Oak Tree Bend by and by

@Sahalie or anybody really. About 1 week preggo and starting to smell like it.

Her dreams were vivid, images of deep, dark waters roiling beneath her kicking limbs as frothy peaks crashed overhead, helpless against the current pulling her out to sea. Something smooth, sleek under her feet lifting her, as three giant, black teeth split the churning surface of the water before her.

Spieden's stomach made an uncomfortable flip and she gasped, amber eyes flashing open as she stumbled forth in the darkness of the den, not even fully awake yet. The walls were suffocating her like the crest of a wave, light, air, space, she needed it all and could not get it fast enough. She gasped with tongue hanging haphazardly from her mouth as she made a mad dash out the entrance of the communal den, praying she would not step on anyone but unable to take the time to ensure she didn't. She broke free into the clearing of the great oak, her legs splayed wide as she retched unproductively into the snow.

Sick. She was just sick. That's what it was. These illnesses came and went, and with her diet a little indigestion wasn't uncommon. It all made sense, as long as she ignored the musky scent that that left her with a sinking feeling. She could ignore it, it was just like last year when the hormonal rush of the season and proximity to Nayeli had her body confused. She just needed some cold water would help sooth her stomach, and with the first glints of pale sunlight reaching into the still star-specked sky it was about time to be up anyways.

Her stomach still quivered as she quietly snuck away from the den, occasionally leaning her shoulder against a tree trunk as her stomach made its attempts at escape.

 

Leaving it very vague what happened with Drestig though at this point I doubt it will be anything

Once again she was up with the night, finding herself to be becoming more and more nocturnal as the months since her return passed. Mostly she just lurked in the dark, the mists enveloping her silver coat and allowing her to blend in like a ghost. She moved easily throughout the trees by now as if by second nature and it was rare that she ran into anyone else on her escapades in the moonlight. Tonight however she hovered near the den she shared with @Kyna laying with her head on her paws, her only movement the twitch of her eyebrows as she gazed about.

Which was why the sound of retching in the near silence of the night was so surprising. Glancing back towards her sleeping daughter for only a moment to assure she still slumbered she easily left her spot. The snow that was still present melted during the day to firm up again in the night and the cool caused her shoulder to ache after laying stagnant for so long. Doing her best to ignore it she loped towards the sound until she saw the dark form moving through the territory, occasionally leaning against trees for support.

It was clear that the female lead was pregnant. The sickly stench of vomit barely covered the deep musk of pregnancy that Aponi herself had sported just last year.  She had never spoken in depth much with Spieden though the silver woman had respect enough for her,  she seemed competent at least.  Purposely crunching through some particularly icy looking snow so as not to startle the woman she came along parallel to her.  Glancing sideways she murmured, "Almost nothing helped my stomach except for ginger when I was with Kyna." It was conversational enough she supposed, it was best to be on the woman's good side.

Spieden was cursing the fates when she heard the the crackle and snap of paws over ice coming from just behind her. Brown fur bristled, her thick neck swinging as she glanced over her shoulder, a sort of guilty look on her silvered face. Inwardly she swore, had she been so noisy that she'd woken someone up? She had been trying to keep this disaster under wraps, for all intents and purposes she wanted to pretend everything was the same as always. That she was the same, sturdy woman as she'd always been, and that she hadn't ruined her life with a moment of faltering self control. If she could keep pretending, maybe it would be true.

Spieden wasn't sure what to expect as the silvery female sidled up to her. It took her a moment to realize what Aponi had meant by "with Kyna". Spieden sighed heavily, her head glancing away from the other woman into the trees. She wasn't "with" anything, besides a case of food poisoning. But still...

Ginger... Hell, she would chew and swallow rocks if it helped the sickening swirl of her stomach. She knew well enough that ginger was a plant, but she was no herbalist, she had no idea what ginger looked like. Ask her to tell apart a lingcod and a cabezon and she could rattle off the differences in a second, but she could run right into a bush of ginger -- did it even grown on bushes? -- and she wouldn't even know it.

