Pain, it blossomed from her body and ripped her into the other side. She shuddered with pleasure as it broke her, twisted her, and spoke of his life becoming one once more. she could feel them, like leaches, sucking her dry only to leave her broken just like his death had done but she would love them just as well. She howled her call to her dear friend, champion, to them all, to know she was birthing again and with her pain came such Devine pleasure that she could focus nothing but making it last. Champion would come. They needed to speak in private anyway and this birthing was perfect. It was enough for them to enjoy each other and deliver the pups safely and not have her linger on the pleasure of pain but rather the final touches of life. Indulge could lead to death for her pups if she didn?t push them free of her body and she had endured enough loss for a good while.

The seas wine red; This is the death of beauty

this is the time and this is the place to be alive

. . .

The fall of Amenti had been painful to Champion. A strange thing, for she never felt the sting of pain in battle or her travels - this was something different though. This was inside. This was seeing her friend dethroned and her pack unhomed. She'd never been at risk to that sort of thing when she was on her own - a fact which led to a strange crisis within the breast of the massive she-wolf. She could pansy-paw around it all she liked, but eventually she would have to make up her mind. Did she stay loyal to herself and continue with her wandering? ... Or did she stay loyal to the wayward Newt and help her with whatever her plans were? The unknowing was the worst part. Champion didn't know if the Grey Queen was planning on a re-claiming, or a challenge of her own, or an all at war. Champion didn't even know if the fae was even in her right mind after all that grief. At first Champion had stuck around with the group - she had been their Beta after all- but Newt had grown distant and voiceless and Champion had taken to roaming again - but never far enough to say she was free of them.

Vioxes accompanied her on most of her travels now. The male had become rather important to her now. As he had said himself - he was fond of her. He was her servant or slave no longer, though she had never really treated him as such to begin with. Now he was her devoted friend. Perhaps he even wished to be more than that.... but Champion didn't know. She was still trying to figure out where she was supposed to fit in this world, and despite her hormones beginning to kick in as she aged, she had no intention of settling down or picking a mate just yet.

There was still too much to do and see and figure out.

Plus for all she knew there was a war on the horizon.

Champion went in search of Newt that day to speak upon this. She needed the presence of her friend to help her make up her mind - but it seemed that more time had passed than Champion had been aware of. Newt's howl split the air - rising above the not-too-distant thrum of the falls. Champion had only heard Newt use such a tone once before.

Suddenly the gold-white bear was running. Just like the time not so long before, when the last litter had been born - Champion sprinted across the terra, snapping up the occasional useful find - til she found herself at the side of her friend's chosen den. She wriggled inwards with a meager clump of greenery in her mouth. The leaves, which were lavender, raspberry, and borage, she placed not far from the once-queen's paws. "Rest easy, Newt, I'm here to help," she murmured simply. Encouraging the grey one with a paw brush to the shoulder, Champion began to sink once more into the old training of her early days - when she had been told she was to be a midwife and not a warrior. She had resented it then and it had even led to her running away, but how the knowledge came in handy now.



. . .

Always running off... Zara hadn't been on her paws this much since the last time she had been asked by her mother to watch her younger siblings. And then at least she had had her sight to aid her. All she had now was a faint scent to follow. What worried her more about this disappearance was how far along Newt was in her pregnancy. So Zara padded along at a faster then normal pace, massive paws propelling her at a trot towards the slowly stronger scent of her love. The howl made her job that much easier and Zara's head snapped up, torn audits fluttering around as she pinpointed the sound and redirected her course. Champion was there already, of course, but Zara simply found herself smiling at the scent of the former beta. They were already smushed into the den so Zara allowed her haunches to to fall to the ground and then forelegs to slide forward so her body blocked the entrance and blind eyes faced outwards though her ears tipped backwards to listen to what was going on inside. "Good to see you again Champion. Tell me if you need anything..." Her words were simple, her tone a bit gruff but she knew her way around plants and herbs well enough that her lovely nose could find just about anything Champion might need. But if not then she would give the healer her space to work and slither her way in once the children were born. They would be her children after all... "Talk here."

