Post by Pavane on May 17, 2012 15:45:38 GMT -5
The Ute have moved again; this time hopefully for a better place; the dogs may not follow this far if they're lucky. Hopefully. Although knowing now that the Cerulean already have a dog among them, it doesn't make things any easier for Wachiwa. She's come to, well, find a paranoid dislike of the species, but she hasn't spoken of it. or of the fact that everything hurts. Stoicism had always been a trait learned from her parents, and later, her sister. Now, however... things have changed. She's pacing, restless, at the back of the large waterfall cave; where, in the few days since they arrived, she'd begun digging again, now scraping out a rut in the damp dirt; yanking her fur out in clumps about her stomach and shoulders, ripping fur from prey brought back to the cavern. And about the rut she paces now, head down, tongue lolling, ears slightly back.
Tala is at the entrance of the cave, she has been guarding the place rather well to say the least. Her tail lashes a few times as she watches Wachiwa move back an forth and her steel blue gaze following each bit of movement. The younger she-wolf is at least msotly better, a faint wheeze escapes her now and then, and her cough is mostly a faint hack whenever she gets to excited, or there tends to be a lot of running. "Chewy.." Is said with a soft tone, her own ears lowering a moment. "What's wrong?.." Is soon questioned. She has little idea of what is going on with the other, but she knows something isn't right. "Is.. it the pups?.." She questions rather quickly.
With his pack settled as comfortably as can be managed in this cave, Ikuna has been out hunting. Awkward, so near to Cerulean's territory - or perhaps inside it? The scent-marks have been unclear - but he has little choice. Ute needs food, and so Ikuna has hunted, though he's kept a wary eye out for other wolves as well as dogs. As of yet, he hasn't found any - just a hare, down in the grassy fields. He was almost as surprised to see it as it him, but he recovered quicker, and now it dangles from his jaws as he approaches the makeshift den behind the waterfall.
Miakoda had chosen to station herself away from the cavern behind the waterfall, and away from the immediate vicinity of the waterfall itself. The she-wolf had been slowly covering and re-covering the area around the pool beneath the cascading water, and had actually managed to find a small nook for herself in the rocky outcroppings of the area, a place from which she could watch without her presence being overly obvious. This is where she was when Ikuna returned with the hare between his teeth, and she abandons her roost to make her way after him... slowly. Ever mindful of the incessant tension around the pack, the she-wolf lets out a low whining as she angles herself past the falls to the mouth of the cave behind so that she is not mistaken for a husky or something of the sort.
Unlike Miakoda, the more slender but no less offensive brother, doesn't seem to bother avoiding that awkward sense of intrusion, hell for that matter, it would appear as if he is putting more effort into the opposite. Where Brutal is, remains to be learned, for the large dark male hasn't been seen since the minor confrontation at the pond, while Grim on the other hand, has been a consistent loiterer. Such seems to be the case this day, with the hour finding the male in the exact same space he's been occupying since the early morning. Having spent a majority of the days between light naps, the grey male is awake once more and distracted with his personal hygiene- or there lack of. Quiet teeth clicking sounds in the cave as Grim chews along the inside of a outstretched foreleg, chasing a elusive flea that has been avoiding him for the better part of an hour now. Also, despite Wachiwa's pacing and Tala's cautious guarding, Grim is rather at ease, choosing to ignore them for the most part and taking the occasional interest only by way of a short pause and flicked ear. Though when Tala's voice is heard questioning the crippled she-wolf pacing in the deeper shadows, the rogue male invest in one of those moments and lifts his muzzle to glance toward Wachiwa, brow quirking aslight, his expression expectant, as if to ask a prompting, 'Well? Is it?'.
