Duskfire Glacier hebamme

aw! mahler is visiting :D

the children born first to rivenwood were sprightly, bright-eyed, and underfoot by now.
the pack had grown by warriors, and so mahler took this opportunity to see himself away.
he thought of those in wintersbane's pack that he had come to know, and, with a thought for the season, did not come empty-jawed.
a fresh piece of staghide, in which was held newly picked herbs. mixtures. flat leaves and mysterious threadlike gold petals. and as always, beaverfat, as fresh as a cold-dug cache had kept it, nestled amid these things.
mahler set down his parcel upon their doorstep and backed away, tossing a friendly call skyward for those who inhabited the glacier.
an ally, with gifts.

Mahler's call drew Lane out of her tumultuous thoughts. 

She had just finished saying goodbye to Veteran and @Wayfarer, although she wasn't certain how much of the "mama's going on a trip" speech they understood. There was also very little evidence that they grasped the concept of "you have to stay here," and so every now and then Lane would cast a suspicious glance over her shoulder as she made her way to the Glacier's borderlands. 

Lane adjusted her course slightly, padding toward Mahler's voice. 

"Mahler," she greeted him with a smile and a wag of her tail, although some confusion would be evident in her expression.

"Sorry," she said, hastily apologizing for the odd expression that had crossed her features. "It's just I had thought-- hoped-- that Iana was off visiting with you.. I was about to go out looking for her." Rivenwood would have been Lane's first stop, but it seemed now that she would have to come up with a new plan.

Veteran (perhaps accompanied by his sister?) had been tailing Mama at a distance, not because he hadn't understood her instructions, but because he didn't accept them. This was Not Okay with him. 

First, Mama dragged him out of his cozy, snuggly little den to some strange, new, bright, hot place and she growled at him when he tried to go back home. Then she stopped giving him milk! And then, to top it all off, she said she was going away for a long, long time! (Her exact words were, "I'll be back before you know it!" but Veteran could read between the lines, and he wasn't buying it).

Veteran caught up to his mother without exactly realizing it, given that she had stopped for some reason. Oh, no! The reason was a stranger! Veteran's little puppy hackles rose. Of all the things that had been thrown at him recently, strangers were by far his least favorite. Veteran growled, no doubt attracting the attention of the conversing adults. 

"Who," he emitted sulkily. So far, he had yet to ask any of his questions in that cute, curious, puppyish way. Instead, he voiced all of his questions as flat statements, churlishly dragging his feet to learn anything new. He hated learning new things, because new things were the worst. He infinitely preferred old things.

lane arrived in good time, and mahler had just stepped forward to greet the woman when he saw her countenance. the moment passed, and now it was his turn to be swept with a sort of worry, brows narrowing as he gathered the realization of what lane had said. "i have not seen in her in some veeks. i had — perhaps assumed — she vas occupied here vith the little vones born."
"how long has she been gone?" the man asked softly. attention diverted in the next moments by a child's growl, a stormy expression upon the dark little face. he glanced to lane with a smile meant to soften the moment, then chuffed toward the boy. "i am mahler."
but inside himself; iana? where had she gone?

Lane restrained her growl of exasperation at Veteran's appearance; the boy had Mahler's presence to thank for that, since she was reluctant to dole out discipline in front to company. Instead, she ushered the boy to her side with a weary wave of her tail. "Mahler is a friend," she murmured to the boy, licking the top of his head as she quickly scanned him for anything amiss. Finding everything to be in order, she turned her attention back to Rivenwood's leader. 

"I haven't seen Iana since the day that Veteran--" she glanced down, indicating the boy, "--and his sister were born." Shit, now that she said it out loud, that was really telling, wasn't it? What if seeing the pups had hurt Iana? It was obvious by this point that Iana had not conceived herself. 

"We haven't really had the chance to get close. I don't know what her plans were this year, as far as pups go, but Mahler.." Lane swallowed. "Everyone here conceived. Everyone except her." Lane didn't say these things to gossip; she was truly concerned. She knew Mahler would be too, given his friendship with the missing beta. 

It was a sobering reminder to Lane, who had learned a thing or two about jealousy herself over the past weeks. There were some women out there would would give anything to be in Lane's position, as a mother of two healthy pups.

Veteran's presence was acknowledged and then quickly forgotten (so it seemed) as the adults became involved in their conversation. 

Mama had clearly gestured for him to stand with her, but that parcel at Mahler's feet was looking awfully suspicious. As much as Veteran hated anything Unknown, he felt it was his duty to inspect the parcel for anything that could be dangerous to Mama and his sister. 

