The Sentinels You gave me nothing, now it's all I got

ooc: welcome to the world @Terance , @Wraen , Sarah! 

Osprey had felt the change during the previous night and lied awake during the early hours of the morning, feeling the waves of pain coursing through her lower abdomen and breathing slowly and deeply to calm herself down. She instinctively knew, what was coming and yet she did not want to alarm Dante, because... it felt that, when the right time came, she would want to deal it on her own. Therefore she saw him off to the borders that day with a smile and a loving kiss on his cheek, not even giving a hint that maybe by the end of the day there would be more of their little family. 

She walked slowly back to her den - weeks of searching for the perfect nest had not brought any result, and that trouble with the swarm of locusts had diverted her mind entirely from the important search. In the end their current home would do well enough for the first weeks. She took in the barren landscape before her, eyes searching for any sign of green, any color that was so common in spring and aside from the evergreens that still stood tall and proud, there was nothing. Though no one spoke of it, already the danger of famine was lurking in the shadows and all the gray she-wolf could think about was that she wished she could have given her children a better start in life. 

But then something caught her eye - small and weak, there in the sand was a single dandelion, it's yellow head turned to the sun. A lonely warrior, still there despite the odds, having miraculously escaped an almost certain doom and looking in the future with hope. Surely the flower didn't think much about anything, it just did, what it could and lived with the resources it had. However, seeing this gave Osprey the much needed courage to face the next chapter of her life and not give up. There and then she promised herself that she would do all things possible to keep her little souls safe and alive. 

It wasn't until few hours later, when she settled down and the labour began. Just like the last year the puppies came in this world with ease - first a dark-furred boy, followed by two grayscale girls and another boy, wearing a white coat and odd black markings. The first three - healthy, squirming and loud, demanded their rights in this world immediately and, once licked clean and dry, they began to eat greedily. However the last one was silent, unmoving and Osprey's attempts to bring it to life were in vain. Deep inside her heart she knew that this one had joined her star-babies, it's life having ended before it had even had a chance to begin. And yet, she pushed it's tiny body next to the three, keeping it warm just for a little while and hoping that, wherever the little soul was, it would know that it was loved regardless.

Afternoon turned into the evening and Osprey watched the sun set, enjoying the stillness and beauty of the world around her, thinking about that little dandelion and, what the future held for her three children.

WHEW it has been a while! Hello, Family! (I'm going to go ahead and make Wraen the last born girl; if the order has already been decided let me know and I'll correct it!)

--

All was still. And then it wasn't.
 
Pushing, pulling, and squeezing...being born marked itself as the first time that fear blossomed in her tender heart. Her environment became unbearably smaller; those she shared it with jostling for position by beating upon her with their infant paws. No discernible sounds...only the orchestra of her host's insides while timely contractions ejected the little parasites into their new world. There was a great rush. She was stretching too long! She couldn't move!
 
And then suddenly she was born.
 
Air married with virgin lungs and she gave a great, mewling cry as the pain of one's first breath almost took it away. Another followed. And another. A velvet tongue mused her dark fur as she was cleaned; the sensation of it was preferable to the bite of chill beyond her Mother's body.
 
Wraen turned and found the teat of her birth giver for the first time. She drank deeply for the first time. And for the first time that fresh fear abated itself and was replaced with a sense of peace.
 
All was well.

They say that life is a fight, but that not everyone is a fighter.

Yet it did not apply to the ash-colored girl that had been second to be born. She had been the one to move and kick the most, while in the womb, her first cry in this world - probably the loudest, and the greed she ate was as if her hunger was insatiable, as if she would never see food again.

It would later not be unusual for her to push her siblings away, to claim the closest spot to their mother's warm belly or to take the teats that had the most milk. She would be the one to growl, if touched and woken suddenly, and try to squirm and fight against, if attempted to wash. 

She would be a fighter, all right. From the very beginning, claiming her rights to live and survive.

