She walked in through the snow-bound earth, her gentle pace wandered over the threshold of her home at the Brook. She stopped realizing @Zulema was of the hollows and not knowing how the hollows and the brook were in standing she turned around and took a pace back near the border. She would glance at the other child that Zulema was carrying, (@Orion) before looking back across the borders of her home. She was holding a small child in her mouth (@Romah) and carefully she placed them down to give a call out to @Nymeria. She had to make sure she called and let them know that there were two new mouths inside the pride and that she had full intentions to take care of them until they no longer needed it. And so she waited respectfully.

The carmine woman had briefly met @Nymeria at the event at the Cove a few months ago alongside Magnus. A place that seemed to be so far away and so much happier than how she felt now. @Orion bundled in her jaws as she was desperate to hold onto him, not wishing for anything to happen. He was safer and warmer hanging from her jaws than he would be if it were set on the ground. Alas, @Romah was set down by @Poppy and she felt that it might be questionable if she didn't do the same. Running off with one in her mouth was a thought but she wouldn't want to separate either of them. Not when she knew that having a sibling with you was the difference between dead and alive. So Zulema could only hope that something could be arranged -- being a mother was uncomfortable for her but she could be a big sister just fine.

As the boy was carried through the forest he began to doze in and out of sleep. Exhaustion and the bitter cold and sapped almost all the energy he had left. No more talking. No more complaining. He was simply limp as he was carried in @Zulema ’s mouth. That is at least until they arrived where they were going, and he saw @Romah get placed on the ground. Small limbs started to squirm as he tried to escape his prison and go to her. No, no. No good! She was on the cold ground again. He had to make sure she stayed warm until mommy and daddy got here. Surely, they would come back soon, still not understanding the fact that Iwaya said they’d never come back. Never didn’t mean forever, right?

Unable to escape Zulema’s jaws, he began to whine in protest as he looked at his sister where @Poppy had set her down. Frown broke out upon his tiny façade. Unhand me fiend! I have to get to my sister. Surely they would not keep them separated. He would surely have some words about that! He would tell them off, regardless whether he was shaking in his boots in the process. Orion did his best to act tough in the given situation despite just wanting to curl up and go to sleep and pretend this never happened. The boy had to be strong for Romah.

She swung in silence as the female carried her to...wherever they were going. Romah felt her toes go numb, followed by the ears and about half of her needle like tail. When @Poppy placed her on the ground, she didn't move, simply lay where the other female had placed her. The child was lost within her own sluggish thoughts, wanting mommy and daddy..but trying to reconcile that Iwaya had said they couldn't go home.

But...why not? Why not was cause it was HER FAULT. She realized slowly that her brother was also gone and inside her breast a small heart gave a painful thump. Had she made him go bye bye to? Shivering, she cast her gaze around and noted @Zulema, but failed to notice @Orion flailing in her jaws. She was..after all quite tall and all the infant was able to see without craving her neck was a quartet of bright carmine legs.

Eyes closed, her head shifting and laying on the snow she had been set on. Maybe if she stayed here, Waya would take Orion back home. It wasn't fair he got punished cause she was the bad one. Maybe if she just went to sleep...she would wake up and this dream would be over. Yea that was it. It was just a dream! Besides...she wasn't even that cold anymore..

seldom did nymeria get surprised anymore — or, at least, she tried not to be. times had proven to be rather unexplainable and unpredictable, so, surely, it was better to just keep an open mind, and take whatever the universe deemed fit to toss in her direction. or, well, rather that was how nymeria tried to operate, but things were rarely so simple, weren’t they?

the call from @Poppy was certainly unexpected — the sweet woman was quiet and demure, and so her summons must have meant that there was something important in need of discussion. planting a kiss quick atop of each of her newborns’ heads, the druid would waste little time moving towards the border, content to realize that she was slowly, albeit surely, regaining her strength after childbirth. and that was when the surprise truly settled in, for before her eyes were two babes settled amongst the earth, flanked by not only than poppy, but @Zulema, who was a familiar face from the hollows. "it’s nice to see you again," nymeria started politely, attempting to gage the other woman’s reaction, as she closed the distance between herself and the small group upon her borders. and though her attention gravitated instinctively back towards the children, she looked to move close to her pride mate’s side, wrestling her gaze back up from @Orion and @romah, so that she could focus on what exactly was happening. "is everything alright?" though surely they would not have brought two (supposedly abandoned) cubs to her doorstep without good reason, the circumstances still begged the question.

