Aurielle Adravendi

She padded slowly through the wooded pathways at the foot of the hillock. She was worried. Based on all she knew, she should have birthed well before now, especially if she’d conceived at the Castle. Signs of impending spring were all around, and spring was already starting to wax. But within, she felt nothing but strong movements from many small lives. One was a particularly strong kicker, thumping her insides regularly. In all, she was ready to see them, not just feel them and hear the occasional muffled squeak. A doe burst from the undergrowth up ahead, giving the preoccupied Spirit a fright. The doe slowed almost immediately to a ponderous walk; sides heavy with fawn. Were Aurielle not in a similar state, she might have considered capturing the doe and working deer into the domestic prey animals. A light cramping struck her, and she hissed out in surprised, curling in on herself. As it faded, she straightened, the doe staring at her with wide dark eyes. Clearly the cervine knew the glowing, odd looking wolf was no threat. Aurielle could jest that the doe was commiserating their shared condition, but the thought was quickly replaced by a fresh, cramp. She focused, counting as she turned inward. Another. Her ears perked as she understood that it wasn’t just cramping, and she turned, padding back to the ravine, dark doe eyes on her back until she was out of sight. “Red? Paladin, Father, Baine, I think they’re on their way…” A yip of excitement echoed from one of the alcoves, telling her Cairo was awake, and would probably work his way out to see the litter into the world himself. Just a week or so more and he would be cleared for getting the splints removed for good, and then physical therapy as Paladin called it, would commence to get the man’s legs used to being used again. She moved to gather the supplies and furs set aside for this birthing, but Loshir intercepted her, nodding toward her and Red’s alcove with an uncharacteristic smile, nervous and restless. She smiled back, moving to settle into the furs once he spread them out. The cat was doing what he could to alleviate his worry at something he couldn’t help her with. It was early yet, but the lives within her squirmed as if highly dismayed at the disruption of their existence. She felt it would be a good long while before true, hard labor came, so she had time to settle in, celebrate the coming of her first litter—the first of many. Luneil’s Light, they were finally on their way. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

It was finally time. As Aurielle arrived with the announcement, Paladin rose from the herb stocks he’d been assessing. Even with restocking what had been used on Cairo at the Armada, they’d come out of winter at the tail end with plenty left over. He padded lightly into Aurielle’s alcove as she settled in, doing his routine checks, timing the contractions. They were far apart, and he estimated that it would be a few hours before the real action got underway. “Ime, could you get the Motherwort and Holy Thistle tinctures? Kayode, I think a little Valerian tea might be in order, but not quite yet.” As the two primates went to their tasks, Paladin settled at the other side of the alcove, smiling at the Spirit. He’d seen her into the world, and soon enough, he’d see her children into the world, too. “How are you feeling? Excited?” He knew she’d been dying to see her litter for the first time for a while now. And finally, that day had come. It was early in the evening, and most of the pack was out attending to their own duties or hobbies. Cairo and Aurielle were the only others in the caves besides the healer, Red having gone hunting, and Regulus out on patrol, but he didn’t doubt that they’d be here in a heartbeat once Aurielle called for them.

Viviane had been devastated at the news that Cairo had been seriously injured in a fall in the mountains, and had waited with increasing anxiety for him to be ok'd to make the journey home. Now that he was here she'd spent all her free time fussing over him until she was kicked out, only to be back again fussing the next day. That was where she was when Aurielle returned and called out for her mate, Paladin, and her family. Even preoccupied with Geoffrey-now-called-Merry's return, Cairo's injury, and her own duties, she'd watched Aurielle's pregnancy progress from afar with surprising longing, so when she heard Aurielle's voice she started up, rising to her paws before she could stop to think that maybe Aurielle would only want her family there with her.

She crept to Aurielle's alcove and scratched timidly at the threshold to "knock". "Aurielle? Paladin? Would it be ok if I sat with you? I could help - I promise I wouldn't get in the way."

