Hidden Berry Hideout the gender reveal [bwp]

week 5 noticeably swole belly. @Kino .... also thanks @Reyes for the thread title inspo

Making progress was actually a lot harder than she imagined. While two weeks ago she'd been filled with nervous, manic energy it all ran dry rather quickly. In fits and bursts the fervor would return to her on occasion, but Sahalie found it all rather hard to maintain. Or if she did have the energy for anything it was the sudden, strong urge to start digging. She'd dug three or four different, shallow holes already as they traveled, each one as pointless as the last—they wouldn't be settling here if she could help it. They needed to get over the mountain, but at the same time she needed to get under ground. There needed to be a place for her children to be born, even if she was a bit premature on the digging. She could feel them, now, and was pretty sure that Alastor could see them now. The chubby girl had only gotten chubbier.

"Hey, Alastor..." she called out, already elbow deep in a drier area of the fen. Had she looked about a little harder, she might have recalled this place from her childhood. Without the huge, orange berries to trigger her memory, though, it looked like simply a field with soil that was light and good for digging. "You wanna lend a paw?" Even though this was just another hole that they would abandon, it calmed her nerves to practice. As if a wolf needed practice something that came naturally.

Anything to keep her mind off of everything that was happening.

(This post was last modified: Apr 16, 2018, 03:40 AM by Sahalie.)

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

Hal had certainly started to balloon and on occasion, with Hal’s permission, he liked to touch his nose to her stomach. They hadn’t started moving quite yet, but he imagined it was only a matter of time before their little ones entered the world. This made him incredibly excited and each time he would inspect her stomach he’d look at her with excited eyes, his tail sweeping behind his frame like a little pup in for a treat. Even with her mood swings and ever changing appetite, everyday was like a treat to him. He felt happy and at peace as he looked after his mate and their forming children. He felt like he finally had a purpose.

But, with her growing belly it was also becoming apparent that their time was running out for them to get over the mountain. Already Hal was starting to move at a slower pace with the weight being added to her and he was sure it wouldn’t be long before she would be down for the long haul, that much being shown in the way that she was already instinctively digging holes. She’d left them scattered along their path from the Vale to the Fen, likely confusing anyone who crossed them. But he hadn’t complained, even if it did slow them down even further. If it made her more comfortable then he’d do whatever it took.

Including dig with her, apparently.

Hal’s call caught his ears and he trotted over, a yawn playing on his maw. “Calling me over to do your dirty work I see,” he jibbed, though he was quick to settle next to her and start digging as well, He scooped, claws digging at the earth and flinging it between his hind legs and away from them. What reached elbow deep to her was only about to the middle of one of his forelegs, so it wasn’t so hard for him.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

@Kino

"Yeah," there was a smile on her face even as her tongue hung almost as if it would fall out of her mouth, "I need a break." The work was absolutely exhausting. Sahalie hadn't really ever helped out with digging a birthing den back at home, and now she was kind of regretting it. Even if it was all hardcoded instinct, it felt like she was just flying by the fur of her ass and that she might do something wrong and have the whole thing collapse on her some night. Somehow she'd left Spieden to do this all alone. What the girl was forgetting, though, was that Spieden wasn't doing all her hunting, and that every night she closed her eyes under the safety and solidity of the oak trees. Everything was hard out here, and then on top of that she had to second guess herself and get over the mountain in time. As she panted, wiggling backwards to let Alastor survey her work, she squinted and tried to think back to how long it had taken for Spieden to turn into a veritable moose.

"I look fatter, right?" It was an awkward question. Sahalie didn't give a damn that she was more portly than most other wolves she encountered, but at the same time she couldn't possibly imagine carrying around any more weight. But the bigger she was, the more puppies that could be inside her, right? That logic seemed to make sense. She didn't feel so much bigger, but at the same time... if her stomach was already big—ish—then perhaps it would be harder for her to show as much? Were the puppies literally in her stomach? It surely felt like that.

"Did you mom usually have big litters?" Would there be lots? Alastor was already such a.... she gulped... big wolf. And both of his siblings were big, too.

