Stone Circle I love you, you idiot

The trek from Diaspora had been a long one. After having ventured across the wilds in search of her brother, Piper had not imagined that she’d have to move too much further for the next year or more. Wrong – the girl had set out and had taken more than a week just to get from the mountains where Stigmata had claimed his lands, to the area where she could scent her family on the edge of an unknown border. The champagne color of her eyes seemed to glitter in the sunlight as she peered toward the stones further into the territory. It was cool, she had to admit.
 
Drawing back her head, she called for leadership first. This was so she wasn’t seen as being rude by just assuming she could summon her family when she didn’t belong to the pack yet. Then, she called for her mother or her aunt. The wildfire of a girl waited on the edge of the claim with an eagerness inside of her. Piper’s heart raced, but she did what she could to calm herself by shuffling in place.

Valette lifted her head when she heard someone howl for her, and then also for one of their newcomers. She was curious if this was another wolf that was related to her, related to her through Xan. She only now realized how much children her brother sired. Her own mind quickly reminded herself that she had given birth to quite a few wolves as well by now.

The matriarch trotted to the border. Perhaps she was wrong, and she wouldn't meet a family member. When she arrived at the border she noticed a red colored female. "Hello, I'm Valette. I'm the matriarch of Easthollow. You called for me?," she spoke, allowing the other female to explain why she howled.

A woman approached with pleasant features and rich colors in her dark cloak. Piper dipped her head appropriately to the leader, averting her gaze and lowering her tail so that it rested between her hocks. When she felt she had provided a respectful enough motion, the wildfire drew her head up and flashed a quick smile that spread along her dark lips. The tip of her tail flagged pleasantly and her eyes sparkled with genuine interest.
 
“I can smell my family here. My mom is named Laurel and my aunt is Indra. Did you accept them into your ranks, by chance? My name is Piper Redleaf and if they are here, I’d like to extend myself as a talented scout and even more talented chatter box,” the girl offered in her most chipper of tones. Before she could stop herself, a wink flashed across a single eye. Damn, Piper, let’s not lay all the cards on the table right out the gate… the girl reminded herself internally.

Valette could tell that the female was raised with manners by the respect she was given. The matriarch wasn't surprised to hear that she was family after all. "As a matter of fact, I did!," she returned to the female. "If you are Laurel's daughter then I am your aunt!," she grinned kindly. The younger one's enthusiasm was contagious. She was reminded of her own daughter Arlette. "Nice to meet you, Piper."

Valette couldn't really deny the female after such a speech, especially since she was family. "Quite a speech," she chuckled. "You will find you have a lot of family living here. From your grandfather, Kove to your brother Marten and, cousin Arlette. Oh! And, soon to be born, baby siblings!," she spoke. Valette didn't know that Laurel's pregnancy was not something made with love. Valette saw children as always a joyous thing.

Still, even though the female was quite a chatterbox she kind of wanted a confirmation from Laurel that she was truly family. "Let's at least call your mother, she probably missed you," she spoke, followed by a howl to @Laurel. She kind of expected @Indra to respond as well, especially since Laurel was pregnant and perhaps not as mobile.

This pregnancy had been tougher than last. Indra kept suggesting that they kill the children, while Laurel had already fallen in love with them. She may hate their father, but he would never be their father. She'd simply raise them well and they would become perfect little angels, she was sure of it, without their father ever even finding out about them. She told Indra that she would keep them and that she didn't want her to kill them, but a part of her was very afraid that Indra might still do it. It was as if she was obsessed with hating these children, these innocent children who couldn't help their father's sins.

--

Ears perked up as the call went up, and Laurel got into motion with a huff from the place she'd been lounging. She was getting quite round, and if she had to estimate Laurel would say she still had about a month to go. Another few tired huffs followed as Laurel came into motion while she muttered, Better be important... Laurel started waddling towards the borders, but about halfway through she felt a sudden vaguely familiar pain in her stomach. With a yelp Laurel cringed in place, standing still for a moment as the pain coursed through her body. She dismissed it after it had gone, continuing her journey.

