We both know we can't go without it

Nightjar frequently left the rendezvous site, which was very naughty of him, but today he was being particularly more naughty than usual. Normally he remained well within the Caldera's territory when he wandered, but today he was at the borders, an obviously dangerous place for a puppy to be. He didn't think it was very dangerous for a "masterful" Warrior like himself, but that opinion wasn't shared by most adults in the pack. He was sure to be found soon, for there was almost always someone watching him, but for now he lingered there with his chest inflated.

He just wanted to be like the other Wardens of the pack. If he wasn't able to tend the borders, then he couldn't be a Warden, and he wanted very much to be both Warden and Warrior. Besides, Fox had taken Wildfire out of the territory not long ago, so Nightjar naively thought this was perfectly okay, which is why he'd gone this far in the first place.

The young Redleaf-DiSarinno sniffed around the base of one of many rocks that were drenched in the scents of any wolf who happened to come along the borders. The myriad of scents was so interesting to him that, although he knew almost everyone they belonged to, he spent a full minute inspecting the stone with his nose before he began walking again, this time parallel to the borders.

After her confusing meet-up with Reek at Redtail Rise, Pantaleimon returned home exhausted. She'd returned home as soon as she could, not taking much pause, and found that she really wished she had. Pan wanted to talk to Peregrine really badly, even though she didn't really know what to talk about. Besides the fact that Pan could never explain exactly how she felt about what she was, Pantaleimon knew that he would never want a solitary lover in herself. He had Fox, and he could probably get any male he wanted -- well, except for Reek, obviously -- so why would he ever want only Pantaleimon in his life? It was a stupid thought, but the thought remained, and Pantaleimon found herself torn between confronting him and leaving the Caldera to stop herself from hurting herself every single day she watched Perry not be hers, or just... dragging along, pretending things were fine, and taking second place as boy toy for granted. The worst thing was that the second option appealed to her the most, even though she knew in her head she needed to think about the long term. It was hard to, though, when the short term was so sweet.

When Pan arrived upon Redhawk Caldera's borders, she was surprised to see one of Fox and Perry's kids hanging out there. She'd met Nightjar once or twice, but they had never spent any private time together. Pan was surprised to see him hanging out at the borders, but then again, all wolves -- including the pups -- had been asked to pick up a warrior or warden trade. If she remembered correctly Nightjar had picked warden -- hadn't Perry said something about that? -- so maybe he was just practising. Pan looked around to see if there was anyone with him, but there was no one she could decipher.

Since Pantaleimon knew little about what the pups were and weren't allowed to do at this age, she decided not to fuss too much about it. Pan trotted towards Nightjar and called out to him -- "Hi!" -- while she fell in step with his patrol. "Are you out patrolling?" she asked gingerly, feeling kind of dumb for asking -- what else was he doing? -- and she hoped that Nightjar would be able to appreciate her company.

Nightjar's patrol was uneventful. Even though he was overly stimulated by all the scents in the borderlands and only went a quarter of a mile in an hour for stopping to sniff every five seconds, there wasn't anything much to say about it. He stood up straighter after a while, licked his chops, and was about to head back to the rendezvous site when his eyes caught on a white figure in the distance.

Immediately, the aspiring young Warden seized the opportunity. He padded right past the furthest scent marking of the pack and took a few steps into the neutral land beyond. Here he stopped, directly in Pantaleimon's line of sight and path, and he bristled and snarled with all the ferocity he had. Apparently he had a lot, for his expression would've frightened him if he could see it. It was a perfect snarl, and he was the perfect picture of a pissed off guardian wolf. Whoever this approaching wolf was, they weren't going to get past him, not in a million years.

The oncoming male called out to him and, recognizing the voice, the young aspiring Warden deflated. His fur smoothed back, his ears fell to the sides, and his tail, which was still erect over his hips, began to swing side to side in a relaxed wag. It drooped until it hung neutrally the closer Pantaleimon got, and as soon as the male was close, Nightjar padded forward to brush his whole body against the other wolf's side. If asked why, he wouldn't be able to explain; his instincts told him to do it, so he did.

