[Sanctuary] Renewed hope (Kavala/Open)

[Mao]

70th Fall 511AV oocIf anyone would like to join us from Sanctuary feel free! I'd love to meet people. Mao hated wagons. She hated the proximity of which these people sat beside her, as if frightened she might throw herself off at any moment. Her swollen belly was their biggest concern, but the kelvic was hardly bothered about her own safety. She was complacent for the time being, however, savoring the sweet moment of solitude. Watching the endless sea of grass swaying against the fresh breeze, the scent of earth and human and horse was overpowering. Pale green eyes scoured the horizon, watching as the grand city of Riverfall slowly loomed ever closer. The wagon creaked and swayed, the voices of the travelers soft and positive, but Mao had her attention trained on the outskirts of the city, where she knew Sanctuary lay. It would be some time before they finally began to wound their way up towards the city, but by then something wet ran in rivulets down her thighs. Mao glanced at her soiled dress, My baby... The kelvic was inexperienced with the nature of labor. She'd seen the goat girl go through it but would never have imagined the pain that followed the release of her water. The contractions came and went while Mao clutched at the edges of the wagon, her knuckles turned white as she swallowed the cries. An elderly woman noticed her pain and labor and hurried toward her, calling for the wagon to stop. But Mao shook her head, pointing to Sanctuary, "There," She growled, "Take me there!" They complied, if only because Mao was on the verge of tearing away from their helpful hands in her desperation. The elder woman and her husband supported the kelvic as they walked toward the gates of Sanctuary. Each step was agonizing, but there was only one name one her lips. "Kavala!"

[Kavala]

Kavala stood surveying the stable yard. Tasival was sleeping quietly in the shade of the Veranda while Aweston napped nearby. The denizens of Sanctuary were hovering. Kavala hadn't the slightest idea why. She was fine. She'd been fine. What had happened earlier in the fall had no bearing on her future. It had no bearing on her past. It was just a thing, a situation, another in a long line of situations that lead to results Kavala would have rather not experienced.

Still she resented their watchful gazes. It drove her deeper into herself, more protective, less welcoming to people in general, though animals still suffered no ill effects of the events of the summer slipping off into winter.

So as Kavala stared out across the courtyard pretending not to be as broken as she was inside, physical pain hit her full force, kicking her Konti gift into overdrive. The taste of pain was familiar... Kelvic... labor... cat... Mao? Kavala turned, coming alive suddenly. She was only useful, only good, when there was a crisis afloat and she needed to take charge.

"Aweston, take Tasival and go get everyone. We're going to have a birth.... probably in the bathhouse. I'll grab a birthing kit." Kavala said, turning suddenly to rush to the clinic. In the storage, with all the herbs, Kavala had assembled kits for various emergencies. She had too for the Akalak were prone to bringing in their Kelvics at the last minute when their conditions were life threatening rather than when their symptoms had first shown up. The Kits saved time. Kavala grabbed a birthing one, as well as a whole stack of herbs for the occasion, and raced to the bathhouse to leave the goods. Then, calling the alarm throughout the facility, Kavala rushed to the gates. She didn't know if Mao was on foot, in what form, with Sorian, or how she was coming. But throwing the gates wide, Kavala spotted the wagon called out to the driver to come in, and then raced alongside the driven horses to urge the man to bring the wagon as close to the bathhouse as possible. Once he brought the vehicle to a stop, Kavala went immediately to the back, jumped up on a wheel, and looked in.

"Mao.. my gods is that you? Are you in labor? How long.... how long have you been in labor? We need to get her down... she's in pain... down and into the tub." Kavala ordered, jumping back down off the wheel, wincing slightly at her still healing injuries and moved to help get Mao into the bathhouse, out of her clothing and into the tub.

