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"There?s no point in being grown up if you can?t act a little childish sometimes."
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[P:170]
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Sept 28, 2012 13:43:27 GMT -5
Post by Ϻinέrvă on Sept 28, 2012 13:43:27 GMT -5
Calliope It was terrifying. It was anguish and pain. It was the beginning of four new lives.
Calliope's labor pains started in the early morning, startling her awake. She registered what was happening with a strange disconnect. Over the weeks of her pregnancy, she had become detached from the tiny creatures stirring inside her. They were not her pups, they were the pups. They were alien to her, as if she were simply babysitting them while their real mother was out hunting. Of course, come the birth, Calliope would be all too aware of the truth. Her instincts prodded her to leave and find a safe, secluded space.
In the end, that may have saved her life.
The quiet walk out of camp gave her plenty of time to think. The pack was prospering. Kasimira's offspring were maturing quickly and would soon have to set out on their own. The Alpha seemed very attached to her pups, but some took after their mother a little too much. Not everyone could be Alpha.
The other slaves had been kind to Calliope, bringing prey to her when she became too heavy to get it herself. In fact, she had eaten better these past few weeks than she had since becoming a slave. Even so, the pups seemed to take most of it, as her stomach grew bigger and the rest of her remained the same. The sight of her bulging midsection atop her spindly legs was probably very comical, but most wolves knew better than to goad a pregnant female. Her moods had been much worse than the last time, swinging from depressed to angry with few forays into happy. The cause of this problem, Calliope was sure, was the absent father of the pups. She alternately pined for and cursed Phrino. She often engaged in a fantasy where she found him in his pack and forced him to take his children. It was a dream that made her hate herself, but she couldn't keep it out of her mind.
Calliope had no idea how far she had walked when she finally found a sheltered spot, but her paws were sore and her body begging for a rest. A small offshoot of the river that bordered Irrsin pooled in a shallow depression. The area was slightly hilly, and Calliope spotted a small den dug into the side of one hill. It contained the faint scent of rabbit and was much too small to hold her. Slowly, stopping at irregular intervals to suffer through contractions, Calliope widen the den until it became a hole big enough to lie down in. It had little protection compared to real den, but she was guarded on three sides.
From then on time was divided into in-pain and not-in-pain as her contractions came on steadier and more quickly. Dusk was staining the land gray when Calliope heard the strange snapping and roaring, a sound not unlike an angry bear. Her brain went into panic mode. Her desire was to fight to protect her pups, but in this state every wound would be a wound to them as well. She pulled herself into an upright position, fearing what she would find outside her little shelter.
The smell hit her like a wall. An acrid taste filled her mouth and her nose burned. Her chest shook as she coughed violently, trying to fill her lungs with clean air. The land before her was veiled in a thin haze and smoke. Off in the distance, but getting closer every moment, was the twisting band of fire responsible. Fire! An enemy that could not be fought or driven off, cornered or conquered. It didn't care whether you were hunter or prey; it devoured all the same.
Calliope eyes found the pool of water below her. What if it was too shallow to save her? What if the pups were impatient? What if the smoke killed her before the heat? Even as these doubts flooded her mind, Calliope knew the water was her only chance. Stumbling down the hill, she half-walked, half-fell into the water. She splashed noisily for a moment, but then the only sound was the fire's roar.
Eperna, save me.
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After the fire, Irrsin was unnaturally quiet. Except for the whimpers of a wolf and the cries of new life. Still coughing up black mucus, Calliope brought pups into the world, working methodically. Push, clean it, make sure it breathes, guide it to milk, push the next one, repeat. When all four were happily sucking away, Calliope fell into exhausted sleep. She would worry about Irrsin, the pack, and her future later. For now, as the sky was lightening, she slept without dreams, feeling only an impression of love from some unseen being.
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Fear does not stop death. It stops life.
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Ravensbruck
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Sept 28, 2012 18:48:17 GMT -5
Post by »Image on Sept 28, 2012 18:48:17 GMT -5
ADLER Just breathe. Just breathe. It was the pure instinct within the newborn that pushed him to draw those first, shallow and shattering breaths. A fury like fire ripped over his chest as Adler drew the air into his lungs, the air seemingly cursing his body as the final completion to moratily was finished. You're in the real world now. The pup cried out for the safety he'd just left, tiny head lifting only slightly to let his first song reach the air. Where was the warmth he'd known for so long? Where was the usual beating that lulled him into a deeper sleep? Adler, his senses awakened by the process of birth, attempted to vocalize his discontent, surprised when such a noise resonated from within himself. Confused and blinded by the successive events, the male shook his head from side to side as he whimpered.
