Nova Peak Wähkär

She did not know the lady @Elowen Aeloria.
She had not even seen the woman. Or heard her.
She did not know her thoughts, or her voice, or her character.
But Ayovi crouches outside the woman’s den all the same, blinking into thick shadows, a low bark announcing her presence.
She waits, adjusting her paws in the earth to make room for the belly that rounded between her hind legs.

She would wait as long as needed.

i've been meaning to make a starter for them so thank you for this <3

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elowen stirred at the sound, though it took her a moment to rouse fully. sleep clung to her like damp moss, heavy and unrelenting, but the low bark at her den mouth pulled her from it. sluggishly, she lifted her head, ears pivoting toward the entrance.

a visitor. not her husband, if they waited outside.

she swallowed thickly, fighting the churn of her stomach that had become all too familiar in recent weeks. with some effort, she eased herself upright and peeked out from the mouth of the den.

immediately, she's greeted with a woman as white as the snow. a pregnant one, at that. for a moment, she hesitated. "oh," she breathed, puffing a short breath as she waddled further from the nook lorcan had made for her. "you must be ayovi. i am sorry we did not meet sooner—" another breath, something to fight her nausea, "i've not been very well."

ahh of course! I’m so excited to write with you <33

She did not know what to think, and truly, she had no expectations at all. Perhaps that is why the woman’s beauty, crowned in the ethereal warmth of daylight caught her so off-guard. This beautiful, gentle, serene woman that Lorcan had so casually wagered.
Ayovi fumed. Of course, she did not know the arrangements in this woman’s marriage with her husband. Maybe their relationship was fluid. But maybe it wasn’t.
“Please— don’t apologize,” she softens her voice, eyes seeking the healthy swell beneath Elowen’s fawn hide. “I wanted to meet you, though perhaps I am too hasty. I can come back, if you prefer to rest?” Indigo reaches for blue, and again she is struck.
How? How could he do it?

"no... no, it's alright." she tried to smile, a small thing that didn't quite reach her eyes. "you came all this way. i don’t mind. please, come inside," she pivots slowly on her heels, motioning the white woman to follow.

the den is warm. elowen retreats to her corner of it—her nest is clustered with feathers and now-wilted flowers, pretty stones, all to outline the elk hide she laid upon. he front legs curl up beneath her as she lowers herself, slowly, slowly, until she is flush with the floor.

she didn’t know what this woman wanted—what she knew, or thought she knew—but elowen refused to shrink away. whatever it was, she would face it. she had to be stronger, for the life swelling in her belly. "what brings you to me?"

It is a false smile— known only by other women who had also occasion to wear it, and Ayovi feels a great guilt for  inserting herself. It was very possible this woman did not desire company, and in that case, the huntress could respect it.
Still, she tunnels in behind her, eyes moving to admire the ornamentations. Elowen was a woman of taste, or Lorcan a collector of beauty. Perhaps it is both. 
Ayovi tucks herself on the opposite side of the earthen dwelling, shifting to make space for the roundness of her flank before settling on Elowen’s question.
“To compare bumps,” her eyes flare for a quick moment. “I am not a midwife, but I know medicine. I used to aid my aunts when I was a girl. I am here to help you, when they come. If you need.” If she wanted.

"oh." surprise flickered across elowen's delicate features, her smile faltered into something more genuine—uncertain, but touched nonetheless. her gaze dropped briefly to her own belly, then flicked back to ayovi’s, the shared weight between them suddenly making her feel.. less alone. 

"i would like that," she admitted softly, as if she were afraid to grasp too tightly at the kindness being offered. there was so much she didn’t know—about this woman, about the months ahead, about what it meant to bring life into a world that had so often felt cruel. but ayovi… ayovi had seen this done before. ayovi understood.

she exhaled, a slow, shaky breath. "thank you." not just for the offer, but for being here. for seeing her. a beat passes before she speaks again; "when are you due?"

