Duskfire Glacier Racing ahead, into the light

Den discovery thread! For @Lane, @Imaq, @Rye & @Wintersbane. Back dated one week to May 20th. 

Site found here

Tzila had decided she had waited long enough. With the unborn pups developing and growing more with each day that passed, she knew it was time to start getting serious. Last year she had been a first time mother, and there were some things that she could have done differently. She had waited further into her pregnancy to find a den, but it had all worked out. This time, she would not delay. She wanted to be prepared. To have the time to make the space her own and customize it as she saw fit. She would go to any measure to ensure that when her new children came into the world, they would want for nothing.

She knew that she most certainly was not the only expectant mother in the pack. Lane was carrying pups too, just a little ahead of her in her term. To her surprise but pleasure as well, Imaq was also expecting. She hoped that the circumstances would bring the three of them closer together. She kept on the lookout for either of the females as she made a beeline for the caves. She had a personal mission today and it would be extra nice if she didn't go it alone.

@Rye as far as Rye's recovery goes, please message if I need to edit anything about his healing process.

As Tzila approached the caves with purpose, she would cross paths with Lane, traveling the opposite direction. Lane had just stopped in to cache some leftover supplies with their larger medical stores. Leftover supplies was a good problem to have, in Lane's book. It meant that her patient was healing more quickly than expected, and she had overestimated the amount of supplies required to treat the ailment. In this case, Rye was all but recovered. All that Lane could recommend now was rest, which was ironically both the easiest course treatment to administer as well as the hardest for patients to follow. Particularly for Rye. 

"Tzila, hey!" Lane greeted the guardian. Rye was lucky that Tzila had been so close by, on the day of the accident. No doubt their quick intervention was responsible in a big way for Rye's speedy recovery, and Tzila was to thank for her quick response in immediately alerting the pack's medics. 

"Rye's got a clean bill of health," Lane reported cheerfully, assuming an update was why the guardian had sought her out. "Just don't let him overdo it, okay? He still needs rest, and I don't want his scab to tear. It's healing cleanly at the moment." If Rye bled through his scab, it would mean another round of poultice-ing and bandaging, and Lane imagined they were both getting sick of that process by now.

lmk if I need to change something

In truth, he didn't want to rouse himself from a comfortable bed and warmth. Things were far easier to simply stay there and sleep the days away, catching up on all days of lost sleep in his early stay at the Glacier. However, responsibilities didn't get worked on by sleeping. Carefully, Rye hoisted himself from the ground with a few pain filled pulls of air through teeth. Once he steadied himself Rye checked his herbal cache for a painkiller but saw no familiar yellow hue amongst the greens. Pain throbbed in his shoulder as he stood there in disappointment. Eyes flickered between the discomforts of the outside world and the comforts of his warm den, weighing the pros and cons of both. Eventually it was decided he would venture from his home and try to find Lane. At surface level, it was to aid in helping him finding more pain killers but in the depths, it was to search for comfort. The days leading up to the present was filled with careful contemplation regarding Imaq. The woman may be mother to his pups, with that came the insurmountable amounts of unbridled fear. Wintersbane should have been his first go to, the large man appeared a veteran of life and surely helped bring forth children before, but Rye still held some contempt for the tundran. Lane was the only next logical step for the woodland man, their embrace had yet to be forgotten.  

Rye moved with a limp towards the center of the territory, refusing to let his shoulder to hold the weight it once could but hobbling on three legs everywhere wasn't easy; so he had to put some pressure onto it. Without the painkillers, pain ripped up and down his wound, its intensity stronger than Rye anticipated. Not debilitating but foregoing putting all his weight on his shoulder was preferable. A bothersome pain, the den called again with sweet relief but Rye wouldn't let temptation swoop him from his feet. He, at the very least, had to check in with Lane. 
A distant voice caught his attention while he limped, it was gargled nonsense but the woodland man could have sworn he heard his name. His ears moved like large radar dishes, eating up all the sounds it could catch. The owner of the voice couldn't be identified but the direction could, Rye wasted no time following the sounds. Soon Lane, then Tzila, came into view. To Ryes surprise, Lane was talking about him and his recovery. A cheeky grin sprouted on his lips, she may not appreciate him being up and around but that wasn't going to stop him from chatting with the two. Although, Rye was grateful to hear her concerns, they carried a heavy weight to them in importance. The same could be said with all his packmates. Together they had grown from a small clan into a fully fledged pack, he was proud to be apart of it.
Easy going as ever, Rye opened with something lighthearted. "Aww, I guess it's too much to play healer for little ol' me?" He teased, emerging from behind Lane, the same cheeky grin on his lips. He tried to keep his limp at bay, adding more weight to his shoulder, but before he could seat himself next to Lane, his limp returned as the last bits of resolve were crushed under the pain. The grin faded into a quiet hiss of pain as he sat down.

