Red Fern Forest violent sons make bitter mothers

@Saga - I made it an RE! I took a liberty saying Saga was already in the den but if that's not okay I can definitely change it.
Violent thunderstorms overtake Relic Lore.

Rhaegara wasn’t noseblind. She was aware of the fact that she had not been the only one to succumb to the season. In a way, it made her feel much better… well, just a little bit. It still didn’t help her with that whole ‘I have no idea who my baby daddy is’ dilemma she’d found as of late, even if she thought it was better that way. Still, she had yet to approach the other woman about it… She was tucked away in the den, hiding from the cracking of thunder going about outside, the pouring rain not helping matters either. She loved that winter was starting to fade, but this she was not a fan of.

She sighed softly, shifting closer to where she saw the other woman. “Hey, Saga… they got you too, ‘eh?” She’d apparently become more teasing as she nurtured life inside of her, her tone carrying hints of humor in it. Her nose wrinkled lightly. “This weather sucks.” She was not a huge fan of loud noises, so the constant cracking of thunder every five minutes made her want to jump and hide, not that she would ever admit that to another living soul. “So whose your baby daddy?”

Saga shifted as thunder rolled overhead. Usually she enjoyed a good storm, but this one had only served to heighten her discomfort. There were lives growing within her, new webs spun by the fates from her thread. She should be excited, or overjoyed, but thus far she had only felt worry. Could the chasm support two litters? And if they couldn't, would she be able to do it on her own? Would she even.. be a good mom?

Rhaegara's voice poured into the cavern, offering a welcome distraction from Saga's concerns. A smile wormed it's way across her maw as the monochrome woman scooted towards her companion. "We just weren't fast enough, I guess." From what Saga could tell, the weather did suck. It hadn't been bad at first, but as time ticked on, the storm seemed to pick up velocity. Rain pounded against the rock overhead, and wind whistled past the entrance, but wind and rain were nothing compared to the booming thunder. "Yeah. I'm glad we're in here and not out there."

The tawny woman's final question came as a surprise, though it probably shouldn't have. Of course the others would want to know who the father was. She had been just as curious about Rhae's suitor, hadn't she? "Oh.. uh.. Hudson. How about you, did'ya scoop up Adelard?" This felt very much like girl talk, and with so many brothers she'd hardly gotten the chance to try it out herself.

Sága is currently travelling with Huddy, Aubine, Adelard, Rhaegara, Riven, Maugrim & Hrun

There was a soft chuckle at her words, because honestly it did seem that way. “Damn men, always just so fast.” She still worried, of course she did… but she was also confident that they could figure it out. Their little band was supposed to be a pack and something of a family now, right? Rhae would certainly do her best to make it as easy on the others as she could, and she would single-handedly fend for her pups as best as she could if it came down to it and there were problems. It wasn’t anyone else’s fault that she had run around and gotten knocked up by a complete stranger.

She offered another hum of agreement when it came to not being out in the violent thunderstorm. The idea of it sent a soft shiver down her spine as she shook her head. “I’ve always hated the rain… I think it’s because my fur always takes so long to dry when I’m caught up in it.” She admitted. It was the downside of having a thicker than normal pelt, she supposed. Water just retained and made her feel heavy, and she was already about to feel heavy enough growing some life in her.

She raised a brow at the mention of Hudson. Admittedly, she should have seen that coming, but she hadn’t… and then she mentioned Adelard and there was a light flush in her cheeks and she shook her head. “Ah… no, he’s… just a friend?” Admittedly, she was never truly sure where she stood with the guardian, but she knew that she’d trust him with her life. “I… can I let you in on a little secret?” She asked as she lowered her voice in almost a conspiratorial way and she glanced around. “I… don’t actually know his name. We never got to that point.” She admitted quietly her scandalous little secret.

Saga couldn't help but sarcastically roll her eyes at the woman's words, before throwing in a quick, "Next year we're going to have to barricade them all inside the cave before spring rolls around. That way we don't have to worry." And neither party would be tempted.