[Riki Stormheart]

Riki was tending to one of the stallions in the stables when he got wind of Kavala's call. He was patching up the horse after a small mishap after it was spooked by a small critter who had found it's way into his stall. His gift from Rak'keli helped greatly with his work of course but he did not want to rely solely on it. The men and women of his clan worked without Rak'keli's gift all of the time and were often even more skilled than him. As he stood next to the stallion, he rubbed a mixture of herbs into the gash on it's shoulder where it had collided with the wall of it's stall. The horse whinnied in pain so the Drykas did what he could to try and lessen it's pain. Of course, a little help from his mark was needed and a quiet song sung in Pavi was sung. He was not sure if the sining helped but it why not try? When Riki heard Kavala calling, he worked to finish his healing so he could go to help the Konti. After a few chimes he smiled up at the horse. "You should be good. Let me know if the shoulder keeps hurting you though." The man knew the horse would not actually reply but to an onlooker, it might have seemed a bit strange. Jogging from the stables to where Kavala was, Riki saw a woman who seemed as though she was clearly with child and in pain. "I'm here Kavala. I'll help her." He looked to the woman and smiled lightly. "Hello… Mao is it? I'm Riki. We'll take care of you." He was sure most women would not jump at the fact of him talking off their clothes but in this woman's case, she seemed to be in need of anything that needed to be done. Looking back to Kavala, he moved to help the woman to the bath as well. He had never helped with a human birth, although he did not know this child was going to be of Akalak decent. He had only helped with animal births. Still, one always needed to start somewhere.

[Kadrath Onktaka]

Uruk just finished washing his hands and looked up as Aweston entered to inform him of an arrival. He hoped it would be dog, cat or horse related, but either way, at Sanctuary, some animal in one form or another was involved. He nodded briskly and dried his hands.

The seven foot man's stride ate up the distance to the entrance and he arrived in only a few chimes. His green eyes took in what appeared to be just another pregnant woman at first glance. Then he noticed the sharp teeth and peculiar eyes that gave evidence of a Kelvic. Looks like his cat wish was granted ...in a way.

His senses sharpened and he raked Mao's form quickly and efficiently, looking for early warning signs in her birth. There were no signs of nausea or vomiting, but he knew cat types would take about six bells average to birth. He turned sea green eyes to Kavala.

"Do you need help with getting supplies or anything?"

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)

[Mao]

Mao had precious few minutes to breath in between the birth pangs that wracked her body. She didn't care that strangers approached her from the depths of Sanctuary to help her, nor did she bother to greet them. The kelvic bit her lips in an effort to silence her cries, but her pained gaze betrayed her. "A bell ago, I think," She managed with a grimace, grasping onto Riki as though he were the thread from which her life depended on. Mao didn't mind when he undressed her, as she was more focused on getting into the tub as quickly as possible. She wore nothing underneath the dress, so the water was a welcome relief to the gravity that pulled her child down. "I'm scared," She told him, them, anyone who was near. The kelvic kept her gaze down, rubbing her belly and swallowing whatever agonizing contraction came along. "I don't know what to do, it hurts so much."

[Kavala]

Kavala was relieved that the denizens of Sanctuary rallied so quickly. Riki helped Mao into the bath and Kavala let him while at the same time dumping supplies into Kadrath’s arms. “I’ll need two stations set up, Rath. You and Riki know the routine. I’ll get into the water with her, but I’ll need someone in charge of the Akalak child when its born.” Kavala’s words were sharp, to the point, not exactly yelling but loud enough to get her point across to everyone. “We’ll need a table next to the tub with supplies for the birth. Someone needs to boil water. I need knives, iodine, birthing forceps… everything in that kit laid out. We need fresh towels, robes and clothes for both mother and child. It’s too late for her for pain killer, which is fine, I don’t think she’d really want any anyhow. Riki, once you finish there, go find me a large dog collar. I want it around her neck and cinched down. She’s whimpering now, but Mao’s a big cat and she hasn’t shifted in a while. I know for a fact she’s a man eater when necessary so we can’t take any risks.” Kavala said, stripping down to her underthings and wading into the water. She moved to Mao, catching her gaze and gently grabbing her chin.

“Mao, its going to be fine. It really is. You need to listen to me though. I’m going to take care of you and not let anything happen to you or the child. Okay? You are safe. You’re at Sanctuary…’ Kavala said, then glanced up at Aweston who was holding her son. “Go talk to the people in the wagon. See if they need anything.. food, shelter, payment… take care of them and watch Tasi. We’ve got it from here.” Kavala said, looking up at Kadrath.

