[Sybella]

s y b e l l a

"We have to bury them now,"
"No. No, no, no. Just a little longer, please... Just a little longer..."

---

As she lay above the ground, beneath where her children buried, she had to put life into perspective. She was above. They were below. Resting, he'd said. At peace. Six little bodies covered in mud, and dirt, and stones, and probably now being devoured by carcass eating insects. They weren't really resting or at peace, but Iron had the sense to know that she couldn't coddle six dead children any longer than she had. So instead of nurturing the dead bodies, she spent all of her time resting on the ground they were placed in. It was in the same canopy she was meant to be nursing them, the same canopy that she endured agonizing pain to deliver one, two, three, four, five... six dead children.  

With gentle touches, she let her paw graze over the small piles that they'd placed -- no, that Iron placed -- above them. Careful not to press too hard, not wanting to hurt them in anyway, anymore than she already had. She placed an ear to the soil, wishing she was listening to the small chirps and whines of her six babies rather than listening to the small colony of earth-diggers, or whatever it was she was hearing. She didn't know and didn't even care.

From this angle she swore she could see the Earth spinning still, the sun came and went, the birds still sang... but her world seemed to be at an abrupt stop and she had no desire to figure out what to do next. Iron was doing his best to be there for her, she appreciated it even though she had little to say to him, but she wasn't mad that he'd take small moments to himself. She probably needed it more than he did, maybe he knew that. Maybe that's why he made excuses to leave. Sybella knew he had guilt for what had happened, though she knew it wasn't his fault (she was the one who was defective, she'd sworn at him).

Something inside of her, the last bit of awareness she had, knew that she should get up. Move on. There was still a sharp, piercing pain in her side that Harriette should probably examine, but it felt better to be close to them. She should probably eat, too, as Iron had suggested. There was no appetite to satisfy. Rather, she felt guilt for feeding her hunger when it was her babies that should be eating. It wasn't fair.
But they were gone.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
and Six.

Dead.
So she lay, too, lifeless.

[Iron]

The past few days had been hard. Harder than he'd thought possible. Tauro's death had shaken him, but it was nothing compared to this. Every day he wondered what he was supposed to do, how he could make it better, but no solutions had come to him. He could see Sybella was suffering and he had no idea how to help, nor could he ease his own. The only thing he knew how to do was wander, as usual - he knew where Sybella would be when he returned. She was always in the same place, the spot where they'd buried their children. Her first children. His first. He supposed these would be the last, too.

He'd been pacing his forest for a while now. He'd passed the porcupine that had brought them together without a second glance. The creature watched him walk by, seemingly surprised that it had not been disturbed. Iron knew the beast wasn't worth the effort of chasing it away anymore; it could live here if it wanted to. No one else did. Iron kept walking. When he noticed a rabbit hiding in the bushes, he stopped for a moment. He supposed this could help. It took little effort to snatch the bunny up and, feeling at least a slight sense of purpose now, he decided it was time to head back home. He carried the rabbit tenderly back to his mate, trying not to think of how the tiny body reminded him of his children, except that it was warm. It had been alive.

Sybella was right where he knew she'd be. He approached quietly, afraid to disturb her - was she asleep? He couldn't tell but even he, the emotionally inept, could feel the sadness radiating off of her. He dropped the rabbit near her forepaws and bumped his head against hers. "You should eat," he said quietly, afraid that raising his voice might be all it took to finally break her. "Please." He looked down at the dirt that he'd so recently moved, expression unreadable. How long could they stay here? Until Sybella joined them under the ground? He didn't want that to happen, but looking at her lying motionless on the earth, he couldn't help but think of it. He was going to lose her too.

[Sybella]

s y b e l l a

Ear to earth, Sybella was able to hear Iron approaching yards before he lay the rabbit down beside her, asking that she eat. There was no desire, though; not enough energy instilled to bring herself to eat. Too much of a burden to gorge herself, too... painful.

Very painful...

