Welcome to Canis Major

a wolf and animal rpg (role-playing game)

Canis is a writing community for play-by-post (forum-based), freeform roleplay set in a fictional dream world in the intrusion fantasy genre. Most characters on Canis are wolves; many play elements are focused around wolves and canids, but the world makes room for a large variety of other animal characters such as dogs, horses, cats, bears, deer, and many, many more.

Our community is focused on flexibility, creativity, and collaboration. That boils down to a few important features:

  • There is no set activity requirement to write
  • The setting and plot are member-created and staff-supported
  • The game is continuously improved to increase fun and decrease stress

Learn more in our Rulebook!

Group Only
stirring of birds between my arms


Afternoon Sunny/Clear
#1
Group Only
Medic
07-21-2022, 02:46 PM
Something always intrigued Olive, as a midwife, about the moment that the process childbirth began. How did the body know when was the right time — and what was the internal trigger that began the cascade? In life, seconds ticked by from one to the next without much change or consequence; but the very second a mother became anew, nothing was ever the same. It was no wonder that such a thing ranked high on the spectrum of life’s most significant events, akin to one’s own birth and death.

In truth, it was in most senses, a rebirth, and not just for the souls that cloaked themselves in the skins of puppies, but for the willing parents, and for the universe as a whole.
 
The woman barely registered the change when it occurred, perhaps because she was so profoundly rotund and uncomfortable. Her belly felt firmly lodged in her hips and she could not walk as much as she could embarrassingly waddle around; but waddle she did, because it relieved the discomfort in a way that nothing else could. Not even herbs could assuage the restlessness and tenderness she felt, though she often indulged in her stores of summer’s raspberry leaf, made plentiful largely in part to the woman @Aries and her foraging efforts.
 
The only thing that had made her feel any better was the presence of @Archon within the Vale's borders. The sudden certainty of his health and safety was her ultimate relief, and it was less than 24-hours later when the Priestess realized that today might be the day. This was no normal languor; the cramps and the tugging that she felt as she ambled about on a continuous stroll refused to abate, and though they were still mild, their regularity and reoccurrence was what inspired her to action. She mildly marveled at the effect of stress on one's body and mind, and then the woman immediately sought out @Tiberius.
 
The titan was never far — no, not these days.
“My goddess,” she breathed as she approached, immediately drawing close to his comforting presence. Her heart was now skipping and blood was rushing with excitement and a sudden onset of nervousness, mixed with the discomfort of the intense, regular tightness. “They are certainly coming, and with some sense of urgency.” she claimed with a sheepish smile, tail fluttering behind her and voice unnaturally strained. She immediately set to nibbling on the short furs on his shoulder.
 
The den’s weren’t far, and the sunshine felt nice.

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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#2
07-21-2022, 07:50 PM
^^

He was never far from her now. Not when in his mind, Olive looked like she was about to... pop. The titan refused to be so far from her in case the day came and he was unable to be there for her. Unable to be at the birth of his children. His first litter. Tiberius knew he was nervous. Living up to the title of father was looming over him something fierce-- he didn't want to mess up.

He didn't want to mess them up the way Wenda messed him up. Tiberius felt so incredibly feral with how the birth seemed so close and he was unpredictable in his mannerisms and even he was unsure how he might react if anyone came near Olive during the birth.

The birth.

The birth that seemed to be choosing now to happen, if his Angels words were of any indication. The Chief looked around, alarmed, seeking her out as she came to him. Tiberius would meet her, swallowing up the distance and washing his molten gaze over her. "Now?" He rumbled, almost choking on his words. No need for panic, no need to fret -- oh god, oh god he was going to be a father -- Olive was giving birth. His mouth felt dry.

