Sun Mote Copse paradise

After hearing from Towhee about @Niamh's pregnancy, Eljay decided to set out to find her. Honestly, it was some time since he had seen her -- he'd mostly been around Niamh a lot when she first had Bronco and Nellie, to make sure everything was alright -- and he was a little embarrassed that they had not spent much time together since. Perhaps it was parenthood that had snatched them both. Eljay felt a pang of envy that Niamh should have both her children and more on the way this year, even though both of them had lost their mate. He still missed Wiffle every day, and he worried if Elfie was alive every day, too, wishing that his boy would just show up and come home. But he knew the odds of that were spectacularly small. Considering all Niamh had lost Eljay knew that it was unfair to be jealous of her having both children, and her coping so much better than he with losing her mate. He couldn't help the feelings seep through, though.

She was just a stronger wolf than he, he supposed.

Still, the feelings didn't mean he wouldn't help her, of course. Eljay still longed to rekindle the budding friendship that once started, and perhaps they could find common grounds in the similarities in their lives, however dark. And as the pack's Midwife, he certainly wanted to check up on Niamh to make sure was alright. Hopefully he'd find her somewhere around the Copse.

Hunger. Though Niamh was the sort of wolf who could snack continuously and then demand to know what was on the menu for dinner, she could tell the difference between her usual level of hunger, and the amount that her body now demanded for her to eat given the fact that she was literally growing more wolves inside her. Bronco had been a dear and had brought her a rabbit for breakfast, and she chuckled when she recalled how horrified he looked when she practically woled the whole thing down in a matter of seconds. She assumed, then, that in order to appease his mother's voracious apetite, he would continue bringing her food- and she liked that thought. Now, if only she could convince Nellie to support her growing half-siblings as well...But she suspected that would take some time. 

She spotted Eljay in the distance, and her thoughts of inviting him for a hunt surfaced- but were then somewhat rejected. Eljay could hunt perfectly well- but she also had a feeling that if a wolf could safely convert to vegetarianism without suffering any side effects, Eljay would be the first to give it a go. Still, he was a wolf and the fact of the matter was that they were carnivores- so she woofed to get his attention and picked up a slow jog to close the distance between them. 

"S'almost lunch-o-clock," She said greeted. "You hungry?" She asked, by way of extending a hunting invitation and inviting his company in the tracking process as well.

It seemed that he was in luck; without having to call or extensively search, he heard Niamh's woof and looked up to see her approach. Eljay smiled at her and as Niamh suggested a hunt (considering she didn't carry any already-caught meat, that was what he guessed, anyway) he nodded. Oh, uh, sure. Which was both good because he had found Niamh and he really still had a lot of meat to pack back on after the famine -- he was still rather thin -- but also he'd intended to talk about her upcoming pups.

I heard about the mateship and pregnancy, Eljay said while he waited for Niamh to lead the way into the hunt, Congratulations. How's the pregnancy coming along? Anything I can do to help?

She smiled and chuffed, realizing she'd possibly caught him by surprise by immediately tossing up the idea of eating, but he seemed ready enough for it, as she assumed he would be. After all- what wolf would turn down a hunting invitation from a wolf who needed to eat for not only themselves, but for their unborn children as well? Eljay was a sympathetic fellow- and she knew he'd be game to help her find something to eat- hopefully something big enough that they could both share in the spoils. Before they could even head off together, he addressed what she considered might have been a sensitive topic for him to talk about...An elephant in the womb, pun absolutely intended. 

"Thanks, Eljay," She said. And she might have been more proud and boastful the previous year, before either of them had lost their mates...She felt it was better to be more modest. He probably had mixed feelings, seeing that the other widow in the pack had taken a new mate, and had begun to grow their family again. True, they had both lost loved ones- and Niamh, like Eljay, missed her deceased mate every day...There was absolutely no replacing him, and she was lucky to have both of her children present to remind her of the legacy of love he had left behind. But they were different wolves- there was no possible way to compare the way his grief felt to the way her grief felt, nor was there any reason to try and judge one for taking longer to 'move on' than the other. It had simply happened, for Niamh- and with someone that she had known for quite some time. 

