Young, Wild, and Free

This land was...different.

It was to be expected; not every place was going to be like Blackfeather. But, she was expected to live here for a moon. An entire moon, living in a foreign land, with only her brothers for support. A foreign land with foreign wolves, who lived in the sunshine and knew not of the arts of assassination. She had not seen the red marks of the Dark Brotherhood on the shoulders of these wolves, and they were entirely too friendly and nice for her liking...but she was being biased.

For now, she wandered alongside the river that snaked through the plains. It was slow-moving and deep, feeding the plains and providing the land ample supplies to furnish its treasurehouse of plants. Yes, if there was one thing she liked about this place, it was how much more herbs there were here. Every time she came across one that she recognized, the princess would murmur its name to herself, reminding herself of her studies with her mother.

"Alpine Shooting Star....Bergamot....Prairie Dock....Sideoats Grama....Burdock...."

Scarlett decided that she had to keep her muscles a bit in tact instead of laying around. It was quite the struggle to waddle forward but she felt like having a bath. Her coat was so dirty from being in her den all the time and the small stream close to the alpha den wasn't deep enough to actually bathe in. The heavily pregnant female was ready to burst. She was more belly than wolf almost. She had welcomed the three youngsters and hoped they would feel at home in BCV. It was really different from he dark woods. It was light here, with open fields and warm colored forests. The high steep edges were like a wall of safety.

Scarlett loved Bearclaw Valley. This would be her permanent home. The girl reached the waters and instantly started to quench her thirst from her trip. Normally it would only take a few minutes now it almost took her half an hour to reach this water. She also cooled her body by lowering herself into the lazy river. Summer was really breaking though and the heat was quite horrible while feeling like a bloated balloon. That is when she spotted Potema. "Potema!," she called out on her friendly and motherly tone. Scarlett pulled herself from the water, her small frame clearly struggling. "Hi, how are you?," she asked.

Potema turned her head towards the call and had to stifle a giggle. She had never seen a pregnant woman before, but this was ridiculous. She was so fat! Her stomach was bloated beyond measure, made even larger by her small frame. How did she walk like that? The young girl trotted forward to save Scarlett the trouble of waddling over to her. "Hello, Scarlett." She greeted the alpha, formally, of course.

Her single-eyed gaze raked over the woman's sides, looking for any signs of the movement of the pups inside her. "How far along are you?" She wanted to gauge the stages of pregnancy for herself, but she had a feeling that she would be there for the pups' birth. She looked to be due within the moon, hopefully. If she had another few weeks left then Potema would never want to get pregnant.

Scarlett heard her giggle and returned a smile at the girl. It must look funny how she waddled forward. She didn't even dare to shake out her fur because her belly was so heavy and it would hurt. Her teats were heavily hanging under her belly, looking pretty full. "Any day now," she puffed and then sat down. She looked at her big belly. "There is no milk leaking yet, so maybe in another few days they will be here," she spoke, informing the girl a bit about the signs.

Her red eyes fell on the girl and a kind smile fancied her face. "Do you want to feel or listen to them?," she asked. They were very active, currently you could see her belly be pushed out from the inside. They were really keen on more space, soon they would get that wish. Scarlett looked tired but surprisingly happy. She had Kove back and she would finally become a mother.

"Are you nervous?" She knew that birth was a painful, long experience. Mama had said that it was even worst for the very young and the very old, and the smaller females, like Scarlett was. She had even heard that women could die from it, and pups too. But she didn't look scared. She just looked...happy. It confused her.

Potema nodded, then walked forward, close to the large mound that was her stomach. "How does it feel when they move?" It must be a strange experience. She wondered if it felt like tickles, on the inside. Potema pressed her face forward, feeling one of the pups' paws hit her face. Little did she know that they would be her siblings-in-laws soon.

Scarlett chuckled and then shrugged lightly. She wasn't sure if she wan nervous. She kinda was but it was more because of the fact that she might not be a good mother. The red eyed female wasn't really thinking of the pain that came with it. Frankly she disliked to think of it. "Just a bit," she muttered and glanced at the girl getting closer to her belly. The pups were really active and it couldn't be long until she would give birth to them. She disliked leaving the den but she really wanted a bath.

"It feels... weird. There is really something living inside of you. It is nothing like you ever experienced before," She returned. Scarlett didn't know how to explain it. The light female chuckled when she saw her belly move towards Potema. "But frankly I am happy when they are out of my body. I feel like there are too many to fit inside," she admitted.