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

Yeah she replied with a smile, something that he cherished every time it appeared because he knew that sometimes it could disappear for days. It always seemed to warm him up, his own little ray of sunshine no matter how dim she might feel. As she wiggled away for a break he moved to take her place, one aud swiveled back and the other forward as he attempted to divide his attention between his task and her. He continued to dig, pulling big wads of dirt from the earth and flinging it behind him. If anything, despite the task being meaningless, it was a good workout for him. After all, he was their sole defender if something were to go awry. Not that he was out of shape, but he figured he always had room for improvement.

She asked if she looked fatter and he stumbled in his digging before continuing. He knew she normally didn’t care what she looked like, something he also adored about her. But, what if her hormones told her something else? He sighed internally, hating this game of poking around. “Yeah, you’re a little bigger. I’d be more concerned if you weren’t though,” he replied, grunting as he pulled out a particularly dense piece of earth. He didn’t really understand why she was asking the question in the first place. She’d been around when Aponi and Spieden and Naira were having their litters, she had to know that it was normal for her to get bigger.

Kino paused for a moment when she asked about his mother’s litter sizes, setting his butt down after giving himself a good shake. He was going to take a break for a second, his strong chest taking his breaths to lower his heart rate. “Nah, she just had Kova the first time. Then it was Ari, me, and Draven,” the Leigh replied. He looked at her curiously, wondering about her question. “Are you worried or something?” he asked.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

With something inside of her it was all too easy to imagine she had the girth of a fallen tree—which was something she desperately wanted but also found deeply distressing—but it was nice to know at least she was not crazy. Alastor could see it too, and he could objectively compare her to Spieden, Naira, Aponi, Neha, all the pupped-up women they had known in their lives. Sahalie wished that any of them could be here right now, even if it had to be Naira, for the old bat was bound to know something. She had probably dug a lot of holes in her day.

"Just Kova," was followed up by the names of the siblings she had met during their brief time in the Vale, but suddenly she balked at the realization that there had been three of them. At most Sahalie had seen litters of two: Drift and herself; Mako and Marina; Treyah and Reiko... never three. She had known for years now that he had two siblings, but somehow, faced with the threat potential of containing three additional heartbeats inside of her—that she would have to forcibly evict at some point—this was quite another thing entirely. It was like the meaning of three cubs finally dawned on her. "I mean..." it was sort of embarrassing to get the whole statement out of her mouth, "You're just so big..." Her eyes flicked up and down.

"And I'm so small."

Could there really be three Alastor-sized puff balls jammed inside of her? It was a dizzying thought. "I feel like I'll be full of boys. And they'll be big like you." This she was sure of. Something just told her this was how it was.

(This post was last modified: Apr 16, 2018, 03:39 AM by Sahalie.)

The scent of a large band of coyotes is on the breeze.

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

Hal seemed absolutely petrified when he mentioned that his mother had had all three of them. She looked him up and down, admonishing his size and that was when it dawned on him. She was afraid she was basically going to explode at the size of the pups. Hal was certainly tiny in comparison to most wolves, but wolves had been doing this sort of thing for, well, forever basically. Certainly this sort of situation had arison before and they’d made it out unscathed. Who was to say his dark mate would be any different?

She stated she felt for certain that was was full of boys, all the size of him, and he tried not to laugh because he knew it was a genuine concern of hers. ”Hal, you’re not gonna explode or anything. Puppies are super tiny when they’re first born, remember seeing Mako and Marina? You’re pretty tiny, but they’re even smaller. And, if they’re born like me maybe that’ll be a good thing. I was actually the smallest out of Ari and Draven when I was a kid,” he replied, trying to remedy her worries.

Of course, it was at that time that Fate decided to give them a good kick in the rear. The man went stock still as the scent of coyote hung in the air. Normally he wouldn’t have been too concerned, as most coyotes were shy and afraid of them anyways. But, on the wind he could scent what was basically a whole pack of them. He was quickly on his paws, moving to stand behind Sahalie. They needed to find some sort of shelter, but the Fen was no good place for that. Most of the area around them was swampy, the raised land they were on the only little patch of dry ground for ways away. He had to think quickly.