Bumping into Lane on her way to the caves turned out to be a pleasant surprise. As the tawny woman came into view from the direction in which she had been heading, her expression warmed. Followed by an equally warm greeting in turn. "Afternoon Lane. It is good to see you." She padded up to close some space between them, eyes briefly flicking down to her tummy. Curious to note how her own pregnancy was coming along compared to hers. Back when she lived on the coast last year, she had isolated herself from most of the other females. She tended to her needs alone, with the occasional help from Astaroth. Here in the tightly knit pack of Duskfire, it was different. She was a different person, finding herself wanting to be close with her pack mates.

Lane updated her on Rye's healing progress. She nodded. "I'm glad to hear he is well on the mend." She grinned some. "And I will try to keep an eye on him." She chuckled, remembering how much of a fight the woodlander had put up when he was first injured. He didn't seem like he would be the easiest of patients. Just at that moment, the very wolf Lane had been speaking of made an appearance. Up and about, limping. But not looking all that bad. "Hmph." She sniffed good naturedly, jesting. "Even healers sometimes need to be healed, Rye." How very true that was. "Though I get why you might want to be up, not resting. I was active through my pregnancy last year until the very end." She stated, declaring that she too, had been the restless type.

Just as Tzila promised to keep an eye on Rye, the voice of Rye himself sounded from behind Lane. She jumped in surprise. She turned, and then she was given the pleasure of taking in the full effect of Rye's cheeky expression. He'd absolutely intended to startle her. 

"--As if!" She replied to him. She stuck her tongue out, the absolute picture of maturity. Of course later, she'd come up with some brilliant retort, but right now she was still reeling a bit from his sudden appearance. 

Lane was doing her best to play it off, but there were nagging feelings that churned in the pit of her stomach at the sight of seeing Rye up and about. Of course she was concerned for his health and recovery, but even more than that... well.. it was just, the last time he'd gone out for a stroll, he came back smelling heavily of Imaq. And Imaq herself was smelling heavily of heat, that was impossible for anyone to ignore. Now that Lane had experienced the consequences of heat herself, she had no illusions for what must have occurred between the pair of hunters. 

What was Rye doing? Where was he going? Who was he seeing?

Not that Lane had any huge right to feel jealous... she carried Wintersbane's pups in her own womb, after all. Tzila was probably the one she should have felt jealous of, seeing as she had coupled with Wintersbane as well. Ironically enough, Lane felt nothing but solidarity with Tzila. She wished Tzila and Wintersbane all the best. It was Imaq's place she would have taken, if she could.

Tzila delivered a matter-of-fact comment on her pregnancy from the previous year, and Lane's ears jumped to attention. "You've had pups before?" Lane asked, her tone heavy with curiosity. Belatedly, she realized that it could be a delicate topic, and she hurried to add, "It's just that I've been looking for somewhere to den, and I don't know where to begin. ..I've never done this." She glanced quickly between the pair of slightly-older wolves. 

Perhaps Rye'd had pups before, too. Lane's stomach churned again.

Sorry for the wait, if I don't respond within 3 days go ahead and skip me please!

Rye joyfully returned with his own teasing face, doing similar to Lane but with his cheeks inflated with air. Quickly after, his attention followed that of his healer companion, to Tzila. Rye really did not have much to add to the conversation, aside from one question, he wasn't clueless to the pregnancy process but he wasn't as aware as he could've been. With Imaqs pregnancy basically all but confirmed the hotah was going to soak up as much useful information he could gain from anyone who offered it. "I'm a little interested as well, I've never been around a lot of pregnant women and I'm not entirely sure the processes of it all. Mind explaining in detail?" 

Lane was surprised that Tzila had been pregnant before. Rye was just as interested. She nodded, confirming what she had said. "Of course. I don't mind." Her silver eyes drifted ahead, towards the mouth of the caverns awaiting in the distance. "Mind if I explain on the way? I really want to try and settle on a secure site for the pups, when they are older." She flashed a small smile, sure that Lane, as an expecting mother, would understand.

