Sun Mote Copse make me cry

Anyone is welcome to find her!

Birth had taken it's toll on the new mother. Sickly as she was prior to her children's birth, it was a miracle she hadn't died the same day life was breathed into them. But winter was a relentless beast, never satisfied and constantly craving to take more life. Giana could feel herself being drained with each growing hour and she knew it would not be long before she too joined those that had lost their lives to the brutal season. Yet as she watched with awe as her children squirmed about, the ivory woman knew she could leave this world without regretting the choices she made.

Her children were her light, and she was relieved to know that despite the fact that she would not be here to care for them, that they would still continue to be looked after and loved by Molech and those within the Malkaria. Gently moving @Aurora Artemis near to her, she encouraged the tiny girl to eat once again. Her small frame was worrying but Giana had faith that the girl would survive the hell this world would throw at her. She then moved to clean @Cosmos with great affection, smoothing the tangled hairs along his spine.

She was content in that moment, her heart filled with the love for her children as tears began to stream down her platinum cheeks. As she curled around the tiny babes, Giana let out one last strained howl saying goodbye to her fellow pack mates and wishing them good fortune in their future endeavors. As her soul was torn from her body and her last breath left her lungs, the ivory woman left the world with a smile upon her maw.

Had Honey not had a suckling babe at her side, she might have darted to Giana's side as soon as the call was released. But rather, she waited for @Carnation to finish nursing and to drift into a temporary slumber before she lifted her by the scruff and made for Giana's den. An audible gasp was released when she saw the now cold, lifeless body. Being incredibly careful and calculated in her movements, Honey placed her daughter down beside the other two whining pups, then curled herself around the trio, nudging them toward her teats.

Her first priority was caring for the orphaned children, but of course, she called for @Asherah not soon after feeling them latch on. It wasn't hard for Honey to know what she had to do; the pups were hers now. She would be their mother, caring for them and nurturing them into adulthood. How she would do it, Honey knew nought, but the young mother knew that it had to be done.

PP on the chillens, let me know if you'd like me to change it!

Ever one to misinterpret the words of others, fury curled in Ragna's gut as Giana bid them farewell. She was leaving them! Would she take her children and doom them to die? Or would she leave them there, mouths to feed and no mother to feed them. Faithless, Ragna growled, immediately abandoning her work tending the shrine to chase the source of the howl.

Yet it led her to Giana's den, not to the edge of the copse or beyond, as she had expected. You- she began as she ducked into the den, though whatever vitriol she had prepared aborted at the sight within the den. The occupants were still there, as peaceful a vignette as any. Yet cursory investigation revealed that Giana had passed, though apparently painlessly, if the serene expression her corpse wore was any indication. Sadness and grief passed through the Shieldmaiden, but she was ever bent towards duty, and her duty now fell to the children.

Unskilled as she was at childcare, Ragna did not know whether she should take the suckling children from their mother. In the end she did, carefully grasping each child and moving them aside. It was cold, and she did not want to leave them without heat for long. Still, she wanted to remove the body. And so she did, taking Giana's corpse by the scruff and dragging it out of the den and off to the side. Once there she, too, howled for @Asherah or @Honey , who would better know how to care for the children.

And once they were called for, Ragna retreated back into the den and curled around the children to keep them warm while they waited.

I think we had a bit of ghost posting, so I'm going to play it as Honey arrived after Ragna's howl and took the children, if I need to change that just let me know.

Giana's howl was a shock to Asherah's ears. She exited her den and stared at the cold grey sky a moment, wondering and thinking. Why would Giana choose to leave them with children at her breast? What had they done to displease Molech so? Was this suffering brought on by Eshamun's sins? Asherah found no answers in the grey sky and turned and headed toward the howl, a weariness in her breast.

