Stone Circle just gonna stand there and watch me cry
you're the unbreakable heart
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Ooc — Iris
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#1
All Welcome 
@Valette had welcomed her and @Indra into the pack, along with @Marten. Lucas had gone off to look for Merrick, and it had broken Laurel's heart. She had pleaded him not to, but he would not listen, and once more it felt like things fell apart. Why would he do such a thing to her? Laurel wished she still had all of her babies by her side, rather than Marten, who she hadn't initially wanted by her side at all. Some other woman's child with Xan, a stark reminder that he had never truly loved her but only wanted her because she was in heat and he was a daft asshole. Yet through it all, Marten was the only one who had stood by them through the whole journey and while confusing, Laurel had to admit that he was there when others were not. And he had even helped her to try and look for a pack. Slowly, he was starting to grow on her, and Laurel felt a little guilty for treating him poorly before.

Her stomach was starting to show now; it was a little over halfway through the gestation period now. Laurel wandered through Easthollow's territories when she came across the stone circle that she hadn't seen before. She looked at it from a small distance as the sun slowly started to go down, hesitant to approach such a strange looking place.
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*chucks* pls excuse the phone post 

marten was many things, and there were many things that he was not. 

he’d grown up knowing the hardships his mother and aunt had faced, maybe not directly, but he understood that there was something missing from both women. marten, fiercely loyal to indra and whoever she chose to identify with - most consistently laurel - had never seen these hardships. he knew that indra was not his birth mother. he knew his real family was a little... broken. he understood that although xan has been a good father a majority of the time, he may not have been a good man. the concept was not strange to marten. good wolves could make bad decisions. and bad wolves could make good ones. xan was one of the two, and marten never cared to identify wish... solely because he was not indra, and so it didn’t matter. they had left. it did not matter anymore. 

he understood the hardships. understood his life was not, by dictionary definition, perfect. and he was okay with that. marten was optimistic to most degrees, his remaining facets deeply rooted in logic and realism. marten was good at holding a positive attitude even when things were tough, but he was not as naive as, in his opinion, laurel was... to search for lost children was still a lost cause. even now, after finding lucas, he’d just left again. 

marten has said it before - some wolves just choose to leave. lucas chose, and he chose again. nevermind who he was leaving behind. marten would never be that wolf, he swore by it. 

so maybe he was a little blunt, a little smart for a wolf with so few years under his belt. but he always meant well. and he’d do whatever he needed to for indra and the rest of their family. which, right now, was just laurel. and however many children she carried with her.

marten sought her out. if anything just to check on her. 

he spotted her by the circle of stones, ears pricking with curiosity as he approached them both. he chuffed from a distance, tail waving gently. hey aunt laurel, he said as he approached, offering her a nudge to the shoulder.
you're the unbreakable heart
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yay, thanks for joining!

At another's approach Laurel startled initially, but she relaxed a moment after when she realised that it was just Marten. Laurel shied away from the nudge to the shoulder, dodging it by sidestepping. Ever since the incident she had not slept in a pile with the others and she had not liked to be touched in any way; not even by her family. Not even by Indra.

Hey Marten, she said. Do you know what those stones are? Laurel glanced over to the stones, still indecisive if they should go and explore it or keep at a distance for now.
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Valette had met Laurel before but she was still interested in seeing the female and wondering how she was doing. She knew that some wolves didn't take well to pregnancies and added the stress of being integrated into a new pack would not always help. Valette was in the stage that she could leave her own pups a bit more independent now. She was planning on looking at the bison herd from the stones, and then find Laurel to check on her.

However, as she made her way to the stones she saw the two newcomers inspecting the structure from a distance. Valette approached them in a casual trot, sounding a chuff when she came closer. She overheard the question. "Hi, Laurel, Marten," she greeted before stopping to stand next to them. "This is our Stone Circle. It is very important to our pack. We hold meetings there, but we also bury our loved ones there so when important meetings take place they are still with us," she explained to the two of them.

