Bearclaw Valley oh captain, who is your captain?

AW! tags for reference

indra found herself passing the only entrance of the valley with a hare's limp form in tow; most of its soft fur and flesh had been eaten, but there was enough meat that clung to its thin ribcage that it would proffer some sort of sustenance for @Laurel. she intended to bring it to her sister, or to cache it if laurel was not hungry.

laurel's condition grew more evident by the day, as such, indra's anxiety grew with it -- until it wrapped around her like a dark and malignant tumor. she worried for their future in bearclaw, for laurel's health. she worried after the unborn lives that they would mete upon the coldly turning earth, of the things they would witness; and what should befall them, if laurel or she grew sick? or hurt?

and if they knew the story of their lives, would they be better off never being born at all?

Your stalker has arrived! XD

Ridge had been in and out of the valley, looking for Indra. It seemed they had missed each other, but as he sailed through the air, he spotted her coming back into the pack's territory. He glided down towards a nearby tree, fluttering to a stop on a branch.

He noticed she had a half-eaten hare in her jaws, and assumed she must be taking to someone since she didn't eat it all. He screeched in an attempt to gain her attention, though he knew if she was on her way to see someone, she might not stop for him.

HENLO STALKER

indra had been unaware of ridge's presence above until a distinctive screech hailed her. she halted in her tracks and looked around her, the carcass dangling in her jaws as she did so. it took her a moment to locate her friend, for his plumage blended well with the cheerless brown of the valley's trees.

she wondered if he had called her out of hunger -- carefully she turned round to look at him and dropped the hare's limp form onto the snow. it had been intended for laurel, but if he wanted it, she did not mind sharing. "hi." she called out into the treetops, squinting against the glare of the sun. "hungry?"

He watched as she attempted to pinpoint him, and he assist by stretching out his wings, figuring the movement would catch her eye. It worked, and she came towards him. Hello, he greeted. She asked if he was hungry, and his head went side to side. No, but thank you anyways, he responded politely. Even if he hadn't just eaten, he wouldn't take it from her. It was obvious that it was meant for someone else.

Anything new in the life of wolves? he asked, making conversation. 

Crappy post is crappy >_<

it's not crappy!

the svelte girl waited for him to flutter closr; once he answered her question she motioned with her muzzle for him to follow her -- and quickly scooped the hare in her muzzle and made for the nearest cache.

once the small offering was suitably disposed between the crook of stone and ice indra turned and regarded the umber raptor with a quietness in her expression. "just getting food for my sister. what about you?"

He was beckoned to follow, and so he spread his wings and lifted himself off the branch, following her. He wondered where they were going, but soon got his answer as she hid the hare. He landed on an adjacent boulder on the ground. His eyes scanned the area, looking for signs of trouble. He wasn't accustomed to being so near the ground for more than the length of time it took him to grab something in his talons.

His gaze turned back to her as he previous assumptions were correct. The food was for someone else. Do I get to meet her? he asked. If so, he'd much rather meet her with Indra, hoping that would help an easier introduction. I'm just hanging around, he admitted. You have a good supply of rodents and rabbits here, he added. It was a good reason to stick around. Otherwise, he would have been forced to look elsewhere for food.

tagging laurel so she can hop in if she wants!

as he fluttered atop a stony slab, indra was taken aback by how big he truly was. from the sky, ridge looked nothing more than an inkblot of winsome chestnut -- yet up close, the immensity of his talons and the wicked curve of his beak were, well, terrifying. indra believed he looked more a predator than she ever would -- the sharpness of his yellow eyes, the curled and gnarled length of his talons -- he was, in one word, formidable up close.

she did not envy the prey he consumed, for she imagined the manner in which he came down upon them like a cloak of death was both rapid and horrifying. even inanimate on the boulder, he possessed a commanding presence. as he asked after laurel indra considered bringing him to her then and there -- she didn't mind introducing the two, though she wondered given laurel's present state, if laurel was in any mood at all to entertain company.

