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Yukio had been fast asleep, having slept little the last few nights to calm and relax his mate that she was not going to lose the foals and that all would be well. Her fear, however, had started to infect him as well though he did his best to keep their spirits high. In fact, it was really sheer exhaustion that caused him to not even notice his mate waking up nor her movements in the darkness that enveloped them. Idly a moth landed on his ear, and he flicked it unconsiously away....all seemed well with the world to him....

A whinnie of surprise awoke him with a start and at full alarm. Thinking she was being attacked, he got up ready to fight whoever it was...till he realized no one was there but the two lovers. Breathing heavily from his scare, he leaned down to nuzzle Daveigh, "Are you alright? Bad dream again?" Little did he suspect what was happening right at that moment.

Davey's ragged heavy breathing and her whimpers and cries of pain had poor Yukio's nerves on edge. He followed his first instinct, which was to stand guard over her, for this would surely bring those who'd love to harm them when they were at their weakest...and pace. Pace, pace pace. He found he couldn't stand still for more than a second to nuzzle his love before he had to pace some more. He wished he could take away her pain, yet hoped her delivery of the foals would be quick and without problems. He sure hoped her dreams were wrong. They HAD to be!

The rustling of the willow's branches caused the stallion to immediatly stop pacing and gaze at the offending spot with a death glare. NOTHING was going to harm his mate, and he would die to keep her and the foals alive. His head lowered, his ears plastered to his neck, he bared his teeth and prepared to charge, one hoof digging into the ground in impatience. His mate's cry that they'd forgotten the baskets however, changed everything as he came over to nuzzle her and whisper that they'd save the foals, they'd find baskets....during this time, he didn't hear the girl's voice, so absorbed in this new emergency.

He noticed for a moment that Daveigh wasn't paying attention, and so followed her gaze to see a....A BASKET!! He was in shock, and merely stared as a girl appeared shortly, her words soothing even as she offered the basket to him. He coulnd't understand her words, but...she seemed nice enough and she brought a basket. Relief filled him and he nickered at the two-legger, nosing her lightly in happiness.


Not far off, another indian girl worked the last reed into her own basket. Nimmie had been hard at work for many moons trying to perfect it so that it would make a fitting gift for the new couple. She, too had been keeping an eye on them and setting traps of her own, having become worried when the new family hadn't come to the village to prepare earlier....perhaps they didn't know? She felt it her duty to protect them. She loved them dearly already...but would they accept her gift? Satisfied that it would keep the foal it would protect safe, she made her way towards the weeping willow as another cloud obscured the moon's light and bathed the world in darkness.

Yukio watched all this with quite a bit of trepidation and even fear. He'd never seen anyone give birth before, not even his own mother, as mares by nature separated themselves from the herd anyways when their time came so he had little knowledge of what to do next. He was glad when the two-legger set the basket near Daveigh., however this gave him little to do and started pacing nervously again.

He'd only taken a few steps when he'd heard the leaves rustling again from the opposite side of the tree that the first two-legger appeared in. A soft voice greeted his ear, a bit of song...he knew that voice! Nickering in greeting, he watched another two-legger appear, this one he'd gotten to know as a colt She'd been traveling, searching for a place to live when he'd gotten himself lost one day not long after he'd been strong enough to leave his own basket. Ever since, he'd snuck off to see her every now and then up until he'd reached adulthood and had taken his journey with Daveigh. He had to admit he'd really missed her and with a happy whinny, he trotted up to her and began to tickle her with his pink nose as he searched for treats.

He was distracted quickly by a cry from his mate and quickly came back to her and nuzzled her lovingly. "We have another guest, and she brought a basket as well..."

Nemelaneka giggled as Yukio trotted up to her and began to n** at her tunic gently, and setting her basket down, scratched behind his ears lovingly before a cry alerted them back to the special and yet dangerous event ahead. The survival of the foals depended on them working together quickly, and so she picked up her basket once more and approached the mare. "I bring you a gift as well, Spotted Mother, in hopes your foals will be strong and healthy." Looking at Saladi she added quickly, "My name is Nimmie...how is she doing?"

Yukio and Nimmie didn't need any urging as they both began to work on cleaning off what proved to be a rathe squirmy, if still weak, newborn colt who looked alot like his mother, though there were points where he showed through as well. After some quiet urging by his father, ther colt finally lay still and submitted as Nimmie gathered a handful of dried grass to continue cleaning him off, while Yukio worked a bit more on his face

When Nimmie was satisfied of their work, she opened the basket and carefully lined it with a thick soft bed of fresh grasses, forming a kind of nest, before picking the colt up and settling him inside. Amazingly, the colt had fallen into a deep sleep soon as he'd gotten himself into a comfortable position. Nimmie carefully closed the basket before standing and patting Yukio's neck, who immediately nibbled her hair in affection before turning to his mate and the two-legger who was helping her. "They are beautiful, my love....just beautiful..."

