the Rift


[OPEN] bring me to life [birthing]

Xolani Posts: 39
Outcast
Mare :: Equine :: 15.0 hh :: 6 years (ages in Orangemoon)
ChaoticMelodies
#1


The change had begun slowly, the very slightest expansion of a toned belly, so faint that at Xolani thought it only a trick of the light. Then she began to wonder if perhaps she had eaten too much clover of late. It took her several months to realize that it was not, in fact, her fault that her sides were swelling, but that of a certain teal-touched stallion. For some reason, the realization did not fill her with joy, but with fear: though her heart longed to celebrate, she could not help but panic when she thought of the challenges that faced her. After all, she was a mute equine with no particularly interesting skills; how would she fare as a mother? It wasn't like she had been given a good example as a foal!

So anxious had she become that a dark, dull teal was an almost constant presence on her pelt, often taking the shape of tiny, winged foals or just-budding flowers. She tried to find a distraction, throwing herself into her day-to-day duties as an Apostle of the Sun... and yet still, in every moment that she took pause, that terrified whisper in the back of her mind appeared yet again.

To add to her nerves, she had seen little of Ilios since that day in the caves, and she could not help but wonder if he had merely been interested in siring a child rather than in the relationship that she had wanted (had she?). Or, worse yet, had he only wanted the sex? She wasn't sure how he would react to the news of her pregnancy, for she hadn't told him yet - partly due to fear, and partly because she simply could not manage to find a trace of him. (Not that she tried very hard, to be honest.) And, if she was really truthful with herself, was it him that she wanted, or simply the idea of him? It was a question that she could not answer, and one that made her certain that she was not ready to be a mother.

The mare had stayed in the Dragon's Throat ever since the day in the Caves, and it was there that she could be found on the blistering morning of her birthing. The heat was awful; sweat had long since soaked the mare's coat through, turning even the brightest of hues upon her pelt into dull stains. She had taken shelter beneath a copse of palm trees, hoping that their scant leaves might help her avoid the sun's warmth. Unfortunately, it did no such thing, and the mare found herself miserably swatting at flies despite her best efforts.

The first contraction was a mere annoyance; the second was alarming. If she had been able, she might have cried out. As it were, a flurry of colors appeared in sudden, rapidly changing splotches across her coat, as though there was no shape to describe the mare's thoughts. Teal fear, yellow joy, and blue insecurity warred for their place upon her pelt as she sank to her knees, instinct taking over in the absence of coherent thought.

It seemed to take hours before her firstborn lay in the sands behind her, a silver dapple buckskin colt that looked so much like Ilios that for a moment, a painful hand seemed to squeeze the mare's heart. Even so, despite all of the mare's worries and fears, she felt the blossoming of a pure new love that could only be described as unconditional; and in that moment, she felt truly blessed to be a mother. It was with a smile that she reached for him, trying to nuzzle his tiny forehead and begin to clean him, trying in vain to decide on an appropriate name (it wasn't like she could share it, anyway).

Before she got very far, however, she felt the contractions begin anew. What? she thought, disoriented and confused but nonetheless succumbing to nature's whim. Before long (not nearly as long as the first), another foal had been forced onto the sands. This one was a beautiful grey filly; Xolani was surprised to see that brilliantly colored markings, similar to those dancing across her own pelt, adorned the girl's face. Various yellow-green hues of joy and love flared like fireworks across the new mother's coat as she breathed gently into the tiny nares of her children, introducing herself in the only way she knew.

Maybe, just maybe, her love would be enough.




Art by Neverrmind @ DA


@ Ilios
@ Kolr
@ Patrick

Surprise, baby time! :D

@Sikeax - feel free to jump in any time now that the babies have posted! :)
Please tag Xolani in all replies.
Use of force and/or magic (with the exception of death) is allowed at all times.

Want to plot with Xolani? Visit her plot page here!

Kolr Posts: 16
Outcast
Filly :: Equine :: 15hh ::
Odd
#2

Kolr
In a world full of people, you can lose sight of it all
& the darkness inside you can make you feel so small

The girl sighed into existence.

Her first breath was warm and humid and because she had no adjectives in her vocabulary, the sensation just was, and the girl let it waft over her without judgement. She felt sand cling to her new body, still wet with the efforts of her birth, and immediately disliked the scratchy sensation as well as the notion that she was dirtied somehow, by it. With a small bleat, the girl tried to scramble away from the sand which clung to her small hips and legs. Her front legs were turned badly inwards, and all she really succeeded in doing was throwing more and more sand around.

Her bright blue eyes turned upwards, sagging at the corners with alarm and a sudden sadness. Magic wafted out from the girl: the sand upon which she flailed took on the appearance of a woven canvas, which was suddenly smeared with splotches of ochre and magenta, colours of unease painted in scratchy textures as if with a brush that was too dry. The girl of course had no idea that she could paint her thoughts and emotions into the world, and at this point in her short life, wasn't actively controlling the magic, merely allowing it to replicate the first thoughts stifling her small mind.