The dark male is the first born-- and does not appear to happy about it either. He wails as he's stolen from his warm house and wails still as he is cleaned and pushed towards the stomach of some unknown being. For a moment, he resists the strange urge to latch onto the being, but his instincts are too strong, and he is silenced quickly as he begins to suckle. Already, he begins to squirm and kick at the small things beside him, unhappy with their presence. This was his, it was given to him, these beings do not deserve it in the same way he does.

After making sure that the kids were still fine, warm, breathing and eating (=living), Osprey fell asleep, though the instinct to protect her young had grown considerably stronger now and she was very much aware of everything that was going on.

It was a dreamless slumber and she would wake up occasionally to check up on, how the little ones were doing. A tender caress here, a loving kiss there and then she would spend the next minutes, just watching the three newborns, taking in every single feature of them and trying to guess, what would they be like, when they grew up. 

Though it is difficult to tell, which parent the infant takes most after, and it is especially hard, when it comes to wolf-pups, Osprey had a feeling that the two biggest and the most active ones reminded her of Dante more than of herself and as for the third... maybe the only one that had taken a bit from them both. Her gaze turned to the white still-born and his odd black markings made her think about Pied. The niece she had seen only once and that had had a very unusual coat color pattern. And she had died young, maybe it meant something.

The best part about being born in such a time was that she hadn't the slightest ounce of awareness; the world simply was. With the existence of her Mother there was a source of comfort...already the nonsense of birth was fading from memory. Now she only remembered the scent of Osprey and the warmth that would someday be known as Terance and Sarah.
 
She sighed contentedly against the tufts of hair tickling her face and buried further into the softness of her Mother's belly. Sarah and Terances's incessant thrashing to be closer jostled her but failed to illicit any remarks or complaints; a highlight to the natural goodness of her personality. Wraen's passive nature had already planted its roots and she exercised her harmonious tendencies with a beautifully executed shift that gave the pushier siblings more room.

throwing this in, lemme know if you mind!

When he returned empty handed that evening, he did not immediately sense that something had changed.  He was too disappointed by the rotten luck of the afternoon.

It was only when he neared the den and heard/scented the signs that he stopped stock still, sharply pulling in a breath as he did so.  It had happened?  So soon?  Wait.... Or was this right!?

His stomach dropped anxiously as he listened, though he heard nothing but peaceful breathing and whimpers from the darkness.  Holy shit.  He was a dad.

Unable to completely process what he was feeling at the moment, he lay down nearby, trying to still his racing heart and fighting the urge to enter.  It wasn't time yet.  He wanted to see them, yes, but he knew doing so now would likely startle his mate and disturb them.  Instead he would remain right where he was, watching the surrounding area and listening with an amazed and delighted joy to the occasional tiny sounds emanating.  The fear and worry would come later.  For now, there was no room for anything but this.

Osprey froze, when she heard quiet footfalls coming in the direction of the den, and she held her breath, listening carefully and checking the incoming scents to tell, if the person was familiar or not. In the days to come she would allow her packmates to have brief visits, but today only one other person was welcome.

Dante. 

Her heart skipped a beat, when she recognized him and, after checking once more that everything was alright, she got to her feat and walked towards the den mouth to meet him. There was a happy smile in her tired face, as she closed the distance between them and without saying a word, she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and in that moment of silence drawing strength and peace from his presence alone. 

"Come and see," she told him, taking a step back and returning to the den.

The act of being born was incredibly taxing and with the flux of warm milk in her once empty belly Wraen found herself lulled into the sweet arms of sleep. She was perfectly content that way, her teensy feet kicking with nonsensical dreams, but she was pulled from the slumber when Osprey  parted from them to greet the wolf she'd one day name Daddy.
 
She was almost monkish in nature but even her placid nature would not deny the low mew of concern as she and her two siblings reflexively bumped into one another and began huddling for warmth. Osprey's absence might've only been for a few moments...but for the blind, deaf pups her moments felt like eons.

