Welcome to Gaia! ::

The day was past its peak, and Danica was grazing where she always did - in the shade of the forests at the edge of the meadow. It didn't matter to her that only recently, she had had to box a wolf hard in the head to drive it away. To her the place seemed as safe as it had ever been.

The days after Anlach had slowly ticked away, so that with each passing day, the gray hind felt her belly growing rounder and fuller with the promise of new life and joy. She turned her head to look back at her belly. It was close to the time when all the hinds would give birth to their young, she knew, and she would be no exception. Except for the fact that she knew she was carrying more than one inside of her. Two, most probably. Perhaps three, if one or all of them was very small. She was worried about that. She knew that any more than two, and she risked giving birth to premature offspring. Besides, none of them would be getting all the nutrition they were supposed to get if there were three. She fervently hoped that she would birth only two. Heavens knew just one fawn or calf was enough.

"Why if it isn't the might Fell Lore, come to mingle with us commoners!" Danica greeted him promptly, her eyes twinkling with mischief as he drew near. She was so very pleased to see the stag, and as she went to nuzzle his cheek, she could see he was just has happy to see her.

"Why, yes, dear, I just woke up with morning and thought, 'Now what's going on with the commonfolk these days? Have they disappeared off the face of this earth?' I just had to come find out." He chuckled and nosed at his beloved Danica.

"And what did you see?"

"Well obviously my predictions are right and I'm talking to a figment of my imagination... You see-"

"Oh, do stop!" Danica cut him off with a laugh. "It's no time for you to become a geek on me, Fell."

"A geek? Why, I oughta..."

"Don't tease," Danica smiled, although her tone turned serious. "So, how have you been?" Fell opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut short by the sudden sound of harsh, shallow breathing. Danica stood with her legs spread slightly apart, her head lowered and her eyes wide. It was time.

Danica felt the next contraction shake her body and shut her eyes, pushing. She was slowly tiring and nothing had happened since the birth of the first calf. She felt the beginnings of fear steal over her. If she could not birth the second one, she knew they were both doomed. Fell had wandered over from cleaning the baby and was watching worriedly. He knew something was wrong.

"Danica..."

The sound of his voice seemed to bring fresh energy to her, and she fought off exhaustion in her desperate need to give birth to the second child. And then finally... something happened.

"Danica... Where's its head?"

The hind groaned. Oh, Herne... The baby was facing the wrong way! She knew then she had to work even harder to get the baby out. But the steady contractions was sapping her strength. "Oh, Fell..." She managed to say between pants. The stag immediately moved to her head, nosing at her encouragingly. "Fell, it's too hard. I can't..."

"Danica. Danica, you can do this." He nudged her urgently. She had shut her eyes and was starting to lean down on the grass tiredly. "Danica, please, stay with me. Don't do this... You have to finish this. For me. For Artair... For the babies..."

"I..." She pushed again instinctively as a fresh contraction came up, while Fell nuzzled her worriedly. She was almost at the point of giving up...

"Danica! Something's happening!" Fell's sudden cry brought life flowing back into the exhausted hind.

She worked at giving life to her unborn baby, alternating between flailing her forelimbs on the grass and nuzzling Fell. And finally. Finally. It happened. Danica's head dropped tiredly to the grass, although a smile was fixed firmly on her face.

"You've done it." Fell nuzzled Danica with a smile and went around to the baby. "Two health-" He suddenly stopped and stared. A... a white one? He blinked, quickly swiping a tongue across its nose and cleaning it off. The white baby opened its eyes and blinked sleepily. Red eyes? An albino? "What is it with me and albino children?" He muttered curiously to himself.



The firstborn calf was watching all that went on around him with interest, his oversized eyes blinking innocently as he lay with his long legs curled beneath him. He saw a gray hind - his mother - stand up, her sides slick with sweat, and come towards him, gently nudging his flank. He emitted a high-pitched sound that only young deer seemed to be able to make, and strained to reach her. But she simply turned away. He squealed in confusion as she walked slowly over to a brown stag - and IGNORED HIM! The calf struggled to get to his feet, rising up on his hind legs. He stood like that, shaking unsteadily, before collapsing. He tried again. This time, he rose halfway onto his forelegs before he lost his balance and tumbled forward, landing ungracefully in a tangle of long limbs.

He tried a third time. This time, he managed to get to his feet. He took one wobbly step forward, then promptly collapsed back into the grass.

The brown calf blinked as he rose on his hind legs a fifth time, and froze at the sound of his brother's call. He looked over and finally saw the white calf. In that moment, a bond had formed between them that nothing could ever break, although perhaps neither calf may have felt it.

"Oh, you silly little things." Danica rolled her eyes as she watched the two calves squealing at each other and trying desperately to get up.

"They are so beautiful," Fell nuzzled Danica again, although all the while he wondered why the second calf had been born an albino. It was such a curious thing of nature that one in every few thousand was born pure white. "Have they got names yet?" The stag himself did not like to interfere with the name of the offspring, as it was obvious that their mother had more right to that honor.

Danica nodded. "That one, the first one," She pointed to him. He was slightly larger than the white calf, but that was only normal for the firstborn to be bigger. "Jehan. And that one," She smiled at the sight of the albino calf. "Jensen."

"Jehan." Fell nodded as he spoke the name, savoring each syllable. Two sons! "Jensen."

Jehan bounded awkwardly toward his brother. He had yet to learn the art of walk, and so he moved a bout but pushing off with all four legs like a gazelle would, often stumbling on the turf as he landed. When he reached the white calf, he stuck out his nose and sniffed at him, his little tail waggling furiously as he butted her nose against Jensen's neck.

((I keep thinking of horses! xDD))

Jehan tilted his head, and then threw a small buck himself, which rbought him teetering at a precariously steep angle. He fell forward, but his hind legs landing back on the grass brought him balance and all that resulted was an unnerving stumble. He brought himself back together and saw his white brother headed toward their mother. With a disgruntled squeal, he barged forward and tried to nudge Jensen out of the way. He was supposed to be first!

Danica chuckled at the twins' antics. "And so it begins," She said with a quiet laugh, watching them fight to be the first to suckle.

Jehan snorted, unwilling to let it go. He trotted up to his brother and promptly reared up, putting his forelegs up against Jensen's back.

"Jehan, don't, you'll get stuck!" Danica shook her head impatiently.

Jehan looked back at his mothers voice with a calf-grin, although she was right - he was stuck. Still, he leaned his weight against Jensen, only moving his hind legs whenever he moved to follow.