Bearclaw Valley you are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down

Indra remained silent, further zoning her out from Laurel's world of existence then and there. Perhaps it would've been better to shout at Xan some more -- he, after all, was the one that had taken her and then rejected her -- but she had already done that and it hadn't made anything better. That's all she wanted. To not feel like the child abandoned by her father, abandoned by her mother, then betrayed by her father again... To feel whole, somehow, to be loved, to be fixed. She sought this in the arms of men who were a lot like her father, it seemed, for Xan was no better than Reek had been. Would he, one day, show up and steal her children if she chose to have them grow up without him? Suddenly she understood Saena better -- well, the part of her that'd taken them and left Reek, anyway; not the part that had abandoned them, too -- for could she really live with Xan here? Was this how she wanted her children to grow up?

No resistance came. No anger, even. Why would she, anyway? She had everything, the dumb girl, all the things she could ever want. It further angered Laurel that she should stay so calm and collected and said no more than one word -- leave. A pain stirred in Laurel's abdomen and she gritted her teeth as her eyes threw daggers at the dumb girl.

"Doesn't feel nice, does it?" said Laurel, her hackles still bristled and tail twitching nervously, "When someone —" Her eyes squinted through a brief pause as a painful throb rippled through her body, front to end. "— Just... won't... leave." Her legs had been shaky before from the stress and tension in her body but now they were starting to feel like downright jelly. Laurel stared at the dumb girl, still seething, still angry at all the opportunities her children would have that hers would not. Another painful contraction ripped through her body and she winced, teeth gritted, trying to keep the strong façade for she did not want her nemesis to see her suffer -- she did not want her nemesis to see her feel pain. She wanted to be bullet proof.

Laurel glared at the content mother as another painful stab needled at her womb. "I hate you," she hissed at the girl who seemed to remain ever calm and soft, firm and collected. All the things Laurel wished she was, but simply was not. As she tried to take a step forward while she repeated the words, Laurel was interrupted as her front paws buckled and slid her to the ground, causing the words to end prematurely: "I hate yoooooOW!" as she slipped and fell, front paws landing somewhere near the den's entrance, outstretched in front of her with nose buried on the ground between them. Brows knit into a frown as pain continued to rip through her body and it seemed as if all of her anger dissipated suddenly as her expression turned into worry.