Blackfeather Woods blood, guts & glory [birth]

For weeks, an eternity to him, Keelut floated in the warmth. Side by side, he and four others grew each day, getting the nourishment they needed from the vessel. But Keelut's space was different, it wasn't only his sac he occupied, there was someone else there, always, like one with him. But she was not destined to survive.

Nature did what nature had to do. And Keelut did what nature told him to do. His instincts were strong, even before born. Something in his soul told him to break free at last, and he would have done it first if it wasn't for the favorable size of his firstborn brother. He pushed his way past the lump that was never Anna, and followed his brother's trail down mother's body into the world.

The cold made him flinch, took away the breath that never came to him, and for a moment Keelut lied still. His heart was beating, a miraculous result of having drawn the life out of the other, Anna, and when he finally got himself to take in the first breath, it went back out the same way with a distressing whine. It only stopped when he was helped into mother's warmth once more. There, he clung to a teat and fed fiercely from it until he drifted into sleep.

Not much more was known about Keelut that day, but how at peace he looked while sleeping.