Pacing, pacing. Eventually, Wachiwa turns several quick circles within the rut and lays down, sprawling out on her side with a whine. "Tala..." she responds with a groan, "Tala, I think they're coming now... But there's.. it's wrong, it's all wrong.. it hurts and it's all wrong.." Wachiwa ends up whining, ears back, half curling in to start licking at herself, one forepaw raised, back leg tugged foreward, before she flops again to her side, whining again. She takes a sharp breath, uttering a painful, long, strangley noise. There's a smell of blood-- yes, something is coming, but from the straining, it's big and not going to be easy.
Tala frowns as she hears Wachiwa, a ear flicks towards Grim as she shifts on her paws and snaps her jaws slightly. "Out of the cave." Is towrads the large male, if he doesn't leave she'll be one mad wolf. She then shifts over to Wachiwa and noses at her head. "Just.. try and stay calm Wachiwa.." Which she knows is so much easier for her to say.
Motion draws Ikuna's eye, followed a moment later by Miakoda's whine, and the young wolf relaxes as he recognizes her. He gives a nod that wobbles the hare, a quarter-wag of his tail, and slows his steps briefly to allow her to join him as he continues on toward the cave itself. Inside that cave, he finds... a whining Wachiwa. A concerned Tala. A ... Grim. Back to the Wachiwa, and that smell of blood. The hare is dropped, left behind as Ikuna approaches Chewy. His posture is low, his voice an affectionate sort of whine as he glances to his sister, then back to the straining wolf. "Is... it's..."
A tally is taken once she has ventured far enough into the cavern that the mists are not interfering. Moving alongside Ikuna as he slows his paces, allowing her to catch up, Mia realizes that two faces she knows... and two she does not. And then, the sounds of pain and straining, soon after followed by the tangy smell of blood. Miakoda freezes in place, the fur along the back of her neck and the arch of her spine raising in apprehension. A confusing second passes during which she is not sure whether to stay or go... but then Tala's demand of the unfamiliar Grim catches her ears, and they and her eyes turn to the large male. Very well then; a self appointed task, since all the others are tending to the struggling she-wolf in the back of the cavern. Golden gaze gleams, expectant and impatient, silently saying 'come on, then, time for you to be off'. Overstepping her bounds a bit? Perhaps. But she needs to do something, and Tala has made it clear that Grim is not welcome.
Grim was expecting a reply all right, but not THAT reply. Golden eyes suddenly bulge and his pale muzzle falls agape, casting a quick glance toward Tala as if to ensure himself by her own response that he heard correctly. It is then back to Wachiwa that the male's regards shift to stare with unblinking eyes and opened mouth, with Grim just laying there all dumbfounded and stupid looking. It is only when Tala barks a rude order at him that Grim is jolted from his stupor, the tall rangy male leaping up to his paws with a swiftness of someone who just got zapped by electricity. "Don't have to tell me twice!" he retorts, departing post haste, but casting glances over his shoulder with a demeanor that seems trapped between a strange sort of anxiety and odd curiosity. So distracted is Grim that on his way out, he practically stumbles into the two young wolves arriving. Looking ahead just in time to shoulder into Ikuna, Grim flinches and pivots to face the younger male, stammering a stumbling "Cack! Sorry, sorry! Very sorry!" as he back peddles quickly, which of course, cause his butt to collide into Miakoda. This brings Grim back around, ears laying back and posture somewhat sheepish as he looks to meet her face, only to find it unfamiliar, "OH! Oh. Uhh, so very sorry ma'am." Ahem. Grim clears his throat now, adjusting his path away from the danger of any more collisions, spares one last glance toward the situation unfolding in the back of the cave, then glides out past the curtain of water to disappear in a spray of mist.
Ignoring the noise of Grim being thrown out, of Tala throwing Grim out, and by Ikuna's worry, and the noise of Tala, Wachiwa has other things to worry about. Like another straining painful motion, followed by yet another. This.. is not going well, to say the least, because it's taking precious minutes to push, and strain. And strain she does. There's a final, hard, painful motion and then Chewy is curling again to lick and lick, as instinct takes over, and she's soon pulling what could amount to a badly drowned rabbit from between her back legs; slicked down, she's licking him clean slowly, but seems to be in further pain; his face is cleared; that's the most important part, and she's nudging at his chest roughly, yet gently at the same time, to try and coax this new, namless ball of matted wet fuzz to breath, before she's suddenly grunding fangs, and moaning again.