"I think it's goin' fine so far...Though I feel like I'm showing more, earlier, than I did last year, so...I dunno. I either got super fat babies growin' or more'n two, this year," She surmised. "I just hope I don't go as late as I did last year, that was -miserable,-" She complained, and without realising it, had slipped the ptero sign in to accentuate her agony. "S'far as I know, I just gotta keep feedin' myself as much as possible, so I won't turn away any surprise meals," She said, with a small grin. "You think Spring's on its way yet, or do you figure we're gonna get another snowstorm 'fore winter goes away?" She asked.

Seemed the idea of hunting had been postponed for just a small moment now that Eljay had gone and asked about the children. That was alright for him; hopefully they'd be able to hunt something after this, because he could really use it to fill up his thinned bony body and he still had Weejay to feed too, of course (even though she was becoming more self-sufficient by the day, it felt like). Niamh seemed pretty calm about everything, even though to Eljay, it felt like it'd all happened in the blink of an eye. But maybe for her, it didn't feel that way and she had had time to get used to the feeling of being mates.

Niamh said that she seemed to be showing more this year and he wondered if there was a correlation between how much a wolf showed and how many or how big babies they were carrying. He wasn't sure; he hadn't given it thought before. That's pretty interesting, he said, more of a thought to himself than anything else, which caused him to miss the ptero that Niamh used as she mused about not wanting to go late. His brain caught up towards the end of it and he said, Yeah, I imagine it must be, uh.. bad. He of course had no clue, and he realised that too. If he could, good guy Eljay would totally have carried the pups in any of the females' places.

Sounds smart, Eljay said when Niamh said she should keep eating. You aren't just eating for yourself now, after all. Niamh asked about spring then, and it was a tough call. Eljay hadn't really considered that another snowstorm might hit them at any point, let alone now that winter was already going in its decline. He pondered and said, I don't know. I hope spring will get there sooner rather than later. It's always easier with pups.

Of course, Eljay- like any male- couldn't really imagine what it'd be like to carry children, growing and moving around inside them, for months. She chuckled and shrugged as they walked along. "It ain't that bad. But it does get uncomfortable, 'specially the longer they get overdue," She wasn't being entirely honest with how horrible she'd felt going past her due date last year- but she also didn't want for Eljay to worry. Nor did she figure that exaggerating would be of any help at all, either. 

"Ugh, much easier. More food, plus, it's warmer. Only thing that sucks is the amount of mud that gets tracked everywhere on little feet when it rains," She said with a laugh.

Eljay nodded as Niamh elaborated on the pains of having pups while they walked. He kept his eyes and nose open in case they'd run into anything good.

Niamh agreed that it would be a lot easier in spring. There was more food, indeed, and it was easier to protect the little ones against the cold because there was simply a lot less cold. Eljay chuckled as Niamh talked about the mud stuck underneath puppy feet. Yeah, he agreed softly. After a short pause he then asked gently, So... You and Phox, huh..? He hadn't really seen it, but then again, he didn't know Phox all that well either.

It was relatively easy to side-step the heavy topics, as she'd been doing for almost a year now. She could still sense a weight that hung about Eljay, like a cloud that refused to give away and let the sun shine. While he had always been on the quiet side, and a bit timid around her, there was something sad about his eyes, and the way his smile would only linger for a moment- only as long as he consciously told it too. Otherwise, his features seemed to fall back into what seemed to be his new neutral. 

When he mentioned Phox, Niamh pricked her ears. "Huh?" She asked, seemingly oblivious to whatever it was he was implying. "Me and Phox what?" She asked, still feigning perfect cluelessness, before she smiled and cackled softly, and nodded. "Jus' kiddin' ya. Yeah, he's...He's pretty great. It's been pretty good, nice to have someone." She said, with a slight shrug. "An' he's gonna be a great father," She said softly, trying to steer the topic back to the children. Eljay liked pups- so that was a happy topic, right?

