Redsand Canyon something bad about to happen

@Qiao

Aquene had been at a loss. Normally, she was confident in her remedies, but something was off when it came to the canine Diesel. Naturally, she sought the woman out when she heard that she was visiting, finding the russet woman who spoke in understandable tongues. “Qiao, might I be able to pick your brain about a topic in which I am unfamiliar?” She posed as she moved alongside the woman, her sides already swollen to reveal the litter that she herself carried now.
 
“There is a canine residing here. Her name is Diesel; she is certain she is pregnant, but I know nothing of canine pregnancies outside of wolves and she does not present like a wolf. There's no change of scent, no swelling sides, no nothing. I was wondering if you knew anything more on how it carries in others?” She hoped the woman had answers, otherwise she would not be able to help the woman at all.

tags for ref <3

qiao had confirmed with @Ramesses her planned departure. spring had thawed, and with it came her promise to germanicus to return. for aquene and ruenna, qiao carried various herbs -- these she restocked in aquene's apothecary before she began searching for the healer.

qiao smiled to see aquene well, noticing foremost a filling of her slender ribcage. she made no comment, instead turning an ear towards aquene as the pair walked in step. she knew very little of pregnancies outside of her wolven brethren. for this, she gave a quiet frown. aquene's recount of this woman was not promising. how far along is she in her pregnancy?

The question came and the frown made her lose hope that the other woman knew what to make of the woman’s pregnancy. “She is coming out of her first month. She’s not showing at all and she said her kind were not ones to show until the second month… I have just never seen a pregnancy present like that.” She also knew that she’d only dealt with wolves and their afflictions.
 
Infections and wounds were easy because they were the same for all… treatments were for all. “The ways in which she became with child were…” She trailed off for a moment before finding the right word. “Coerced.” She had been attacked. “It’s difficult to understand. She was attacked, her speech is impaired as a result. There was no bleeding or trauma to suggest a miscarriage either.”

qiao drank such words in with a contemplative frown. there was little sense she could make of it - not because of aquene's delivery, but because the instances surrounding this creature's pregnancy were controversial to everything qiao had ever known.

if she is that far along, there should be something. even birds made it obvious their condition: they brooded, they grew quiet, they built. is she available for viewing?

With the voting of whether or not Diesel will be allowed to stay, we might have to play with the timeline of this thread a bit for a viewing with @Diesel (with some drama) but Bees said they were down for popping her in there if that is okay with you!

Qiao had much the same thoughts as her it would seem, a nod at the mention of how there should indeed be something. “That is what I was thinking as well… but I simply do not know.” She’d never encountered something like that. “I do not wish to accuse her of lying about her state, because I do not know what pregnancy looks like in her species, but I fear there might be something wrong if she is not yet showing.” The woman could be in denial… and that did not bode well.
 
“I can arrange a viewing, yes.” She wanted to get the other woman in front of the dog as soon as possible so she might cast her own opinions… surely if both of them found it odd then it must be, right?

happy to do whatever works for you two <3 if diesel can't make it we can think of something, NBD!!

for a moment qiao was silent.

she drank in all of aquene's words, and then pulled deep from her memories.

of every woman she had ever known to be pregnant.

of every midwife stint

of every bawling baby

and then pulled from something deeper. darker, even.

a pair of olive eyes so very much like her own -- bright not with life, but suffering.

quickly, qiao pushed that memory back down into the deeps. perhaps it did not take. she suggested, having yet no reason to distrust either aquene or diesel. it was unfortunate, truly, to be raped -- but if there was any blessing at all in qiao's eyes, it was the fortune to not carry the seed of your assailant within you.

@Diesel for all our drama needs

Her suggestion was one that Qiao seemed to accept and build upon. Yes, perhaps it just had not taken. Perhaps it was a hysterical pregnancy, her mind tricking her body without actually carrying children within her. Either way, perhaps it was a blessing. “Perhaps… right this way, so you might see her.” She suggested to her. She led her away quickly.
 
Diesel’s fate was still in the air, she knew that. She had heard how the military members of Mereo might vote on her outcome. She left all of that out of the conversation, but led her to where she had been checking on the canine.

FORGIVE ME

the bitch was, for her part, unaware of the happenings within mereo, of the voting currently underway to determine her fate within the pack, and of a conversation between two healers perplexed by her state.

the not-mother had found an outcropping of red rock and laid upon it, paws sticking out over the edge, small waterfall of drool dripping down the side as she snored and snorted trough her flattened muzzle.

in her dreams she was chasing car tires and biting jehovah's witnesses. the man who, supposedly, assaulted her, was almost completely forgotten.

and when it came to the lie of her pregnancy, well, she was considering mauling a fawn and passing off its innards for mushed up stillbirth. if only she weren't such an awful huntress...

the pace aquene kept was unusually speedy. qiao strode alongside her, halting suddenly when she caught sight of the shape on the boulder.

good heavens, was it hideous. qiao initially mistook it for molten rock, save it snored and stank. a gob of drool hung down from one fleshy jowl, darkening the stone beneath it.

she looked to aquene in disbelief, her voice a whisper. this is the thing?? something attacked this? something had chosen -- willingly -- to rape this creature?

this boggled qiao's mind, which sprung now with a thousand questions.

ugly as her patient was, qiao had a duty to mereo. collecting herself, the herbalist stepped to the stone and prodded diesel with one sharp claw. good morning. qiao chirped, olive gaze leveling with the sleepy goliath on the stone. i am qiao, akashingo's hemet. come to think of it, didn't akashingo have their own little goblin as well? maybe every pack in the teekon had a decorative gargoyle to be trotted out like a curiosity. please step down from the stone, so i may have a good look at you.

