Stone Circle And I wonder

@Nanook @Selamuit @Kallik @Taktuq @Ikiaq

Valette was convinced she was pregnant, until a few days ago. Ever since she had seen her sister give birth she had that familiar feeling of teats filling up with milk, only the strange thing was that she didn't have the weight that normally came with the pregnancy. She had gone through heat, but to give milk already it was far too early. Valette had three litters and things had never happened in this order. When the milk would start, she would be close to giving birth which didn't fit in the timeline with her heat. It confused the female greatly, and it upset her. Because if she was giving milk already it probably meant that this year she would not have pups of her own. She still wasn't sure how she was going to tell Greyback. Maybe he noticed that she had been growing teats but not known that it was far too early for that. Valette blamed herself, it was probably because of her body condition. A few months ago the matriarch had been on the brink of starvation and her body was still recovering.

To have milk without having any pups was extremely confronting. Empty feeling. Valette made her way to Nanook's den. The matriarch looked visibly upset. "Nook--,' she croaked as she saw her. Valette wanted to keep herself together but she never experienced this before. To be.. barren. It was a terrible feeling. "I-- I'm not--," she couldn't even say it. When she saw the little pups, a jab of jealousy and disappointment shot through her. She just looked at her sister. She hoped she understood what she meant to say. "I have milk. Can... Can I please feed yours?," she asked, desperate to at least nurture something. She was glad that Nanook agreed and quickly went to lie down inside the den. She nudged the little ones closer to her belly where there was more than enough milk for them.

edit; Little PP at the end approved by jaclyn :)

The boy’s life had so far been rather uneventful. He woke, he ate, he shuffled around his siblings, and then he promptly fell back to sleep. Only to wake a few hours later and start the cycle over again. Sometimes when he woke, the large presence that kept him and his litter mates warm didn’t have any sustenance, and had a different smell then he was used to. But he had come to trust these two differing beings.

But today he was rudely awoken by the shifting of his mother as she stepped away. But he was not greeted by the comforting scent of his father either. No no. This scent while not entirely unknown, was still quite new to the boy. Selamuit let out a small cry of confusion. He wasn’t hungry enough for the scent of milk to dissuade him. He shuffled and whimpered, bumping his closest neighbour in his scuffle.

Kallik had decided from the beginning that eating was his favorite activity. He ate pretty much every chance he got, sometimes just because he liked the contentment and safety he felt while he was dong it. His preference for eating above all other things showed in the roundness of his belly and the pudginess of his limbs and neck. 

Eating was what he was doing now, blissfully unaware of the disruption that was soon to come. The food provider, and his personal favorite blob, suddenly moved. Kallik held on anyway and was lifted and pulled forward with her a little ways until he lost his grip and plopped back on the ground. Furious squeaks filled the den as he scooted around searching for the other blob; he was warm and comforting, too, but he never had anything for Kallik to eat and so had been rightfully dubbed the second favorite. 

The warmth that did finally surround him was different but the smell of food was instantly recognizable. His brother threw a fit beside him, but Kallik couldn't figure out why? He had already began to root around, finding the right spot with relative ease. This blob smelled vaguely familiar, but felt kind of different; it was a little confusing at first, but not enough to deter him. So, within seconds, he was re-latched and filling his belly again.

Ikiaq had not been, and would never be, good with change. He'd only been sleeping when their mother walked away, not eating, but was stirred further from his slumber when another body replaced her own. 

Excuse me?

This was weird, he firmly decided, and he did not approve. A few quick, noisy breaths came from his nose when the big shape pushed him toward her belly and he let out a sharp scream, face wrinkled up in displeasure. Where was his food bringer? Had they been abandoned to this new shape? Once again, his mother did not understand the protocol Iki had set up for himself, and his tenseness and trembling showed for it.

The combination of movement and Valette's milk coaxed Taktuq from her dozing. Although she knew something was up, as she knew that their current milk-bearer was not her mother, Taktuq was not one to decline a meal. Eagerly, she scooted herself forward in an attempt to find the most accessible nipple. 

Within moments, Taktuq had located the Matriarch's breast and began to feed; there was no shortage of milk from this new milk-bearer. Satisfied with the abundance of food, and taking full advantage of the situation, Taktuq ate more than she needed to satiate herself.

I want to keep this thread active, so @Nanook still welcome any time!

Valette watched the little ones as they got closer. She was not as familiar with their names yet as she would have liked. One seemed to be confused and not eager to latch on. Which was fine. She moved her nose closer and licked over him to soothe the young boy.

Two others were keenly latching on. That familiar feeling really soothed the Matriarch. She smiled at the two, when another also screamed. She moved her nose closer to the screaming boy. Perhaps he was cold, so she nudged him closer to her warm fur. Valette wouldn't mind fussing over the two boys and give them what they needed. "I know, it is all so strange," she chatted to them. She was not sure if Nanook talked to her pups but Valette always did.

This will probably be my only post! <3

Nanook watched her sister and her children with open curiosity. Each little one responded a little different than the next, but wholly in conformity to the personalities she had already seen in them. Taktuq's voracity, for starters. Ikiaq's fussiness. She supposed she understood. They had no real way of understanding the change she had forced on them, or that this change was good (and would be regular, she decided).

"They are silly, aren't they?" she said through a smile, "That is Ikiaq," she said, pointing now to the child her sister turned her focus, before she shifted, and nodded to each one in turn. "Taktuq, Kallik, Selamuit." In the quiet, with her sister, and the children between them, all was perfect... and yet, the most troubling weight settled over her heart.

"Valette," she said, and her eyes lingered from Selamuit, to Kallik, to greedy little Taktuq, and Ikiaq. "They are my children, but as they are mine, may they be yours," she paused -- with words unspoken, and words unknown. None seemed fitting, and all felt inappropriate for the happy time they were in together here. If not for the weight still hanging in her chest, she would have said nothing more -- but Nanook needed to hear her sister's word. "Protect them, when I cannot. Promise me."