It was all too much. Too much light. Too loud. Too cold. Adler, his frail body shaking from the chills of autmn, whimpered again, this time softer. What was going on? Where was he? Why had he been taken from that solitary glow of heat? The pup felt around with his paws apprehensively, his eyes shut to the world for now. Soon enough they would open and he would know the lands before him like he knew his own fur--but for now, this was all he had. Adler sat still for a moment as a tongue ran over his back, cleaning and removing the dampness that had flooded over him. As if in response, he cooed softly, his fur rippling with the sudden sensation of his first bath.
There was suddenly one thing he knew. He needed that warmth, that security. Again, the voice that had spoken before came alive. Crawl. Find her. Without so much as a hitn of hesitation the male did just that, his tiny paws scrambling across the make-shift den's floor. He had to find something, anything that--oof! Adler let out a squeal as he hit his mother's side, slightly starstruck as he contemplated what to do. What now? The thing before him was fuzzy and warm, but what was it? And then, as he pricked his ears, the beat sounded.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. There it was. The sound that had comforted him for so long was still right next to him, just as it always had been. Adler huffed as he attempted to make his way closer to it, his paws flailing as he scraped along. Before he knew it, gentle teeth had reached out to pick him up and set him amongst the heat and safety of his mother. Adler wondered for a moment where the help had come from, but it wasn't long before he was being called to consider something else. Hungry. Hungry. The voice pestered him now, compelling him to feed from his mother. Adler half thought about ignoring the voice and letting sleep overtake him, but it shouted louder in response, forcing him onward. He struggled for a while to find a spot to nurse, clamboring over another wiggling pup in the process. As soon as the warm milk hit the pup's tongue, a soft sigh of relief fell over him.
Sleep, sleep... [/size]
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"There?s no point in being grown up if you can?t act a little childish sometimes."
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[P:170]
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Oct 15, 2012 20:45:53 GMT -5
Post by Ϻinέrvă on Oct 15, 2012 20:45:53 GMT -5
Acantha Something poked and prodded Acantha, nearly rolling her over with the force of its rhythmic tongue. She kicked out with her paws in protest, or at least she tried. Her limbs were clumsy and weak, almost useless against the unknown thing. The wet and warm tongue passed over Acantha's muzzle and suddenly the pup felt air rush into her lungs. Now she could give voice to her discontent with menacing squeaks and whines.
The unknown thing, apparently scared off by her ferocity, vanished. Acantha barely had time to be pleased with her victory when she became aware of a most unpleasant feeling. She was cold, yes, but that was nothing compared to this new notion of being alone. Before all this, there had always been the others; those warm, squishy forms that she had constantly fought for space. Out here there was unending space, but Acantha found that she missed their comforting presence.
The warm unknown thing was back. Acantha squealed as something closed around her and the earth dropped away. Her protests ceased when she discovered that she had been deposited back onto the ground, and up against something warm, too. Her tiny heart lifted as she felt two wigging forms press up against her. This was familiar to her, the jostling and poking.
Hunger and sleep and sleep vied for her attention, both insisting they could wait no longer. Acantha heard the greedy gulps of her siblings and decided to satisfy her own hunger, but found it an exhausting process. For now, sleep would be her only task.
****
Calliope The sun was high in the sky when Calliope woke. Mercifully, the pups were still asleep and she took pains not to wake them. She knew that quiet would be scarce in the weeks ahead. This was, after all, her second litter.
A wave of grief washed over Calliope. Her offspring were gone. Her real pups, not these imposters. These squirming lumps were a cruel gift from Eperna, a shallow replacement for the perfect bundles of joy that were taken away. Why didn't she fight harder for them? They probably didn't even remember her now. They would spend their lives calling another wolf Mother.
A whine brought Calliope's attention back to the pups she still had. They were so tiny, so lumpy and soft. Three were grey, but one was a rich chocolate brown. One of the greys was clearly bigger than the others. The oldest, Calliope guessed. She searched her hazy memories to confirm it. Calliope realized with a panic that she had neglected to choose names. She had spent so much of her pregnancy trying to convince herself that it wasn't happening, but now . . . she couldn't help but feel a connection to her pups. Her pups. It was time to let go of a past that wasn't coming back. Or at least try to.
