Bazi had never been this fat. She knew it was natural, but her petite frame was swamped by a Zeppelin-sized gut. It swung uncomfortably, tugging on her joints and getting in the way of normal grooming. She dreaded to think what it would be like in another two weeks' time.
Today, Bazi walked the edge of the eastern forest border with slow, waddling steps. It was already impossible to groom effectively, and she felt more dirty and obscene than usual in the muggy mid-morning. Clouds had rolled in overnight, and a hint of fog still remained, though it did little to disguise the white Alpha. Determined to find a private spring to wash in,
away from the rest of the pack, she continued her trundling with a sour expression and a gently swinging gut.
Warmer weather was returning and, with it, the urge to travel away from her home in the Heartwood. With the snow melting and the smell of pollen in the air, the little magpie happily flit in and out of the trees, heading north to wherever she pleased. She thought briefly about going towards the ocean again, but realised she hadn't explored this far upwards before, and was curious about the mountains in the distance. As long as she didn't encounter any more hungry lynxes.
What she did find, however, much to her delight, was a wolf. A petite, white wolf with a rounded belly that made Shiv release a series of high-pitched giggles. Gliding gently around the female in a tight circle above her, the magpie landed upon a nearby tree, canting her head towards her. "Wolf ate one too many berries it seems, yes?" she tweeted, still laughing.
To make matters worse, Mother Nature thought this a good time to send a jester. Bazi turned her eyes up to where the magpie was perched and heaved the longest and most dramatic sigh of the year so far. Great. These creatures weren't known for their tendency to deliver one joke and fly off, either. "They're eggs," she countered with a roll of her eyes, hurrying on past but fully expecting to be followed. "I ate your whore mother and now she's giving birth to mutants in there."
The wolf's sudden exasperation was almost palpable. If birds could smile, Shiv would be flashing her the cheekiest of grins. Instead, her black eyes twinkled with glee, watching the female waddle towards...wherever she was heading. The territory was thick with the scent of wolves which led her to believe this was rightly her home. Her biting retort caused the magpie to cackle before jumping across to another branch, following the wolf as she pushed onwards.
Eggs? Wolves were more similar to birds than she first thought. "At least mutants will have something to eat," she chirped. "Wolf has plenty to go around!" She studied her bulbous form again with fascination, having never seen a pregnant wolf before.
The bird was unfazed. Bazi flashed the nimble little creature a dirty, jealous look as it hopped through the treetops, its slight weight barely affecting the branches at all. Engaging with it was a sure-fire way to secure unwanted company for the entire day, but Bazi was grumpy, and could not help herself. She slowed, stopped, and stared up at the foul little pest above her head. "If you come down, you can share with your brothers and sistsers," she invited, aware that it had about as slim a chance of succeeding as a toad winning the lottery.
Was it something in the water that made the females of the wilds so irritable? Shiv not-so fondly recalled her meeting with the grey-furred woman at the Plateau, who had turned the tables on the magpie and had the gall to attack her. Meanwhile, males such as the talkative pup Charon and the cheery male Fleetscut had been much more amicable. Or perhaps the stranger was just upset because she had gained some very much unwanted winter weight.
Shiv returned a challenging glance back down to the female, humming for a moment as if in debate before tapping the branch she was on with her beak. She was fine right here, thank you. "Wolf would eat Shiv," she commented with a nod — she had prior experience with females like this one. Though, the other wolf hadn't been carrying eggs. Whether that made her more likely to attack her than the Plateau girl Shiv did not know. "And wolf has had enough to eat, yes." She just couldn't resist poking fun at her oversized middle.
The teasing continued. Bazi, who had been balancing on the knife's edge between rage and tears, finally landed in waterworks territory. Her ears flattened, and she felt her lower lip move on its own accord. "You have no idea what this is like, do you," she bit out, the words garbled by an escaped sob. "Are you a girl bird? Do you know how massive your eggs are? You just wait until some bird man sticks his stupid bird doo-daa in you and you burst at the seams." Because the state of her was obviously all Scimitar's - and all men-kind's - fault.