"mmmmm-! Came a small sound of effort from the girl, as her pink lips parted and she once again tried to shuffle herself off of the sand (impossible, of course), and found that she was merely digging herself in deeper. The area in front of her bloomed with a deep frustrated blue, as if paint had suddenly been poured into the cove her hooves had dug before her, trying to fill it up.




Patrick Posts: 31
Dragon's Throat Colt
Stallion :: Unicorn :: 15.0 (wfg) :: 6 months
LovellaTorendo
#3
P
A
T
R
I
C
K
It is beyond hot in the midst of a brutal tall sun day when the pale mare is forced to go to ground in a place that offers only the appearance of shelter.  This is perhaps not the best of conditions for birthing but the Dragon’s Throat is teaming with young life.  That fact is evidence that the attempt has been made and succeed at, many times over.  Most likely, all will be well in the end.  No doubt such thoughts, where she thinking them, would be of little comfort to the mother in waiting however. The woman’s labors are long and colorfully stressful maybe because it is her first such experience and maybe because the small creature she is attempting to separate herself from does not wish to be separated…

It is black and wet and warm where I am, cramped and crowded too for I am not alone but I do not mind.  This other has been my constant companion all this long while and I find the presence to be a comfort.  I am content here perhaps because I am yet too simple to desire more and perhaps because I do not know that more exists.  I am drifting on a hazy cloud of half formed almost dreams, because my mind has no true impressions to dream of, when the disturbance begins.  There is a firm shoving combined with constricting squeezing as if some unseen force wishes to squish me flat.  My body is forced to move away from the other that I have grown so attached to and my mind is gripped by red panic at the fuzzy concept of loneliness.  I kick and thrash in a feeble attempt to resist separation but the opposing force is so very much stronger nothing I do appears to have any impact at all.  Then all of a sudden I am alone and so, so cold...

After some time the mares struggles come to fruition and she is joined on the sands by a small but bulky boy child colored and marked much like the sire with a small rounded stub of a horn that is not yet long enough to show it’s final pattern.  His limbs are flung out gracelessly as if he’d been fighting the whole idea of birth but they appear at first glance to be whole and healthy.  In fact there are no obvious health or confirmation flaws in the lad and the mother is no doubt thinking herself lucky, if she has even thought through this far at all yet.  She moves to clean his nostrils and he breathes shakily at first but with an encouraging strength by the second or third of these breaths.  Her tongue moves to his eyes and then she becomes occupied with something new.  The colt gives a huffing, disappointed breath at the sudden lack of attention.

At first I am so cold that my body shivers and then I am suddenly warmer than I have ever been.  Still, the space along my spine where the other used to press against me remains empty and so the warmth is no comfort.  I am touched by something new, a rough and damp thing but this I do find comforting simply because it moves.  The touch is firm and gentle at the same time and tickles just a bit as it swipes across my nose.  Freed of constricting goop my nostrils flare wide and take in something else new.  Now I know breath and real life and it is good.  Good, but still lonely.  The thing swipes next across my eyes and then it is gone.  I do not know that my eyes are eyes and that they should be open but my muscles seem to, after a few tentative flutters the lids lift and remain lifted.  Dark and black is apparently not the permanent state of the world, how pleasantly surprising…

For some time all I can see is bright and I assume that this is all I will see, it makes sense coming in the wake of flat darkness.  As the seconds pass my eyes focus and I can see shapes and motion.  I see a large hulking mass stretched out not far beyond my location.  I do not yet know that this is mother or that it was the source of the short, rudimentary bath I received moments ago.  I am drawn to it though for I am not used to being alone.  While my wishes are small and lacking in conviction at this point in the span of my living, I know that alone is not something I wish to be.

The colt’s eyes flutter open and his head follows the path of mare’s withdrawal until he is steadily watching her as she sprawls again in the sand and suffers the pain of labor a second time.  His small skull tilts this way and that in what appears to be interest and then droops somewhat in what might be boredom.  The mother’s struggles continue and the boy child turns his young mind to other things… things like working out the use of his spindly legs.  At first his luck is limited, he is able to kick his hooves out and shove himself across the sand little bit by little bit but he can’t quite seem to figure out that his body is supposed to be up right.  After a few tries he becomes distracted and drops his head completely, stretching his neck out along the skratchy sand and wiggling oddly.  Still, despite his lack of focus he did manage to create just enough space to prevent his sister from landing on top of him as she joins the quickly growing family group.

These long things seem only to be good for kicking with, still some instinct suggests that there is something else I ought to be doing with them.  For a short time I put all my limited effort and energy to the task of figuring out what that is.  It does not take long before I am distracted however, in the heat the slime covering my body has begun to dry and my entire hide itches.  So I sprawl in the sand and wiggle which gives a small relief before another distraction surfaces.  An exhausted sigh of satisfaction erupts from the large thing and lifting my head again I see a small thing stretched out beside me.  Something tells me that this is the other I remember from the before time and suddenly everything is right in my little world again.

A low grunt of pleasure escapes the lips of the colt as he is joined on the sand and he rolls up, gathering his legs beneath him in what should be the start of an attempt to stand.  He does not rise yet though.  The smaller filly seems to have a better grasp of what they should be doing than her brother does but she is having greater difficulty with it.  It is not this that has distracted the lad though.  As she fights against the sand the girl has begun to cast vivid colors across her surroundings.  That cascade of brilliance is what has captured her twin’s attention and he sits there frozen eyes wide in wonder as he watches...