Aurielle Adravendi

Paladin was quick to come in and begin his checkover, and she smiled through the light cramps, far apart though they were. The Mandrill and Lemur were off to gather the supplies Paladin requested, and she knew the Valerian tea would be kept on a bed of coals in a clay pot to steep, to be ready and massively strong when it was needed. As he asked after her, she grinned, silky tail sweeping the furs. “Excited, nervous… I’m so ready to meet them.” Ayodele padded in and went to work braiding her tail’s long hair back out of the way. With hair so long it would be hell getting the mess of birth out after all was said and done, so the lemur was being preemptive. Viviane poked her head in and Aurielle smiled warmly. “Of course, cousin. This should be a wonderful learning experience for you. Both as a healer and as a woman.” She paused as a cramp fluttered through her abdomen, and a wealth of squirming rippled her rounded side, pups pushing and shoving within their confined home as her body adjusted and shunted them into line, one spaced apart cramp at a time. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

The two primates went off to gather the birthing supplies, and he heard the soft clank of the fired clay pots shifting and rattling, and the tinkle of water. Aurielle seemed to be in high spirits, and who could blame her? After an inordinately long pregnancy, she was finally going to see her children face to face. He chuckled softly, nodding in agreement, turning as Viviane entered and Aurielle greeted her. “Always. You’re a healer too, one in training. However this process pans out, you’ll have learned a tremendous amount about birthing.” Ime returned with the tinctures and Paladin nodded to them. “These are Motherwort and Holy Thistle tinctures. The Holy Thistle in particular we’ll only use a very, very small amount of—just a tiny lick. It will help stimulate her milk. But it is also an anti-coagulant, thus the light usage. Motherwort is a powerful help for birthing mothers. It helps the uterus find a rhythm, and eases the pain of contractions while strengthening them. The Valerian tea Kayode is putting on will ease her anxiety and dull her pain.” He grinned at Aurielle, “For now, I think we’ll be able to hold off on the herbs. It’s quite early in the labor, and ladies can take anywhere from an hour or less to two days to birth. Every female is different.” He rose to his paws, nodding Viviane forward with a smile as he said, “If you rest your paw on her side you can feel the contractions, and the pups moving to take position.” Aurielle nodded encouragingly at the young woman, shifting to better offer the swollen side of her stomach to be examined.

Red had gone out hunting for Aurielle, who was much too far along to risk on any sort of hunt, even for small game. Besides, hares and rabbits were far too lean for her condition, when she most needed the nourishing fats for the young growing within her.

Pups!

The thought still filled him with wonder and awe. That she would have chosen him... that he would have a wife... that they would have children together. A family. When circumstances had forced him to leave his homeland, he had been content to remain always in the background of the world, a crafter, perhaps a mentor. He had never expected to find love in this foreign land and a family to replace the one he'd lost. No, not replace. He still missed his brother and their family and the land he'd grown up in, and he would never stop loving them. But somehow Aurielle and the lives they had created together had drawn depths of emotion for him that he had never known was possible.

Pups.

He would be a father. The thought should have filled him with terror - they were still young, still new to their relationship, were they ready to build a family? But Red didn't feel that fear, only joy, and Aurielle seemed to be as confident in their family as he felt. He wanted nothing more than to give all he could to her, and to their pups. So he'd gone out hunting, after letting Paladin know where he'd gone just in case, and gone out looking for something suitable for his wife and unborn children.

He'd failed to turn up anything that particularly satisfied what he was looking for, and while he took the pair of prairie chickens without a qualm he decided to turn a paw to fishing for a while, to better provide Aurielle with the healthy fats he knew she'd need. It wasn't his strongest hunting skill, but eventually he managed to flip a large catfish out of the watering hole it had been lurking in, and throwing it into a loosely woven reed basket along with the prairie chickens, he returned for home.

Just in time, as it turned out, he realized as he caught the excited chatter when he ducked into the cave system. A thrill of excitement and alarm shot through him. It was time? He stopped there in the entrance to orient himself, closing his eyes and taking a slow, deep breath, and releasing it. Twice, until he was fully calm, then he opened his eyes again. All right. It was time.

He set the basket aside in an unused alcove. Aurielle wouldn't need it now, but the energy-replacing meats would surely be welcome after the birth. Gently, he slipped past the tiny Adravendi healer at the entrance to the alcove where his children would be born. He sent the younger wolf a kindly, if abstracted, smile as he did, before turning his attention completely to Aurielle and Paladin, leaning down and brushing a kiss over Aurielle's forehead. "You started without me, my love?" he teased with a chuckle. "After waiting so long, I am glad our children were willing to wait until I got back to come into the world."

Paladin and Aurielle both encouraged her, and Red - Aurielle's mate, who she hadn't interacted with in particular since they both had such different duties to the pack, and so didn't know particularly well - gave her an encouraging smile as well when he slipped past her to go to his wife's head, so Viviane brightened and entered the alcove behind him. She listened intently while Paladin named the herbs they were prepared to use, and why they weren't using them yet, giving each a sniff when Paladin named each to memorize the scent of the tinctures, and giving Ime an apologetic smile for invading his space to do so. As they'd suggested, she moved close to Aurielle and carefully, oh so gently placed a paw on Aurielle's abdomen. Her eyes widened with the sudden shock when the surface of her alpha's side suddenly squeezed, and beneath it like a dolphin gliding just beneath the surface of the water something squirmed and slipped along under the skin and muscle. At first she jerked her paw back as though burned, but then a delighted grin slowly spread over her face. "Wow! Was that one of the pups?"

