The Night Mother's Children (BIRTHING THREAD)

@Damien @Cicero The pups can post in any order and after two rounds Keith can come in. :P

It was a bloody and long birth. It started late in the evening, with a twinge of pain in her abdomen but quickly deepened into something worst. Luckily for her she was prepared and set up a den near her herb store, where she got a herb bundle and curled up with it. Waiting for her pups to arrive.

When they did, only three out the the six she bore were stirring. The other half were dead, lifeless. Sent to the Void. The first born was alive, a large black male with a patch of white on his chest. When she lapped the birthing fluids off of him, he responded with a mighty screech and commended to knead at her side, latching onto her teat and suckling strongly.

The next was dead, black like his eldest brother, but with varying patterns of white flecks along his body. She tried in vain to revive him, but it became apparent to her that he had died in the womb. The two following were alive, thank Sithis. One wore a motley of grays, blacks and whites, in a erratic pattern she could not place. He was smaller than him too, a lot smaller but long and lean. Like his brother, he let out a squeal when she licked him, and wriggled to her body instinctively.

The one after, a female, was white like her father, with black peppering her back. She merely squeaked in response, and joined her two surviving brothers at Meldresi's side. And the final two pups were dead, like the one before. One pure white like the father, the other white with black ears and paws.

She sighed with relief when she felt no more pups trying to push through her body, spewing blood all over the cave. She lapped at her surviving pups gently before turning her attention to the dead ones. There was one thing she had to do before she could relax, something most mothers would dread, but Meldresi was fine with. It was an unwritten rule to reabsorb the pups her body spent weeks creating in order to nourish the living ones and herself. The Night Queen set upon her lifeless pups, tearing into their tiny bodies as her living ones thrived on her milk.

After weeks of being crammed inside a small space, sharing it with her five other siblings, the girl who would soon be know as Potema was ready to come out. But she had to wait her turn, as larger and stronger pups made their way out before her.

The young Melonii female slid out after her second brother, the one with the erratic pelt, the second to last of the living pups. She did not know that only two of her siblings were alive, but if she did then a part of her would have been grateful. There would be less competition.

A warm and wet organ slid across her body after she successfully pushed her way free of the cramped space, making her squeak indignantly at it's presence as she breathed in her first gulp of air. She was nudged towards a place that she sensed was warm and full of food. Following the nudge, the young girl waddled towards it, eventually getting to the food-place where her brothers were already feeding. Instinctually she latched onto a teat and began suckling mindlessly, until the unknown organ called a stomach was filling to the brim.

note to self: post made by previous player

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CICERO SHEOGORATH MELONII

It was time, at long last. The as yet nameless child hadn't known quite what he had been waiting for, for the entirety of his short life, but this was clearly it. How exciting! Had he possessed the ability to giggle at this stage, he would have done so gleefully. As it was, he simply wriggled a little in his mother's womb; certainly not helping with the violent contractions she was suffering.

As much as the patchwork creature had tried to rush forth and push his way out into the world first, he had been entirely unsuccessful. In fact, not only did a much stronger infant push ahead of him, but somehow so too did a lifeless one. Of course, he wasn't currently aware of that fact. Fortunate indeed, for had he been, it would have soundly ruined his good mood.

At least he did manage to push ahead of the littlest survivor and the last two stillborns though, so that was something. The wet swipe of tongue over his back made the young creature squeal with shock, but he was soon distracted by the promise of a full belly, and wriggled towards the warm furry thing, latching on to a teat and beginning to suckle. It was a shame that the newborn wasn’t aware of the unfortunate fate of his stillborn siblings; for if he had known, it surely would have made him cackle with glee.

"Speech"

EDIT (1/24/2015): Removing tables from all my characters' posts.

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For as warm as it could be inside, it was way too tight for the restless Melonii. He needed space, and it was too crowded inside the womb. Sharing such a tiny space with five other bodies was too uncomfortable, so from the beginning, all the kicks and stirs Meldresi felt inside her were probably his own. And now it was time. He turned his tiny bulb of a body around and violently pushing away all of his siblings, eager to finally come out of his confinement. And unsurprisingly, he was the first one to make it.

It was cold outside, too cold for the tiny creature, but soon after coming out of his mother's warmth into the winter, he found her heat again. He couldn't see, or hear, but as soon as he opened his mouth to take the first breath and screech like something that came out of hell, his mother's soothing licks gave him the rest he had been needing for so long. He crawled, slowly and awkwardly towards his mother's body, his instincts guiding him like a compass pointing north, or maybe it was the hunger, because as soon as he reached her belly, he clung to one of her teats, and suckled as if he hadn't eaten in.. Well.. His entire life actually. The warm liquid filling his body calmed his screeches, focusing his little mind into sucking the hell out of her. It didn't last long though, for just a moments later, two other creeps, trying to take away his teat, pushed the dark bulk out of his peace.