“I’m gonna dig out the den so that you can fit then I’ll sit outside and keep watch. We seem to be downwind so there’s a chance they won’t realize we’re here,” he said, looking to her grimly.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

playin the coyotes cause i cannnn @Kino

Maybe they were super tiny to him, but she'd been there for Mako and Marina's birth. Sahalie knew exactly how big those two had been, and they were a hell of a lot bigger than any turd she'd squeezed out in her life time. "If you think they were so small maybe you should be the one doing the pushing," she groaned, her tone only a little acidic. She could be scared if she wanted to: it was her first time and his first time and they were completely alone.

Well, not completely.

As the wind had carried the smell of rivals to the young pair, Sahalie had been just settling down outside of the hole. Lately she had been taking great care in how she lowered herself down to the ground, even if she wasn't sure if it was important or if it mattered. The idea of plopping directly onto a puppy and squishing it while it was still inside of her was more disturbing than it was a comical image. She tried to lay on her side, for the most part. Before she could even get all the way down, though, Alastor was telling her to get into the half-dug hole. "Don't be silly. There's two of us, and even if I'm small I'm at least coyote-sized. They wouldn't come near us even if they did smell us."

She was wrong.

As her mate worked tirelessly to enlarge the hole so that he could jam her in it like a fat, hibernating bear the wind shifted and the scent of the coyotes disappeared. Now the coyotes would know for certain that they were there. And, contrary to Sahalie's assertions, these were not the garden variety coyote, and they were not afraid of two measly wolves. What they thought Sahalie or Alastor might have was unclear—they didn't have food with them, they had no territory, nothing coyotes would want. Just a hole in the ground. The coyotes didn't care though: they came anyway.

They appeared in the south of the meadow, and there were four of them. The dark girl was standing on her tip-toes, ears fully upright and tail out behind her, trying to squint at anything that might explain their presence. "Uhm. Al," she said, no longer feeling so bold, "We have uhm. Company."

S for swears

If I ever leave I could learn to miss you

Hal told him not to be silly, that they wouldn’t come near the both of him but he wasn’t so sure. Even though Coyotes were normally shy scavengers, even docile animals got braver in numbers. And, from what he could tell, there were more than just a couple of them. He quickly moved to start digging the hole, working in overdrive in order to try and get it done in time. He dug out mounds of earth, flinging it into the air and his jaws opened in order to allow him to take in more air as he exerted himself. Hal’s voice stopped him, the male taking a step back and turning toward the animals in question. “Mother of fucking...” he cursed.

His lips pulled back to reveal ivory teeth, silvery hackles raising in order to make him look even larger. His topaz gaze narrowed and he snapped his teeth at the quartet, a growl in warning. “Hal, for the love of god, get in the hole,” he said, gaze flickering to her with an almost pleading look. It was big enough now that her body should be able to fit, though he head and shoulders might peek out. At least that way her most precious cargo would be covered and she’d be able to swat and bite at any that came near her. But, he wouldn’t let that happen. They wouldn’t touch her, and if they did they weren’t making it out alive.

With sentimental boy as my nom de plume

"Yeah," she breathed, her heart suddenly gripped by an icy calm as her pupils dilated, "Fuck." For the moment their smaller brethren were just watching them, equally perked up and attentive. Where Sahalie seemed concerned, and every movement of her head was furtive the coyotes, however, seemed shrewd and malignant. This was, perhaps, the closest she had ever been to a coyote since Oak Tree Bend and Whitestone Monadnock had both been plenty big and were intimidating to the point of keeping the scavengers well away. Her time as a loner had been brief, but—like she'd said—usually just her and Alastor were enough. She'd smelled them just like foxes or cougars, but never seen them like this.

As Alastor's massive silver form appeared from the hole, towering over the short grasses, they began to yip. The sounds were not friendly. For the time, she didn't move. "And what are you going to do? Fight them? There's four of them!" Seeing a wolf of Alastor's size had not deterred them in the slightest, which was disturbing to say the least. If he barked and growled, would that scare them off? Maybe, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was very abnormal and very wrong. Taking a deep breath and biting her tongue, the girl swallowed her pride and quickly ducked into the cramped, makeshift hole. Her head peaked out the lip as she carefully lowered herself down.

Sitting here like a useless, wounded animal was hard to do, though, and she found her anxiety mounting. They coyotes were coming closer with lowered heads and rotten-yellow teeth.