Hushed Willows [m] But don't stop dancing, don't dare stop

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Blood, partial miscarriage

Dated for the night of the 28th

Her time drew nearer; she fell into frenzied preparation, all of her time now spent at the whelping den she'd dug out in the depths of the Bluebird Thicket. She arranged her bedding and re-arranged it, threw pelts from the den in a fit, kicked dirt away from its mouth, paced, retrieved the pelts, re-arranged them...

Reverie felt as if she'd gone a little mad. She spared little time for anything else, a feverish look behind her eyes as she perfected the place where her children would be brought into the world. None but her family and her midwife were allowed near the den. Its interior would accommodate perhaps four wolves, but even fewer were allowed within. Boone, Blossom, Everett, Kukutux; all others were met with a rumbling growl and a flash of teeth.

She was nose-deep in her bedding when she felt the first clench of pain in her belly. Reverie had been diligent in taking the tea given by the Moonglow leader. But nothing could have prepared her for the white-hot lancing of pain through her whole body, even through her back and her hips. She cried out and fell into a sit. Her next cry was for @Kukutux — and her fear this time was not for herself, but her children.

Another tightening, more pain, and the scent of blood filled her den.

---

Tuft was getting some pelts together at his den for their trip, when he smelled the distinct scent of blood. Not only was it blood, but it was the blood from the Coach! 

Dropping the pelts that he had, he dashed all the way over to Rev’s den. Spotting Rev, he quickly made his way over to her. He sniffed all over her to see if she had any open wounds. 

He asked her “Reverie, are you all right? I smelled blood. Did someone hurt you? Where’s Boone? He should be here!”.

---

A curdling scream woke Faele from a daydream.

Not far from their moonwoman, a horrible feeling within her gut seethed.

Quick patters of screeching anxiety brought her to Kukutux. They had been caring intensely for Reverie. That scream, it was familiar, and she knew who it was, yet her question to her leader came regardless. Something was wrong, and she was fast. "Was that Hearthwoods Lady?"

Reina had been on a nightly stroll when she heard her Coach’s cries. Though the lands were warming to welcome the coming Spring, she felt a chill run down her spine. The Moonwoman’s name travelled on the wind to her perked ears. 

Was it already time?!

Anxiety and fear gripped the red woman, for her beloved Reverie and the babes. She couldn’t bear the thought of something going wrong, not again. The fear of losing someone she loved surged her forward towards the cries. She had to make sure the Coach was not in danger.

Tuft was outside the mouth of the den, clearly having heard the distress calls. “Tuft!” She called, short of breath. “Is she alright?” Stopping short of the entrance, she waited there, unease leadening her limbs, preventing her from entering.

Instead, she turned her back to the den, acting as guardian, barring all but those who need to be directly involved. This would allow breathing room for all inside, and she can act as a relayer of information for those outside.

Hopefully, Kukutux will come soon…

Since this is turning into a big thread, rounds will last 3 days <3 other joiners are still welcome, esp Kukutux, I just thought a reaction from Rev made sense here!

It was not Kukutux who came to her first. It was not Boone or her brothers, or even Blossom, no — it was Tuft.

Tuft, who did not seem to know that a whelping mother was best left in peace. Her hackles bristled; her teeth flashed. She blocked his entrance to her den with her flank, teeth clicking together as she snapped at the air near his muzzle. Reverie was alight with anxious aggression, unable to answer Tuft's questions with anything but a faint, high growl. Instinct named him a threat. He was not welcome here.

Reverie disappeared back into her den and began to pace. Red droplets littered the den floor and her bedding, but she paid it no mind. The pelts were always meant to be sacrificed to the mess of birth, though somehow Reverie did not think that this was truly it. Something was wrong.

"Where’s Boone? He should be here!"

She hated Tuft for that, just then.

the cry had kukutux turning sharply from her perusal of moss upon the border even as faele whispered. exchanging a look with the woman, she strode on, her carrying-pouch of herbs jostled almost violently. 

reverie's growl accompanied her at last-arrival; she saw minnow's chosen and the hearthwood healer there. she dropped her pack and lunged forward.

"igal! igal!" kukutux snapped, rounding on tuft with a pinch of her teeth if she caught him. it was in defense of reverie inside the den. "go to your woman. stay away from this place," the duck growled to the man, who had continued to prove himself brash and unmindful. 

"faele. stay with nasamiituuq." kuktuux said firmly, motioning to the granddaughter who had followed them both. the moonglow woman was unknown to reverie, and this was not a place for the child to witness birth. 

in this moment, she did not send for boone. men who were worried brought an energy to the place of birthing that a woman simply did not need.

"reverie," moonwoman murmured, slipping into the den. for a moment she did not move, allowing the young mother to realize it was she who entered. the iron tang of blood was thick. "reverie," she said again, stepping closer when she felt her visage had become known. "please lie down. i will stop the bleeding."