Potema blinked rapidly when she felt a foot hit her good eye. "They're very active." She pouted, backing away. Tears filled her eyes, and she lifted her paw to wipe them away. "I wonder if they know I'm here." She moved about her, noticing that they kicked towards her. Potema smiled, finding all of this wonderful, but possibly tiring. Having so much weight must hurt and make you sore all over. Thank Sithis her brothers would never experience that. Especially Damien. A fat, lazy, cranky Damien was probably the worst thing she ever imagined.

Scarlett nodded in agreement. Her babies were really active. Which wasn't surprising because Kove and Scarlett both weren't lazy wolves. Scarlett was always out doing something at least. The small female liked to run, travel and experience things. "They are, but that is good. Makes me know they are alive," she smiled proudly. Loving her unborn babies already. How could she not?

Scarlett tipped her head for a moment. "I am not sure if they do? Since they start to hear and see after two weeks of birth, which means that they wouldn't sense much inside my belly," she explained trying to be logical about it.

Potema didn't know much about babies, having them, or raising them. The pack did not have any puppies (yet, unbeknownst to Potema), and her mother had not gotten pregnant or gone into heat; they were most likely her last litter. For now, Scarlett was a test subject to her, a control group to compare other pregnancies on. "They can probably sense me..." She walked alongside the length of Scarlett's body, noting how the bulges followed her. "Do you know how many? And do you have names for them yet?" She might be able to count how many by the amount of paws, but that was hard. The pups would have four paws, so how could she tell the difference between them?

Scarlett watched Potema as she walked around her bloated body. "Maybe they can. I am not sure," she shrugged lightly. Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't. She would let Potema explore that topic for her. She was too tired and bloated to think much about how the pups reacted to things outside the womb. "I don't know. Two I think? Three maximum? I am just a small female I don't think I will have four or five babies," she returned. She smiled when the girl asked about names. "Well, I do like some. But I also want some inuit names with Kove's background and all."

Even for two or three pups, Scarlett looked massive. Of course, as Scarlett said, she was a small female, and most litters were not larger than six pups anyway. And even then, not all of them would survive, sadly. She hoped that Scarlett would survive it too.

Potema cocked her head. "What's Inuit?" She asked, unfamiliar with the word. It was a culture, of course, but she had never heard of it before. Was it a northern thing?

Scarlett smiled at the interested young female. Potema was super cute. Scarlett just wanted to fuss over her and give her a good grooming just to show how much she cared. But Scarlett wasn't sure what the norm was at BFW. Once the smaller female asked what an Inuit was she was quick to respond. "Well, it is a culture of the North. The very north. With snow and ice. Kove is from there," Scarlett smiled.

Potema blinked at the mention of the north. She was right, of course, but knowing that Kove came from the North, born and raised there, made her interested. It was also intriguing, since he knew Bane, her father, when he was in Blackfeather Woods. He could tell her all about him. Maybe even where he went... "How far north?" She wondered if the wolves in the Taiga were Inuit. She wondered if her father went there.

Scarlett looked at the female. She wasn't really sure, Potema should ask her mate. "I think it is further than the taiga... You should ask him," Scarlett spoke with a kind smile. With that said Scarlett would need to take a rest now. Her red eyes fell on the girl. "In two weeks you should come and see my babies," she offered, yawning briefly.

The female got to her feet. "I should take a rest," she returned. "But feel free to gather all the herbs you might need. Oh and go see Raziel. He is our healer," she smiled.

It was decided then. Whenever she had the chance, she would go and meet Kove. Learn more about the north she had dreamed about ever since her father disappeared. And he was there when Bane was back in Blackfeather. Maybe he knew more about him..

Potema noticed the yawn and prepared to excuse herself to allow the woman to sleep, but it was unnecessary. She shooed her off in the most polite manner, urging her to meet with Raziel, who was also the pack healer. Potema had the urge to wrinkle her nose, but chose not to. It was impolite, after all. With a curt nod, Potema turned and left the plump woman on her own, eager to run back into the bounty that the Valley had to offer.

Scarlett watched the young female go. She herself turned back to her den. Her belly so heavy with her young. Scarlett couldn't believe how fat she actually was. To think that two to three pups could get such a reaction from her body. The pale female waddled back home, cleaned by the river and tired from walking and their conversation. It only took a few moments for the female to pass out in the comfort of her home.

-end thread -