Pain, it bit into her gently. Teasing her just a little. The pups would come but it was quite a while away. She remembered how intense the pain was last time and this was but a hint of what was to come. She sighed happily as her ears pulled upright to see champion coming. She had hoped to see her soon, missed her friend dearly, and they needed to talk, she knew this. Her tail curled under her as she rested her head on her paws. Her swollen stomach was on its side as she brought violet eyes to meet champions. ?Hello Dear friend. We have much to discuss and the privacy of this I believe is perfect for our conversation.? She said with a smile. Her ears twitched as she heard another wolf approaching. A low growl erupted from her thick throat. She had called Champion and no one else so who could be coming? Dark ears shook with her anger until they rested on a very welcomed figure. Her body settled and her tail wagged as she smiled at Zara, ?You?re here.? She said with joy, they could do this together. Raise these pups together in their own twisted little family. She was happy to know the pups would be so loved and she hoped that her others would accept their siblings. Even with her elation she knew things needed to be serious. She sobered up and looked to them both. ?Zara and I have decided that we will go to Tortuga to regroup. To collect our wolves and stay in our allies home. Once the pups are weaned I am going to challenge Medusa for our home back and when we receive our home. war will come to Ludicael. I want Jupiters head. I want her pack to suffer for what she did and for standing by her choice to murder my mate and destroy everything we worked for.? She said with real rage. Her eyes were almost burning with her need to see things threw. It was the best reaction to what had happened and when it did it would be a surprise. They would be quite and careful and train.

The seas wine red; This is the death of beauty

this is the time and this is the place to be alive

. . .


Champion was rewarded why a kind greeting from the preparing mother but also a hint of more to come. Yes, a conversation. The two titan females needed one of those badly, but Champion hoped that Newt would not be straining her mind too greatly. Now was not the time to figure out other things or ?catch up? on what the other had been doing. Now was about Newt alone, and about helping her give birth more children.

And it seemed Champion would not be the only helper. Pawsteps at the doorway brought Champion?s head up fast, every muscle in her beginning to tense, until she recognized the scent. And then the sight. Zara, her fellow giant. The wolf who you would never think was blind. Good. Newt needed friends around her now. Champion tipped her head and gave a reassuring smile to the brown wolf, adding audibly, ?Thank you Zara, it is good to see that another of our pack remains standing strong.? Zara and Champion had never spoken on their own beyond their mutual meetings with Newt, but that mattered little. They had been packmates, and they both loved their queen.

If you had asked Champion, she would?ve said they both loved Newt in the same way, but, well, she was rather oblivious to strange bond that worked itself between the other two faes. Truth be told she would?ve been rather shocked and uncomfortable had she known. As things were now, though, she was able to find her heart warmed by the other happy meeting of friends. Soon there would be others to greet, but only if Newt remained calm and focused and all went well. Champion opened her mouth, but Newt was quickly speaking again. She fixed Champion with those commanding purple eyes. She was planning something. Regrouping at Tortuga ? followed by a challenge ? followed by war!

War?

Champion was silent. When the outrages had happened, she herself had been the first to call for retaliation. For war. But now?

Behind the thick cover of fur, Champion swallowed. She didn?t know. She and Newt needed to talk, but not now. Not now. ?Such plans cannot be woven over the cradle of newborns,? Champion urged gently. ?Newt, you must relax and let the birthing come. I will remain by your side afterwards and the three of us-? she glanced at Zara too, ?-can speak of such things then.?



. . .

