OOC: sort of on the outskirts/border of ebony. all olympus family/pack members and ebony pack members are welcome [:

She is filled with the need to wander, and maybe that is dangerous so late into her pregnancy. Weary limbs carry her far, and she finds herself extremely alert of her surroundings. Virgil knows what is coming soon; she knows that her bastards will be born onto this earth soon enough and she cannot help that she is so filled with the need to draw near the woman she loves. When she arrives at the borders she is exhausted, her sides cramping with urgency that instincts force her to recognize. She finds a sheltered place, an unused den that she supposes will have to make due for now. Heavy lids close over amber eyes as contractions rip through her sides, face creasing upwards with severe pain as she lets it all wash over her. ?Raisa,? she calls out quietly, perhaps too quiet for any to hear. She feels fearful now; what if Raisa would not want her here? What if her family grow offended that their heirs will not be born within their lands? Alas, as another waves of contractions overtake her, she cannot find it in herself to complain. Table by Lu - Image by Poison - Code for Ala Only

-Pops in- Never done a birthing but here goes nothing...

The white Sola had gotten a good nights rest the night before and had no nightmares. She was happy for a bit and convinced she could make it through Raisa's birthing that would be any day now... apparently not the only one either. The faintest and most familiar scent caught her nose and her eyes widened. Oh shit. She thought to herself as she raised her muzzle and called for her queen. She ran to the area and panicked. She then calmed down and stayed focused. "Deep breathes." She said as she arrived. However Elsa was not talking to the mother giving birth. She was talking to herself. It was her time to prove that she could do this. She thought about the herbs she might need there in case. She could not leave the mother until Raisa arrived. Even if the stores were less than minutes away. "normal. talk. think. you"

Nat had had a hunch, and Helios had been inclined to believe her. Virgil had grown restless, a symptom the man remembered from his wife?s own pregnancy and certainly the golden girl had looked like she would burst any day, so heavy with child. At his wife?s request the man had tailed the expectant mother, Natalya was gathers up what herbs she could and would be with him shortly. He frowned at his niece moved closer and closer to an neighboring pack, though he would hold back any judgement, he was sure she had her reasons even if he didn?t really agree with the end result.

The girl seemed to have found an unused den and Helios hesitated he would wait for a bit, only was it when a snowy form made it?s way towards her location did he spring into action. Ears pulled back and hackles raised her approached the stranger. He would not let a stranger get too close to his niece, moving quickly he placed himself in front of the alabaster woman, blocking her path to the den entrance.

?Natalya will be here soon with herbs.? He called back at the den, never taking russet eyes off of the woman before him. ?In the meantime?? He muttered to himself gaze running over the snowy stranger sizing her up. ?Who are you?? He asked, not completely hostile but not very friendly either. Right now he was all Virgil had and he would protect her with his life.

talk, think

Mouth full of leafty, nasty green herbs Natalya had told him was "Motherwort" Hermes skidded to a suddenly halt outside the birthing den. Nat had described to him the herb's scent, warning him not to trust too much in his eyesight as the eyes could be so easily deceived and the wrong plant could be dangerous. He'd only hoped he'd grabbed the correct herb and enough of it.


Gently he set the herbs down. "Has mother returned? I gathered the motherwort as she asked." A call rang out and Hermes flinched. They'd been discovered. A few moments later a strange white wolf suddenly appeared with ice blue eyes. She smelt of the land Virgil had made her den in and Hermes could not, for the life of him, understand why she was having the pups so far from Olympus territory and on another packs land. Had she been traveling when the labor happened? Why was she traveling at all so pregnant? Hermes scowled softly. Virgil and her secrets were going to kill him.


