Heron Lake Plateau onto every life a little rain must fall

All welcome!

They had moved to the den, finally, but Raven couldn't stand to be in the unbearably dark, confined shelter for long. She found herself again wondering how Niamh lived in a den year-round. She knew that once the pups were born, she would appreciate the protection it offered, but for now, she spent her time in the grassy clearing around the outside of the den's opening, going inside only to spruce up the space and finish getting it ready for the puppies' arrival. Quixote had done a wonderful job digging it out for her; there was ample space inside for both of them, and the location he'd chosen was perfect. It was private, hidden by trees and undergrowth, but not so far from the more busily-trafficked areas of their territory that she couldn't respond if she was needed. Everything she had asked for in a den, her mate had delivered.

Her wounds ached, but they were healing as well as could be expected. Thick, itchy scabs adorned her face, neck, and forelegs, and she hoped (somewhat vainly) that there would be no unsightly scars left behind when they came off. Day by day, under Quixote's diligent care and protection, she felt a little better, and now that she was back on her feet again, she found it difficult to stay still for any length of time. Her belly was enormous, distended past the point of being comfortable in any position, and the cramping and discomfort drove her to walk. Constantly. Even now, she paced restlessly around her little densite, a storm of thoughts on her mind. Orca's death haunted her the most. She had been a daughter of sorts to Raven, and the fact that there was only one kid left from that entire litter ate at Raven on the inside. Had she failed as a parent to them? Towhee had turned out fine, but the rest of them... What did that mean for the pups to come? If any of them survive, she thought with a lingering sense of dread.

Hope this is okay? You get Tywyll's first real wandering thread! Please excuse his unintentional rudeness.

It wasn't long after he had begun to show growing behaviors that he began to travel farther from the areas around the den. This time he moved far enough away that he was smacked in the face by a ton of other scents, many of them new to him. He sniffed around eagerly, trying to recall any of them. He smelled Towhee, Clover, and that girl Ceara. He also smelled his mother and father around this area too. There was however another scent that naturally drew him in by alerting his subconscious to the possibility of milk, it was the scent of a mother wolf which Tywyll was still young enough to be drawn to like a moth to flame.


Following the scent took him a bit, he was new to tracking but he remembered everything his dad taught him to find Raven laying out on the grass. He paused and looked at her with big eyes, once pure blue now turning into a bright gold. He hadn't known exactly why he tracked her down, he didn't know she was pregnant or what pregnant was so to him he was staring at a seriously fat she wolf. "Where do you get all the food?" the words tumbled from his mouth in hushed awe before he could stop them. If she ate enough to look like that, she must be an amazing hunter! One of the best even!

I am so glad you jumped on this thread! I adore Tywyll! <3

The storm in her mind continued to rage, filling her with ever-blacker thoughts and worries, until she felt she might explode from the pressure building up inside. She finally gave in and lay down, before she carved a canyon into the earth around her den by sheer frustration and pacing. By some twist of fortune, though, it seemed the universe knew exactly what she needed at that exact moment. For if there was one person who could cut through the tension like a hot knife through butter and dispel all of her negativity, it was the adorable little Blackthorn boy who approached her curiously and asked what might have been, to any other wolf, a rather rude question.

To Raven, though, it was hilarious.

She laughed and shook her head, her tail wagging behind her as she marveled at how much little Tywyll had grown. She hadn't seen him in what felt like forever, due to the weirdness between her and @Finley since her rise to the mantle of alpha. The two females had worked out their differences, but things still didn't feel quite the same to Raven. "I'm not fat, you silly goose. I'm pregnant!" She grinned at him and cocked her head, adding, "Do you know what that means?"

It was after he'd asked the question and stared for a few moments that he remembered her. She had fixed his hurts when the eagle had tried to take him away and he'd given it a good bite. He began to wag slowly before she started laughing and confused him. What was so funny? She was obviously eating very well and he wanted to know how! Then she said she wasn't fat and he cringed, feeling bad for suggesting so. She mentioned she  was pregnant and he blanked out, even more confused. "Pargnant?" he asked and furrowed his brow knowing he got the word wrong. He was a good and active talker but he still messed up some bigger stranger words. When asked if he knew what it was he shook his head slowly, coming closer to sniff at her.

He was too young for the "where do babies come from?" conversation, and Raven certainly didn't want to walk across that minefield with someone else's kid. So she did her best to simplify it down into terms he could understand without going into too much detail. She gingerly shifted into a slightly more comfortable position and explained, "It means I'm carrying babies in my belly. They're growing into puppies like you, and when they're big enough, they'll come out and you can play with them." Okay, that sounded...way weirder than it had in her head, but she hoped it would make some sort of sense in his young mind. "Your mom carried you in her belly like this too before you were born."