"Alrigh' luv, let's git to yer den, yeah?" That's what they did, right? Her nibbling to his shoulder calmed him a tad but the man was on high alert as he kept her as flush to his side as possible, seeking to guide her to the dens. They were going to be parents. ^^

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#3
07-21-2022, 11:22 PM
Was there anything in the world that gave her this sort of rush? Her entire body tingled with anticipation, and her heartbeat thrummed with excitement. Beneath it all, there was an undercurrent of uncertainty, but even that felt indulgent. So few things in life ran as high a risk as this; but my, what a reward! Was were labor pains, compared to the joy one watching one’s progeny grow and become their own beings? The stakes were high and there was much to lose, as Olive had seen clearly within the twisted faces of the grieving Ragnar and Sindri, but Olive was eager to know both light (and the darks) of such a depth of love.
 
Not that she felt anything less for the inkdark titan who received and heartily accepted her nuzzles. There was a certain high that came over her, and her eye held a sort of gleam of wonder, her mind a tizzy of thoughts; but as she stood there and breathed his scent within, she realized the overarching theme of her thoughts was a generalized wonder of how their moment of intimacy resulted in her current state, here and now — laboring, seemingly drunk on hormones, and about to birth his puppies. What a funnily simple process, one which Olive had to do relatively little to see to completion. That was in the hand of the Gods, and she was only their simple vessel.
 
But, oh, how that vessel heaved and ached! The woman grit her teeth and inhaled sharply as a contraction overcame her, clenching her in its grasp for nearly a minute; her entire body seized and Olive realized, with haste, that puppies did not always take their time. Sometimes, they entered the world with great gusto and eagerness! The look in her eye turned to pleading, as the force of it was immediately sobering and cut through the sense of excitement she had felt just moments prior.
 
— but in the next moment is was gone, and the metronome of her breathing resumed. The sylph looked back agaat Tiberius, the smile she wore from before quavering. Despite the calm after the contraction, before her mind flashed images of Valeska during her own birth, and the tragedy was that a nigh occurrence. Olive forced the brief memory from her attention, and focused on walking besides Tiberius, attempting to remain as calm as possible. At least, that’s what she would tell her patients if she was their own midwife.
 

“This is crazy, isn’t it?” she muttered in a voice that she manage to hold high, despite the fearing that each next breath might bring on another painful wave. “I can’t help but be a little… afraid” she admitted to Tiberius, failing to keeping the thoughts of Valeska’s little, unconscious puppy out of her awareness. Olive had prayed to the Goddesses and asked for their favor, not even a week ago —
 
The woman hoped she had their collective ear.

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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#4
07-23-2022, 08:03 AM
^^

His experience with pregnant women was... minimal. The only woman he had been around whilst pregnant had been Minerva but the Crane hadn't needed his help. He hadn't any skills to offer her even if she had desired it, anyway. So all he could do with Olive at his side was try to remember anything she had ever mentioned about pregnancies and women and apply them here -- though his brain was loud in screaming at him that he was about to become a father.

The titan didn't rush her, walking at her pace despite their leg differences. She was the one going through it, so he would walk at whatever pace she desired. There was little he could do for her pain, his face withholding a grimace as he caught the evidence in the way her breathing changed. Tiberius felt guilty then, thinking that it was due to him she was here, pain touched. He swallowed with a dry tongue and mouth, ears splayed -- what was left of them -- and shoulders taught. Crazy, she said, and he was inclined to agree with her. "Aye," he rumbled quietly, never having believed he would be here.

It was normal, he knew, to feel fear. Especially for an expectant mother. Yet it didn't matter what little he knew because that was enough to know and when she admitted it, Tiberius felt sick. She was afraid, perhaps a little more than what she was letting on and there was little Tiberius could do to assure her she had no worries. "I aint... I aint know wha' is like ta be a woman, especially one carryin' life bu' I... i's always gonn' be at yer side, no matter wha' yer facin'." He couldn't do anything to make an instinct go away but he could be at her side and support her through it. Tiberius would tilt down his head to deliver an affectionate kiss to her crown, "yer strong, Olive. Yer allowed ta be scared but wha'ever yer need, i's 'ere." Even if that meant calling the girl @Aries to come and provide her with things he could not.