"Yeah!" he answered brightly with a toothy grin. Seconds ago, the flash of his teeth was a very obvious threat, but Nightjar now meant it kindly. "Did I do it right?" he wondered then. Did I scare you? he wanted to ask, but he didn't want to find out that he'd actually upset anyone if that was the case.

The display of defensiveness did not go unnoticed to Pantaleimon. When she called out and came into sight the agression flattened, falling off Nightjar, but she had seen his reaction when she first approached. Though Pan did not know much about being a Warden beside what her instincts told her and what she had learned as a Siren -- well, Consort -- she knew enough because she was a wolf, like Nightjar.

A smile found its way onto Pan's face when Nightjar brushed himself against her side in greeting and responded enthusiastically in regards to his Wardenship. Pan easily responded with a smile, feeling more at ease around the pups of the pack than any of its other members (as a matter of fact, Reek was probably the only adult that made her feel as at ease as Fox' and Perry's pups did, especially after how cool he'd been about the whole gender thing). "Oh, yes, I was very scared," she said with a genuine smile on her face. "I wish I was as fierce a warden as you, uhm... Maybe you could teach me a thing or two..?" Pantaleimon looked hopefully at Nightjar, hoping to inspire him to teach her a thing or two. It didn't matter if it was things that she was already aware of or not, since her goal was mostly to make Nightjar feel good about himself and practise what it was like to teach something to another wolf.

Without hinting at his intention, Nightjar began to pad along the border again, presumably with Pantaleimon in tow. What little time they'd spent in one another's company seemed irrelevant now. Nightjar was as open with strangers as he was with close family, having no reason to behave differently in either situation; the pale-furred male may as well have been his best friend. His tail swayed comfortably as he walked, and he displayed just the right amount of deference while maintaining a sort of fierce swagger to deter outsiders from their land.

He was only just four or five months old, but Nightjar was growing up to be a strong defender and fighter, with fierce territoriality coming up as one of his primary traits. Fearlessness was another, but whether it was because he was really brave or really stupid remained to be seen.

Pantaleimon asked for some points, which Nightjar was very happy to give. Anything to make himself seem like a master at his craft! "Well first you gotta pee on a lot of things," the young Warrior explained, "like this!" And just like that, he stopped in his tracks, hiked his leg (without the need to balance against something, for once, though he did wobble), and splashed the ground with a short stream of urine. It trickled off imperfectly, but he was still learning to control that. "That way everyone knows it's yours and they can't have it." Every wolf who marked the Caldera lands claimed them as their own. 

"Then if someone tries to have it," he went on, "then you gotta fight 'em. You gotta get real mean looking and you gotta growl at them and try to bite them and keep doing it 'til they go away." He didn't demonstrate this one, mainly because he'd already given a demonstration when he first threatened Pantaleimon, and also because Nightjar wasn't able to be so convincing when he knew he was facing off against a pack mate. He had to believe the wolf was an outsider to do his very best aggressive face.

Pantaleimon quickly followed Nightjar, glad to be able to patrol the borders with another wolf. She was tired from her journey, but Pan wanted to show her diligence about patrolling anyway; show how serious she was about the task that had been given to her by her Alphas. It was good to see that the Alphas' children took it equally serious.

Nightjar went on to explain a thing or two about patrolling the borders. He showed how to pee on things -- which of course Pan knew about, even though she had never done so in previous packs herself; but she nodded with interest anyway -- and even explained why that was necessary. Pan considered peeing too, to show that she had understood the lesson, but she didn't want to make it seem like she was undermining Nightjar's authority here either.

Pantaleimon nodded while she silently listened to Nightjar explain about fighting for your lands. She didn't imagine he'd actually had to fight anyone off so far, but couldn't help but ask, anyway: "Did you ever have to fight for something?" Maybe not for land, but perhaps he had fought with his siblings over a favourite toy, or something of the sorts. "Like maybe with uhm, Wildfire? Or do you guys share everything?"

They'd made it nearly a mile already. Nightjar parted from Pantaleimon's side briefly to skirt around a wayward boulder, which he marked as well, then rejoined the pale sylph-like wolf. By now they were reaching the scrubbiest part of the pack's borderlands, where the ground was dotted with stiff shrubs and bushes and trees were few and far between. Having never been here, Nightjar paused momentarily to survey the air and the ground with his nose, all the while twitching his good ear every few seconds for unfamiliar sounds.