Valette stepped closer to the circle and then looked at one of the stones. "Most have a meaning as well, often inspired by the wolf that is buried with that stone." She was not sure if the newcomers wanted to hear all the information regarding each stone. 'Your grandma is buried here as well, Marten," she offered. "It is unfortunate that you never got to meet her."
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marten didn't take the side step personally -- he realized as soon as he had begun to move towards her he probably shouldn't have, though he was already in motion. laurel had been a bit more standoffish than usual, and that was just how it was. marten didn't question it or bother to confront her about it. that was just how it was now. he figured it had something to do with the pregnancy. that was as far as he thought about it.

he shook his head. "no clue," he said, nose twitching as he looked it over. when valette appeared did marten give a quick head bow, tail wagging gently. "hi mrs. valette," marten greeted in return, falling silent as she quickly dove into an explanation. she must've overheard them. 

when valette mentioned his grandmother being buried there, marten found himself feeling uncomfortable... for a few reasons. but it wasn't with the news itself. he was actually pretty pleased that valette was upfront and honest with him -- it made him feel a little bit more at home here. indra was always honest with him -- never treated him like he couldn't handle something. it was the fact that she called the wolf his grandmother... marten, to a fault and as i've already mentioned, truly regarded only indra as his family... laurel by extension. xan was family, a good enough father though maybe a bad wolf, but marten knew roughly nothing about anyone else. and to hear about a grandmother was just... unsettling. 

unsure if he wanted the tie to this wolf that valette pressed upon him, marten asked instead, "what does her stone mean?" it seemed lighter than asking for her name.
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Marten didn't know what the stones were, either. Laurel contemplated visiting them, but there was something a little enigmatic about them that made her stand and stare just a bit longer. Luckily she didn't have to wait for very long, because before she could make any moves Valette showed up and greeted her and Marten, then explained about the stones. Laurel thought it was touching on one hand that they would bury their dead there and that they had a history here, but on the other hand she felt uncomfortable that other wolves got a history and a good life. Why didn't she get that? Didn't she deserve it? She was brought back to her younger days and thought of how she had never been good enough. It seemed even the universe didn't think her good enough to give her a nice pack like this (ironically, she did not realise she was in this pack and could be a part of aforementioned history if she only wanted to).

She nodded standoffish at it, looking only mildly interested. That's interesting. She listened as Valette mentioned Marten's grandmother buried here. Xan's mother, then? The thought was odd, and when she thought of Xan, Laurel's gut wrenched involuntarily as she thought of all the hurt he had caused her in her life.
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Valette smiled when approaching them and hoped to see by their reaction if they were interested to hear more. Marten asked her a question after and then dipped her head briefly, like one nod. "She is the Mother Stone. For me, it is personal as she is my mother, but now she has become a symbol. You can talk to her or just sit by the stone for mercy, peace, fertility, and strength of the mother," she smiled at the young wolf.

Valette glanced at Laurel. She didn't seem that interested in the stories. "There are a few more. For me it just helps when I have a problem and sit by the stone, thinking about how they would handle the situation or just think how they would advise me," she offered. "Though not all wolves are as invested with the stones as I am, and that is more than okay," she spoke, to let them know that she didn't expect them to suddenly pray to their stones. Only if they wanted to.
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marten made mental note of this -- this it helps me comment. he wondered if he could be benefitted by the stones as well, maybe they would give him advice to give to others too. so many wolves in his life had problems... he just wanted to help, but he was just a little wolf in a big world, afterrall.

what are the other stones? marten asked, mostly because the word fertility was tied to the mother stone and he didn't think he needed that much. strength, though, he liked, especially that of the mother. it made him think of indra, and how strong she was, and his tail swayed a bit.
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Laurel honestly felt like it was all a lot of hoo-ha over nothing, these stones. So a bunch of bodies were buried here. What was the big deal? Of course, she wouldn't say any of this out loud and just nodded politely through Valette's explanations. She was rather relieved that Valette ended with saying not all wolves were as interested in the stones. That took some pressure off, and hopefully this pack wasn't the kind that would end up dancing crazily around the stones doing weird rituals. She didn't want to find herself in one of those some day.

Thank you for explaining, Laurel said with a friendly smile, though Marten wasn't done yet and asked about the other stones. Laurel looked at them, preparing for more boring stone stories. Thanks a lot, Marten.
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Valette smiled when Marten wanted to know more about the stones. However, Laurel already thanked her for her information. Valette dipped her head. "You are welcome, Laurel," she spoke and then turned more to Marten to answer his question. "Oh there is the father stone, the warrior stone, and that broken one? Well, that one is for all the lost souls," she cited. "The one for the lost souls doesn't have a body but just stand for all the wolves that vanished or have not returned home. There is a trail of stones going to the border basically like a guide to lead them home," she smiled.

For some wolves, thought that this was all very vague. Some liked it, some were not very into it. It seemed she had each of those types before her.