Fool's Gold Chasm there's nothing i won't steal or borrow

Graphic birthing including endangerment of mother's life. All welcome to any of the wolves of FGC!

i'll travel on a boat or aeroplane, i'll explore a world of sorrow
'cause when i find you i know, i know i'mma be okay
see the times are changing, and i'm sure of nothing that i know
except this is us, and this is love, and this is where i'm home
in a world that's breaking, where nothing is for keeps
oh this is us, this is love and this is where i sleep

— Where I Sleep, Emeli Sandé

It was time, and Woya was not ready. She cried out as the contractions came harder and faster, a wordless announcement to the medic outside of her den. He had not left, not since they'd buried Rhae, and it was the only relief she had. Maybe, maybe he could help her beat this. It certainly felt otherwise, as though every single odd were obstinately stacked against her.

The twins whined as she writhed, disturbed from their blissful slumber by their foster mother's jostling and sensing her heightened stress. It wasn't good for them, she knew that instinctually, to be surrounded by so much tension. She couldn't help it though, especially now that the moment was here. This could kill her. This would most likely kill her, and there was no stopping it.

Woya squeezed her eyes shut, grit her fangs and began to push with all her strength.

(This post was last modified: Jun 05, 2022, 04:32 AM by Woya.)

Leviticus had been this close to death once before, when he stopped providing and caring for himself and @Alarick had been needed to resurrect his spirits. It was an awful experience, but with water so terribly far away, and the last time he'd stepped away from an expectant mother... he would not give up his post. He sat outside of Woya's den regardless of time or weather, and without tending to his own needs, a heaping of brittle, medicinal herbs at his side.

He'd been dozing when he heard her yelp, a distinctive sound that promptly set loose a batch of adrenaline within his being. Within seconds he was on his paws and crawling into the throat of the den. She reacted aggressively until she recognized him, then calming as much as was plausible. It wasn't because he was a comfort personally, he knew that. It was because she was even more scared than him that this would end her just as it had Rhaegara.

"I'm here. You can do this," he assured her with as strong a voice as he could muster.

(This post was last modified: Jun 05, 2022, 04:33 AM by Woya.)

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera had been worried, when she'd gone off to find water, that she would miss Woya's birthing and she might come back to find another body and more orphans. She was concerned for Woya herself, of course, but another thought nagged at her: if Woya died, who could take care of Sovanya and Adonya? Would they survive the journey up the mountain to see if any of the women up there could take them in?

She tried not to think about it. She didn't want Woya to died, regardless of her sisters' needs. Afraid of the woman as she had always been, Enera was fond of her. She couldn't handle any more loss. Not right now. And Marrah was in just as deep a funk - the Rayvne girl didn't want to think about how her friend would handle it if she lost her aunt.

Fortunately she returned on time, @Chan tailing her with their turtle shells full of water. Enera stuck close after that, except to fetch what Levi needed so he didn't have to leave himself. She wanted to be helpful. She needed to be able to save Woya the way she couldn't save her mama. When she cried out in the den, Levi was quick to answer, and Enera sat up straight, eyes and ears focused on the den mouth, straining to catch any clue as to what was going on.

There had been plenty of times that Woya had thought the moment was finally upon her, but this time there was no mistaking it. The child had already crowned, and she hated every moment of seeing it the rest of the way into the world, but at least she'd managed it. Panting heavily, she maneuvered around the twins carefully to take her newborn into her jaws. It squirmed against her tongue, and she felt true motherhood for the first time.

Not the anxieties of pregnancy, or the horrors of fostering a stolen friend's orphans; placing and cleaning the child betwixt her forepaws brought her a moment of serenity, as though time had paused and it were just the two of them in the world. It was a moment of beauty and deep love, and she would not be able to help herself from favoring young Adora for this alone.

Of course, the world had not really stopped spinning, and the magic was disrupted far too soon by more contractions. Her claws dug into the earth, and she fought to bring Apolline into the world along with her first son, Augustin.

Exhaustion was set deep into her bones, and she was starting to struggle.

(This post was last modified: Jun 25, 2022, 10:18 PM by Eros.)

Leviticus inched his way further into the earthen chamber, until the skin along his spine began to crawl. He wanted to stay completed focused on Woya, but the paranoia of anything and everything that could go wrong told him he needed to be sure of his surroundings. He pulled himself reluctantly from the dry dirt and whipped his head around to catch sight only of Enera. She'd been just as dutiful, doing her best to see their leader through this as well and even striving to help Levi himself.

