This content might touch on topics that are sensitive or triggering for some readers. Trigger Warning for mentions of blood, gore and birth.

OOC: This is Maia’s birth! Direct family welcome, other lions can attend but I can’t say how she’ll react. A healer is very much welcome.

She is restless. She has been for at least a few days now, tossing and turning in her bed relentlessly. Maia wasn’t sure if @Jafar was aware of her discomfort, but tonight was something else. With heavy paws and an audible sigh, the Sovereign rose to her paws and slipped out of the den without a sound.

A blanket of darkness, filled with ebony swirls lay heavy across the sky. Small ivory speckles with a tinge of life were dotted across the stratosphere as the lions beneath slept, their existence twinkling silently as they eventually faded into the darkness behind them. In the Mire, the darkness enshrouded the swamp with ease. It had been difficult to navigate through the quagmire as the sun set, so there was no surprise to the Tolkien when it became more difficult to work her way around the twisted trees and boggy areas.

These walks had become frequent. Maia’s paw tracks were commonly found in the muddy walkways, and as a creature of habit, she simply followed these. Walking made the discomfort easier to bare, easier to cope with as her birth date grew closer. Little did the Tolkien know that tonight was going to be the night. Ivory-tipped limbs walk the muddy pathways as her mind wanders. It was when an agonising pain struck her in the stomach that she called out and stopped dead in her tracks. Maia’s ears fell onto her crown and she immediately turned around, aiming to return to her den before the rest of the contractions begun.

The walk, despite it being physically short, felt like the longest one she had ever done. Her strides were short and painful, pulling her body along as though it were a formidable feat. She was thankful when the sight of her birthing den came into view, which was a few lion tail-length's away from the den she shared with her husband and daughter. Slipping away from the darkness the Mire offered and into the warmth that the smaller cave provided, the Sovereign shuffled her weight around and eventually lowered her heavy frame down onto the soft substrate beneath. As she inhales and exhales, her stomach tightens and another contraction pierces its way through her body, and she calls out in pain. Never before had the lioness given birth, but she had not thought to anticipate this much pain. Somebody had once mentioned to her that once the contractions got closer together, then she actual labour process would be close.

As she paced herself through the pain that frequented her body, it was evident that her children would be here soon. A slight sense of panic set across her chest: was she going to be a good mother? Would she be there for them, until she could no longer provide? The lioness sure hoped so, and as another contraction succumbed across her body, she called out for her husband. He needed to be here, just as much as she did.

code © flea // art © kraken

Jafar had known it was nearing the time as @Maia keep closer and closer to the den. The walks she took to ease the discomfort she felt were one's he occasionally found himself joining her on. Though, it never eased how useless he felt at her side when he couldn't do anything to help her. All he could do was give her a nuzzle here or there and push out some encouraging words that he was sure they missed their mark occasionally. Less helpful and more just stating the obvious. When his mate called for him he raced to her and watched as she retreated into the den for what was to be the final time, Jafar hung at the entrance. A strong father standing tall and vigilant in the doorway as his family, sans Bijoux, were rendered vulnerable to the outside world. Prepared to stand outside for further protection or even more prepared to go to her side and do whatever he could that she needed.

BIJOUX

Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless.

Sans Bijoux wouldn't last long. The disappearance of two bodies pressed around her allowed the chill to seep in. This was not something that the yearling enjoyed. A whine escaped her as she shifted around to try and figure out where those bodies went without opening her eyes. Sleep still clung to her and she didn't want to have to get up and look.

Then a pained call rang out and had the girl's ears twitching. It took a few moments to recognize it as Mama Maia's voice but once she did the girl was quick to get up and go look for the woman. Mama Maia! The girl called out, her voice strained with worry. Had her curse struck again? Was she about to lose another Mama. Mama Maia! She called out frantically, tears already choking her voice.

Eventually she came across the figure of Jafar standing near a den. Bijoux ended up seeking to push past Jafar as the scent of her mother hit her. Mama Maia! The girl sobbed as she sought to get close to the lioness's side to nuzzle up against her. I sorry!

