The Next Generation (Birthing! Open~)

[reeddragon]

Focus, Ayria. You can do this. Don't think about the pain or the future. Just focus on now. You were born for this. Your body was built for this. It's just as natural as hunting and flying...

Her breathing was labored, and pain racked her body. It wasn't as bad as the horror stories she had heard in her birth pack, however, and she was able to keep from panicking. It was hard to focus on the birth itself without letting her mind run off with itself about the responsibilities she would soon have. She was just thankful that the bulk of her pack was at least within howling distance.

Instinct had instructed her to find a private place for this task, but she couldn't bear to be separated from everyone. She also didn't want to mess up the pack's main den. A few days earlier she found a smaller cave near the den that was perfect for the task. The cave was far too small for the entire pack, but at two or three winged wolves could fit completely inside without touching each other, which meant she could have her mate with her, if he desired. She had moved in that night - after letting the others know where she would be.

Now, the first of the pups was ready to enter the world. She struggled to keep herself breathing and let her body do what comes naturally.

This is normal. Your mother went through it, just like her mother, and her mother...

Then - finally - her first pup made its way into the world. A son. The small, fragile lump of fur seemed primarily brown at first, but a thorough cleaning revealed more ginger tones and a too-thin body. His breaths came in hard - harder even than hers - and his scent had an odd, sickliness to it. She nuzzled the pup, willing it to heal itself. She couldn't do anything for it in her current state.

The pup's brother was out soon after. This pup was slightly larger than the first, and not nearly as thin, but still thinner than he should be. He came out gray and white, with the gray lightening to silver as he dried. Unlike the firstborn, he sported a pair of wings on his back.

There were more pups in her. She could feel them. They didn't seem to be in quite as much of a hurry to get out as their brothers, or they simply decided to give their mother a break. In any case, Ayria had time to try and nurse her first two before the rest came along. She gently guided them to her belly, frowning at her firstborn's struggles. It seemed even suckling was too much effort for the poor dear.

The secondborn fared a little better and was at least nursing without too much problem, though crawling to her had been a struggle for him as well as his brother. She nuzzled and licked her pups as they fed, willing them both to grow strong and hoping that - once this was al over - she would be able to do some healing on the son that seemed a hair length away from death's den.

Then the third pup made her way into the world. Their first daughter. Large and plump, this pup had no problem crawling around and her cries were loud and strong. Dark brown fur lightened to varying shades as she was cleaned and she wasted no time in attempting to crawl all over her brothers, feebly flapping her featherless wings as though already eager to fly. Worried for the weaker pups, she picked up the young female and placed her on her other side. She was plenty strong and would last a few minutes without feeding.

The fourth and final pup - another daughter - wasn't long after the third. She also sported a pair of wings, and - at first - she seemed to be black and white, reminding Ayria of Moonrunner. As the pup was cleaned and dried, some of the black gave way to a more silvery color, and Ayria felt a bony bump on the pup's forehead. The start of a horn? Ayria hated herself for it, but she was relieved to see that the pup resembled her more than the deserter. This final pup was smaller than her sister, being almost as tiny as the secondborn though not as feeble. The pup was quiet and struggled somewhat to move, but - as it had seemed to the new mother - the youngest female was still stronger than her strongest brother.

The birthing complete, Ayria settled on her side and guided her pups to nurse from her once more - even the thirdborn, who had by this time found her way back to her brothers. As they fed, she touched her muzzle to her firstborn and willed what healing she could into the pup.

You've stayed alive this far. Please get stronger...

((Sorry to powerplay there, but I kinda had to. >.> I'll leave the other pups' actions up to their RPers from this point on.))

[Shanto]

Gentry.

His birth was quiet. A small cry came from the ginger bundle of fur. That small cry took almost all of the newborn's energy. Bright light was the first think he saw, but it was chased away by the soft and kind laps of his mother's tongue on his frail body. Gentry was so little, his breathing rough and new. The world was his captor now, he would have to live, fight, through it to make himself known. That was what he wanted, it was the thought's that would later be his dreams.

But as for that, the pups was only now so comforted by the mysterious and warming licks on his body. The he-pup was brought to her stomach, suckling for the food he needed to survive so much. Smallest of the litter, but he would be so bold. The suckling took most of Gentry's energy, but he pushed through the want to sleep. Instead he focused on the need for food. It was really quite a miracle to have so many pups born live, even if some were so close to death. They weren't dead yet.

