Turtleback Lake don't let me drown

AW to the group Finley is travelling with, special tags for @Chan @Jethro @Flair @Reika since she has interacted with them.
RE: Migrating geese are raucously crowding bodies of water, and react aggressively to other animals trying to drink or fish.
Afternoon, misty/hazy, 0C/31F

As the days went by Finley was becoming more and more physically uncomfortable. She could hardly keep anything down now, including water from the lake they had temporarily settled on. Her sides ached with “practice” contractions, and she was exhausted, the woman could hardly wait for this to be over. She just wanted her children to be here so she could start working on planning her next move. They would be too small to travel for a while, but if Jethro settled his pack nearby she could probably transport them a short distance.

The Lennox woman was simply trying to get a drink from the retreated shore, quench her thirst when a sudden hissing caused her to pause. Mist hung heavy in the air from rapidly changing temperatures, making it impossible for her to see what was causing all the ruckus. When the goose did finally come into view, it was only a few feet in front of her, wings beating the air with fervor, hatred in its beady little black eyes.

Finley yelped in surprise and scrambled backwards as quickly as her swollen frame would allow. She would have turned and hightailed it out of there as quickly as she could if not for one rather large problem. The second that she started to backpedal a cramp took hold of her side, causing her to freeze and whimper. This was nothing like the others. Shit, this couldn’t be happening now.

Lifting her muzzle she did the only thing she could think of, she called for help. Please, let someone be close.

The retreating shore was dotted with Chan's shells, painstakingly hollowed so as to be filled with water. Some now were empty, awaiting reuse, while others sat full and ready to be taken to @Flair or Finley's birthing dens. The animals themselves that supplied the carapaces were becoming scarce, but the drought was impacting them as well. Chan had been able to mostly make do with found carrion, much to his pacifist heart's relief.

Speaking of... His ears lifted as he heard Finley's cry for help, and adrenaline immediately surged through his body as he dropped the filled shell he'd been precariously carrying to take off in her direction. Water splashed out onto the reeking mud, wasted, but he didn't care. When he came upon the scene and realized the issue, he also did not pursue his usual attempts at brokering peace through a stalemate. He came in with teeth bared and snarls ripping from his chest, the picture of a vicious predator as he snapped and tore at the birds.

(This post was last modified: May 15, 2022, 08:26 PM by Chan.)

After the discovery that Finley and Flair were pregnant and very much so Rieka had made the decision to remain closer to them. She had the ability to offer her help where she could so that was what she woukd do. They all seemed to be a little group now and though she had no idea what the future might hold for them all she was sure she could figure out what to do next when the time came.

She was thankful that the lake had yet to fully dry up. Having that water helped keep her from succumbing to the effects the drought might have had in her had she been away from it.

It was her proximity to the water that allowed her to hear Finley's call. It was distressed which caused Reika to worry that something might be wrong with the pups. The young Archer raced toward where the call had come from. When she got there she found Chan attacking a group of geese. She had no idea what had happened before but it seemed something needed to be done about the birds.

She ran into the fray without hesitation snapping at the birds, trying to catch any that she could. They woukd make a nice meal if they could get a hold of a couple.

He was a little further away than he would’ve liked to be when the call went out, and almost immediately the dark one turned about to rush towards the lake and the source of the distress call. A misty haze hung over the area, making it hard to see very much or very far, so it was the sounds of commotion that acted as a guide, drawing him towards a particularly chaotic scene.

As Jet grew closer, he could make out the figures of Chan and Reika through the shroud, doing battle with a flock of some of those vicious damned geese. Much as he would’ve liked to join them and go after a few of the birds, Finley thus far remained alone. As he’d done many times now, Jet trusted the others to fend for themselves and darted toward the soon-to-be mother, briefly pressing his nose to her side.

Any damned goose that wanted to go after her would have to get through him, first.

Ordinarily, she would not have been the sort to respond to a call like this. For the most part, Colette couldn’t care less about others' needs. It was more due to the fact that this pregnant woman was an acquaintance of Reika and Chan that the ghost decided, after some hesitation, to venture forth. Although, perhaps, there was a part of her inside that desired conflict. An opportunity to take out her anger on something.

The scene she arrived at was chaotic, but that was fine. Some dark man seemed to have taken to guarding the mother, while Chan and Reika went after the geese.