Yukio nuzzed eatch basket lightly as if to not only welcome them into the world once more, but to wish them a good night's sleep. Head lowered, he nibbled lightly at Daveigh's mane affectionaly before laying down beside her, the adrenaline of his worry finally wearing off into exhaustion as he lay his head on her withers. "It's almost hard to believe they're here now, even though I can see them before us. Finally, though, those dreams and fears can go away, the foals are healthy and we now have a family, my love. Our family..." He loved that thought as it seemed to linger in the air around them. For a moment, his fears about being a father resurfaced, but didn't last...he was too tired. "Rest well, my love, the two-leggers will watch over us tonight, the morning will come soon."

That one night soon passed away, and the family happily grew beneath the boughs of the old willow tree. Yukio had a right difficult time keeping the colt out of mischief soon as he'd learned how to bounce around in his basket. The situations that colt would get into left poor Yukio exasperated and exhausted by the time night fell. There were a few times that Yukio thought the boy was going to kill himself, and he swore he'd never tell Daveigh, like when they'd come to the top of a hill, Yukio was enjoying the view ....until he saw his son's basket rolling away down the hill on it's side. For a moment he stood there rooted to the spot in fear until he heard his son's whinny which sent him down the hill as fast as he could. He watched the basket roll back onto it's bottom, and he nuzzled it and calling out comforting things....till he realized his son was actually laughing! He'd thought it'd been fun! Slightly grumpy, Yukio dragged the protesting basket to the nearyb stream to get a drink. Giving his son a stern command to remain where he was, he leaned down for a well earned drink only to hear a soft splash, and the basket float right by his face. Wide-eyed, he quickly grabbed it and he made his way back to Daveigh. This colt-sitting was so much harder than it looked!

Finally the day came when he could no longer stand to be in the basket, it's confines were getting a bit too crowded for his taste now that his muscles had finally finished developing. not to mention there were lots of sounds and smells he couldn't wait to explore! However, no matter how much he wanted to explore outside the wicker womb, it never felt like the right time...until this fateful morning, the sun peeking above the horizon, and the first of it's rays warming what it touched. It was time...it was now.

For the first time in his life, he felt fear. What was out there? Sure he knew his parents were and that they'd protect him, but what else? What lurked beyond these wicker walls? He thought about that for a long moment, but then he couldn't stand it anymore. He HAD to see! Tenatively, he poked his muzzle out and snorted before drawing it back in quickly. This brought his father's smell to him, and an encouraging soft whinny. Once more his curiosity overcame his fear, and this time, he poked his whole head out from under the lid. Wow! That light was bright! He ducked back in again but then stuck right back out, his eyes blinking as he looked for the truly first time at his mother and father.

Yukio couldn't help but join in with his mate's peals of laughter, but he quickly trotted over to nuzzle his daughter and get a better look at her for the first time since her birth. The fact that she bore a very striking resemblance to himself was obvious and the spots on her back, the heart on her little rump, definatly showed she was her mother's daughter, and he thought the effect was absolutely stunning. He nibbled lightly at her neck, wanting to make her giggle before he looked over at his son, who still had his head poked out from the top.

Oh! Whoah...deja vu! He stared at the other foal who'd just made her presence known and then at his father, his eyes going back and forth a few times as if trying to follow a tennis match. Shaking his head to clear that from his mind, he couldn't help but feel like he wasn't about to be outdone! Heck no! He watched his father and mother moving about and decided THAT'S what he'd do, and he' was going to do it now! Tucking his head back in the basket long enough to readjust his position, his little muscles tensing as he grinned to himself. He counted to three (as well as any foal can who doesn't know their numbers) and...

Imagination: He pops up, top of the basket flying off to land neatly beside the basket as he immediately steps out to start trotting immediately around his little family.

What really happened: The top of the basket did indeed fly off, he did indeed pop up, but that's where the similarities end What he didn't take into account would be the fact he'd never done anything like this before, and while it looked easy, it most certainly was NOT. Soon as he'd popped up, he lost his balance (if it could be truly said he ever had it in the first place), tried to walk backwards to gain it, but not being used to his really long legs (my it was high up here!) and using such things and doing something like simple walking of all things, he started to go down on his rump. The basket top, still in the air, came down on his head, and what little dignity the colt had left was gone as he fell over and rolled, a tangled mess of legs, hooves, tail, head, basket and lid.

Unlike his sister who landed so daintily on top of her lid and rocked gently, he unded up underneath his completely. After a moment to catch his breath, and to figure out which end up was up, he edged his nose under the basket and peeked out, a big grin on his face as he tried to look as if he'd meant to do that.