children, and she had no doubt that they would each find their place: wherever that may be. "I mean... I've seen you rough-house with your brother and sister. That's more what I'm talking about." Hopefully that would clear things up for little Dhole.

"Say..." Fox said, "half the battle of being a warrior is looking the part. Show me your best mean face!" Fox waited expectantly, ready to cower in fear (no matter what Wildfire's mean face looked like).

Fox reassured her overzealous Warrior worrier that she wouldn't need to rough up her brother and sister, not really. That little black tail waved back and forth and Wildfire bobbed her head, relieved. She was certainly up to that task, so long as she didn't do any actual harm. The thought was simply unbearable for the affable youth, Warrior trainee or not.

Next, Fox wanted Wildfire to show her mother her meanest face. After only a brief pause, she began to scowl, which felt weird and goofy. But then she tried to think of something or someone unpleasant. She wound up picturing the evil fly that had stung her neck. The child's brow furrowed, her eyes lit up like lightning in a bottle and, at the last moment, she remembered to bare her teeth.

Still holding this expression, Wildfire's eyes went from fearsome to inquisitive as she looked to the Alpha female. She couldn't see herself so she had no idea if she looked like a Warrior... or a tool.

Wrap up here? Seemed like a natural fading out point. :)

Almost immediately, Fox cowered and slicked her ears back, feigning fear and horror. "Eek!" she exclaimed, shrinking herself down as small as possible. "With a mean face like that, nobody's going to want to mess with you," Fox assured her daughter, still cowering on the ground at Dhole's feet. As Wildfire grew larger and stronger, she would make an even more intimidating warrior, despite her size. Fox had no doubt that all three of her children would be fierce, driven, and unique in their own ways, but she had to admit that Wildfire was a mini me in a lot of ways. She just happened to have Peregrine's intelligence, something that her mother clearly lacked.

"Come on, let's go show Dud your warrior face!" Fox suggested, nipping at Dhole's rump to get her moving. Despite her mate's mistake, Fox still wanted him to see his children's progress, no matter how small. Besides, she couldn't not share such a fierce little beast with him.

Although she was old enough to realize her mother might be humoring her, Wildfire nonetheless relaxed her face into a beaming smile when Fox appeared frightened out of her wits. She badly wished she could see what she looked like. Maybe she would find a clear, still puddle later and make some faces at her reflection.

"'Kay!" the aspiring Warrior agreed when her mother proposed they go show her father her game face. "Can we try to sneak up and scare 'im?" she wanted to know as she fell into step, bouncing eagerly at Fox's heels.