Hideaway Strath When the party begins!

Semi-Private. Arlette won't tolerate a lot >D  @Derg :D In my next post, Turmeric and Thyme will follow!

Arlette had a feeling that the pups would come sooner than later. She had felt some camps and it got her really nervous since last time she also had those cramps. She associated them with her miscarriage. The female had been a little restless these past couple of days. She also made herself busy finding another spot to give birth instead of her den with Derg. She felt that it was too open or at least too many wolves might come and have a peek. She didn't feel the need to have so many wolves when she was in labor like Simmik had.

In the days before, Arlette had found a small chamber in The Chambers. She had wandered deeper and deeper into the cave system until walls were even closing in around her sides. There in the back, she had found a small opening that revealed a small chamber. Perfect for her size to give birth, and tailored to her wishes. Privacy. The last time she gave birth on an open field. Mayhem around her, and close to a dead cougar... as well as her deceased mate. She really wanted the opposite now. She had placed what she thought she might need there in preparation, lavender to calm herself and some poppy seeds for the possible pain.

She was still in doubt if she wanted Derg there with her, though she remembered from her mother that she never allowed her mate close. She didn't expect to stay here with these pups here for months, too small. Especially if Derg was keen on watching them too. The one-wolf-wide passage continued deeper into the mountains, but Arlette also knew it wasn't wise to move too deep in the cave system. She knew Derg was a little worried, she could tell by the way he had hovered over her these last few weeks. A cramp went through her as she trotted into the Chambers. These cavities started off so big and enormous but had several tunnels leading off to other chambers, including her little one deeper in the cave. She made her way to it, sides heaving as she lied down.

Arlette wasn't sure if Derg followed her, probably, but she was more focused on these cramps that went through her. She was really worried that she would be met with dead newborns. Her ears flattened against her skull as another cramp followed. She took some of the poppy seeds just to ease that pain. A rush of fluids followed. It was so very familiar. She closed her eyes but quickly opened them, almost transported back to that moment. It felt so real. Kaito's dead body next to her, while blood flowed from her jugular and side of her neck. Mangled. She cried out and wasn't sure if this pain was real or if she was imagining it. Was this pain from before or was this a current pain? She couldn't tell. That familiar stab of utter discomfort that got her crippled to the ground, followed by the pain of that cougar grabbing her. Arlette's scars aching as all her nerves were triggered.

She felt him coming at her again, the tawny beast. It was so real. Arlette was certain that it had come back to haunt her. She lunged forward, just like she had done last time. Her teeth lashing out at the beast. She wanted it gone. She was determined to not lose her children again. She felt a little victorious as she wasn't met with claws. Another shot of pain got her laying down again, using the side of the rock wall for support. She grunted and whined. That rock, that hard underground wasn't there before. She pushed when another wave of pain went through her. Arlette panted and pushed again. She could feel the pup and pushed until that pressure was gone. The pale mother sobbed, feeling as she failed.

Failed again.

Then, a cry proved her wrong (@Mulberry). Arlette's head snapped up. She realized she was nowhere near Easthollow. She was surrounded by rock, and-- And her pup! Her living child! Arlette let out a choked cry when she saw the dark pup wiggle, but most of all, let out the most wonderful screaming she ever heard. Arlette started to cry again, but now they were happy tears. She reached behind her and started to lick and eat away the broken sack, meeting her firstborn. Dark as the night. Dark as Arlette's own father and brother. The mother licked her clean because her firstborn was a strong daughter. She had some light around her neck, belly, and paws. She was perfect. Arlette nudged the little one in the right direction as she sank back down on her side, catching her breath, hoping there would be more to follow.

existence was a fragile concept; hindering upon mere chance — and it certainly didn't register in the witchling's still developing brain. she existed as a seedling, growing from a seed to a bean, to the tiny pup existing in her amniotic sac; feeding her unknowingly the nutrients she needed. if there is discomfort in the process of being birthed; it is but a fleeting moment; there and gone like the rapid fluttering of a hummingbird's wings.

the oilslick dream-like state she's thus far existed in is gone; as is the warmth, temporarily as she is torn free from what remained of her amniotic sac by her mother's eager teeth.