Helios reprimanded the femme but Hermes strode toward her. "Please, miss. I know we're on your land but our alphess has gone into labor. Please?" if the pack wanted to annihilate them it would be all to easy.


talk, think

The black-masked female was scouting along the borders once more, though she'd pulled back and was on her way back to the main part of the packlands when something caught her attention. A scent, a gut feeling, a quick prod from Freya saying 'stop and look'. She slithered cat-like up an unusually large boulder, coming to rest with her body pressed flat against it just as the body of a heavily pregnant female trudging past to curl up in an abandoned densite. There was little doubt in her mind at how to deal with an intruder, but she was aware that her new queen preferred a more... subtle hand, and she had a brief debate with herself as to how she should handle the situation. But the pale pelt of one of her packmates appeared beneath the tree as well - the situation would likely be under control, though the female's panicky motions did little to raise Katja's confidence. Still, she could remain silent backup until... Ah. Another intruder, a male and by the scent of it the same pack as the pregnant female, had leaped in front of the Ebony female. Katja was already moving, silently hopping from rock to rock, moving ever closer but taking care to keep her shadow from flashing over them, or the wind from carrying her scent. She couldn't hear what the male was saying, but he didn't seem to be truly hostile. But another wolf of the stranger's pack appeared, claiming the laboring wolf to be their alpha. Again, there was no overt aggression, but Katja now judged that the other wolf was sorely outnumbered and in need of assistance. So she rose gracefully from her prone position, took the bare handful of steps to the edge of the boulder that brought her closest to the strangers, and silently dropped down next to the strangers. "If your alpha this is, why would this be her place of choosing for birthing?" she asked bluntly as her presence became known. Not that she doubted that the wolf was their alpha; it was certainly one of many possible outcomes. She just couldn't imagine why anyone would want to give birth on someone else's territory. Granted she couldn't imagine wanting to give birth, at all, but... She fixed the two males with her gold-flecked eyes, her no-nonsense stare demanding an answer even as she continued. "Assist your woman's birth, if you please, but we will attend as well. Surely you to understand the why. Wolves of Ebony are we. Katja Finnvi, I. And who is it that here we find?" "Speech."

Raisa's ears pricked the sound of Elsa's call, and she moaned. So the gods do have a sense of humor... She could feel the alarm in the air, the desperation, oh something was terribly wrong. She lounged at the base of her den, no longer in a condition to climb to the top, and closed her eyes in a long blink. She should not go, she should not heed, but she must. Her body was telling her things her mind could not quite comprehend but one thing she could ascertain. Today was the day. It was her own time to settle, to retreat to her den and wait out the bloody, agonizing, shit-filled miracle that was birth. Yet she rose, some force other than instinct or common sense driving her forward. Her going was slow, painfully slow. Gingerly she stepped worried that the slightest exertion might bring her labor upon her. The sooty queen had never birthed before of course, but she was not so base as to let fear over come her. So she let her jaw, gritted her teeth, and pressed on. It was not long as all before the scent of strangers washed over her nose. Strangers, and three that were oh-so-familiar. Elsa, Katja, and... Raisa gasped and, good sense forgotten, broke into a trot. Her lack of grace was all that restrained the Queen as she rushed headlong into the gathering. "Virgil!" Her voice rang out, clear and frantic. The smell of a birth-to-be was thick in the air, the labor, all of it. Raisa wove in between strangers and Ebony wolves alike, trying frantically to come to the woman's side. She didn't know what the woman was doing there, why she had come, none of it, only that she was in need. Raisa tipped back her head and let loose a summoning howl, drawing forth any wolf to help, to guard her love, to bring her comfort, anything. Raisa had never been so scared. "Talk" "You" Think

The man had been on a herb hunt when Lady Raisa called him. As of late he had been keeping two trillium plants with him at all times as the queen was pregnant and he didn't intend on waisting precious time running back to his den to retreave it. At this point he had several herbal plans held gently between his teeth.

The urgency in Raisa's call drew him quickly from his hunt. In a sprint he made his way to her, though he was very calm and collected the unknown scents at the boader with his queen made him move even faster. The summer heat was beating down and missersble. A birth out in the open would be extremely uncomfortable for the mother. He could only hope that Raisa wasn't haveing her children out in the open.

An unused den surrounded wolves was not exactly what he'd wanted to see. The den gave a sense of releaf however the wolves that surrounded it gave way to worry. He could not panic, not now. He shoved through the crowd and into the den where the scent of laborious smacked him in the face.