Ahead was the den and the titan ushered her closer, wanting her safely tucked away before things escalated. Tiberius wouldn't enter unless she asked, standing at the mouth of the Den like an iron-made statue. ^^

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#5
Medic
07-23-2022, 03:10 PM
Tiberius seemed to be calm, but when did he not seem calm? Almost with a giggle (forgetting the discomfort she was in), Olive answered her own question with a vivid memory. The Tiberius she had seen slaughtering the walrus was not the Tiberius she had seen in any other moment. He had been wild and unhinged, intent on killing and causing pain — it might have been frightening if it hadn’t been so captivated, resulting in her subsequent confession of unending ardor. Certainly, she was afraid; but that was alright, because Tiberius wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t ever afraid. He simply handled what lay in front of him, and was exceedingly effective at it.
 
For once in their lives, Tiberius found many words, but Olive could find none. She could feel it again, rising in the periphery of her consciousness. The woman attempted to walk, placing a dainty foot in front of the other — but the growing tightness in her belly caused her to collapse, knees buckling behind, taking the wind directly out of her lungs. A low groan took the place of any ability to form words as something wild and feral took hold of the normally demure woman. As the intensity increased, Olive could feel how the logical and rational part of her brain quickly subsided, replaced with a consciousness that was entirely instinct and flow. She felt the pains of a thousand woman before her, and the infinite that would come after; but at the same moment she felt their omnipresence in the earth beneath her, and the air that bolstered her laboring body.

Still, she feared anything more might break her, right here, out in the open for all to see. In between breaths, when her lungs were as full as the space in her long-suffering ribcage could afford, she managed to eke out several word, spoke softly under a held breath.
“Tiberius, can you…?” she implored, hoping he would know that she meant I can’t seem to move but I need to get in the den, can you help me? “I must—” but a sharp pain caught in her throat and took the place where words were supposed to be. With her mind and vision tinted red, the pale, panting woman wondered if this might be the worst pain she might ever feel, or if it would all-too-soon get worse. For this, she truly had no such gauge.

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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#6
07-24-2022, 02:38 PM
^^

He had wanted to give her space yet she encouraged him forward, to come and assist her. She didn't need to vocalise all of her desire to him, he came forward to help and guide her into the Den. Pain grabbed at her and Tiberius' lips tightened across his teeth as he bit down the guilt and horror for her pain. For one so little, Olive wore her pain like she stood as tall as the mountains that helped guard them.

"I gotcha, luv," he rumbled softly, venturing forward with her at whatever pace she needed. The Den had been lined during her nesting phase, comfort beneath her and he would try and guide her to settle. "Yer doin' well, Angel," Tiberius encouraged, not a single lie dropping from his tongue. He dared a man to swap places with her and do better. The titan doubted they could.

Anxiety coursed through him as he stood, crouching slightly for the height of the Den was competiting with his statute. His tongue lapped across his lips with nerves, "d'yer need m'ta git yer anythin'. Do anythin' fer yer?" His voice was a gentle rumble as he leaned down to her, molten gaze searching her she settled herself. ^^

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#7
Medic
Content Warning
07-26-2022, 10:06 AM
Content Warning
This post contains content that may be unsettling to some readers, including:
  • birth
welcome @Tiberii <3


The birthing den wasn’t far, but to Olive in that moment, it could have been a million miles. Olive breathed as her contractions grew closer and closer to one another, almost leaving no space between them — it was all becoming indistinguishable, and the pressure throughout her body was more than she had ever felt in her life. Her eyes squeezed closed, but if they had been open, she would have noticed that her vision was blurry with the strain; the pain; the fire. The entire outer world melted away and she was awash, holding breath within her windpipe, refusing to take a breath lest the pain become more than it already was.
 
