The Ripples of Life

[danarisky]

Tenshi looked around the fields, amazed at the sights that the Shinkou pack offered. She had joined not that long ago, and already she felt like she belonged. It had helped that she had friends here already.

Tenshi had slept the night out in the open, not fearing attack. The pool she had slept by was cool, crisp and refreshing. Tenshi dragged her wings across the surface, creating shallow ripples that distorted her image.

[Jayie]

Streak padded over to the hell hound hybrid, her nephew at her heels. She had slept near Tenshi, glad to have the company. She sat down next to her friend and said, "I'm so glad we were able to join. It's nice being with a pack again. It's nice to be among friends, to not have to worry about where you're going to sleep or eat, or whether you'll have to fight for your next meal." She turned her head and started scratching at her neck with her hind leg. "Shinkou's pretty different from my old pack though." She said with a hint of sadness.

[danarisky]

"That is indeed so true." Tenshi replied, lifting her head to greet Streak, "Really? I would have thought it would be quite similar. Still, who am I to say?" she said, laughing. She was happier here than she had ever been.

"Hello Zeusia, how are you?" she said playfully. She had grown quite fond of Zeusia, and she treated him like she would any other friend, despite his age.

[Jayie]

Streak shrugged. "Pack life is generally the same, but there are a few things that are different. In Arnak Falls, we had this one big area we all slept in. We called it the den area. It was a lot more crowded then the arrangement here, but it felt so safe. But at the same time, Arnak Falls wasn't as organized as Shinkou. The only real ranks were the Alphas, the Betas, the regular members, and if the pack was in a time of war, the Alphas might assign a Border Guard or two. Shinkou's much more organized, with all the different ranks and jobs. The pack's much bigger too." She shook her head, realizing she had run over Tenshi's words to Zeusia. "Oh gods, I'm sorry for rambling."
Zeusia smiled at Tenshi, wagging his tail joyfully. It was nice to have a wolf who treated him like anyone else, not just some stupid pup. "I'm good. I like Shinkou; it's fun here."

[danarisky]

"it sounds nice," Tenshi said, almost wistfully. She shook her head to dislodge the thought. "No need to apologize," she said, and then turned to Zeusia, "It is, isn't it?"
She tagged him, and then shouted out in playful tones "Your it!". She hadn't quite managed to get all of the pup out of her. She flew up, just out of reach of Zeusia, laughing.

[Jayie]

Zeusia laughed, racing after the winged wolf. He ran into the sky, his paw reaching out to tap her on the shoulder. He tagged her and darted away, his tail wagging fiercly. "You're it!" He yipped excitedly. He felt tired, so he ran back down to the ground, his energy beginning to return as soon as his paws touched the ground. Zeusia continued to run, looking over his shoulder to see if Tenshi was following.
Streak watched with a smile. She was glad that Zeusia had a friend in Tenshi. The poor pup barely remembered the other wolves in the Arnak Falls pack, and as a result, he barely remembered being in the company of other pups. Now he had a chance to grow up happy and carefree as a pup should be.

[danarisky]

Tenshi laughed, and chased after Zeusia, flying just above the ground. She glanced back at Streak, as if seeking permission to continue playing. Unfortunately, she had looked back too long, and she crashed into a tree.

She fell to the ground, whimpering. With a sickening thud, the ground whammed into her. She was winded, and had to pant heavily to fill her lungs. She dragged herself up, amazed that her legs weren't broken, but as she tried to flap her wings she just felt pain. She walked back over to Streak, face awash with pain.

[Jayie]

Streak got to her paws, slowed by her round belly. Two days of proper eating had made her much plumper, and she was mere days from giving birth. "Tenshi? Are you alright?" She asked worriedly. The dark-gray-and-blue wolf looked over her. If she could walk, she was probably fine, but the hell hound seemed loathe to move her wings. Streak asked gently, "Did you fall on your wings?"
Zeusia rushed over, concern for his friend welling up in him. "Are you okay Tenshi?" He asked worriedly. His tail wagged nervously.

[danarisky]

Tenshi grimaced. "I'll live, although my wings probably need time to recover," she said quietly, "Don't stress yourself,"

She glanced around the clearing seeing that it would rain soon. The clouds were already gathering.

She tried to smile. "Next time I'll look where I'm going,"

She glanced at Zeusia, "I'm fine," she said more confidently, before tagging him.
"Your it again!"

[Jayie]

Streak smiled at her friend, glad to see that she was okay. She watched as Tenshi and Zeusia played, laying back down again. Suddenly, her stomach clenched in pain. She let out a sharp cry of pain, her claws digging into the ground.
Zeusia abandoned the game and rushed over, his eyes wide with panic. "Auntie Streak? What's wrong?"

[umbre0lupus]

The flowers across the fields were beginning to bloom, and Chiyu could smell the spring in the air. It wasn't that long ago that she had brought Tenshi, Streak, and Zeusia into the Shinkou pack, and she hoped they were doing well. She had been doing so much exploring still herself that she lost track of them somewhat.

But suddenly Chiyu heard a sharp cry pierce the warm air, and the scents that were coming from its direction were all too familiar to her. "Streak..." Her eyes flew open wide and her ears stood straight up as she realized what it all meant. She ran as fast as she could across the fields to where Streak was attempting to stand, Zeusia panicking at her side.

"Streak, are you alright? Just calm down, it'll be okay. Just breathe," Chiyu tried to soothe Streak as her labor pains kicked in. For once, Chiyu knew what to do. That was how she had learned of her healing powers in the first place, helping one of the new mothers in her old pack give birth to ten pups. Her magic shimmered across the silver streaks in her dark pelt, and she felt a strange kind of power flow through her, stronger than she had ever felt before. "You can do this, Streak."

[danarisky]

Tenshi panicked. "Streak, Streak, are you okay?" she asked hurriedly, not knowing what she should do. She had never had any pups of her own, so she flapped around for a couple of minutes before stopping and calming down when Chiyu arrived.

She started by trying to calm Zeusia too, sitting near Streak, but far enough to allow Chiyu to do her stuff. Tenshi glanced at Chiyu nervously, and then back at Streak.

"It'll be okay, we're all here." she said soothingly.

[Jayie]

Zeusia watched worriedly. He didn't understand what was happening. But then Tenshi came over and helped him to calm down. Auntie Streak would be okay.
Streak gave Chiyu and Tenshi a weak smile. "Thanks guys." She managed. The pain lasted for what felt like days, but with Chiyu's help and Tenshi's presence, Streak finally had two little pups by her side. The firstborn, a dark-gray-and-red female, was quite a bit smalled than the other, a brown-black-and-blue male. Streak let out a weak sigh of relief, turning to start licking her pups clean. "They're beautiful. Thank you so much, both of you. For everything."

[danarisky]

"My pleasure," Tenshi replied, "What are you going to name them?"

She laid down by Streak, full of excitement. She had never been there when pups were born, and felt content at seeing new lives being created. She gazed at the pups, eyes filled with happiness. She looked up at the sky. The clouds seemed to have cleared up.

[Jayie]

Streak looked down at her pups, thinking of her mate. <i>Storm, I hope you're watching this.</i> She said softly, "I think I'll call the female Tempest and the male Chinook." Both were types of storms, and Chinook sounded vaguely like her brother's name; Chiron.