As soon as he saw that it was not his queen who was in labor he was greatful and his fear for her lowered. The fact that Elsa was there was good. Immediately he sad the herbs down and dug out one of the trillium plants and placed it infringe of the woman giving birth. He did not know this woman but with the way Raisa was acting, he knew she was someone Raisa cared for deeply.

"Eat this my lady, it will help to ease your pain, I cannot give you more than this and it will not take away all of the pain but it will make it more barrible." his voice was deep but it held confidence and a calming tone that the mother needed to hear.

He would turn to Elsa and his blue eyes would be that of a friend "Elsa my dearfriend, I do not. wish to send you away but I need anything you might have to help the pupsif there are any problems, I wish to be prepared for anything." he would then turn to Raisa "My lady, I need for you to remain calm. As you havethe commanding rank here. I need you to ensure that this mother to be has her space, we need not panick her she must be as calm as possible or oissues could occure."

Maximous could not command her to do anything, he would only hope that she would do as he asked.

Isi hadn't been all that far away upon hearing Elsa's call and then the Queen's. She had ignored the first, it clearly hadn't been for her though at the second found herself frozen for a moment. Now she wasn't sure if she should go and find them or not, as in her experience unless it was a meeting, she was best to just ignore any requests for help; she wasn't typically appreciated. Of course though this wasn't old Ebony and Raisa did sound rather distressed and Isi was close and rather curious now. She covered the short distance rather swiftly and soon enough found herself amongst fellow Ebony members and strangers, though to be honest even the wolves of Ebony weren't all that familiar to her. Having never been present for any birth besides her own, Isi was certainly of no use here nor could she really recognise what was going on, just that the tension in the air certainly made sense with how distressed Raisa had sounded. Her gaze shifted between each of the wolves that were present and certainly found herself feeling somewhat out of place here. "Raisa called..." The girl was normally quite full of confidence though wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself. "Shall I just go, or do I need to be here?" She looked to anyone to an answer, perhaps even an excuse now to get out of the awkward situation she'd walked right into.

Elsa looked the man in the eyes and spoke in a cold tone. "Elsa Winterfell, Sola healer of Ebony. I suggest you let me pass so I can make sure nothing goes wrong with the birth." She said pushing past the man to examine the situation. Soon Maximous arrived and before she could give him an order he kinda did his own thing. "Maximous I need you to get..." He cut her off asking her to get all she could and she got slightly irritated. "You go get them Maximous, I can make sure things go well over here. I should have everything in the stores." She said before whispering in the man's ear. "I need to keep Raisa calm. It appears this is one of her friends and I know her better." She gave him a look before attending to things. "normal. talk. think. you"

She had known she wouldn't make it in time. The journey was long, the terrain was difficult, and Poe had only just arrived back to give her the location of the herbs she sought, luckily in time for her to send her son to retrieve them as she ventured north. Natalya then made haste with her raven as her guide, cursing her blindness for the first time in seasons. No matter how skilled she was in dealing with her difficulty, she could not make travel any faster. Feeling out the ground took time, as did relying on someone else's eyes but the raven was an exceptional communicator and helped her along at a decent clip.



The scene Natalya arrived to was chaotic. Wolves of Ebony were scattered among the few family members present, and it appeared that the Ebony alphess had come to join Virgil in the wonder of childbirth. Nat was unable to avoid the shake of her head at the situation. Virgil was not a stupid girl, but she still had much to learn. She was a bold leader, and a strong one at that. She was also impulsive and often made decisions without considering any of the repercussions. It was how her family had ended up in conflict with Ludicael and the reason they now struggled to assist their matriarch in childbirth at a land on the opposite side of Alacritia from their home. Hopefully motherhood would tame the girl a bit. After all, she was still young with a lot of life ahead of her. The lessons would never stop coming.