Swallowing back her pride, as well as another tide of nausea, she glanced back towards Aponi. "You wouldn't happen to know where to find any, would you?" She asked quietly.

inderect mentions of @Kino and @Naira :P

Sahalie could not remember the scents of her packmates changing with the last season, but had more or less assumed that the weird scents on the breeze and on her family was just some sort of side effect of the new season. They acted strangely —the ladies in particular— but it was hard to separate this strangeness from the loss of Jessie and Drestig, the coming warmth, or the fact that no one in Oak Tree Bend had been particularly normal since she had been born. Sahalie would have continued happily with her naive assumptions had the scents —actually, just one, particular scent—not suddenly changed yet again. The fact that the weirdness belong to Spieden, rather than Aponi, Leotie or the woman, made Sahalie nervous and concerned. This was the woman who raised her, after all, and her bond with Spieden was as a result very different than the relationship she had with her father, her brother, or even Alastor. So she kept a closer watch on the dark woman, but kept her worries to herself.

This was why, so early in the morning for a night-owl, Sahalie's eyes creaked open. All the shuffling movements and scents were Spieden's, which surprised the girl as the woman was not usually up this early. And anything out of the ordinary was suspect. Huffing a little, Sahalie slogged to her paws and noodled out of the den. Awareness came to her more quickly now that her nose was catching the hint of throw-up in the air, the sound of retching. Blinking rapidly, the girl could see Spieden leaning on a tree with Kyna's mother standing nearby. Spieden was asking her some sort of question, but she was being awfully quiet about it.

Sahalie could no longer remain silent. Setting her anxious little pout into her lips, the girl stepped up to the adults. "Is Spieden gunna ...gunna be alright?" Even though the woman was right there in front of her the question was addressed more to Aponi, who as always had a firm lid on the situation. The peppered mother did not seemed bothered by the situation at all, which was heartening. But strange none the less. This whole vomitting thing reminded Sahalie a lot of the apples Spieden had eaten that one time. But that had been at night and her speech had slurred and things were very different in general. If anything, this seemed worse. There were no apples in sight.

"Do we need to find a healer for her?" Maybe @Quentin would know what to do. But she had no idea where she was.

(This post was last modified: Mar 25, 2016, 02:59 AM by Sahalie.)

The alpha seemed to sigh in resignation at her words but did not acknowledge the truth in them, perhaps she was still in denial. How she could be with the retching and the scent change was beyond Aponi who had carried her pregnancy with pride, though she had used it to lever herself to the top. The woman's question was quiet but it was still a sign of trust, just what the silver woman wanted from her. Being close with the alpha could get her the oomph she needed if she ever actually needed something. Blue eyes looked away as she seemed to swallow back another round of vomit fighting its way up her throat, "Unfortunately I don't have any here, but I can get some from near the mountain for you in the morning if you would like." The trip wouldn't take nearly as long now that the mother was comfortable enough within the woods that she could find the territory with ease.

Sahalie's approach was greeted with a flick of one silver ear before the blue gaze turned to take in the anxious appearance of the almost yearling. Smiling in a way meant to me encouraging she acknowledged her questions, "She's going to be just fine, just an upset stomach is all."  Glancing back towards the alpha out of the corner of her eye to see how this statement would go she said nothing else. If Spieden wasn't ready to accept her pregnancy she certainly wasn't going to out her, not to her daughter's friend and not when they were just making good progress.

(This post was last modified: Mar 27, 2016, 05:58 PM by Aponi.)

"That would be nice, actually," Spieden managed to grind out, teeth clenched and tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth as if she could contain her nausea through sheer willpower. She never really liked asking for help, but she hated feeling useless like this. She just wanted to get back to being herself again, but the way things were going who knew when that would be. At least something to soothe her stomach would at least give her a scrap of fleeting normalcy.

Spieden just about wanted to dissolve into the ground when she heard Sahalie's concerned voice coming from behind them. Of everyone she didn't want to know, Sahalie was somewhere at the top of that list. It made her feel like a failure, she was supposed to set a good example, or at the very least not a bad one, and here she was suffering for her own irresponsible decision, knowing things would only get worse.

Sahalie's suggestion was well meaning, but Spieden doubted there was much a healer could do for her. A fleeting thought, it was early yet. Perhaps an herbalist could just fix this problem of hers. But if she couldn't stand the embarrassment of this, the shame of that would be worse. It wasn't something she could seriously consider.

"I'm fine," Spieden said tiredly, reinforcing Aponi's assurances. "Just uhh, ate something bad." She lied through her teeth. Once the words left her mouth she regretted them. Lying to the girl just felt wrong, she'd always made a point of being honest with her, but the truth was just as bad. But if she pretended to believe it, was it still really a lie? The lying made her feel just as sick as everything else. She stumbled forward to clear the way, saliva and bile trailing from her mouth as she heaved again.

