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 Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:44 pm
Time went on and Hienna was near her date of birth - anxious, tired, and confined to their home for the time being. She was too exhausted to move and the mare had been running her poor lifemate absolutely ragged with things that she needed.
However, things had taken a turn for the worst. Currently, the violet-hued female was hung up with a fever. It had started simple enough, but it was gaining in ferocity. At the moment, she was sleeping - but there was a sheen of sweat on her heavy-with-foal body and it didn't look like she'd be waking up any time soon.
Zaphiro hadn't been there to see the fever turn for the worst - when Hie had been up previously she had asked him to go get baskets for the foals.
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:59 pm
However, one advantage of having Elizabeth staying with them meant that Hienna was never alone. While Zaphiro headed off for the village of the two leggers and the magical baskets that protected all newborn Soquili foals, Liz stayed with Hienna, there to run any errands or basically do anything that Hienna needed.
When Hie had first drifted off to sleep, Liz had taken advantage of the chance to go on a brisk walkaround the area. But that walk had long since ended and she'd returned to Hienna's side to see if anything was needed. At first, upon seeing Hie still fast asleep she'd smiled...but that smile quickly turned into a frown as she took note of the heavy gleam of sweat Hienna was sporting. That didn't look that great...
"Hienna?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:09 pm
Hienna didn't seem to respond to Liz's voice - by the time she'd come back, pains had started in her belly and labor had started. At least, that's what the mare figured it was - it couldn't be anything else. Was it supposed to hurt that bad? Hie was certain that it wasn't, something felt wrong in the deep core of her...and she was certain that it was too early as well. As the pangs went through her, she took deep, shuddering breaths and tried to focus on something other than the pain.
Golden eyes shifted open and the blurry figure of the unicorn there was seen, "Liz...Where's Zaph...? The babies..." They were coming.
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 11:52 am
Ok, that was NOT really something that Liz wanted to hear. The foals were coming? NOW??? But this was early, they weren't supposed to be born quite this soon, were they? Good Lord, she didn't know! And Zaphiro wouldn't be back for a bit still, and Hienna...
Although she looked outwardly calm, Liz was panicking on the inside. Something wasn't right here; mares weren't supposed to be vacuous when they were due to give birth, were they? They were supposed to be lucid and angry at the stallions who GOT them there, not overheated and unable to focus and... Man, she wished Zaphiro was here!
However, he wasn't so she had to do her best to be reassuring, somehow. Touching her horn gently to to Hie's abdomen, she gave the other mare what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "He's not back with the baskets yet, Hie. Is there anything I can do to help you in the meantime?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:14 pm
No, something was indeed not right and it was apparently obvious to the other unicorn as well. Well, not obvious to Hienna - the only thing obvious to Hienna was the fact that there was pain, there was heat, and there was the fact she couldn't very well see straight and was starting to have a blooming pain in her head from the fever.
"N...no," she murmured tiredly, closing her eyes and willing herself to pass out. Her babies were coming and it was far too soon, but she was still trying to wrap her mind around that fact and it hadn't quite sunk in yet. She knew they were coming, yes, but she refused to acknowledge any further that something may not be fixable and that the babies may not make it. Nope, they would be fine and they'd be one, big happy family!
...She wanted Zaphiro.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:18 pm
"Not good..." Murmuring softly to herself, Liz leaned closer to touch her horn against Hienna's forehead, ostensibly to try and assuage some of the pain. However, she drew back in alarm at first, feeling the heat that was starting to radiate off of Hienna's forehead. Was that a normal part of childbirth?
Somehow, she didn't think so, and that fact was nagging consciously at the back of her forehead as she lowered her horn to rest just below Hie's, willing the pain to subside. Damnit, Zaphiro, where ARE you?
~~~
One of the problems with getting backets was that one could never be sure exactly how many would be needed. Deciding to err on the side of caution, Zaphiro had finally collected three from the Cajji, gratefully accepting her help in tyin them about his neck out of the way of his wings. Flying made the journey short, and he wanted to be with his mate again. Luckily, the clearing wasn't that much farther; another five minutes, tops, and he could show her the magical baskets that would house their offspring...THEIR offspring.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:22 pm
Liz's touch against Hienna's forehead did little to soothe the heat blossoming and pulsating throughout her body. A loud cry was issued as a piercing pain shot through her stomach and she began to bleed. She felt the urge to push but when she did nothing actually happened. The babies, it seemed, were stuck. And Hienna felt a rolling wave of nausea that continuously crashed over her.
"Zaphiro?" she asked again, obviously entering the stage where 'delusion' was taking over and she thought she saw the beautiful blue stallion she called her mate. It just happened to be a bush with blueberries, though. Poor dear.
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Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:31 pm
Liz could feel the spasm that went through Hienna, her horn still resting against Hie's forehead as it was. The other mare was sweating profusely now, and if that cry was any indication...
What should she do?? This was so foreign to her, she had no clue how to handle a difficult situation like this beyond being a soothing prescence. For what it was worth.
