"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
As she watches him, his relaxed muscles suddenly flinch in what seemed to be realization. Of what she wasn't entirely sure and then he is fleeing. Well not physically running but his mind backtracks as does his steps. She motion a step towards him with concern spread across her delicate dished crown. He voices his concern and she is quick to quiet them, "Your appreance... What abo... Aahhh...ooowww..." Her statement is cut short by a sudden wrenching pain in her abdomen. Stumbling forwards, she barely catches herself. Her face winced in pain, as she fumbles to pick up where she left off, "...about it?" She shakes her cream tendrils from her face. Labored breaths begin as she tries to ease her panicked thoughts.
It does little though as she gulps a breath of air and starts to apologize, "I'm sorry... I'm not sure what's happening. It's...it's too early." Golden flecked eyes that had fallen from his face return to find him even more uneasy. She was surprised he hadn't turn and ran with her outburst. The elegant gown of feathers at her sides tighten around her barrel as sweat begins to bead down her neck and chest. Another surge of pain causes her to cry out in agony again. This time causing her to turn and pace in a circle nervously. Murmuring to herself that this was very bad...
AuroraElis
Not all that Glitters is Gold
@[Hephaestus] so he can run or stay but... BABYS COMING!
Taiga, half-burnt and abandoned, felt suddenly unfriendly as he stood there braced to depart. Her voice, soft and lilting, gave him a moment to pause as her question slowly formed itself in his head. His appearance, she began asking upon the travesty that was his face. The question haunted him and, it seemed, even the purest of heart couldn’t conceal their curiosity. Even more inspired to leave her there, he was halfway turned ‘round when her words faltered and faded. His ears trained themselves upon her as his eyes searched her. Admirably, she barely managed to finish her thought, but her words were quickly forgotten behind her strained apology and slowly descending realization.
She was pregnant, he remembered as he stepped instinctively forward. Disbelief filled him as he considered the moment that had snuck up on them both. Ready or not, her foal was set to make his appearance.
There were two options laid out before him. He could leave her there within the sanctuary of the trees or stay and offer his protection while she struggled to bring her new life into the world. However much he wanted to run, he remembered his mother as she birthed his sister into the world. For hours she’d labored and strained – lingering in immense pain only for it to end just as swiftly as it’d begun. Then, there in a bed of clover, lay a perfect blackened filly. Theodosia.
The pain even thinking her name brought, tore him from his memories and refocused his reality. Ru’s agony was potent as she denied the possibility of the events that were about to transpire. He knew he couldn’t leave her.
Lie down, he instructed gently. Angling himself nearer he offered himself as an anchor to ease her way down. It’s going to be ok.
He wasn’t sure if his presence there was much of a reassurance to her and he would leave if she asked him to, but he couldn’t abandon her there in the middle of the forsaken woods of Taiga. There was something almost spooky being whispered through the leaves of those half-burnt trees. Admittedly, this was not an ideal place for such a momentous occasion to occur. There was no time, however, to transport her to another place. No, it was better she stayed here.
I won’t leave you, he promised as he hesitantly touched the base of her plume. It’d been too long since he’d taken it upon himself to freely touch another. He’d grown so accustomed to being thought of as poisonous or contagious. No reaction would surprise him and he braced himself for the revulsion that, often times, presented itself as a forgotten companion.
Ru was different, though. He could sense it as her gentle kindness reached out to him from the depths of her gaze. He wanted her to be different and, for the first time in a long time, he found himself hoping.
Another wave of pain rips through her. Sending her grasping for support. She finds it momentarily against his shoulder before he is instructing her to lay down. It is all she can do to nod in response. Folding her cream limbs under her and gingerly lowering her body to meet the forest floor. Everything hurt. Every movement, every sound, everything.
Her breathing grows rapid and quick. The usually active child inside her grows quiet and she immediately worries. Straining to push with the intense contractions, she finds herself looking to dark stallion. He offers kind gestures of support and protection that she is quick to accept. Any help was better than none. Rou wasn't here any more to offer his, and never would be again. A tear rolls down her cheek in a combination of pain and saddness.
With a few more pushes and the pressure releases. Breathing a sigh of relief, she is quick to rise. Finding her footing easily and turning to find a small, wet lump of fur. Red fur and much too small. The body lay motionless and sprawled. Quickly she clears his face of birthing remnants, but it does not move. Stroking the length of it's body, she can feel a slight warmth and a faint heart beat. Her brow furrows in desperation as she attempts to awaken the child. Golden flecked eyes look to Hephaestus briefly before turning back to her son. Hovering her muzzle just above the rib cage, she closes her eyes. Focusing all her energy on the child's underdeveloped lungs. Channeling her own breathing into the boy, she draws in a deep breath. The moment she does the foal does the same. She exhales and instinctively the foal does as well. Eye lids snap open as she hears his breathing find it's own rythmn. A smile breaking the fine line of concern on her lips.
Looking to the stallion now she is all smiles. "It worked!" Is all she can say. It had been the first time she had used her magic since it had been bestowed upon her. Overjoyed, she turns back to her son to lick him dry. He would survive because of everything she had went through. It had all been worth it...
AuroraElis