I'm sorry that I'm late, she breathed as Poe perched on her shoulder. Hermes, thank you for retrieving the motherwort, you did well. Everyone please back away to give the healer room to help them. Miss Elsa, is there anything that we can do to help you?






talk, think

and quoth the raven, "nevermore"

OOC: 3 of virgil?s kids can post their posts now :] if anybody wants to be the last born let me know, and you can post after virgil?s next post prolly. [:

She is afraid, more than she is willing to admit. She hides it behind her pain, behind her tense muscles and deep growls. The first to greet her is a stranger, and her first instinct is to tense, but the scent of Ebony wafts into her nostrils and she resists more than revealing a single tooth for a moment. She is demanded to take deep breaths, and she obliges. Next to come is Helios and Hermes, the latter carrying herbs of some sort. A strange ebony woman arrives, inquiring why Virgil came here. The golden woman knows it is reckless, but she also cannot help but want to be with Raisa. She has always dreamed of being with her lover when she births her children, and even now during her unconventional pregnancy and unconventional love (by Olympus standards, as far as she is aware), she still desires that. It is not long before Raisa comes, and Virgil relaxes. ?Raisa,? she rasps, desperate, seeking to press her head into the woman?s soft fur. ?I wanted them to know you,? she says quietly. She wants them to know their second mother from the moment they enter this world. Another healer comes, telling her to eat an herb. Virgil complies, trusting in the members that Raisa herself trusts. The healers seem to have a disagreement, and then the Empress?s Centurion arrives. ?Aunt Nat, I?m sorry,? she mumbles. She knows she ought not to wander so far, that she has caused her family a bit of strife lately, but she cannot help it. Things have soured lately, and no mater her composure, Virgil is not taking it well in the least. Alas, her sides contract heavily, and soon she brings three bundles of fluff into the world. Gory details spared, she loving cleans them, until her body contorts once more. She pants, frantic, pain turning her vision white. Something is wrong, and she is panicking, and she does not know what to do. She feels the abyss pull, the dark of unconsciousness luring her in, but she resists. She cannot give up. ?H-help,? she says, noises of distress parting from her lips. OOC: for the healer-types: basically the last pup is the wrong way round ^^ Table by Lu - Image by Poison - Code for Ala Only

Pressure, unimaginable amounts of pressure was all the girl would know. That and warmth, it was all she could feel. Her belly was filled from within and she would only hear the white noise of within her mother's womb. The pressure would continue to increase around her, until finally at her breaking point sudden total release would expose her ashen grey form. As her birth sac would be cleaned from her body a strangled cry would ring out from the tiny girl as she was ushered to her mother's teat. Greedy jaws would take hold and begin to suckle, settling her qualms of her new surroundings. She would suckle until she was almost ready to burst, then slowly fall asleep in the warmth of her mother's belly.?

talk, think

if i haven't replied to you in a while, remind me [here]

The world was changing. That much the girl was aware of as she felt the space around her growing smaller. She wriggled in discontent for the situation, disturbing the typically peaceful life she had lived whilst growing in her mother's womb. The fight was useless though, eventually she was expelled into a far larger world. Deaf and blind for now she knew nothing of the wolves surrounding her, though a cry would leave her lungs as she took her first breath once the sac had been torn free from her. The noise would calm slightly as she felt the loving licks cleaning her, not quite sure what the attention really meant though instinctively knowing it was nothing to fear. With guidance the little golden girl would find her way to Virgil's stomach, nestling and beginning to feast until eventually, nestling into her mother and other siblings, she would drift off to sleep.

Hephaestus

Warm and safe in his mother's womb, just one squirming shape surrounded by other squirming shapes, he was content. He didn't realize he was content, or what that even meant, until his serenity was interrupted by a subtle squeezing motion. Not like the kicks of the other squirming shapes he had been enduring since the confines of their world had shrank around them, no. As time passed - though he had no real concept of time - the squeezing grew harder, more uncomfortable, but he could not squirm away from it. It squeezed him against the other squirming shapes, pushing him, forcing him into a smaller tunnel away from the squirming shapes who had long been his comfort until he couldn't even kick in protest any longer.

A moment of crushing, squeezing terror, and suddenly he was freed of the tunnel. Freed, but not returned to his squirming shapes and the comfort of his watery world - suddenly the world was huge, and cold, and lonely, and he cried for his squirming shapes. Where were they? Where was he? His voice rose for the first time in a squeaky, lonely wail as he discovered air flooding his lungs for the first time instead of fluid. What was this? What was happening?