The woman nodded at Rhaegara's take on the weather and took a second to muse at their differences before offering her own. "I was told that the gods control the rain, and that every time they spar we hear their growls in the thunder, and see the snap of their jaws in the lightening." She was quiet for a moment, choosing her words carefully before continuing. "I've always liked the rain.. but not today." Because she had too much on her mind, and she still wasn't sure whether she could overcome the newest obstacle placed before her.

She was a little surprised to find that Adelard wouldn't be the father of Rhaegara's brood, but if she had been paying more attention, she might not have misread the signs. The tawny woman then offered to share a secret, which forced a mischievous smile to flicker across Saga's maw. She wasted no time nodding her acceptance as she leaned in to give the other woman her full attention. A silvery brow rose at the news, "So he's not in the picture at all then?"

Sága is currently travelling with Huddy, Aubine, Adelard, Rhaegara, Riven, Maugrim & Hrun

She snorted in amusement and rolled her eyes back. “I imagine that will go over well, locking all of that testosterone in the same cave.” She teased back lightly because she imagined that it would end in complete and utter chaos. She liked to believe that everything was going to be okay in the end, but truthfully she couldn’t help but lack faith in the male population in general. Sure, there were some diamonds in the rough and not all men were bad, but the events of her father’s best friend turning on him had left a sour taste in her mouth.

She hummed softly as she considered her words. It was an interesting idea. “I was always told the spirits of our ancestors controlled the weather. My family used to pray to them, believed the honorable ones were always looking down on us, protecting us.” She hummed back, though she didn’t know whether or not she believed that anymore. “Today it’s just a little bit too much.” She agreed.

She saw her silver brow rise and she raised one in return. “Now, don’t go judging me. I’m trusting you with secret information.” There was a hint of a tease before she sighed. “He’s not in the picture… and to be honest I think I prefer it that way. It gives me autonomy over raising these pups.” She didn’t have to worry about what the father thought because he wasn’t in the picture.

Saga shook her head, a sarcastic grin forming on her lips. "Yeah, you're probably right. They'd either kill each other, or spend their free time plotting against us." In fact, there wasn't a single scenario in which she could imagine trapping all the Chasm would be a good idea.

The woman nodded as her companion spoke about the spirits of her ancestors, and she immediately wondered if Rhae might have more in common with Hudson than she knew. After all, he had talked of ancestors and their importance in his beliefs before. When it came to the rain, however, Saga couldn't care less whose deities were in control, so long as they put an end to the awful weather. "I agree."

Saga responded to the tawny-coated woman's tease with by tilting her head, but said nothing as anticipation coursed through her veins. She hoped that the woman knew she could trust her, but if not, Saga would simply use this as an opportunity to prove it.

Once the metaphorical bomb had dropped, the monochrome wolf took a moment to consider it. "Scandalous." She teased. Rhae wasn't alone, by any means. She had the boys, and Aubine, and Saga herself. None of them would let her go without, or allow her to bear the weight of this alone, and honestly, not having a baby daddy seemed easier than having to have the 'I'm pregnant.' talk with one.. "Yeah, and any more testosterone would just be too much." But just to make sure that the woman was okay, she added, "So other than the wholly unnecessary baby daddy role stuff, how are you feeling about everything?"

Sága is currently travelling with Huddy, Aubine, Adelard, Rhaegara, Riven, Maugrim & Hrun

Rhae probably would not have been as calm about this entire situation had she still been travelling about by herself. She certainly would have managed, but the stress would have worn down at her. She knew she had the support of others to help her just as Saga did… it took a pack to rear a pup. She remembered quite fondly the experiences she had with other adults in the pack that she had been raised in, and she hoped her children got the same experience that she did. She snorted softly and chuckled with a nod. “Luckily we’ve had the forethought to realize this before we actually tried it.” She offered back.