Her explanation brought an expression to his face best described as What the fuck? He looked horrified and concerned all at once and slowly headed toward Raven to sniff at her belly, being careful not to touch her any harder than a gentle brushing of his nose. "What typa seeds grow babies?" he asked curiously, wanting to try some and see if he got that fat. The knowledge he was grown in a stomach (his mother's nonetheless!) was kind of disturbing to him and he did not even touch that part of the subject.

Sorry for the lengthy wait! Was on vacation. :)

Hoo boy. Had she ever stepped in it with this one. She pondered the boy's question, wondering how best to answer it. She didn't want to lie to him, and she certainly didn't want to brush him off by simply telling him go ask your mom — though admittedly that would have been the easier and probably smarter thing to do. She wanted to answer him as honestly as possible, though, without too many gritty details. "The seeds come from dads," she said after a moment. "But they're special seeds that you don't get until you're all grown up. Dad gives the seeds to Mom, and babies grow in her belly until they're big enough to be born." Technically it was true?

Her explanation sounded sketchy and he gave her a dubious and even more grossed out look. He processed the information and his nose wrinkled as he sat down on the ground beside her. "So...daddy's make the seeds and they give em to mommy's. So they swallow it?" he asked. It sounded gross. Super super gross. "So if I accidentally got some, I'd have babies in me?" that sounded horrifying and he made note to avoid his father for a while until he was sure how the whole seed giving thing worked.

This just kept getting better and better -- if the expressions on Tywyll's face were any indication. He was young enough to accept what she was saying while being just old enough to be skeptical. Maybe she should have just been totally honest with him about the birds and the bees. He would have to learn the details sometime, and she had a feeling that as soon as he crossed paths with Tegan or Towhee, the metaphorical cat would be out of the bag.

So they swallow it? Oh dear lord. Cue facepalm here. Not even gonna touch that one.

"Um...well no. Boys can't have babies. Only girls can," she replied in answer to his second question.

Well at least that one bit of information was a relief. No offense but he would absolutely hate to get that fat and lose his awesome bod. Even though he currently was that ugly point somewhere between a chubby baby and leaning out in his legs and muscles. "That's awesome." he said with a grin and then realised how mean that may have seemed  "I mean, awesome cuz you ladies are so lucky right?" he tried to turn the meanness into an awkward sort of compliment. Raven seemed pretty happy about having babies so it must be a good thing.

Raven hadn't taken any offense to his comment, thinking it little more than just another silly kid comment. He quickly amended it though, to which the healer smiled and rolled her eyes. "So lucky," she replied with a tone of amusement. The alpha, who looked more like an over-inflated, vaguely wolf-shaped balloon than an actual wolf, wasn't feeling very lucky at that particular moment. She was ready to be done with pregnancy and go back to a more comfortable size. "Do you know how many puppies a wolf mom can carry in her belly?" she asked the curious boy next.

I love this rude little boy xD

She hadn't seemed to find his comment rude which made him a bit more ballsy in his word choice. She also kept asking him questions that he had no idea how to answer without seeming either stupid and rude and to be honest he preferred the latter. "Ummm..." he hesitated and stared at her belly and then thought about how little he and Cinder had once been. "S....seven?" he asked hoping that he was at least sort of close and didn't blow it way out of proportion.

I love him too! <3 Definitely need another thread with him sometime!

"Close!" she answered to his response, surprised he'd managed to guess so accurately. "Six, actually. That's why we get so fat." She grinned at him and her tail thumped the ground behind her. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable again (pregnancy was such a suckfest at this late stage, ugh), she drew herself to her feet again and stretched. "I'm gonna take a walk for a bit. You should get back to your parents so they don't start to worry." She gently tousled the top of his head with her nose before turning to head back toward the lake.

Damn! He had been off by just one number. Six was still a lot though, what if he had been born with five other Cinders instead of just one? Ew. That would be so much work to be the boss. When Raven announced she was leaving and he should go home, he nodded and then wagged and laughed as she tousled his head. There were a certain few he would let muss his fur up and he supposed she was one of them. "Okay! Bye Raven" he called as he turned and raced away. He wondered who he should teach about babies. Maybe Cinder.

As Raven wandered aimlessly toward the lake, she had time to think of her interaction with Tywyll and she wondered what her own pups would be like. The Blackthorn pups covered just about every part of the spectrum in terms of personality types, so they were a pretty good starting point for her imaginings. Heck, even the Redhawks themselves were. Grinning to herself, she whiled away the rest of her free hours giving thought to what lay ahead.