Moonspear but i know that i love you so

birth. hi babies! @Vela @Galaxy @Ran @Jarilo

Fatigued from the last long week, her energy dropped off significantly with each new day. She spent the afternoons stretched out, keeping relatively quiet as she thrummed anxiously from within to wait. Already, as of a few days ago, the dark alpha was not accepting company short of @Charon, and this seemed a natural, inevitable step forward. With it went everything else she had come to recognize, from finally having no appetite to the very distinct brand of ache this made and of course, to never feeling a satisfied bladder—not for days. It seemed to drag on and on, while true, she was impatient about this, it felt excessive to her, despite knowing to expect it now. Nevertheless, eventually (but not before he could get tired of her constant up and down), she up and decided she'd had enough of him and in probably the fastest thing she had done all week, she lunged to chase Charon off, out of her sights.

Newly satisfied by her solitude and tucking into the den with an ugly growl, she went back to grooming and pacing and scraping at the earthy floor by herself. She sought the ideal mindset, the one she would need to see this through, and never was it an easy, perfect find. This carried on, and she still ducked out from the den several more times to pace there too, but always returned promptly. She was feeling pulled in and twisted apart at once, with nothing to show for her efforts as finally dusk slid a comforting dark over the Spear. And finally, when night settled in full, she made progress and understood far better now. Birth of a lightly-colored daughter followed soon afterward. Despite the discomfort, the mother was very pleased to see this moving on.

Quick, precise in her motions to free her, Amekaze cleaned the little female's face first and shoved her beside a swollen teat or two to feed. She eased back next, growling and shifting herself around again as she stayed just as uncomfortable as she had been. Rather abruptly, another daughter followed hardly moments after. Even before she could get the first dried off and placenta dealt with, she came, light too, and similar to the first in size. Instinctively anxious about babes so fresh and ailing in her own way, she hurried along to get them both up to speed—breathing, nursing, clean, and living through these first painfully delicate moments.

When she had worked them past that, she was able to settle down for some time and didn't keep track of how long it was. The night was quiet, the whelps suckled, and she tried desperately to rest a spell—exhausted from a day (and week) of strung up nerves and toiling along. Wondering what else awaited and when this would be over, she eyed them both through a tired squint until her body reminded her to focus again: a realization she made along a weary groan. Pain sharpened her up once more, and she peeled away from the two small girls to stretch and pace anew. Their complaints, if any, would go ignored for now while she intently labored through this—while hoping it would be the backend of this whole event. She was more than ready to put an end to this.

With time and plenty of frustration from her, two more arrived: a little female, and then almost as an afterthought, a male much like her. She was a touch smaller than he was, and both were dark. Ame cleaned them off, arranged them into her small bundle of newborns, and pressed them all against her underside to keep them warm and fed. Too tired to fuss with them more than that right now or gleam with the appropriate pride of a litter safely ushered to life, she simply set her head on her paws with a great heave of a sigh; the exhaustion weighed her down considerably. Still, with the last threads of energy afforded to her, she kept an eye on the den's entrance and an ear tilted towards the new puppies.

There was a certain sense of routine to everything this time. Last time, Charon had been fretful and there had been a dark thing looming over the pair of them. He had worked hard to make the den this time, like he had last time, to make sure that she had a place to go to and where she could be comfortable. Charon never left her alone for long this past week, knowing that time was drawing nearer to birth.

He was out for one of his quick patrols when it happened and when he returned he knew that it was time. Charon waited patiently outside of the den and kept guard so that she may focus on the things that she needed to do. It wasn't until he heard the first soft mewls of life come from the den that he dug up a nearby cache — near enough so he could keep an eye on the den's mouth — and brought a piece of rabbit to Amekaze that he had put there a few days prior in preparation. He chuffed to announce his presence and lowered himself to his stomach so that he could look inside, though he made no intention to actually go inside — for these first weeks his place would be as guardian outside while she tended to the most fragile bits of their lives.

Scion was running toward the canyon behind his brothers, his tongue lolling joyously from his mouth and his feet pounding on the dry red bedrock. His red pelt felt warm beneath the beating heat of the late afternoon sun, his lean shadow stretching out in front of him as it began to set behind him. As they neared the edge of the gully, his golden eyes shone with anticipation. They had been playing in the dry Mexican heat for hours now and he was desperate for a drink.

He heard a playful cry of, "Think fast!" and glanced sideways just in time to see a piece of driftwood being launched in his direction. Scion yipped and sped up suddenly, his hindquarters lowering and his tail whipping between his legs as he attempted to dodge the missile. It missed him and he started to laugh breathlessly, only to realize he was approaching the lip of the canyon much faster than anticipated. With a choked gasp, he began to skid, kicking up scree and dust.

His yelp echoed off the red rocks as he tumbled over the edge, his body crashing into the sharp rocks of the ravine wall before splashing loudly into the cool rapids below. Worried faces appeared above, eyes desperately scanning the small river, but Scion never resurfaced.