Image Credit || TABLE BY SEVIN


@Ilios

OOC: sorry, forgot to tag you!

Xolani Posts: 39
Outcast
Mare :: Equine :: 15.0 hh :: 6 years (ages in Orangemoon)
ChaoticMelodies
#4


Xolani cleans the girl, noting with concern the odd angles of her legs. Perhaps it is her fault somehow, for not realizing sooner that she was pregnant, for having the odd luck of bearing twins. Perhaps it is because of this that the filly is not entirely healthy - as though her mother could have done anything differently, prevented any of this. The mare glances towards the colt, appraising him momentarily for any similar malformities. Thankfully, he seems to be healthy. The mare turns her attention back to the filly, preparing to continue cleaning her tiny body of the fluids of childbirth, but she is stopped in her tracks. To her amazement, a canvas has appeared beneath her daughter, a canvas that is being painted with strokes of color. As though in answer, Xolani's pelt begins to change in color as shapes of excitement and awe appear.

The spell that the filly has cast on the trio is broken by instinct; Xolani carefully places her forelegs, and then heaves herself to her feet. She returns her ministrations to the colt, who she has almost entirely cleaned. Her ears flick this way and that, listening for anything out of the ordinary, anything that should concern her. For a moment, she is swamped with worry - where is Ilios? Should he not be here to welcome his children into the world? - but it is rapidly replaced by happiness and affection. She is immediately comfortable in the role of mother.

She returns to cleaning the girl, who seems to be the more fragile of the two. If nothing else, it would seem that she is going to need the most assistance to stand. Though she has already tried, she has succeeded only in burying herself even more deeply in the sand; her mother digs gently around her tiny body, shoving the annoying, shifting grains away and trying to flatten an area for the filly to use. She periodically switches from one foal to the other, trying to help them both to their feet in order for them to nurse, trying to ensure that they recognize her as their mother, trying to make sure they feel her love equally.




Art by Neverrmind @ DA



@Ilios

@Kolr

@ Patrick
Please tag Xolani in all replies.
Use of force and/or magic (with the exception of death) is allowed at all times.

Want to plot with Xolani? Visit her plot page here!

Ilios Posts: 200
Dragon's Throat Informant atk: 5 | def: 9 | dam: 6
Stallion :: Hybrid :: 15 :: 4 (Frostfall) HP: 66.5 | Buff: NOVICE
Isabella :: Common Rougarou :: Flame Parelia
#5
Teal ivy covered legs struck out at the sandy terrain paced with the quick movements of the wolf beside him. Silver and gold eyes met for a second as they shared their joy of running. Ilios had been training with Isabella at his side. He knew it was a horrible excuse for having been absent so long, but maybe she would understand. He turned his senses to finding her. 'Isa, we have to find her, it's been much to long.' Bright eyes scanned the sand as they ran looking for the mare he wanted to see so badly. The wolf's black nose quivered and she wheeled right suddenly howling darkly as she did. Fear flooded the stallions mind. Without missing a beat massive teal and silver wings caught the air.

'No...' His wings beat faster than his pounding heart as he raced through the sky. The scent of blood hung like a cloud over him as he raced to be at her side. He could tell he was drawing closer and he couldn't hold back his voice any longer, "LANI!" The panic was evident in his voice. He could see her now, laying beside two much smaller forms. His heart flipped as he dove straight for them. he could feel Isabella drawing closer and he told her to slow down, so she wouldn't scare Lani.

His hooves thumped hard onto the ground sending pain rushing to his knees, but he could careless. His voice was soft and warm as he gazed down at her creamy bodice and the two foals beside her. "Lani... They're beautiful." Pride swelled in his heart as eh stepped forward, "I'm so sorry I missed it, I'm sorry I was gone... Can you forgive me?" He prayed she would, prayed the mother of his children would forgive him for missing everything.

Carefully he lowered his head to the boy as he watches Lani care for the filly. He takes note of her stunning coat, and he watercolor magic. A smile touches his face as he leans down to nuzzle the handsome colt. He looks so much like himself, dappled buckskin and white ivy draped on his back. "Lani, my companion Isabella is coming. She is a shapeshifter, and currently is a wolf. She means no harm and will stay back if you would like." He looks at her waiting for her instruction for a moment before tenderly nudging his boy. A name strikes his mind, but he waits to speak it. "Come on handsome, it's time to rise and embrace the world." His voice is rolling bass from a love song, sung by a father that could not be more proud of his first son, and second daughter.


Speech
Words;; 452
OOC/Tags;;  @Xolani Patrick @Kolar I am soooo sorry I am so horribly late! Life was INSANE!
Ilios
Dear father, In my heart I know I failed you, but you left me here alone
/ image
You must be true to your heart..
[Image: silver_dreamer_mist_by_cantatus_promise-d8flci6.gif] [Image: mwaCGuX.gif]
Tag me


Forum Jump:


RPGfix Equi-venture