Something prodded his squirming form and he flailed in protest, but the prodding continued to guide him. What was this warmth? This soft, fluffy warmth that tickled his nose and made him sneeze? It was not like the liquid warmth of his world but it awoke an instinct in him, and he rooted around in the soft fluffy warmth until he could latch on to something. And suddenly warmth! In his mouth! Delicious sustenance! He settled down to nurse with a single-minded seriousness.



"Speech"

Olympus

OOC: Release the hounds! Go forth, Raisa pups!

It may have been five wolves, it may have been fifty, but Raisa paid no more than one any mind. She rushed to Virgil's side and laid beside her, burying her nose in the woman's mane. The cacophony of noise and voices around her was no more than white noise, a faint ringing in her ears. Her vision had tunneled until nothing more than a single point of love and fear and longing existed in her field of view. The golden goddess let her name loose into the air and the queen's senses stood on point. Anything the woman needed, anything, and it would be hers. "I wanted them to know you," she said. Raisa felt weakness spread through her limbs and chest, softening her with strange emotions she could not easily name. To know Virgil's children... To know her love's children... Yes, yes, what a marvelous thing that would be. "I'm here for you Virgil, I'm right here." In an instant a flash of color played behind her eyes, showing her own grey and white and auburn children frolicking with the golden younglings not long for Virgil's womb. It seemed so nice, so tranquil... A lancing pain shot through her abdomen, consuming and greedy. Raisa tried to stand from the shock of it, to get away from the villian that was tearing at her, but upon her attempt her legs simply buckled. With a groan she rolled over onto her side, and began to pant. No, she thought. No, no, not now! Everyone was here for Virgil, it was Virgil who needed the attention, the help! Raisa pleaded with the gods to stay her children from their emergence, to refrain! But it seemed that her prayers went unanswered. The heaving of her gut only intensified, and she whimpered with the onslaught. She had never felt anything half so horrible as this, and she regretted instantly the coupling that had brought these pups to fruit. With a particularly sharp pain the sooty queen cried out, her agony intense and inescapable. Her head began to swim with it, and it was all she could do not to sink. "Talk" "You" Think

He lay his ears back at Elsa as he had to remind himself that he was not the Master sola, he did not have the right to push her around. He was going to open his mouth to tell her now was not the time to have such a disagreement but the sound for help from the other alpha drew him instantly away from Elsa.

Max automatically had assumptions as to what the problem was. The next pup was either too large to pass through without difficulty or it was facing the wrong way and its legs were caught. The moment he pressed his large paw gently to the woman's abdomen he knew the second assumption was correct. The child was facing the wrong way. Both mother and child were in great danger and Maximous was afraid to harm the mother, his jaws were too large to pull the child free without causing her more pain and possible panic.

"Fine Elsa if your going to stay, you have to make yourself useful. My jaws are too large to pull the pup out without causing her more pain than necessary. Yours are much smaller and will cause less pain than mine will. The child is facing the wrong way, you have to be quick but gentle or you harm the child and the mother."

In the end of the dark man's words Raisa rolled to her side in pain. Her time had also come. His need to ease her pain and help her with her children was greater than it was for the Olympian Empress. He did not wait for Elsa to react he immediately picked up his last Trillium plant and gave it to Raisa. "Eat this my queen, it will ease the pain but will not relieve it completely."

He was worried, as he had never dealt with two births at the same time before. His training hadn't been completed, but he had spent his whole life being trained as an expert but had not yet had is training for mastering the skill. This was above anything he had done yet he still felt as though it was no different than helping one mother. Damn it. He needed to find another Nomad wolf to help him complete his training.

He would never tell Elsa that he was highly trained but he had not mastered it yet. He was always learning. "Elsa, now. It must be done now, or we risk loosing them both. deep soothing tones were ejected from him as he replaced the need to nuzzle his queen with orders. Raisa did not need him to coddle her at the moment, the pack didn't need that. What both Raisa and both packs needed was for him to make sure Virgil and her child stayed alive.

FIRST BORN TO RAISA!