There was no trouble on the border today and not even a coyote stirred among the shrubs, so he continued walking just as Pantaleimon asked about fighting with his siblings. The most intense fights he'd had with either Raven or Wildfire were still just practice fights. Nothing serious had ever occurred between them, though at times Nightjar did feel neglected or forgotten by his sisters, who seemed to spend a hell of a lot more time together than either of them did with him. It was one of his few non-instinctual feelings, but it was also rare that he noticed it affecting him. It certainly wasn't big enough to pick a fight over.

"No, just practice," he rumbled as he stopped and very suddenly rolled over onto his back. His tank was feeling a little empty, but he knew this was effective in its own way. His hair would remain on the ground, tangled with the rough foliage, and that would serve as enough of a marking for any wolf that was, well, a wolf. "I don't have things to fight over," he said, and the concept of it puzzled him immensely. Wildfire believed she owned the badger den, for instance, and he didn't understand that either. Anyone could go into the badger den, so it wasn't really hers, at least in his opinion. But in his opinion, everything and anything was communal and possessions didn't make sense, so that definitely coloured his views.

Pantaleimon watched Nightjar as he marked the territory's borders, allowing him to do the work while she tagged along. She figured it made him feel good and anyway, it wasn't like Pan really needed any practise. Besides, Nightjar was son of Peregrine and Fox, so it made sense that he would be the one to spread his -- and their -- scent all over the borders.

A smile tugged at Pan's lips when Nightjar mentioned having nothing to fight over with his siblings. How nice. She watched as he rolled on the ground, and when he got up sniffed the ground briefly. She wasn't sure why she did it as she did, but when she caught a little bit of Peregrine's scent along the ground, whether it was from Nightjar's fur or older markings, she felt a pleasant tingling in her gut.

Pantaleimon diverted herself by thinking back to her own siblings; they'd started out so great, but over time the differences between them had become painfully clear. "I had two sisters too," Pan shared. She said it as though she was going to add something, but ended up just trailing off. After she'd said it, Pan suddenly wasn't so sure what she had wanted to say. Maybe she was looking for something she and Nightjar had in common.

The warden-to-be continued on his patrol, sparing no more than a glance at Pantaleimon every few seconds to show he was still paying attention. Truth be told, Nightjar was much more comfortable holding conversations if he was doing something at the same time. He wasn't bright, but action seemed to be the key to focusing his thoughts; as long as he was doing something, other things came more easily. Standing around and conversing didn't work for him and made him bored more often than not.

Thankfully, he was able to keep them moving by doing no more than pressing on. Pantaleimon kept pace, whether because the pale male liked Nightjar's company or because he was training to be a warden as well. The pup paced ahead a few feet to rub his side against one of the taller shrubs, then he turned sidelong to watch Pantaleimon, and it was at that moment the man mentioned he also had sisters.

That was interesting. Something else they had in common. If Nightjar didn't know any better about Pantaleimon's personality, he would've thought Pan to be the most similar of all wolves to himself. Still, they shared some similarities.

"Did they like you?" Nightjar asked quite suddenly, before adding, "mine don't like me, I think."

Pantaleimon felt kind of silly for mentioning seemingly random facts, searching for something in common with Nightjar, and for something to talk about. She sometimes forgot that there were plenty of other wolves who didn’t mind being silent without feeling uncomfortable.

A smile crept across Pan’s face when Nightjar seemed to respond positively, glad that they had something in common. She stared absently at the shrub he’d rubbed against for a moment. She sniffed it briefly, seemed content with its scent – Redhawk – and looked up at Nightjar when he asked if Pan’s sisters had liked her.

At the confession he thought his sisters did not like him, Pan’s face creased into a sad frown. She wanted to ask why, but decided to answer his question first. ”We were kinda close, I – I guess. Well, until, uhm… ‘til we were about your age, I guess. When they found out I was a boy, wasn’t, uhm, a Siren, like them.” Pan shifted her weight uncomfortably as she explaind, and she realized only then that she had never spoken a word to Perry and Fox’ pups about her heritage.

