Bearclaw Valley here without you

hoping for a selection of @Piper @Nunataq @Marten, tags are for reference so y'all know how Laurel's been <3

Laurel had been visibly broken the past weeks. She'd often left the territory to go look for Lucas, but she never found her beautiful baby boy. How would she live on without him? Her world had been bleak before the birth of her children, and then Lucas had shone a light on it. As well as Piper and Wyatt, of course. She adored her children so much, but now the favourite of the bunch was gone. Her shining ray of light. She had looked everywhere but what faint scents she found of him were overshadowed and grew fainter by the day, until they eventually disappeared.

Now she had nothing left of him, no reminder but the bright rays of the sunlight that shone on her fur and the creek at the rendezvous site that he loved to play at. Every time she saw a shiny rock or pretty feather she'd think of Lucas and how he loved looking for treasure.

Piper was doted upon the most in Lucas' absence; oh, her beautiful little girl, which reminded Laurel the most of herself and Indra. How she must be hurting without her brother there. Nunataq and Marten were largely ignored except when they would seek her attention or do something naughty, and even then her attention was clearly diluted compared to the love she gave to Piper. @Merrick was doted upon too, for he was more so @Indra's child than Nunataq and Marten, in Laurel's eyes and, being her only one, Laurel imagined he must hold a special place in Indra's heart just like Lucas held in Laurel's.

Perhaps it was not as notable in the issues of the day, but for an onlooker it might be painfully clear that there was a strict hierarchy with Piper on top. One that had always been there but was now emphasised because of the love for Lucas that she could bring nowhere, the grief over her lost son that filled her heart and squeezed out what love was left in there, meagre amounts, mere scraps, that needed to be divided among the survivors.

@Wyatt was a special case. He was defiant and seemed to have grown more so since Lucas went away and he got less attention. Before it was easy to deal with what tantrums and 'jokes' he would do but it was notable on him most of all of them that things were different now. Now that there was not a lot of attention to go around Wyatt was the one who would get his attention one way or the other and resorted to negative attention-seeking. Laurel was quick to lash out, tired and unable to deal with the shit now that Lucas -- the mediator, the cheerful one -- was gone, and she did not know what to do with the boy who started to look like her deadbeat father more and more each day.

Presently Laurel returned from a search that had given no new information in the meadow and she returned home tired physically and mentally both. With a tired huff Laurel lay down by the creek that Lucas loved so and leaned her head on her front legs with a heavy sigh.