Not long after the first another jab followed. Laurel yelped and walked a tiny circle before laying down on the ground as more pain followed. She leaned in to nuzzle her stomach, murmuring, You still have a little way to go, babies. Laurel gritted her teeth together and doubted what she should do. In the end she called back to Valette -- and @Indra, if she was near -- that she could not come and needed medical attention. Hopefully someone who knew a thing or two about this was nearby and could help. As she waited, the jabs became more and more frequent and familiar and all Laurel could do was plead her babies to stay put a little longer.

the first howl had indra moving towards the borders in interest, but the second howl had her running. in a panic she came upon laurel, heedless that valette and piper were nearby.

her sister’s form was doubled over in pain, her features creased in agony. oh, fuck, indra murmured softly, knowing immediately why she had been summoned. the redleaf rushed to laurel’s side and paced worriedly alongside her, looking for any sort of cover that the duo could limp to. recalling last year’s harrowing experience, indra wanted nothing to do with a public debacle and set to guarding laurel, her demeanor clearly on edge.

Alright, well, Piper had not been expecting the flurry of news that struck her. The young Redleaf girl hadn’t ever learned a whole lot about her father, or the family that existed on his side of things. To know that she was standing in front of another aunt was both shocking and electrifying to the wildfire girl. Valette seemed to throw out names with ease and a kindness that young Piper was not used to. The girl listened patiently, not saying anything, while thoughts seemed to race through her mind like horses on the track.
 
It was not until Valette mentioned that Piper was going to be having new siblings that the young Redleaf broke her features. Her mouth gaped just slightly, eyes squinting. When the hell did her mom have the time to get knocked up? The young woman realized that she must have been hanging around Diaspora for far longer than she thought she had. “That’s uh… a lot,” the girl said in a heavy voice.
 
A lot to take in – a lot to process.
 
The leader of the pack turned to call for Indra and Laurel. Piper stared into the territory intensely, searching for the familiar shapes of her family members. She hoped Lucas would have shown up too, but Valette had not called for him and this caused the Redleaf girl to wonder if her brother had run off again. Frustration started to prick at her heart before the distressed sound of her mother rang through the air. Piper looked to Valette sharply, ears perked and limbs stiff. “That’s her? She doesn’t sound so good,” the girl whispered urgently. More than anything, the wildfire wanted to race into the pack and find Laurel. She knew better than to move before she was allowed, though. Her body remained tense and she stared into the heart of the pack with concern written across her features.

Valette looked apologetically at the female when she said it was a lot of information. Sometimes she couldn't contain herself and just wanted to tell everything all at once. At least that hadn't left her genes. "I'm sorry," she smiled softly, though that smile quickly disappeared when she heard Laurel. Valette frowned. "That didn't sound good at all," Valette frowned. She turned on her heels and wanted to rush towards the sound but then realized that Piper was still on their borders.

This was a rather peculiar situation and it was the girl's mother that was distressed. "Let's go! Follow me," she urged and then rushed towards the sound. She was familiar with the territory and rushed towards the direction of the call, then she just followed her nose. Indra was there already and on edge. "Laurel! Indra!," Valette called. "What is wrong? Can I help?"

When Indra arrived Laurel immediately felt protective. Ears flattened and she looked as if she might snap at Indra for a split second, but her sister seemed instantly knowing what to do and didn't get too close for comfort. Laurel's anger drifted away again, though she remained on edge. They're too early, Laurel huffed with a frown. I don't think I can stop them. She looked at her sister with a worried frown.

It was while Laurel was in labour that Valette arrived, while @Riley had already been born and shuffled to her belly, just as @Louie came into the world. Laurel found it hard to focus on what was going on between contractions. She assumed Indra would take care of matters with Valette or ask about a medic, as Laurel was completely unable to. She didn't realise that Piper was there at all either. Laurel moved the second pup close to clean it but before she was done @Charles came into the world surprisingly fast.

fast forwarding the birthy bits a bit ^^'

Fwooooosh. Like a crazy sort of slide of life he came crashing into this world. Woah, everything was totally different out here! Just a tiny little blob, but no way he was gonna let that stop him from being the most fabulous one in the room. Covered in stuff, he lifted his paws one by one, doing a fabulous dance for y'all, bitches! In reality he looked more like a mewling quivering ball of sticky potato, but whatev.

feel free to skip me.

darkness had been all that he had known. the comfort and warmth of it had granted him peace while he had developed and grown into the tiny shape that he was. it was only the beginning, though. to start small and in the darkness was the beginning for most all living things. for young louie, it would be said that this was where he had always belonged – in the sweet embrace of shadow. even as he was released from his mother’s womb and into the shimmering world, he knew only the inky blindness of his unopened eyes.
 
charles squalled and mewed. riley cried out before finding his place to suckle. the dark shape of louie did not seem to make a sound. his weak limbs quivered from the effort that it took to wiggle closer to the warmth of his mother’s stomach. his quietness was eerie, but he did not seem as though he had been harmed in the early birthing. he was thin and frail, but he was still very much alive.
 
seeking out his mother’s milk, the boy instinctively latched onto her and began to drink his fill. even in eating, louie was quiet. when he had finished – his belly round and extended – he sought the warmth of her pelt. weakly, the child inched forward and found a nook where he tucked himself against the body heat of laurel and drifted into a deep sleep.