Slowly the little male felt the heat of his brother and sisters seep into his own bones; it felt good to be so close to his younger siblings. He curled closer to the sister that laid closest to him, her moppy brown fur and wings mixing with his own ginger hair. He felt the presence of another wolf entering the cave, his body could feel the shifting air and could feel the love brought into the room by whoever it was looking down upon them laying beside their mother in a small heap of wet fur.

Though Gentry could not tell who was looking down up on them, it was indeed their father. His smiled at them, worrisome for the two weaker ones, power to the stronger two. They were beautiful and he could not speak as he looked at them and then lovingly to his mate who's hard labor had brought him the next generation of the pack when the last generation seemed to keep disappearing.

[iscourge]

K A L E

"Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!" The sounds of vitality flew over the male's head- in his deafened and blinded state, he couldn't see or hear much of anything- but that vital sense, the pulsations of love and bonding in the den flowed through him like his mother's milk. He could feel his sisters and his weakened brother, and almost protectively, a wing extended over Gentry's back.

It may have just been him testing his new apendages, or it may have been a protective guesture. We may never know. He could feel his larger, more robust sister on his side, their wings brushing together as they suckled eagerly.

The warm air met his silvery pelt, and after a long, long while, he detatched himself from his mother, and attempted to crawl closer to her stomach, searching for that perfectly warm sweet spot for sleep. It was hard work, being so tiny and attempting to suckle! He was by no means the runt of the litter, but he was still suceptible to the cold at this point.

An almost purr escaped his muzzle, and he happily snuggled close to his mother's side below his father's proud gaze.

[Sandtiger]

Sowilō was third born and was already bleating out strong and proud. Though she obviously could not hear it, and would be unable to for at least a few weeks, the new generation's mewls and cries could be heard softly throughout her mother's den. Having been set aside after attempting to meander her way over her brothers, one was small and the other desperately close to death, to suckle she had found her way back, wriggling in with ease between the other three pups. Though she knew not, the delicate moment of love and dedication filled her bones and the air around her. She could feel her brothers at either side, especially the weakened one, Gentry. ... Under the darkness of the den, and rather suddenly, the female's light brown body scooted closer to her brother Gentry's in a jerky movement as a particularly loud cry came from her. If one did not know any better, they could mistake her actions as a sign of deep concern, or protectiveness. Perhaps in an intuitive way, she already was already experiencing the will to defend. However, she was a little pup, largest of the litter for now. Thus we may assume it was simply a typical cry a newborn makes. ... Now after a while of eagerly feeding with little difficulty, the robust she-pup unlatched from her mother and stayed next to Gentry, unmoving. For even this little she-wolf, who's name meant Sun, had to sleep. Snoring or not, the rising and falling of the little bundle's chest indicated this. Sleep for now she would, for more difficult times would lay ahead. But for now, under her father and mother's watch, and cuddling with her siblings, there was no need grow up fast, yet. ... Lyrics: N/A Notes: I hate the way I cut the wings in Sowilō's picture, and how I colorized the tips with gold, just ugh. >.< On another note, finally got this post done! OOC: N/A

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[reeddragon]

((Looks good to me. Are they supposed to glow?))

Lyssenta struggled to her mother's side, where she drank her fill of the milk. The scents and the sensations of light and dark she saw through her eyelids were overwhelming to the new creature, but - thankfully - her mother's milk scent and thick fur blocked out almost everything else: everything except the scents of her older siblings and the other presence that she would come to know as family. Her thought processes were only marginally developed and all she knew for now were the desires to feed, sleep, and keep as close to the source of warmth and sustenance as possible.

Ayria wagged her tail as her mate entered the den. Her healing had stopped for now: she was exhausted, and would require sleep sometime soon. For now, she fought off her tiredness, wanting to watch her pups - her pups, she would never have believed it this time last year - as long as she was able.

"Four new members for our pack..." she spoke in a near-whisper. "By this time next year, well be the strongest pack in the area." If - no, when - they all grew up, they would each prove indispensable. She could feel it. She would have to fight hard to keep them alive - especially the two males - but she would give them everything she had to provide the best possible chance. As healer and mother, she owed them that much.