Deepwood Weald I am in Misery

Baby time! All tags other than babies are for reference

It had been almost a month since she had last seen her mate and the woman wakes up from a nightmare. Getting up from her den she tries to go for a walk to try and clear her head but it didn’t work. Thoughts started flowing her mind before she even had a chance to process what was going on.

Did he leave me!?

Did he die!?

Why does everyone disappear!?

What’s so wrong with me!?

I don’t want to be alone!?

Everyone leaves!

Her heartbeat rises as she’s attacked by those thoughts and she lets out a whine of anguish as she tries to shake the thoughts away.

The only thing that stopped those thought now, was the pain she began to feel in her stomach. She paced back and forth; she was scared and didn’t know what to do.

Their coming.

The girl walked back to her den pacing on the outside of it as the pains grew closer and closer together. She wanted to cry out for someone…anyone. But no one she wanted was her. 

Not @Valiant he was held up with his own babies. Not @Tuft he had vanished and not her mother because she was dead.

Ad she laid down on the dens floor the pelts she had gathered made a decent bed to birth her babies in she cried softly out of fear.

But fear wouldn’t stop her body from doing what it needed to do. Pressure and pain built up in her womb as she pushed out the first child. A small whimper leaving her maw as she tore the sack encasing her baby. She lapped up the fluid that laid on his fur hoping to hear the little ones cry of life. It was a boy. @Asani

An hour or so passed and she feels the pain come once again; this time her body knowing what to do. She repeated the process for the next babe and this one was a girl. @Mzururaji

The next one was a little harder as she tried to push but the babe wasn’t coming out as fast as the first to and she laid there for a while. In between labored breathing she finally managed to push out her last baby. Another boy. @Usiku

She pulled all her children to her breast and began to lick all of them clean. She hadn’t remembered ever being this small and helpless it felt like forever ago.

Their little cries were soon replaced by grunts and suckling noises and she curled around her babies for a much needed rest.

Dutch had been hunting. He had remained nearby, knowing that his cousin's time would come very soon, but he hadn't wanted to hover. His visits, though frequent, were kept short enough that the woman would not have time to grow tired of him. He always brought food and a smile, hoping that Minnow would soon warm to him but knowing that she had other things on her mind.

But he had thought she would call for him. For someone. So it was a shock to arrive at the den to the smell of blood and afterbirth. "Minnow!" he cried, almost scolding as the rabbit dropped from his mouth. But his expression was immediately contrite; he crouched on his belly at the mouth of the den, ears back and eyes wide. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

Very quickly, he became distracted by the presence of three beautiful little wolf cubs.

Struggle - he'd know it well. His entry into the world would be the most harrowing of the three, and it was with a wail of protest that he announced his arrival. Why was it cold? Where was the serenity he'd enjoyed up until now?

It was unfairly wrenched away, and now he felt heavy, exhausted, frigid... thoroughly uncomfortable. The lad attempted to lift his skull, thrash his limbs - anything. But he was still far too new, too weak for his muscles to entertain the wishes of his brain. His complaints were soon answered as he was bathed in warmth, alleviating some of the icy chill that threatened to penetrate him to his very bones. Then he was moved against something warm and soothing, and the smell was so enticing. Within moments, he was suckling eagerly beside his siblings, contentment pouring over him like water.

Perhaps it wasn't all bad.

Felled from frigid skies, into the arms of lost memory.

A soul started anknew. Birthed from the stresses of loss, though Mzuruaji and her kin are held in found warmth nonethless. The girl finds herself falling in comforted silence at her mother's side, and loses herself in the milk she provides.

Asani knew little of the new mother’s misery. Simply, it wasn’t for him to know, so he didn’t pay attention.

The firstborn greeted life with a grunt, a quick flail backwards of his head, and a chomp of toothless jaws. He flailed even more at the touch of a tongue, settling only when he’s nosed to a teat. Even then, it took him a few moments to figure out that this was, in fact, food. Once he did, he guzzled until he was rotund, and passed into sleep with a satisfied stomach.

She looked upon her brood proudly and she smiled. One bared a strong resemblance to her, then one of Tuft then as sh looked over the last one and she felt a few tears as this one of her dear brother who was lost.

Her fears at this moment were gone as she felt content with her babies. She would protect them with her life. They will be happy if it was the last she’d do.

She almost didn’t notice her cousin but she nodded at his question a smile on her face as she looked from her babies to him. “You can come see them if you’d like.” No one else but valiant and him near the den for now until she’d get more comfortable

She was fine — Dutch breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and then his tail whipped through the air at Minnow's offer.

"Of course I'd like to," he said, touched by the offer. He crawled carefully closer, leathery nostrils flaring to take in their scents. They were all so small, but each one looked perfectly healthy. "They're beautiful," he said earnestly, his burnished gaze flashing up to twinkle at his cousins. "I love them already, Minnow. What will you call them?"

He did not say so just yet, but Dutch had some suggestions of his own. Just in case!

She looked over her children as her cousin asked for their names. Nudging the girl softly. “This one is Mzuruaji meaning wandering. It’s what my dad used to call me.” She thought he could live on through her child now. 

Looking to one of the males; the darker one in particular. “Usiku, meaning at night. He’s as dark as my brother Aeryn was.” 

Next the pup that looked like her mate or I guess she could say ex now but that hurt to think about. “He’s Asani meaning rebellious.” She gazed upon her babies. “You guys weren’t due for at least another week” she chucked as she cuddled with her children.

The panther was intrigued by these names, all in a tongue he was unfamiliar with. He wanted to ask about the language and where Minnow had learned it, but he could see that the woman was exhausted.

"Rest now, Minnow," he said kindly. "When you wake, there will be fresh meat for you."

He nuzzled each babe in turn before pressing his nose to Minnow's forehead as well. Then he left them — though he did not go far before he settled down to watch over the small family while they slept.