Was waiting for Riley but I've been told by Lauren to skip him. <3

Piper’s legs churned in order to get here from point a to point b as quickly as possible. She did what she could to remain beside Valette. The two women moved with the same urgency to where Laurel’s voice had sounded from. When they had skidded to a halt, Piper was well out of breath and her sides heaved with the effort to fill her lungs with air once more. There was an air of panic to her expression as she searched for her mother and then… she locked sights with the woman and moved a few feet toward her.
 
“Mom? Mom! Is everything okay?”
 
She knew that there wasn’t anything she could do to help Laurel. She had never assisted in the birthing of another life. Piper was certain that she had caused enough trouble during her own birthing session. With Indra there and the leader Valette, the Redleaf girl felt only slightly more at ease. She was still fretting over the wellbeing of her family. Piper had not travelled halfway across the wilds just to watch her mom die while giving birth to a bunch of random ass pups.

Valette rushed with Piper to the sounds coming from Laurel. She feared that something was wrong. Indra was already there when they reached the female in pain and in labor. Valette was quite shocked to see so out on the open. Valette nudged Piper in a friendly matter to hold her a bit away from her mother. "Your mother is giving birth," Valette sounded and then glanced at Indra.

"What would you like me to do?," she asked the red sister. Valette had three labors now with the last one being the hardest one. She remembered Sunny had given her herbs to help her. Perhaps she had some still lying around. Though by the looks of it all went very quickly. "We should get them in a den, safe from predators and the cold," she offered. Luckily it was summer but pups couldn't regulate their own temperature so even this heat could be dangerous.

indra felt blindsided as she stared at the scene, laurel hunched over with her body clearly contracting. she circled her sister in quiet panic, halting as she saw valette and piper quickly approach. indra darted to them both quickly, shielding her sister ineffectively from view with her body. in a few quick words, indra explained what had happened and was about to ask valette if she had any midwives, when laurel's labors ended.

turning around indra gasped as she saw the three forms huddled close to laurel's chest, the last being licked clean. all three appeared alive and breathing; darkly indra looked for any stillborns, remembering the heartwrenching fourth of laurel's litter last year. thankfully none came, though indra was far from at ease as she flitted from place to place. "laurel --" she called softly, not wishing to interrupt her sister as she recovered from her grueling trials. "we can help carry them..." indra knew the suggestion would likely be shot down by her sister (for good reason), but she motioned to both piper and valette with a thin, stressed smile as if to say they can help too, if you don't trust me.

he was thundering through the bay laurel, a cacophony of snapping trees and leaves following in his drumbeat wake. his long snout pierced through the serrated edges of palm and barberry like the darted edge of a dagger as he exploded through the jungle, yellow and reptillian eyes sharply focused ahead. he followed heavily the fleeing form of an iguanodon whose tail swayed wildly back and forth as it split into a panicked quadriped gallop.

he thundered through the jungle not on four legs but two powerful therapodian limbs; he was thirty feet in length, possessed two powerful forearms armed with heavy one-foot long claws, weighed nearly two tons, possessed a crocodilian snout full of conical dagger teeth, and a tall neural crest that fanned halfway down his spine: he was the indomitable baryonyx (baryonyx walkeri); coastal carnivore and local terror of the cretaceous rainforest that knew no rival. 

the iguanodon before him ran blindly through viper-green vines and he lunged, splintering palm saplings and trodding thick ferns underfoot with each colossal step. with a dart, the iguanodon scrabbled over a moss-lidded tree and he pounced with a guttural snarl, full weight upon the bough as his scything claws scrabbled for the fleeing lizard. the bough, rotted and older than even him, gave way with a groan -- with a snort and a plummet, the monstrous theropod fell into a darkened pit. this pit, unseen due to the tangle of vines and lush ferns, fell a staggering two hundred feet: an old fault line from an ancient earthquake some two million years before. he fell and he fell into darkness, splintering into scattered pieces in the unfathomable black, his eyes seemingly forced shut forever.

until now.

some one hundred and thirty million years later, he awoke and was pulled abruptly from the black void. he was different, but it was still him -- a terrifying predator packaged neatly into the harmless form of a newborn suckling. he took his first breaths in greedy gulps and his stumpy limbs waved blindly, but he walked this earth once more. he of course, recalled nothing of his previous life -- how swiftly the interminable ages passed between when he had taken his first breath and his last, and here he was again, reborn in the form of a furry little whelp.