Following Hienna's gaze at the comment, Liz's mouth tightened as she saw instead of the blue stallion a shrub. Was Hienna serious in thinking that was Zaph? That couldn't be good, either...why couldn't she think of something more original?? "No, Hie, Zaphiro is-"
"-Here." Having landed behind Liz and Hienna in the direction they WEREN'T looking, Zaphiro had had a moment to simply observe the situation, his unabashed excitement and delight at the situation fading as he saw Liz's anxious expression and her Hienna's pained cry. Seeing Hienna mistake a berry bush for him, though...
Shrugging off the baskets, he crossed over to drop to his knees beside his mate, wincing at the shudders and sweat that were rippling over and through her body. "Hie...it's me, love, Zaphiro. I'm here..."
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:58 am
The presence of her mate barely registered in her head. In fact, she was still staring at the bush with begging eyes as if beckoning it forward toward her. She remained that way until his voice penetrated her mind and her amethyst colored head turned toward him, "Zaph...our babies..."
She smelled blood. She smelled the metallic tang of that awful substance that normally kept them alive. How she hated it, in that moment. This wasn't right. What had she done? The presence of her mate did little to calm her and she let out a deep whimper, another spasm rolling through her body.
A moment later there was another cry....and all black.
---------------------------------------------------------------
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:06 am
~~~~~
Zaphiro wasn't sure how much time had passed. Since he'd arrived, things had taken a turn for the worst and everything had blurred together. The blood, the sweat, Hienna's convulsing...Hienna's passing out. He wasn't sure how long he'd spent at her side, talking to her and stroking her cheek with his wing, trying desperately to get her to wake up, to come back to him.
Liz hadn't spoken much to him; she'd been too busy trying to help Hienna out, help the BABIES out...but there were some pains that a unicorn horn couldn't heal.
Like now.
The sweat was gone, and it seemed like Hienna was breathing more normally, but she still hadn't woken up. Zaphiro lay beside her, gently cradling her against him with his wings and talking to her softly. However, in spite of the relative serenity of the moment, he had tears streaming down his face. Liz had told him that she was almost positive Hienna would make it, and for that he was thrilled. To lose the love of his life...unthinkable.
But the cost of that life had been high. Now, as he lay beside his mate, he closed his eyes briefly. She would awake, and things would resume, and life would go on...but not for their children.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:35 am
It seemed like hours before Hienna's eyes fluttered open. The fever was gone, but the mare was exhausted and her head felt as if it were on fire. The happenings of the day were blurred in her head and she couldn't make heads or tails of it - all she could remember was the pain and the panic. It was only the presence of her mate that soothed her and kept her from jumping to her feet in panic that hadn't quite faded even in her rest.
"Zaph...." she whispered, voice hoarse from the screams of pain, agony, and fear. "You're here..." And then, after a long pause of uncertainty the mare's head lifted. Golden eyes full of heartbreak and the cloudiness of sleep seeking the warm comfort of her love's.
"...Our babies?" Were they safe in the baskets? How many had there been? Were they boys? Girls? Both? Head craned around in search for the magical baskets that Zaphiro had gone for, the entire stature of her body reading as a demand to see their offspring.
"Where are they, Zaphiro?" She couldn't have lost them. Things like that didn't happen.
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:22 pm
Hearing Hienna's voice, hoarse as it was, was like music to Zaphiro's ears...at least until she asked about the babies. Wincing slightly, Zaphiro looked away from Hie, unable to meet her concerned eyes. After a few moments, though, he finally answered, his voice soft.
"They didn't mak it, Hie."
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Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:39 pm
They didn't make it, Hie.
The words slammed into Hienna with the force of an atomic bomb, the look on her face reflecting just that. How could her babies not have made it? Her voice cracked as she forced herself to speak, "That can't be true, Zaphiro, you must be mistaken. How many were there? Do we have boys or girls?" Her head craned the other way, searching out for those baskets. It was futile, she knew, somewhere in her head. But her heart wouldn't allow her to believe that. Not yet. Not now.
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:05 pm
Before she'd left the immeadiate area to give the mates some privacy, Liz had given Zaphiro her own opinion on handling this situation, albeit with the addendum that ultimately he knew best and should act accordingly. But as far as Liz was concerned, what Hienna had just undergone was stressful beyond anything Zaph could imagine, and that it might be best to not reveal the truth right away.
But looking at his mate through his teary eyes, Zaph had known he couldn't keep this from her; she'd never be able to forgive him, and he couldn't hide something of that magnitude from her anyway. Consequently, he forced himself to speak even when it felt as though his throat was closing.
"There were two, Hie; two little girls." His voice was soft, but that couldn't hide the pain that welled up in each syllable.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:40 pm
Two girls. She'd had two little girls and she failed them. It was that one word - were - that was the syllable that broke her heart into a million little pieces that cut and tore at her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she slowly looked toward her mate, holding back the sob that was welling inside of her.
Two little girls.
"W..what shall we name them?" her voice cracked, asking as if they were still alive, still needed names. They had discussed names a bit - lounged around and discussed what they would call them if they were girls, what they would call them if they were boys. What they wouldn't call them no matter what. They'd laughed and joked about it...But they'd never settled.
Let their personality be how we name them.
But how did one go about naming children that didn't have the chance to let that personality shine?
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