no one really knows what the ocean hides
but you and I, bird, we’re gonna find out
No one warned her of the pain, of the agonizing contractions, that rack through her body during pregnancy. Every few feet, another groan or gasp escapes her, unbidden. Weak, she hisses to herself when her jaws suddenly clench with another wave. If mother can do this, so can she.
Move. Another demand to herself.
One step after another, she abandons the walls of Loess to immerse herself in Taiga’s dense forest. The agitation between her and Pteron seemingly triggered the stress and arrival of their child. She was steadfast in their confrontation, unwavering even as his own rage rolled across her like a tidal wave. Oddly enough, it appealed to her, but it was enough for her hormones to scream and make the delivery finally happen.
Beneath the coniferous cover of Taiga, and with the river babbling to her left, Reia finally buckles. Her legs bend underneath her and the wide mass of her barrel gently lowers down. Another groan sighs from her lungs as black smoke billows from her nostrils. That’s the last she remembers as primal instincts overwhelm her and seize the opportunity.
It seemed like there would have been two. Her stomach was so large, so distended, that it was promising to bring twins into this world, but when Reia finally rises, there is only a filly. Blood soaks into the ground and paints the leaves with crimson. Being an inexperienced mother, she does not consider more than what she blatantly sees. The small girl swallows her attention entirely, and Reia tends to her uncertainly with too-rough nudges until she finally stands. ”Adarra,” she proclaims with a jagged smiles, ”princess of Taiga.” The filly eventually rises to her feet to nurse, but her eyes occasionally glance off to the side in silent knowledge.
There was a presence with her in the womb, a sibling that kicked her and greedily devoured much of the nutrition. Someone was there with her; she has sensed it since the very first moment, and yet when she peers down she is met with empty air. ”Drink,” Reia snaps to her daughter, jerking the child from her musings. Obediently, she takes to nursing for a few minutes while mother occasionally reaches for her in radiating surprise and fascination.
”It’s time to meet your father,” she murmurs as she immediately begins walking away, forcing Adarra to unlatch and stand there, both unbalanced and confused. Still sensing something – that familiar presence, that musical heartbeat that danced with her own – the girl stares back to where the grass is slicked down from afterbirth and blood. ”Hurry up or you’ll be left,” Reia chides over her shoulder without pausing to heed her daughter’s concern. A shrill bleat is Adarra's final attempt to stir to life her twin – or was it all just a dream, her imagination? – before turning to trot after mother, solemnly resigning.
and I'll be next to you when the lights go out
@[Pteron]