Hushed Willows and flowers never bend with the rainfall

Hey all! I know I gave out gift basket assignments in the MO forum already, but I wanted to make it an IC thing as well. You only have to post once in this thread; however, I'll be putting up a few rounds for trade purposes if anyone is interested in threading it out with me. :)

Lily was feeling awfully disconnected from the world at large, lately. She knew that she couldn't be the only one feeling the same. Not that she lacked for company or care. . .it was strange, really. She was not sad, just isolated. Wrapped up in the joys of new motherhood. 'Tis the season, really.

So, as with all great ideas, it started with a spark and grew into something bigger.

She tipped up her muzzle and gave a howl for @Olive, @Khali, @Ariel, @Sunny, Cortez, @Puck, @Tzila, and @Ephraim. These wolves, she thought, might potentially be interested (not that their humans signed up or anything) in this fun little mission. Her children, of course, tried to howl along with her; Lana may or may not have gotten the closest to mimicking her cry.

Once the summons had rang out, she settled back down on her haunches just outside the den, casting a kind but stern look at her children. Put on your best faces, now, she teased. You've got to show everyone how well-behaved you are.

Little Cam responded to this by simultaneously sharting and sneezing, because of course he did.

Lil Cam is now my favorite child. I died.

He had heard Lily's summons and quickly hurried over wondering what was so important that it needed almost the whole pack. He stopped at the cache and grabbed a chunk of meat before resuming his path and arriving at her den a few moments later, just in time to hear one of her pups sneeze and crap himself. Sunny paused and blinked once, lips wobbling as he tried to withold his laugh. Once he regained his composure (he thought he did, but his lips had curled upward and he looked constipated as he tried not to laugh) he slowly belly crawled to the den and dropped the meat for her and backed away. "Hello Lily, Puppies, What's up?" he asked.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Puck would arrive moments after Sunny, though he had no frigging clue who most of the others Lily had called where. he'd blink in greeting to the other man before his eyes settled on the pups. shiiiiiit she'd gotten herself knocked up and shat out some little Lily's in his absence. it was perhaps the first time she'd ever seen him since their little talk months ago too. 

so that meant Khali had told her he was now here. in Elysium. he'd grin at his old acquaintance, thin tail wagging behind him. "sup? I, uh, guess I'm here" to do whatever she needed, for running a pack and having some little (cute) heathens follow after her... well, it must be stressful. "nice to see ya again, Lily!" he barked, wondering what she wanted. a lot in Elysium had escaped him recently. he'd been too focused on traveling around, meeting cute girls.

a noble goal.

Ephraim's arrival was silent, conveying none of the familiarity with which Sunny and Puck arrived. After all, he didn't know these wolves, and had grown withdrawn and morose in the days following his flight from Drageda. To say he'd made much of an effort to get to know them was a complete understatement; Ephraim had done nothing of the sort. He spent his nights fighting against nightmare wolves in his dreams, and he spent his day sunken-eyed and brooding. So he was surprised to be summoned, as well.

The first thing he saw was Sunny crawling toward Lily on his belly, offering meat. His stomach dropped. Was he supposed to bring a gift? Why had no one told him? But then he realized the other man present hadn't brought anything, and he willed himself to feel a little less like a piece of shit. That was hard, these days. He meant to say something, introduce himself or ask why he was summoned, but then all his attention was stolen by Cam's delicate smell, which made the little coywolf wrinkle his nose wordlessly instead. Disgusting.

Tucked away within the deep confines of her cozy, private little den, Tzila was at peace. She always was when there was darkness. When the shadows cocooned her in a thick blanket of inky comfort. They were her and she was them.

Her pitch sides heaved up and down once, in a slow, contented breath. Her sleep was dreamless, her hunger minimal. She had been keeping relatively to herself, only emerging at dusk to slip away from the confines of the territory. She may be marked as one of Elysium's own, but that would hardly stop her from trying to live her solitary life. There were of course, some things that she just could not escape.

The howl that summoned her and others of the pack roused her. Lethargically, she lifted her head. Her expression was of classic irritability, with scrunched eyes and pinned ears. What did they want now? Could she not be left in peace? Tightened jaws quivering, she sneered at the joys...the responsibilities of being in a pack. The sunlight filtering into the den stung her eyes; it was too bright as she brought herself out to the surface. Sour faced, she considered not even heeding the call. But Olive and her pack had done a great deal by taking her in. Sighing dramatically, she supposed there was no harm in going to see what this was all about.

Arriving at the gathering by another den, she was dismayed to see that she was not the last to arrive. Putting on a neutral face and pointedly avoiding eye contact with anyone else - even the puppies, she sat down on the outer fringes of the congregation. The stink of fresh defecation paired with her awkwardness towards the situation challenged her not to shrink in on herself.

Khali wasn’t too far as always he was worried for his mate and offspring. Though he wasn’t far when he was called he took his time to get to her, he knew the call sounded mellow and not rushed. He had began to look into growing his own garden, if he could take care of children then why not take care of plants. (we’ll see how well this works out) Anyway he walked up to Lily and Lockerbie her cheek and then intertwined with the other wolves. Though he was now a leader he felt better being within the others and not up front with Lily just yet.