They were asking for it.

He was tiny, but he could push harder than the rest of 'em. And he did. He awkwardly, but ferociously (in a tiny way), crawled right on top of them, showing them who the boss was.

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Keith can enter after you post with Damien

With the dead pups properly disposed of, the priestess turned to look at the living ones she had born. Already, it was clear to see their personalities, even if they were blind and deaf. The largest and firstborn, the black male had indignantly crawled over his siblings in an attempt to push them away from his teat. She watched the movements of her strongest with some kind of maternal pride, but after a while, she lightly picked up the squirming bundle and put him back on her teat where he would nurse in peace.

The priestess closed her eyes, basking in the warmth of the den and the milky scent that smothered the scent of blood that previously engulfed the den. By now the others must have known that her pups had been born and she was resting contently, and they would come to greet the pups, though she would probably warn them away, except for one. One wolf whose reaction she was very curious to see.

She let go of the milk-giving faucet, squealing as some other body rolled on top of her. Instinctually, she rolled over, trying to swipe at the pup in order to get him off. If she had known it was her brother....well, she would have done the same thing regardless. Another body was trapped between them, and she swiped at it too, regardless if he retaliated.

When the weight was lifted off of her, the white and ash-sprinkled female nuzzled the warm fur, looking to the food-giving thing that she had been attached to, and eventually finding it. She latched on immediately and suckled, already drifting into a mindless rhythm as she fed.

note to self: post made by previous player

Super-short post. My bad!

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CICERO SHEOGORATH MELONII

The boy was quite happily filling his new-found belly, when he was interrupted by a considerably larger body wriggling its way atop his own. An odd, unpuppish hissing sound left the monochrome creature's throat as he thrashed angrily, fury bubbling in his chest. He was currently too uncoordinated to do any sort of damage to his sibling, which was fortunate as he certainly had every intention of it. Before too long though, the dark child was removed by some unseen force, and Cicero hunkered down, grumbling petulantly to himself which his siblings resumed their meal. Belly only half-full, he seemed to have forgotten about the milk, lost instead to him simmering resentment.

"Speech"

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A high pitched yelp of victory from the shadow kid broke the silence in the den, the tiny shadowball had made it to the top of the hill, awkwardly moving his newborn bag of a body with great effort, but he had made it nonetheless. That was a pretty badass achievement for someone who had spent no more than three minutes in the world, wasn't it?

But the joy of it didn't last long, for an unknown fore that he would soon call mom promptly lifted his tiny self and placed him right back where he started, right at the bottom of the mountain. There was nothing that the nameless boy could do against that... Well.. At least he had his own teat to feed on without any of the other two to bother him, and the warmth of his caring mother was comforting. The dark boy suckled fiercely until his big belly was full, and soon fell asleep, not caring about anything else out there.

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Tere he goes... :P

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Nothing had ever been so scary as it was hearing Meldresi's painful whines loudly coming out of her den. The pale northerner's mind was going at every possible direction, none of them even making any sense to him, but only making his anxiety reach uncharted levels. Meldresi was giving birth to his children, children that, to that moment, he hadn't recognized as his own.

But why? Why was he so scared? Was it because he was about to become a father? Was she even going to let him be the puppies paternal figure? Did he want to be that paternal figure? Was he even the real father? Of course he was, she was giving birth two months after mating with him during heat. What kind of stupid question was that?

Fuck... the silver youth kept repeating to himself, walking back and forth at the mouth of the cave. He was too scared to come in at that point, but no one else had. His mind went back for a moment at the time he met the dark Priestess, a bloody encounter with a female at the beach. She told him that her goddess had great plans for him, that he had come to the world for a reason, and that she knew what it was. And the dumb ass motherfucker couldn't resist to the temptation to follow the ulva into the darkness. But who wouldn't? She promised great things for him, that itself was too absorbing for the male to resist.

Fuck... again, but this time it was because he was about to throw himself headlong. The priestess whines had stopped long ago, and they had been replaced with high pitched yelps and screeches that could be from nowhere else than the mouth of a newborn. He darted in, his white purity contrasting with the darkness of everything in Blackfeather. He pushed himself to take a step further, and now halfway inside the cave, the arctic savage paused. Suddenly, his thoughts all silenced at once. The priestess was there, Regal even after giving birth to... 1 ..2.. three pups. "Meldresi?" he said clearing after loudly his throat. He didn't even know what he was doing, but he had to, his own mind was driving him crazy.