Laurel missed most of what was said around her. She didn't even register Piper until after she'd given birth. It was then that Indra and Valette talked about bringing her pups elsewhere. Laurel protectively sheltered them, but when she looked up, between her leader and sister, she saw the ruddy visage of her daughter. You came, she said with a smile. Oh, how much she had missed in the meantime! It was unimaginable how different Laurel's life had been before she'd gone... Both the good and the bad.

Yes, we need to bring them somewhere safe, Laurel agreed and she looked expectantly up at those around her. She waited for Valette and Piper to take a pup -- Indra would be barred -- and then picked up the last remaining pup herself. A birthing den was ready not too far away, pristine and unused; they could use that.

feel free to skip the pups, as they're only tiny blobs for now

piper can be skipped too! just assume she's helping however she can

Everything seemed to happen far too quickly, but Piper was not one to back down. She did what she could to jump into the fray and try to appear helpful. Her head felt like a bowl of hot soup, however. There were so many questions that she had. Piper imagined that the answers would come in due time. She had finally been reunited with her family, after all. There were also three new additions to the clan in the form of blob children. That would require some answers, too.

Valette came closer to the newborns and gently grabbed the one that was closest to her which seemed to be Charles. She grabbed him gently between her jaws. Perhaps even more careful than she would be with her own. She didn't want Laurel to think she would be rough with them. She knew as a mother it was rather stressful to have others around you. Valette turned in one direction, knowing where an empty den was.

However, perhaps Laurel wanted to go to another place. So once the new mother picked up the remaining pup, Valette followed Laurel. Luckily it was summer so the pups would not grow cold too quickly, at least she hoped.

indra's features fell and gave way to hurt as laurel scorned her. she watched helplessly as her niece and valette grabbed the two remaining puppies -- it should have been her helping laurel.. not them.

she felt tears well in her eyes, and they stung with a hot savagery -- but she willed them away, refusing to let them start their steamy trek down her cheeks. now long behind the procession, indra followed them dumbly -- her gaze distant and expression contorted.

*breaks post order to squeeze one last riley post in <3

riley squirmed against the unpleasant sensation that came around him, fighting weakly against the teeth that clasped him. he had little hope of freeing himself, of course -- and so, was carried off like a sack of potatoes to wherever his caretaker deigned.

he was blissfully unaware of any strife at that moment; blind, senseless, and just a pound of insensate flesh in that moment, riley went limp between the jaws of his transporter, and was sound asleep by the time he had been laid gently against laurel in their den.

Laurel could not focus on her sister in that moment. She imagined her sister to feel scorned, but her full attention was on the pups now. Without any regret, Laurel moved towards the den that they had made for the pups; herself, Piper and Valette each with a pup, and Indra presumably following in tow.

Once at the den, Laurel settled and finally she could breathe a sigh of relief. Piper, will you stay with me for a bit longer? she asked of her daughter. We have a lot to catch up on. Thank you so much for your help, Valette. Laurel's tail waved with a soft smile. She looked at Indra and said, In, could you get me something to eat please? Her voice was kind enough, though it was clear within the order that she was dismissive; after all, she sent Indra away to do another task while she and Piper stayed with the babies.

I'm gonna wrap this up and archive. Also gonna cook up a new thread for Piper and Laurel, if you don't mind Iris <3

The move of the puppies went as swiftly and safely as possible. Piper was grateful for that, because she wasn’t exactly feeling too confident about the tiny creatures that had just entered the world. Somehow, the traveling group had managed to get the children into a den and settled down without any casualties. Even though she felt like she was on fire, everything had gone as well as it possibly could have. The pups were safe. Even more importantly, Laurel was safe. The young Redleaf girl finally breathed a sigh of relief at this.
 
Her mother requested that she stay so that they could catch up. Piper nodded softly and found a place within the den where she would not be in the way. The two were free to share stories with each other in that time. So many things had changed – life had found a way to throw them numerous curveballs and expect them to handle it or succumb. In spite of it all, Piper was happy to be home with her family.