Oh, thank the Gods for Tiberius! He roused her once more and she was on her feet, lurching forward at an achingly slow pace. Her refined head hung like a pendant on her neck, her eyes all but squeezed shut, allowing the swarthy male to steer her towards the entrance to the subterranean lair. The world became darker, and more confined. Olive opened her eyes into the shadowed cavern, appreciating the oppressiveness of having a roof over her head. It was most welcome, at this moment — for a sole second the warmth had been nice, but her rational mind had all but melted away, she only felt more vulnerable. Down here, with Tiberius, there was naught else to focus on but the push-pull of her inner workings.
 
He offered to get her anything, supplies even; but there was nothing she could possibly do, or even think about.
“No,” the woman hissed, not at him, or his offer, but at the entire concept of being alone right now. “Don’t go,” she groaned, circling lazily on her furs before dropping down and sprawling to one side, taking up as much room as her slight limbs could.
 
From that moment on, Esra had no true awareness of what her body was doing or how she moved it about in this space. She focused so wholly on the internal experience that she almost blocked out Tiberius entirely, and even the voices of the endless mothers as they whispered their secrets to her. Pu— It wasn’t the type of surreal, transcendent type of pain she had imagined. No, it simply fucking hurt, and it was overwhelming her every sense. She tried to think of the pups, but she couldn’t — she tried to practice her breathing as she had instructed countless other women, but her body only gripped. As the birthing woman grit her molars and pressed her rigid feet into the earth, she thought she had heard something; but she ignored it, until the same word became louder, decibel by decibel, from unknown spirits all around her. Push.
 
In the same moment, Esra’s quivering eyes peeled open and looked upon Tiberius as he hovered over her.
“I have to,” she told him vaguely, in a tone that conveyed a curious sense of begging. Such things could not wait, if her whispering ancestors were to be believed. There was no more holding it back, if only that she wished to no longer being experiencing this all-consuming conflagration. The pale fae could feel another wave building in the pit of her hips, and she prepared to finally submit to it, and commit herself to the current. Her body convulsed, and the pressure increased. Her belly pulled taught as the muscles contracted. The laboring woman lay limp as the wave of intensity overtook her, legs flexed and outstretched. When the pain abated, her legs curled back in towards herself in momentary relief, but it was only for half a heart beat before Esra felt the downward pull deep within her resume with such force that she shot up from her earthen bed and rolled to her haunches, lifting herself halfway and hitching her hips in a squat.

It all happened quickly after that: she only barely needed to push, and the pup came spilling from her with a gush, and a gasp.

The shock of it was more than that new mother could bear, and for a faint moment she could do nothing more than breathe and perceive, but before long the nonplussed woman registered that a puppy had been born, and she looked down to stare at the slimy, black-hued creature that wriggled between her trembling legs. She looked at it like it was an alien, and in a small way, it was — an alien born of her body, but a newcomer to this planet all the same.

Her breath came in short, excited puffs and she laid her sore body down and off to the side, raising her top leg to reach through and grab the newborn pup with jaws gentle and aquiver, a knot of tight emotion rising in pit of her throat and she drew her first puppy forth. When the bundle was nearer, she glanced from it, to the titan where he stood, in total awe and incredulity at the life she had incubated and ushered forth with such great effort. Her tongue swept the babe to clean it, exploring the soft roundness of her body with a dry and belabored tongue.

Esra had almost forgotten that there were others to come, so lost in the birth-magic was she.

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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#8
07-26-2022, 10:28 PM
 There was darkness... and then there was light. She came defiantly into the world with a single cry. She fell silent... but only until she felt something warm and wet rasp over her body. Then, there was another cry. A battle cry? Or one simply for milk and attention? Because she felt... empty. Hungry. 

 She whimpered then, squirming to get closer to the large light creature that instinct bade her to. Another cry as she struggled nearer, trying to use limbs that had --so far-- been useless in the darkness. Food. Food. Then, there would be sleep.