 "reina," voice carrying to the healer who guarded outside. "bring water." and then it would be time for her to join the duck. "when you have come back, get the rattlesnake root and chew until it is fine," she instructed, gesturing to the pouch of many things, including the new moss, still cool to the touch. 

she herself took from it a strip of soft hide and a mouthful of plucked rabbitfur, setting them nearby. "i am here. reina is here. you are not alone," kukutux murmured, meeting reverie's eyes, voice soft.

it was not early for birth, but this was not how a birth should begin.

cameo unless acknowleged!

Distant commotion drew Abel out from a middays nap- turned slumber. And after a few moments of blinking the haze from his eyes and assessing what little he could hear, he rose from his lazily-made bedding and headed towards the sound.

And what greeted him was —well— it was alot to process. The smell of fresh blood, gnashing teeth. Orders to leave, to stay, to bring this, to do that. Abel tried to process it all from a safe distance.

Tybault's place in his sister's pack was tenuous at best. She'd been reluctant to let him stay, he knew that. So he'd stuck to the outskirts of the territory, not yet seeking @Everett. Their talk could wait, he thought, until after their sister had given birth.

He still wasn't sure what to make of this new marriage of hers, this pack, but he knew better than to question any of it. Tybault was a silent guardian at the borders, nothing more for now. And he would be the same outside his sister's whelping den. When he heard Reverie cry out, he turned at once, crossing the marsh into the pine forest where he knew he would find her.

Others were already gathered. Tybault bristled slightly, unfamiliar with all of these wolves, but said nothing. He took up his place outside the den, unaware of Kukutux's presence inside. Her scent was faintly familiar to him even now, but in the moment he didn't bother to try to place it. All of his attention was for the events unfolding inside the den. He didn't dare enter, though his ears tilted to catch the sounds from within.

Reina gave Kukutux a curt nod. Swiftly, she left to gather water and returned, noting the newcomers drawn in by the commotion. Abel, whom she only knew from afar, was off to the side, a safe distance, but the other at the mouth of the den was not. Not at all.

The red healer watched his fur bristle and it irked her, an overwhelming urge to protect her Angel within drove her forward, teeth snapping as she passed him. To those watching, it would appear she was keeping those out for the sake of the expecting mother, but for her, no other male—maybe not even Boone or Everett—were allowed near the golden female.

It was silly, of course. Selfish, even. But Reina’s thoughts were on the Coach and the fear of potentially losing yet another loved one. Life did not make exceptions, that was for sure. Not even for an earthly seraphim.

“Back off.” She said sternly. She did not care for niceties, not now. She would not notice the similarities in his scent to that of Everett and Reverie, not until all this blew over. Her focus turned from the mystery male to inside the den. She set the water down near Moonwoman, taking her place at hers and Reverie’s sides, chewing the rattlesnake as instructed.

A sharp inhale. Faele wished deeply to help for where was needed, and what could be done. Excitement could shrill, and so could fear, that she had assumed quickly to follow moonwoman. The lady of hearthwood's voice had just then sounded horrid, and it was soon after that Faele was stopped. It was of no surprise to be motioned off with Nasamiituuq. This was about lady Reverie. She needed who she knew!

"Yes." 

Coming to a slow, Nasamiituuq was stopped by her body, and with a smile, she tried quickly to be a little more interesting than the birth that must have been happening.  "Come on. There are super fun places to play games here. Maybe we can play hide and seek." Nudging the little with her nose, though they were not so little that Faele could pick them up, she pattered off with eyes on the new friend she'd have for the day.

---

Tuft was absolutely shocked and appalled at what happened. Here he was, trying to do his best to do his job for the pack by making sure Coach Reverie was alright, and what does she say and do in return? She nearly bites off his muzzle, storming off, while Kukutux shames him in front of all his other peers, including his new mate Minnow!

Tuft stood there for a second, letting this all happen to him. Sadly, he wanted to growl and snarl back at the insane leaders, but kept still instead. 

He went to @Minnow then, makings sure that she was alright. He asked her then “What’s happening? I heard my Coach start screaming followed by the sharp scent of blood! Do you think she’ll be okay? I should probably grab Boone right?”. He still wondered where Boone could have possibly gone to at this important moment in time.

---

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Somewhat graphic

Her world was quickly narrowing. Reverie was only dimly aware of what happened beyond herself, Kukutux's defensive arrival and Reina's presence and Tybault's scent drifting faintly into the den. Later she would not remember hearing Kukutux speak, but she listened. She found herself lying on the pelts, overwhelmed with the sound of her own labored breathing.

You are not alone. She nodded slowly. Her gaze drifted, until another shock of pain brought her starkly back into reality, another rush of blood. And then there was no room for thought, nothing but the vague wild notion that surely she would snap into pieces and the scent of blood and the silence, silence save the rough hiss of her breaths. It was over quickly.

