Relm had been out on a hunt in the evening, going about her usual duties which was providing to the stores when she wasn't running patrols or giving time to herself. But lounging around relaxing was a far task she wanted to be in because these days she tried to fill her mind with anything but her inner thoughts. She did struggle a lot with her relationship and situation with Alastor, but she tried her best to hide it. She may not have told him how much she wanted to be in Manea's steps beside him, but he was sure to know the feelings that resided around it. She didn't want to be anywhere else but beside him, even at the cost of her emotional life.

She had been feeling off for about a week or so, she just felt like her body had changed somehow inside but also in a way outside. She didn't think much of it really. With her upcoming heat season around the corner, while not her first, she had expected changes that she may not have known. She still made her way through the days, trying to stay out of her head that seemed to be more anxious and down than normal. She tried to take things a little easier too because she felt a little weaker at times. Nothing she was worried about.

She had drug back a deer from her hunt when she had picked up on the smell of her own blood that was coming from behind her and that did cause her to worry a little bit being more physical than her other symptoms but she didn't jump to any obvious conclusions. It wasn't until she was making her way around the lake that she had a near dreadful sharp pain right in the core of her stomach. She stopped for a moment, nothing but a look on her face as it passed and before she could take another step it hit her again. She grunted nearly silently, there was no one around to hear or see her at least. Usually she'd just ride it out and let whatever was wrong with her pass on her own, but as time went on she didn't know what was happening to her while the pain was getting increasingly worse and fading out again. Her pain tolerance was high, and maybe it was just getting numbing as she made her way over to the communal healing areas.

When she got there she didn't panic or run around looking for anyone, that wasn't like her. Instead taking a careful step inside, unknowingly shivering slightly from the pain and shock coming over her. Of course she didn't even call out for whoever may have been here.

"Relm"

It was difficult acclimating to her new home. It was strange to even consider this place home. Ashen was where her heart was, but she would have to divide that heart in two. She had a duty and an obligation to Manea to do her best for Elysium. So what did Ikigai do to distract herself from such troubling thoughts? She threw herself into her work, of course.

As a healer in training, Iki was becoming familiar with the newly constructed infirmary. One of the many mountainside caves had been designated for the healing arts. There were fur pallets on one side and natural stone shelving that held many different tools and supplies. There were jars of herbs, all carefully labeled and stacked neatly. All in all, it was a decent start. Over time, more would be added, of course.

Just as Iki was placing a clean batch of bandages within a whicker basket, the sound of claws on stone pulled her attention. A woman stood there, one that she didn't know. The scent of blood was thick on her and, as Iki visually inspected the fae, she could see a trail of red behind her. Concern furrowed the young woman's brow and she motioned for the black and pink wolf to come forward. "My name is Ikigai. What happened?" She sought to gather information from the woman as she ushered her to one of the beds of furs.

"Iki"

As Ikigai had been here cleaning up the shelves and areas of the new cave infirmary here, Relm hadn't known her obviously. But she had grown to trust those inside Elysium even in the fact that she had never met them before. She was hard to get to know really, but that didn't mean she was against being around anyone. She was mostly just hard on herself. But right now this moment, that was far from her worries. Even just by first appearance, Ikigai was easy to be comfortable around.

In a quivered breath she realized herself just how much she may have been working through or ignoring what was happening to her, but for the most part kept her cool. "I don't.. know. I'm bleeding." Stating the obvious, but she wouldn't think or want to think much further than that. Because maybe in the back of her mind she was hiding behind a naivety. She knew enough to see what was happening to her, but she didn't want to. She was blocking out the worst and inevitable, because to her none of that could simply be true.

She carefully made her way to the bedded cot Ikigai had motioned her to, she'd be a good patient at least even if she would have initially dragged out her symptoms on her own. "I don't remember hurting myself while I was out." Her eyes closed as she cringed from the sharp pain in her stomach, still seeming like it was getting easier to pass with every faux contraction.

"Relm"

As the woman came forward to place herself on the cot, Ikigai took a closer look. The blood smelled bad and was quite dark. It was coming from under the fae's tail. The location of the bleeding plus the sense of shock that the wolf was in led Iki to believe one thing. "I'm sorry, but you're having a miscarriage," the pale fae spoke softly, dark ears slicking backwards. Did the woman even know that she had been pregnant? That might explain the lack of understanding, or perhaps it was simply disbelief.

Moving to the shelves of herbs, Ikigai collected a few that would help with pain, others to help with contractions so that the woman could expel the remnants within her, and a few that would help her rest. She was going to need it. Once those were ground down, Iki mixed them with a dollop of honey and placed the small dish before the woman. "Eat this.... Uh, I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Once the mixture was gone, Iki would go about cleaning the woman up.

