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 Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:23 pm
It had been, in every definition of the phrase, a long day for Telyn. Sure, winter days normally went by quite quickly, but today hadn’t been a normal winter day for the grove. It was as if that circle of trees had been transported to their own dimension, one that had slowed down night’s arrival, just to piss her off. This didn’t take much. Giving birth was one of those little tiny things that could make even the sweetest of hinds just a little bit testier and Telyn was far from the ‘sweetest hind’. By the time that night’s tendrils drifted across the sky, sweat clung to her sides and she lifted her head to look at her children.
Waitaminute… something wasn’t right here. Telyn blinked her wide blue eyes and nudged the bundles of joy (ha! More like bundles of pain just a few moments ago), just to make sure she was counting them correctly. Maybe her eyes were deceiving her and touch would be a better judge of it.
One. Two. Three. Four.
There could be no doubt about it. There were four babies here. Four fawns. Sure, they were slightly undersized, but… four babies! Telyn sighed and cursed Brychan’s super sperm. Four fawns! How could that even be possible? Clearly, it was possible though. How could she look after them all? Last Anlach, she had been hard-pressed to feed just Islwyn and Tempest. She couldn’t possibly provide for four… weren’t they gorgeous little girls though!
Well, she would figure out a way to feed them all. Herne wouldn’t do such a thing to her unless there was a way to provide for all four of them. She nuzzled the fawns awake and, once they had their feet under themselves properly, she led them away back to the Home Oak to meet their father. What an odd procession they must have made in the dark night, a parade of Telyn and her four offspring! She felt a stab of pride at the idea of everyone talking about her, talking about her children.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:00 pm
Brychan was where would expect him to be when things weren't busy. He was an early riser and stood atop the hill crest of the Home Oak, looking over his territory. It was still kinda odd to think of this as HIS domain and HIS herd. To many other stags, the notion might make them rather conceited, but Brychan wasn't that kind of stag. He knew that leading a herd meant responcibility and wasn't all fun and games. It did fill him full of pride, but not the kind of flaunting pride. Still, he made sure the other stags knew he wasn't a pushover or to be messed with. He commanded respect but didn't force it.
Blue eyes watched the sleeping herd below, his jaw moving from side to side he chewed a clump of grass. His expression was thoughtful and somewhat distant... but an ear would swivel to show that he was still alert. His tail flicking every now and then as well.
Little did he know what Telyn had done the night previous, and what she intended to show him. He hadn't sough out the hind since their last meeting for instinctually he knew she needed her space. He also knew that she would seek him out when she was ready to confront him again. Telyn wasn't the kind of hind that needed to be doted upon all the time. She was strong, and that was one of her most attractive features.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:15 pm
For some reason, the idea that Brychan might be asleep hadn’t even crossed Telyn’s mind. That would have been too inconvenient for her, so it wasn’t even considered. She smiled crookedly at Brychan’s silhouette. It had to be Brychan. No other stag had antlers quite like that. A quick glance was spared, just to make sure that all of her children were still following her; this was the longest distance they had covered since their birth in the night and the little ones were getting sleepy already. Poor things… By the time she came up the hill---behind Brychan because that was far more fun than approaching him from the front----the four fawns were exhausted.
“Brychan. Say hello to your daughters.” She nosed his side, just to get his attention a little better. Silly stag… he could probably take his eyes away from the herdlands for three minutes; it wasn’t as if the lands would run away while he was distracted.
As far as snarky comments went, she could have done a lot better. But, come on… after staying up most of the night giving birth, it wasn’t that bad. Besides, she just wanted to see the look on Brychan’s face at seeing four children. Four fawns, yes, but… well, they were still his. And Brychan had a promise to keep, a promise he had made to Telyn to pay attention to all of her children, male and female alike.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:25 pm
Brychan twitched when he was nosed, as if Telyn's sudden presence hadn't been expected and he was surprised by the sudden contact. He blinked several times, as if coming out of trance and looked at her, his ears turned forward attentively. "Daughters?" he asked, his mind still fuzzy as it was still early in the morning. He nuzzled her once before turning around to look, only to blink dumbfoundedly. "Which ones are yours?" D'oh. It didn't occur to him that four was even possible and thought that surely one or two of them were from another hind. It also didn't occur to him at the moment that she likely wouldn't have anyone else's fawns tagging along with her. Although it could possibly be a prank!His observation skills were somewhat lacking this early as he also didn't quite realize they all looked like the both of them. He started to yawn, but then realized the implications that could have and stopped. He didn't want to look like he was bored or tired, as that could be offensive in this situation. Even Brychan has his moments of weakness though.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:36 pm
Clearly, Brychan wasn’t quite awake yet. Good. Nothing like discovering four daughters to wake up a man, although a good cold shower, a report of wolves, and rogues on the fringes of the herd would do the trick for Brychan as well. Unfortunately, Telyn was a little short on those other items. But, she certainly had a surplus of daughters.
