Porcupine Ridge thinner

the ridge.

they'd reached it in due time, though vuk had been forced to pause often. and then had come the horrible creatures that had driven herself and @Terich-mir into the shelter of the trees, only to have the branches stripped around their very bodies. the days that followed had forced the pair to watch helplessly as the green disappeared from their world.

the prey too had gone, and as the week grew warmer, hunger gnawed horribly at vuk's body. terich had been faithful to his word, but his efforts had surfaced with little as the world changed under their paws.

but the ridge -- the patchwork girl cried for taggarik as soon as she came within sight of her former borders. desperate for the protection that he had given her, she was ready to prostrate herself before the alpha pair and beg for their forgiveness.

but the scents had faded, and her heart grew tight with worry. horror stalked her steps as vuk began to search the former territory, reading the story of what had happened, and she began to cry, wandering in circles. under her sobs, however, pain rose in her emaciated body, skinny but for the jut of her belly -- she moved back to terich's side and buried her face against his neck, sobbing with both the shock of the ridge's disappearance and the agony that boiled in her very bones.

soon she was forced to lie down upon the stony earth, screaming in pain as each contraction tightened her belly and forced the puppies down against the unyielding bones of her small pelvis -- dehydration had taken her energy and she begged at times for terich to kill her, though she didn't know if he could understand.

when the great eye of the sun was directly overhead, vuk's silent, exhausted writhing bore fruit -- a puppy slipped from her in a welter of blood, and she cried out in relief, forcing herself upward to lift her hindleg and clean away the birth. but the pup, its lungs unprepared for the outside air, malnourished as she was, did not move beneath her frantic licking.

vuk scarcely had time to mourn before the cracking ripples begain again -- two more children were born into blood, one pale, one dark as its sibling had been -- neither moved. the pale girl shrieked, gathering them helplessly to her breasts; madly, she believed if only they could nurse they would be saved.

but move they did not and her head lay down against the ground; she cried softly, her sobs wrought with fatigue. the pains began again; vuk merely closed her eyes and grit her jaws, moaning once as her body delivered the last and final pup. 

she did not lift her head to look, for surely this one was dead as the others had been, but maternal instinct forced her to search for the babe all the same, and this time the child moved, and cried out in a tiny voice.

While hunger gnawed at him, Terich did not worry for himself. He was hardy and used to sustaining himself upon fish. He did worry over Vuk, however, and the babes that grew within her malnourished belly. They had to seek shelter when the sky rained insects upon them, and when they emerged, Terich's heart wilted. The trees and grasses were stripped bare. Only the rivers remained, and he hoped the bugs did not have a penchant for fish. 

When they reached the ridge, Terich felt his heart ache at the thought. He'd heard Capri's howl, echoing in the far distance, but he hadn't the heart to tell Vuk. When she began to cry and wander in circles, he thought he'd broken her heart by not telling her. All thoughts of that fled him when she fell and her birthing pains began. Terich stayed close, but far enough away to give her space, pacing back and forth beneath a leafless tree.

Three pups emerged from her body, lifeless. Terich's heart sank a little more with each one, and he barely held any hope for the fourth. But when a tiny cry erupted from the soft child, Terich took a step forward. Vuk? he asked softly, seeking permission to approach.

so much had happened in her frail life; vuk did not know how she found the strength to pull the pallid, blood-streaked bundle toward her. terich went ignored for the moment; she was focused on cleaning away the caul that bound the tiny muzzle. the child continued to cry during all of this, until the girl gingerly, painfully pulled away from the velveteen heap of small corpses that comprised the rest of her litter, and brought him to her belly to suckle.

she squeezed her eyes shut at the first sharp twinge, but when the milk released, a feeling of contentment quite out of place given her settings enveloped the wolfess, and she looked to terich now. vuk said nothing, but motioned him closer, tears of delight, exhaustion, and grief running silently down her cheeks.