Provided that they fell in stride alongside her, the red caped woman moved steadily, tail cutting carefree swipes behind her. "This will be my second pregnancy. Last year, I conceived as well. Only...the circumstances were a little different. It was more of a...spur of the moment sort of thing. The man was a little younger than me. We sort of crushed on each other but never fully committed." Her brows pinched slightly. She had no ill feelings towards Astaroth, well aware that he felt strongly for another at the time as well. "To his credit, he did stick around until I whelped. I gave birth to one live infant. A boy." She huffed dryly. "Last year I was a little reckless. Active until the very end. I might have even pushed myself too far. But, I've learned from that experience. I'm trying to take it easy this time around. I won't say it isn't hard though. It is not like me to just sit and do nothing. But it is for them." She referred to the pups. Her eyes softened, landing on Lane and Rye. "And I know you...all of you care."

Rye returned his own mocking version of Lane's silly face, which worked wonders to chase away Lane's inner turmoil. She might have escalated things with a playful snap, if it wasn't for sensible Tzila's presence. 

As it was, the interaction gave way to a more practical leaning. The group walked, and Lane listened to what was intended to be a lesson on pregnancy but in reality turned into more of a history on Tzila. Lane didn't mind; she was eager for information on either topic. 

Lane could certainly identify with a spur-of-the-moment conception. Tzila hadn't indicated that it had been entirely accidental, as Lane's had been, but the first-time mother still felt a surge of solidarity. See, even a down-to-earth wolf like Tzila got carried away and made rash decisions!

Lane's eyes cut sideways toward Rye at the mention of the "crush." What did he think of that part? Is that what happened with him and Imaq? Were they crushes? Lane was desperate to know. 

Where was Tzila's little boy now? Was it polite to ask? 

The part about "pushing herself too far" triggered a guilty squeeze of Lane's heart. Did Tzila know that she was planning a scout's trip to Moonglow? Is that why this was mentioned? Lane was aware of the risks. She would be careful, she would take it slow. She just wasn't quite ready to give up entirely on her own desires yet, despite the precept that she was supposed to only think of the children now. Lane hadn't asked to get pregnant! She hadn't wanted this!

"When do you start feeling them move?" Lane inquired, voicing aloud the safest question of the many she wanted to ask. She was probably four weeks along by this point, which was nearly halfway through the pregnancy! Shouldn't they be moving around by now? Were her kids just lazy or something?

Their search took them into Duskfire Caverns, which surprised Lane a bit. She didn't typically think of caves as places where live things grew and flourished. But Tzila was the second-time mother, and she seemed optimistic that they would find a good spot within caverns. Lane hadn't the experience to know that a safe, cool, enclosed location was exactly what she would need in the coming months. She had no idea of knowing how many times she would come to silently thank Tzila for convincing her to den here, when everywhere else in the territory was boiling in the summer heat wave.

just gonna archive since this is ancient

He felt like an old man. Every joint popped, ached and scrubbed against their respective sockets each step. It was rather embarrassing and made him change gaits in hopes of alleviating the joints, but that only increased their frequency. Not to mention increase his pain. Accepting his hastened age due to the injury, Rye moved his attention back to the conversation. Lanes small glace didn't go unnoticed, for Rye was already doing much the same but without any thoughts closely following. Her sideways gaze caught him by surprise and Rye pretended to be staring at something off in the distance, though if his ruse worked, he wouldn't ever truly know.
Rye nodded with Lanes question, curious about that too. Adding, "Oh and what can I do to help ease the pain of labor or birth? Or would it be best to leave everyone alone?" He had heard stories from his own father about getting ejected from the den while his mother labored and Rye didn't want any part of that.  

Posting a conclusion.

The new parents were full of questions, and Tzila would no doubt answer them to the best of her knowledge, putting both the expectant mother and nervous father at greater ease.  

With Tzila and Rye at her side (as unlikely as a trio as that may be), Lane would enter the Greyfall Caverns and judge each chamber until the perfect one was found. Around every bend, Lane would try to visualize what it would look like for her pups to be nestled in this nook or that cranny. Thank God for Tzila; she had a good eye for spaces and several times urged Lane and Rye to keep looking, even when they thought they'd found a good spot. 

In the end, it was Tzila that found the beautiful central chamber, with light streaming in from a crack in the ceiling above. It was perfect. The mothers would dig their individual rooms off of this communal chamber, and eventually all of their pups would be able to socialize in the sunny, communal playroom.