Ayovi adored the man who had quickly become her dearest companion and closest confidant— but she’d missed this; the council of women. The mountain shone brighter, and with Elowen here… it made Winsook feel more like home. Her tail sways.
“Spirits, I hope soon,” Ayovi moans, attempting to situate her cumbersome belly once more.  “Skorpa— well, he’s a rather large man. I suspect his children will be born full-sized. I was sick in the evenings at the start, but that’s gone away. Now I’m craving berries like mad– the sweet kind from my home, but no luck finding them around here.” Her eyes flick from the swell back up to Elowen’s gentle blue.
“Have you any inclination when they’ll come?”

"near the end of the moon, i think," elowen murmured, smoothing a paw over the soft earth beneath her. the uncertainty of it gnawed at her—this was her first, after all. she had nothing to compare it to, no past experience to ground her. only the ache in her bones and the sickness that clung to her like a second skin. "it hasn’t been easy."

her gaze drifted to ayovi’s belly once more, the swell of life. skorpa’s children, she’d said. full-sized. though she'd not met the man personally, she had seen him around. elowen huffed a quiet laugh, though there was sympathy in it. "lorcan is large, too," she admitted, pressing a paw idly to her own stomach. "i am hoping for an easy birth, but i worry."

softer, almost shy— "i could help you look for the berries, if you’d like. later, of course."

Her head lifts to Elowen, empathy in the rainwater eyes.
“I will bring you chamomile. I’ve been using it to soothe some of the discomfort.” But there was not much more that could be done now other than to wait for the children to come.
There were moments when Ayovi feared this. She had known women to die in childbirth, but the storm upon the woman’s face withheld her own anxiety. “I’m glad they’ll have eachother; our pups,” she offers instead, imagining little copies of Skorpa and Lorcan wreaking havoc on the mountain together.
She grins to herself, ears cupping enthusiastically with Elowen’s offer. “I’d like that. In Ashēer we would ferment them with nectar and drink together on nights before a hunt.”
She’d need that after all of this.

"that sounds lovely," elowen mused, a warm smile playing at her lips. she could almost picture it—warm nights, the air thick with the scent of ripened berries and laughter shared between women. the kind of ease she had not yet found in this life, but perhaps, with ayovi, she could.

her gaze softened, lingering on the curve of ayovi’s stomach. "i'm glad, too," she said quietly. "kin before they understand the word." there was a comfort in that thought, a promise of companionship woven between them before they’d even drawn breath. "how many do you think you'll have?"

“It’s hard to imagine one… much less ten.”
Ayovi, hikes her smile. She was not ashamed of her naivety, she only wished she had spent more time learning from gravid mothers when she was a yearling in Ashēer. The girl had been enchanted with the hunt and though she also dreamed of marriage, she had not long pondered the complexities of pregnancy. But Ayovi understood there may be complications. Even if all survived, would she be able to nurse them? Would they make it through the challenge of spring, when the bears awaken and competition for prey turns lethal?
Useless, she knows, to worry over that beyond her control. So she drops her chin instead, eyeing the still-strange roundness that now defines her shape.
“I hope they look like him, however many. Healthy, happy, rowdy red-haired vikings, every single one,” she laughs.
Elowen’s eyes are as unclouded as a doe’s, a sweet affection touching her face. It is easy to befriend her. Ayovi gazes back in sterling attention.
“What about you? Do you have an ideal number?”

"oh, i don’t know," elowen admitted, a breath of laughter escaping her. "enough to keep the den warm, i hope." her expression softened, a fondness settling in her chest. "three, maybe? four?"

she had no illusions about the trials of motherhood—already, her body bore the weight of it, sickness gnawing at her edges, leaving her restless in ways she hadn't expected. but she wanted them, these little lives forming within her. "i just hope they’re strong," she murmured.

“I will pray for you, and them. The sky spirits reserve a magic for pregnant women who call upon them; the stars will listen."
Ayovi would leave the second mother now to rest, but not before hesitating in her step. “I’m grateful I’m not doing this alone,” a grin fans up into her eyes.
She would be back with the chamomile— and by that time she must decide what to do about Lorcan.