Where Light Comes From Dark

Don't need to post in this but wanted to get context out. Might be a little rough since I've been a bit busy and I'm rushing this before work @Hieronymous @Gunnhildr @Katja

---

Something wasn't right. It didn't matter how she pushed, the pain was unfathomable. Ira was not a new mother, she knew what to expect. The contractions, the push, the pain, but what she felt now differed from past litters. The first three had come, more or less, with ease. Two boys and a girl, all seemingly healthy and big. She should be thrilled that more were on the way, but as hours passed without success, she began to worry.

@Quicksilver wasn't here. Usually she snapped if so much as a nose entered her den in these grueling hours, but there was only so much she could do alone. So much she could do in the case of an anomaly... Ira wasn't sure how long it had been now, all she knew was she was exhausted and wanted to be done with this. However, if she gave in now, then whatever children were left would surely die.

Another hour passed, with more blood than she liked to see, but eventually two more would come. They were twins...near identical in size and marking aside from the shade. Unfortunately, no matter how she tended to them, they refused to budge. No air met their lungs, and the world was silent of their cries. The roan woman didn't know what to think. For as stony as the High Queen could be, she was a mother above all. Everything she did was for her children... and now she had properly failed two.

Ira had little time to grieve before the familiar pain of another made its way through her body. This time the gods would favor her with a swift birth, and despite the struggles to get her to show signs of life, the last would take her first breath. She should be happy, even beyond the loss she may have had no way of preventing, but as she moved the last living to her belly, Ira's heart sank. The girl was stubborn and refused to suckle... Maybe it was too early to say, but the thought of another like @Rea pained her. Another who would bear the burden of their father's curse. Another who would never live a normal life.

For now, she pushed the thoughts away and rolled to her side with a huff. She needed to rest, and then once Hiero had seen the results of their pairing, deal with the two bodies she had tucked off to the side. Vanderfell's youngest royals had arrived.

the staff team luvs u

Runar was too young, deaf, and blind to know the struggle his mother was subjected to. He was alone and selfish in his wants, or so his one track line of thought would tell him, as he was the first to meet the world's cold air. He protested with mighty lungs, unhappy to be ripped from the comfort he had adjusted to in the past few weeks. Fortunately for everyone, he would be silenced quickly by a warm tongue and a belly of milk. Others soon lined him and the boy found comfort again before drifting in and out of sleep.

the staff team luvs u

Bitter. Oh so bitter, cold as the unknown - bitter as soot. Why am I cold?

When the air broke through, and warmth left all she'd known, Gunnhildr couldn't bring herself to do anything but wail. Dampened, meek paws shook over the soil as she rubbed against other small bodies in an attempts to find where she was - what she was. Grass stabbed her skin, sudden movement burned her head and the sound of other yipping pups were deafening, so could anyone blame her? Blame any of them? No, she begged for things to be back to how they were - warm and hidden from the bristling air or shocking noises. Yet in her puzzlement, the sightless youth could feel a bigger mass just before her. 

It felt familiar, larger than her own existence and still, Gunnhildr crawled closer to Home; a place, or thing she could not remember, for she had no memory of before. Now the mauve daughter could settle under the presence of Home, surrounded by bodies who'd she hoped would find the same comfort as she. 

the staff team luvs u

There was no cold, no hunger, no cries for attention as there were with her still-living siblings. She would never know what it was to feel pain. She would never know what it was to instinctually know her own limitations. In a way, it was a blessing, but the ways such affliction cursed her were much more numerous. Her mother knew, perhaps in the ways that a mother did, that this would be Katja's life, that she would carry the heritage of her father. But as any creature did, she would make the best of it or she wouldn't; fortunately for her, the tiny ball of squirming, unfeeling fur had her mother's fire, and that would aid her in a great many things in the days, months, years to come.

the staff team luvs u

When her mother whelped her previous litter, Rea had steered clear of the birthing hollow. This time, however, she hovered. There was an anxiety in her that day, a nervous tension woven deep throughout the very fibres of her being. When last the High Queen had brought life to Vanderfell, there'd been a medic present. Quicksilver had been a precise midwife, a skilled wolf who knew exactly what signs to look for and when to intervene. He wasn't around this time, and the mottled youth feared the possibilities that could occur in his absence. 