@Maia @Jafar

code by corvus, chibi by chirpeax

The ashen lioness begins to settle into her den as the contractions get closer and closer together. There is no denying that she is uncomfortable and in a good amount of pain, but the outcome of this would be worth it ten times over. She was pleased to see that @Jafar had joined her almost instantly at her call, and there was a sense of reassurance in the air as he remained outside the den to guard her during her most vulnerable time.

She did not expect the entrance of @Bijoux to be so dramatic. Orange-alight eyes look to her daughter with a gentle smile, despite the pain that was soaring through her body. Bijoux, you don't need to apologise, She begins to explain, but pauses as another searing pain erupts through her body. The time was close. This is not your doing. She breathes through the pain, her ears pinning against her crown. This is how your brothers and sisters are going to be brought into the world, and it will be soon, she wills Mother Nature.

And then, alas: a fierce gasp comes from her lips and she turns away to focus on the task at hand. There is a strong smell of blood, and hormones and pain in the air, but eventually their first child is born. It is a boy, and a child that mimics her pelt colour. There is a strong sense of pride at the thought - a child that was hers, and Jafar's. Pulling him into her chest, Maia breathes a sigh of relief before the second child was born into the world. This one mimicked the colour of her husband, and was also a male. He had her mask, though, and freckles: almost a perfect mix. She smiles, knowing that Jafar would be happy with this as she pulls her second son up to her chest, next to her first-born. A third child is then born, but the strawberry pelt that this boy holds causes her to frown. She knew of no strawberry's in her family - was there in Jafar's? The woman calls out to him. Jafar, you're welcome to come in. We have three bo- but before she could finish her sentence, a fourth child began to force their way into the world. There was hope in her chest that this would be a daughter, and she was not disappointed. A girl that held her husband's pelt colour, but shared her markings. She smiles, breathing a sigh of relief as she knows that her daughter was the last to be born.

A litter of four, and all were healthy. We're parents, She breathes, looking to her husband and then to her eldest. You're a big sister. Say hello to your three brothers and one little sister, Maia gleams, leaning back as the stress seeps away from her frame.

code © flea // art © kraken

Even though he knew what to expect going into another woman's birth, it did not prepare him to watch the woman he loved in pain. Jafar's jaws clenched as tight as possible as he held his head close to Maia's, there for her should she need a nudge, a kiss or even if she wanted to bite and hold. He'd be whatever she needed and do anything, but as soon as they began to fall into succession did he begin to feel more than he ever had.

Pride, most certainly, evident on his face as @Maia had brought their very first litter into existence. She had sculpted them all perfectly... well, almost. The male should have expected that his children had the genetic capability of being small and potentially weak but seeing them -- actually seeing them, turned something in his soul. A part of him that struggled to see anything other than a severe weakness, especially when one was a boy. The girl could get away with it but the boy not so much. Unknowingly and certain not with the intent to show it, he focused mostly upon the one that had come out first. A large gray boy that held the dark hue of his father's purple eyes.

When it came down to it, he would've been happy with the one. Yet, he was just as pleased by the second boy. This one was a mimicked image of Jafar's own hue but with a dark face mask over his eyes and what looked to be freckles. His eyes purple, though without being closer he couldn't yet tell that they were different color purple. It was, perhaps, the strawberry small boy that made his skin shiver. Pink, no doubt and he, like Maia, thought maybe that was somewhere in her line. Casales did not have coats that looked like this and nor did they have gray; he was an oddity, and already he had great expectations of how the two smallest children would behave and act in this world.

Healthy, he speaks in a hushed tone as his gaze washes over his very small children. Healthy and strong, yet he could not help but his doubt growing in his mind. That the litter would be split between the strong and the weak, expectant that they each find their way in this life on their own. It would be considerably tougher for the younger two but Jafar would see to it that they survived, at least.

BIJOUX

Personality has power to uplift, power to depress, power to curse, and power to bless.