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Phwew! That was a long one :P

Bane had been in the back of her mind during the birth, even though he passed her vision several times over the course of her contractions. He was visibly shaken and anxious. Why wouldn't he be? She was giving birth to his children.

He poked his head in when the pups were falling asleep, full and exhausted. She matched his eyes with a firm but tired look. "They're yours of course." If it wasn't obvious from the white-pelted female that was snuggling by her side. It would have been even more obvious if their eyes were opened, but that time had not yet come. "I haven't named them yet. I will probably save that for when they are a month old." A part of her was worried that one or two of them would not survive past a few weeks, given the fact that half of her litter had died before taking a single breath.

She was about to drift into milky unconsciousness when another presence, a strange but familiar smell drifted into the cave that was her home. There were soft rumblings from the warm, large body she was pressed against, the mother and food source, and other from farther away. She turned towards the noise, squeaking in a vague attempt to ask who he was. Your father... A voice whispered in her head. Before she could comprehend what it was or what it said, it faded away, not to return, at least for now.

note to self: post made by previous player

Sorry for the late reply. Stuck in bed with flu. T_T

Cicero speaks!

Although the young wolf was both deaf and blind, he
still managed to sense the presence of another creature
entering the warm den. With sealed ears at this young
age, he was incapable of making out the words spoken, but the rumblings of voices caught his attention and snapped him out of his mutinous mood. A quizzical squeak left his throat as the patchwork child craned his neck in an attempt to point his stubby muzzle towards the newcomer.

Squirming, the unnamed child began to squirm away from his mother and towards this strange, rumbling voice. His hunger was forgotten, despite only being half-sated, in the face of curiosity. And his siblings were resting peacefully now; no longer bothering him.

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The slumber that the dark heir had fallen into was interrupted by the a rumbling sound of an approaching someone. Although it somehow sounded familiar and somewhat soothing, the shadow pup didn't yet recognize anything aside from the warmth provided by the his dark mother and that the little thingies he suckled filled his belly, everything else was strange, and it posed a threat against his existence. It was only to be expected that he wasn't happy to be awaken. He yelped fiercely, demanding that the sound stopped and that they left him alone with his mother to go back to sleep, and it would keep coming until the newborn Melonii was satisfied.

Damn. Some people these days have no respect.

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Soory for the wait, I just didn't know what his reaction would be but I figured I would never know if I didn't write it down...

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A gasp escaped the young warrior's mouth in the form of a veil of warm breath. There was something about the scene that broke through the cold ice that covered his heart and scratched the surface hard enough for his strong legs to swivel at the emotion. It was something he had never experienced himself, never in his short life. Three pups now would roam the earth, pups that were a part of him, whose blood was his own, and he didn't yet know how to react to all of that.

He couldn't get himself to do anything else than just take a step back and keep silence for a minute, and while the cubs' screeches and yelps flooded the den he just stared, right at the three of them. The small one whose fur seemed like someone spilled white and black paint in random patterns crawling towards him, the little white girl whose screeches asked for an explanation and the biggest one demanding that the stranger left them alone.How was he supposed to react to all the emotions that had been haunting him for months, and then suddenly exploded in his face. What was he supposed to do?

"Meldresi I..." he paused, struggling with his own mind to pick the right words, to express the right feelings, they were just too damn many for him to be able to process, "...I don't know what to say Meldresi. I... I wasn't expecting this to happen when we..." he paused again feeling that his breath was turning heavy. He wasn't supposed to be a father, he just wasn't ready for that world, but then again, Meldresi hadn't asked anything of him yet, which was only maddening. "I know they're mine Meldresi, but... Do... Do you want me to be theirs too?" he finally asked, and allowed his pale gaze fall into Meldresi's deep indigo eyes, vividly expressing the internal struggle he was having.

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The priestess watched Bane reaction with interest. He was genuinely surprised by the fact that there were pups, his pups, squirming around. Meldresi stared at his stunned face for a moment before leaning forward to grab the scruff of the wild-pelted boy who was inching towards his father. She placed him at the crook of her arm, where he would be warm by her side where he belonged.

