Two Rivers Isle They tell [M]e think with my head, not that thing in my chest

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Birth things

Please allow Ulrich and children to post first. Then you can pop by. No posting order

As the earliest reaches of dawn fell upon the small Isle, the first of the heavier contractions started. Ady had shifted throughout the night, all night. Her tiny body rippling with each movement, and the ever bearing pressure at her hips and back. It had wrung small whines and wails from her throat, but she had tried so very hard to keep it at bay, but this time. A wail rang from her and she felt her eyes screw up. So much pain, more pain than she had ever borne. A shift, a burning need to stand, to walk, to ease that pressure. So she did, cries curling from inside her, to all around her. She sought Ulrich's comforting presence as the pain doubled down.

From deep within a racking shudder that started at her chest and worked backwards. Her eyes rolled for a moment, before the first child breached the open air. She quickly allowed her instinct to take over, as she bent to the side and pulled the child of bile and blood to her. Snapping the sack that covered their head. A boy of white with grey shoulders, ears and head. She licked his tiny face and pressed him into her side, as he breathed. @Manias

The shudders continued and she realized, she was in for a long day. The second time was as difficult as the first. The screech of pain and the ever burning as her body stretched to accommodate the coming of their second child. A child of shadow with pale tail and saddle upon their shoulders. Gentle white that curled and blended into gray and then white. A mixing of her and Ulrich if she had ever seen one. She too curled him tightly to her, relieving him of the ambiotic sac that cut his air. A sharp snick of teeth against chord and he was pressed near his brother, @Matteo .

Her body was growing tired and her fur matted, but she was pressing on. This time a cry not so loud. A pained gasp and the pressure that squeezed and tore and rippled. Forward came a little girl dressed in Grey. A three tone child with white legs, grey undersides and the black upon her shoulders and back. A hood of black across her face, cut only by the pristine whiteness of her jaw. Little @Ines sweet and soft. Breathing and healthy. All her tiny toes.

There was blood upon her once pristine fur, and the ruff that had been soft and layered upon her neck was now matted and wet from slobber and tears. A final time her body did what it was told to do, though she felt as if it was rebelling. A harsh roll from stomach to rear. So exhausted not even did a cry ring out from her throat. A little pristine child only broken by greying shoulders and black back, The mask of grey and racoon nose that curled around her tiny face @Everarda was this one. 

And finally, finally she settled too exhausted to clean herself or even care about it. Her heart so full of love she felt as if it were overflowing. @Ulrich had 2 sons and 2 daughters, she had done that for him. She had given him a gift and she was proud of herself for it. Though it had been painful and shocking, she would do it again. Happiness bled from all corners of this cavern and she couldn't help the smile as she began to slip in and out of sleep.

Ulrich was shocked that Adylaide wanted him near her during her labor. He had never gotten a woman with-child before, but, even so, he was not ignorant to the fact that most women wanted the male--and anyone else--far away while they gave birth. Staying here, in the birthing den with her, he felt so useless and afraid. Afraid that Adylaide would die from the strain, or that the children would die. As she paced and whined and cried and slobbered from the pain and difficulty, it took everything in him not to completely panic. That would not help either of them, and he tried to do all he could to ease her labor.

If she wanted to lean on him, he let her. If she wanted him to speak to her, he did. He tried to keep his voice calm, though it shook. In fact, his whole body shook, his teeth chattering, ears pressed to his skull. He had no idea if he was succeeding in keeping his voice calm or not, but he tried. And he tried not to think the worst, tried not to imagine his wife and children lying dead in a pool of blood from a botched delivery.

He watched in amazement as four pups were slowly born throughout the night. Morning light crept into the birthing den by the time it was all done. Ulrich smelled sweat and blood and amniotic fluid and milk, and the sweet scent underneath of his children. Adylaide lay exhausted, covered in all manner of things, as their children nursed at her belly. She was clearly too exhausted to move.

All right, he murmured, and kissed her brow. It's done now. It's over. Rest. Let me clean you up. And he did his best to clean away the blood and fluid, though he could not reach all the places, and did not want to jostle her or the pups. When he had done all he could, he settled beside her, staring down at his children in the grey morning light, so overwhelmed that he could not even think. It took a long time for him to register that he was now a father.

She came into the world last of her siblings, with her mother's silence. She pressed and pushed to get to the life giving liquid that flowed. Already a determined thing. But silence ivertook her again as she quietly ate and then slept.

Second born, little Matteo slides into the world without a fuss amidst his mother's agonising cries, though they fall on deaf ears.

He is still - eerily so- until the touch of a muzzle starts his squirming and he is pressed into warmth. 

Instincts kick in and he seeks something to suckle. Unluckily for Manias he has found his brother's ear and latches on gently before promptly falling into a deep snooze.

Tarot: The World. Emotion: Contentment.

Manias did not know he was first-born, nor would he have been likely to care if he did know. As he began to search for his mother's milk in the warmth of her belly, he felt something tug at his ear, but the feeling did not bother him. It seems he was destined to be a quiet cub, not one for much crying. He latched onto a teat and drank, and was content.

Unlike her siblings, Ines came forth with a splitting cry once she found the freedom to breathe. A moment of pent up anxiety unfurling on the quieting world. She had not needed breath, and now, she could not go without it, and she found a saviour in whoever had cleaned the sac from her mouth and spread life into her little lungs.

It must have been this great warmth she curled against! She smelled of many life giving things, and little girl wriggled between her siblings to suckle alongside them, soft gurgles soon replacing her once panicked cries.

eeeee welcome puppies!! iseul is doing her best to guard unless she's invited in <333 

iseul knew that childbirth was something magical and yet traumatic for a woman, especially for her first time. yet by the time she came to visit when the morning sun had come to rise over the isle, she knew that the beautiful cycle of life had given the river the four newest additions to the hinterlands.

she comes to the edge of their den, not daring to take a step inside unless she's invited. but she offers a chuff to both of her leaders, letting them know that she was there to guard them until she was no longer needed. she was so excited to see the newest little faces but knows that the moment right after birth is something sacred and only for those who went into the making of the children. she'd refuse to spoil such a moment for them.

so iseul comes to sit outside and watch for any others who may come, jadeite eyes peeled for any danger.

Caught between extreme exhaustion and extreme elation. She couldn't quite sleep, but nap. Though she stirred at the chuff at the den mouth. At first sound, she tensed up, but she quickly realized who it was and sighed happily.

Iseul can come in, if you're alright with it, darling. She spoke softly to Ulrich. But only Iseul.

She didn't want anyone else near them all yet. Iseul had earned her place both in their ranks and in her heart of hearts for being absolutely wonderful to both of them. She was her dearest friend outside of Ulrich.

sorry, I forgot this even had a posting order or I would've posted sooner. Feel free to SKIP ULRICH at any point going forward.

Ulrich was so happy he didn't quite know what to do with himself. He wanted to dance and sing, which was a very odd feeling for him, as he was usually quite stoic. However, not wanting to bother his exhausted wife, he did nothing. He only smiled at her and kissed her brow again and said, Okay, when she mentioned Iseul. Their Deputy had proven herself long ago, so if she wanted to come in, that was okay with him.

He ducked his head out of the den and said, quietly, Adylaide says you may come in if you wish. Be quiet and watch your paws. It probably came out harsher than he had intended, his fatherly, protective nature coming out automatically. Then he pulled himself back into the den and squeezed into a corner to be out of the way.