Wheeling Gull Isle [M] hey, Blue: here is a song for you

forward dated to tomorrow early morning. eee!

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Gore, death, violence, birth

Get up. We're going for a walk.

Tears. Vomit. Afterbirth. All with that sort of acrid taste and smell—and all mixed together in this vision. 

Three perfect babes at Parvati's breast meanttobeMY BREAST

and now three perfect babes stolen again given new LIFE

HOW DARE YOU! We gave you a home! We gave you children! We gave you LIFE! And now, I give you this gift—AND YOU CHOOSE TO SPIT IT BACK IN MY FACE, AND SLANDER MY GODS?!

too weak to sob, only tears from the corner of her eyes;

Niamh heaving up poisoned food and Parvati cut open—

it didn't matter. They were the same. It mattered not that Maegi had not touched the golden woman with any malice, she had killed Parvati, she had killed Niamh;

she had stolen children and claimed them as their own and that, THAT
was why her own offspring were worms,
and turned to ash

no child of her blood would live while this sin went unanswered—

---

She woke on a scream, a searing pain that rippled across her abdomen. Wetness; she'd pissed herself, but no urine smell rose up. Clear liquid pooled at her flanks, and the pups wailed in response to her cry.

Shut—up—! she snapped unkindly, then fell once more into a keening moan, overtaken by another contraction.

The scent of birth filled the den. The babes were coming, and she was suddenly nowhere near ready to receive them.

@Mou, @Peregrine, @Prevost, @Vesper @Jakoul & others free to pop in, I will post again tomorrow :)

she lay sleeping; nestled at her mother's side, wedged between her siblings. she had grown like a weed, but to her it felt gradual. as if this was how it had always been. her eyes had opened for the first time nearly a week ago, a milestone for her caretakers though it passed without event for her. each day, a little bit more light was let in, more of the world came into focus... but it was no revelation for the pup. her past died the moment it left her.

her dreams were much the same.

sounds were still muted -- more like vibrations she felt in her bones than a rattling in her head -- but mother's scream was a new, upsetting sensation. vesper felt the pain, not in her bones but in her brain and in her nerves. she squalled in response, disrupted from her dreams. her comforts were all already around her and usually their presence was enough to calm her. something was wrong and she could not fix it herself.

vesper shrieked, pawing in a panic at her mother's belly and against her siblings, needing consoling but unlikely to receive any.

The first pup was dead. She knew it had to be, for when she turned to look she caught sight of what would have been a painful existence. Stunted, shrunken, squished, like her brother Ramsay but even more grotesque. She broke the sac and cleaned it but to no avail; no breath would come from this babe.

Not much longer before the next was coming, and she was straining, cursing, pleading—had it hurt this much with Miseria and Hypnos? she couldn't remember in the moment—and then yet another.

This one was deformed, too; its legs were absurdly short, its face flat as the earth upon which it lay. It barely looked canine, and though she tried, tried to give it life—

This is what you deserve. Not Jaes's voice. Sithis. (How had he found her here?)

This is what you deserve for taking the children of others—

I GET IT! Maegi shouted, casting the second child aside in angry despondence. Anyone who saw her now would think her mad. . .if they didn't already. Her eyes darted wildly, full of tears. I get it! I've learned my lesson! Can you please—

Her snarl morphed into a breathless cry as still more pain came; Jaes, when would it end? How much would she have to endure before the daedra, or whatever gods tormented her, ceased their. . .ceased there. . .

My God, she whispered starkly, nearly fainting from exertion and agony as a third being slipped from her. Expecting nothing but silence, she was, thus, shocked when the sac broke upon exit,

and out came the squawking, living, breathing form of @Blueberry Blackfeather.

It had been wrong to hide from the newborns and from Maegi. He did not realise that he was even doing it; patrolling where they camped, arriving when called for the sharing of a solid  meal with his wife, then away again. The man had no role to play with the rescued children until they were older. He couldn't look at them - in them he saw his dead friend Niamh and sometimes, the dead family he once had, or the bloodline that denounced him.

The shouting drew the ghost from hiding now. All he could think was that the children were hurt, that something was wrong - Maegi's voice was a jumble of emotion on the wind, a torrent of it. By the time Mou reached her and ducked his sharp face in to the den things were quiet.

There was blood scent; others which brought to mind the cesarean he had conducted. Mou hummed a low note of worry but it was more for himself, to halt the catch in his throat demanding he vomit. Scattered remains everywhere - a broken body, a sobbing mother. Movement from one bundle drew his good eye and he zeroed in on that.

The child had more life than any others combined. Their little body became a blur of grey-white as Mou's eye filled with hot and thankful tears, his legs going out from under him.

Once quiet, calm and demure, the little creature came to life as soon as the air hit her lungs with her first mewling gasp. With her tiny toes splayed and limbs stiff and awkward she blindly writhed and felt the firmness of the earth beneath her body, felt the tickle of her mother's fur against her nose, and felt the absence of the pressure and warmth that had kept her so comfortable during her formation. This life was different from the one she had known before- and it was a bit of a shock, to be quite honest. 