"Iki"

She felt like her whole body went still when Ikigai told her she was having a miscarriage. But really she wasn't. She was still in that shiver of shock from the physical things happening to her. Still she held her breath at least, maybe it was prominent because she was shaking. She wasn't really all that surprised she guessed. Everything had come together in her head up from about a week ago to what she was experiencing now. She just didn't want to see it. She didn't want to believe it. She wouldn't know the consequences of having Alastor's children, but she knew it wouldn't be a good thing. Not for Manea, maybe not for him either. It wasn't something she had to worry about now, clearly.

She was stuck in a dark loop as if she was somewhere completely different than here on the cot until Ikigai gave her some mixed herbs. She wouldn't refuse. Maybe she was reacting pretty well for a woman who just learned she lost children, but so much more was going on inside her head. She was never really good at showing or speaking emotions.

She took the herbs without question, a near silent sigh leaving her lips as Ikigai had asked her name. Or maybe she didn't ask, she was just being polite. Relm couldn't say she knew who she was either. "Uh, Relm." She laid back a little more in the cot as another contraction came to pass. The only thing on her mind now was the thought of Alastor walking in. She hoped to god he didn't. She wanted to keep it to herself. "I need to... keep running patrols." Maybe it was something silly to respond in these circumstances. But she needed to act like everything was fine. She needed to keep moving into her routine so nothing would seem off about her. From the eyes of Alastor that was. She wasn't going to jump up right now to go do her duties, but there would be no one to stop her starting... tomorrow she thought.

"Relm"

Once the woman ate the herbs, it would be easier for her to expel the remainder that was left within her. Ikigai was patient, offering soft affirmations to the fae as her contractions continued, then eventually ceased. She'd given her name as Relm and the black and white woman nodded in acceptance before moving back an forth through the room to dispose of the bloodied rags.

Upon returning to the occupied cot, the woman said that she needed to continue patrols. Ikigai shook her head. "Absolutely not." Though a very kind woman, Iki's voice was authoritative, despite being soft. "You need to be on bed rest. Doing patrols now could cause damage. Your body needs to rest and recover." Perhaps it was the shock that was making the woman think irrationally.

"Is there anyone that you'd like me to fetch for you?" Then, for the sake of discretion, she added, "We can always say that you have an illness and you need to be quarantined for a time while you heal. No one would be the wiser." Iki was giving the fae options. One thing was certain though, there would be no patrols.

"Iki"

Relm's ears pulled back slightly as the woman insisted she needed to be on bedrest. She wouldn't say anything else about it, but she was already predetermined not to make anything too suspicious. Relm would work through the contractions as they continued, and over time started to fade out to become more bearable but there was still that lingering pain and trauma regardless. It did make her feel weak all over, and a little sick too. But she held out the best she could.

As Ikigai had asked if there was someone to call for her, she didn't react much other than the way she had the whole time. Some shock, just a little panic. "No, I don't have anyone." Her voice was quiet, maybe edging on a bit of embarrassing but she was really struggling to navigate exactly how she felt in this time. She wasn't lying when she told, because she didn't have anyone for this. She was sure Alastor would have been here for her regardless of the nature of their relationship, but because of that she didn't want him to know. She didn't want anyone to know, she would have to settle for just Ikigai.

She took another moment in thought because she was trying to be wise with what Ikigai was telling her. Making herself worse may have brought more attention and she supposed she could go with the idea that she was just sick or injured for the time being. But still, she needed to find a way around Alastor because she knew he could see right through her at least with how vulnerable she was in this exact moment. There seemed to be no other way though, "Alastor needs to find someone to fill my shifts." She was starting to regret secluding herself into the pack because the only other she could think to talk to personally was Kichi, and it would be too much to ask him to cover all of her patrols until she could take them back herself.

"Relm"

The woman answered quickly that she had no one and Iki could see the tumultuous emotions flit over her white masked face. Perhaps this wasn't supposed to happen. Was this pregnancy a secret? It wasn't her duty to delve into such matters. It was simply her duty to care for the woman until she was healed. If Relm insisted on continuing her patrols, Ikigai would be forced to pull in outsiders to make the woman sit still.

A moment later, Relm said that Alastor would need to be notified so that her shifts could be filled and Iki released a sigh of relief. "Don't worry about that. I'll take care of it. You just focus on getting better." Iki cleaned up the last of the blood and put things back where they went. Once she was sure that Relm was no longer bleeding and the herbs had kicked in enough for her to walk, Iki helped the large fae to her paws. "I'll tell Al that you're sick and that it's contagious, but not life threatening. It should keep everyone away for a little while while your body heals and you regain your strength." With her shoulder against Relms, she walked the woman back to her den to make sure that she got there safely. "I'll deliver herbs daily, but I'll warn everyone else away, okay?"

"Iki"