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 Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:13 am
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:24 am
It was hours before the pregnant Kitsune dared to move from her hiding place, deep within the twisted roots of the large tree she had taken shelter in. From her earthy vantage, she peered between the knobby and twisted labyrinth, watching the shadows of Balrog and his warriors circle overhead; not unlike vultures they scoured the area looking for her. Night fell and the sticky, muggy, suffocating summer night finally drove Kumiho from her den.
Her pregnant belly lurched and she sneered in pain as she carefully extracted herself from her hiding place. Her skin crawled as she felt the dirt caking in her fur, blood from her scuffle scabbing, and leaves and branches catching in her mane that fell out from under her pelt. She knew she looked as ragged as she felt in her soul, and her vanity could barely stand it. But there would be a time for grooming later; for now she needed to get back to her territory.
She had lost track of Cerberus in the scuffle, but her prideful confidence didn't question the fact that he would meet up with her soon. It wasn't like him to leave her side for long, and if he had any sense in him he would know it would be a deadly decision to abandon her now. Using the night as cover, still weary of Balrog's patrols, she slipped through the forest and finally found her well-hidden cave in the base of the mountains.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:31 am
 Bruised and battered, Cerberus made his way from the scene of a battle, knowing how lucky he was to have escaped with his life, that he had escaped the pursuit of the massive wind. But the relief that should have clung to him was only a fond dream. He was defeated.
HE had lost.
He had let his mistress down.
And she was sure to be furious.
But there was no question in Cerberus's mind the duty that he had to her. Not a single thought of abandoning her ever entered his thoughts. And slowly, he picked his way through the woods to the cave that they shared, ready to face the music.
By the time he arrived, he could already smell the vixen's scent. Her anger. He dropped his ears, tucked his tail between his legs, and crawled in, showing submission.
"Mistress..." he rumbled humbly.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:38 am
The kitsune was curled in the cave, but quickly came to her paws when she heard someone approaching. Her heckles raised until the scent of Cerberus filled her nostrils, though her pose didn't become any less threatening. When the massive beast came into view in the dim light of the cave, Kumiho looked more disheveled and ragged than he had ever seen her. She was covered in caked dirt and blood - her fur cowlicked and matted, her tails writhing behind her like a bed of agitated snakes.
"There you are" she growled, storming over to him. His submissive stance pleased her, but she didn't let on. She swatted a claw against his cheek - enough to bring the sting of razor-sharp claws but not intending to any harm more than a scolding. "Where have you been? You abandoned me out there," she roared. She began to pace like a caged animal, her eyes burning with rage. "What have you done? What kind of protector do you think you are?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:44 am
Cerberus didn't move, didn't raise a paw as she swiped him across the cheek and drew blood. He deserved it.
He had failed.
"Mistress..." he rumbled again, ears down. "They outnumbered us.... I did not expect their strength..."
They were excuses. He knew it, and he could see in her eyes that she knew it.
"I have failed you."
His eyes traveled to he swollen belly, and he felt a pang of concern.
"The pups... were they injured...?" His stomach clenched. A second fear washed over him, cold and clammy. Kumiho had survived, but was worse for wear. But she would heal. But if the battle had killed their progeny...
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:53 am
"No more excuses," she seethed, stopping her pacing to narrow her gaze on him, looking him square into the eyes. "Don't think I will forget this," she threatened, "You have failed and now they will be doubly-careful with that winged whore's baskets. What are we supposed to do now? Our pups will be here soo-"
The color drained out of Kumiho's ears as she jerked her head down as a wave of pain rocked her body. "Look what you've done!" she wailed, her eyes betraying the panic she was beginning to feel. She fell to the floor of the cave, her lungs heaving as another contracted ripped through her body. "No, no not now," she screamed at no one in particular. "Not yet... we need the baskets..."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:59 am
Cerberus paused, daring to look up from his groveling.
The pups. They were coming. NOW.
Was it too soon? Had the fight, the injury, his mistress's anger spurred their arrival? Would they even be strong enough to survive?
He didn't dare breathe word of his concerns. He leapt to his feet. He had a job.
"I will get baskets, Master." He didn't want to leave her alone. Not now, but he HAD to. If only he had forseen this, gotten them sooner. He shook his head, eyes going from wide to determinedly narrow. It wasn't too late. He just hoped he didn't need his help whelping.
His muscles ached, his wounds hurt, but he pushed the pain to the back of his mind and walked to the mouth of the cave and unfurled his wings.
"I will return. SOON." He swore.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:09 am
"No..." she growled at Cerberus as he left, but she knew he would not rest until his new duty was filled. "It's too late," she bellowed into the empty cave, her body shaking with rage and pain. She tried to bring herself to her paws, but her body was heavy and the labor pains were increasing quickly.
The truth is, she didn't want anyone's baskets but Stormwild's. That was her goal; and she never failed. She wanted to relive that moment - she wanted to see the pain and the anguish in her eyes as she watched her children disappear in the clutches of a skinwalker - knowing they would never see the light of day. She wanted to rip off the lids of the baskets, sink her teeth into the necks of the weak, still incubating foals. Taste their virgin blood and feel their feeble lives end before they had even begun. The unborn foals becoming nothing but nourishment for a new generation of progeny. What a fate!
