The Sunspire Dance

this is very special, this is my momma's song to me.  i love you, kiddos.

@Okeanos @Ibis @Olive @Hyacinth & anyone who wants medic;
one round will be allowed to let everyone show up

seabreeze squeezed out two happyfat chilluns, and that was that.

---

Sike.  


​She was determined to be the best mom in the world.  That was, of course, until the contractions started.  She had talked this subject to death with Olive; the only herbs she wanted near were blooming flowers — there would be no pain relief.  Au natural.

Ain't that a bitch.

Even though she remembered to breathe like Olive told her, it hurt like none other.  She did not know how the ash-and-bone druid had gone through not one birth but two and be so devout to the gods because holy fuck why would anyone curse them with this shit???

But she was DETERMINED not to be a SOUR STOMPY PANTS as she brought her children into the world, so she sucked it up the best she could, pacing and breathing and taking in the beautiful floral scent of rose and lavender.

she — a speck of dust at first —
who bloomed slowly and with care,
came to the world in silence; floating in the nothingness until it became something, and she felt it.

a spark of understanding.
to know a change was on its way — and then, as if standing on the precipice of the universe, she jumped


there was nothing, and then, she was.

She hadn't met the mother yet so the fact that she happened upon her during the actual birthing process was completely by chance. She had been wandering around when the smells that were part of birthing hit her nose and drew her in close. She gasped and muttered a curse that was totally not ladlylike before approaching with a slow wag and low posture, submissive to the birthing mother knowing just how angry and snappy they could be. "My name's Hyacinth, I'm a medic. Are you Seabreeze or Olive?" she asked curiously, Using the two names she had been given by Terance. She lowered her gaze to eyeball the small wet blob that must have just been pushed out, her heartbeat quickening.

--- and then there is okeanos. 

not a delicate speck, but a clump of flesh and dusky fur, born breathing in heady floral scent that makes his first breath turn into a sneeze. 

the sneeze becomes a squall that, showing signals of a naturally good-natured constitution, quickly dispells as he reaches mother's teat, where he will remain a squirming flesh-and-fur ball for the time being.

"this is seabreeze," came terance's protective voice from outside the den. he used a tone demanded nothing but care and perfection-- because he refused to let anything go wrong. nothing could go wrong. hyacinth should have known who this was. though he wanted to, he did not dare enter until he was permitted to. and so he paced impatiently and nervously, tail lashing as he awaited any good news.

 It wasn’t long since her own birth til it was Seabreeze’s turn. It was quite convenient, that she should bear her children before the newness of the whole thing truly took Seabreeze by surprise — it always did, for new mothers. Olive hoped that her sister midwife had been observing as she, herself, displayed the great feat to birth and had been listening as she told her of the great stories passed down, mother to mother. Olive thought of the greyscale woman as something of her protege, and knew that Seabreeze felt the same way.

If Seabreeze had truly been internalizing her lessons, she would know soon enough.

As her friend labored, Olive cooed loving and supportive words and easily-memorable phrases. She kept her distance, ensuring that the babes at her own belly did not bother the woman as she experienced the pains and restlessness of creating new life. Though this was an arena that Olive was very familiar in, she found herself in awe at the simple strength of a woman — the depths of the pain they could feel, and the depths of the love that resulted. She watched, eventually falling wordless, as her sister fought through the contractions to bring her children to life. Though Olive wished to bear at least part of this burden, she knew that this was an inward journey through Seabreeze much venture alone. The confidence gained from it was, in a word, surreal. Olive could not steal that experience from her.

Tears pricked shamelessly at the back of Olive’s eyes as there were two babes born. “I am so proud,” she whispered in her most sincere of voices, eyeing the lovely puppies with a womanly appreciation. Suddenly, their whelping area seemed too crowded, with five babies and two mothers and one Terance who was constantly in an out to check on his boo. Terance was present, off to the side and out of the way — and albeit prickly towards the curious young girl who had come upon them, but he was present for his children while the nameless man of her past was not there for his children… Not that Olive had ever given him the chance, or anything. She wondered how proud Terance must feel — how eager he must be to see his offspring. “Would you like to be alone?” Olive offered, knowing that Seabreeze had many more interested parties than she did — and that could be uncomfortable, especially for a woman so new to motherhood. If Seabreeze obliged, Olive could only go so far, having only one mouth with which to abscond with her own babies — but perhaps Hyacinth could help in this endeavor. 