She quite liked Saga. She hadn’t been entirely sure about Huddy or any of his companions when she and Adelard had first stumbled upon them, especially with how Adelard had reacted towards his own sister, but she had found that she enjoyed their company. There was amusement in her eyes at the tease, another snort. “With any luck, we’ll both have all girls and balance things out a bit… can’t imagine what the boys in the pack would say then though.” It was an amusing sight, to be overrun with little Princesses as she had no doubt at least Saga’s children would be. The question came and she shrugged, shifting a little in her seat.

“I don’t think I’ve really… processed it?” She said, thinking about it with a little more detail. “Apart from the surprise… I don’t really know how I feel? Excited? Nervous?” She hummed before cutting off her train of thought. She didn’t have the emotional bandwidth for any existential crises today. “What about you? How are you feeling about everything? Are you and Huddy… you know… together or was this just a thing?” She had often wondered but now she had the guts to ask.

Saga smiled again, donning another one of her conspiratorial grins at the prospect of filling the chasm with girls. If only it were possible to choose, she would have done so simply to see the look on Hudson's face. "Nothing. We'd take their ears before they said a word." Because if any of them had anything less than nice to say about whatever was growing within the two women, then they certainly didn't deserve to keep their hearing bits.

This talk, Saga found, was very much needed. Already she was feeling lighter, and a little less terrified at the prospect. "I get it." And she did. There were too many feelings to process, too many questions that would remain unanswered, and too many.. uncertainties. She knew nothing about actually raising a litter. Watching one be raised, sure, but parenting one? Yeah.. that was scary.

Rhae's question made heat rise to her cheeks, though the did what she could to look nonchalant. "I don't.. uh, no. We're not uh.. I think it was just a thing." Wasn't it?  "But about everything else.. I'm nervous too. I mean, I know we have each other, and Aubine, and the boys, but I don't know. It's like.. these are little lives, you know?" She was quiet for a moment, before confiding in her companion, "I just don't want to disappoint them."

Sága is currently travelling with Huddy, Aubine, Adelard, Rhaegara, Riven, Maugrim & Hrun

Rhae couldn’t fight the smirk that came to her features, a soft snort at that. This conversation made her feel quite a bit better. “I’m glad you have a logical head on your shoulders.” She stated back, because Saga, much like herself, would not take shit and she could truly appreciate that. At least she would not be going through this alone. There was another who would understand all of her pains that she experienced as a result of this pregnancy. Their pups would grow up together… it was all very surreal, and it was all starting to sink in.

She listened, and watched her reactions with interest as she started to explain that it was just a thing. Rhae hummed softly as she considered and shrugged. “Could have fooled me… but then again, what do I know?” She explained, because she was fairly oblivious to matters of the heart like that. She had a tactical mind, but that was about it. She had seen everything out of a sense of duty. “You won’t disappoint them. You’re their mother, Saga. They will love you and you will steer them right.” She fully believed that, even though she hadn’t known her super long, she had known her long enough to get a good sense of what she was capable of.

“They’ll have you, and Huddy, and everyone else in the pack. They’ll have playmates in my litter too. We’re not the most conventional of packs, but I’d argue it makes things like this better. Convention is just a social construct.”

Saga never could have guessed that things would play out like this. She couldn't have imagined being quite literally dropped off in the middle of.. wherever this place was, meeting these wolves, having children of her own. They would grow up here, those little lives inside of her. They would know these wolves as she knew the ones from her own birth pack. Fool's Gold Chasm was their future, and thus, it would be Saga's as well.

"I'm glad you do too. Not sure what I'd do here without you." Though her tone was sarcastic, there was a genuine sentiment there.

She felt a weight lift from her shoulders as Rhaegara spoke, not fully, but enough that her heart felt a little lighter, and she could be tentatively excited about the future. "You're right." Whether that was actually true or not, only time could tell, but in that moment she was at least a little confident.

"We can do this."

Sága is currently travelling with Huddy, Aubine, Adelard, Rhaegara, Riven, Maugrim & Hrun