Let 'er rip, Diesel -cackles-

Aquene could not help but let her eyes widen at the hemet’s lack of a bedside manner. Was Akashingo not known for all things bed? The medicus, however shamefully, could not remiss that she had never had those thoughts herself. She was not to judge. There was a fish in the sea for everyone, even if some looked like… well, that. “She looked better before the attack.” She offered in an equal whisper in the hopes it would help.

 
Still, she introduced herself and Aquene spoke up. “I have asked her to consult on your pregnancy. I am unfamiliar with your species and hoped a second set of eyes might assist in your care.” She explained more formally, making it clear with her tone that Qiao’s own words were as good as hers when it came to the treatment plan prescribed.

with a snort, the dog was awake. eyes rolled to see what had disturbed her beauty sleep, and saw some aged thing of thin features but tall ears speaking. her brain needing a moment to process what that dainty muzzle had just said, but once it did, diesel, of course, suspected nothing.

with a yawn, the molossus stretched in a way that made her back pop like a bag of sour candy. after bending her neck to each side with enough force for it to make two satisfying cracks, the bitch descended from her raised bed.

"-ai hregnanhcy?" she yawned again, now before the two women. "uh, sure. sure." smacking her lips, the dog raised a hindleg. "ins'ect all y' hant, ladies." she said with a drowzy smirk.

then, she yawned again.

with the beast sufficiently awoken qiao stepped back. such a creature was large by her standards - all folded skin and short fur. truly alien to qiao, who had seen all manner of wolves from red mange to far worse. somehow, this woman ranked among the abused and the sickly as one of the worst visions qiao beheld.

she scurried from aquene's side, drawing long breaths from her thin muzzle. there was not much she could tell by scent alone.

troubled by this difficulty qiao studied the woman's flank as she yawned. her sides remained ungravid.

perhaps you did not take. qiao affirmed, having no reason yet to doubt the not-wolf's sorry tale. she glanced to aquene then with a dusting of her paws. there is little i can do here. you do not appear pregnant by any measure of my knowledge, but i am unfamiliar with your kind's gestation. there are potions i can make if you... qiao paused, glancing from both aquene to the woman with such a sorry story to tell. find the thought of bearing children from this unwilled union unspeakable.

Sorry for the delay! I was out of town

Qiao was looking over the woman, and after a silent observation, she seemed to reach the same conclusion that had crossed Aquene’s mind. She did not wish to tell the woman she did not know her own body, or that she was wrong with the horrors she had seemed to endure… but with such a lack of physical evidence, it was the only conclusion she had been able to draw at all… and then the woman was offering tinctures of her own… her eyes widening at the statement.
 
She had never prescribed such things; they had been taboo. The contraceptives used to prevent pregnancy had not been, but to end one had been a different story, and with that came the shock of the suggestion. Still, she let Qiao handle the situation. “The choice is yours to make.” She stated, though it came off more cryptic than she had originally intended.

the dog blinked languidly, smacking her lips to get the stale sleeptaste out her mouth. still her mindmush was slow to realise what it was the pair of veterinarians would find; or rather, wouldn't.

when the older one gave her prognosis, diesel's eyes widened with realisation. shit! that lie was supposed to keep her in good opinions of the bossman and his bitey-happy goons - or at least prevent them from kicking her out on her tail for a while. now, the discovery could complicate the whole thing beyond what the brute could fix with feeble tongue-wagging.

thank the christ nailed to the cross, they offered a way out.

"yeah!" diesel barked at once. "yeah, yeah. could 'ee he 'issed the 'ark, or shot 'anksh!" 

she laughed. her gaze wouldn't meet the women. her front paws shifted in place. 

"sure. yeah. that could 'ee that. uh." she swayed her body in an attempt to signal she'd like to pass by the two broads now. "i should go, uh, check- uh i mean, lay down a 'eet."

shit shit shit shit

Permission given to skip/PP Qiao! @Diesel wrap with yours?

She offered a response, and the healer was merely left… confused. Aquene blinked as she stepped aside to let the woman passed. “I… okay?” The words passed, not sure what to do in that moment as she looked to the other healer for some kind of advice. Perhaps instead she should speak to Germanicus about all of this. Either way, they both let the dog pass to plot the next part of her master plan.
 
However, for the moment, the healer was puzzled… and then she was disappearing. Aquene turned to head away, hoping to catch her husband or Germanicus to report the fact that it did not appear that Diesel was even pregnant, in the hopes that would help with the decision that needed to be made.