After having her fill, the biggest of the two girl's that once would be named Sagittaria or Sarah for short, enjoyed the warmth her mother provided and did not hesitate to push and kick, if any other of the invisible blobs of fur and flesh attempted to claim her spot (the best one for that reason, of course). 

However one thing even Sarah couldn't prevent was her mother leaving and just around the same time Wraen let out her mewl, she followed with a loud cry of her own. Not that she was getting cold or that Osprey had been gone for too long. Just because, whatever was that the little cub did not like, she wanted the world to know.

Like his two siblings, the young boy disliked the loss of warmth from their mother. Both girls mewled loudly, but the dark cub was much louder, and wailed as loud as his little lungs could. The sound came like that of a squeaky toy, but to him he was making all the difference. He cried and cried, hoping that at some point he would receive what he wanted.

He wouldn't have to wait long, though he wouldn't have noticed nor minded.  The instant Osprey appeared his head picked up from where it had been resting on the ground, though his eyes had continued to track the trees vigilantly, and he beamed to see her standing there fine.  There had been a horrified instant when he had first smelt the traces of birth that he'd wondered if maybe this had gone even worse than the first... it was a fear he had held as the time got closer, but one that luckily had been just as silly as he'd dismissed it to be.

She rested her head on his shoulder and he gave a soft kiss to her cheek, stomach doing flips at her invitation in.  He'd seen pups before, but this was different.  These were theirs.  He followed tentatively, giddy at the sound of the healthy cries Osprey's departure had elicited.  When he stepped in, he could make out their shapes next to her.  Four. 

He came to look closer, marveling.  Three were darker, the fourth a pale white... and unmoving.  He hadn't noticed initially, but only three wriggled closer to their mother.  One had not quite made the journey, choosing instead to stay with the gods.  There was not a lot of sorrow in losing a life that hadn't ever truly lived, but it echoed closely to the previous year, and he nuzzled her throat, again overjoyed that she and the other three had come through sound and strong.

"They are beautiful," he said softly, gazing down adoringly.  Two daughters and a son.  Three lives that, for the forseeable future, would depend entirely upon the two that had created them.  And four that would depend on him providing as much as he could in hard times.  It would not be an easy task, but he could not care less.

"Not quite wolves yet," Osprey replied, reclaiming her spot next to her kids and nosing them gently to let them now that she was back and that there was nothing to worry about. "But they are beautiful in their own way," she finished her remark and then pushed the trio closer to the warmth of her belly. Then - as if remembering something - she leaned over to pick up the stillborn boy and put it next to it's siblings. Some people wanted to discard the deceased ones right away, she - on the other hand - was not quite ready to give up on it. Maybe tomorrow or a day after, but for time being it could stay, where it was, where it belonged. 

"We have the task of naming them," she went on, when she was certain that the children were alright. "Frankly speaking, I have not given much thought about it and - if you wish - we can wait a little, until they are grown up a bit and see, what kind of name fits."

They really were.  All of them - herself included.  He hadn't ever guessed he could love anything as much as the contents of this little den.  He did have an idea on one name; it was a notion he'd held for a time, but not one he'd brought up to her yet. "I am fine waiting a bit," he responded, finding he liked that idea as well.  If she was agreeable, he would name one after his lost sister.  Not exactly, as the direct name would likely give him pause.  But a derivative would make him happy.  "The newest Redleaf-DiSarinnos," he added, trying out the surname with a smile.  Since he had none that he claimed, and she held closer family regard, he'd wanted to do this.

ooc: wrapping this up.

"Newest Redleaf-DiSarinno's," Osprey repeated thoughtfully, realizing there and then that she had never asked, if Dante had a family name he would have wanted to pass on. Maybe not and she was not going to object to his choice of taking hers. 

"Mom and dad would be proud," she told, giving him a kiss on the cheek and then lied on her side, closing her eyes and sighing. It had been a very long and exhausting day, she felt that a rest was well-deserved. And with Dante watching over them, she was granted of that rare moment in the days to come to let her guard down and sleep peacefully.