Nimbus Summit wild buffalo are dancing on cliff tops in the skies

for any pups who want to join and @Issorartuyok if you want <3 cameos welcome too. this can be a short thread if yall prefer since they're potatoes! just wanted to post something up for reference on how antha is interacting with the kids in these early days

when antha and the children were strong enough to make the move, they were ushered to the summit to take up residence in their intended den in the arlathan. she was weak in the days following the birth of her children; more than weak, if she was truly honest. she had almost died, tessa had told her through tears. the experience had taken its toll on her.
she had expected to feel many things in the wake of this event, but her expectations had crumbled to dust after those first terrifying, exhilarating moments of motherhood. her aching infatuation with her daughters, her nauseating repulsion for her son - both had faded as quickly as they manifested, and she was left with a hollow shadow of the love she'd expected to feel.
she did love them, as fiercely as she'd ever loved anything - but she was tired, too. she was tired deep in her bones, and while the children lacked for nothing, antha was taxed far beyond her abilities.
she cared for them in a haze; lively squirming @Lilia Sakari and gentle sweetling @Qeorvik, sickly silent @Noatak and indignant shrieking @Raelle. often she thought that there were simply too many of them - but whenever she felt overwhelmed, issorartuyok or @Tessa would appear, and the feeling would fade. between the three of them, the children were never left wanting for long. this time would pass, the witch knew, and soon she would be able to rest. soon, but not yet.
evening was beginning to fall, and like clockwork raelle began to fuss and squirm. she was a relentlessly colicky child, impossible to soothe once she'd worked herself into a fit. antha set to licking her stomach, hoping to ease any discomfort she might feel, but the girl only kicked out at her siblings in response. antha bit back a sigh and prepared herself to soothe multiple children - a task she was quickly becoming adept at under the present circumstances.

Noatak was calm that day. She was calm every day, because she was sickly, but today was a different kind of calm. There is an instinct in every young babe that reacts to a mother's presence. And, despite the hard birth and Noatak's failure to thrive, some part of her could sense her mother's love for her. So, today, she was calm. And she suckled normally, and had a little more energy than average. If only such days would last.

And if only her colicky sister would stop kicking her.

Young Lilia too, suffered from the discomfort of having a sibling that constantly pushed, shoved, and kicked out. Often, once she too began to cry, she'd be moved away from the one that squirmed so much, which brought Lilia some amount of relief, until inevitably she'd be side by side with Raelle again and have to endure another round of being battered by her sister's paws. Whatever wailing she did fell on deaf ears, which Lilia didn't yet know to appreciate as a blessing. 

With a moody whine, she nudged her way toward one of her mother's teats, and began to suckle there, comforted by the fact that she'd managed to be placed next to Noatak, who was generally quite calm. She leaned gently against her side, grateful to have a buffer as she suckled.

The northerner had been present outside of his wife’s resting place since the birth of his children. He had wanted to see them, had wanted to know that they were all safe and cared for. Every time that he had gathered the courage to peek inside, images of pups plagued with sickness frightened him back out. So, he had taken to posting himself nearby – close enough that if anything went wrong, he could spring to assist Antha however she might need.

It had been a short while since the pups had been born. Long enough that Issorartuyok should have been allowed to see them. Nervousness clattered about inside of his mind. The man stepped into the den where the scent of puppies was strong. There they were-

Issorartuyok stood stiffly, afraid. They were so small, and Antha looked so fragile tending to them. He wanted to check on her. He wanted to tell her that she had done a remarkable thing. Antha, was all that he could whisper into the den. They are… beautiful.

Whether blessed, favored, or just plain lucky: Qeorvik was (thankfully) positioned on the other side of Noatak and had therefore been spared from wrathful Raelle's most recent outburst.

He remained firmly asleep throughout his sister's hysterics, though started to wake in the subsequent reshuffling of all the cars in the milk train. Still, the sightless, stone-deaf infant seemed almost determined to hunker down, resorting to fitful whines as he struggled to get comfortable again. Without intervention, his movements became less and less until he fell back asleep, self-soothed.