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#9
Medic
07-27-2022, 02:38 AM
The time had arrived, and the smell of light blood and birthing filled the area as Aries drew close, not for the thought of the due-date but a more casual meet of medical discussion with the Priestess. She had much to learn by the other, who knew much of the arts and wouldn't even need a midwife, much less one like herself who only knew of book knowledge and not of practice. Her heart felt flushed, on the trust that was seemingly given, and the hare preparingly giving her all to the moment.

And she arrived, just outside the den where the small sound of squirming was there that touched Aries's soul, and the smell of the mother and father within the area. Aries, did not enter though ; a respect of as she knew by wolf tendencies, many were far more protective over the process then led on to be. Her interaction with the Chief was minimal, for her time here was only so short.. But Olive bloomed with her pregnancy, and surely wanted to enjoy all that it was.

Feverfew within mouth, and huckleberries beside her ; she presented them on a skinned pelt, assumed to be a spare of an caribou long hunted. They were the few herbs that she knew of.. To help during, and to help after it all — not to mention the obvious of poppy seeds laid before, for a lovefest that many became addicted to, she would hope as a last resort. She would hope.. These would be enough to tend to the other, and beside so just helping forward and having others beside her. The hare would pray.

Aries announced herself lightly, a pushing of these herbal remedies to take if her presence was currently not desired.

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#10
07-30-2022, 08:51 PM
^^

She didn't want him to go and go he wouldn't. He nodded, "alrigh', luv," he rumbled and watched her with intense worry. Olive was doing so well so far and he had no doubt she would continue to yet it pained him for her to be in such pain and discomfort. Little could he do but be there for her. At her words, he once more nodded as he surmised she was telling him it was time for her to push.  The man would opt to lay himself down as close to her as he could without getting in the way, offering her body his own as support and comfort as she went through the birth. There was little else he could do as she shifted through the pain, attempting to get into a more comfortable position until she was hoisted by her forelegs.

He worried his tongue against the roof of his mouth, heart thumping in his chest as he moved himself to stand, offering her more room but still did he hover, not willing to go too far. It happened all too soon though likely felt like a life time for Olive as she birthed their child, a wriggling little body of black -- of black? Molten eyes widened as he kissed the crown of Olive's head, the shock of seeing the child wear fur so similar to his own still fresh. "Oh Olive," the titan rumbled as he peered down as she shifted, laying back on her side and bringing the child closer as to clean it.

He hadn't spent much time with Aries, if any at all but when Olive and Tiberius were alone in their den, his Angel would tell him all about the girl who fell from the sky. He knew she had an interest in herbs, the same as Olive and here she came, her scent mixing in with the scent of birth and them together. The titan assumed she was here to offer her assistance if needed and he regarded her through the den with respect though something territorial in him found itself unhappy another was so near.

The titan ignored it in favour for Olive and his childs wellbeing, unbeknowest to him as he gazed down at the little bundle that more would arrive. ^^

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#11
Visionary
Content Warning
07-31-2022, 02:50 PM
Content Warning
This post contains content that may be unsettling to some readers, including:
  • more babies

 
She could feel how easily her energy was depleted with such strenuous efforts, and perhaps this was reflected in some sense of strain in her voice.
“Tiberius—” she groaned, molars gritting together, called for him in a note that ended with a sibilant hiss, as if he alone could somehow dissipate whatever it was that. There was little opportunity to look at their ink-puddle of a firstborn, as she was thrown back into the depth of intensity.
 
The scalloped edge of her ribs heaving, she felt her eyes close as the wave crested and washed over her, she leaned her head back to rest her crown on the earth. She was aware of the mewling babe that she clasped betwixt her willowy forearms, but she felt so empty and spent of energy. The laboring woman knew that she would be forced to continue down this path, or die trying — she only needed a moment’s respite from the relentless, oppressive forces.
 