Developing from a mere egg to being borne that night was a big difference as Kassander made his way into the world, his other siblings would no doubt soon follow. He couldn?t see a thing, his puppy blue eyes labeling him blind as all pups were when they were first born. He rolled and stumbled around as the curious pup tried to find his way to his mother?s stomach. He nudged his way around and found his way to his mother?s stomach. He continued to curl up and suckle the milk that was provided for him. He was outside and in the lone and mean world. He paused for a brief second to yell out something that was incomprehensible.


The boy with the two moon crescents back to back resting on his back and the coloring of his nose similar is shape to his mums cried out once more and then went back to suckling. He was not normally loud, it just wasn't who he was. But that would develop over time. He was the first borne child of Raisa Xanilov and his name was Kassander Xanilov. Often times he would wear it like armor. But those days were to come. For now, Kassander could just sit there, unaware of the cold and evil in the outside world. He was the throneless prince.

Help keep my thread list updated so your thread isn't forgotten!

Just a note after a bit of late-night research: The pups being born backwards is actually a fairly common thing. About 1/3 to 1/2 the time this happens and the pup and mother are in no real danger...





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Shit. shit, shit, shit. Oh no, more were coming. Raisa was having her pups. She quickly but gently pulled the pup out and cleaned the pup as she placed the pup at their mother's side. "I know how to deliver children." She said with an irritated tone. Maximous treated her like she knew nothing of simple things that every Sola should know. It hurt her ego and annoyed the shit out of her. She ran over to Raisa as she knew that all of Virgil's pups had been delivered at that point. "Breathe Raisa. They'll be by your side soon." She whispered as Maximous gave her the herbs to eat. The man seemed rather brash and that didn't necessarily suit well with the healer. "Push." She said to Raisa as she watched carefully to make sure that none were stuck that would require her to pull them out. I don't care who he thinks he is. Just because I taught myself does not mean that I am weakling nor submissive. I will never let this man boss me around and push me to a breaking point. I'm the one who works myself until I pass out from exhaustion to keep everything running. I'm the one Raisa trusts. She told herself to try and make everything seem right. "normal. talk. think. you"

[I]

He would not be moved! The dark, the quiet that was disturbed only by the beating of his mother's heart and those of the siblings around was suddenly threatened. He could feel himself being pushed and he squirmed and writhed against it. What outside force dare conspired against him? Fear mixed with determination as Sigmarr struggled to hold his slipping ground. Despite his best efforts though he was expelled from his sanctuary. It was cold, and hard to breathe! Panic seized him before a warm tongue stroked his body and he cried in indignation. Gently he felt himself being moved and a soft gurgle, that to him was a vicious growl, emerged from his throat. But soon he was pressed against warmth and softness. Sigmarr's nose, still a bit clogged wit phlegm could make out the scent of milk and he shiftted his large, fluffy form to nurse contentedly. Maybe that wasn't so bad after all. "Talk" "You" Think

Hermes eyed the female with the strange accent, giving her a baleful look. He was about to comment when another very pregnant fae appeared who knew Virgil and then all freaking chaos broke loose. The foreign healers were having a pissing contest while both faes went into labor and more wolves showed up. Hermes lifted his eyes to the sky in both exasperation and a silent prayer. Thankfully though his mother wasn't far behind. She'd start setting this right. Natalya had an amazing ability to bring order and level-headed thinking into the most chaotic of situations. It was one of the things he most admired about her.


Hermes smiled proudly as she thanked him but it seemed the healers were intent on ignoring the herbs he'd already gathered for them to argue about who would go get some and who wouldn't. He cleared his throat. "I have motherwort here. I'm a runner and messenger, give me appearance and scent and I can go get it." He doubted they could hear him over the chaos and soon the voices of adult wolves were joined by wailing infants. Hermes resisted the urge to stick his head into the throng, curious what his new cousins might look like.


His eyes raised slightly at the way Virgil and the odd-eyed femme were reacting towards each other but he kept his mouth shut. There was far too much else to deal with right now. He turned to Natalya. "Mother, will you help Virgil? I don't trust those healers, there are far too concerned with each other right now." Hermes knew a little of healing born from his incessant curiosity but it was a passing hobby more than anything and he knew there was little he could do but he did not trust those foreign healers. Besides, many a wolf had given birth without such aid. He didn't want them doing more harm than good.


talk, think