Koga sighed softly as he ran his fingers through his ponytail, his gaze locked on a female that was in the process of giving birth. He would have been happy that the pups were being born during this windy time of the year, simply because the winds blew so harsh it mixed scents & scattered them, making it hard for one single scent to be tracked. But right now he had a lot to worry about. Seven of the nine females from the Southern had all gone into labor at once & with the freezing weather it was likely that not many of the pups would survive.
He sighed heavily as he watched Catriona, Inu Yasha, Ginta, & Hakkaku rush about, trying to help whoever they could for as long as they could before moving on to another female. -Most of the females� work will be in vain,- he thought as he stood guard at the mouth of the cave. When the labor first began early this morning, before the snow & mind got too bad, he ran to the mouth of the cave & went several feet away from the entrance before he turned into his feral form & tossed his head back, letting out a long howl.
By his side stood two of the strongest guards from the flat land ookami pack. They had been sent to aid him incase of demon attacks because of the smell of so many births.
Inside, Ginta was currently helping Ravu, who was in her feral form, same as all other females giving birth, deliver one of her pups that she was having trouble pushing out. Having never seen a birth before, he was getting his first lesson in all ookami youkai are born as wolf cubs.
Hakkaku was helping Fuyu as she whined the loudest of all the females with the pup that was seemingly stuck, almost sideways, inside of her birthing channel, making it hard for her to give birth to it. He looked up at Catriona with a bit of panic as she stroked Fuyu�s head & spoke calming words. Catriona looked up at him & shrugged, shaking her head, mouthing the words, �I don�t know what to do.�
Fuyu stopped pushing for a moment, long enough to growl menacingly at both Hakkaku & Catriona, before she went back to trying to force the pup out. Catriona looked at Hakkaku who rose to his feet. �Where are you going?� She asked.
�She wants us to leave her alone & help out the other females,� Hakkaku answered, looking around at the remaining six females that were having problems with their birth. Hardly any pups had made it out of their mother�s, even when they should have, & they didn�t understand it. �These females are acting like there�s too much danger to give birth.�
Catriona looked around for Inu Yasha, until she spotted him, helping Shinrei in her birthing process, a slight frown on his face as the three-quarter youkai, stuck in ningen appearance, cried out. �Hakkaku,� she said, looking at him. �Go find out from Koga if there is any danger nearby that these females could be sensing. I�m going to go help Inu Yasha.�
Hakkaku nodded & ran off to go talk to Koga, while Catriona moved carefully around females & what pups had been born on her way to help her friend. When she approached him, he looked up at her. �Do you need help Inu Yasha?� She asked, glancing at Shinrei, then back to him.
He nodded. �She�s having a little bit of trouble because she�s getting weak,� he stated, looking down at the woman baring his pups.
Catriona got on her knees by Shinrei�s side & took the ookami�s hand in her own, rubbing it softly with her other hand, wincing when the ookami gripped, her claw tips sinking into her flesh. �You�ll be okay Shinrei,� she spoke as she used the hand she was rubbing the girl�s hand with, to rub the top of the girl�s head. �I know what you�re going through sweetheart, but trust me, it will be worth it,� she whispered.
Shinrei whimpered & looked at Catriona, tears pooling in her eyes & rolling down her sweat-misted cheeks. �It hurts so much,� she said as she sniffled. �Why does this have to hurt so badly?�
Inu Yasha�s ears went back as he began to feel bad since it was his pup she was having trouble with.
Catriona looked over at her friend, then to Shinrei. �I don�t know why it has to hurt so bad, Shinrei, but trust me, this pain will be worth it once the pups are born,� she spoke, grimacing when the ookami female gripping her hand tightly, & let out a piercing howl that echoed in the cave.
Hakkaku, who now stood by Koga, looked in the direction of the howl then back at Koga who sighed heavily. �Koga, is there any danger?� He asked, looking at the two guards that looked at him, before he looked at Koga.
�There�s none that I can see, but then again, look out there,� he said with a wave of his hand in the direction of the snow falling heavily outside the cave. �They could be coming & we wouldn�t even know because of this heavy snowfall.�
Hakkaku sighed & looked behind him at the females that were still struggling to give birth. �Koga, I think they�re having trouble because they�re sensing danger that you can�t see,� he spoke over the wind.
�Sorry to interrupt,� spoke Shitsukoi, the first guard that had arrived, �but with this snow, they might not even sense danger; but because of paranoia they think they do sense it.�
�Our pack had the same trouble once,� Kiken, the second guard, spoke up. �It took two whole days for two females to birth four pups each because of how paranoid they were.
�Two days for four pups?� Koga yelped, unable to believe what he was hearing.
Kiken nodded. �Two females, four pups each & it took them two days to get them out simply because they were paranoid.�
�Is there anyway to calm them down to speed up the process?�
�You could send one of us to get more guards from our pack if you wanted to,� Shitsukoi suggested, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, a sign he was aching to run in the snow.
Koga looked at both of the guards, then his gaze settled on Shitsukoi. �You want to go?� He asked, then chuckled softly when Shitsukoi took off without giving an answer. He looked at Kiken. �I take it that�s a yes?�
�He�s a snow ookami,� Kiken spoke. �He was born during the winter & within that same winter was the first to wander outside of the cave. He was lost in the snow at the age of seven weeks & was gone for four days, then was found a mile away from the caves during a hunt.�
�Seven weeks & he was in the snow on his own for four days?