In the midst of her struggle the sound of feet shuffling through snow drew Shadow's attention. Scared and bleeding she turned her head weakly, sweat frozen into glittering frost upon the dark hide, and for a fleeting second her heart swells with hope, with a feeling so warm and bright and powerful that tears pool in her eyes.

Then he spoke, and her eyes saw not the tall silver stallion she had wished for but a chubby stranger, runty and weak and disappointingly not Vadim. The mare closed her eyes against the void of disappointment that opened in her heart, shocked by the sheer strength of her own emotions. When had Vadim become so important to her? Since when had her feelings for him deepened to the point where she'd rather be alone than in the presence of anyone else at this important moment?

The stranger spoke and she had to strain her ears to hear him over her own hoarse breaths and pounding heart. Badger, plants, bleeding... oh. He was a healer? She cracked open a pained eye and glanced at the faded, dry leaves he placed by her, suspicious and wary but in too much pain to argue. She reached out and lipped them closer, knowing she had to do what she could if she were to deliver this foal and live to lick its coat dry.

The herbs were brittle and crumbled between her teeth, sharp in taste and parching her throat as she struggled to swallow. Whether they would help or not she didn't know, but it was worth a shot, right?

But... go. Where? She was in no state to go anywhere at this point, the foal was coming to the world any moment now. The blackbird thought desperately about herds, safe havens, and in the snowy landscape beneath the glittering stars she said the name of the first place she could think of.

"Basin... it's close. I know someone there..."But before she could explain about her adventures with the Haruspex earlier that same winter the sound of a voice pulled her attention away.

Out of the darkness he came running, and for a second time her heart swelled with relief, hope and... that feeling she didn't dare call by its proper name. Like a vision he appeared on the snow-clad field, tall and strong and handsome, and Shadow reached out for him with a grateful smile, pained but radiant.

"You came!" She leaned into his touch, savoring the warmth of it and imagined that her pain stepped back, diminished slightly because of it. Whether it was true or not she would never know, because no sooner had she begun to say something than another surge of pain washed over her as the contractions continued.

She was allowed no rest; with a groan of agony her head fell back into the snow and the world disappeared in a hazed blur as her body followed ancient instincts, inherited from her mother, and her grandmother before that, in a line unbroken since before time.

There was no time to leave for a better suited location, because there, on a mountain plateau covered in snow, a small foal was born beneath the midnight sky.

Shadow ignored her own pain and the incessant bleeding that, while gradually slowing, continued to stain the snow, and struggled around to examine her second born child. She brushed a dark nose over the neck, chest and legs, examined a pair of weakly flapping appendages - wings that one day would grow feathers and soar through the sky - and touched a long tail, complete with fuzzy wads of hair. A little filly, so small and pale that she almost vanished against the wintry landscape, and so cold to the touch that the mare gasped in horror and snapped her head towards the healer.

"What is this, what's wrong with her? Is she... but she's moving!"

Helplessly she looked between Badger and Vadim, unable to speak - why was the child colder than death, yet breathed and stirred feebly in the icy air?


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@Badger , @Erthë , @Vadim