Veteran slunk over to the deerhide and nosed at it. A corner fell open, and he immediately looked up at the adults guiltily, wondering if they saw. If they cared.

mahler received a good deal of information at once, the most pertinent something he had always known. iana had asked him to be the father of her children, and for wylla he had said no. and by this he stood, for they had become good and true friends afterward.
the boy was veteran, not so old, but of an age to explore. his messing about was not missed by the midwife, but mahler did not respond. the majority of it was rich fat, though he meant it for the mothers.
all conceived, and there was nothing for mahler to do but expect that the bevy of children here all belonged to wintersbane.
mahler kept back the private grain of nuance to iana's actions, hearing worry in lane's voice. "i vill look for her. rivenvood joins your search," he said softly. "i imagine the disappointment of the year has perhaps driven her off to nurse the vound."
praimfaya, gone. iana, gone.

She'd been trailing behind her brother, who'd followed their mother, far too interested in her surroundings than the family she'd see all day, every day. Wayfarer was more content to nose at stray leaves and pretty stones, at least until conversation rose from up ahead.

The little Duskfire loped comically onto the scene, stubby brown tail whipping the air and eyes bright with curiosity. She stumbled a number of times, her focus on the gathering and not on the debris at her feet, and she moved in confidently not toward the stranger but the parcel at his paws.

Bumping alongside her brother, she poked her nose directly into the opening and began to rummage for the treasures within.

Much to Lane's chagrin, her second child appeared on the heels of the first, and hot embarrassment rose in her cheeks and she began rifling through Mahler's things with a voraciousness that was far beyond Veteran's polite curiosity. 

"Wayfarer, that belongs to our friend Mahler," Lane chastised, tone a bit more gentle in front of company than it might otherwise have been. Mahler had mentioned within his howl that he had a gift for the Duskfire wolves, but it was unlikely that his intention was for the contents of the staghide to be strewn about as entertainment for Lane's offspring. 

Mahler and Lane shared the same line of thinking. 

"Around the time Iana disappeared, she was super worried about a mountain cat in the area. You don't think she would have gone after it, do you?" If Lane had ever known all the details about the cat, specifically that one of Rivenwood's own had been attacked-- she had forgotten them. 

Lane would never have imagined Iana to do something so dangerous as to track down a vicious predator on her own, but who was to say what reckless thing she might do, in a compromised state of mind?

Wayfarer shouldered in and wasted no time diving right into the mysterious parcel. 

No!! Veteran wasn't done checking it! What if it was dangerous?!

Their mother's gentle, growling reprimand strengthened Veteran's sense of righteousness. Wayfarer did not need to be going through all that dangerous stuff!

Normally, Veteran was a fairly passive little guy, but the weirdness of the situation, the presence of a stranger, and the mysterious (possibly dangerous?) parcel had him all riled up. He shoved his sister back, trying to push her away from the parcel. He then leapt at her, intending to initiate a wrestling match based on the assumption that she would try to bully her way past him to the parcel once more. 

Not on his watch! In his mind, fighting Wayfarer was the only course of action that might prevent his sister from coming to harm.

a second child arrived, a robust and flame-caped girl who at once began to examine what mahler had brought. he heard lane's scold, and moved to aid her by placing a heavy, large paw protectively over the bundle in silent signal to the children that it was not theirs.
another time, the gargoyle twinkled toward the cuteling pair, despite the gravity of his conversation with lane. a cat — "it attacked a young leader of ours, this cat, if it is the same," the gargoyle said softly, suddenly rife with a strange and particular anguish. "she did not come home, but i did not find her."
he looked down at the healer's children once more. "praimfaya vould have continued after the beast. iana — she vas vary of it, vhen i told her."
a silence.
"how many fighters do you think duskfire can spare now? perhaps it is time to put a strong patrol around your land and mine, lane."

Her little nose worked hard, eager for the unusual scents that emanated from the parcel that the dark stranger had brought. She heard her mother's warning but chose to ignore it, too curious for her own good.

Just as Wayfarer moved to duck her head inside to better examine the contents, a heavy paw came down to defend the opening. She glared up into the newcomer's face, stormy eyes sharpened almost accusingly as she huffed at him, unimpressed at having been disturbed.

Her frustration was short-lived, however. Veteran leapt at her in what she assumed to be initiation of a game, and she was more than happy to roll around biting him.

"I'm sorry," Lane murmured, expression darkening. She hadn't previously been aware of Rivenwood's mishap with the beast, but it made sense that Iana had received the warning from Mahler himself. "We'll keep an eye out for Praimfaya," she assured him, struggling a bit to pronounce the foreign-sounding name.   

How many fighters could Duskfire spare? ..Truthfully..? 

"Well, I'm no tactician," Lane admitted, unsure of whether she was the best authority to answer such an inquiry. "And Duskfire.. ah.. well, we're not exactly bursting with warriors. Wintersbane and Tzila are our main line of defense, and they must remain close to their children." A twinge of guilt struck Lane, and she gazed down at the children she was about to leave behind. 