“Which ones?” Telyn snorted a little and pawed the ground slightly. She was more amused than offended. Clearly, Brychan was just as surprised as she was when she had realized that she had four more children. “All of them are mine, I believe. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe another hind snuck in and birthed them while I was busy doing other things, like giving birth.” Aha! Now that was more like Telyn’s usual snark.
Yawns, as everyone knows, were extremely contagious. And, as everyone also knows, little newborns are more vulnerable to such things. Not long after Brychan’s yawn, the fawns started yawning as well, and laying down to get some rest. It was quite a trek up the hill, after all. Now Telyn could get a better look at them… the eldest (by a few minutes) was a gray girl speckled with black. The next was a almost completely black, except for a little mask and shroud-like gray on her back. The third was quite like Telyn herself, with black creeping up her legs and muzzle. And the last was black with a shooting star on her haunches. At least, that was probably the order of their births. Telyn hadn’t been paying too much attention to the exact order. There were more pressing worries on her mind, like getting all the fawns out of her.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:54 pm
Blink blink. "Huh?" Come again? Ears flicked, as if unable to believe what they just heard. Did she say all were hers? The comment about a hind sneaking a couple in was obviously sarcasm and he frowned a little bit in puzzlement. "You had four?" Does not compute. "How?" ... Obviously he was still half asleep, as that was a rather dumb question. But c'mon.. cut him a little slack here! He'd never seen or heard of any hind giving birth to four! Two was uncommon, three was rare.. four was unheard of!
He then watched as the quadruplets all yawned and then settled down to sleep. This drew another blink and then light laughter at the amusing sight. He had to admit, they were all rather cute, as all fawns and calves tend to be. And they were all monochromatic like their parents were. So.. huh. "Looks like Herne has blessed us... a lot." He was still in a state of shock though.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:07 pm
“Well, I wasn’t paying exact attention, but I assume they all came out the normal way.” While Brychan’s brain wasn’t up to full capacity yet, Telyn’s was doing fairly well. At least fairly well compared to the Lord’s. But, then again, she had been up all night while he had just woken up. It was understandable. “I think Herne has been a bit overenthusiastic with the blessings. I’m not sure how I’ll feed them all…”
Normally---or it would be ‘normally’ if this ‘normally’ happened to her---Telyn would go to Aithne or Rhomae for help with feeding. But Aithne had two boys to look after and poor Rhomae had three of her own! Neither of them would be able to spare a drop of milk. Aridana had one baby to feed, but could only provide enough milk for two at a time. Clearly, there would have to be some baby juggling between the four of them or something. It would be tricky, though, and at least one of the babies would always be hungry. Telyn didn’t like that… the favored hind of the Lord should never have hungry children.
Favored hind. Ha! Telyn could still hardly believe that. It wasn’t too long ago that she had been a nobody in the herd, just another one of the oh-so-independent and spirited hinds that never planned on settling down and having children and now she had six! Six! From the Lord of the Herd!
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:18 pm
Brychan was silent for several long moments after Telyn spoke. His mental gears finally starting to turn. Four fawns... FOUR. How many did that make now? Four from Telyn.. geez... three from Rhomae, two from Aithne, one from Aridana... That made 10! Plus the three from last year, he was the father of 13! Brychan's body swayed a little bit upon realization of that.. hitting him like a ton of bricks in the face. But he snapped out of it and started to think on Telyn's problem. Yes... four would be hard to feed. It took him a moment, but then brilliance struck, "What about Siani?" After all.. she had given birth to a stillborn calf. She should still be lactating, and without any offspring of her own to care for, she should be fully capable. Perhaps she'd be willing to assist.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:25 pm
“Siani?” Telyn repeated the name with some confusion. Oh, right! The beautiful hind who should never be forgotten but, nonetheless, often was forgotten anyway because she was so quiet and ‘not-there’. And there was that whole business with her giving birth to a still-born… that was just horrible… but, Siani’s curse would be Telyn’s blessing in this case. It was horrible to think of it as such, but… well… best not let that milk go to waste when it could be useful. “Do you think she’d be willing?”
Ha. That was a silly question. Siani wasn’t much of one to fight back, especially against someone as strong-willed as Telyn. Besides, then at least Siani could feel like she had children. She could help take care of them. It wasn’t the same, but it was something at least. “I’ll ask her later today. I doubt she’s awake right now. Do you know where she’s been staying?” Hopefully she wasn’t still weeping over the body of her still-born. Telyn was practical, not completely heartless. It would be horrible if the gray hind intruded on Siani’s mourning with four live babies.
“Names. We have to think of names…” Eventually, anyway.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:39 pm
Well naturally Siani should be approached carefully. It wouldn't do well to not ask nicely. She was a rather sensitive hind, and losing her first baby was undoubtable quite a blow to her. "There's no harm in asking" Brychan said softly, his eyes turning sad. At the question of her location, he nodded his antler head towards the woods. "She's been staying in seclusion within the thicket, that way. I've checked on her a few times." Undoubtably the hind was still healing and coming to terms with the stillbirth. But no.. she wasn't standing beside its dead body anymore.