Still, whenever he looked upon the fair youth, all he felt was heavy, burdensome shame. In failing Rhaegara, he had failed her children as well.

His ears leaned back as he acknowledged her with a solemn nod, and then returned his focus to Woya. Three newbornswere nestled at her stomach alongside Sovanya and Adonya before he began to notice concerning signs. She was having difficulty keeping her eyes open, and her body was visibly, involuntarily relaxing when it needed to keep moving. The poor mother was not finished yet. Levi entered the den fully, and squeezed into place along Woya's spine. It was uncomfortable, invasive, but he had to be there as her physician, not an acquaintance or subordinate.

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera watched closely, waiting for any sign that she needed to fetch something. Food, water, medicine. She knew nothing of herbs but if Levi sent her then she would go, and she would do her best. She couldn't lose another, couldn't let @Marrah and @Caelyn lose another. If Woya d... if she left, Marrah and Caelyn would only have each other. Enera couldn't let them feel that pain, not when she herself was still so near the departure of her own mother.

Even if Saga came back, or Huddy, the scars they left would never heal, and Enera couldn't let her friends lose the family they had left.

She acknowledged Levi's nod; she didn't blame him. Her mama had died before she'd even had time to call for help. Even so, she knew keeping Woya safe was just as important for him. She tensed when he fully dove into the shadows, but refrained from following. She knew she wouldn't be welcome. Not right now.

This child felt smaller than it's siblings, yet it was the most difficult thus far to birth. Woya couldn't help but cry out audibly and without reserve, panic beginning to beat sharp, slicing wings around the inside of her chest. Her vision was blackening, and her strength was ebbing fast, yet even after Armand came to be she was still not finished.

"No," she murmured, claws digging deep into the dry earth as though she could physically hold onto her consciousness. Woya didn't want to die, and certainly not like this, but she sunk into the darkness regardless. She did not feel Leviticus at her side, or even the hysterics of the twins and the mewls of her newborns. Everything was lost to a cold, suffocating nothingness as her body fell limp.

Leviticus felt his chest squeeze tight, pushing out all air and refusing to allow him to breathe again. He worked regardless, without the noise of thought in his head as his actions became automated. Everything that he had been taught was put to work, and he only left her side through it all twice to burst from the den's opening and grab needed materials.

He pulled Anatole into the world, cleaned the viscera from his tiny frame and nestled him against his confused siblings. He did what could be done for Woya, breathing shallowly but very much still with them. When he was finally able to pull himself back up out of the earth to face Enera, he was shaking from exhaustion and adrenaline both.

Levi looked at the younger wolf a moment, but words did not fall readily to his tongue. Which bit of news was he to impart first? That he had no idea if Woya would actually survive or if they were just waiting for the death rattle? Or that she'd brought into the pack five more additional, helpless children that they might not be able to feed?

had a dream so big and loud

JUMPED SO HIGH I TOUCHED THE CLOUDS

Enera waited. It was agonizing. Neither Marrah nor Caelyn had showed up yet, or @Adelard, and she was alone. She tried to fight the anxiety in her belly, reassuring herself that Levi was here this time, Levi hadn't wandered away. He was here with her and she was going to be okay. It was going to be okay this time.

That didn't stop each of Woya's screams from piercing deep into Enera's soul. They poked holes in her mantra, interrupted her attempts to calm herself. Everything fell silent except for the faint mewling of newborns, and then Levi was dragging himself out of the den and staring at her, eyes haunted.

Hysteria began to bubble up in Enera's throat, strangling her. "No," she managed to choke out, and before she knew it she'd leapt to her feet. "No! No no no, not her too, she can't she can't leave us too!" Enera took several steps forward, half thinking of barreling through the healer to get to the mother who was supposed to be nursing her sisters. What would she do now? Where could she go? Could she abandon her home to take them to the mountain, to the Backwater, to beg help for them? Would the other pack accept more mouths to feed?

Her mind raced faster than she could really process. "No, she can't! You're supposed to save her!" she spat at Levi. "That's why you're here! She can't- they- they need her! I need her! You-" her words choked off, cut away by the heavy breaths that dragged through her throat. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She needed air- she needed- she-

Leviticus hadn't needed to even attempt to find the right words. The look upon his face had clearly been wrong enough all on its own as he watched Enera crack and shatter once again. A toothy grimace pulled painfully at his lips as he shrunk down and away from her maelstrom, utterly cowed in the face of her panic. He could not bring himself to try and respond, could not push the tears out from behind his eyes or cry out himself or even flee. All he could do was close his eyes, shake, and wish with every fiber of his being that he had never, ever existed.