Sikeax,

Days ticked by like they had places to be. Places far away from Sikeax when she was begging them to stay, driven by a first time mother’s fear of her child and everything that will unfold before her when she takes the big leap into that world through birth. She tells herself that she’s not ready for this, but a mother with their first can never be completely prepared.
By the end, she’s confined to the innermost parts of the Dragon’s Throat, tucked away in the oasis where the sea of green seems endless and surreal when the snow is probably already falling in the north.
Oh, how she’d love to see it again, glittering with the shine of a thousand diamonds as pale moonlight and the majestic palette of Northern Lights ignite everything through those long nights. She wonders if the baby will take to the sand like she did the snow, forever connected to it even if it isn’t there at all times.
Most of all, she wonders if the child will be okay, if the child will love her and be able to brave the world braver than she had ever done.
Hobgoblin snorts. All the talk and thoughts of children finds no purpose in his head. They’ve never existed to him, never been a part of his life. To his brain, child is nothing more than a word than Sikeax tosses about in the stormy ocean of her mind, raging across the waves of emotions and bracing itself for impact like that will save it. “What makes it so important?”
Over the last few hours, he’s waited with boredom while she stresses and paces, finally giving in completely when her legs tell her it’s no longer worth it to stand. The grass is cool when it sweeps over her champagne coat, dampened with sweat even though she feels as if she’s done no physical work to bring it along.
Is this how it’s supposed to be?
A short chirp leaves her empty handed, faced with contractions that fade in and out with time but slowly work themselves into a faster pace.
Within time, she’s abandoned, petrified even when they do stop after what feels like hours, having ticked away into the dawn with enough southern sunlight to bring the birds out. Their songs hit her with brute force, how serene the world feels without the pai-
The baby.
She’s never thought about how Adrixaura came to look at her for the first time, as of she might of felt when she saw her new baby lying in the cold, fresh snow, shivering and whining out of hunger and the need for warmth. For Sikeax, she sees now that maybe it’s a Godsend that her child, son, is cradled in the beauty of a good Orangemoon.
He doesn’t even look real til she presses her muzzle against the soft, black coat he’s painted himself with and felt his wet newborn body. A small shake follows short.
And as she starts the process of cleaning him, it strikes her that she hasn’t even cared to think of a name for him.

OOC: Birthing thread for Zhu!
Feel free to post before Zhu replies if you'd like to come in and see the new baby.

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