Lost Creek Hollow There is truth in giving life

Ash Paw shifted in the den, blue eyes wide in her head. A few days after birth, she was finally fully awake and aware of everything. @Ingram had been great at making sure her needs were met. That he spent time with the little ones. They would know him well. This pleased the calico woman greatly. She curled her paws and body around them and watched the array of colorful little ones, suckle and move about. Their tiny  mouths, and tiny toes. Gosh they were cute.

Though with their birth brought other worries. Would she be good enough? Had she done enough prayers for Atka and Sos. Had Ingram done enough prayers from his gods. She hoped so, because she wanted them to grow and prosper.

Figured i'd toss another up for these two.

congrats on reaching 500 posts! <3

his patrol wrapped, ingram stops at a cache and digs through it to find the plump hare he'd tucked there earlier. he had truly meant for it to remain in the cache since he'd been hitting them hard, hunting for ash paw while he settled for cache bits.

he makes a beeline then for the birthing den.

his steps slow upon his approach, chuff muffled by the rabbit clutched betwixt his jaws.

A chuff at the entry of the den, ears perked forward and she took a deep breath realizing it was Ingram. 

Hello. She said to him, fully expecting him to just come right in. It was his den too now. The food he carried smelled delicious, realizing it was a rabbit. One of her favorites. 

She smiled up at him. 

Thank you <3

though space in the birthing den is ample, he does not wish to overcrowd.

ingram does not barge right in, always pausing at the mouth to announce himself lest his flamewife be asleep ... or they had a visitor.

he shrugs inside, dropping the rabbit at her paws. hello. he rumbles in return, pressing his nose against her cheek in greeting.

how are you doing? are they okay?

his shadowchildren had been sequestered away for so long ... and when they had come to know him as father the critical months had already passed. so, in dealing with newborns ingram is a bit out of his element.

Ash Paw was not one that would let many visit without her darkness rising husband.  Only because she truly didn't trust herself right now. Her emotions were all over the place and she was already an aggressive, haughty piece of work. It felt at odds with the doting mother she tried to be.

Soft tongue snaked out to lick along the side of his jaw at his nose press. She shifted the rabbit away and moved so he could better see the littles that lay there bundled nicely.

They are very well. Eating all hours, moving about. They even have started showing glimpses of perhaps a personality. Though I fear they all maybe bossy with me as a mother.

She smiled. I am just tired. And gods I'm so hungry. I thought this would go away, but apparently feeding them, uses as much energy and food stores as carrying them.

to ingram, though he would never say it, at this stage they are little more than squirming, wrinkled lumps that he struggles to identify. he knows that wouldn't be the case for very long ... and in fact looks forward to it.

there was so much to teach them!

how to hunt, to fight!

about Osiris ... and ashpaw's Atka and Sos.

well, you carried them and spend more time with them than anyone else. you know them better than anyone. a long winded partial admission that he didn't notice any personality from them yet.

makes sense, follows after the small grunt of contemplation he gives in response to her saying that feeding them siphons her energy.

has crowfeather been by at all? ingram asks, still not totally sure how to take the other man's want to be near and to help.

Ash Paw perhaps was being overly optimistic for their children who right now. All they simply did was eat and sleep and roll over. Though they made cute little faces.

She chuckled knowing exactly what he wasn't saying, because Ingram always could say things without really saying them. It was both frustrating and admirable, though at the moment, she just found it endearing in her mother's glow, give her a few days and she might go back to being difficult about it at times.

Her ears went to her skull and she shook her head. She had been so caught up in getting ready for pups. She hadn't told him of the meeting after bringing him back. 

No one has been by to see me or them as of yet. But I think I may have angered them and they just don't wish to say so. They have issues with Akashingo. I don't know what they are. They just simply told me it's a bad place. And they were quite unhappy I had gone. I was actually fearful they would oust you and I.

the topic switches then to her fears, bringing to him her vulnerability, her worries. ingram takes them in with a soft drape of his chin upon her shoulder.

contemplative.

protective.

she tells him that the leaders of riverclan have issues with akashingo, were upset by her visit ( and so was he! but because he thought it was not one she should've undertaken herself ) and she worried that he would be turned away and she ousted.

crowfeather brought none of this to me when i spoke with him during my initiation, ingram admits in a low, discontented rumble.

how was he meant to take this?

that he was lied to? or that ash paw's worries were just that ... worries?

but if there was even a sliver of truth to them —!

i am patronsaint of Osiris but i am not akashingo. he was nothing but his own now. he was once keeper of the druids, prisoner of the void and sithis. but now he was breaker of chains.

if it would ease any lingering worries or doubt i will speak with crowfeather about this.

She was not used to the affection of the man behind her, but she wasn't complaining either. She hadn't realized how touch starved she had been until now. She briefly thought of the wolf Syrax and felt bad, but pushed it away. 

He and I and SIlvertongue spoke about it and once I explained. They seemed calmer, but there is definitely something there that they dislike. And the sweet Toula has asked to visit you and I and the babies....what if they were to set upon her? Though i don't think either is very comfortable with violence.

You don't need too. Unless you wish too. I will not demand anything of that like to you. Did Akashingo seem bad to you?