"she's going to have pups soon.. but we can go to her den if you want. i was going there anyway and we can see if she's there." indra resumed her careful walk, making towards the den @Laurel slept in that was hardly more than several hundred feet from their shared cache.

He watched her, silently wondering if he made her nervous. He hadn't done anything untoward in regards to her, but he supposed it was unnerving to have a fellow predator so up close. If she was a stranger, he wouldn't have gotten down to her level like this, since he was at the disadvantage. But, he didn't get the impression she was going to attack him.

He bobbed his head up and down, If you think she's okay with it, I'll come along. He wondered if she was still uneasy about him confessing to eat wolf young. But, he had promised not to do it here, and he didn't make promises he couldn't keep.

He flapped his wings and lifted himself from the rock, circling low above her. Is the rest of your pack around? he questioned, wondering how they would feel about him hanging about their territory.

indra set towards laurel's den at a dogtrot, keeping pace as her comrade twirled through the trees with darting ease. how she envied him, even now -- it was still strange for her to see him so up-close, but bit by bit she was being bled of the strangeness of it. in truth, she did enjoy his company.

"she'll be fine with it." indra was sure of it -- well, maybe laurel wouldn't be so friendly -- but she hoped in a small way her sister would share her amazement that a king of the sky would deign to hang out with them -- two denizens of the ground-kept world. when he asked if the rest of the pack was around she slowed, answering with a casual shrug: "probably. we're up there --" she motioned with a muzzle to the spot up ahead -- two sunken trees with a small hollow in the face of one trunk. "i don't see them much more than i have to."

Indra was sure her sister would be fine with him tagging along, so he left it go. He didn't want to pester her, and if something did happen, well, she said it was okay.

It was interesting to him that a wolf, who were supposed to like living in packs, tried to steer clear of hers. If that's so, why do you live with them? he questioned as he perched on a branch. He hoped he wasn't annoying her with all his questions. It's just that the wolf life intrigued him.

as the chestnut-feathered raptor fluttered onto a gnarled branch, indra was busy picking her way over the fresh-turned earth. the den, two trees collapsed on their eaves and filled with dragged sticks for shelter, was devoid of laurel's presence. indra wasn't alarmed -- it was likely her sister was out hunting, or simply taking a walk.

ridge's question prompted a gruff snort; not out of derision, but simply out of frustration -- where would she start? would he even understand? surely, pack life was as alien to him as the blue sky beyond was to her. "it's complicated. laurel's the only thing that matters to me here. there's another wolf, who looks like me who i like, but that's it." she owed him a better explanation, she was sure -- but didn't know how to even broach the topic. "it's just better that way. safer. we needed a place for winter."

He found it interesting that such a social creature wouldn't like the company of her own kind. At least not most of them. It seemed she tolerated the pack because of what it could give her while she couldn't fend for herself on her own. He didn't blame her, or judge her for it. It just interested him.

Spring is upon us, he pointed out. Will you leave your pack then? he asked, curious. Were wolves better apt at taking care of themselves during spring and summer? Maybe it was just this pack she didn't care for. Ridge knew there were others. Were they better?

in light of laurel being gone, indra reclined on her haunches as she canted an ear towards the bird above. the sun, nearly at its zenith, cast a halo around ridge's form -- he was bright, illuminant, and fringed in a soft golden glow.

he was right spring was upon them. indra considered that quietly. it had been a late spring, she thought - snow upon snow upon snow -- and then later, rain for days. it was strange to think that the season had changed without her hardly noticing. now that she looked around, she could appreciate that spring had been coming all along. subtly, but there.

"i'm not sure... with laurel pregnant, it changes things. i want to though..." she said earnestly, and she believed it. indra thought there was no place for them here in the valley. xan had already shown his colors, she believed -- and well, their relationship with the alpha female was beyond repair in indra's eyes.

no, they would be better off somewhere else. "it would be nice to leave though. the alpha male doesn't deserve her... and her puppies deserve a better life than being second best to the other puppies."