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

@Aponi you're up! ;D

Something seemed off here. Maybe not the friendly response of Kyna's mother, who seemed like a nice enough lady, but something in the sideways glance she sent towards Spieden. That seemed strange. And as nice as Aponi was, normally she just kept to herself and made time only for Kyna. They slept in a different den. And although Aponi was concerned enough to come help dig the den out after the blizzard, she did not seem like the kind of the wolf that would get so involved over an upset stomach if that stomach was not inside of her daughter's body. This was definitely the weird thing about it all. Sahalie's golden eyes darted back and forth between the two darkened ladies.

Spieden herself seemed too distracted by her own illness to even catch or acknowledge the glance from Kyna's mother, or to even acknowledge Sahalie's presence at all. Instead, she attempted to wave the girl away with a classic "I'm fine." Spieden was always just fine. At least she always said she was. Another thing Spieden was was a bad liar. Sahalie probably got it from her. The strange grasping for words, the "uhhh" left Sahalie unable to believe that it was just "something bad," since on top of it the woman reeked of strangeness. When Spieden stumbled forward and vomitted again, it was just too much.

Squaring her stance and furrowing her brow, Sahalie replied, "Why d'you adults always try to keep secrets from me? I'm a big girl now. I can handle it. I don't know any food in this whole valley that would make a wolf smell like this." Frustration was welling up from cracks deep within her heart, frightening her. She took a deep breath hoping to seal them away before the thoughts could run away with her mouth farther than they already had. Her postured softened as she listened to the pained heaves of her caretaker's sides, and she crept slowly and submissively to Spieden's rump, nosing her flank gently. "I'm just worried, okay?"

Aponi is exiting to let the two of them talk now, just let me know when this is archived :)

The sideways glance she had casted towards the alpha had apparently been lost on her as she strained to answer the pup before moving forward to heave once more. Sighing Aponi wrinkled her nose as the smell of bile and vomit reached them, causing her own stomach to turn.  She would have to be up in a few hours to make the journey to get the ginger then.  This was enough reason for her to leave, retire back to her den for a nap beside her daughter before heading north.

Unfortunately the black pup was demanding answers.  Blue eyes turned in surprise at Sahalie's words and surprise quickly changed to admiration. This was the fire that Kyna was missing, this was exactly how she wished her own daughter could be.  It was enough for Aponi to want to tell her the truth that she demanded but the sound of gagging from behind them stopped her.  

Glancing backwards the mother cringed at the sight of vomit mixed with snow. Still it seemed to bother the child little as she crept forwards to nose the flank of the alpha. Would Kyna do the same for her or would she flee at the sight of weakness? Leaning forward she murmured, "I promise that Spieden is going to be just fine, okay?" Then she looked back towards the pregnant wolf who seemed to maybe be regaining her composure. Nodding her head in respect she spoke loud enough for them both to hear this time, "Perhaps I should leave the two of you alone, I'll leave tomorrow to fetch you that ginger Spieden." Nodding towards the Tainn girl with a final smile she turned.

Once more Aponi moved easily through the trees back towards the den, maybe she could get a few hours of sleep in before she would have to leave. Probably not now with the nagging comparison of Sahalie and Kyna pulling at the back of her mind.

APONI EXIT

Spieden winced, a pained look stretching over the scar-wrinkled skin of her face as Sahalie's indignant voice rang out behind her. She didn't like the secrecy and the lies just as much as the young Tainn. But how else could she explain it when she didn't entirely have the answers herself? To be truthful would be to acknowledge reality, and it wasn't something Spieden was sure she could do. A soft touch to her flank, a reassuring point of contact. Deliberately Spieden turned around to face the girl, her amber eyes flicking to Aponi as she took her leave, giving a slow nod.

"Thank you, Aponi," Spieden called with voice hoarse after the departing silvery form. Taking a trip to the mountain was no real cakewalk, and she appreciated her making the effort for her. She waited quietly as the woman slipped off through the trees, watching and almost biding her time and thoughts before returning her attention towards Sahalie.

"Spring does strange things to females." Spieden said, trying to be reassuring but not entirely convinced. "That's how I was able to take care of you and Drift without being your mother." A half truth, maybe. It wouldn't be the first time her hormones had run amok.