When it all comes crashing down

It didn't take long before the thundering sound of Saracyn's heavy paws racing toward the den reached her ears and soon enough his crimson and black form came skidding in through the entrance to their bedroom just as another heavy wave of contractions began to grip her once more. She whined loudly and grasped at his paw as he settled down beside her, pressing her face into the fur of his chest with gritted teeth as she desperately leaned into her mate for comfort. She heard him whisper to Irilyth about it being too early for the pups to be on their way and made her heart wrench in her chest. That fact was true, but it was so much worse than that and she wasn't sure she had the strength to break the news to him and see the utter devastation on his face. She couldn't respond regardless at first as she rode out the swiftly moving contractions, eventually letting out a shaky, panting breath as her muscles relaxed for a moment. "T-they're gone, Sara," she managed quietly even though she wasn't able to make herself meet his gaze, her voice weak and hollow with a grief that had not yet fully cemented itself in her mind as real.

Her labor moved fast, certainly faster than she had expected, and pain lanced through her as her contractions continued marching on regardless of the havoc it was causing her. The medicines that Irilyth had given her that were supposed to help with the pain and to make things go more smoothly did seem to take the worst of the edge off, but it was like dulling a pointed rock before she was dropped onto it. There was something else beyond the loss of their children going on, but before any of that could be addressed she had to suffer through their birth. Panting raggedly and gripping with both paws to one of Saracyn's forelegs, she began to push with her contractions as soon as she felt like she should. Irilyth certainly hadn't lied when she said that her body would know what to do even though this unusual scenario. Pushing made the pain worse and her eyes watered as she gripped harder to Sara's foreleg, her claws biting lightly into his skin as every muscle flexed and tensed. She didn't realize her whines had built into screams until after she felt the first pup slide free and she could have a single moment of reprieve where she could gasp and pant, hiding her face away in Sara's fur as she trembled lightly from the effort her body had just exerted.

The process repeated itself, Avacyn fully disassociating with herself and the situation she found herself trapped in, until two still, lifeless pups were born. Thankfully they were far enough along to be fully recognizable as pups even if they were certainly smaller than they should have been–one more so than the other. Even though Irilyth tried to keep her from seeing them, she still lifted her head with exhaustion and insisted on seeing them when it was all said and done. They were gone and there was no saving them now, but these were still their children and she wouldn't pass up her only chance to say goodbye. Giving Sara a glance, she looked over to their pups that were laying partially bundled up in one of the furs Irilyth had brought. They were a blend of the two of them from what parts of their fur she could see, some dark purples and reds peeking through among the black, but her stomach twisted as she saw the misshapen skull of one and a fully missing limb on another. The one whose skull had not formed properly was noticeably smaller and it made her wonder if one had passed on before the other. She lifted a tired paw to gently rub across their backs through the soft fur they were wrapped in, her gaze distant and not quite focusing on any one thing in particular. "I want to burry them with you," she told her mate quietly, swallowing past a tightness in her throat. "Don't go without me."

"Avacyn Mendacium"