Bearclaw Valley parasitic

tags for reference (but welcomed too ofc) <3
otherwise, all welcome!

when she finally stirred back awake, the world had started to darken.

and she was alone.

mother bear (@Sanja) had seemed to go away again. the smell of the meat and bile had grown further soured in the hours she had spent sleeping, no longer an appetizing meals. bugs collected on it too. those she eyed with curiosity.

then let them be, toddling a bit further along on a path that seemed like one mother bear may take. parousia could go neither far nor fast.

this would be another trip where she bumbled about until she needed a break.

or until something else got to her first, but this thought eluded her.

Hope you don't mind me!

She did not know why she entered the Valley, but here she was, on trembling legs. Quaking, like the trees now did as the wind passed through their branches.

Death had lived here. But as she had made her way towards Stone Circle - compelled to return, after meeting Adlartok in the south, and sharing her memories with him - the Valley seemed an untouched land, devoid of wolf scent and any trace of the pack that had once lived here.

Curiosity would kill her; Taktuq found herself on the other side of the walls. Pacing through the shadows, wondering what had become of the monsters that had chased her away from Stone Circle, her family, and her home. 

They were gone.

She heard some smaller thing moving about. Crackling through the underbrush. Prey-like; and she felt an odd defiance overtake her - against her fear and the monsters that once lived here.

Taktuq turned her ears towards the noise and steadied herself.

These were not Ursus' hunting grounds anymore.

you are always welcomed <333

she shuffled some more, toddled along with soft mumbling sounds.

once more she tried to repeat the word mother bear had spoken. as if that might summon her again.

instead there was only silence. well. mostly silence. she thought she heard something, somewhere up ahead. she had intended to find mother bear, after all. perhaps the mumbled words had brought her back. perhaps another meal awaited her up ahead.

's you?

she asked, staring at a cluster of trees.

maybe mother bear wished to hide tonight.

<3

Or maybe she wasn't so alone.

At the initial sound of language being spoken - and language being understood - Taktuq thought of fleeing. But the voice had been a child's, and as far as Taktuq was aware, even Ursus couldn't hide their scents so well that they near ran invisible.

"Who's there?" she asked the shadows, and took a careful step forward, ready to bolt, if needed, and ready to pinpoint the source of the voice if the child spoke again.

mother bear did not ask such silly questions, thought the wormly child.

was this another newer mother bear? she could not tell. the world darkening and the growth of the valley obstructed much view at child height. not to mention the sudden and new thought.

what else would be out there besides mother bears?

parousia mewled softly, sinking to her rear. legs still caked in mud and belly once more feeling a bit...hungry. she wished for second mother bear, again.

me.

who else would it be?

There again! Taktuq honed her ears on the child, certain, now, of the cover of branches she spoke from underneath.

Her heart fluttered and sank at the child’s answer. Every other scent within the valley had been stale. She was certain the girl was alone.

“Well, I’m Taktuq,” she lowered herself to the ground, in case the child crawled out of the bushes. She wasn’t a big wolf, but she knew to a pup she would look like a giant. “Is this your home?”

taktuq.

it was hard to form her mouth around, but in her heart she knew who this was.

mother snow bear.

different than all her other mother bears, but the trademark kindness that stamped all as mother bear was present. this one even lowered to the ground and parousia wasted no time in toddling forward fast. deprived of warmth and hungrier than she had been even earlier.

parousia did not think about how she had not heard any siblings in some time, about how the original mother bear had seemingly faded.

she would worm her away against the side of mother snow bear, as if she might find herself under the woman entirely.

dunno.

it was — or had been, maybe. but she had never been this far, had never seen this much.

The child was quiet. Taktuq understood. She tried not to think on the day she lost her mother, nor the day Ursus drove her from her home, but she had been young, and these things had shaped her.

If not for Valette, if not for Takiyok, perhaps these things would be shaping her, still.

The child was odd. Deformed. But a child still, and in clear need of comfort and care. Taktuq welcomed the child as she sought these things in her, and wrapped around the girl with great gentleness to ensure her that she was alright, she was safe, and she would be okay.

 She listened to the one soft word the child offered. Considered how empty the valley seemed, how devoid of noise and scents.

“Would you like us to look for your mother together?”

parousia could almost fall back asleep here.

the warmth provided was unlike any other. the young girl settled her head against the side of her mother snow bear. existing was easier when she did not need to move so much.

mama bear away, she huffed nosily against the pale furs in her face.

her breathing slowed. she stretched her weird growing limbs before curling them back into herself.

you mama bear? a question, mumbled nearly like a statement though.

these things could be figured out as they went.