”What makes you think your sisters don’t like you?” Pantaleimon asked Nightjar, hoping it was something fleeting or fixable, or maybe just a feeling. She’d never heard Raven or Wildfire speak ill of Nightjar, at least.

A mouse scurried across their path, causing the younger wolf to start. He took a stutter step forward, almost giving in to the sudden urge to chase it, but he regained control of his body when Pantaleimon spoke just behind him. He shook his head. He was supposed to be guarding the borders. He couldn't go running off after mice!

Lolling his tongue, the wolf redoubled his efforts and picked up his pace. At the same time, he glanced over at Panteleimon, who had just used a totally unfamiliar word. "What's a siren?" he asked. It had something to do with sisters. He caught that much. Beyond that, he didn't know what made a siren different from a sister. Maybe a siren was like a super sister. That would be pretty cool. But Nightjar found it hard to believe that a wolf could be more than just a wolf, and so he didn't really know how a sister could become a super sister if they were a wolf. They'd need special powers and wolves couldn't have those.

His logic was definitely flawed in favour of nature, which was unfortunate for his imagination, which shriveled up a little bit more every day.

When asked about his own siblings, Nightjar stopped for the first time in his patrol and lifted his broadening shoulders into a shrug. "They don't spend time with me," he said, a little sadly. Wildfire and Raven seemed to spend a lot of time together, but it was rare that they ever sought him out. To be fair, he didn't often seek them out either. Maybe he would change that, or maybe he would continue spending all his time training. It would probably largely depend on how Pantaleimon responded.

Pantaleimon had not seen the mouse, though she had noticed Nightjar's reaction to it. For a moment she considered asking what startled him, but then saw he was calm again and decided to continue the conversation instead.

Nightjar asked about sirens, and Pan hesitated a moment before she explained, considering what she would say - and not say. "A siren, uhm... It's something only girls can be, in the pack where I came from." Pantaleimon looked as sad as saying that made her feel, even though she hadn't intended to. While she had other things now, here, Pan remembered being a Siren, if only for a little while, until she found out what she really was.

When Nightjar explained that his sisters didn't spend time with him, Pan offered: "If you want to spend time with them, maybe you should spend time with them instead. I'm sure they'll see how much fun they could have with you then." She wasn't sure if it would help any, but in Pan's experience, other wolves often strayed away and drifted apart because they both thought the other did not like them, when reality was often much different than what they thought.

"Oh." While Pantaleimon hadn't answered the question very well, Nightjar wasn't all that curious, so it fell away without any further prompting from him. If only girls could be sirens, then Nightjar didn't need to know anything else about it, as he was most definitely a boy.

Then Pantaleimon came out with the idea that Nightjar should spend time with his sisters. To him, it was a novel idea. He hadn't really thought of it that way. He hadn't really thought of it at all, except to feel like his sisters didn't like him. He shot the pale male a grateful smile, then turned his feet inward, thereby concluding their patrol. There was nothing to see on the borders and no sense in going all the way around when Peregrine was surely prowling the other side of the caldera.

"Thanks," Nightjar said genuinely. He knew the meaning of the word and it was one of those things he only said when he meant it, not as some pleasantry. "I'll try!" Maybe Wildfire and Raven would reject him, but Nightjar felt that Pantaleimon must be right, being an adult. So with a respectful nudge to the older wolf's jaw, the pup set off for the rendezvous site, intent on dragging his sisters into a game of tag if they were there.

The patrol was concluded, it seemed, and Pantaleimon followed Nightjar a little bit inland while he thanked her for her advice. Pantaleimon smiled fondly as he said he would try it out, and she hoped that it would work out well for him. She briefly touched her nose to his cheek after he nudged her chin. "Good luck," Pantaleimon told Nightjar as he ran off towards the rendezvous site. She hoped he'd find Raven and Wildfire there and that they could spend time together, but she was sure that it would work out. All three were lovely pups, after all, and so in Pan's mind, there was no other option than them getting along if they'd all put forth some effort.

After Nightjar had vanished from sight, Pantaleimon turned back towards the borders. She didn't think it was really necessary to patrol further, but a part of her hoped that she would find Peregrine there, run into him, and be able to spend some time with him. And so, Pan set off along the borders, for a patrol, either solitary or alongside her lover if she found him.