Sleeping Dragon baby you're a song

A thin fog had settled over the territory of the Dragon with the coming of the morning, the temperature outside already hot and muggy. Gyda had not slept well, the babes were restless, kicking herself and no doubt each other all night. “I know you are anxious to see the world,” Gyda spoke to them in a hushed tone, affectionate despite that she was tired (and potentially highly cranky, eep). She supposed sleepless nights was something that she was going to have to adjust to for she feared there would be many until they were old enough to learn the difference of time and when they should be awake and when they should sleep. She felt as big as the mountain itself, and her back began to ache accordingly. Every so often a cramp would hit her — small and not enough to fear that she'd gone into labor ...but she was close, she could tell. She had perhaps a week or so left. Truly, the time had went by so fast. She was joyful and also, though she deigned to tell no one or let it show, she was scared.

et, Gyda faith in Frigga and Freyja and their promise to help, a sign she had taken as the famine's end was strong. Her goddesses would not let her down, they would see that the birth went smoothly and that fortunate smiled upon the newest Dragons. Her birthing den was cool but Gyda did not enjoy spending so much time in it, knowing that soon she would be spending more or less all of her time in it until they were old enough to eat regurgitated meat. Her movements were restricted now and her rests were more frequent. She emerged from her den and squinted until her eyes adjusted to the early morning sun — somehow made more bright by the thin fog. She let out a yawn and stretched as pathetically as she could, visibly wincing when her back ached again.

There was green sprouting everywhere and Wildfire knew this meant the herds would return, yet the recovery for both the land and the wolves who inhabited it would be a slow, gradual process. By now, the yearling herself was frighteningly skinny, the knobs of her spine and ridges of her ribs evident beneath her dull red coat. But she had caught enough small game here and there over the past few days to fill in some of the gauntness of her face, at the very least.

In fact, she finally managed to catch a fish from the Qeya, a big one too. She fed on its head, then decided to take its tail to a pack mate. In lieu of Thuringwethil, she decided to head to Gyda's den and see if the pregnant Viking Queen could use the nourishment (surely she could). When she arrived at its mouth, she discovered Gyda yawning and stretching in the early morning sunlight. Wildfire smiled around the fish, only for it to fall when she saw the pained expression on her face.

Gently dropping the fish tail at her feet, the Delta queried, "Hey, Gyda, you okay?"

Gyda had not been aware of Wildfire's presence — a slip in her attentiveness if there ever was one — until the flame kissed Sjötta spoke to her as the back ache ravaged it's way along the length of her spine. Heat flooded her cheeks, embarrassed that she had let her guard down so thoroughly. Gyda had been doing her best to hide the worst part of her pregnancy: the cramps and the aches and the fear that something might go terribly wrong. As chance would have it she had been unable to hide her wince of pain from Wildfire and so had no choice but to face it. “I'm fine,” Gyda attempted to brush it off, offering Wildfire a breezy and warm smile. It touched her eyes because, in truth, she was happy except for the dark moments of anxiety and the stabs of pain felt in different regions of her body.

“It's just...it's normal,” Gyda wanted to reassure Wildfire — not that Sleeping Dragon had a medic that she could call to check on Gyda. Gyda was all that Gyda had currently, and she trusted her body to know what it was doing. “I've been having a lot of back aches lately.” She admitted, her teeth grazing her bottom lip as she was loathe to admit that she had probably been pushing herself in ways she shouldn't have. But Gyda was a woman of action — a shield-maiden, a queen. Her duties did not stop just because she was expecting within the week...perhaps, she thought, any day now. She had already confined herself to stray not too far from the birthing den she had prepared and taken residence in. “I am very close. They will come soon.” Evidenced by the swell of her flanks and the secretions of mother's milk that had begun a week or so prior.

Gyda was quick to reassure her, her voice mild as she mentioned some back pain. Wildfire nodded, folding herself onto her slim haunches. "I bet it's a bit of a strain, carrying around all that extra weight," she said in a way she hoped wasn't entirely tactless. She did have a habit of putting her foot in her mouth, after all.

Her ears pricked and eyes brightened slightly at the news of imminent delivery. "Really? That's great. Do you have names picked out and stuff?" she asked, feeling conversational despite her general hunger and weariness. She didn't even know the Viking Queen all that well, yet the pups were the future of Sleeping Dragon, and so a worthwhile investment for any self-respecting member of the pack.

"Oh," she said, suddenly remembering to acknowledge the scrap of food at her feet, "this is for you." She nosed it closer to the silvery Alpha female, then sat back with a quiet smile. It was naturally difficult to give up food at a time like this but, again: it was an investment. "And," she added, the thought striking her abruptly, "I wanted to apologize for running off the other day. It was really rude of me."

Gyda seemed to accept her apology, or at least she acknowledged it with an appraising look and curt nod. She also took the gift of meat, causing Wildfire to smile and breathe an inward sigh of relief. Despite her own chattiness, the pregnant she-wolf did not seem particularly talkative, which the yearling chalked up to her condition and/or the early hour. Taking her cue, she exchanged a few more pleasantries with Gyda, then made herself scarce after promising to bring by another snack later.