The stabbing feeling within her was growing sharper, and days ago she would have felt like this was foreign, but it was all too familiar now. Haunting even. She winced sharply, pushing herself up with her front legs only to keel over. Trying to stifle the sounds of discomfort, she looked over to Iron with a look of fear in her eyes. He wasn't there to see what she'd suffered through, how would she even explain? "It's.. happening.... again..." But why? And how?

She felt her insides turning out again, crying out in agony as she did the only thing that she remembered alleviated the throbbing previously, push. The only thoughts she managed was the fear of delivering more dead children, something she couldn't bare. With eyes closed tight, though, she pushed. Working hard to be through with this, to never have to live through this sort of torture again.

But as she pushed she heard them. The crying, the soft, repetitive crying. A sign of life.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.
Six little wriggling bodies, all shouting in hunger.
Wet and warm.
Small and strong.
Moving, breathing, living.

Sybella had to remind herself to breathe, though exhausted, as she looked at what she'd done. What she'd just accomplished. Shocked was an understatement, she was in complete disbelief as she looked to Iron, wondering for a moment if her malnourishment was causing any sort of hallucinations. "...Iron?" She looked to him for any sign of verification that this was actually fucking happening.

"Iron..." She said again, scared to touch them, and scared to look away in fear of them disappearing.

One, white as snow. Another, a soft rose. Three dark, like their father. And one the color of sand.
Six living, breathing, beautiful babies.

o o c

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Witch.]

you motherfuckers

[Sybella]

https://forum.horsetopia.com/dogs/65433-...apart.html

[Iron]

"It's.. happening.... again..."


He watched her with abject terror, knowing this was the moment where it all ended. Perhaps her heart was failing her now, too broken by sadness - was that possible? He could see she was in pain and he had no idea what to do for her. Iron didn't think he could handle feeling so helpless anymore. He leaned over Sybella as she writhed on the ground, nudging her gently and whining like a lost puppy. "What's wrong?" he asked, as if the answer would mean anything to him - he wasn't a healer, he couldn't help her. What was the healer's name in this pack? Marie? Something? Where was she? He was one second from running off in a random direction and looking for her when suddenly he heard...a sound.

Something unlike anything he'd ever heard. So quiet, barely a squeak. He looked down in confusion, wondering what had possibly caused Sybella to make that noise. And he saw...the tiniest little creature he'd ever seen. And then another. And another. They were moving, crying, and he could only stare at them wide-eyed. What was happening? How was this possible? Distantly, he could hear Sybella calling his name, but he had no idea how to respond. "Are they...?" he asked, unsure how even to finish the sentence. What if this was only temporary? What if the breath left their lungs and they ended up just like the others? He continued staring, afraid to move, suddenly aware of how big he was, how easily he might hurt one of them if he moved too carelessly.

After what felt like an eternity, he looked back to Sybella, almost surprised to see her still there, still alive. "I...," Again, words failed him. He took one step closer to the living, breathing puppies - six of them now. Six! Alive! Iron bent down to sniff one with utmost care, afraid to touch them at all in case he somehow soiled their perfection. "They're alive...," he said finally, with evident disbelief. "You did it." For the first time in the past few days, his tail began to wag again, slowly but steadily. There was only one problem, one that the previous tragedy had wiped from his mind. "...What do we do now?"

[Frost]

[Sybella]

s y b e l l a

The confirmation she was looking for was received, trying quickly to remain calm and regulate her breathing as she curled closer to the pups. Nestling them closer to her, just as she did for the six angels nights before. An uncomfortable amount of deja-vu washed over her as she repeated her same nurturing steps as she'd so recently done before. She vow, then, to make sure nothing would ever happen to them. To the living six.

Iron was as perplexed as she was, which made her feel more at ease. It was nice knowing she wasn't the only one lost in this moment.  "What do we do now?" She heard Iron ask as she allowed the pups to begin feeding, reluctant at first as the close proximity still made her apprehensive.

"Our best..." It was true, and the answer was the best she could offer at this moment. Together they would take parenthood head on, they would protect their children the best they could, love them the best they could, and teach them the best they could. It was the least they could do, wasn't it?

"We'll do our best."