If he could sweat, Eljay would've had drops rolling down the side of his face by now. He frowned as he realised he might've made a mistake. He'd heard correctly, right? Had he not? Who had told him about this? Wraen, and Towhee, right? Was there anyone who had a name that sounded like Phox? Eljay frowned and his mind started to race as he tried to think back and wonder where it had all gone wrong.

But before he could get into full panic mode Niamh's face cracked into a smile and she admitted to joking. Eljay looked visibly relieved and he smiled at Niamh as she said that Phox was pretty great. He could imagine it must be nice to have someone, even though it was a feeling he had only tasted for a few months before it was ripped away from him. He tried not to think of that -- of Wiffle -- too much and said, That sounds great, with a smile. I guess he's already a father, so that gives some sort of proof that he will be. Eljay smiled as he said it. He meant it half joking, half serious, but in the end it didn't come out as eloquent as he had intended it. Oh well, that was pretty much the story of his life anyway.

"Wull," Niamh said, agreeing with Eljay's logic, "Yeah." Of course, Phox was already a father- and his kids had turned out pretty good. Though they still mostly stuck to themselves and seemed to prefer the company of others their own age, both Figment and Fenton were nice kids as far as she could tell. She had yet to hear Bronco complain about either of them, which had to mean that they were at least tolerable. 

"It'll prolly be...Different, this time around," She said. And it would be. She had lost Colt within a couple months of giving birth- but this time, she was counting on having Phox in her life for as long as possible. There was no way she could lose another mate the way she'd lost Colt, right? Fate couldn't work that way.

It was hard for Eljay to fathom that Niamh wasn't terrified to lose Phox, when she had lost Colt too soon. He was not quite sure that he would be able to do the same. He was not quite sure he would be able to do it all alone again after all that had happened and he both didn't understand and admired Niamh for wantin to take that leap again. Of course, it was easier for him to think this, since he wasn't in the position where he loved someone again. He wasn't quite sure he ever would be; it had taken four years to find Wiffle in that way, and he doubted there was more than one woman out there who could love him that way. That was alright; it was a fate he had accepted, and he felt that everyone around him knew it, too, in some way. He just wasn't made to be loved in that way, but that was alright for him as long as he could be loved as a father, as a brother, as a son, as a caretaker.

Yeah... was all Eljay said, not wanting to speak his fears -- but what if it wasn't? but what if it happened again? -- and he smiled meekly at Niamh. Then he turned back to the ground, sniffing the air. I think there's something this way, he said, ears perking to his right side. Smells like -- deer? He glanced at Niamh to confirm.

While Eljay didn't say it, she knew what he was thinking- or at least, she thought she knew. She felt confident she couldn't lost Phox too simply because she felt that it would be cruel for life to take two mates from her, in consecutive years. It wasn't necessarily a rational argument, and she should\ve known better than to put her faith in such a belief- but at least she'd made her mind up that that was how things were going to be- and as long as she didn't speak her ridiculous beliefs out loud, she wouldn't ever fear that she might be wrong. 

She was glad that he didn't ask, then, or comment- and instead turned their attention back to the hunt. She stepped toward him, and glanced over his shoulder where the guard hairs lined his spine in the Blackthorn dorsal stripe. She frowned softly. Her kids likely wouldn't have that marking this year; they wouldn't be Blackthorns by blood, and that silly little thought made her sad. She'd thought Bronco and Nellie's dorsal stripes had been adorable. She shook her head and inhaled, focusing, now. "Mmhmm," She said, licking her lips. "Ugh, how great would deer taste right now?" She asked rhetorically. "C'mon. Lessee what kind of herd we're dealing with," She said, lowering her head, and beginning to follow her nose, hoping to track down the herd, wondering to herself how many does and bucks there might be.

The conversation moved on towards the hunt, even though it was likely their minds would be preoccupied with the conversation for a bit longer. Eljay nodded as Niamh said that deer would taste pretty good right now. Yeah. Let's hope we find something good. Let's hope we find something at all. Eljay nodded and he, too, lowered his nose and started to track the deer scent, hoping that it would be an actual herd and hoping that there'd be a deer in there they could actually take on and hunt down.

sorry, i'm out of inspiration, but feel free to fill in any details on the deer herd and whatnot in your next post if you want! ^^"

Is OK! I did a roll in tabletop to see how many there'd be :3 I'm 100% cool with playing this by dice rolls if you'd like.