Oh. Oh, no. Shiv gave a unnerved warble as the female was suddenly visibly upset. Her bottom lip wobbled, her icy eyes becoming a little more glassy. The bird wasn't sure whether to laugh and taunt the wolf some more or fight back at her threats. At least, she took them as threats. Shiv had no plans on reproducing. She could barely take care of herself let alone a flock of smaller versions of herself. The thought itself sent a shiver up the magpie's spine.
Tilting her head at the stupid bird doo-daa comment (which she had no idea what that was...his beak?), Shiv dropped to a lower branch to get a better view of the little fat wolf. "Shiv can pop wolf if wolf wants?" she offered, genuinely trying to be helpful.
Bazi snivelled unattractively and eased her swollen body to the ground. In the final stages of pregnancy, sitting down unaided should be achievement enough for a while day. The bird's offer creased her brow. She blinked away the tears that beaded the lower curve of her eyes. "Literally?" Or was she being offered.. a way out.
Well, at least she didn't seem so angry anymore. With a soft, encouraging trill, the bird bobbed her head as the female questioned her with a single word. She wasn't sure how the mechanics of pregnancy worked, only that there was an egg somewhere inside that wolf's body and one day she would pop and there would be mini-wolves. Yeah, that sounded about right. Eyes flicking back to the girl, the magpie clicked her sharp beak against the tree's branch as if showing off her weapon.
"Shiv pokes wolf!" she chirped with a bounce upon the branch. "And out comes babies."
Bazi was well aware that this was now how babies were born, but she had convinced herself that the bird was speaking in code. It would do something to her - peck her, poison her - and out would come the babies.. too early to survive, and she would be free. Would her belly just shrink-wrap around the space they left behind? Would her raw, swollen teats simply drop off?
As she stood there, genuinely pondering abortion by magpie, maternal instinct awoke from its slumber and rapped her hard over the head. A shiver cut through her, closely followed by the tight squeeze of a particularly powerful cramp. Bazi gasped and sank to the ground, turning her upper body awkwardly to inspect her rear. Two seconds. Five. Ten. Nothing. Short, shaky breaths wobbled the wolf's belly, and she turned slowly around to face the strange little bird on its branch. "No.. thanks," she murmured, eyeing it with fresh suspicion.
For a split second, Shiv was certain the wolf would actually take her up on her offer, and her heart begun to race with excitement, eager to use her shiny beak to spear something other than berries. However, the female then heaved and fell to the ground, turning back as if she had accidentally sat on a porcupine. Shiv watched on, her raised wings falling in disappointment. To the bird's utter dismay, she declined. "Fine," she huffed, glaring back at the pallid female. "Wolf can stay fat then!"
Bazi snorted in the bird's direction and turned - slowly, carefully - to leave. Before she did, the wolf spat "At least I'll go back to normal size one day - you'll always be an ugly pest" over her slim shoulder. She waddled in the direction of home in much improved spirits. For the first time, she felt protective over the little lives that were slowly inflating her. Somehow, when it dawned on her that she might lose them - that there were ways to bring about such a thing.. her mothering instinct flared up like some kind of very necessary rash.
Haha, thanks for the thread! :D
Not bound by maternal instincts of any kind, Shiv was very much confused as to why the wolf hadn't accepted. Perhaps she enjoyed being round? Was it more fun to roll down hills in her current state? Why did she contend to simply stay this way when Shiv was being so very helpful — in her mind — and offered to release the puppies into the wild so much sooner. Instead, she was met with an insult as the female turned to hobble back in to the forest.
Bristling her feathers at such a
rude display, the magpie didn't even have time to call out her own insult before the white-furred wolf disappeared into the shadows. Huffing and fuming upon her thin branch, Shiv squawked indignantly before flitting away in the opposite direction, chattering nonsense to herself about the encounter.