Movement at Aurielle's hind quarters pulled her part of her attention away, as she finally realized what Ayodele had been doing all the while. Oh, she was braiding the long hair to get it out of the way, to keep it out of all the... all the birthing stuff. She'd known that birthing could be a little messy, and she supposed that all that hair would really get in the way so braiding it made sense. But it would still get sort of messy for her, and messy for normal haired wolves too she thought. "If you don't mind me saying," she said with some hesitation, "Have you considered wrapping the base of your tail and down some with buckskin?" Though it might have been a little late in the game for her to have said something, wasn't it? Since the birthing could happen any time.

Aurielle Adravendi

Aurielle listened with interest as Paladin fell easily into a teacher’s role, and a faint chuckle filtered through her nose. She knew most of what he spoke of now, having listened carefully in his birthing lesson, as well as getting drilled with information most of her life, especially in the past few weeks, with her own birthing impending. Red arrived, and Aurielle’s features illuminated with an inner light, visibly happy to see the man as he teased at her. “They were ready to go, finally. I’d begun to worry they weren’t coming.” Viviane rested a paw ever so gently on her side, and was in time to feel a light contraction, and then one of the pups shifted, startling the young woman. A grin lit the Spirit’s features, and she nodded. “It was. Feeling them move took some getting used to when they first started, and especially when they got large enough that the movement was visible from the outside. It’s hard to describe, really. And that’s a very good idea.” She flashed a grin at Red, adding, “It could be a while before we get to say hello for real. It’s early yet.” Ayodele smiled and darted out, returning with a long coil of soft doeskin, taking the young Adravendi’s advice and wrapping the Spirit’s tail carefully. Aurielle paused as she turned her attention inward, counting between the light contraction and the one that followed, eyes glazing slightly before sharpening as she stretched out, smiling contentedly. It would be a while. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Paladin 'Knight' Ancora

Paladin grinned as Red arrived, teasing “The father arrives!” with a wink to the larger man, before smiling as he watched Viviane rest her paw on Aurielle’s side. He knew the young woman could press a little harder, and would need to in examinations of other pregnant women to assess the number of pups and excite them into squirming to ensure they were viable. Or if one was stuck, pressure on the belly as close to the rump as possible could be helpful in getting it through. His apprentice made her own suggestion and he nodded approvingly, settling down with his supplies to wait patiently. It could take any amount of time for Rielle to get into full blown labor, and he was experienced, mostly from women with the Nomads. He could hear Cairo shuffling closer, and knew the chocolate young man would be just outside, possibly with his head inside the alcove, out of the way but eager to see children come into the world. It’d be the man’s first experience seeing new life of the wolf variety enter the world. After an hour, Paladin noted the shorter time between the light contractions and nodded to Kayode to get the tea.

Red curled around his wife to give her a good pillow to lay against while they waited for the birth. And waited. And waited. He'd never been around for a birthing, so he'd never realized that there was so much waiting involved. Frankly, if he'd been anything but the patient, tender sort he might have been going crazy from worry as the wait drew out the tension and natural anxiety. But he kept his worries carefully tucked away where they couldn't be seen while he spoke easily and calmly to his mate and the two healers about nothing in particular. About an hour in, he saw Paladin gesture to one of his companions, and it took more of a concerted effort to keep from tensing up in anticipation of the unknown. Instead he tenderly kissed Aurielle's cheek and tucked in around her for support.

Viviane stayed back out of the way while they waited an interminable length for the birth to progress, and somewhat uncharacteristically, she stayed quiet. When anyone addressed a comment or question directly to her, she answered in a distracted, nearly monosyllabic way but otherwise stayed out of the conversation. Her attention was fixed on Paladin, his companions, and Aurielle herself, watching with hawk-like intensity every time any of them moved to do something. When Paladin gestured to his companion to get the tea that he'd told her about earlier, for the pain, she lifted her head off her paws and cocked it at Paladin in a silent question. She hesitated to say anything out loud, because she didn't want to cause anyone needless anxiety if there was nothing wrong. Her eyes darted to the tinctures, then to Aurielle to try to see if she could note what Paladin had seen.