Bearclaw Valley don't let the ever rolling motion go and get you down

AW. i won't be able to post tomorrow, so this is set for the 7th. maybe @Marten or @Nunataq if they stayed behind?

indra approached the den of xan's offspring slowly, her ears tilted forward and paw-steps light. clutched in her muzzle were two delicate doe's ears -- their cupped and fanning shape wrinkled by the distortion of decay. thin as they were, one could still see the papery veins dapple their soft surface, and the velveteen chestnut of their fur still held a crimson quality to it.

indra had her reasons for approaching now --  one such reason being a compelling sense of curiosity. she wondered if their dam had returned yet, or who had been appointed to watch over them in her place. bearclaw was not exactly brimming with maternal figures, and with blondine notably absent, who was left to pick up the pieces? she hardly knew any of the others, and somehow doubted any of them had been freshly appointed as pup-sitters.

as she came closer, no new tracks nor scents of their dam's return was evident. emboldened by her absence, indra pressed until she was just in front of the dirt threshold -- the very same threshold she had fretfully paced the day laurel had labored in that den. she did not pass under the arch of the den's mouth -- instead, she sat on her red haunches with her gaze fixed inward. if any life stirred in that abandoned den, perhaps she would witness it. if not, the two ears still held in her teeth would make fine chew-toys for laurel's children.