Reverie didn't realize at first what had happened. She felt breathless, dizzied, her legs soaked to the skin by the rush of blood and — blood and —

and she knew even as she swept the babe into her grasp that he was too small, too still. She knew. Still she tucked him close, cleaned him lovingly, breath hitching with little sobs that threatened at any moment to shatter into a scream. Her son. She had a son. For a moment Kukutux was forgotten, the clamor beyond the den unheard, the blood and pain not felt. Reverie pressed her face to the tiny cooling body and wept.

loss among mothers was a thing accepted and yet truly not, not in forever.

she showed reina how to mix the root with some of the water she had brought, explaining how it would still the contractions of the womb, how adding willowbark would help with pain, and a pinch of red baneberry so that reverie might relax and rest, all detailed to the hearthwood healer. "set it aside to steep now," she murmured. 

softly a chant of healing and sorrow rose in her throat; kukutux sang quietly as she and reina washed the inside of reverie's thighs and added a pad of moss and the rabbitfur to staunch the remainder of blood.

moonmother offered the strip of hide to reverie now, and motioned reina closer with the brew. her eyes held anguish and encouragement as she looked down at the weeping young mother and the still small body she held — for a moment she was again upon that shore, cradling the limp form of a daughter.

a breath. a closing of eyes. her chant sang the small spirit to sedna.

A fiery-coated woman snapped at him as she passed. Tybault bared his own teeth, quick with his rejoinder: She's my sister, and I'm not going anywhere.

The cries from within the den distracted him in the next moment. He wouldn't pretend to understand what was happening. But he knew the scent of blood, the sound of his sister's sobs, the air of solemnity that now surrounded the den. Whatever was going on, it wasn't normal. It never was with Reverie.

How many times had he nearly lost her forever?

All he could do was keep his post outside the den, steeling himself for what came next.

This will be my only post unless called for

Minnow had hear the scream from her den and so did Tuft and he sped off before she could even process what was happening.

The woman got to where everyone had gathered and witnessed Tuft being snapped at by both Reverie then Kukutux. Minnow only neared the edge of the den and seen what had happened and backed away lowering her body. “I’ll be close if needed.” She said to kukutux then went to tuft. 

She looked to him. “My leader is with her I’m sure she will be fine. We need to give her space.” She ushered him to follow as she walked away. “Come”

Too far, he'd been too far away. On momentary leave, searching the land for fresh food to bring back to his sister.

And her cry rang out.

Pierced and panicked, perhaps not unfamiliar when it came to childbirth - but from Reverie's lips, a cry that chilled him. Misplaced. Unexpected. He heard the fear laced in her breath; too heavy, too deep. He knew his sister too well to this this anything normal.

His hunt abandoned, he called to the Singer with the first note of a prayer that would carry him through the next long hours to come, and he turned his efforts to reaching the den. By the time he arrived, a commotion had already stirred. Thoughtful Minnow leading away a rattled Tuft, wise Abel sticking to the shadows, devoted Reina slipping back into the den -

Everett's gaze hitched on Tybault, who stood guard near the den mouth, but did not enter, and he felt a tightness in his belly.

Not now.

The Medeiros passed his brother with a slow, silent blink, approving his station there, before he plunged into the darkness and the unfolding scene within. If Reverie had asked for Tybault to join her in the den, Everett knew Tybault would be inside. But he was there, outside, so she had not - and better for it. Whether their brother was a part of Hearthwood either spoke to Reverie's forgiveness or her bleeding heart, but Everett still didn't trust him, either way.

He prayed as he drew near the women. Settled next to Reverie with a touch to her shoulder, as he always did, and as he would even hours from now when she welcomed her living children into the world. But now, as his gaze fell upon the tiny bundle wrapped in her arms, his prayers became a lament, and as Kukutux prayed the child to an unknown god, Everett prayed the child to the Singer of Worlds, the One who had led him all this way, and would surely lead them now. But his heart broke; his eyes misted; he wept with her, her griefs borne upon him, becoming his own, for they were his own. His sister. His nephew! Prayers becoming a deep groaning only the Singer would know.

These things escaped in only a whisper here and there, and Everett would allow Reverie to press into him or cast him away as she needed. May she only know she was not alone.

She was never alone.

It was all so much, almost too much for the new healer. Thankfully, Kukutux was there, bolstering her with her calm, quiet strength. The Hearthwood healer knew that this was part of the trade; to witness loss and pain such as this requires a caring and selfless heart, but she couldn’t help the pain she felt.

To set aside personal emotions proved difficult; straying blue orbs would find the gilded female’s face, and her own well would empty, silently, in solidarity with her Coach’s pain. She could barely take in the sight of Everett openly sharing his grief. It was just one more thing that she found endearing about the man; sensitive but a steady presence, willing to give comfort and not worried about appearing “weak”. His presence was what Reverie needed most, so she moved, giving the male the space he needed to support his sister.

The view before her burned sweetly into her memories, a moment she will remember for as long as she breathed. She would dream of it, in slightly different versions, in beautiful and ethereal scenarios.

Heaven on earth. Like Everett’s song had painted—their own Far Kingdom.

But, right now, she needed to try and remain present. This was about Reverie and her soon to be little family. So, she returned her attention to Kukutux’s guidance in caring for the grieving mother.