Lost Creek Hollow shrines

aw but @Indra <3

she wanted to go back to the sea, but it was a foolish desire. the days grew colder and colder; snow fell, and ice limned the forest at night. she could go nowhere until the spring, and the thought made her restless. tadec was not with them, nor piper — the realization saddened mona, and she began to lope through the woods, pointedly searching for her redfire friend. merrick was still about, but he was growing quickly, and perhaps he too would leave. they had gained much, and lost much, and she wanted only in this moment to be near indra.

there was a time where indra could have sunk readily into her new lifestyle, but in the hollow she was restless. it was not the fault of her hosts, who graciously accepted the burgeoning burden of their family -- it was the fault of indra, who unknowingly, shared similar feelings with mona about being cooped in for the winter.

she had always been a transient -- it was uncharacteristic of her to settle in bearclaw as long as she had, but that endurance had more to do with laurel's reasons (and there had been many) for staying in the stone-limned fishbowl. she had no intentions of leaving the hollow -- but she felt out of place here, and instinctively sought the company of mona as well.

when she came upon her she was relieved, and it was as if she had dismantled some mental armor that heavily weighed over her; she seemed lighter each step she took closer to her friend, and warmly she brushed her muzzle along the firebird's cheek, pulling back with a sigh that seemed so close to content, but not quite. "i was looking for you --" she murmured, her ears held at a soft angle that coincided with the gentle warmth that brimmed in her usually reserved gaze. "i'm glad you came with us.. what do you think of it here?"

it was not long before she found indra, or rather, she was discovered. a low purl thrummed in her throat; mona reached to return indra's gesture, scarlet plume flagging at her heels. it had been a hard move, and she was still unsure of what to make regarding laurel's cutting words to stigmata. he had been their family, after all, even if she found him misguided in the end. 
"i was looking for you too," the little mayfair chirped airily. "glad we ran into each other." velveteen ears swept forward; she seemed to mull over indra's question a moment.
"i like it here, though i was a bit concerned to hear about the sudden shift in leadership. and laurel — she still doesn't seem happy," mona sighed, auds deflating along her narrow skull. "but those i've met seem nice, and it's a land with a lot of resources. what do you think?"

you write me these short but carefully laid out responses of fabulous prose and i respond with a word-vomit novel

MY B!!

there was, perhaps, only one other wolf in the world that could mete total vulnerability from indra besides laurel -- and that wolf was mona. indra rejoined mona's soft thrum with a quiet rumble, briefly coming to contact with the firebird's slim cheek before pulling back. the contact, short as it was, was brimmed with genuine affection -- mona was family to indra, regardless of lack of shared blood.

she hummed tunelessly as she inspected the quiet meaning in mona's words. the leadership shift hadn't rocked her, but stigmata's no-holds-barred speech had.. she too had been taken aback by laurel's sharp retort -- but in indra's eyes, sometimes a swift and exacting blow was all that was needed to ensure finality.. and as much as she had wanted (and how she had wanted) stigmata to absorb into their small clan, he simply was not of their mold...

nor they of his..


it troubled indra too that laurel remained unhappy, though indra had her own careful insights on the matter. it could be argued she knew her sister well enough to know the lack of control (which she had become accustomed to as well) ate at her -- but indra was confident laurel would eventually regain the rungs lost, and that someday, things would be right again.

(again? had they ever been right at all?)

"i wish things were different." indra conceded at length. "i think it'll take laurel a while to catch her stride. us too. and... once we find our feet and the dust settles i think things will be different. but i miss some things about bearclaw.. i hope the kids like it - i know a move like that is tough on them.." the kids by and large seemed okay, though selfishly, indra worried for merrick the most. he was younger than the others, and had gone from princeling to -- well.. pauper.

FAKE NEWS i love all your posts

truth be told, mona was worried for merrick, but that was indra's son. she knew he would be well-tended regardless of his change in status. he had become more reticent as of late, but perhaps that was to be expected from the age at which he found himself. nodding a bit at her friend's supposition regarding laurel, the firebird realized they were skirting the issue: departing bearclaw, which had been their home for a far longer time than the hollow.
"indra," she began shyly, "do ... do you think you could be happy here?" she herself did not know the answer to the same question. lost creek was lovely, and there was much to explore, but as for the subject of happiness — maybe that was better left tested by time. 
for now, the young mayfair was eager to hear what indra made of the place, a true, heartfelt review.

so lost was she in her own musings on merrick, that when mona spoke her eyelids fluttered in surprise. pulling from her inner reverie, she saw in the mayfair's delicate features a careful vulnerability that took her far more aback than the question had.

how could she answer truthfully - or more importantly, how could she lie?

