Ravensblood Forest convalescence

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It was good fortune that Lotte had gone seeking Olive where she had, for she did not stray far from her den nowadays. The vagrant had said goodbye to coast and her beloved keep [and had made quite a show of it too], knowing that she would not be leaving the confines of the bleeding, sap-stained timber for some time. Normally, this would deeply bother the seraph [who’s feet felt as light as the wind and not any less spirited] but Olive was oddly… at peace with it. The world beyond Teaghlaigh was big — almost too big. Spooky and evil things lurked around every corner, it seemed, and the world outside was overflowing with untimely coincidences and unfulfilled vengeances; all the things that actively sought her downfall. The lamb had enough of big — now, she wanted small. Olive wanted the safety of the forest and to hell with the rest! Yes, a world within which existed only Teaghlaigh was tempting, but tempting still was a world within which only her newly expanding family existed… she wanted the limits of her world to be the sanctum of her den, her dark husband at her side and fat babies rolling in her arms. It was a small world, but it was a good world, untainted by the coincidences and vengeances that jaded the big, bad world out there. 

Olive’s rapidly progressing pregnancy also gave her a quite valid reason to no longer leave the forest… and meant that she didn’t have to admit that she was scared and losing faith in the universe [which once captivated her blindly] — a trust that, to her, had been like the oxygen she breathed. Perhaps she had grown fearful and allowed the world to make her cold — or perhaps she nurtured a very healthy sense of vulnerability, especially now that her children were no longer some figment of imagination but a very distinct reality. Whatever the truth was, the world was quickly changing and Olive, for once, craved stability: that was where Dakarai came in. The dark knight was the most constant thing the lamb had ever known and oh how she loved him for it. Ever since Olive had become with child, Dakarai had scarcely left her side [even when he had lost himself and had every reason to move on without her]. Though they were back amongst family, still Dakarai was never too far — but on this particular day, the dutiful husband was away, retrieving his hungering wife a snack.

The hunger wife in question laid heavily against the smooth stone of her above ground den. Olive was fatigued, having had busied herself for a better part of the day gathering soft boughs of greenery and layering the hard flooring with it. With her body busy at healing would and nurturing pups, there had been no time to dig an subterranean den [as her instincts told her to do], so she would have to make do with the rocky outcrop that had been her home for some time. The perennial cushion was replaced almost daily, as the shewolf was growing increasingly restless and did not believe that her children should be born on anything put the freshest and softest carpeting. It was here that Olive laid, snuffling around and rearranging any leaves that were within her grasp, when she heard Lotte. Initially, the call shot adrenaline through Olive’s body and the mother-to-be shifted uncomfortably, wondering why Arturo’s queen would seek her out. It certainly couldn’t have been for anything good — and the possibilities made her nervous. The two women had a most interesting relationship [for a relationship so new], but Olive knew this women was her Banrion and deserved her respect. So Olive hauled her fecund frame from the ground and waddled towards the smoky wolfess.

“Lotte— it’s great to see you.”

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