But come the next puppy did, and when she felt the solid fullness begin to collect again in the pit of her hips, Esra knew she could not withhold or prevent the ongoing cycle. Her eyes searched for the titan’s gaze and held it strongly as she pushed alongside the divine guidance of her body, drawing strength from his nearness and burly, rugged, ever-constant presence. So it was with her firstborn within the clutch of her arms did she attempt to bring forth a second pup, with a wave of effortful groans.
 
As she lay draped over her lover, Esra recognized something within her that she didn’t often feel: fear, but of what? The woman was a midwife and had stewarded countless women through the very same process, but thus was the point of a midwife: someone who was separate from the birth, who could direct it so that the mother did not have to. Here, feeling the blood drain from her body and muscle contracting without her being able to control it, it was far too personal. The experience of bringing life forth intimately interwove itself with her body, the different sinews of pain and pleasure, longing and trepidation all wound into her body as it took to the task, yet again.
 
The pain choked the breath from her throat and she was left breathless; and Esra finally understood why the breath was so important in this process, and why it needed to be coached out of her birthing patients. She looked, briefly, towards the entrance of the den, and registered the presence of Aries somewhere close, outside —
 
Her head lifted up as the contraction rippled across her, brows knitted together. The whine that slipped from between her gritted jaws was all she could manage to do not to cry — and at long last she mewled from behind rigid facial features, before dissolving into a whimper. The pressure was building steadily, and she was utterly exhausted and breathless. She didn’t want to wish away the fires of such an experience, but so far, she had only produced one and it had almost used every energy reserve she could muster.
 
She tilted her chin downwards to create an internal, energetic lock and then sent the collection downward along her spine to her hips, to the base where her tail strained to lift and be out of the way. Then she stretched her chin, reaching up, up, up, only releasing her breath for a half-second to sip more air in and keep pushing. She might have felt powerless if it weren’t for the subtle sensation of something moving out of her, and then it slipped from her with a final heave of her round belly. The relief was immense.
 
Esra released the stale exhale that had been kept prisoner in her lungs, and the sylph twisted around to fetch their second pup. Somehow, she was still surprised to see something lying beneath her tail, moving amongst a puddle of fluids and blood, as if some great medical tragedy had just happened — but with all the tenderness in the world, Esra brought it beside the obsidian firstborn, and she cleaned them both fully and gazed at them in their full splendor.
 
It was almost funny, how quickly she forgot the pains when looking in the face of her two children.
“My love, look at them…” she gasped, the power stripped from her voice, sounding weak. “They’re real…” Her tail thump thump thumped on the ground despite herself, and she gathered the two puppies of spots of slate in her willowed arms, and laid her head back against her fiancé; the small family's absolute rock.

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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#12
Medic
07-31-2022, 06:02 PM
She smiled, blessing the new father with a paw to her chest and a slight bow of the new becoming ; although on another date Aries noted she should properly introduce herself. Trying to take root and prove herself useful, it was only days before the Priestess then laid to the earth and blessed the world with the newest brood ; and where she gently stepped in, carefully making her presence minimal but gathering that of her pelt and herbs. 

"You are blessed and doing well," would the new midwife coo so lightly in a whisper, at the more experienced one who surely already had the precautions — but nonetheless poised herself to be of any use, if so desired. She gently pushed the herbs near if the woman would take a gander at any way, whether she wished to experience it to the fullest, unknowing how Olive, now Esra, was fully enjoying this life of pregnancy, and now entering a sort of despair of losing that closeness. Golden eyes would smile, gazing and gently so, but not too closely, to take a slight glimpse at the newest ones ; she would wait until the mother was fully well for any to see closer.

Wolves by nature were protective, and she knew to give that of a space. 

A blackened abyss, and the snow stained by soot.. But at the very least she watched the squirming of one, who mewled lightly that caused a warmth to glisten in her heart. Though murked by the birthing and that of blood itself, the father tended lovingly, and Aries noted that there didn't seem anything wrong with them. Breathed, she saw them move and whimper — truly so far, to be healthy. And yet, Olive was still in pain — for more was to come.