She hadn't known much of the palace. It had been opulent yes. And she was sure it had issues, but at the small glimmer of a glance she had seen. She hadn't known what it was.

i would not have the princess at risk, ingram's tone is resolute, resounding with the fierceness at which the words spill from his lips. he would not put his family at risk but his young pupil was like a little sister to him and he would not tolerate violence against her either.

to be pitted so hardily betwixt a rock and jagged cliff! between charybdis and scylla!

choosing the lesser of two evils would not be easy.

he was powerless in this place, a peon. which made everything a slippery slope. he had to mind his manners and his words and actions. constantly.

his consequences were not his own. not anymore. they could befall ashpaw and the children as well.

no, ingram hedges. but we all wear masks, flameheart. when deathbringer and i went to talk diplomacy we were shown the opulence and generosity. what secrets and monsters lay in hiding ... would've remained hidden.

a small pause.

and my time among them was short. far too short to peel back the gilded walls and see what was secreted away.

Ash nodded her head. Me either. I did tell her, perhaps we could let her know once they arrived and could be moved and meet somewhere neutral. I had enough forthought to do that at least.

She mused quietly. Fearful for the little princess. She wanted to know these babies so much. She is in need of mother's love. I would keep her would they let me, but she would never leave Akashingo. She sighed softly.

Flameheart A new nickname, but one she found she liked. She would must think of one for him perhaps. though not today. She was jarred for a moment at the thought of deathbringer realizing he was father, but she hadn't even called for him or sent a messenger to him. Did that make her a nasty wolf. Honestly though. She couldn't find it in her to care. Perhaps that was her issue, she was an inherently selfish wolf. Oh well.

I only saw the opulence myself. I am sure there are secrets there. Everyone has secrets. Some deep some shallow.

perhaps, ingram murmurs, peering down at the cubs nestled against her side. it will be a while before they would be up for that kind of adventure, and there would be dangers to them taken from the safety of riverclan's claim ... even briefly.

toula is strong, ingram had seen this himself, spoken with a conviction that does not feel entirely his own. as if Osiris, watchful, touches upon ingram, feather of ma'at light. she grieves her father, he thinks of the threadbone reading, how she had looked at him so desperately. but she will be fine.

he does not pretend to know the new pharaoh's mind. she had been hard for him to read; mercurial almost from his brief interactions with her.

still ... it is not their concern. not truly.

either way, it is no longer our concern.
their concern was right in front of them, their relationship, their cubs, the political standing of the riverclan.

and nothing more.

She nodded her head in agreement that it would. Though she realized they were to send a messenger. 

We were to send a messenger telling them of their birth. Both the Princess Toula and the Pharaoh asked this of me, but I'm not sure what to do there?

She didn't wish to upset Silvertongue and Crowfeather, when they had given them a home. But she had promised Toula at least she would send one.


Ash Paw hummed softly and ran her muzzle along his in contentment. Thank you for taking care of us. 

She looked down at the colorful pelages at her stomach and smiled. They were beautiful and they would do well, she was sure with her and Ingram's guidance.

a frown creases ingram's lips, furrows his brow. a messenger ... but knowing the tension on riverclan's side: who would they send? did they even have the right to ask any of the clan's wolves for that favor?

who would we ask? ... do we have the power to command another in such a way? ingram gives voice to his concerns, laying his thought process out for ash paw to see.

how many times will this slight be overlooked? obviously, their leaders held great disdain for akashingo and continuing to make visits or demand visits simply felt like pushing their luck. would they be cast from the pack the cubs would not survive.

to the touch of her muzzle and her gratitude, ingram offers a non-committal rumble.

Ash Paw had thought through all of these things herself. And she had no answers. Not really. She had promises to keep, but at the risk of angering the leaders where she had found herself. Perhaps she should have gone towards Akshingo and begged entry and yet. She was fairly certain given their dynamic before the Prince Makono she wouldn't have been allowed entry. Just from what she heard alone.

Crowfeather seems to be the more forgiving of the two, but I don't know. It's why I haven't sent anyone yet or even asked. They were not happy with me for going there. As if I somehow offended them by doing something they didn't agree with. ANd I undersatnd that there were bad feelings there, but well you need to let others make their own mistakes if they must.

I don't think it would be overlooked again. And she didn't. Crowfeather hadn't been as upset, but SIlvertongue had almost seemed to take it personally. Which honestly she seemed to do a lot of. Ash Paw liked the female, but sh wasn't quite sure how to handle herself around her as of yet.

the truth was, ingram did not think it would be overlooked either. and he is glad that they are of one mind on that conclusion. if it meant broken promises then ... so be it.

their family was more important.

and if anyone couldn't understand that then he would have no issues cutting them from his life.

regardless, they are the leaders here. not me. not you, ingram says, though he understands where she comes from. and it's not just us anymore. we must think of the cubs first.

Though it hurt to admit it. Ash Paw was smart enough to know that they wouldn't overlook such a thing. Crowfeather may, but Silvertonge. She wouldn't. She knew this. Even if she was nice, there seemed to be a limit to Silvertongue's niceness. Where Crowfeather needed strength the girl gave it.

She brushed her nose against the little ones soft and sweet and looked to her husband and nodded.You are right I know.

She sighed softly. Upset, but she tucked further into him and the little's further into her.

either their friends would understand ... or they wouldn't.

regardless, ingram didn't much care. perhaps the one good thing he siphoned from sithis. how others reacted to him putting his family first wasn't his problem.

he nuzzles closer to ash paw and the babes, body forming a barrier between them and the mouth of the den, rests his chin upon his front paws and closes his eyes.

he means to only rest them for a few moments but ends up falling victim to slumber; content.