“Any experience with Kelvics? It’s just like birthing a human woman except she’s not going to die on you pushing out one of your big little boys. The thing you gotta do Rath is keep her from shifting because she’ll kill it if she does. Mao’s a fighter and a runner, so we have to prevent both. You’re in charge of the baby once it comes so have everything ready and do what you need to do to keep him alive. His father is a dear friend of mine. Riki, your acting nurse. I’ll need you to hand me things and hand them quick. I’ll also need you to pay attention. She’s a kelvic, but she’ll birth like a human. But she won’t act like a human. Do you two understand? She’s quite capable of killing you both, even pregnant, even in the middle of delivery. Keep it in mind. She’s going be hurting, and hurting badly. Keep her focused. Do anything you have to do to keep her on the task at hand.” Kavala instructed quickly and methodically. The two assistants needed to understand the nature of what they were dealing with.

“She’s a big cat… a really big one. So save the placenta too, Rath. She’ll want to eat it to jumpstart her iron.” Kavala said, then quickly closed on Mao. She did a thorough body inspection and slipped beneath the water to examine Mao intimately to see how far she’d dilated. Kavala judged she was halfway dilated, so they had some time to go, but not much.

“You’re thin, Mao. What have you been eating? Where’ve you been? Talk to me. It will be good for you to relax between contractions. This is going to be easy, Mao. Easy. You’re here… we’ll take good care of you.” Kavala repeated again, soothingly, staring at Mao, surprised even that she was alive.

“Guys, introduce yourself. She’ll remember your scents if you let her have a good sniff.” Kavala said, stroking Mao’s shoulders and continuing with her examination. The Konti tapped her gift a few times, soothing aches, clearing out a bruise or cut here and there. Mao wasn’t in bad shape, just a bit thin and road worn. Kavala did her best to ease all the aches and pains everywhere that wasn’t associated in the birthing. It gave Mao a chance to relax, unwind, and settle in to getting ready to birth.

[Riki Stormheart]

Riki worked to undress the woman and then help her into the bath. Mao seemed impartial to the nudity so Riki went about his business, although he would have regardless. He was more concerned for her's and her child's safety. He looked at her with kind eyes. "It is scary… well, I personally don't know that it is but from what I've heard, it is. You will get through this. We are all trained and we are here to help." The Drykas nodded to Kavala as she spoke. "I'll get the table and supplies." He a nod to Kadrath, before going to retrieve the supplies. It was good to see another person in to help. "Do you mind boiling the water and getting the towels, clothing, and robes?" Once the table and the supplies were gathered, Riki pushed the table up against the tub and began to lay out the supplies. He felt his heart racing. He had never done something like this before. Of course, everything he was doing was simple compared to what Mao was going through so he had little room for complaint. Once the supplies were set up, Riki ran off to get the dog collar. Kavala's words worried him slightly. Mao was a Kelvic but that was not the worry. His worry was the man-eater part. Of course, that is where the collar came in. That way Mao could not turn into the cat she truly was. When he found the collar he returned and got down on a knee in front of the tub. "Mao, I am going to need to put this around your neck. I'm sorry if it hurts." He attempted to get the collar around her neck, albeit as courteously as he could while respecting the time constraints. He tightened it, ready to react if Mao lashed out at him. He might have been soft spoken but he was a Drykas and he was tough. While he respected the woman in labor, he knew the collar was needed for the safety of her care takers. If the Kelvic had allowed Riki to get the collar around her neck he would be standing beside the table, nodding at Kavala's instructions. "I understand." There was not much more to say. This was a learning experience but a fatal one. "Rak'keli protect us…" At Kavala's instruction, Riki introduced himself. "Mao, I am Riki Stormheart of the Opal Clan of Endrykas." He held out a hand for her to take if she wanted a sniff, or even just a reassuring touch. This was dangerous but in truth, when was healing, really healing, not? There was a risk but there always was. He was going to help bring new life into the world or literally die trying. "I'm not going to give up. This is going to be tough but you can do it."