Tala doesn't even give Grim another look as she settles to her haunches next to Wachiwa. A worried look crosses her face and she looks at the first little pup, she makes no move to help, not unless Chewy seems to need it mind you. A glance is sent towards Ikuna and then Miakoda. She takes in a shakey breath and then goes back tow atching looking utterly hopless. This is how she'll be for the rest of the time, an she will move or shift to help when needed..
Kurux has just been moved from a warm comfortable place to a place that is for all intents and purposes cold and strange. Of course he can't see anything just yet, but this whole air thing is just not comfortable at all. After his mother clears away the birthing material from his face he opens his mouth and begins to whine stating his displeasure at the current situation. How dare they do this to him? It is a great indignity...yes, and he is going to continue to let that be known. He lets his whine grow louder. This one definitely has good pair of lungs. In his appearance he is at the present moment more dog than wolf. His ears are floppy and his coat is a decidedly unwolflike color.
Ikuna barely notices Grim's escape. His attention is on Chewy, as she strains and pushes. When the little bedraggled fluffball comes out, he gives a comforting sort of whine. The young wolf lowers himself to his belly, and creeps forward like that slowly as Wachiwa strains again. It's... a pup. A boy. A... large one? Is this large for a pup? He doesn't even know. How are pups supposed to look? Shawnee's pups didn't look like /this/... of course, he didn't see them right when they were born, either.
The abrupt and quite enthusiastic attempt of Grim to concede to Tala's wishes is met with a surprised blink; that is swiftly followed by a startled, grunted 'oof!' noise as the large male plows his haunches into her. Considering their difference in size, Miakoda is nearly toppled over; but thankfully for her dignity, she hangs onto her balance and rights herself. With Grim having retreated, the she-wolf's attention returns to the back of the cave... and the movements there, the fresh scent of something alive and new, the continued cries of Wachiwa, and then the insulted cries of a pup. Keeping back, her neck arches as she strains to see the new arrival; what she does manage to see is unexpected. That color? What is that color?
Kurux would be given a welcome into the world proper, if Wachiwa wasn't straining again, curling over to come to the next problem. This time, after another moan of noise, a second pup is pulled over, and licked.. but does not respond to the licking and cleaning; and in fact remains somewhat limp against poor Kurux. Wachiwa is forced, after some minutes of attempts at nosing, to abandon trying to wake the darker furred limp body by pain, causing her to curl over again to lick once more. This is sadly repeated again; as a third pup joins the reddish furred one against her belly, again limp. She whines, as a painful jolt rips through her, and she stretches out with a whine for a moment.
Kurux doesn't really know what to make of this new situation. He is obviously rather uncomfortable but nothing is really changing. This horrible new situation couldn't be forever could it? That thought is just too horrible to bear. He continues to bellow as loudly as he can to make sure that everyone within earshot knows that a great injustice has been done, and Kurux is certainly not the type to suffer in silence.
Well. It may be an overlarge, dog-shaped sort of puppy... but it's still a puppy, right? It's still /Wachiwa's/ puppy. Ikuna whines softly, deep in his throat, with a sound that's not just comfort but also giving voice to his own uncertainty... and then he leans forward, giving Kurux a lick and nudging the half-wolf toward his mother's belly. He said these pups were Ute. Well. Here they are. This one, and... others? There are other forms, but they lie still.
Dots are being connected rapidly in her head. She knows that this is Wachiwa, and she remembers hearing the name before, and the remarks around it. Or, more accurately, the tone of the remarks around the other she-wolf's name. Now having seen the first pup, and his stillborn siblings soon after, she understands why they were speaking in such a way... and why she was warned that lone females are to be especially careful around the dog pack. Miakoda's expression is slowly turning to one of woe, but now is certainly not the time to do anything other than remain in the background. Or, in her case, to remain positioned somewhat close to the cavern's entryway as something of a sentry.
