we're a strange herd

Seeing Rava in pain and struggling through the birth of their children made his chest ache with worry and a bit of guilt at the fact that he had requested this of her to begin with. She had oh so graciously allowed him to live his dream of becoming a father at this great sacrifice and he would never be able to repay her for it. As what felt like endless minutes trudged on he continued to comfort and support his sweet Rava as much as he could, encouraging her on and making sure she took every treatment and herb Kiyo provided for her. He appreciated the reassuring glances from Kiyo as they went, that much at least keeping his own worry and concern in check in knowing that things were going normally—even if the effort and pain behind it made him wonder if that was really the case.

As soon as their first child came into the world, a daughter with stunning red and black dappled markings, he thought his heart might just stop as he laid his eyes on her for the first time. All the air got sucked out of his lungs as he looked at her in absolute awe. He glanced up at Kiyo as she beaconed him to come help clean up the pup and clear her airways and he scrambled over to do so, feeling as if he might break this delicate, beautiful girl if he licked or rubbed too hard. He followed his instructions to the letter, rubbing the girl dry and licking away any of the gunk that clung to her until finally her strong, squealing cries filled the room. He looked up at Rava and Void with a huge smile, tears gathering in his eyes as he placed the pup at Rava's side to start getting their first meal. He knew they were far from done, but just the fact that they had gotten this far, that they had proof to dispel Rava's fears, was such a huge relief.

They fell into a bit of a rhythm after that, Plague comforting Rava and being her encouragement while she worked through birthing the rest of their children, looking at each pup as if they were the single most precious thing in this entire world as they were passed to either him or Void to clean up. Each of their children took his breath away, each of their markings unique and showing off some trait of their parents and their linage, all of them more beautiful than he could have even hoped for. Two boys, two girls... Their family. The pups that he thought he would never get to have, the family that he had always dreamed of. Kiyo congratulated them when it was all over and he looked up at her with a grateful smile, unable to keep the joyful tears from his eyes. "Thank you," he told her with a little hitch in his voice, reaching up a foreleg to give her a quick embrace before he turned his attention back to Rava and the pups that laid at her stomach again. He shifted to curl around Rava, giving her his upper foreleg as a pillow and showering the top of her head and cheek in gentle kisses. She had given them the world and he knew he wanted to find some way to thank her, but right now nothing felt adequate. He looked up to Void with overwhelming love, motioning him over to lay around Rava as well, wrapping her and their new family in as much love and protection as he could muster.

Plague Abraxas-Destruction