The pups seemed to be doing good. Lana was as wild as when she was born and Cam was well... Cam? He wasn’t quite sure how to describe him yet but he loved him so much. A smile spread across the sandy mans face as he sat on the ground waiting to hear what his love had to say to them.

he is thinking today seems a good day to come visit lily and khali's brood, already, when lily's call comes and cinches it. for a second there is a flare of anxiety, for he does not have many good associations with young mothers calling for attention, but this is lily, her voice sounds excited, not angry or scared. ariel arrives, catching sight of khali as he approaches, and slips in beside puck, the only one gathered he really recognizes (besides sunny, but they'd not spoken much in some time). besides, sunny was busy presenting a gift -- cleverer than ariel, alas.

he offers lily and khali a shy smile hello, but allows himself to indulge in watching the children, who already seem so big. cam's, ahem, movement he'd missed, though it's aftermath he can still witness, and politely he declines to react. instead he quietly hopes that his children will get along with lily's; he cannot handle another set of feuding children.

the vagrant was surprised at the summons. he'd not done a great job at integrating himself here; it wasn't that he felt uncomfortable or anything, more that he felt a little outside the fabric of what was elysium. he belonged here because of olive, and would as long as she was here, but he felt no particular pull or drive toward this place.

still, lily had called for a reason, and so cortez headed that way, tail swinging behind him. his sister had been part of the summons, too, but she wasn't here. it was a bunch of wolves he didn't know all that well. with a small grimace, he emerged from the shadows and took a spot nearby the wolf named ariel.

he gave the undeniably handsome, fine-boned man a nod of greeting before turning to lily, wondering what this was all about.

Olive was, surprisingly, at home within the willows when she heard Lily’s summons. Even though her own pregnancy was steadily progressing, it was as if nothing could stop her insatiable curiosity of the world that directly surrounded their sanctuary. She always spent the night beside her two wives, tucked in tight in their wedding bed, so if anyone ever needed her, they could come find her early in the morning or late in the evening. Any other time, Olive was gone.

Lily’s call happily gave her something to focus on; to keep her within the willows and not making busy, pretending to tend to her garden or making more rounds, again and again and again. For this, she was thankful and grateful. Appearing on the scene a bit too lackadaisically delayed for the others’ tastes, she nodded to everyone in turn — greeting the messenger’s herald lastly. “Lily! Children, hello!” the druid greeted, then noticed Lily’s little boy. Well, this seemed like an opportunity for women to support women, which Olive was all for.

The mother-to-be raised a loving eyebrow at the little boy, then bent down to address him quietly; only a whisper loud enough for her and Lily to hear. “Oh little Cam, no worries, let me clean him while your mother attends to this most pressing business,” and with a grin of knowing, for Olive herself had raised two litters yet, she motioned Cam towards her and steered him to the side of the crowd so that he may be tended to by her mothering tongue.

Round 2 -- no posting order. I'll post again in a week or so.

Her nose picked up the foul smell and she turned with a sigh, only for wolves to start emerging from the trees. She flashed Puck a smile, having caught his scent before, and wagged her tail, happy to see an old acquaintance. Looked like he had decided to stay in Elysium for the parties after all. The rest she gave nods, and murmured gratitude to Sunny for the food. And then Olive showed up, and like the angel she was, she handled the situation with Cam.

God, thank you, Lily whispered to her co-leader, relieved beyond measure. Her son protested only a little bit at Olive's ministrations but then settled, and she lifted her chin and began to speak.

So, that's pretty much motherhood in a nutshell, she joked, giggling. All the expecting and new mothers in our allied packs are probably dealing with much the same. Why don't we help them out? I thought it would be nice to bring gifts for them and their children—herbs, food, toys. . .

She tilted her head, looking around. I need some help, though. Some wolves to help deliver these gifts. Sunny, why don't you go to Easthollow—you know them well enough, I hear? she asked, smiling. Perhaps Olive can go to Diaspora, and Cortez to Swiftcurrent. . .Ariel to Lost Creek Hollow, Puck to Stormrift, Ephraim and Tzila can team up to go to Rusalka.

Lily looked over at Khali, her eyes softening. Can you go to Moonspear for me, darling? Give Ame my love and regards. Her lips pursed tight for a moment, contemplating, then relaxed. I think that about covers it. If anyone thinks of anywhere else to go, feel free. That's all I've come up with at the moment.

She wished she could go on an expedition, herself. But the children were still too young, and there was much to do here.

He had stepped back and settled to his haunches, giving a warm smile and nod at Lily's thanks. He watched as Olive tended to the child who had defecated and then turned away, his stomach doing a weird flip as he felt somewhere between excitement and disgust at that particular part of Parenthood. As Lily announced what it was she needed from them he felt his heart race and then remembered his last meeting with Valette. He kept the nervousness off his face the best he could and nodded "Yes ma'am. I can do that" he said.

If he isn't needed from here on out just skip him <3

Khali listened until his mate was finished talking to the group. A smile came across his face and he nodded at her. “Of course I can. Anything for you. I’ll be gone a couple days so I’ll leave tomorrow after I get everything in order. “ he said softly and then looked at Cam Lana and Ziggy. His family was his pride and joy and the thought of missing any time with them was not what he wanted. 

He hoped everything would be fine in his absence as he congratulated other packs for their beautiful babies and on the way babies.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement, which was good. Khali, of course, was willing to go all the way to Moonspear. For that, she gave him a gentle nudge to the cheek, grinning, and softened her eyes at the rest of the wolves gathered. Thank you all so very much, Lily said warmly. I wish I could join you. I should probably stay to keep Aliac company. . .and to watch my own children, of course, she added, giggling.

Cam had been suitably cleaned up, and so she ushered him back to her side, once again reiterating her thanks to Olive. She dismissed her friends with a couple of murmured words and once everyone had dispersed, she made her way back into the den, puppies in tow. She was shockingly exhausted—who knew public announcements took so much out of a wolf?

But this would be fun. Hopefully the mothers would enjoy these gifts just as much as Lily had enjoyed coming up with the idea.