Another moan comes; and Chewy curls back again. This time, a fourth pup is pulled over to the pile. At first hope; it tries to squeakily breath after a few moments, but the breathing is wet, like though its lungs work, something is wrong with them. It can make only squeak sounds, soft and weak. A last moan comes from the pain-besot shewolf, as she finally pulls a fifth, last pup over; this one far more lively then the last four at least; after her face is cleaned, she sets to making up squeaky protest about the cold as well. Chewy ends up laying on her side for several moments after, waiting for the final pains and tremors to pass, panting in reaction, before she sets to trying to finish the job of cleaning Kurux, the she-pup, and the weak, squeaky little little pup that is hard to define.
Kurux is now being touched. Will the indignities never end? Who can he speak to about this assault on his comfort? Apparently no one. Still being clean is preferable to being all yucky and gooey. There are obviously several different creatures here with him. One of them he knows on an instinctive level is mom. He knows her, but these others are unknown too him. If he could be speaking now he would certainly be staying his peace, but for the moment he just continues to bellow. That is, after all, the extent of his ability to communicate with the outside world.
Miakoda continues watching in silence, although now the activity seems to be winding down and she assumes that the birthing is at an end. Not all emerged from it... but that, she supposes, is a part of life. With her ears turning back, the she-wolf slowly lies down on her stomach nearby the cavern's mouth.
Ikuna shifts back a little as Chewy finally settles from her straining, looking over the pups, living and... dead. He frowns for a moment, then carefully reaches for the unmoving bodies, seeking to draw them away from Wachiwa as she cares for the pups that survived their birthing.
Chewy continues to clean Kurux, and then the little she-pup next to him, moving onto the last-- except that her squeaky, wheezy pup seems to have stopped squeaking and wheezing, and instead lays still, not even having found anything to eat; unlike the little she-pup, who nosed closed to her body after being licked clean, seems to be very happy in finding food. Enough to sate her noisy self for the moment. Ears droop, and Chewy.. carefully noises the one squeaky body over to join the others, as Ikuna reaches for them. Her eyes meet his a moment, her expression sad, as the blue eye wells slightly in uncomfortable tears; the dead eye unresponsive. Then, the one-eyed 'she-witch', as Grim had taken to calling her, tries to quiet little Kurux a bit more by licking his face, and nudging him towards food, whispering softly, "Hush, my darling, don't cry a peep, the moon's in the sky, let's count the sheep, one, two, three four, hush, shush, sleep some more..."
Kurux takes a second to collect himself after his mother begins to whisper to him her little song. This causes him to stop crying, at least for a moment or two and just listen to her. Its comforting to know that there is something good out here. Mom is good, thats for sure.
As his eyes meet Wachiwa's, Ikuna's ears droop back ever further for a moment. He ducks his head... but he doesn't say anything, simply collecting the dead puppies, lifting them carefully in his muzzle and then rising to his feet. They dangle too-limp, bobbling against each other as he slowly carries them out of the cave, leaving Wachiwa and her two pups. They make a whole wolf, between them - and a whole dog, too.
Mom is here, mom is good. Wachiwa, as mother, licks at Kurux' face, murmuring, "You, you are like a bear, always growling and complaining, large in size. You, I will name Kurux. My little bear." She smiles slightly. Then nuzzles the hungry, happily sucking she-pup, "And you are small and lithe; yet you are fast to learn. I will call you Nonkene, for it means swift like the deer." She licks both pups, curling about them in her little rut in the earth, before she sighs, and lays her head on her paws, murmuring, "You are both so small, yet you have overcome a challenge not all can conquer; you have taken your first breaths, and kept them in your lungs.. For that, I congratulate you.. But I cannot tell you that this was your easiest battle."
