Northstar Vale I wake up in the night to watch you breathe.

Once the ordeal was over, all that Ibis wanted was to sleep. Her body was still amped up on adrenaline and whatever-else, Java doesn't know very much about this topic and really, who cares. Ibis was tired. Her body was practically humming; it felt like she was aware of every nerve across the network of her flesh, every tug of tangled fur, every nip of gums upon her teats, and an overabundance of withering exhaustion. She ached in places she did not know the names of, she was dizzy, claustrophobic, and shrouded in darkness, unable to focus long enough to do anything of benefit for her children. She knew one was tucked against her side and feeding, and the other crowed mercilessly in the dark, crying out, as if the dissonant song of such young lungs would return prescience to Ibis long enough for her instincts to kick in again.

She was so, so tired. Shapes moved outside of the den. She shifted her body, absently nudging the tiny boy's empty shell against the far wall with her hip - oops. Ibis shuffled and tried to keep her living children close, warm, unhindered... Afraid to leave them for even a second. They were her's! Ibis had never had anything that was entirely her own except her blood family, and they were gone, scattered like dandelion seeds to the wind - and she would not let the same thing happen to her brand new daughters. Her family, her everything. But she also knew that someone was outside of the den and waiting for word from her. Some sort of sign that things were alright.

The queen rested a few moments there, tucked awkwardly among those she'd born and those she'd lost, and then poked her nose out from the den mouth; she saw two shapes, and her eyes were drawn first to the paler of the pair, recognizing Viinturuth and feeling the flutter of her heart; she felt breathless for a moment, which she attributed to the many hours of struggle, and quickly looked for Akavir. When she saw him she sighed and let her eyes close for a moment. Her daughters squirmed by her chest and belly, tucked behind her where they could be safe.

There were... so many, Ibis struggled to explain. Her tongue felt dry like sun-baked grass, and she swallowed thickly. But.. two, two little girls. She had named them in her head as they'd arrived, and now tried to think back on each of the little lives as she recited them. A dark one, browns and reds, Arielle, she sleeps. Her sister is grey, I think, its so dark in here. She is the loud one, the one that sings. Lilitu. With that Ibis fell quiet, breathing steadily but with a clear drop in her energy that could have hinted at a deeper problem. She felt as if she were trying to speak through a fog at non-corporeal shapes and could not look at Akavir thereafter.