Bearclaw Valley solitude

@Wyatt or @Lucas ... mom ur always welcome and so r u aunt indra <3

Discomfort had reached the reddish child in the form of severe hunger. She had napped for a considerable amount of time before being roused by the feeling of emptiness that could only mean she hadn’t fed in some time. Piper – being the only girl – was the cutest of her siblings, so it was obvious she should have been closest to their mother’s teat for optimal milk reception. The opposite was true on that day. Piper had been scooted a few inches further from her brothers than she had been before falling asleep. She could not see or hear them, but every so often she had waved a wild limb and struck either Wyatt or Lucas. All in the name of a full stomach.
 
Opening her mouth, the young pup began to mewl for someone to assist her in being fed. Blindly, the firecracker scrambled about in the same four inches of space before she struck one of her siblings in the butt with her nose. Surprised at the feeling, Piper attempted to move toward them again and found that there was a roadblock. Another mewl, this time out of frustration, and the whelp began to nurse against one of her siblings’ rear paws, growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of milk.

since this is probably going to be more than one participant, skip me and i will have her pop in at intermission *-*

indra was still overcoming the shock of laurel's abrupt birth, and the reality that there were now three new lives in the den's threshold. she looked upon them lovingly, fondly --  they were of laurel and xan's union, but were they not also of indra's blood? she could not help the need to nest that overcame her, and the hen-like brooding instinct that told her to care for them, to give them their every need.

but laurel was more than an adequate mother for them, and indra brought her food often. as she stepped into the cave this time with a groundhog in her mouth, she caught the piteous wailing of the red-pied whelp, which had become disunited from her mother. indra stepped to laurel slowly, setting the groundhog at laurel's muzzle before she nudged the babe along with a gentle push.

Life was already cruel, as the further she inched from her mother’s side, the colder it became. Piper squawked once or twice and then whimpered. Everything just had to be so dark; but darkness was all that she had ever known. Everything felt so looming. The rusty little girl piped up once more before she stopped her squeaking and moving and stretched her stubby limbs out in front of her body, splaying her rear legs behind her in a similar fashion. Piper was tired… she didn’t want to move any more, and she was cold, and hungry, and – GOD – the world just sucked so badly. When she thought it could not get any worse, a cold wet nose pressed into her small frame and nudged her (rude) in the direction of its choosing. Her silent state was broken by a high-pitched yip that echoed through their mother’s den. First of all, how dare you, she seemed to say.

all indra had tried to do was gently push the girl back to her mother -- the absolute squall the red potato set up in response was so sharp indra leapt back, ears to her skull and a grimace on her muzzle. well damn, she thought, looking at laurel briefly to see if she had even noticed.

she hadn't. good. indra didn't want to get yelled at or accused for hurting anything -- particularly not something as precious as a newborn pup.

with new resolve she nudged at the tiny red tantrum again, this time trying to gently steer her back to laurel's flank as quickly as possible.

The sensation of Piper's suckling caused alarm and confusion overtake Wyatt. The kneading of Piper's gums against his foot was uncomfortable— the understatement of his lifetime— and Wyatt wanted nothing to do with it. Just as he was about to act to alleviate his discomfort, the problem suddenly disappeared. Wyatt did not dwell on why Piper had suddenly let go, or what had happened; he was content again, and that was all that mattered to him.  

With a massive huff, to voice the sheer amount of inconvenience that he had suffered through, Wyatt nestled closer to Laurel in an attempt to re-establish a comfortable position in the nest.

Piper was fixing herself to be a trouble maker. Already, she had begun to worry her aunt with her small cries and fragile limbs that circled endlessly in an attempt to move somewhere away from where she was. If she were stronger, she would have possibly just jetted herself outside of the den and into the valley to accept her fate with the wilds. It would have been a fitting end to the fiery young thing. She was fortunate, though, that she was surrounded by love and devotion. Of course, the Redleaf girl was far too young to know it, but she would grow to realize the astounding support that had been granted to her in the form of Indra and Laurel. Feeling the nudge from her aunt, Piper squawked loudly and shuddered in her place before she inched forward and found a moist foot once more. Her little mouth opened, and she began to suckle against Wyatt with a content sigh. The rusty little whelp was not even upset that his limbs weren’t producing milk for her. She was only pleased that she had returned to her nesting spot.

lmao oh u kids. LAST post for me - feel free to PP her to conclude.

indra pulled back as her gentle nudge righted piper enough to adjust course: she watched as the little fireball streaked (ok, stumbled really) towards her siblings and a small smile played her lips. she did not remember being that young, but she remembered some time after -- how frolicking and carefree she and laurel had been until their family split.

indra would not allow that to happen, not for them. of this, she had no stronger conviction. 

she was content to watch piper and wyatt combat each other's advances -- at the moment it seemed largely piper who was instigating, but indra knew these things were best left sorted out by the participants and she remained observant, but did not intervene.

Wyatt had almost fallen asleep by the time that Piper had reverted to the bothersome behavior she had exhibited moments before. Upon feeling her gums close upon his ankle, Wyatt hitched his hindleg further into her mouth and uttered a hmph out of resentment. If this didn't alleviate his predicament, Wyatt would have to break out the big guns— the alligator tears.