Mom is indeed very good. Kurux huh? He can manage that most likely. It should be simple enough to pronounce wen he is able to speak. His sister also he knows. After all he just spent the past few months with her. Ikuna though is a completely foreign experience. Who on earth is this? And what doe he have to do with them. The rut at least is more comfortable than just sitting there. The fur that his mother collected makes for a fairly warm little nest.
Tala is at the entrance of the cave, she has been guarding the place rather well to say the least. Her tail lashes a few times as she watches Wachiwa move back an forth and her steel blue gaze following each bit of movement. The younger she-wolf is at least msotly better, a faint wheeze escapes her now and then, and her cough is mostly a faint hack whenever she gets to excited, or there tends to be a lot of running. "Chewy.." Is said with a soft tone, her own ears lowering a moment. "What's wrong?.." Is soon questioned. She has little idea of what is going on with the other, but she knows something isn't right. "Is.. it the pups?.." She questions rather quickly.
With his pack settled as comfortably as can be managed in this cave, Ikuna has been out hunting. Awkward, so near to Cerulean's territory - or perhaps inside it? The scent-marks have been unclear - but he has little choice. Ute needs food, and so Ikuna has hunted, though he's kept a wary eye out for other wolves as well as dogs. As of yet, he hasn't found any - just a hare, down in the grassy fields. He was almost as surprised to see it as it him, but he recovered quicker, and now it dangles from his jaws as he approaches the makeshift den behind the waterfall.
Miakoda had chosen to station herself away from the cavern behind the waterfall, and away from the immediate vicinity of the waterfall itself. The she-wolf had been slowly covering and re-covering the area around the pool beneath the cascading water, and had actually managed to find a small nook for herself in the rocky outcroppings of the area, a place from which she could watch without her presence being overly obvious. This is where she was when Ikuna returned with the hare between his teeth, and she abandons her roost to make her way after him... slowly. Ever mindful of the incessant tension around the pack, the she-wolf lets out a low whining as she angles herself past the falls to the mouth of the cave behind so that she is not mistaken for a husky or something of the sort.
Unlike Miakoda, the more slender but no less offensive brother, doesn't seem to bother avoiding that awkward sense of intrusion, hell for that matter, it would appear as if he is putting more effort into the opposite. Where Brutal is, remains to be learned, for the large dark male hasn't been seen since the minor confrontation at the pond, while Grim on the other hand, has been a consistent loiterer. Such seems to be the case this day, with the hour finding the male in the exact same space he's been occupying since the early morning. Having spent a majority of the days between light naps, the grey male is awake once more and distracted with his personal hygiene- or there lack of. Quiet teeth clicking sounds in the cave as Grim chews along the inside of a outstretched foreleg, chasing a elusive flea that has been avoiding him for the better part of an hour now. Also, despite Wachiwa's pacing and Tala's cautious guarding, Grim is rather at ease, choosing to ignore them for the most part and taking the occasional interest only by way of a short pause and flicked ear. Though when Tala's voice is heard questioning the crippled she-wolf pacing in the deeper shadows, the rogue male invest in one of those moments and lifts his muzzle to glance toward Wachiwa, brow quirking aslight, his expression expectant, as if to ask a prompting, 'Well? Is it?'.
Pacing, pacing. Eventually, Wachiwa turns several quick circles within the rut and lays down, sprawling out on her side with a whine. "Tala..." she responds with a groan, "Tala, I think they're coming now... But there's.. it's wrong, it's all wrong.. it hurts and it's all wrong.." Wachiwa ends up whining, ears back, half curling in to start licking at herself, one forepaw raised, back leg tugged foreward, before she flops again to her side, whining again. She takes a sharp breath, uttering a painful, long, strangley noise. There's a smell of blood-- yes, something is coming, but from the straining, it's big and not going to be easy.
