Duskfire Glacier who whispered the beauty of snow and the fear of death

forward dated for 07/19/2021! (Was too excited to wait lmao. I will be posting with Siku whenever he's activated! ) AW (@Wintersbane, @Tzila, @Lane, @Zephyr, @Kaster, @Pandora, @Eldritch, @Wayfarer, @Veteran, @Arius, @Ensio) but pls keep in mind that Imaq will likely only allow @Rye to enter the whelping den for the time being!

Her son, her boy, came in the night. The contractions tickled at the back of her mind, drawing her subconscious groggily to the surface just long enough to wonder blearily why her back and hips hurt so bad before the blissful black depths of exhaustion claimed her once more. Only when they worsened and grew closer together did the she-dog waken fully, with a tiny wrenching gasp, and later she would be grateful for the chance to rest before pushing. Reluctant to draw attention to her suffering, the quivering shepherd curled into the bedding and into herself -- sinking into the darkness, into the small world of pain crashing through her body -- further, burying her fangs into the furs to stifle the cries that wanted to tear from her throat.

In the morning, seemingly endless hours later when Siqiqniq's golden beams at last began to trickle into the caverns, something would inevitably draw the others. Whether it was the heavy perfume of afterbirth clinging to the Delta's den and the merle duo residing within or the soft grunts of the ashen child nursing at her underbelly -- his pelt already faintly splotched with watercolor patches of cornflower and lilac, which were sure to darken with time. Perhaps Selkie should've alerted them to the fact that the newest member of Duskfire had made his debut but as it was, she hadn't been ready to share him just yet.

As the Qeya finally got a good chance to examine her child in the light of day, dew whet her lashes -- a tremulous, disbelieving smile trembling across her lips. He was perfect. The pudgy boy murmured a small noise as he finished eating and released her, squeaking softly as his mother leaned down and brushed the tip of her bicolored nose against his own tiny snout -- dovedown head weaving for a moment before he lowered it and burrowed closer against the fluff of her underbelly. There was nothing evil about him, nothing accursed -- how could there be anything but joy as her son curled tighter to her warmth?

"Sikuliak. Sikuliak Yuku Qeya-Black," Imaq whispered, pressing the words against his folded, deaf ears and his miniscule features in adoring kisses and hushed coos. For now, only she and the inua protecting their den would know his name -- safeguarding it. On Sikuliak's nameday, she would reveal the title to his sire and tribe-kin and when she had healed enough, when the pup was old enough, his mother would take him out on to the Glacier and tell the world of his name -- so that Sedna and all the spirits would recognize him no matter where he went.