Fox's Glade scream at the top of your lungs

all welcome! tags for reference.

Luckily Bearclaw Valley wasn't too far from Lost Creek Hollow. Laurel set out in the afternoon that day and started making her way to the west, looking for Piper. She'd told only @Indra that she had left that morning, but she had talked to @Treason about leaving @Wyatt alone with the pack for a bit anyway so the pack knew, probably. Laurel felt liberated leaving the pack grounds and as she turned away from the pack, she felt the itch in her paws to never return. There was a cold shiver in her spine as she thought of this. The only thing that would make her return there was Indra, her sister, her anchor, the only thing that she really cared for in this life. Everything else that was there -- Wyatt, Merrick, Nunataq, Xan, a handful of pack mates she felt obligated to get to know but didn't give two shits about -- made her want to run away screaming. She hated it, all of it, them. But she knew she must return for Indra's sake.

"Didn't you make a lovely mess for yourself," murmured Laurel as she made her way through the snowy Fox Glade. "And when snapping didn't work, you just went on to ignoring, but Xan didn't give much of a shit about that either, did he?" Stupid Xan and all he stood for. She hated him, she loved him, she didn't know anymore. "Fuckin' hate him..."

Valette was on her way to check the neighboring territories for prey. Often one of their herds would wander past their borders and Valette always wanted to check where they were hanging out. Sometimes their deer herd, the one she considered hers, would move to Wapun meadow or when weather was bad they would stay in the Glade.

Valette kept silent and her senses on alert. Instead of finding a deer herd she seemed to have found another wolf, a female by the sound of it. Valette frowned when she heard her brother's name. She frowned, not wanting to listen in, not really. She showed herself, looking curious. She then recognized the female. She had been visiting Easthollow with Xan's party. "Hello! Laurel was it?," she returned, offering a kind smile.

"I didn't mean to overhear you but it seems my brother has been a jerk again?," she questioned. They were not that close, at least Valette didn't feel close to him. Xan had always been distant to her and she had been in return. She had tried several times to make a good sibling connection but now she had given up that it would ever be there. She was friendly with her brother but that was it.

Laurel visibly startled when she heard Valette's voice. She'd been lost in thought talking to herself and she didn't realise that anyone was closing in on her. After her initial startle Laurel quickly put a bright smile of pretend on her face and hoped that this wolf hadn't actually heard a word she had said. Laurel was initially confused when she was greeted by name, because she hadn't a clue who this wolf was at all. The face came vaguely familiar but Laurel hadn't a clue where from. "Yes, hi!" she greeted hastily, but her confusion wasn't lifted until Valette mentioned her brother -- Xan.

Oh shit, this was Xan's sister, and she'd just heard Laurel talking about him. That was pretty much the last thing she wanted. Laurel didn't really want to talk to anyone about this -- she just wanted to run away from it, really -- let alone Xan's very own sister. "Oh, you heard that?" she said, the smile falling off her face. "Well, yeah, he's always been a jerk." Laurel figured that Valette might not like her saying that, but it was the truth, and Valette'd overheard what Laurel had said so she may as well. "It's just impossible to live with him, but he's also their father." If not for that one dumb-ass time they spent together, Laurel would've likely just grabbed Indra and left ages ago.

Valette was greeted with a smile and a hi. She wagged her tail in greeting, not realizing that the other female hadn't recognized her. Then when the female seemed to realize who she was, her smile dropped. Valette's wagging of her tail stopped as well. She looked rather guilty when the other asked her if she overheard. Valette nodded. "That I can agree on," she admitted to the female. She had a feeling that Xan had done something seeing so many different pups from different mothers.

Valette slowly nodded. "I don't remember what it is like to live with him but I remember my father being intolerable and my mother leaving him," Valette admitted to her. She wasn't sure how Xan was as an adult but seeing Laurel's reaction, he was probably not a good mate. How could he? When he never saw loving parents together. Valette sighed. "What did he do to make you upset?"

It would've been easier to just stay in the flow of being happy-and-pretending, but it was too late now -- her ploy had fallen through and Valette had heard her grumping about anyway. She'd seen the real Laurel. Laurel was actually kind of glad that Valette agreed with her that Xan was pretty much an intolerable jerk, because the last thing she needed right now was someone jumping to his defence.

It surprised Laurel that Valette didn't remember what it was like to live with Xan. Hadn't they grown up together? The answer probably lay somewhere in the fact their parents had split up. Just like Xan and princess dumb-ass had. At least Laurel had never been Xan's mate, which she decided to tell herself was better than believing in his goodness for too long. "Maybe that isn't the worst idea," Laurel admitted. She'd often fantasised of running away. Maybe it would make everything better if she just left. No more Xan, no more hope, no more nothing. It wasn't like he was giving her a lot of attention as things were, anyway. He'd pretty much ignored her since she had her pups, and whenever she'd seen him it was mostly that he wanted to see the pups, not her.

As for what he had done, oof. "Where do I even start?" Laurel said rhetorically and with a touch of drama to her voice. "He's never been there for me, ever. I told him I loved him and he basically just didn't respond at all. And he's ignored me since then, whenever I see him it's only because he wants to see his kids." He just didn't get it, and he especially didn't get her, and Laurel was pretty through with being ignored and ditched.

Valette let out an awkward smile when the female spoke about it being a good idea to leave him. She wouldn't want to be the instigator that they would break up. Then again, she didn't know what her brother did so it might be that he deserved to be left alone. Valette sat down to indicate she was willing to listen to this female's problem.

Valette winced when she started that he had never been there for her. It sounded so much like her father Kove had done to her mother. Valette grew a bit sad at the thought of it. "That sounds horrible," Valette protested. "It sounded a lot what father did to my mother. She had us and after that she never really saw him unless he wanted to spend time with the kids. My mother didn't agree with it. She wanted to take us with her, all four, but Xan stayed with his dad and was raised by him," Valette explained.

