Ouroboros Spine aliitchuk ⌖

Wilwarin did not enter. She feared for her stepmother but this was new territory, unknown to the pallid youth. She had grown familiar with the ways of women as her mother and Shikoba's sides grew and the children within them prospered. But the cries of agony and childbirth were a shock. She had faced a bear but could not face her fear of what lay within. 

Instead, the butterfly flitted to stand vigil outside Anaa's den -- ears pricking curiously to hear the mewling of her new siblings.