Bearclaw Valley been working so hard

indra smiled to herself to hear marten repeat merrick's name with the confidence only a child could carry. she was still so relieved that he had not hated merrick the second he fastened eyes upon him; in that moment indra was so full of gratitude for marten's benevolent disposition.

she didn't mind marten being so close to merrick - as far as she saw it, he was family same as merrick, and would be treated like family. the sooner that all of them met merrick (and accepted merrick) the happier indra would be -- though she did still wrestle intensely with her own self-loathing, and her own demons surrounding merrick's birth.

she remembered that mona had dropped off a duck earlier - it had only been half-eaten, and indra stepped towards it. "are you hungry?" she placed a paw on the tattered carcass and ripped the wing from its breast, offering it towards marten with affection still simmering in her gaze. merrick was still asleep, and the long hours in which she spent alone in that cave while he was asleep were daunting -- in truth, indra needed marten now more than he needed her.