Deer, in essence, were not too difficult to track. They tended to meander along easily visible paths made by frequent trips in and out of the woods and meadows. Fresh and old droppings alike were scattered about the trail, which was obviously used by some rabbits too. She paused and gazed up into the trees when she saw what she believed to be an owl pellet, but the owl- if it was even there- was too hard to see. So they carried on, until the tracks became fresh, and the scent clear. They were closing in on what seemed less like a herd and more like a small gathering. There were two does of a decent size and then another which looked as though it might've been last year's fawn and like most yearlings, was short the bulk and weight it would put on in another year or two. 

Oddly enough, she didn't see any sign of there being fawns in the area. With two adult does, she would've expected to see a couple little fawns tagging along, their hindquarters still dappled with white flecks...But she didn't see any. She looked to Eljay to see if there was anything thoughts he had, about the small group, or whether there might be any fawns to be found.

After tracking for some time they found a small group of deer at last. Eljay was relieved -- he always was these days when they found food, because it'd been so scarce for some time -- and he licked his lips as he observed. Unfortunately he couldn't really see any fawns and he couldn't see any that immediately looked weak. It was just a few of them, but they could make this work, he felt.

Niamh looked at him just as he looked at her, hoping to figure out her thoughts. After a short silence Eljay awkwardly and quietly, so the deer wouldn't hear him, said, I don't see any limping or weak... It was good in some way, he supposed, but also narrowed their chances. Should we try for the small one? A yearling, he guessed, and therefore it would likely be weaker and less alert than the older does.

This wasn't exactly what she'd hoped for- but at the same time, at least there was no buck present to put up a fight, or to guard his hinds. Eljay's suggestion made the most sense, and she eyed the yearling for a moment, trying to see if there was any sign of injury in the few steps it took while it grazed...Nothing really stuck out to her, so she frowned, knowing that this would likely be a difficult catch- but it was worth a shot. 

"Let's do it." She said. "Each take a flank and run it down?" She suggested, as a means to hunt the deer down. With something smaller, they could've used the typical scare and surprise technique, wherein one wolf would flush a rabbit or other small animal toward their accomplice who would be hiding in wait to leap out and tackle the prey. But with something this big, and with only the two of them, she figured they'd have to rely on their stamina to wear the deer out before being able to take it down.

Eljay nodded as Niamh suggested they each take a flank and run the yearling down. It was their best bet, really -- this yearling looked to be too sprightly and too dangerous to hide somewhere and surprise it. Best to try and wear it down and hopefully they'd both be fast enough to avoid getting hit. Eljay paused for a moment, as he said, I'll go first and try to get its attention. Don't draw too much attention to yourself. The last thing I want is for you to get hit. Her pregnancy might not be in the stage where it would be extremely dangerous, but there was always a risk. Eljay didn't want to risk anything.

He waited a moment for Niamh to respond, but his mind was made up, and then Eljay set off. As they went for the small group of deer, each sprang in a different direction as the wolves arrived -- Eljay took the left flank, which was closest, and snapped at the deer to make sure that he was the riskiest wolf around; he hoped that would mean if there were any distressed kicks, he'd be the receiver and not Niamh.

LOL I'd forgotten that she was pregnant in this oops <3  D'you wanna do a dice roll? like a 1d10 and evens is yes, odds is no, or whatever the probability you feel should fit? Or we can just play it out- I'm cool with either.

Eljay. While she generally viewed the man as being soft-hearted and therefore weaker, in essence, there was no mistaking the fact that he cared for his packmates, and could summon an amount of selflessness that Niamh might not ever be capable of obtaining. She was warmed by his offer, and chose to abide by his suggestion despite the fact that it meant her pride must simper into the background. She liked being the tough one, the one to go for the kill, and the one to challenge danger- but she knew better than to risk the lives of her unborn children. It wasn't something she might have felt comfortable asking Eljay to do- but he'd instinctually offered to put himself in the more precarious position. Niamh couldn't say that there were many wolves in her life who had earned as much of her respect, through gentleness, as Eljay had. And he just kept on impressing her. 

