Bearclaw Valley She's got the high score and you're coming off way too keen
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#1
All Welcome 
The family stopped over in the meadow outside Bearclaw Valley, and Lucas wasted no time setting off on his own. He was sure it worried his mother a little when he disappeared like this, but he was no longer a fat little wolf cub with only happiness and trust in his brain. He hadn't lost any of the happiness, but he was smarter now than back then, and anyway, any wolf would be hard pressed to get his bulk going anywhere that he didn't want it to go.

Bearclaw Valley was the same as it ever was. Spring was thawing the deep snow that had been here when he visited last, and the vale seemed brighter still than that. Maybe it was just having some of his family back that made it seem so much nicer. Luc didn't think they were going to stay here long—it was kind of a bummer, for Lucas would have liked nothing more than to come back here with his family, like nothing had ever changed—but that didn't mean he couldn't make the most of it while they were nearby.

With carefree abandon, the fat wolf whooped and hollered, spinning in slow circles in the new grass, bucking like a fool, and cutting loose in a show of boyish jollity.

Would be fun to get @Laurel or @Indra for a game, or maybe @Nunataq since she's in the area!
i will pry his bony fingers free
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#2
as overjoyed as indra was to see their family partially reunited, she could not help feel a spare thread of dread to return to where it had all started.

bearclaw looked much the same, at least to indra. but for all the faces it had once held in its walls, none remained. she wondered if even the black does that she and blondine had followed (what seemed years ago, too) had calved any fawns this season - and if they too shared the dark pelt of their mothers.

she fell in step behind lucas, admiring his ability to be unsinkable. he presently seemed to be ripping across the grounds without a care to trouble him -- snow, grass, and mud slung underfoot. indra was not yet in a mood to entertain such boisterous activity, though she did share an amused smile with laurel before following after lucas and marten with a watchful gaze.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
Jalapeño
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#3
Nunataq did not have many visitors at Bearclaw valley, but it was probably due to the fact that she inhabited a small corner of it. Now and then she would catch and follow scent-trails left by occasional travellers, but it had been a week now, since she had met anyone in person.

She did not mind this. Self-sufficient and having company at hand, when she needed it (Arlette over at Easthollow, Breccan at Lost Creek Hollow), Nuna spent her days hunting and providing for herself, playing music on the bottle and hoarding a myriad of objects she considered to be a valuable treasure.

Until one day she happened to hear voices in the vicinity and was drawn to investigate, who they were and what their business was here. She was taken aback a bit, by seeing more wolves than one. She was aware of the importance in numbers and knew that she could not take these people single-handedly, if things led to that.

Having not recognized either Lucas or Marten, both being very faint and washed-out memories of her past, she knew right away, who the russet-bunny-tailed she-wolf was in their midst. "Wuff!" she greeted her with a quiet bark, revealing her presence to everyone. Then, completely ignoring the two other people, who were her brothers, she approached Indra with a happy and curious expression. What had brought her here?
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#4
He paused in his whirling to shoot his aunt an inviting grin, but then he was right back to it, swinging his bulk in wide arcs while his paws wore furrows into the wild grass. Marten seemed reserved like his adoptive mother; he was hard to pull into a game as well. It was a lot more fun when others joined in, but he was excellent at entertaining himself as well, so he didn't slow down until another made themselves known.

She may not have recognized him, but Lucas knew who she was immediately. He never forgot a face. Now that she was all grown up, Nunataq was almost indistinguishable from her mother. At first, Reigi's name leapt to his lips and he faltered, but knew from the wordless way she approached Indra that this was not his friend from the coast. Reigi would have greeted him long before she would have gone to his aunt, if what she'd told him was true. If not her, it could be only one other.