Tala frowns as she hears Wachiwa, a ear flicks towards Grim as she shifts on her paws and snaps her jaws slightly. "Out of the cave." Is towrads the large male, if he doesn't leave she'll be one mad wolf. She then shifts over to Wachiwa and noses at her head. "Just.. try and stay calm Wachiwa.." Which she knows is so much easier for her to say.
Motion draws Ikuna's eye, followed a moment later by Miakoda's whine, and the young wolf relaxes as he recognizes her. He gives a nod that wobbles the hare, a quarter-wag of his tail, and slows his steps briefly to allow her to join him as he continues on toward the cave itself. Inside that cave, he finds... a whining Wachiwa. A concerned Tala. A ... Grim. Back to the Wachiwa, and that smell of blood. The hare is dropped, left behind as Ikuna approaches Chewy. His posture is low, his voice an affectionate sort of whine as he glances to his sister, then back to the straining wolf. "Is... it's..."
A tally is taken once she has ventured far enough into the cavern that the mists are not interfering. Moving alongside Ikuna as he slows his paces, allowing her to catch up, Mia realizes that two faces she knows... and two she does not. And then, the sounds of pain and straining, soon after followed by the tangy smell of blood. Miakoda freezes in place, the fur along the back of her neck and the arch of her spine raising in apprehension. A confusing second passes during which she is not sure whether to stay or go... but then Tala's demand of the unfamiliar Grim catches her ears, and they and her eyes turn to the large male. Very well then; a self appointed task, since all the others are tending to the struggling she-wolf in the back of the cavern. Golden gaze gleams, expectant and impatient, silently saying 'come on, then, time for you to be off'. Overstepping her bounds a bit? Perhaps. But she needs to do something, and Tala has made it clear that Grim is not welcome.
Grim was expecting a reply all right, but not THAT reply. Golden eyes suddenly bulge and his pale muzzle falls agape, casting a quick glance toward Tala as if to ensure himself by her own response that he heard correctly. It is then back to Wachiwa that the male's regards shift to stare with unblinking eyes and opened mouth, with Grim just laying there all dumbfounded and stupid looking. It is only when Tala barks a rude order at him that Grim is jolted from his stupor, the tall rangy male leaping up to his paws with a swiftness of someone who just got zapped by electricity. "Don't have to tell me twice!" he retorts, departing post haste, but casting glances over his shoulder with a demeanor that seems trapped between a strange sort of anxiety and odd curiosity. So distracted is Grim that on his way out, he practically stumbles into the two young wolves arriving. Looking ahead just in time to shoulder into Ikuna, Grim flinches and pivots to face the younger male, stammering a stumbling "Cack! Sorry, sorry! Very sorry!" as he back peddles quickly, which of course, cause his butt to collide into Miakoda. This brings Grim back around, ears laying back and posture somewhat sheepish as he looks to meet her face, only to find it unfamiliar, "OH! Oh. Uhh, so very sorry ma'am." Ahem. Grim clears his throat now, adjusting his path away from the danger of any more collisions, spares one last glance toward the situation unfolding in the back of the cave, then glides out past the curtain of water to disappear in a spray of mist.
Ignoring the noise of Grim being thrown out, of Tala throwing Grim out, and by Ikuna's worry, and the noise of Tala, Wachiwa has other things to worry about. Like another straining painful motion, followed by yet another. This.. is not going well, to say the least, because it's taking precious minutes to push, and strain. And strain she does. There's a final, hard, painful motion and then Chewy is curling again to lick and lick, as instinct takes over, and she's soon pulling what could amount to a badly drowned rabbit from between her back legs; slicked down, she's licking him clean slowly, but seems to be in further pain; his face is cleared; that's the most important part, and she's nudging at his chest roughly, yet gently at the same time, to try and coax this new, namless ball of matted wet fuzz to breath, before she's suddenly grunding fangs, and moaning again.