He approached her slowly, closing the distance with two strides before falling to his belly to crawl near. Terich paused a few feet away, stretching out his nose to seek permission to come closer. All the while his blue eyes focused on the tiny creature suckling at her teat. He glanced at the three small bundles briefly before turning back to Vuk and the child. Ears slicked back on his skull as he let out a soft whine, wanting to come closer but afraid to do so. Despite helping her through these trying times, Terich still sought her permission in most things. He was a man of his word and would only do as she asked.

As his blue gaze fell to the pup again, something stirred within him. Some feeling he had felt the ghost of before, but had never been able to quite pinpoint its source. Now he knew, as he gazed upon the child, that this feeling was love. Terich would protect this child as well as he knew how, and as soon as Vuk was ready, Terich would find them a home.

the child was male; vuk whined at terich, motioning him closer with a thump of her tail. exhaustion swam in her head as her eyes fell to the little ones who had not lived, and she swallowed a sob. "b-bury ... p-plea..se," came her voice, cracked with thirst and ragged with disuse. 

a thought came to her then -- she staggered to her paws and lifted the newborn gently into her mouth. staggering only once, vuk moved at a halting pace in the direction of the den she had shared with illea during her time in the ridge pack.

the scent in the den was stale, but it was warm and large enough for the two wolves and the pup to curl close near each other. vuk entered without hesitation, and lay down with a sigh, pulling the child against her belly and lying a foreleg over him to keep his tiny body close.

terich would join them when he had finished, she was sure -- her grief was so great that she did not want to know where he had buried her other children, and she wept silently until sleep bore her off, ears filled with the quiet suckling sounds of her only living pup.

He crawled closer at her invitation, and lay mesmerized by the tiny form. It was such perfection: tiny pink toes, a pink nose, pink ears that flapped close to its skull. Its coloring was vague at the moment, covered in blood and birth as it was, but Terich knew he would be handsome. He smiled to see the child, but it broke when she spoke. Her words were few and far between, and these tore a hole right through him. He nodded and watched her retreat further into the ridge, waiting until she was safely out of sight before grabbing the dead in an awkward bundle.

He buried them beneath his favorite willow, the one near the stream that ran through the hollows. He buried them deep beneath the dark soil beneath the bare willow branches, where they could hear the tinkling of the water nearby to soothe them into sleep. Then he laid a large rock over their grave, said one last goodbye, and turned to find Vuk. She and the cub were cuddled inside Vuk's old den, resting peacefully. This might be the last peaceful moment either of them would know for a while. Terich slid into the den and laid beside Vuk, lending his warmth and strength to her. What will you name him? he asked softly, curled in such a way as to watch every movement the child made. His blue gaze glanced at Vuk, waiting to hear what the mother would say.

she dozed fitfully, waking when terich entered the cave, smelling of birth and of dirt. though it pained her, vuk reached to lick his chin, grateful for his unwavering devotion. had it not been for him, she might very well have died several days ago. the baby had fallen asleep; she moved her foreleg to reveal him more clearly to her mate.

her mate. it was a foreign concept to vuk, but she was thankful that he was here, and he'd proven himself a dozen times thus far. terich spoke, his azure gaze meeting the turquoise of the girl's own, and she paused only a moment before speaking. "seff." the word was as throaty as her own name, a single deep syllable, and in that way he had a title similar to her own.

Seff. The name ignited a spark hope within him, that perhaps the world would be right again if given time. Terich-mir felt hunger and exhaustion tug at him, but once again he wasn't going to let her keep watch. That's a lovely name, he said softly, nudging her cheek. Rest with him. I'll protect you. It was a promise that he had given her days ago, and one that he would forever uphold.

Though they didn't know each other well, Terich-mir felt the stirrings of affection for her, and wondered at that. It wasn't that he lusted after her or anything; it was more the feelings one gets for friends. Perhaps in time such friendship could blossom into something more, but for now, that would be enough.

Terich turned toward the den's mouth then and curled into a ball, eyes wide open as he kept watch.