[Kadrath Onktaka]

Kadrath nodded to Kavala, listening intently to the instructions and preparing for a cat birth. When Riki put the collar on the Kelvic, Rath moved forward and brought a huge indigo hand near Mao's cheek so she could sniff his scent where her whiskers would be if in animal form. It was a touchy moment to put his hand that close to her teeth, but necessary. Cats would either curl back their lips and bite for rejection or rub a quick cheek into the hand for acceptance.

"I am Kadrath Onktaka. I will be assisting you in your birth. May Wysar bless you and your child in your moment of glory."

Once this was accomplished, he attached a stout hauling chain to the collar. A simple collar might stop her from changing form, but not stop her from moving too much. Cats had an admirable and wiry strength with incredible dexterity that too many people underestimated. He secured the sturdy chain to the tub's holding pole. Rath nodded briefly to Riki, acknowledging him as a fellow helper.

Kelvics were animals first, and people second so her dangerous nature must be foremost in everyone's mind. Rath and Uruk took Kavala's warning very seriously and prepped for the worst. He looked at the Konti for a moment before answering.

"I've never delivered a human baby, but I've helped a Kelvic deliver twice before. She was a black jaguar Kelvic. She did well on the first birthing, but she lost too much blood on the second birthing and died. I'm not an expert on Kelvic births, but I am willing to apply what I know and open to learning more."

He looked over Mao with stormy green eyes and noted that her arms were entirely too free to reach out and maim someone.

'This is an animal borrowing human form for now and she should be treated as mostly feline.' he thought rapidly, trying to work out a plan.

"You'll need something to dig your nails into to give you security during birthing."

After a long chime's thought, he came up with a plan that might work. Her hands needed to be both restrained, but comforted. If she was just tied down, she'd panic and fight the birth, so he needed...ah! That's it!

The huge man bent and grabbed two hand sized wooden blocks and quickly shoved them into Mao's hands. A cat reaction to anything touching their palm was to curl around it, and Uruk hoped this would work for the distressed Kelvic. Should she curl her hands and more importantly, her nails, into the solid, comforting wood, he could stretch the rope around her hands and wrists, then attached the thick ropes to the iron tub legs. It would give the Kelvic cat something to securely claw and make her feel happier, while safely restraining her with the least amount of damage to herself or them.

Rath set out instruments, towels and robes in an efficient and orderly fashion, also setting the water to heat. Pulling aside a large empty bag, he kept it ready to receive the placenta. It was a jump start for the birthing female to produce the all important colostrum the baby needed in the first feedings.

This was still kinda sorta a person birth and it made him a little unsure. She said he'd be in charge of a newborn! His mind went over the other Kelvic births, recalling the main checklist. Appearance, pulse, reflexes, muscle tone, and breathing.

Kadrath sent out a silent prayer to Wysar that the birth would go well, and to successfully reproduce his species to the betterment of all Akalak. He answered the Konti's placenta order quite simply,

"I will."

(When Rath speaks and when Uruk speaks.)

[Sorian]

Fate. If all things under the sun and the sky could be attributed to it, then it would be no crime to admit that Lhex has a strange way of deciding things for others. As befitting a first-tier god of his unimaginable power, he acts in ways that no mortal could ever hope to comprehend.

His capacity to give and to exact, as they say, is a fickle thing: playful at one point, unmistakably cruel in the next, and simply bizarre in every inch's worth of intervals.

But Sorian and Navis never believed in such things -never had they known the bounties of the wheels of fortune. After their ordeal in the jungles and seas, it should come as no surprise that they wouldn't care to think it through in the slightest bit: captured by raiders from home; then thrust into the harshest environment known to man; subjected to all sorts of horrendous natural and unnatural calamities; and pursued by a vengeful wraith from a bloodstained past that they would live and die with.

In the same manner of thinking, it would be no stretch to believe that this ancient Akalak was the most cursed of his brethren to ever live. Even Wysar and Akajia must have abandoned him to be so forsaken.

