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 Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:44 am
 Stalking forward in the darkness Artemis was desperate to talk to Celeste. Since joining the Realm things had been going quite well. Even hunting with others wasn’t as stressful as she thought it would be, well unless that fool Pumpkinhead came along. Thankfully though his overprotective mother didn’t seem to let him participate in too many things, which lead to hunts without him. Now however she had an entirely different problem on her mind. At first she hadn’t been sure, it was possible, but at the same time it could be a number of other things. Living in a pack was certainly easier, and that led to less traveling, a more steady supply of food. And it was those reasons alone that made her at first doubt any suspicions regarding her current condition. With more food to go around that was surely the reason for her weight gain. Now though she was certain it was something else. And that something scared the crap out of her.
Honestly she should talk to Hero about it first, yet there was that nagging voice in the back of her mind that told her he might not be too happy with the news. So instead she was turning to her friend Celeste for advice. Spotting the deer not far past the trees, standing in knee-deep grass Artemis made her way over. “Celeste, can we talk?” She questioned the deer, which was not something she would normally do.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:46 am
 Ears twitched as she heard the quiet approach of someone. Lifting her head Celeste spotted the silver saddle of her wolf friend moving out from the trees and into the meadow. Can we talk? Oh dear, something had to be wrong to use those specific words. “Of course.” Lowering herself down to lay in the grass Celeste thought it best to get comfortable for whatever it was Artemis was about to throw her way. “Is everything alright?”
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:48 am
Laying down in front of Celeste the wolfess sighed. “Yes. No. I’m not sure.” That was a lie, Artemis was more than sure that she knew what the problem was. Was it truly a problem? Chances are she was just overreacting. In fact she was overreacting, she was actually happy about it, nervous, but happy. It was Hero she was worried about. Did he want a family? Was he ready for this? Giving her head a shake Artemis forced herself to focus on Celeste. “Hero and I are about to have our lives get a bit more hectic in a couple of months.” The look she gave Celeste pretty much summed up what was not said.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:50 am
What in the world was going on? Artemis was never so indecisive or jittery. Celeste stayed quiet, knowing that eventually she would be told what was up. At first the words didn’t make much sense to her, but then she caught that look and it suddenly made sense. Her eyes widened a bit as the realization set in. “Really? So soon?” Boy they really didn’t waste any time now did they. “This is wonderful news.” Her short tail flicked about in an almost happy wag. “Does Hero know yet?”
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:52 am
Celeste’s acceptance of the situation was enough to allow Artemis to relax a good deal, yet she threw her friend a somewhat stern look. “I will overlook the ‘so soon’ comment.” But only because Artemis knew it had been a bit of a joke to ease the tension than actually pointing out how fast it had happened. “No, he doesn’t know yet. I wasn’t sure at first, so I held off telling him, until I was certain.” Eyes glanced up towards the silver moon as it sat low in the sky. Day would break in a few hours which would mean Hero would be awake, giving her the opportunity to talk to him. “I’m just not sure how he will react to the news. I mean, I just joined the pack and now this. I am a bit worried it will drive him away.” They had not yet talked about whether they wanted a family one day or not and now they would have little choice in the matter. Should Hero not want a part of it then Artemis would raise the pups on her own. Though she was pretty certain he would be happy about this. “I’m not sure how to tell him.”
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:56 pm
 Hero had awoken earlier then normal this morning and while he wasn't surprised to find Artemis already gone he did miss her warmth somewhat. Giving his heavy pelt a shake and stretching he decided to go and see what she was up to. Its not like he had anything else to do at the moment and her scent lingered tantalizingly close to the dens entrance.
Even if he'd wanted to resit following it he'd doubted that he could have and nose to the ground set of in pursuit. It wasn't at all surprising that she had gone into the woods- Artemis loved the woods and he often found her there - and as her scent drew stronger voices reached his ears, he paused for a moment then deduced that it was likely her deer friend. Smiling he went to go and greet her when one particular sentence made him pause 'I’m not sure how to tell him'. She wasn't sure how to tell him what? His mind of course automatically assumed the worse..she was leaving..sick..decided against staying with him...and those thoughts kept him still at the edge of the woods.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:13 pm
"Well the best thing to do is to just tell him the --" She paused as the wind shifted, bringing her the scent of a wolf. Immediately Celeste got to her hooves, alert and ready to bolt across the meadow if needed. Her eyes scanned the trees, for any sign of danger, but her night vision was no where near as good as Artemis' was. "Someone is out there." She said in a hushed tone to Artemis, though it was clear the wolfess was well aware of the presence of another.
The scent reached her nose and much like Celeste she was up on her paws and scanning the trees immediately. The scent was far too familiar to be a threat. In fact a couple of sniffs of the win told her just who was out there, and it made her stomach do an uncomfortable flip. How long had Hero been out there watching and listening? "Don't worry, it's just Hero." Her voice was quiet, calm, letting Celeste know there was nothing to fear. "I better go and talk to him." Giving Celeste a small like on the muzzle as a thanks for being there for her Artemis padded towards the trees.
Once she was close enough to clearly see Hero she slowed, bringing herself to a stop next to him she gave him a nuzzle. "I'm surprised to see you up this early." Her voice was somewhat steady though there was a hint of worry underneath it.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:28 pm
Hero blinked suddenly to clear his thoughts as he realized that he had been spotted and Artemis wa approaching. Whatever she had to tell him must be bad he reasoned - what else could put the edge of worry in her voice?.