---

He woke up with a gasp, flailing his limbs and unleashing a frightened wail that would surely elicit teasing from his brothers. With a grunt, he tried to roll over onto his belly. His body felt incredibly peculiar and the smells wafting into his nose were equally strange. When he finally tried to open his eyes, he found them glued shut. He also couldn't hear anything, despite the distinct sensation of someone—likely Tacoma, who had thrown the driftwood—fussing over him. He no longer cared what his brothers might think; he began to whimper and whine in fear.

He remembered running, slipping, falling... but where was he now? And what was happening? Scion's heart fluttered in his chest as he kicked, squirmed and began to scream.

In utero Vela had only been exposed to serenity. Not aware to the simplicity of her setup, Vela merely existed as she developed within her mother. Her consciousness came in waves, a blurry recognition of the others that we around her that disturbed her slumber. Just as quickly as the realization that something was off would happen, Vela would succumb to the soothing sensation of her unconsciousness, falling victim to the dark void of her existence until something brought her back to attention. 

On the night of her birth, something did not seem right to the cub; something was different about the vessel she and her siblings formed within, but this sensation was something that she could not even begin to grasp. Before she could even make a move to express her concern, she was swiftly swept into the birth canal, leaving any recognition of the womb behind her as she was delivered into the world. 

Though uncomfortable, her birth came with relative ease. Falling victim of the current, and somewhat paralyzed by the sudden onslaught of overstimulation, Vela allowed her mother to do what she needed with very little interruption from the gnocchi. The only time that the eldest of the litter made a peep was when the pungent smell of milk hit her, and though she was not aware of just why, she knew that she wanted whatever the smell was. Air quickly rushed through her lungs as she unearthed her first cry and the baby wailed until she was delivered to her mother's side. With the milk scent before her, Vela eagerly reached out and latched on, suckling instinctively as she happily accepted her life's first desire.

Still recovering and still half numbed, physically and mentally, from the whole event (and all leading up to it), she knew it would take time for her to get back into the swing of things with newborns around again. When they whined, she groomed and mussed over them, until they'd either feed again or sleep. Repeat endlessly, day after day, until they grew stronger.. Knowing roughly what to expect with them after successfully rearing her last litter did grant her a greater confidence than when they had been brand new, so she wouldn't even worry about them badly right now so long as they had all breathed, had eaten, and stayed clean—even the two that were somewhat smaller than what she was used to, but understandably, her robust daughters from the prior litter had set a high standard.

Her eyes were half-lidded and she was making no big moves for as long as she could, unwilling to disturb the relative quiet too soon. If a puppy shifted, she'd take care of it as needed but her motions were slow and waning towards too tired to give a shit. Now and then, there was a peep from one of them, but so long as nothing escalated she let it be, and tried to rest and recuperate with all of her might. After all, it had been a long tedious day.

When she heard Charon's chuff, she had been dozing with her head on her paws and it brought her right to attention. She straightened at the sight of him peeking in, and stifled her low groan when she did shift her whole self enough. Delicately, she unfurled enough to grant him a better sight of them, although she was quite content to keep him where he was: at the threshold. However this would surely be an ease to his mind to know that all seemed well enough, that they lived, and she was just worn out and sore. "Four, three girls." she pressed her snout against each lined up in order. "One boy." He book-ended the row, with the two darker ones together and the softer-shaded duo closer to her elbow.

Amekaze switched her tail, glad it that step was done with, and happy that they could all move forward together now. If she lingered on the thought too long, in a tired, addled, hormonal mindset encouraged by the heavy scent of milk and puppies, she wanted to feel so strangely overwhelmed—here, having established all of this that the mountain had seen it fit for her to have.

As he caught her attention and she told him of the children, ears were perked forward with full interest as he watched them and her. She explained there were three girls, but the boy caught his attention. Seven daughters, he realised, and one son. It wasn't that he favoured having boys much at all, but he couldn't deny that he was glad to also have a son this time.

He reached forward to briefly nuzzle her cheek as he murmured softly, "Well done," and then moved back towards the den's entrance, from where he lay facing the den so that he could watch the little potatoes wiggle around and squirm; a thing that didn't seem very appealing to anyone but the proud father at that moment, as they weren't doing much of interest just yet. Most of them remained calm, but there was one pup who started to scream as though its life depended on it, a light one. Ears folded back and Charon grimaced, wondering if they would have another Alya on their hands this year.

Hydra moved with @Alya and @Lyra, at their center. Together they tugged at a hefty limb to deliver to their mother. It had been explained at some point that the process of birth was a tiring one... and Hydra knew that nothing fueled her quite like food did. It was pure fortune that the girls had found an injured buck with a broken leg and were able to bring it down as her mother pushed out new life... and Hydra, not knowing that this was the moment birth was occurring, suggested that they bring a portion to their grumpy mother. 

The scents in the air were different this time around the den, though. Hydra paused and dropped the limb a decent distance before the den, not sure if they would be received today. Hydra piped up from a distance: Can we see? Her tail waving hopefully behind her.

For some reason, Alya's whole body was wiggling. As soon as those weird smells hit her nose, her ears had pricked up, and her legs had gone all springy, and her tail had begun whipping around so fast it made her shake! She was surely bothering her sisters, who were both helping to carry the heavy haunch they were bringing for their mother.

