Mudminnow River it will break my heart to go against your wishes [m]

tag just for reference so you know Laurel isn't at the Bypass anymore <3

Evening fell, and Druid didn't need to tell Laurel that she was gone for her to know it. It was only herself and Witch, now, and of course Jorunn who'd come from Sapphique to aide them. But what was it worth? One wolf. A drop in the ocean compared to Merrick and his band of madmen. Not anyone that Laurel wanted to involve, not alone; they needed so many more if they were to succeed. And Sequoia'd been gone for so long by now.

Thoughts of Indra plagued Laurel; Indra I, Indra III, the fight with Indra II. All of their faces were with her, from how she remembered them when they were there. And yet they weren't with her at all. Yet they were very far away — Indra III most of all. How she must've grown in the time that Laurel had not been with her.

The witch had given Laurel the poison like she promised, and Laurel kept the poison-laced meat wrapped in a piece of leaf. Now there was only the matter of getting Merrick to eat it. She hadn't thought it through entirely just yet, but Laurel figured that she had the time to figure it out as she made her way closer to Bearclaw Valley.

Where Indra and Laurel had returned to the Teekon wilds years ago, at the Valley. Memories of Indra, happy, careless memories, before — I found you and conquered you, dearest. Shut up! You never gave me anything! You promised to make me strong, to get them back, but instead there's just... She trailed off, starting strong but ending weak. I made sure you recovered. The rest is up to you, my dearest. I'm just alone. How am I going to get my sweet babies back? Laurel paused and sniffled to herself. She hated this. Feeling sorry for herself. And so do I, dearest, Iliksis sneered. Either end it now and take the poison yourself, or shove it down his throat and get our precious children back. They were never yours, Laurel murmured quietly, almost as if not wanting him to hear her. They were the first ones that were really only mine. No auntie Indra. No Iliksis to claim their lives and make Indra hate them. Nothing. Just Laurel.

And look where that got you.

Laurel grabbed the skin that she carried the poison-laced meat in and continued out of the Bypass with determination. I'm sorry, Jorunn, she thought, herself this time. I wish it could've been different. But she would not pull Jorunn into a crazy person's mission. A younger, more selfish Laurel would've let others suffer for her cause in that way, but she was done with it. Not Jorunn. Not Sequoia. Maybe even not Mahler, if he'd still been there. How she missed him now. He probably didn't even give her a second thought after he had left. What do you need him for? You already have me, dearest. She pushed the man from her thoughts and pressed on. Her shoulder had healed mostly, though the skin was still showing. Her gait had improved considerably.

When she noticed the figure head towards the river in the dying light of the day she halted in her tracks. It's him. It was him. Small and coyote-like and yet somehow hulking like a bear. She stopped in her tracks and looked at him, the skin with the meat still dangling from her jaw.