She would flicker her ears to each little comment and sound that @Orion was protesting in Zulema's care, but when the little girl at her feet rested instinctively she would place her body close with her arms at either side, creating a tent of warmth for her. She hated placing her down on the ground but you couldn't exactly talk with your mouth full, could you? When @Nymeria shows up and comes closer she releases a sweet sound to her, a welcoming sound. " This one found these babies in the cold, no parents. This one was wanting to become their guardian until they are able to live on their own. But then " she paused to look at Zulema as she blinked a few times. " This woman..Uhm..this one didn't get her name. But said they were her siblings. This one and she decided to bring them here to be safe, fed, and kept warm. " she takes a breath " This one if it's entirely true they are siblings, do not wish to change their names. Or keep them from their sibling.... But.." well she was in a pickle here wasn't she? She looked to @Romah with a sweet smile, a longing smile. " This one will do everything in power to protect them, and guide them until they want no more of this one..." she relaxes then and clears her throat. And then waits. What would the older lioness say? What would Nymeria say? She felt like her nerves were shot from this but she had to show she was willing to do this the right way for the two cubs.

To feel a steady desire to fight for a child was something that she never thought she'd deal with. There wasn't a whole lot of maternal instinct in her but she did know that she felt protective over what she saw as hers. While the little one's couldn't share in their opinions of their parents like she could, the carmine woman felt they should still be her charge. Following @Poppy to the Brook had been an easy decision as the Hollows and the Brook were allies and close friends, she supposed, meaning that there was little discrepancy to be had and that trust could be seen. Especially when she had personally met the wheat sovereign once before.

It didn't make her any less anxious, however, waiting for @Nymeria. Unhanding the wildly flailing child as soon as he began to toss so that he might reach his sister. To you as well, Nymeria. Zulema lowered her head respectfully towards the Brook's leader and immediately seemed to see and feel a change in the woman's gait. Something was different - or off - but the Kivasante woman couldn't place it as easy as another. Before Zulema had a chance to explain herself, Poppy was able to explain their situation in detail. Zu might've changed a few bits of information around but it was the same story and she had spoken the truth.

Zulema, she attempted to politely interrupt when the woman expressed that no name had been given. There hadn't been a whole lot of time to do in between showing up and explaining that her parents (presuming both her parents were the same as @Orion and @Romah) weren't all that great at keeping their kids with them. From what she stood, they did not need another woman in their lives that wasn't family even if they were nice. Zulema could provide for them just as well as anyone else could but she didn't know how to start explaining herself. If mostly for the sake that she felt the argument (or decision, rather) was moot. She was their older sister, shouldn't that take precedence?

I know it must look ... odd, but the small boy is a replica of my father. A few differences here and there, obviously, but I know they're my siblings. My littermate and I raised each other because our parents weren't all that present in our lives. We had a brother, he died when we were young and my mother never really recovered after that. But that was all they were going to get because she didn't particularly enjoy telling her life's story, not even to those she considered friends. Zulema just hoped that Nymeria understood that it was important that the children remain tethered to her.

there was no denying the harsh tug of instincts that curled across nymeria's chest, as she looked down upon the cubs with a mixture of confusion and concern. though hormones certainly played a part in it all, it was a travesty for ones so young to be left alone -- and it painfully reminded nymeria of the day that she had found yrgritte, out upon the stygian shores. that, of course, had turned into one of the best and most fruitful decisions of her life, it was still unfathomable as to how someone could simply abandon their children in such a way.

thankfully, the queen was not left wondering for long, as both @Poppy and @Zulema were quick to offer up an explanation as to how this situation had befallen them. listening intently, nymeria's frown slowly rose into a look of surprise at the proclamation that the obsidian noble was, in fact, a sibling to the two young babes. or, so she was convinced. "sometimes, instincts are the most powerful things that we have." she noted, gaze flickering sweetly to poppy's face, for she knew the pure and warm heart that rested within her. though it was quite the complicated situation, wasn't it? it was hardly a black-and-white matter, not when @Orion and @romah were so young and required so much diligent care. "i think it was smart to bring them here, at least for now. my worry is that they cannot be more than a few weeks old, and they will need to be weaned -- is there anyone in the hollows who has given birth recently, zulema?" nymeria was not so bold as to offer herself up off the bat, should there be a capable mother within the hollows -- but if it came to that, she knew that she would without thinking twice. the druid had no interest in snatching zulema's siblings from her grasp or putting distance between them if it was not needed -- though they all would need to keep the best interests of the children in mind, moving forwards. and so she would wait upon a baited breath, shuffling forward a few feet further, to act as a blockade for the cubs against the cold, winter breeze.