After recieving a strange look from one of them, Alya had pulled back, leaving Lyra and Hydra to tug it the last few feet while she danced up to her father, bouncing on toes. "This is so exciting," she said, her voice a bit breathless and far-away as she stared longingly toward the mouth of the den - and the source of all these super-sweet smells.

He didn't push it, neither his proximity or the need to know any more than what she gave. What she shared was all she had right now, anyway. They would have later to get to know them better and find out who exactly this tiny wiggly bodies were meant to be. In this exact moment, there was no telling, but what mattered was that they were here.

She nudged around the puppies again and made sure all was still fine, besides a little noise and some fusses—which she aimed to remedy with teats, if they'd allow. Content with this, she relaxed and let him watch over them all since her eyelids were awfully heavy. She'd try to doze again, hopefully enough to get motivated to go get a drink—something, anything  to help her get grounded in the post-birth reality. But for now, she was much too enamored with the thought of not moving if she could help it, although it was the eventual sound of someone else that made her think differently suddenly. Her hackles rose well before her head did, and a low growl followed.

It was just her daughters, though, not that she made any effort to find out which ones exactly. Reluctantly she squinted towards the entrance, ears forward and nose working to garner more information.

Such presence made her tense, instinctively, and she was too tired to do more than keep the littlest ones close—as she had been, anyway, where they could squirm and squeak into her underbelly while her mate ran interference for now. Yet she had seen her own younger siblings not long after birth, of no consequence—despite how different the circumstances were between then and there. It was only a matter of time before they did get to see them, however, as she knew their interests wouldn't be easy to distract. Over the last several weeks, her older brood had seemed rather curious about the whole notion of how it, being life, came to be.. with or without her being ready to help them understand it in full. This was all there was to see, and with the four little bodies tucked against hers there was no long, winding explanation necessary right at this exact moment; not that she would even make the time for it.

She wouldn't invite, but neither did she outright object yet as she put her head back down slowly, with a small, tired sigh. A very quick look was about all she could give.

They worked in tandem to drag the heavy buck leg up the mountain and towards the den where Amekaze was nesting. It was hard work, but the sisters were capable, even when Alya started to get a little bit too excited. Her wiggling caused the entire hunk of meat to shift and wobble and Lyra let out a soft but uncharacteristic growl as if to say could you not? However, the sweet scent of milk hit her nose over the stench of blood and she suddenly understood her sister's sudden exuberance.

They lagged a little in their mission after Alya ditched her post to join Charon at the entrance of the den, but Lyra and Hydra managed to finally drag the leg within a reasonable distance. Heart thrumming with anticipation — she was going to have baby siblings! — the girl lightly padded over to where her father stood, tail waving over her back gleefully. "We brought you food," she added quietly towards the den's entrance, ears pressed forward as far as they could to catch any sounds she could of her tiny brothers and sisters.

There was little activity as the littlest of the litter came into existance. She just lay there and only after being licked clean and nudged towards a teat did she eventually latch on. The tiniest of the bunch remained quiet after that, suckling for a while and then drifting off to sleep.

Instinctively his lips peeled back to reveal teeth in warning as his daughters came bursting onto the scene, excitement ablaze. They were safe, but they were also a lot, and he instinctively wanted to teach them what they could and couldn't do, knowing it was their first time around newly borns. He allowed them near enough to see inside so they could get a quick glimpse of their siblings, but would stop them without further warning should they try to go inside the den. That was for Amekaze alone at the moment.

"Thanks, girls," he said in response to Lyra mentioning they'd brought food. He remained at the den's entrance however, to keep a check on whoever visited — they could catch a glimpse of the tiny bodies from outside the den, but no further.

He grew, taking shape, slowly, steadily until he could move, feel, then so much more. A blissful existence, entirely unaware, until suddenly he was not. Much changed. He was changing, too. 

The little dark whelp was born late in the night, after his sisters had made their appearances and just before it was all said and done. He took his first, soggy breaths and filled his new lungs with mountain air when he had no choice. He found his strength enough to squeak after, then after, when his small spread of self-awareness became entirely his to behold, he tasted and felt warmth as it overwhelmed him. Comfort came next, despite not being able to understand why, and he was able to rest.

They were permitted nearer, and Hydra knew better than to rush forward. Her ears flattened for a moment to remind her eager sisters this—she would not see them snapped at for something they knew better than to do. So she approached slowly, crouching some so as to catch a glimpse of her siblings if she could. Hydra did not come too close, though looked to her father for information about them.

finishing this up! :)

The girls were permitted a look and they were very mindful that that was all they would get. Hydra particularly seemed very sharp on making sure that all of them were minding those rules (or, he was pretty sure it was Hydra, anyway, as he recognised that sort of initiative in her). After a while, visiting hours were coming to a close and Charon told the girls to leave. He stayed awake through most of the next day, until one of the girls would be able to take watch at which point he'd sleep in the den's entrance — a ritual that'd repeat for at least the first week or their existence.