There was no telling where he and his pack had gone, for their frozen mountains no longer rose to the North. It was too late to go off in search for him, for nature waited for no one. Rea hovered, unusually afraid, while her dam laboured for long hours.

Babies cried, and still the Queen maintained her privacy. Rea knew better than to approach or stick her nose to the entrance, for she would surely lose it to Ira's fangs. She was the last wolf anyone would want to cross in these serious circumstances, so she waited.

And waited.

And waited.
the staff team luvs u

Face first he welcomed the world beyond the warm walls he once knew was home.

He cried.

He ate.

He existed.

the staff team luvs u

He knew better than to interrupt his wife during this time of hers. Hieronymous was happy to wait outside the den, patient for him to be welcome but also a guard. The first to step in the way for anyone who wasn't the aid, the medic that she requested. Rea stood at his side, equally anxious over the events but he sat patiently. Wanting to be the example for his daughter to follow and not feed her anxieties with making his own obvious. Instead, he smiled peacefully. Ears tilted back to listen attentively to the goings on behind them.

He knew the rhythms by it all now. The acrid smell of blood even affected him - to a lesser degree that possibly any others sharing his species, but the smell was still present. More so than usual. The times prior he wasn't aware of the smell but today was different. He cast a single eye over his shoulder, watching the darkness as if he could see anything beyond the black that stared back.

The High King could hear her struggle. The smell. The sound. Something was wrong. Blaming himself; did his shitty genetics cause another problem for his wife? His heart sank, ignoring the knowledge that Ira preferred to birth solo to come and check on her. Risking his face and add more scars should she lash out at him nosing around to ensure all was well... and seeing a problem.

Ira wasn't the type to ignore her puppies. Two bundles were away from the others who suckled at her belly. With a saddened eye he mourned their failed attempt to survive. Regardless if she wanted it or not, he offered a lick between her ears for comfort. To tell her she did amazingly as usual before turning to gather the lifeless bodies in a gentle maw to carry them off to their burial grounds. It was the least he could do. Carefully tilting his head away to try and hide the stillborns from Rea as he wandered off and away.

He'd mark their graves for Ira to come and mourn later when she needed. He'd remain by their side a little longer after burial to pay his respects, a silent apology for the possibility that he had given them sub-par genetics before turning to focus on those who had survived this day. There was still much to celebrate even if not all could be present to celebrate with them this day.

the staff team luvs u

He said nothing as he came to greet their youngest. No words had been shared, as Hiero quickly pieced together what only silence could say. A part of her was thankful that she would never have to speak those words aloud. She was too tired to try as it was. He placed a comforting lick to her crown and quickly did what must be done, hopefully without the eyes of their eldest. Logic said this was the price they must pay. That it was inevitably a failure on both parents, but it would not take away the nagging feeling that the blame laid solely on her shoulders.

She hadn't been enough, and maybe she never could have...but whose to say things might not be different had she more skill or Quicksilver to aid. Herbs to save their fragile breath, or a diet better suited to their growth. Ira had never been great with her own vulnerability. Now was not the time to try, so she kept quiet and watched as her husband departed. There were still four. They were enough. And she would be sure to not fail them, as she had their siblings.

the staff team luvs u

Her father collected himself and at last pressed forward, stepping carefully into the High Queen's private whelping chamber. Rea lifted her muzzle and observed his movement with a curious stare, half expecting her mother to greet him with teeth. She blinked, aware of the odd tension that hung in the air around them, and waited with her ears pressed forward and bated breath.

A short time passed and the mottled leader appeared once more from the darkness of the hollow. He held something firm in his jaws and the young huntress gathered to her paws, her tail swaying softly at her hocks. Hieronymous did not look toward her but instead turned his face away as he veered aside and away out of sight.

Rea hovered, uncertain, though she was quick to realise that not all of her newest siblings had survived delivery. A morbid curiosity urged her to follow the High King but instead she chose to remain, lingering awkward until her father returned and joined her mother within the den. It was then she took her leave, trailing off into the night to roam with her thoughts for a while. 


the staff team luvs u