pelage wet and unable to regulate her own body temperature the witchling draws in her first breath and lets it out in a wail; the only way she knows to state her discomfort. at what she perceives to be cold. at the strange feeling in her stomach that she will, in time, come to learn as hunger. blind and deaf and aware of her wiggly body in the same way one is vaguely aware of their arm when it has fallen asleep.

the smooth of arlette's tongue against her back is immensely and immediately soothing and the witchling bumbles and fumbles her way with guidance of arlette to her mother's side where she nestles; burying her face into the downy-soft fur she finds there. 

awash with comfort and safety — though the witchling has no names for those feelings either — she gums, slickin random pieces of arlette's fur with puppy spit until mulberry finds her mark and lets out a surprised mewl 'round her mother's teat as warm, sweet mothers milk is drawn into her mouth.

her surprise, like everything else thus far, does not last long and mulberry begins to suckle in earnest.

Derg had left her for what felt like two seconds. Just to get her a snack. She saif she felt restless so he thought a bit of food would help.
He tracked her worriedly, pacing around her scent to find her. Tail high, ears fully pricked. He didn't want to lose her now.
He debated calling for help, but he remembered her saying she didn't want fuss and crowds.
He tracked alone to the Chambers.

Down and down her scent wove. Through the winding tunnels further than he'd ever gone. Though he could tell she'd travelled this route more than once. A cry resonated through the tunnels. Definitely Arlette.
He called out her name, rushing faster towards her. A flash of white through a crack at the end of the tunnel. "Arlette!" 
Derg rushed forward to be met with a snarl and snapping of teeth. He yelped, trying to backpedal as quick as possible in the narrow tunnel.

He stopped, watching her pace, standing in the shadows. No fuss. She wasn't in danger. His heart thundered. This was it, she was giving birth, he was going to be a father.
He stepped back, letting her have space. She was just scared and needed to do this, he would just complicate things. 

Further back, there was enough room for him to turn around. He did so a few times, wondering if he should call for someone to help but... She had been down here before, probably to prepare. He sat down, practically shaking with the anxiety. 

Then, it all went quiet. A muffled sob was all he needed to rush back to her, but obviously not too close, just intime to see his baby make her first mewl. Arlette did it, and she set to work helping their daughter, cleaning and feeding.
"Mulberry."
She looked a bit like a Mulberry.

Arlette looked up dazed when she heard someone speak. She angled her head and saw Derg peeking in. Of course, he would be by her side. She smiled at him, a soft tired smile. "A daughter, Mulberry," she returned, her tone a whisper. She wasn't sure if she wanted to believe it. The pale female didn't have a lot of time to think as a jolt of pain shot through her and she groaned in return. Arlette shifted in a better position and started to push with the pain. She had done that last time and it had worked. It still hurt though. But the pale female was more of a quiet sufferer than to call out.

She groaned, not wanting to think of what happened last time. She pushed, glancing at Derg. Derg was here. This was not like last time. She had a living daughter now. The female pushed and felt one be pushed out (@Turmeric), however, it felt different from last time. She still felt like something was there. Arlette wanted to look but another contraction kept her down. She pushed again and felt a similar sensation as before. Another! She was panting heavily as she tried to look. Then the cries started. She tried to get up and saw two pups there. The sac had broken just as before but wrapped around them both. She started to lick the darker agouti pup. Like Derg!

But there was also another, lighter pup. She quickly refocussed her attention on him as he started to scream louder. A boy. He also was agouti, very similar to the other but just everything a shade lighter. She couldn't stop crying with happiness as she moved her attention to the darker brown one. Also a boy! Arlette picked up the lighter pup gently and placed him by his sister. So he would stay warm. She then grabbed the darker boy and placed him by her paws. "He looks like you," she told Derg. "There is a lighter boy as well," she told him between her licking and panting. When she deemed Turmeric dry enough she placed him by her belly as well.

She tried to catch her breath, but she also realized the lighter boy was only half cleaned. She tended to him as another contraction got through her. She thought it would be another pup but it was just the afterbirth. Three. Three living pups. She felt giddy and tired at the same time. She stayed on her side, trying to get used to the feeling of them nursing. "Turmeric and Thyme," she whispered back. Arlette then paused, glancing from the newborns at her belly to Derg. "Do you like them?," she asked. She hoped Derg would. She was just so glad they were alive. They were perfect in Arlette's eyes.