"I am honestly not sure, Moon Bane." she tucked her pups by her side, making sure they stayed by her where they could sleep off their first meal. "I never thought you the fatherly type. And even if you were, I do not think you are ready for such a responsibility. But..." The dark-furred woman curled her thick tail around the trio, keeping them warm. "If you think you're ready, then I will allow you to be their paternal figure. To take care of them as a father should. But your duties to the pack comes first."

She squealed even louder, defiantly now with no rhyme or reason. Her cries garnered the attention of the warm presence that gave milk, for she was pulled closer to it and the other two bodies. The young girl was suddenly squashed, with no real means of escape. But she did not feel threatened however, instead she felt...comfortable. Added with the full stomach, the lulling warmth of her mother and brothers helped the little white pup drift off into sleep, her first nap.

Skipping the pups since they're all asleep now, Says Anthony PPing the hell out of them :P

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Bane was listening to all the words that came out of the priestess' mouth, but none of them were valid to him. Deep inside Bane knew that he probably wasn't ready to take the responsibility of being a father, he knew that, hell, that's what all his internal struggle was about! But he wasn't going to admit it to anyone, not even Meldresi. Why did she have to be so direct with everything she said, Bane has feelings too ok? He knew that all of this was the product of his own bad life decisions, but he couldn't back down now, he was already inside the den talking to the mother of his children, there wasn't escape, he was suffering the consequences to which he had sentenced himself, and for weird as it may sound he wanted to do the right thing for once in his life.

"What do you mean I'm not ready? I'll decide if I'm ready, I'm standing right here right now, am I not?" Bane whispered angrily, trying to convince himself that he was making the best choice, "Yes, I want to be their 'paternal figure', and if I had a fucking surname I would slap it on them too!" his tone was rising dangerously, so he bit his tongue and made silence for a couple seconds trying to re-take his composure. "Listen, I... I'm sorry if I forced you into this, I didn't mean to... But now I want to make things right and I don't think that I'm gonna get that by turning away and ignoring the fact that I'm their..." he paused, not able to spit the word "...That they are mine... Ok?" he said and breathed, his knees almost trembled from the rush of emotion he went through.

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"Of course they're yours." She hissed, trying not to raise her voice so that she did not wake the sleeping children. "I am giving you the choice to be their paternal figure, to be their father, but keep in mind that they came from my womb. I gave birth to them and watched three of them die and I am going to take care of these three and make sure they don't follow." She didn't feel any sadness for the three that she loss for they did nothing to gain their love, being dead before she pushed them out. But they served as a reminder, that these lives were precious and fragile.

"They will have my surname, I will name them when I think its ready, but you can and will play a part in raising them. But I can take that away if I think you aren't doing a good job." She sighed then, curling tighter around the dozing pups. "Just a word of warning, Bane. But you are still their father regardless."

Fade here? This has been the most character-developing thread I've had with Bane... Incredible...

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When the turn to talk came to be Meldresi's Bane fell silent, at first it was because he felt overpowered by the social hierarchy by which the pack was ruled, Meldresi being on top, but then, as she mentioned what had happened before his entrance the silence wasn't for respect. Bale was authentically grieving for the loss of his stillborn children, a feeling that he had never had the disgrace to have.

"Three... Three of them.. Died...?" Bane asked, a single tear failing to form in the corner of his white eyes. It was all clear now. Everything that he had been so confused about, everything that he had feared about this situation, all of it became clear in his mind after processing the words that Meldresi had just mentioned. He didn't have to be the children's paternal figure because it was his duty, he didn't have to be a father because he had made a mistake, the only thing that was important now was that he was a father. Their father. And that all that mattered now was them. It was natural, it was simple. He was their protector now. None of them was going to die under his watch.

"Just a word of warning, Bane. But you are still their father regardless."

"I am." Bane agreed, and with those words he meant to leave it clear to the new mother that he wasn't going to go anywhere, he would be there for the pups, and not less importantly, he was going to be there for her too.

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last post from me!

Meldresi was taken aback by the sincere devastation and sadness on Bane's face. It startled her at first, but then sympathy and empathy began to grow, and finally hatred for herself. She dismissed it as if it were nothing, which it was. She could hardly do anything for them; their hearts were stilled long before she went into labor it seemed. But it was not her fault. "They were dead before they were born. Why those three specifically, I'm not sure. But the three remaining are healthy and strong and we should focus on them."

The priestess sighed softly, feeling exhaustion overwhelm her when Bane last spoke. She was in no more mood to speak with Bane right now, or anyone. She simply wanted to sleep with her newborns and enjoy some semblance of peace. "Good. Now, let us be, Bane." the priestess murmured drowsily, already drifting off into the gentle darkness of sleep.