What, then, explains his presence in the only land he's ever called home? What in the god's name has enabled him to return to the plains he had so dearly loved? He had wandered about for thousands of miles in an endless maze of tortures, his hapless miseries perhaps serving to please the unreadable immortals that watched over the world.

It was with no small wonder that he suddenly would up waking amidst a bed of yellow grass, under a canopy of eternal sky. Yet as soon as he stood up on both legs and felt the soft earth of Cyphrus under his feet, he realized it.

He was home, right before the aimless horizons, under the lucid warmth of the sun. He was finally home.



Neither he nor his other half would ever know how or why they survived the pitiless waves of the Suvan sea. The last things he could remember were the bramble bush that had robbed him of his right eye, and the weightlessness brought by the sudden fall. After that, he could remember nothing. It was all black: the pitch black of true nothingness, the mysterious area between life and death, where even the freedom to conjure images of happier yesterdays was denied.

He could not remember the suffocating surge of saltwater that filled his lungs, even as the very bloodvessels inside his lungs had swelled and threatened to burst. He could not even remember the crushing pressure that seemed to smash into him from all sides, denying him of his very breath. His heavy body had landed on the sea with a heavy crash, the sudden jolt of force pumping severe quantities of blood from his torn and battered body.

For what seemed like an eternity, his helpless body had been thrashed, whipped, and battered by the merciless sea. He must have made him a strange sight for the denizens of the deep; a large blue body whose anatomical parts resembled that of the sirenian Charodae, yet different in everything else. All throughout, he was a mere object of curiosity for the few that had managed to catch sight of him. Was he a floating piece of debris from a sunken ship? Was he something edible? Was he something dangerous? Considering how unresponsive his body had become, it was a wonder that he wasn't eaten by some monstrous predator of the deep. And he was completely open to attack too, for the patches of vegetation that camouflaged his body in the jungle had all perished within a few hours of immersion in seawater, exposing his clean, cobalt-blue skin.

Perhaps his naturalized skin color had, ironically, served a protective purpose? He certainly would have been hard to see against the intangible mass of water that held him captive. Or perhaps, on a more tragic note, they were revolted by the perpetual nature of his torment: was it that thick, that palpable, that it managed to radiate an aura strong enough to repel the thoughtless creatures of the sea? Whatever the case, whatever the reason, it was an inexplicable stroke of luck that had allowed him to survive the odds. Two full days after he had fallen into the ocean, the it regurgitated him back to a remote, gravelly shore surrounded by palm and coconut trees. Little did he know that he had miraculously returned to Cyphrus.



The feral lord of the plains, the great beast that had terrorized the Sea of Grass for some two hundred years, had returned to his domain. Yet there was no ferocious pack of glassbeaks that that heralded his unmerited appearance, nor was there an angry fluttering of wings in flight to avoid his deadly clutches. In fact, the only creature that had seen him stumble out of a light screen of thin trees -a small snarlwing- had looked down from its vantage point like a vulture eying a moving piece of carrion. Truth be told, it was not far off from the truth: he was actually half-dead, literally and figuratively.

But he was coming back to life, slowly but surely. With every sluggish step he made over the grassy inclines of Cyphrus, a shard of familiarity returned to light: the vision of a successful hunt here, a night of frenzied passion there. Slowly but surely, her face too returned to the surface: the deep emerald irises that had filled him with such wonder; the slender curves and salty skin which inspired unbridled lust; and the powerful visage of the great cat that had shared many a thrilling hunt with him.

When at last the memories of yesterday had all been restored, Navis looked about him with recognition. It seemed a million years ago now. All the joys, the pains, the moments of ecstasy and elation, of vigorous love-making and savage hunting, they were all but a tiny ripple against the backdrop of insanity that had consumed him -them.

A following lull in his perception allowed him to inspect his own body. Many mementos of suffering graced his hunched, chiseled form: an enormous canyon of abused, uprooted flesh laid bare over his stomach, a bite wound from a fearsome creature of the sea. Another great scar could be found on his left arm, a wound which Kavala would be familiar with -it was the point where he had thrust the damaged lakan he had left behind all those lost seasons ago. Lastly, and most telling of all, was the one that left his once mighty arm shriveled and emaciated, punctuating the area just above the latter: a gruesome set of lacerations that came from his own teeth, after he had morbidly feasted on his own body in a fit of madness.

