Noctisardor Bypass It's been a long day without you, my friend

Wildfire's question brought put a queer sensation in Saena's belly. On the one hand, eating her own pups seemed completely abhorrent and she was certain she wasn't capable of it. On the other, it would ensure she got what she wanted, at the cost of her conscience. But was her conscience really as important as her freedom? It was something she didn't want to wonder about for long, lest she begin to see the value in doing something as wrong as terminating the lives of her young if there were too many of them.

"Of course not," she said, the socially proper response, whether or not she was secretly thinking about whether she could even do it. "I'd just prefer less, I think it'd be better for me and Reek. He's a traveller, too. If I have more, that's just how it goes, I guess." For the better part of six months, Saena would very likely try to force herself to believe that. Wildfire's suggestion that she eat her own cubs to keep the litter small would continue to cross her mind now and again, simultaneously disgusting and tempting her, until eventually the day came that she would have to decide or that her body decided for her.