Bearclaw Valley axe

@Ameline @Athalia @Amneris <3

he had scouted the mountains and a red canyon; he had searched beside lakes and studiously avoided all rising sun packwolves on his way back to the bear valley.
ancelin was pleased to be home; he padded along the cold red dirt and called to them when he had off-loaded a pile of scavenged venison for his small group.
his shoulders had broadened in his time away; his pelt thicker than his departure; his eyes searched for ameline, heart thudding to catch the proud edges of her fragrance.

The girls had pined for him, and she had as well- but for their sake, she hid it as much as she could. She felt restless, left like a hen on a clutch of eggs, though the girls were becoming so independent and reliable nowadays that they were given a bit more lease to roam. She wouldn't hover over them, but she nevertheless made sure that their small unit stuck close together. 

She scented Ancelin before she heard him, and bounded away from the water's edge with droplets splattering into the fur of her chest. She wasn't far from the valley's entrance when she caught sight of him, and approached with her coat bristled, ears flicked forward, and whiskers fanned; every fibre of her ached at the sight of him, and she moved to embrace him with little attention paid to the speed at which she approached. At the last moment, she skidded several feet on the loose snow, halting for a brief moment before she lunged into the space between them so she could press her chest against his.

ameline was right. ancelin had come back.
delightfully pleased, athalia followed the trot of ameline with or without amneris, and with her she brought her own welcome home gift for him: the severed, half-decayed head of a small songbird.
surely, he would love it. athalia greets him with a slow, confident wag of her tail, now plumed with the thickness of a growing winter coat.

ameline received the full pleasure of his return; whines and laps to her chin, eyes drawn to loving narrow, ears splayed in full relinquishment to her as he combed their scents together once more.
"missed you," he whispered into her ruff, before his tail waved once to see athalia. "hey. what do you have?" he asked, scarred face dipping toward hers. "did you catch this yourself?" he asked encouragingly, sweeping his indigo eyes between them.
it was good to be home.

"Good," She growled. It took every bit of her strength to pull herself away from him so that Athalia could greet him too. Part of her wanted to shoo the girl off, so that she could haul Ancelin into the shadows and succumb to the desires that had made her nights long- but she kept her primal urges at bay. Athalia was family now- and she knew how much the girl had worried about Ancelin not coming back. 

"Ohhh," She cooed when she saw what Athalia had brought with her. Macabre, but delightful. She grinned- the girl had mentioned that she liked birds, but she was glad to see that it did not stop her from wanting to hunt them and pull them apart. She looked to the girl proudly, encouraging her to share more about the gift she had brought for Ancelin.

no.
athalia shakes her head, shimmering eyes blinking up toward the patchwork man. she gestures behind her with a flick of her wrist. i found it. but the rest of it was for her.
athalia began to prance around in a slow circle like a drunken townsman, tail thwacking up against the limbs of the other two with little care. she drops the rotting head at ancelin's feet, eyes flickering expectantly and searching for approval.

athalia pranced around them and ancelin glittered at her with the pride of a father. "when the skin and the feathers come off," he said, stooping to give the small find a good sniff, "i bet you can wear it, like this." 
ancelin showed her the bearclaw tangled tightly into the fur at his chest. "ameline gave it to me," he went on, glancing up in adoration toward his mate.

Ameline dropped into a playbow as the girl danced around them, proud of the the little relic she carried with her. Her haunches sank to the ground as Athalia dropped her prize for Ancelin to inspect, and her ears perked at his suggestion. Having a bird skull tangled into her fur would look impressive, she thought; and Ameline liked the idea of the girl doing something that might take after Ancelin. 

The prize had been offered as a gift- but she hoped the girl wouldn't be discouraged when she was told to keep it for herself. She caught Ancelin's smile, and blinked warmly at him in return. "I think it'd look good on you," She encouraged.