Bearclaw Valley ocean of gold

optional!

one night ancelin dipped into the darkness and did not return for many hours. streaked in mud and dew, grinning from ear to ear, the feral father reappeared at the den with —
"it's half a bear femur," he explained to the wide eyes of @Athella and @Adalynn, @Avalita and @Athella. he glanced around as well for athalia, winking if he happened to spot her.
"i found it far from here. did you know your grandfather merrick used to worship bears?"
he let his daughters take the massive piece of ivory now, tugging it, squabbling over it; he watched them and wondered if the power which had once held this valley was held in all bears, or only a few.

the pecking order between the princesses was not yet quite established. only now were they reaching an age where dominance displays would work themselves naturally into play, and at the present moment, avalita sat smack in the center. today, however, she wanted that to change.
fearless as she was, avalita was the first to dive for the bone and sink her sharp little teeth into it. daddy's words were ignored as her eyes blazed with a competitive fury — daring her siblings to try their luck for her prize.

merrick?
athalia came and went from the den as she pleased, her visits becoming less frequent the older (more annoying) the girls got. they had teeth and claws and shrieking voices; all of these things would be rather off-putting to any teenager, but especially one like her. she liked to think she'd appreciate them more once they had a concept of personal space.
during one of her morning stop-overs, something ancelin said intrigued her — a name. merrick. a grandfather. a bruin-witch.
a grandfather she would never know was her own as well; a grandfather she was the spitting image of.
some unknown thread in her dna told her to stay, to listen. she curls up close to the entrance, head canted to one side. was merrick bearclaw?

at first, adalynn cared little over whoever this "merrick" was. if bears were this puny that even avalita could carry it, then grandfather was a complete and utter idiot. adalynn chases after avalita, refusing to let the onyx princess take what she decided is hers. avalita has had her fair share of dead things, why not herself? this was much more approachable than It anyways. this bear "femur" had no eyes to stare into, no regret that lingers even post-mortem.
but athalia — thats what she remembers her name being, anyways — approaches and asks questions that neither competing girl had yet asked. adalynn lets go of the femur and approaches. blue eyes beginning to pale look up at ancelin and athalia with wonder. if this was something the teenager had interest in, then it was probably important.

"merrick was the first bearclaw, i think," ancelin murmured, pleased to see his eldest joining them. avalita and adalynn squabbled with sharp puppy bites over the femur, and he grinned. "maybe we should worship bears."
a joke. a jest. was it? was it?
when adalynn returned, ancelin regarded her with a somber look. "merrick and astara, your grandmother, had at least two kids. my aunt avicus was one, and my dad, aventus, was another."
he kept his teeth closed over arielle and atreus. they'd left. the only reason he mentioned his father now was the keeping of glaukos as some sort of slave, a thought which appealed to the bruinman's own darkness.