She would follow him as they spooked the deer into motion, sparking fear in their dark, gentle eyes. Eljay's bravery made him shine, as he snapped and frenzied the deer further, shepherding it forward with Niamh only having to surge forward and correct its path every now and again, when it moved away from the more impressive hunter. She would hang back, galloping a safe distance from the deer's haunches, as the challenge of stamina had begun.

haha, i just realised it again as i was writing my previous post :')

i rolled a d10 and it was even(8), so that's a yes! yes to them managing to down the deer, i went ahead and assumed.

His tactic seemed to be working. If Eljay could see himself from a distance in that moment, he might've been surprised and impressed; he didn't realise that he was looking like a proper wolf. He'd always been pretty good at hunting when it was in a group, but it was often overshadowed by his inability to catch small prey on his own or giving good, firm directions in groups. But as part of a group that worked well together he was more competent than most would think when meeting him. He was glad that Niamh stuck to the instructions he gave, because he would've aborted the hunt if she had decided to play the hero despite his questions not to. There were plenty of days left for her to play the hero after her children were born.

For some time they ran, Eljay dodging the stray kicks from the deer while he made sure he was the more dangerous target while Niamh made sure the deer stayed on track and didn't find its way back to its counterparts. Eljay found himself growing tired after a while, but he didn't want to give up on this kill. They needed the meat right now, after such a poor fall and winter. He had managed to land some blows on the deer's legs, but nothing close to fatal; hopefully, it would help them when they'd manage to get the deer down, in case they wouldn't get it dead right away.

Now, Eljay shouted and he jumped then, first cutting off the deer so that it was stopped in its tracks. As it reared, he jumped towards the neck from the other side. He had hoped to push it down, but he realised too late that instead, he was pulling it down by the neck and as it crashed down to the ground Eljay felt a surge of pain as one of his paws landed underneath its mass. Pushing through the pain he held on, hoping that it would stop struggling soon, and hoping that Niamh would be safe in the meantime. At least now that it was down, it would be easier to avoid the flailing legs.

GO TEAM <3

The pursuit was the easy part. Wolves were built for stamina, and so long as they remained close- but not too close- they could harry the doe into a frenzy, and keep ther control over her while all they had to do was lope along behind her. This was just another day at the office for Niamh- and as a highly food-motivated creature, she was eager to reap the rewards of her hard work- but if nothing else, Niamh would be considered a practical, expert businessman...Who knew exactly how much effort into their work without exhausting themselves. 

Eljay was the first to make a move, and with a shout he bounded, and caused the deer to come to an ungainly halt. In an instant he was upon her, and she was knocked to the ground in a move that wowed Niamh- who darted in a moment later to assist her fellow hunter. She pressed herself into the fray alongside Eljay, who shielded her from the doe's legs, and grabbed the doe by the throat, putting an end to its life. 

Once it had quieted, she stepped back, and not knowing that Eljay was in pain (as she was not the most observant creature in the world) she gave his shoulder a nip, and commended him with a playful growl.

Niamh finished the deer off, and when it quieted, Eljay let out a sigh of relief. His heart thrummed in his chest from the rush of the hunt, but the pain in his left front leg returned in full now that they were no longer in immediate danger. We did it, he said, exhausted, and he smiled at Niamh. When he got up and moved he felt some pain as he put pressure on the paw, but he guessed that it would be okay -- for now, he was limping a bit as he started to eat, hungry and knowing there would be enough to share with the rest of the pack after they had had their initial fill.

Niamh grunted in agreement, but was quick to settle in and eat. She took no issues in sharing peacefully with Eljay, who was equal to her in rank and deserving of the meal as well. But she was working on feeding however many children she was carrying, so she would help herself, alongside her packmate, to as much meat as she could possibly ingest, before even casting a thought to sharing the rest with the pack.