Small, repetitive squawks were gutturally uttered as she rolled her way onto her belly which felt at least a bit more comfortable. She was used to a floating, suspended sensation so now in comparison, everything felt either vast and distant or hard. She sneezed when she brushed her face against her mother's leg again, but it was just as well- as it helped clear some of the fluid from her nostrils and throat. 

With so much of her existence changing so very much and so suddenly, she didn't know what to do with herself. So instinctively, she began to bawl in short, panting breaths, begging for something to begin to make sense.

someday she would know this as sound but in the moment it was new and overwhelming— where there used to be only vibrations, now there was something more. a sensation she didn't know how to interpret, and though she squalled, she had yet to make the connection that she was partially the cause. her cries went untended, and the atmosphere in the den grew tense. her siblings were upset, now, too. as they squirmed, mirroring the distress of their caretakers, what she would someday know as scent changed. not the sweetness of milk, but something more primal and metallic.

but her mother's body calmed after a time, and vesper stopped her crying; it had gone unanswered, anyway. she had no comprehension of what had transpired, only that it was almost back to normal, now— she pressed closer against her siblings for comfort as they all began to relax, pushing against the warmth of their guardian.

The scent of blood and afterbirth was heavy in the air and Aiolos found himself freezing in his spot, paused on high alert and tensed muscle. He would follow to the den of the only pregnant woman he knew to be in their ranks- Maegi.

When he came, he cries were made aware, Mou's slumped down body could be seen in the shadow of the den opening. The Greek stayed back, knowing that all pups born were not born alive. Aiolos had no placement here other then to do as he always had, guard. So he kept his distance, standing sentinel and awaiting to cut off any who tried to come too near.

Maegi spun, slowly, as if in disbelief of the sound. Yet there she was, tiny and pale and making an absolute racket, with Mou hovering above her. Well, no. The racket was not solely the newborn's to claim; the other pups were wailing, too, and she attempted to hush them with a quick brush of her muzzle 'cross the top of their heads before turning her attention upon—

My baby, she whispered, and drew close to Mou, her tongue swiping clear the sac, washing away the fluids of birth. My baby. So perfect.

She moved the girl—? Yes, she confirmed hastily, it was a girl, and she moved her into the other three bundles, tucking her close to her happenstance siblings. Such a stark contrast, her white pelt against their sleek, inky darkness. So different, and yet they all were hers, by one way or the other.

Her head moved and the corner of her eye found one of the dead pups, then the other, cast far aside. Suddenly overcome, she laid back down with the living babies to her breast and placed her head upon her paws, beginning to sob. She kept it mostly quiet, save the loud, sucking gulps of air she drew between keens, unsure whether to rejoice or to mourn—so she did both.

After a few moments, she turned to her husband, heavy-lidded. Bury them, she said hoarsely. Next to Niamh. It was, she thought, because she had given so much to the woman's pups that her own had perished in the womb. The trio belonged together, dreadful victims of circumstance. She would never forget them, nor could she ever hate the woman, or the orphaned babes.

Everything that was was meant to be. Jaes would tell her why eventually—or perhaps not—but all she could do now was grasp for some semblance of acceptance.

He watched in muted fixation as Maegi did the work; cleaned up the child in a fit, then tucked her in among her larger siblings. Mou wanted to stay there and give comfort to his wife, but found that the sight of her sobbing over those little writhing bodies only made him feel worse, and besides, he could not think of what to do or say to alleviate the pain of the loss for her. It was a deep loss that the mother felt; Mou was far removed from that, as he did not carry the children himself or birth them. His part had been played already.

When she asked him to take the dead ones, to bury them within the pit that contained Niamh - or near enough, he was a little addled by the sight of his new, perfect daughter - Mou knew he could oblige her that much. He hurried to gather them up; yet when he fetched each contorted newborn, he grasped them carefully. He went on to place each of them together outside of the den and out of sight, so that he could make one last journey inside to visit with Maegi. With the girl.

He lightly nosed at the bundle, afraid to spook the older children or disturb Maegi, and stole a few moments. The new baby smell was intoxicating. The sight of her little sides heaving to breathe, or toes reaching out at Maegi's teats, were glorious and short-lived. Before long Mou was escaping again to finish what was asked of him.

The lost children would be mourned. The father would dig more graves, smaller ones, deep beside Niamh. It almost felt like a justified trade, Mou thought; he had made the choice to save Niamh's children and perhaps in doing so, cursed his own.

maybe my last post? feel free to skip/powerplay vesper in any additional posts.

she chirped in surprise as another small body was moved to press against her; she could not yet count, but she knew this being was different than the littermates she had spent time with so far. as the days passed and her brain continued to develop, she would forget that there had ever been a time without her pale sister at their sides. her tiny head bobbed, exploring the smell of the blur beside her— so similar, and yet so different than those she was already accustomed to.