The first thing he actively noticed was the sudden cold that shocked him so. In his shock he apparently let out a cry, that cold filled his lungs which made him scream louder. The newborn wasn't really aware of his surroundings or that he was screaming. He just knew that it was different. He couldn't really remember before. The cold was what got him to scream louder until that warmth was back again. Though it was a very local warmth. It did cease his crying a bit. He did feel something next to him. Thyme wasn't aware he had landed almost on top of his brother. 

When that warmed was gone he did what helped last time. He protested. Though that warmth didn't really return. The ground under him was gone for one moment and back under him the next. He whined in surprise. Thyme did quiet when he noticed that this spot had more warmth for him to snuggle in. He tried to get as close to it as possible. The newborn's attention was caught on to the next new thing. A scent. He was unaware he was close to where his sister was trying to drink, that was where most of the scent came from. He wanted that too! He tried to get it, but it seemed obstructed. Why?

Turmeric made little sound as he slipped from warmth to the coldness of the world, only inhaled with the gasp of a breath - the first of a small few or a great many his little lungs would carry.

A presence pressed around him. Invigorating, yet drawing out no sound but a slow and easy breath. He did not hear the cries of his brother, or the joyful tears of his mother. Only silence, as had always been, and safe impermeable darkness.

He kicked once as the ground slipped from beneath his feet, and kicked again when he felt the ground return. Surrounded, now, by warmth, and the sweetness of something he had never tasted before. The small boy wiggled between his siblings, found a teat, and slowly began to suckle.

He was glad she was tending to their new daughter. He'd heard of mothers rejecting their young, especially if they were scared of giving birth. But she took to it like a duck to water. Nursing without hesitation. His heart fluttered to see the joy in her eyes.
They'd come so far since he'd found her.

He could only watch as pain pulled her back, another one was coming. He was still unsure if she wanted him close or far, so he sat rooted to the spot, just watching silently. She was so strong, so brave. She needn't come alone.
He felt it now that adrenaline was wearing off. The throbbing on his muzzle, the blood in his mouth. She'd ripped his lip accidentally. He licked at it, whining softly. He wouldn't trouble her with it - it wasn't that bad. The small triangle of flesh wouldn't be missed. 

She pushed hard and birthed a dark bean, a boy. He looked so much like Grezig - and himself he supposed since they were practically the same. Just darker. He shuffled forward a little, laying down and stretching out towards them. His tail wagging behind him. He wanted to go to them but he wanted to give her the space. Again she pushed and right on top of the second came a third. He lifted his head, ears pricked and head cocked. This one was a creamy white; Arlette's lookalike. She reached up to clean them and name them. Tumeric for his look-a-like, and Thyme for his counterpart.
Derg stood, drifting over with awe on his face. She'd done it. She cradled their children, cleaning Thyme and nursing his darker siblings. He was speechless. "I love them so much," he looked to her soft red eyes, "I love you." He slowly leaned in, letting Arlette control how he greeted Thyme, mewling in her forelegs, struggling to climb over her leg to reach Tumeric and Mulberry. He loved them so much...

Derg gently nudged Thyme over her leg, letting him scoot the best he could in his little bean body. He wasn't sure how to pick them up yet so he though it best to leave that to Arlette for now. Derg sat down before his family. "Do you need anything?"

When she looked up at Derg she realized she saw some blood on him. She frowned softly, not sure what happened. Had he cut himself on the rock when rushing here? But when looking at it, it seemed more of a cut from a tooth than a scrape from a rock. She smiled softly when he said that he loved them. She was so happy, glad that she had given him live pups and that he was as happy with them as well. "I love you," she returned to him.

She licked his bloody lip when he leaned in. She let out a happy sigh and scooted a bit over. She shook her head. "'M' tired," she told him. "Come lay behind me," she hummed. Then she could lie against him, while the little ones could nestle against her belly. "Oh Derg. I am so happy to be a mom, thank you," she murmured tiredly.