Bijoux still couldn't help but to feel that somehow she was responsible for the pain that Mama Maia was in. That somehow her curse had caused all of this. The girl laid down near to her mother and stared at her. The reassurance did nothing for the yearling. "Don't go." She spoke the words softly. Already the girl was fearing the worst. Her heart couldn't take losing another mother figure.

"Hello brothers. Hello sister." The girl did as instructed and spoke to the newborn cubs. "Why you so little?" Yes, she did expect the newborns to answer her. It was important to know why her siblings were so much smaller than herself. Somehow she had expected her siblings to be born full sized and ready to play with her.

"This one sick." The girl spoke as she nosed at the strawberry boy. Maybe he was cursed too, but a different one from what Bijoux had. "He curse?" The yearling asked and glanced between her parents. It was the only thing she could come up with to make sense of his odd coloring compared to all the rest.

@Maia @Jafar

code by corvus, chibi by chirpeax

Maia can see the concern and disappointment on @Jafar's features. She'd disappointed him: birthed two small boys and one strawberry coloured one. He didn't fit in with the rest of his siblings, and she was worried that this meant the worst for the young babe. @Bijoux's words only further pierced her emotions, and fiery eyes look between them both. Not cursed, Bijoux. The woman remarks as she pulls all four newborns closer to her chest, a strong feeling of protectiveness overcoming her completely. They'd live a good and healthy life, one with endless possibilities and opportunities. She looks back to Jafar and nods with a smile. Yes - all healthy.

She needed to name them, to give them identity. Maia looks away from her bronze husband and back to the four children she held safe within her arms. Sedona, for the girl. Amandil for the grey. The ashen Tolkien whispered with a smile. She then turns to Bijoux. You can name the strawberry boy, and then she turns to Jafar. And you can name the largest boy, the bronze.

code © flea // art © kraken

Different, he responds to his eldest daughter @Bijoux's question as to whether or not their strawberry boy was sick. Certainly not sick but he sure as hell was very different from anything the Casales were capable of creating. A child that looked like neither him nor his mate which caused him a great confusion but it took one simple look to @Maia to know that he had nothing to fear. They had been loyal to one another and if anything, he hoped that she understood that if she were to somehow find love elsewhere that she would tell him. Honesty, he valued most. He will be Thrain ... he paused as inhales with a lift of his chin Thrain the Bold. Children that were, in most ways, undeniably his blood and his brood. Children that would learn their families traditions and the ways of the world. They would not be weak, despite their many sizes, and they would not show whatever weakness they might have to anyone. Weaknesses could be exploited and they were best to grow strong. So he hunkered in close and laid down by his mate, inviting Bijoux to lay near to them as they enjoyed the quiet of the suckling sounds of their new children. exit jafar.

art by torriyi // code // do not use without permission

So he wasn't cursed, just different. That was good. She didn't want her siblings to be cursed. It wasn't fun to be cursed. So if her siblings could be spared that then she was all for it. She was going to be a great big sister and make sure they had lots of playtime and food and know they weren't cursed. She still didn't get why they were so small though.

"Tomas." Bijoux proudly gave a name to the strawberry boy. See? She was a great big sister. She was already giving out names. The girl settled down to watch her new siblings, especially Tomas. Eventually she ended up drifting off to sleep, safe and secure with her parents and siblings.

Fade to sleep

@Maia @Jafar

She falls silent as she observes the new bundles of joy and watches with anticipation as @Jafar names the largest boy. Thrain. A smile falls on her features as she looks up at her husband and nods, knowing that he would grow up to achieve great things and carry on the family lineage - just like the rest of them would. She knew - knew in her bones, that all her children would do her proud.

@Bijoux's voice catches Maia's attention, and her crown shifts to look at her eldest daughter. Tomas. She echoes with a nod and an increased smile, and allowed the conversation to come to a natural end. She is content, and for once she feels as though she had reached everything she so desired in life. Settling down to enjoy the warmth her den provided, the new mother drifted off to sleep in the safety of her family.

FADE TO SLEEP

code © flea // art © kraken