The rage was consuming her body and pushing into motion far quicker then she had anticipated. She closed her eyes as the pain increased and pushed her body into motion; her ears fell back as she seemed to purr with her pain. Her tail moved out of the way as she took several deep breaths. She had done this before, so the motions were natural, she waited and pushed allowing one of the pups to breach and she pulled it free from it sack, cleaning the little male up. He looked almost identical to kaios and she smiled at the little pup. She pushed again and allowed her body to release her two daughters. She cleaned them both and allowed and soft tired sigh to escape her muzzle. They were both beautiful and she felt a sharp pain of sorrow hit her heart. Kaios wasn?t here to see his new children but Zara was. She allowed her tail to thump gently against the ground with her happiness that they were here together at the time of birth and they would raise the children together.

Cascade Saxe

The pup had found being with her siblings in the enclosed space comforting, and hoped she could be in there forever. But forever was all too quick for her to enjoy, as she moved on top of a sibling and felt a large, scary rumble from something nearby. She wanted to breathe, wanted to whine, wanted to warn these large friends of her, but she couldn't do any of this because something was suffocating her. Not being able to breathe was the only thing bad about living in her home, besides the fact that she only saw darkness and felt heard nothing that would warn her about what was about to happen. Suddenly, one of her giant friends was moved away, pulled out and killed by some monster; the pup could feel it moving to eat whatever it had killed. Then, another pup was pulled away from her, although she wasn't sure that later she would be able to talk to these friends and play with them and call them her siblings and by names. For now, she moved away from the cold breeze, not wanting to be killed by whatever was waiting for her. She felt the first emotion she could feel for now; fear, pure, solid fear. But she was born, and pushed out into the world all too sudden. Then she felt a tongue hitting her and finally let out a whine. The pup didn't know, but she looked nothing like her parents.

Nausica Saxe

She was content. Content with the warmth the blanketed her. Content with the familiar touch of her siblings. She could stay here forever. But as of lately their space had been cramped. Constantly pushing and kicking each other. It angered her to have to remain silent, to be unable to voice her displeasure, unable to catch her siblings from her space. Pressure. It surrounded her in the most uncomfortable of ways, propelling her to some unknown place. She tried to fight it, but it was useless. And then just like that the pressure was gone. But replaced by a substance that burned her lungs and was cold against her skin. An angry cry erupted from tiny vocal cords. She crawled blindly, searching for the warmth she once knew. An unfamiliar thing touched, stroking her, providing warmth, soothing her anger. She was guided to what she would soon know as her mother, fitting in beside her siblings, inhaling her mothers scent, imbedding it in her brain. It would be a scent that she would never forget. The scent of milk caught her attention. Instinct told her that it would soothe the pain in her belly. Suckling from her mother, she would drink until she was full, quickly falling in a deep sleep, quieting her protests.

Neios Saxe

Flesh burned beneath a slicked down ivory bodice. During the time in the womb he had been nothing more than a heart beat, a lung, a kidney, and combined atoms fused together to create a living thing. On this day, at this moment, something more was developing within the child's body: a conscious, a soul, a wolf. Hades had taken his sire from the mortal world, but his essence was drilled deeply into this being created of flesh and blood. Anger and hatred would consume his soul, and the thirst for power will be nothing more than instinct. The King and Queen's blood boiled beneath his surface. What was once a peaceful home opened up into a black hole of chaos. Lungs burned as they craved something more than the liquid he had thrived in for so long. He desired air. Body cringed and twisted as a sudden pressure pushed him into oblivion. He was being sucked out of his home, something was pushing him toward something he craved so badly, bur had yet to taste. Finally, after what seemed like forever with his brain having no conception of time, the small figure kissed the earth with a thud. He had been the last to emerge, being the largest, and only male, in the litter. Discharge weighed him down as he flailed unknowingly on the earth. Legs stretched, nose flared, and lungs burned. He could not see, nor could he hear- but he could smell. He could smell the perfume that protruded from his mother. Instincts took over, and without hesitation he made his way toward her belly. Something drove him into this direction, what it was he will never know, but the determination he felt was overpowering. Then, something softer than grace kissed his nose. His mouth opened and again unknowingly he began nursing beside his sisters. For the next few weeks he would rely merely on instincts and his mothers love to survive.