Nuna! exclaimed Lucas, leaping toward her with a merrily wagging tail and lolling tongue.
i will pry his bony fingers free
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#5
indra, for all her watchfulness, had missed a pair of silver eyes watching from the thicket. slowing to a stop alongside marten, who appeared too reticent (much like his mother) to play just yet, indra flinched as a loud wuff and a crash came upon the scene.

whirling around with the sole purpose to protect lucas and marten from whatever assailant it was that had stepped from the brush, indra felt her quill-like hackles fall flat as she recognized the approacher. her hardened gaze softened immediately and a tired but warm smile hung from her lips as she heard, and then saw lucas spring towards his sister.

knowing it would be futile to say much of anything at all, particularly when nunataq was so adept at picking up communication from body language, indra's posture loosened as she joyfully stepped towards the girl, showering her with nuzzles of affection (that she knew nunataq likely would only barely tolerate) before pushing marten towards her with an encouraging nudge. she was sad that wyatt and piper were not here for this small family reunion, but the sadness was fleeting as she glanced upon the reassembled pieces of her fractured family, each grown into their own and children no longer.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
Jalapeño
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#6
Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi - what was permissible to Indra was not permitted to either Marten or Lucas. Nunataq endured, what she perceived as a breach of her personal space, with a face of a holy martyr. Touch was inevitable price to pay for mutual affection and she let her caretaker have her moment, while remaining reserved herself. Only her keen gaze that was laced with unsual and sincere softness revealed that she was in company of a very special person.

Which could not be said about the other two. She bared her teeth at Marten, warning him not to come any closer, thus refusing to admit that they were related or had shared anything with each other in the past at all. And poor and unsuspecting Lucas was met with an aggressive snap, telling him to stop, where he was. Where there had been a hint of sincerety just seconds before, was now a cold and hard gaze of a person, who does not acknowledge any familiarity and does not even wish for the other one to be here.

Indra was a friend that Nunataq did not wish to share with others.
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#7
Lucas didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't that. As children he and Nunataq had been the closest of all the joint children of Laurel and Indra, so outright rejection hit him like a baseball bat to the face. When she bared her teeth at him and gave a warning clap of her jaws, Lucas wilted completely. He came to an abrupt stop, his entire form lit up with shock and hurt as his ears pressed back and his face fell. What had he done?

That was all he could think about as tears suddenly gathered in his eyes. He hadn't done anything! He was glad to see her, and that was the reaction he got. It was such a stark contrast to the warm manner she greeted Indra that he couldn't help the hurt from plainly showing on his face. He met her cold stare with one that seemed to bleed anguish, and then he turned and fled, unable to handle the sharp cut of rejection from one of his beloved family members.
i will pry his bony fingers free
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#8
indra should have expected the reaction that sprung from nunataq -- yet even she was mildly taken aback, her fur rifling with surprise as she glanced from the shirking marten to lucas, who appeared hurt beyond measure.

they were not kids anymore -- not in the sense that she could scold each of them for misbehaving or not getting along, but to see lucas' cheery attitude deflated to an all-time low by a show of teeth made indra's expression falter. as he fled a frown riddled indra's countenance, for she understood the hurt he faced in his rejection.

"lucas, wait!" indra called after him, glancing to nunataq with disapproval. they were a family, they should be friends -- this was not the reunion she had hoped for.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.
Jalapeño
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#9
Nunataq was at a loss, what had happened now or why had the other guy left, where she had simply told him to keep his distance. In her mind she had not made any mistake. Personal space was a sacred thing. So was Indra. The end.

She frowned in response to the russet she-wolf's reproachful gaze, then turned on her heel and right before leaving the scene entirely, she snarled at Marten for a good measure. Just in case he got any ideas or had not understood the warning the first time.

She felt a little offended and wronged, but by the time she had reached her "hut" and begun to chew her plastic bottle for music, she calmed down and was happy and content once again.

Last one from me.
i will pry his bony fingers free
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#10
in the blink of an eye the troupe split off; lucas hurtling one way, nunataq storming off the other. indra was left reeling, torn between the two up until nunataq whirled on marten with a snarl that sent marten running.

"for pete's sake," indra muttered, watching as four wolves petered down to one. did the family drama ever end?

she was left alone, and with a huff took off after marten to make sure he didn't stray too far. lucas she would check in with later, as she assumed he had likely gone back to laurel to be comforted.
now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turning gold,
and like the sky, my soul is also turning.