They had distracted themselves from their intrusive examination of Mahler's gift, which relieved Lane, although their rambunctious new activity was still fairly disruptive. Lane felt like her attention was being pulled in a half-dozen different directions.

She swallowed resolutely, turning back to Mahler. 

"We do have some new recruits who might be looking to prove themselves. I'll suggest a regular patrol, if you think that's wise. We can take the Whitebark Stream area, if Rivenwood will patrol the Maplewood?" She asked questioningly, fully aware that her (although helpful) knowledge as a ranger paled in comparison to the qualifications of an actual tactician. 

"Is there anything else we should be wary of? Any other threat?" She didn't mean to sound suspicious, but she did wonder if there was some other reason that Mahler's suggested they fortify taiga. Was one injured cat likely to require such a strong defense?

His distraction worked! He toppled Wayfarer easily enough, and soon they were rolling around on the permafrost-and-sediment mixture that coated the terrain of the Glacier's borderlands. Some of Wayfarer's bites were a little painful, but Veteran muted his yelps for the sake of continuing the game. In his mind, Wayfarer's safety depended on it. 

The nips he returned were careful at first, but his capacity for patience was limited and soon he was worked up to frustration point, delivering bites that were just as powerful as Wayfarer's. His admirable purpose to protect his sister had been forgotten. Usually, Mama would have separated them by this point, but she was distracted, so Veteran supposed this was going to have to be a fight to the death. It was unfortunate because he was fond of his sister, but his paws were tied and he could see no other options.

so. wintersbane had stretched the resources of his pack with many children. mahler knew all too well that path, the endless hunting that never seemed to fill enough caches. and yet duskfire would thrive, and in the spring, their cubs would be able to join the hunt.
tribulation before triumph. a long winter followed by plenty. it had been his way, and he was somehow happy to see it in wintersbane also. mahler happened then to look down at the scuffling pair, and gave a warm smile despite how hard it had been to ignore them through his speaking.
"i vill patrol the maplevood," the gargoyle agreed at once. "i have some numbers in rivenvood, enough for extra vatches." lane's question pressed him, and the man delivered her a blink of lavender eyes. and yet he understood. "i am only hypervigilant. i have learned too many lessons."
"call to us if there is any emergency. ve are your ally and ve are not far."

The adults carried on with their conversation while the pups wrestled, nipping and clawing and, at least of Wayfarer's part, having a grand time of it. She was thoroughly enjoying what she perceived to be a fun play fight, though hadn't expected how sharply her brother would bite at her.

After a time, his frustration with her became clear, but she failed to understand. Wayfarer reached for him with her paws, attempting to grab him firmly around the neck in a headlock so she could reprimand him with a fierce chomp to a raven lobe.

Lane nodded, feeling confident this course of action despite her lack of experience as a tactician. What could be the drawback of more patrols, right? 

"Yes, we're here for you too," she agreed, before quickly amending, "Or I am, anyway." She doubted she had the authority to promise the services of all of her packmates. She was becoming increasingly distracted by the antics of her children, particularly because Veteran had begun emitting shrill, crying yelps that made further conversation impossible. 

"You'll have to excuse me now," Lane said regretfully, giving Mahler a parting nod. She turned from the graf and trotted up to the pile of limbs that was her children. In a swift movement, she lifted Wayfarer abruptly by her scruff, detaching her from the hold she had on the screaming Veteran. 

She would walk the children back to the rendezvous point and once again, explain that she was going on a trip without them and that they would have to stay here.

Cold dread washed over Veteran as he found himself locked in Wayfarer's grip. He did not like this feeling of immobilization- some instinct deep within him knew that this was the prelude to pain. He was ready for the sting of Wayfarer's bite, squealing in pain almost before her needle-like teeth even met the soft, sensitive velvet of his ear. And he didn't stop, yelping over and over in the most pathetic way until he was released. 

His mother had come to his aid, lifting his tormentor away and restoring Veteran's mobility. He showed his gratitude by following after her, running to keep pace with her purposeful strides. Wayfarer swung from her jaws, carried away in the most undignified fashion. Veteran caught her eye and stuck out his tongue, feeling victorious despite the thorough thrashing he had just received in that fight, the outcome of which he would wipe swiftly and completely from his memory.

mahler dipped his head to lane, but did not seek to keep her. she was busy with her brood. 
pushing his gifts into the relative protectiveness of a bush, to be fetched later, the graf turned. he would patrol where he had said, and in the interim, he hoped that both iana and worripa would return, preferably with a restored praimfaya.
how could he know it was not meant to be?