Kumiho calmed herself by wondering if Cerberus would risk going back to the mountain and trying again. Perhaps he would die trying... if failure was in her future at least that would ease the pain a bit. Knowing something as fearsome and terrible as the grand beast Cerberus would throw his life away on her whim.
Yes... that would be fitting... she found herself thinking as she waited for the inevitable.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:29 am
But Cerberus had no intention of returning to the mountaintop and certain death it promised. He was so focused on life, on children - to him, that would be a saving grace of this humiliating day.... if they survived.
His multitude of eyes scanned the lands below him, searching... searching.
He knew what he was looking for. He had seen them on his hunts in the past - tall posts with decorated ropes and banners. The two-legs left baskets there in offering. It wasn't what his mistress had wanted, but they had no time - no time to track down other baskets.... and... somewhere deep within him, the piece of the stallion that Cerberus had all but forgotten... didn't want to see more bloodshed today.
There.
His eyes snapped him from his reverie and he careened down fast towards the waiting prize. Hurt, his landing was rougher than he would have liked, jostling his aching sides and causing the wound in his flank to reopen. He snarled, his wings snapping and "barking" at him in pain.
But there were the baskets. A pile of them, waiting for him. He snatched them between his teeth, and two more in the sets on his wings.
He couldn't fly back, but he knew where he was going now. He couldn't rest yet. He could rest when they were safe. When there was new life tucked within these baskets.
He turned and ran, pushing himself, leaving fat drops of blood behind him as he ran, back to the cave... back to Kumiho, gripping these baskets as if his life depended on them.
It was hours and hours later when he finally padded up to the cave, and the scent of blood assaulted him.
Worried, he didn't wait, didn't announce himself first, he dove inside, a basket in each "maw".
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 10:04 am
Kumiho let out a wail for effect she heard Cerberus return. She was laying on the floor of the cave, blood beginning to pool around her tail as the pups came closer to their arrival. Kumiho had not began to push; she was not in a hurry. The pain and rage and emotions turmoil was boiling in her veins, creating an almost red-haze of bitter, tainted euphoria. She knew the coming of her foals would mean admitting defeat, and the fact that Cerberus has returned meant that, more likely than not, he had not returned to the Thunderbird herdlands and retrieved the baskets she wanted.
"What are those," she moaned as she lifted her head, looking at the grass Kawani basket that Cerberus delivered. "Where did you get them? Are they heavy with foals?" she asked, her voice upturned in a sliver of hope.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 10:12 am
The first thing that entered Cerberus's mind as he entered the cave was 'I'm not too late'. His mistress was still gravid with foals, her sides swollen and her tails lashing. They hadn't emerged, defenseless and weak and cold on the stone and dirt floor.
But his relief was short lived. He set the baskets down to speak.
"No mistress..." He hesitated, but spoke nothing but the truth to his master. "But they are prepared for foals. The magic is strong in them. They will shelter our young. Let me aide you."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:06 am
Kumiho's body shook as her muzzle scrunched up into a menacing snarl. "Empty baskets? You imbecile, these are nothing but grass," she growled. But her words soon failed her as the first foal came shortly after. Though early, the foal was not weak - no weaker than any Soquili just born tends to be. The new mother struggled to look, her fur matted around her face during the turmoil. "No, it is no use..." she bemoaned, sneering at the reprehensible grass baskets.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:47 am
Cerberus's ears lay flat on his head as he moved into position to rescue the first foal and nestle it into the first waiting basket. It was small, but its heart beat strongly.
"I know that this is not what you wanted, Mistress..." He said between gathering the tiny life and placing it in the basket, "But it will protect them until they are strong enough to emerge."
He secured the lid onto the basket and set it aside, breathing heavily, and waiting for the next arrival, hoping it was as strong as the first. And for once, he found himself.... thankful? ... that Kumiho was weakened.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:53 am
Kumiho was obviously displeased at Cerberus answer, but keeping her thoughts together was useless as the primal instincts of childbirth took over. She gave up on talking, or arguing, and focused off her energy on the delivery of her two additional foals. Her body racked in pain and, the occasional expletive or command escaped her lips, but the minutes crawled by and turned to hours before the two additional foals made their way into the world.
The mentally and physically exhausted Kumiho watched with a dissatisfied sneer on her face as Cerberus fussed about with foals and baskets. When her body finally stopped its wrenching labor pains, Kumiho's eyes slipped closed and she fell asleep, leaving Cerberus to tend to the mess and havoc of the ordeal.
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:57 am
However much time passed, Cerberus had no idea. It was all a blur of blood and anger and fear. Once more, the great hound was in the mindset of focus: focus on the foals and getting them safe. Her foals. HIS foals. It was long, arduous, and her nearly was bitten more times than once by the frenzied skinwalker when he went to check on her or fetch her some water.
But eventually, it was quiet. There were three foals in all - a magnificent result - and all of them were living. He had done his job.
And Kumiho was silent into the blessful reprieve of sleep. Blessful for Cerberus if not for Kumiho herself.
Only then did the wounds remind Cerberus of his pain and his exhaustion as well. He gathered the three warm baskets into a pile, and wrapped his body around them protectively, and let sleep overtake him as well.
*
*
*
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