Tala doesn't even give Grim another look as she settles to her haunches next to Wachiwa. A worried look crosses her face and she looks at the first little pup, she makes no move to help, not unless Chewy seems to need it mind you. A glance is sent towards Ikuna and then Miakoda. She takes in a shakey breath and then goes back tow atching looking utterly hopless. This is how she'll be for the rest of the time, an she will move or shift to help when needed..
Kurux has just been moved from a warm comfortable place to a place that is for all intents and purposes cold and strange. Of course he can't see anything just yet, but this whole air thing is just not comfortable at all. After his mother clears away the birthing material from his face he opens his mouth and begins to whine stating his displeasure at the current situation. How dare they do this to him? It is a great indignity...yes, and he is going to continue to let that be known. He lets his whine grow louder. This one definitely has good pair of lungs. In his appearance he is at the present moment more dog than wolf. His ears are floppy and his coat is a decidedly unwolflike color.
Ikuna barely notices Grim's escape. His attention is on Chewy, as she strains and pushes. When the little bedraggled fluffball comes out, he gives a comforting sort of whine. The young wolf lowers himself to his belly, and creeps forward like that slowly as Wachiwa strains again. It's... a pup. A boy. A... large one? Is this large for a pup? He doesn't even know. How are pups supposed to look? Shawnee's pups didn't look like /this/... of course, he didn't see them right when they were born, either.
The abrupt and quite enthusiastic attempt of Grim to concede to Tala's wishes is met with a surprised blink; that is swiftly followed by a startled, grunted 'oof!' noise as the large male plows his haunches into her. Considering their difference in size, Miakoda is nearly toppled over; but thankfully for her dignity, she hangs onto her balance and rights herself. With Grim having retreated, the she-wolf's attention returns to the back of the cave... and the movements there, the fresh scent of something alive and new, the continued cries of Wachiwa, and then the insulted cries of a pup. Keeping back, her neck arches as she strains to see the new arrival; what she does manage to see is unexpected. That color? What is that color?
Kurux would be given a welcome into the world proper, if Wachiwa wasn't straining again, curling over to come to the next problem. This time, after another moan of noise, a second pup is pulled over, and licked.. but does not respond to the licking and cleaning; and in fact remains somewhat limp against poor Kurux. Wachiwa is forced, after some minutes of attempts at nosing, to abandon trying to wake the darker furred limp body by pain, causing her to curl over again to lick once more. This is sadly repeated again; as a third pup joins the reddish furred one against her belly, again limp. She whines, as a painful jolt rips through her, and she stretches out with a whine for a moment.
Kurux doesn't really know what to make of this new situation. He is obviously rather uncomfortable but nothing is really changing. This horrible new situation couldn't be forever could it? That thought is just too horrible to bear. He continues to bellow as loudly as he can to make sure that everyone within earshot knows that a great injustice has been done, and Kurux is certainly not the type to suffer in silence.
Well. It may be an overlarge, dog-shaped sort of puppy... but it's still a puppy, right? It's still /Wachiwa's/ puppy. Ikuna whines softly, deep in his throat, with a sound that's not just comfort but also giving voice to his own uncertainty... and then he leans forward, giving Kurux a lick and nudging the half-wolf toward his mother's belly. He said these pups were Ute. Well. Here they are. This one, and... others? There are other forms, but they lie still.
Dots are being connected rapidly in her head. She knows that this is Wachiwa, and she remembers hearing the name before, and the remarks around it. Or, more accurately, the tone of the remarks around the other she-wolf's name. Now having seen the first pup, and his stillborn siblings soon after, she understands why they were speaking in such a way... and why she was warned that lone females are to be especially careful around the dog pack. Miakoda's expression is slowly turning to one of woe, but now is certainly not the time to do anything other than remain in the background. Or, in her case, to remain positioned somewhat close to the cavern's entryway as something of a sentry.