She looked at Laurel with a compassionate glance. "I think it is not in his nature or how he was raised. If only he was raised by my mother," she sighed. "Maybe it helps to realize that he probably has no idea? If he is raised by a male who did the same maybe he thinks this is the normal way of behaving," Valette spoke. She didn't mean to sound like she was defending him but it would be good to know that if the male thought that this was normal then he might not think he was doing something wrong. "Then again most mates seemed to think that," Valette sighed. "My mate left me," she offered, letting the other female know that she knew what it was like to feel abandoned and ignored.

Laurel hadn't a clue about Xan's backstory but now that Valette explained it like that, it all made sense. He was just doing what his own parents had done, what his no-good father had done. Ugh, typical. Laurel would never do that -- she'd never do to her own children what her parents had done to her. Typical of no-spine, weak-willed Xan to do that. "Ugh, that's horrible," said Laurel in response, feeling disgusted -- both about what their father had done to Valette and Xan, as well as about Xan repeating this behaviour.

Laurel decided not to correct Valette on the mate-front; she wasn't mates with Xan, never had been, but it was easier maybe to not mention that. It'd been difficult from the start. For now, Laurel listened to what Valette said about mates, and about her own mate leaving her.

Though easy to gather sympathy from others, Laurel wasn't sure how to deal with being expected to give sympathy. She knew it was expected of her but didn't really want to at all. Still, she decided to put on the pleasant mask for now and with a sympathetic frown Laurel said: "Oh no, that's terrible! He just left? Did he say anything?" Then, a more genuinely meant comment: "Men are all the same!"

Valette nodded when the female sounded sympathetic. She felt that Stark just left. "Well, it could be that he was taken but there were no tracks or scent. It was like he vanished without a trace," Valette spoke. She felt that he wouldn't have left her but he wasn't here and hadn't returned.

Valette didn't really want to agree with the female at that. "I don't think so. Or I hope not. My first mate, he wouldn't have left me. He was very kind and protective of me. He passed away from fighting injuries," she sighed. "So I like to think not all men are like that," she spoke more softly.

Valette's brain did remind her that Ezra vanishing on her twice, and same for her step dad Reek. Stark vanished. So many men that left her. Then again, her sisters left her at first as well. So it was not all related to men. "Will you leave him? You can join Easthollow if you like even temporarily if needed," she offered. She could understand she would need a break from Xan.

Laurel didn't really like the thought that others got a good man. It was a lot easier to believe that they were all scum and her experiences were no exception. Except for Lucas, of course, the cutest little doodle in the world who would never break a woman's heart, of course. Laurel said, "Well, that's nice," which was about the friendliest she could muster. Her recent mate's disappearance reminded Laurel of Lucas, and for a moment she wondered if it was the same.

"My son Lucas got abducted, too, and recently my daughter Piper disappeared. I've been looking for them. Maybe something happened to your mate, too." Laurel didn't really believe in that, but if there was any chance it might lead to her babies, then she would take that chance.

As for Valette's kind offer, Laurel smiled -- genuinely, for a change -- and said, "Aw, thanks. That's so sweet of you. I'll keep that in mind." Indra was the biggest reason Laurel hadn't already left Xan to rot with this new pack they'd chosen -- oh, and Wyatt, she supposed -- but it was good to have options they could turn to if things got too sucky.

Valette frowned when the other spoke about her children vanishing. She would be extremely worried. The female had to deal with two children vanishing. "That sounds terrible," she spoke with a frown. She felt sick even thinking about the fact that her children could be abducted. She didn't think that Stark was abducted but who knows. Maybe he wasn't even alive. "Could be," she spoke. "I will keep an eye if I see your children."

Valette dipped her head in reply. "Please do. We are a family pack, so members become our family. But maybe, if you would want to leave Xan you would move far away from him, perhaps," she spoke. "Oh well. Like I said, the door is open if you need a place to stay. And other family members too, of course."

"Thanks," said Laurel when Valette offered to keep an eye out for the children. Laurel wasn't really sure what more to do, where to look. The only thing she had left to do was to simply go out and look for them wherever, ask everyone she knew about them. They had pretty distinct looks, after all, and unique names -- someone must've seen them, right?

Again, Laurel said fondly, "Thanks," with a soft smile on her face. She was touched by Valette's kindness on this subject, because she didn't even really know Laurel that well and yet she offered a place to stay for her and her family. "We'll keep your kindness in mind." It was always good to have a back up plan, after all.

Valette dipped her head. "Please do," she smiled. She was not sure if the female wanted to continue their conversation. She had already offered quite a bit of kindness. So she would offer the female to rant some more but then she might come over as ... too much. Valette did like that she learned more about her brother. It seemed he was quite like their father.

"Just so you know, I won't tell Xan I know about this," she assured her. They weren't that close after all. "Hopefully you feel a bit better," she offered. Perhaps the female was done ranting or she just wanted to continue with her day.

Laurel smiled sweetly as Valette said she wouldn't tell Xan. It seemed that Valette wasn't Xan's biggest fan either, or at least understood the struggle of having to share things with him and live with him. "Thanks," she reiterated softly, and she meant it this time. This girl was just such a sweetheart, Laurel decided, and she would keep the offer in mind if she ever needed a place to stay.

"I should continue searching. Have a nice day," Laurel said and she started making her way through the glade, trying to find a trace of her children -- anything.

Valette dipped her head. "Then I won't keep you," she spoke with a dip of a head. She would let the female be, perhaps she would see Laurel again. 'Have a nice day," she spoke. With that Valette would return to watching the neutral territories as she had done before. Then the female would know what kind of prey could wander in their territories.

- end -