A growl rumbling within, Colette charged forth almost blindly, her good eye singling out one target in the fray. The angry calls and beating of wings from the geese only dared her forth, and in a rare moment of agility for the one-eyed woman, her jaws locked around the neck of her target. Tasting blood, the ghost shook her head from side to side viciously to combat the beating of its wings, tearing further into its flesh and guaranteeing death for the creature.

Tossing the first aside, Colette charged forth with a growl again, baring her teeth and snapping at anything that got too close.

Thank you everyone for joining!

Everything seemed to devolve into chaos so quickly. She was trying to back up but pain was slowing her steps, and waves of nausea threatened to overtake her as well. The geese were gaining on her and then suddenly Chan was on site tearing into them. Reika was quick on his heels and attacking birds herself and Finley’s green eyes widened in panic. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but she also knew she needed to retreat back to her den, there was no stopping what was to come.

Jaws filled with saliva and Finley knew what was coming next. She turned her head just in time for the vomit to splash onto the muddy shores, heaving until her stomach evacuated the water she had just drank. Whimpering miserably as Jethro made his way to her side she moaned, ”I think they’re coming.” She trusted him, trusted them all, which was a strange feeling for her, she normally only relied on herself.

She looked up on the dark man, panic in her eyes, cringing as another cramp grasped her sides, her body visibly flexing beneath her pelt. She needed help and she needed it now. She was so focused on Jethro that Finley did not even realize that Colette arrived as well.

Others had clearly heard the commotion as well, and thankfully came to join the fray. They effectively shielded the mother-to-be from the frantic waterfowl, and the sheer number of wolves was enough to convince the flock to concede. They honked out their anger loudly while crowding away and seeking residence further along the shore. Chan watched them long enough to ensure they were truly going before bounding over to Finley's other side.

"Fin, what's wrong? What do you need?" he asked, not having heard what she'd said to his friend. Was this proper timing, or had the birds done damage? Did she have time to get to the den, or would the children be brought into the world directly under the sun? Whatever was happening, whatever she required, he and the others were here for her.

Without thought about anything else Reika had come to Finley's aid. Finding the geese was a surprise but she'd dove in and helped Chan to fight them off. In the fray she'd also taken note that Colette had come too and was helping to fight the geese off. She was thankful for her friend to be there and helping. The goose that the pale woman had taken down could serve as food for the gathered wolves. Luckily the geese didn't put up too much of a fight after that.

Once it was obvious the geese were leaving her attention turned to the mother to be. Concern etched across her face as she came to Finley's side. "We're here to help but we need to know what help you need," she said in her kindest tone hoping it might soothe the woman who was clearly in distress. Reika had missed the declaration she'd made to Jethro so had no idea Finley's pups were on the way.

For the moment, the others seemed to be holding the geese at bay, allowing him to shift his focus towards Finley. And she didn’t look good. She looked sick, and in pain. He wasn’t quite sure how pregnancies were supposed to work or go, so maybe this was normal. They’re coming, she spoke. Inwardly, he panicked along with the soon-to-be mother. He’d thought a fair amount about what this moment would be like and look like, but none of that had prepared him for it. And that was nothing compared to what she would be feeling.

For the first time in a while, Jet did not quite feel worthy of the level of trust being placed in him. But it was there, and he would not betray it. Without much thought, the dark one moved to offer a supportive shoulder to his friend. ”Lean on me. We’re going to get you outta here and back to your den, safe, if we can. You’re gonna get through this, and everything’s gonna be alright.” That was the hope and the plan.

It took several moments for him to realize the others had driven the geese back far enough to venture closer. The voices of Chan and Reika reached his ears, prompting Jet to turn to each of them. ”Her pups are comin’. Let’s try to help her outta here, back to the den.” If they had time for it. If not, he trusted Finley to let them know. And as the others had said, either way, they would all be here.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2022, 12:59 AM by Jethro.)

With one goose slain, and the aid of the others, the three of them were able to drive the geese back far enough to feel safe, while dark guy - daddy, perhaps? - fussed over the pregnant woman. Colette knew of and recognized their scents from Chan and Reika, but she hadn’t bothered to pay too much attention to their lives or story to this point.

And that was something the ghost intended to stick to, even as her only real friend and former lover moved toward the mother to aid her as well. With one more growl at the geese, which seemed to have contented themselves and regrouped, further down the lake, the ghost turned off, heading back up the shoreline the way she’d come from.

The others could take care of this. Colette did not need nor want to be a part of it.

-probable fade/exit for Cole