[open] Birthing; you are the silence between what I thought and what I said.

[Oectra]

WATCH IT BURN, THE FIRE YOU STARTED IN ME

Often, it had seemed, she would find herself wandering across the border of her home, Taiga, into Tephra. Ever since she had met Toivo she had been drawn here, to the warmth, to the smells, to the sights. It was such a vivid place, brighter than Taiga. The sun warmed her back and the fog stayed away. Her mother was not sarcastically scolding her and her brother was not stealing her time here. She found herself being completely herself. Here she found adventure, even as her sides grew wider and her walk became hindered. 

She had sought out Toivo a few times between then and now, they did not - or at least she did not - worry about the life growing inside of her. She wanted to see and get to know everything about his home, though she had not asked to join she was beginning to feel apart of the jungle home.

Instinct had kicked in when she began to feel that it was close to birthing her children - because she was a twin she assumed she would have two, why not? She had found a soft florishing spot hidden inside the jungles cover big enough for the three of them. She had brought trinkets from around the jungle land to help make the space more homey. She had a collection of sea shells from the beach and giant flowers that smelled like happiness. She had gems of all colors scattered around in a circle, it quite literally looked like a rainbow, at least she was happy though. 

When the pains started she grimaced through a smile. She was ready. They were ready. 

She made her way through the red wood forest in her horse form, slowly, her den was not far from the border into Tephra. She found it easily, just as the contractions grew closer and more intense. She layed down softly and breathed confidently through her labor. It was unlike anything she had experienced but she knew she could do it alone, or with Toivo by her side. She had not kept her den a secret, she had shown him many times over her progress she had made. A proud wolf tucked quietly away in her home away from home. 

The first, a filly, pale golden like the sun - like her - with deep black tips, and hooves like honey and amber. Amber eyes peered up at her through thick black lashes. In the brief moment of relief Oectra planted a soft, velvety kiss to her daughters forehead, "Hello, Cordillia." and with that the next set of contractions broke through. It did not take as long for the next babe to slip from her body. It was a boy, pale blonde with a white splotch that took up the entirety of his underbelly, along with four white legs and face. It was as if someone had dunked her boy in the snowy caps on the mountain and it had just stuck. He peered up at her with hungry pale blue eyes, trying to wobble onto moonstone hooves. She smiled a wide lopsided grin, pleased with how she had done and the foals she had created. She nudged the boy, helping him to his feet, "Hello, Agramon." she whispered softly. Cordillia and Agramon smiled at each other and then at their mother before finding the soft spot beneath her belly.. food. 

OECTRA

@[Toivo]

[Toivo]

T O I V O

Worry would certainly not be the word, but oh, the days were coming closer and closer. Sometimes Oectra would be a horse, sometimes a wolf when she visited, though most of the time when he visited her, she didn't seem keen on showing him to her family. She'd told him they were all predators, so he didn't feel completely comfortable with the idea either if he was honest with himself; and so they spent more time in Tephra, and she made a den there as well.

Every time he saw her she looked more and more aglow, more round, perhaps, but certainly happy. Happy was all he cared about, and he forgot completely about the mare he'd met in the woods once and then never saw again. Oectra was his... mate? He never said it aloud, but with the way they acted, it was just as simple as that. He had no wolf instincts to keep to only her, perhaps, but it came remarkably close by now.

Today she showed up as a horse, and the young pair made their way to the place she had previously selected. The jungle flowers reminded him of the grove he was born in; his mother had picked it with care, picked the whole of Tephra with care, as well as she had picked Isilya. Oectra and he would not do such a thing, though - he knew from the start that they would stick together, whether they would be two, three, four, or more in the future.

Oectra was convinced there were two, though, and so he'd pictured their family in his mind as well. But to see them... what would they look like? What would they be like?

He paces anxiously, the whole time; until he decides not to disturb her with it and takes up a post right outside the den. Now and then he returns, trying to soothe her, calm her with a kiss, a stroke of sweat-wet hair out of her beautiful eyes, but he can do nothing to relieve her pain; his peace induction fails to take away her physical pains, even if it makes her feel calmer. And so he has to wait, and when the hours pass, it is such a relief to hear her speak their names.

He returns as swiftly as his feet allow, to find their two golden children nursing, their happy tails wagging left and right as he goes straight to Oectra. "You're beautiful," he tells her, finding the glow of happiness on her has not diminished in the least, only changed perhaps a little. Running his nose over her still-wet face, he releases a breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

Turn your face towards the sun, let the shadows fall behind

@[Oectra]