Blink. Names? "Names" he repeated quietly, seemingly at a loss. "That's a lot of names to think of" he said with a light chuckle. He would have to think on that one. Coming up with four good girl names wasn't an easy task.. especially for a male.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:55 pm
“Yes, names. I can hardly call them all ‘you’. It would be far too confusing.” There was a moment of silence as she considered the four little monochrome balls of fluff and legs. So far, she couldn’t think of any names. Well, she could continue calling them all ‘you’ for a little while. They weren’t old enough to learn words quite yet anyway. “Do you think Siani might want to help name them?”
In some ways, it would be shoving her fertility in poor Siani’s face, but maybe it would help her heal. And, of course, it would help out Telyn as well, so it wasn’t completely altruistic on her part. Still, if it helped everyone, then the selfishness wasn’t so wrong, right? And maybe it would help the brown hind feel more like a mother, let her get used to the idea so she would be prepared for next Anlach.
Ha, Telyn didn’t even want to think about next Anlach. Twins her first Anlach, quadruplets this one… next Anlach would probably produce six babies with her luck. She shoved the thoughts from her brain and focused on the now and the absolutely adorable little girls by her. “… they’re awfully sweet at this age, before they turn hyperactive…”
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:03 pm
An ear flopped lazily to the side as Brychan considered Siani, "She might think it an honor" he said, although judging from his voice, he really didn't know what she would want or think. After all... he wasn't exactly lacking in children, and while Siani's loss had been a painful blow to him, it wasn't nearly so as it was for her. It would all depend on how Siani felt. He could only hope Telyn would be... cordial atleast. If Siani did agree to help Telyn, she would be doing her and him a favor. As it were, Siani would probably get a lot of Brychan's attention next Anlach.
"They are" he agreed, finally getting enough sense to actually approach the four sleeping fawns. Lowering his head, he took turns sniffing at the four of them, memorizing their scents and the patterns on their patterns little bodies. He stopped at the youngest, the one with the shooting star. She was especially pretty, and he licked the top of her head. So cute indeed!
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:14 pm
Might think it an honor. The word ‘might’ was very important. It meant that not even Brychan could predict how Siani would react to such a request. If any hind from Brychan’s harem had asked Telyn for help with naming, the gray hind would have been honored, but Siani was certainly not Telyn. Well, she would just have to be very careful in asking for her help. Very careful indeed… Telyn smiled as the black stag examined the newest addition to his family, remembering how he had reacted to Islwyn and Tempest. Heh. He had touched Tempest’s nose too, and that had melted Telyn’s heart. It always did.
The comet girl---who, at this point, Telyn simply called ‘Comet-Butt’----woke with a start at her father’s attention and looked at him with wide gray eyes. She blinked a few times, a little unsure of what to make of this huge black looming thing. Well, Mother wasn’t afraid, so clearly it wasn’t dangerous. Standing up on spindly legs, the black girl stretched out enough to touch noses with her father, clearly interested in just what this loomy thing was.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:22 pm
It was always miraculous how tiny newborns were... and how much they would grow over the next year. Brychan's tongue was easily the size of this girl's head. His nose atleast five times bigger, which was easily seen when they touched. Wide blue eyes stared in amazement at the tiny girl and how brave she was. A shyer fawn would have cringed and tried to hide. Brychan's huffing breath no doubt blasting the poor girl in the face as he sniffed her again. "They're beautiful" rumbled his deep voice, probably sounding like a freight train to her little ears.
Eventually he lifted his head to look back at Telyn with adoration in his eyes. Whether overly generous or not, Brychan knew he was lucky to have been blessed by Herne in such a way. He had beautiful hinds and beautfiul children. Brychan had all he could possibly want.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:31 pm
“They are beautiful. Once again, you have helped make some beautiful babies, Brychan.” Just as long as he didn’t forget who did most of the work with the babies, of course. They were such tiny delicate creatures in comparison to Brychan’s bulk. Was it really courage that kept the black fawn so close to Brychan or merely ignorance? It could have gone either way, really. Heh. Hopefully, she wouldn’t turn out to be overly hyper like Islwyn. That boy still had some issues to work out eventually.
Moving closer, Telyn nipped at Brychan’s shoulder, pleased that he was so happy with his new family members. What a way to start a brand new day.
Brychan’s breath was just a bit too much for the little fawn, who quickly fell over on her bottom at the blast. She shook her head a little and eyed Brychan’s nose warily before standing up again and examining it minutely. Clearly, she had inherited at least a bit of Telyn’s natural intelligence and some of Brychan’s stubbornness as well. Her tail wagged slightly and she moved on to explore Brychan’s ear, sticking her nose inside of one and whiffling.
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