"To help ease if you need so," and she pushed forward comfrey ; but was it the right herb? Aries fretted whether she was providing ample support and what was needed.. Although not shown within calmness, for the moment the mother was more important than any anxiety that she may hold toward this moment. In the mixture as well, one could not forget the feverfew to help midst it all.

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#13
Visionary
Content Warning
08-12-2022, 07:29 PM (This post was last modified: 08-12-2022, 07:30 PM by Olive.)
Content Warning
This post contains content that may be unsettling to some readers, including:
  • birth
speeding things along through the last two! ♥ welcome @Euphemia and @Aurelia


The woman looked at the two, small creatures that lay before her, with eyes that quickly welled up with tears. They two babes were seemingly half-asleep and half-awake, but they were alive and they were as hers as anything on this planet could be. She gaped at them in awe, her wide, moon-struck eyes bouncing between the two puppies and the big, dark man who had fathered them. They mewled, and the noise nestled itself right into the innermost corners of her heart; and Esra knew immediately that this was the most significant moment of her life. The moment she beheld the next generation of her lineage, produced from her own womb, sown with seed of the highest caliber. 

For a moment, the belabored woman forgot about the pains of birth. She had almost forgotten that the pups would instinctively be rooting for milk. The sheer intensity of finally glimpsing the little faces she had dreamt of for so long was enough to knock anything else out of her awareness — but after the moment had passed, a honeyed smile would spread across her lips and the new mother would nudge the two daughters to her belly, where her teats sat full and waiting for their mutually receptive mouths. 


"Two girls,” she finally uttered, eyes overflowing with love for the two, tiny things that breathed and squeaked and small movements to latch on. She breathed, chest hitching as the emotion tightened her throat and strangled her of breath, acutely aware of the power that flowed through her, which sparked life in these smallest, mewling, tiny things; a power gifted to her by Tiberius, whose progeny squirmed against her milkfat belly. 

Just when she was fully in the throes of bliss did the pains resume, and so did Esra’s labored contractions — only this time, she had newborns attached to her, and the amount she could move was reduced to nothing.

The sylph, her fur slicked with moisture, allowed the rolling tide of contractions wave over her without much force or input from her own effort — even after just a few moments, her energy was utterly depleted, and Olive began to feel an unfamiliar tingle creep up into her toes.
"I can't," she gasped to no one but herself, her vision blurred in its periphery; Esra no idea what to make of this. It was overwhelming in every sense, like a crack of lighting through the sky. If she were a midwife, perhaps she might have made use of the herbs Aries had brought, but her rational, thinking brain had all but shut down.

She only knew that she must lay there, and let this pass, as her breaths became light and her mind became misty, and without intension her eyelids fluttered shut. Olive managed to open them only once, but the forms of the others were incredibly fuzzy.

Then, there were two more.

However, the new mother could not fetch them, for she hovered on the brink of wakefulness and unconsciousness. The scalloped edge of her pale ribs hitched with her shallowness of breath, and she lay there like a slightly-animated corpse. With the few thoughts that came across her consciousness, Olive told herself that she would fetch her newest cubs in a moment — but at present she was so very utterly spent, to move was simply impossible.

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[Image: Sprite-0005.gif]

duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#14
Duskguard
08-14-2022, 06:45 AM (This post was last modified: 08-14-2022, 07:56 AM by Dalmatia. Edited 1 time in total.)
She didn't understand what it was she'd done to deserve being forced into the unknown, torn away from the warmth and comfort of the dark place that'd been her home for all of existence. The world felt so large for such a tiny, blind being. From the moment her mother plucked her from the ground and began clearing her airways, the speckled child wailed. Loudly.

The second-born certainly had no issues with her lung capacity.

It took a long time for her to settle, but still she emitted soft little mewls. She'd at last been shielded by the biting cold, tucked alongside a littermate and made curious by the scent of milk. 