It lead not to the outskirts, which surprised her, but to Giana's den. Did the woman mean to make her case for leaving? Whatever the reason, Asherah would be hurt and bitter and would disapprove. She liked Giana, even loved her as a sister of the Malkaria should. Two bodies stood without the den already, Ragna and Honey. She could smell Giana but it took her a moment to peer around Ragna and Honey to realize the nature of her farewell, to scent the smell of death on the air. Asherah's heart throbbed and a soft gasp escaped her chest. How had this happened? Had the children's birth been too much? Surely Bastian could have helped if Giana would have told them. Asherah then remembered the woman's distrust of the man and understood. She had suffered in silence, proud and wary of the stranger.

Not waiting for a greeting she moved into the den to prove to herself that it was true, that Giana was dead. The sight of the woman's body made her chest clench, however peaceful her face . "Sweet sister, may Molech embrace you with many arms and carry you into the light. May you know peace at the side of the Many Armed God." She whispered softly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. What was wrong? Why were they being punished? She kissed Giana's brow, then cheeks a final time, her heart heavy.

"Was she already gone when you arrived?" She asked it of both of them, not knowing who had come first. Her gaze slid between Ragna and Honey. She realized she had not greet them, and moved forward to offer first Ragna an embrace, the awkward charged tensions of Asherah's heat now past them in her mind, and then to offer the same to Honey. Her gaze turned on the children and found them well, alive. They did not smell of sickness. A small spot of light amidst the darkness. Her expression was dark as she regarded the young ones.

"This was a needless loss." Her voice was full of sorrow. For a moment she wanted to ask someone, Eshamun, what to do next, but there was no Eshamun to ask. "We will bury Giana in her birthing den." That would save some work with the hard ground, and served more meaning than any old spot. "We will raise her children as she would have wished them raised. From this moment forward we will share a communal nursing den among mothers. No mother ever need suffer in silence, children will always have a watchful eye on them. We can raise Giana's children together, so no one mother feels stretched. Molech watch over us, deliver us from this darkness." Her eyes closed as she slipped into a prayer, but they soon opened again as the words whisked away from her lips. 

She found herself staring at the children again. "We should get them out of the cold. Can they stay in your den, for now, Honey until the burial is complete?" She raised her eyes to the mother, but glanced to Ragna as well. Did Ragna wish to watch the children? Perhaps she wanted children of her own without sacrificing pieces of herself, allowing herself to be true to her Kurgarru nature?

Everyday before today had been normal, like it should be.  She stayed warm, suckled and slept.  Today was different though, just as she was suckling, was suddenly felt herself beginning to become colder... and colder... and colder.

Something was wrong.

She couldn't understand the true depth of what was really going on at her young age, but she understood something else.  She did not like the cold... and while her brother lay next to her it was not enough.  A shiver passed through her body and she felt herself growing weaker as she got colder.  Still her heart beat.

And then... there was warmth.  The transition seemed quick to her.  One moment she was by the evergrowing cold thing and then was being lifted with a shiver... she completely forgot the cold and everything as soon as warmth was returned to her she found herself falling asleep.

She was only woken by the sensation of being pushed.  

Her mouth open in an 'o' like shape, in instinct, and she searched for a teat, soon finding one from which she was soon suckling from.

Ragna and Asherah came to the den with the same force that Honey had, if not more. She looked at them, concern written over her face, as if to give them a silent response to their reactions. She was, Honey told Asherah, I pulled them to me as soon as I arrived, and neither has given protest. Looking from wolf to wolf, Honey wanted to make sure that her decision in regards to the children was clear. I don't mind caring for them at all. The more, the merrier. It was admittedly a bit overwhelming, having to nurse two children not of her own womb in front of their mother's corpse. But Honey had fallen in love with motherhood once more and she would never deny sharing her dedication. I will need a bit of help moving all three of them, though.

Carnation had fallen asleep while her mother carried her to another foriegn area, and was forced to awake by two more small warm bodies beside her. Of course, right after her selfish brother was gone, two more things in search of food showed up. It was the second time in the young ones life she felt annoyance, no matter how miniscule it be. She moved over to another source of the delicious liquid that had been filling her stomach the past few days and drank some more before drifting back off into a full stomach slumber.