"Yeah..." He cleared his throat in an attempt to keep his own worry from leaking through though Artemis was an observant wolf and had probably already noticed. "Yeah I normally sleep later" He agreed, which was an incredibly lame thing to say but his mind couldn't think of anything other then OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME?!?!...which didn't really seem like a good thing to shout at her.
That would probably just confirm her choice to leave entirely and make anything else he manged to mumble out completely pointless."Are you..ah having a good morning?" He further managed to burble out in his nervous but trying to hide it voice.
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 1:40 pm
His voice dripped with worry, though it was clear he was trying his best to cover it up. Oh god, how much had he heard? And more importantly how was he interpreting what little was said between herself and Celeste. He wouldn't leave her over something like this would he? No, Hero was better than that but still. Pulling her head back she looked at him closely and sighed. "It has been alright."
Glancing back towards the meadow she caught sight of Celeste's retreating form and then turned back to Hero. She was on her own now, in a matter of speaking. "We need to talk." The words jumped out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Giving her head a shake Artemis let out another sigh. "Things will be changing around here soon." Oh god, why couldn't she just tell him, the more she dragged it on the more both of them would worry. And the last thing she wanted was to push Hero away at a time like this.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:27 am
Oh moon's why was she staring at him like that? Was she judging his emotional state so that she could break his heart? That might be a touch over dramatic he told himself though he couldn't help the way his ears tilted back a she continued talking 'we need to talk' were never good words to hear in a relationship and 'things will be changing here' could mean almost anything at this point.
Licking his lips nervously he managed to stutter out yet another lame question. Moons but he was just a complete dolt sometimes! "Th-they w-will?" shifting his paws slightly Hero decided he needed to stop being the victim here and take charge for once and drew himself up. Hero's weren't stammering dolts afterall. "Now look here, i know the hunting not the best sometimes but if you mean to leave I think I can change your mind...if you'd just stick around till the season's change we can go.." He started off on what promised to be a very long and detailed lecture..or perhaps a plea would be the more appropriate description.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:44 am
Artemis opened her mouth about to say something when Hero starting talking about ways to have her stay, explaining that the hunting shouldn't be a reason for her to leave. Jaw clamped shut and she looked at him confused for a second. He thought she was leaving? Well she supposed if he misinterpreted what she had been saying to Celeste he could have thought that's what she wanted to talk about.
"Hero." She said calmly at first as he started to ramble about ways to keep her around and the change of seasons. But it appeared he either didn't hear her or was hoping that if he kept talking she would stay. "Hero!" Snapping a little before taking a deep breath. "Stop overreacting. I'm not leaving, not now, not ever." Glancing down at her paws she couldn't help but add in a soft voice. "Especially now." Before looking back up at him. "If I left...then our pups would never know their father." So it wasn't exactly the way she had hoped to tell him, but perhaps it would drive home that point that she was staying and that he had nothing to worry about - well for the most part at least.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:11 am
Artemis was trying to interrupt him but Hero jut plowed right on with his speech rather determined to get out what he had to say before she fully made up her mind - of course when she snapped at him he gulped a little and paused to take a breath. Stop over reacting? How was this over reacting?!? Hero couldn't think of anything worse then loosing Artemis - which was somewhat scary because really they hadn't been together all that long yet.
Of course all these thoughts meant he nearly missed what she had to say next and he was about to launch into yet a different reason she should stay when one word happened to penetrate his skull..."Pu-puppies?!?" His eyes widened a bit. Oh boy. Well..this was a whole different kind of stress..and one he hadn't been preparing himself for at all. Suddenly silent he flopped down on his backside in shock.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 10:43 am
Oh gods, he wasn't happy. This was what she had been worried about all along, why she hadn't told him right away and instead had gone to Celeste. A soft whine came from her as she watched him flop down. If needed she would raise them alone, but she hadn't honestly ever thought that Hero wouldn't be happy about having puppies. Lowering herself down to lay in front of him Artemis looked at him, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "You...don't wish to have a family?" She asked hesitantly. Perhaps they should have talked about this before going through with the act. Too late to think on that now.
Reaching out she licked his check, trying to reassure him that it would be okay, though she honestly wasn't sure if that was the case right now. Letting out a sigh she didn't know what to say, there was no point in talking about their puppies until she knew whether he was going to stick around for them or not.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 2:23 pm
If Hero was shocked about Artemis' news - he was even more shocked by her question. How could he not want to have a family?!?..Although now that she'd questioned him Hero did realize that his reaction could be seen as quite negative and he hurried to fix that faux pax. "What? no..NO Of course I do it's just I didn't expect it to happen so quickly!" He assured her nuzzling her cheek slightly, although that had been a fairly silly assumption on his part considering...
"It's wonderful news of course! You'll be a great mother and I shall..well try to be a better father then mine was" He promised with a slight determined nod of his head.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 2:32 pm
Tail began to sway back and forth. So he wasn't disappointed with having a family. That was a huge weight off of her shoulders. Nuzzling him back Artemis pulled her body closer to his, all her fear - well most of them at least - were melting away. "I have no doubt in my mind you will be a good father." And she would be a great mother indeed, her pups would be well taken care of, loved and provided for.
Rolling onto her side Artemis glanced at her slightly rounded belly and then back at Hero. It really was a surprise that he hadn't caught on sooner, but she was happy nonetheless. "Imagine a family all our own." Her eyes moved back at her mate and gave him a loving look. It would be difficult at times, especially as she grew larger as she would not be able to participate in hunts or help out as much, but it would all be worth it in the end when these new lives would come into the world.
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