The names came to her now as if they had been assigned to the pups beforehand. The chocolate would be called Lanze; the oldest was Adler. The runt seemed like she deserved a soft name and received Amalthea. The final pup was declared Acantha.
"Hello, my darlings," Calliope cooed before addressing them all by name. She felt a tiny flare of motherly devotion as she gazed upon them. No one would take these pups away from her. No one.
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Fear does not stop death. It stops life.
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Nov 1, 2012 12:56:01 GMT -5
Post by »Image on Nov 1, 2012 12:56:01 GMT -5
KASIMIRA For the first time in weeks, Kasimira had gotten around to patrolling the borders of Irrsin. It had been early morning when she had risen from sleeping, her body mushed lovingly up against Tortuga's side. She had stretched and licked her mate's face softly in the quiet of morning before setting off into the dusk of a new day. It had been arranged that they would alternate patrolling the borders in the early morning every day, giving and taking in their relationship. It had been their way before the fire, and it was their way now.
Kasimira's long legs itched to race across the grey land and take in every last breath of the burnt grass air, remember every last inch of thistle and meadow crunch beneath her paws. The fire had destroyed much of what had made Irrsin distinct from the other packs, but there was growth, and for Kasimira, that was enough. She had learned a type of patience in her separation, one that had made her stop and consider things more quietly in the early mornings. It made her investigate slowly, made her talk less at times. And as time passed, she tried to think less of what the fire had taken from her and more of what Eperna had given back.
Tortuga. His white fur was striking in the moonlight when they took nighttime walks together, and Kasimira found herself falling madly, feverishly in love with the white brute all over again. Countless times they would find themselves playing simple games of tag or wrestling in the meadow's whistling reeds. They were like adolescents at times, flirtatious and new, as if they'd just found each other for the first time. And although it felt unique and different than before, the Alpha female knew that their companionship felt like something she was beginning again. She had never stopped loving Tortuga, never.
Plus, being side by side with her mate now was a wave of relief for the queen against the looming terrors of losing Marzell and Adelina. The nightmares had increased, and anymore Kasimir never got a full night's sleep. When she had been on her own, there had been nights when she hadn't even found a good den in sleep in at all, but then she had hope. Now, she knew the chances of finding her offspring were practically non-exsistant. And yet, here she was, back to her old ways as if nothing had ever happened, as if there had never been a fire. There were two, precious pieces of her life missing, and Kasimira wasn't quite sure what to make of it all yet.
As the black queen rounded the most southern edge of Irrsin territory, she heard it. It was a soft coo and a mixture of pup squeals. It was unmistakable to Kasimira, whose mind was filled with serene ideas and images of her own missing pups. Hope against hope flared in her stomach, the memories of her own birth swarming her vision. Kasimira made a beeline for where she thought she heard the litter. It didn't take her long to follow the scents and noises to the small, makeshift den that had been scraped away. Kasimira sniffed carefully before proceeding, her paws kneading the ground. What was that scent? It was achingly familiar, with hints of Irrsin mingled quite clearly. Maybe a stray had wandered onto the territory a few weeks ago. How had no one noticed this den before now though? With the curiosity bubbling wildly inside of her, Kasimira crouched down and squirmed boldly into the den.
What greeted her inside stunned Kasimira for a moment. It was Calliope. And puppies. She had completely forgotten about Calliope's pregnancy. With a rush, anger and jealousy intertwined and flared in the Alpha female's stomach. Here was this sklavin with her pups--all safe and secure--and where were her own children? They were gone, dead and lost in this unforgiving world. Kasimira and Calliope's relationship had always been a good one, with Calliope staying well on the Irrsin Alpha's good side with her soft demeanor and appearance. Now, however, Kasimira had forgotten the she-wolf before her, tormented instead by the loss of her pups. With a snarl, Kasimira spat angrily at her once beloved sklavin.
"Well, look what the sklavin dragged in..."
The blue eyes flashing, Kasimira snapped a command out before backing out of the den.
"My den. We need to discuss their futures. Now."
Kasimira had been purposeful in hinting at the pups' anticipated future. With her blood boiling, she wasn't even sure what she expected to come of this sudden meeting. All she knew was that this mess had to be taken care of. A large, resentful part of the irate queen wanted the sklavin to sweat a little. I'll show you just who you're messing with.
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