Bearclaw Valley starting with a clean slate

a howl indra had never expected caused her to stop mid-grooming of a squirming @Nunataq, her tongue poking from her mouth in confusion. she rose and stepped silently over @Marten, and then with a nudge for them to stay put or else, slid out of the burrow and made her way dazed towards the borders.

many things crossed her mind -- where had blondine gone, why had she left, did she hate her now? and, would she be happy to see her... like this? fat with her own puppies, still unhappy, tired all the time, and having two adoptive children that were not her own?

yet the questions that bubbled in her throat and threatened to overturn her confidence paled in comparison to the skipping of her heart when she saw her friend's familiar figure at the borders. alive, seemingly healthy, and there -- she did not hold back her stride, flouncing towards her gravid as a freshly-fed tick, her expression a mixture of hurt, joy, and confusion.

"blondine! you're back!"