Hyacinth winced as out of nowhere the man she'd met before snapped at her in a tone that made it seem he thought her stupid. Annoyed and embarrassed she whirled around and faced the man, eyes sharp "My bad. If you want to be of use, go fetch me a few balls of moss soaked with water. Your pacing will make her even more anxious" she kept her tone firm but still respectful as she stared at the beta, slipping into medicine mode. Turning to Seabreeze she entered the den slowly, giving Seabreeze a smile as she approached. She nosed the two wet balls of fur "I have to nip the birthing sac honey. Then I'll give them to you one by one, lick them dry in the opposite direction of if you were grooming them." she gave the instructions in a soothing voice, not wanting to trigger any anger in the mother.

no! she whispered, trying to tuck against Olive, suddenly full of anxiety from all of the company (even if she wanted them all there).  She saw Terance arrive and her eyes twinkled, creased at the corners.  come, she requested, but just as quickly as she had, the medic was sending him away.

then very quickly, the two babes spilled from her body, and hyacinth was approaching.  nature was guiding her to eat the sacs herself, but the medic swept in and nosed them herself.  her heart caught in her chest — was she supposed to let her?  she kind of wanted to growl (nature again, sorry hyacinth) and she heard it catch in her throat, but quickly she decided she did not want to fight.  she relinquished her babes reluctantly and turned her head as if she had been burned, and because of all of the emotions she began to cry in a mixture of sadness and euphoria.

Imma just slide in here again real quick, just because this is my last chance to post for a while and I wanted her to interject a little. Please skip Olive from here on out ❤

Had someone scooped up her own babies so soon after birth and then cleaned then, especially someone as unfamiliar as Hyacinth, Olive would protest loudly. In fact, this was something she probably would not have allowed to happen, even if there was a medical emergency. Olive was a little aghast at how brazenly the young wolf came to the scene and began to boss around the others around this — this was not the role of a healer, and this was not the place, nor the time. Clearly, this girl must be a novice, and Olive would not let a novice road-test her bedside manner on her sister-friend.

Olive saw Seabreeze begin to cry, a very appropriate reaction, and Olive felt the sudden urge to take control of the situation — to allow her better judgement to lead this very confused defensive/offensive bunch, very king-of-cups-like. The last thing that the woman wanted to do was contribute to the vociferous energy of the moment, so she kindly regarded Hyacinth and spoke with a sweetness that said we’re in this together, don’t worry, just back down.  “Oh, please don’t worry, we’ve got this.” she cooed, hoping that Hyacinth would promptly return the babies to their mother’s belly — they simply belonged no where else at that moment. 

Olive nuzzles her head against Seabreeze’s, both to reassure the new mother and to demonstrate the bond upon which the new medic was treading.  “We’ve prepared for this well.” she commended, not without a double-meaning.

Cameo post!

Rannoch sat at a distance from the birthing den with a plump rabbit at his paws; he knew better than to join the gathered group. Aside from the obvious reasons for Rannoch's appearance— birth was a reason to celebrate after all— he was also curious to know the events of birth unfolded, and how the father was expected to act.

Chatter sounded from within the birthing den, and Rannoch watched. For now, it was all that he could do without getting his face bitten off.

a stern gaze crossed terance's face as hyacinth ordered him away to collect moss. "why didn't you bring it?" he challenged. terance was not mean by nature, but being sent away was not in his agenda today and stress of worrying for seeabreeze was wearing his patience thin. and, besides, he was not in the way. he was not stressing out seabreeze, surely, as he was far from the den and not at all being bothersome. he would not be leaving. 

his ears pricked at olive's voice as hyacinth entered the den. she herself was promptly sent away, and terance-- who could no longer wait-- let out a soft whine and moved towards the den, poking his nose in slowly, ears pricked still as he listened to the soft noises of babies. his babies. the rest of his head followed, and he stared at two little beans at the stomach of their beautiful mother. another whine. "they're beautiful," he murmured, ears falling to his head as he stared. he didn't come closer, but his body language was begging to be invited forward.