Only the Beginning

Walk | Talk | Think

In another den, the happy mother Ocena and her beautiful new lives nestled close to one another, exchanging scents and settling in for their first meal. In another den, Mercianne had done just as she had promised. She had seen Ocena through to the end, had assisted her deliver the babes that she had been carrying for what felt like a considerably long time, and watched as they breathed in the same life that each of their siblings did. It had been so touching, so moving, that tears had stung her eyes in those last moments, and having assured herself that mother and children were happy and content and - most importantly - safe, she had gone, giving them their space and returning to her own den to nest and fidget and wait about expectantly for when it might be her turn.

But that turn had come much sooner than she had expected. It was only a few hours after the other mother had given birth that Mercianne began to feel the first stirrings of discomfort, of pain, and immediately she began to worry. Was this it? Was this the beginning of everything? A couple repeated, cramping pains assured her that it was. She had been unable to sit and rest inside of her den, had been pacing about nervously, lying down only to shift about, roll onto her opposite side, and then eventually give up and rise again, starting the whole process again from the beginning. Now she turned within the den, attempting with no luck to find a position that might be comfortable for her, but nothing seemed to do. She would only be comfortable once everything was finished.

Between spasms, she wondered if she ought not to call for Awaken the same way that Ocena had called for her. The wolf had been a surprisingly adept student, picking up on her techniques with herbs and plants even before she began consciously trying to teach him, but it had been so long since she had laid eyes on him. Would he even come? Was he even close enough to hear? In the end she had decided against it. Let someone else call him after the difficult part was over; the last thing she needed was him to pass out the same as he had done when she had told him she was pregnant.

A particularly hard contraction took hold of her, eliciting an unexpected whine from her lips. Oh goodness, if this is what Ocena had gone through, no wonder she had looked the way she had. It hurt. Suddenly there was less of an issue with comfort as she managed to make one more turn within her den before she lowered herself onto her side, breathing deeply and carefully. As the moment gripped her, a bit of her training was forgotten, the plants she had been so careful to pile up neatly going ignored as she adjusted to the new, painful sensations of birth. Again she was reminded of Erani's warning, the single fear that had surrounded Ocena and Gargoyle's litter: size. What if her pups, sired by the large male Awaken, were too large? What if complications arose for it? Now was hardly the moment to get caught up on her fears. She needed to concentrate on the spasms of her lower body, to breathe and remain as calm as she could. She had seen this done, she had trained in it. She was a mother; she had to do this.

A few more times she shifted, curling around inside the den and resettling herself on the soft floor of it. Painful contractions continued to wrack her body at increasing intervals. Despite how uncomfortable everything was, she thought she was progressing along well. Everything seemed right, felt right even if it hurt. This was it. She was actually going to have her puppies now.

And drawing in a few more quick breaths, unable to call for assistance or wait any longer, the difficult process began...

OOC: Alrighty. A few things. Merci's den is not nearly as large as Ocena's, so there will be a minimal amount of bystanders. Likely one if not two small ones as Awaken, who she planned to share the den with, is a decently sized wolf. Also, because I would really like a head count on pups, please do reply with your single birthing post. There's six of you, so I just want to make sure everyone's planning on keeping their pups active and are ready when they become playable. c: Wee, puppies!