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#15
Medic
08-14-2022, 11:57 PM (This post was last modified: 08-14-2022, 11:59 PM by Ari. Edited 1 time in total.)
Aries was not an experienced medic, nor' even a midwife. She was learning as she went, gaining and so from the many, many who taught her throughout the Winterglade. Though then momentarily such teachings were put on a pause, for a time of marriage was brought too — and there was she, awaiting to meet a man she had never even seen the face of, but during all that preparation, torn away from the realm she so knew, and tossed into a new one. Brought to the Vale, a land, a territory, a pack she knew not but graciously accepted in ; relief instantly met that while settling herself, she was grounded — and blessed to be someone that could be a support.

Though she worried, if she prepared, if she could help. Ushured to the new world, Olive breathed more life and she — she fluttered, a weakling muttering of she could not, but life was given again. A surprising bundle she could through through the vale, twinset but still there — for she could not. Aries's heart thumped, and she moved toward, "I am here," so she whispered to the wife.

To remove that was and allow breath, and stimulate it all. Birth was never a pretty thing to witness, as she felt the sac removed by her tongue and the washing of the beloved young. Even as she looked and awaited for their finally mewls of life, they were replica's of each other, and whispered oh-so lovingly, "you are blessed with twins," so said Aries, hushing the movement toward Olive's quarters for the supplies they needed, and though helped in a delivery, she could do no more besides of that.

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#16
08-15-2022, 12:02 AM
An arrival and bundled with another ; but game not as easily. Weakened by birth that she was, there was but a moments of struggle — but was soon released and given that of fresh air but unknown motions. Mewling, crying as so ; desire of hunger that was not known before this new life, but as soon met. Snuggled closely, and she was met with her needs.

New life given, and she was here.

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#17
Medic
08-26-2022, 01:38 AM
It was only the most immense wave of exhaustion that could keep her from new newborns, but that is exactly what overtook the sweat-slicked woman; her mind felt fuzzy and her body suddenly felt foreign and empty. The scents within the den were heady and overwhelming; blood and milk, somehow mixed together — and all Olive could do was lay half against Tiberius and half against the earth, ribs hitching with her shortness of breath, eyelashes fluttering.

She was only vaguely aware of Aries coming and assuming the overt position of midwife, angled toward her hindquarters as doctor and patient. It was difficult for her to perceive how the snowhare shuffled the two puppies into her arm,
 
It was then and only then, that the new mother could be roused; the realization that two puppies had been born, somehow — of course, in her studies Olive had seen such a thing happen before but it seemed impossible that it might happen to her, and with a great summation of effort she lifted her head and gazed feebly at the two greyscale things that mewled and quivered with life. She grinned, and released herself back against the stalwart @Tiberius once more, trusting Aries to help the two pups to their first teat.


"F-four," she uttered, her voice without breath, a mere whisper, "four incredible baby girls," and the sudden thought of Tiberius being surrounded be females was enough to bring a small chuckle from deep inside her parched, tired throat. Her body became inert, and her heart stilled. It all seemed to be over, and Olive allowed herself to bask in its exhaustive glory.


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duskguard  /  healing    /  lineage
#18
Medic
09-23-2022, 12:24 AM
As the young were safe, Aries approached closer ; carefully looking at the woman while an eye toward @Tiberius for any misgiving he may feel on her intruding too closely. She would hope her respectful nature would allow so, as the mild nurse would desire very much to make sure of the weakened Olive and that was safe. Suckling as they went, an air forth where the young breathed and cried lightly.. In and out she saw, a rising chest and the loving warmth of parents eyes.

Her paws shuffling lightly to a series of herbs, various ones to ensure the health of the other — such as huckleberries, bounty to help strength after this all. A turmoil that she could not imagine this brave woman faced ; one of the Gods liking, a Priestess in name where any would utter prayers within her light, even to those who did not believe in the heavens. 

She was blessed in safety.

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