Then, he heard something. Like a distant whisper of the wind, it came to him with the most visible and speedy recollection of all. He heard her cries, and it set his flat-footed pace on fire.

"Mao..."

Tthe great gales of the Sea of Grass brushed against his hardened skin as he sped through the plains. He cared little for what he managed to trample in his wake: on at least one occasion he felt the sudden sting of a small pebble or the wet flattening of some poor creature in hiding. He ran inexorably, leaving the tall shoots and its hidden denizens crushed behind him. It made him feel alive, even if his brain could not keep up with his body's instinctive recognition yet. It suddenly felt like the old days for him, when he would hunt alone with nothing but a steady moonlight to guide him. The days when he would gorge himself in blood and depravity, the days when he would attack without heed. His predatory instincts had been a marvel of evolution, an evolution borne not of necessity, but out of greed.

Everywhere else around the whirling dervish of an Akalak was quiet: there was no song that danced along the ears, nor could any but the people in sanctuary hear the kelvic's birthing cries. For how could any but he, the bondmate, the long-lost half, be able to hear the invisible bell that had started to ring from within? It was the searing re-emergence of a long obscured bond that had begun to eke back into light, the explosion of remembrance flying back into consciousness. And for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, he felt joy.

What his mind had forgotten, his heart would remember: and she would be there, waiting, to remind him of the rest.

"MAO!"

[Mao]

Another wave of agony crushed her, choking a cry from her throat. She couldn't fathom this pain and this pressure; the baby wanted out, he wanted to live and breathe, but to get him out of her body and into her arms was a feat unto itself, at least that's what Mao felt. There were no tears in her eyes, not yet. There was pain, yes, there was relief to have Kavala there, to feel her gentle hand on her face, to reassure her that everything was alright, that she need not fear.

"I....I've been eating what they gave me," Mao remarked as calmly as she could manage, "The people in the wagon, they gave me food, bread and cheese. But not meat... not enough meat. I came from Nyka, but I had to come back.... for the baby."

When Riki presented the collar, there was a flash of fresh dread in her jade eyes. Those clouded memories once lying dormant in the dark recesses of her mind emerged; the cage, the cold, harsh, bars, the collar that locked her true nature, did they mean to lock her here forever? There was panic, a raw panic that became dulled by the increasing birth pangs and his gentle voice. She looked at him, unable to bring herself to claw at the collar nor him as the pain wracked her body and divided her attention. The kelvic took in his scent, but she needn't smell him to know he was a human. In another time, a fresh meal, but when her child was at stake, her hunger was stayed for now.

"You are prey," Is what she hissed to Riki as the next attendant approached her. He was tall, blue, akin to the Akalak, but his scent was tinged with something unfamiliar, as if he did not belong. But it was not his presence that incited such animosity from her, it was the chain he held, forcing a hiss from her lips. But as another wave of contractions consumed her, Kadrath seemed to be blessed with a window of opportunity to distract her with the blocks and bind her wrists. Sharp nails dug into the wood, but it was inner predator that raged inside. The feline that could not fathom being bound like a pig ready for the slaughter. Her emotions exploded in a burst of searing misery.

"Release me!" She shrieked, tugging her arms with shaken ferocity, panic stirring in her bones. She glanced from Riki and Kadrath to Kavala, crying, "Kavala, please! Let me go! I can do this unbound, I can do this!"

And through the anguish, through the stress and cries and lashing tugs of her arms, something bloomed in her. A warmth in her chest, that spread and spread and swallowed the intensity. From the distance she could hear, beyond their voices, beyond the sound of splashing water and footsteps, she heard something. Something so significant that it couldn't possibly be of reality. Jade eyes widened, her entire body paused, even the pulsing pangs in her abdomen were smothered by sheer bewilderment.

"N-Navis...?" The whisper was like a thread of hope woven from her lips.