"i don't know." indra conceded, her tense shoulders slipped down in defeat. "i'd like to say i'd be happy anywhere, just with my family.. but if they're not happy, i'm not either." her tone was soft and revealed the trembling anxiety that often stormed her mind - for a moment that roiling turmoil was close to the surface for all to see.

and then it disappeared again, behind the firm set of her lips. "do you think you could be happy?" maybe happiness wasn't rooted in a place - or even a person - maybe happiness came from pursuing your own ignorant bliss.

oh indra! if only — if only she could share the chaos that brimmed within to mona's listening ear. she sensed there were such great depths to the other woman that she could not fathom, but in the next instant, indra had moved on. skillfully she turned the conversation back to the firebrand, and the caregiver stifled a sigh, covering it with a smile.
"i think maybe, if those i loved were happy here too." they were family after all, sisters. of course, mona did not think their bond would ever be as tight as that of littermates. sisters who had chosen one another.
a smile wreathed her muzzle. "so, what do you think of terance?" came her light inquiry, airy as if they were only two women sipping tea on a veranda far from here.

indeed, deflecting was one of the few skills indra had mastered; ironic, considering the boarish, bullheaded style of tackling problems head-on that most of her family possessed. yet indra was a bit more sensitive (read: emotional baby) than most of her family members were, and frankly, being introspective of herself terrified the redleaf.

she was relieved that mona had changed the subject, though the airy inquiry the firebird uttered elicited a quiet start from the redleaf. what did she think of terance? she caught mona's gaze a moment, wondering if mona was curious or if she were driving at some deeper interest herself. "he's quite handsome, isn't he?" indra was surprised by the ease in which she revealed this to mona, but perhaps it was a testament to their friendship -- and how much she valued the mayfair. "what do you think -- has he caught your eye?"

had she not already been scarlet-hued, indra might well have been treated to the flush of her cheeks. as it was, mona merely simpered with a small giggle. "well! he is," she began, defending her interest in terance's aesthetic at very least. "he seems very kind. except —" and here she paused to study indra — "he said he had an ex-wife and children."
thoughtfulness paused mona's glee. "do you know anything about that?" they seemed to have known each other at one point, before bearclaw came to live in the hollow. it was of little account to mona save for her vested interest in romance, and she longed to know if terance still loved this woman swathed in mystery.

the cardinal gave a small giggle, compelling indra to do the same -- it was good, she thought, to be able to have such lighthearted conversations with mona. too often her conversations were solemn, and too often, indra felt the weight of her seriousness hang round her heavy as an iron torc.

mona's query was met with a quiet, brief frown -- for indra had long forgotten terance's heartbreak. "he did." she affirmed, looking skyward as she retrieved what little she could from her memory. "and she left him, i think, to go west of here. i met her -- she seemed very nice." indra looked to mona with a faint twinge of guilt, ill-at-ease to speak poorly of the woman that had easily offered her aid in search of lucas. "i guess they just... weren't a good fit."

indra provided details that mona had not heard before; her breath hitched in her throat and she leant forward conspiratorially. "well. that is unfortunate," came her crisp rejoinder, though good humour shone in her eyes. "terance seems very elegant." it was implied that the fault of his parting with this still-unknown woman had been her fault, though of course mona could not know.
however, the girl was always up for a bit of shameless gossip. "i wonder if he will remarry. he seems very disinterested in things that require him not to be alone." something she had observed: terance was an involved leader, but maintained a distance she found rather becoming.

reflecting on terance's and seabreeze's departure made indra feel guilty -- perhaps the pain she knew the two of them felt hit too close for home, or perhaps it was because indra, having met both, knew them to be kind people undeserving of poor words.

she sniffed, wondering too if terance would ever remarry. it seemed such a strange custom to indra, but then again she was hardly a worldly wolf. "if he does, it'd probably be someone in the pack.." in her head she assembled a quick roster of all the eligible females.

laurel wouldn't be interested, treason was more like a t-rex than a cuddle companion, liffey was taken -- and then there was mona. she smiled encouragingly, for of that roster, indra believed mona to be the most beautiful. "i think your odds are good, if he was your type.."

had mona known the inventorying that indra mentally wrote, she would have paled, then furiously blushed. as it was, only the latter came to her already-red cheeks at her companion's not-so-subtle suggestion that she pursue terance! "as if!" mona exclaimed, discombobulated by her mind's affinity to immediately begin spinning plans for the future.
"perhaps i'll stay unwed forever," the little mayfair declared teasingly. "a spinster aunt to all the children you'll have, indra," she added, peering at the russet she-wolf to see what her friend made of such antics. and as she spoke such things, it seemed less something to dread, being free all her life.

indra's suggestion had been far from subtle. she grinned guiltily, an ear flicking with ease as she laughed off her improper suggestion. "come on - i bet he would like it," she teased, thinking of how uncustomary and exciting it would be to have the woman be forward for once.

her laughter died on her lips at the mention of further children; it was not mona's fault to strike such a cord, but indra had only one child, and sincerely believed she would never whelp another. a dark image of the cairn stacked next to merrick's squalling body revisited her, and her spine shuddered at the thought. "you could never be a spinster," indra tacked on, ready to leave the topic of any future whelps far behind. "you are far too pretty."

she coloured again at indra's words. "so are you." so why should they both stay spinsters? mona wanted to ask, but the loss of tadec was surely still fresh upon her companion's soul. "also, we match," she decided to say instead, gathering herself into a stretch and a yawn that refreshed her greatly. "hunt with me?"
and though she would make light of it, and enjoy each moment of the chase and the kill, mona could not shake the sorrow in the knowledge that at least for the next span of time, she would not hunt with indra again.

indra shared a similar smile, the edges forlorn. it saddened her too that an era had come to an end, but that was life. it was ever changing -- and without change, one never evolved.

she rose alongside the cardinal, her docked tail flagging. "i'd like that very much," she chimed, stepping back so that mona might lead the way. she had always been a poor hunter - with fondness, she thought back on blondine and her eyes darkened somberly.

but, she had to live in the present. she had to live in the moment, and enjoy life for what it was. her steps were quick as she followed after the red dove, ready for whatever adventure they next embarked upon.