Another moan comes; and Chewy curls back again. This time, a fourth pup is pulled over to the pile. At first hope; it tries to squeakily breath after a few moments, but the breathing is wet, like though its lungs work, something is wrong with them. It can make only squeak sounds, soft and weak. A last moan comes from the pain-besot shewolf, as she finally pulls a fifth, last pup over; this one far more lively then the last four at least; after her face is cleaned, she sets to making up squeaky protest about the cold as well. Chewy ends up laying on her side for several moments after, waiting for the final pains and tremors to pass, panting in reaction, before she sets to trying to finish the job of cleaning Kurux, the she-pup, and the weak, squeaky little little pup that is hard to define.
Kurux is now being touched. Will the indignities never end? Who can he speak to about this assault on his comfort? Apparently no one. Still being clean is preferable to being all yucky and gooey. There are obviously several different creatures here with him. One of them he knows on an instinctive level is mom. He knows her, but these others are unknown too him. If he could be speaking now he would certainly be staying his peace, but for the moment he just continues to bellow. That is, after all, the extent of his ability to communicate with the outside world.
Miakoda continues watching in silence, although now the activity seems to be winding down and she assumes that the birthing is at an end. Not all emerged from it... but that, she supposes, is a part of life. With her ears turning back, the she-wolf slowly lies down on her stomach nearby the cavern's mouth.
Ikuna shifts back a little as Chewy finally settles from her straining, looking over the pups, living and... dead. He frowns for a moment, then carefully reaches for the unmoving bodies, seeking to draw them away from Wachiwa as she cares for the pups that survived their birthing.
Chewy continues to clean Kurux, and then the little she-pup next to him, moving onto the last-- except that her squeaky, wheezy pup seems to have stopped squeaking and wheezing, and instead lays still, not even having found anything to eat; unlike the little she-pup, who nosed closed to her body after being licked clean, seems to be very happy in finding food. Enough to sate her noisy self for the moment. Ears droop, and Chewy.. carefully noises the one squeaky body over to join the others, as Ikuna reaches for them. Her eyes meet his a moment, her expression sad, as the blue eye wells slightly in uncomfortable tears; the dead eye unresponsive. Then, the one-eyed 'she-witch', as Grim had taken to calling her, tries to quiet little Kurux a bit more by licking his face, and nudging him towards food, whispering softly, "Hush, my darling, don't cry a peep, the moon's in the sky, let's count the sheep, one, two, three four, hush, shush, sleep some more..."
Kurux takes a second to collect himself after his mother begins to whisper to him her little song. This causes him to stop crying, at least for a moment or two and just listen to her. Its comforting to know that there is something good out here. Mom is good, thats for sure.
As his eyes meet Wachiwa's, Ikuna's ears droop back ever further for a moment. He ducks his head... but he doesn't say anything, simply collecting the dead puppies, lifting them carefully in his muzzle and then rising to his feet. They dangle too-limp, bobbling against each other as he slowly carries them out of the cave, leaving Wachiwa and her two pups. They make a whole wolf, between them - and a whole dog, too.
Mom is here, mom is good. Wachiwa, as mother, licks at Kurux' face, murmuring, "You, you are like a bear, always growling and complaining, large in size. You, I will name Kurux. My little bear." She smiles slightly. Then nuzzles the hungry, happily sucking she-pup, "And you are small and lithe; yet you are fast to learn. I will call you Nonkene, for it means swift like the deer." She licks both pups, curling about them in her little rut in the earth, before she sighs, and lays her head on her paws, murmuring, "You are both so small, yet you have overcome a challenge not all can conquer; you have taken your first breaths, and kept them in your lungs.. For that, I congratulate you.. But I cannot tell you that this was your easiest battle."
Mom is indeed very good. Kurux huh? He can manage that most likely. It should be simple enough to pronounce wen he is able to speak. His sister also he knows. After all he just spent the past few months with her. Ikuna though is a completely foreign experience. Who on earth is this? And what doe he have to do with them. The rut at least is more comfortable than just sitting there. The fur that his mother collected makes for a fairly warm little nest.