WC: 713
It was as though Colibri were a loner again, defensive and ill-tempered and impatient. As soon as the door swung open, Coli blustered forward with the basket in her jaws, not waiting to see that her packmates had willingly let her go ahead of them. The warmth of the fire and Saul's presence was calming, though, reminding her gently that she was not alone and she could let her guard down, if only a little. The pounding headache behind her skull forced her to sit down nearby, and she nosed open the basket top to check on her daughters as Saul addressed her and the others filed in. His Optime height towered above her, but she offered him a feeble half-smile anyway, unable to lash out at her Virding and friend. "I... I'm all right, still weak though... um, when you have a moment to spare... One of my girls might need a checkup, she, uh... had an odd reaction to something, just wanted to make sure she's okay..."
Her voice trailed off as she nosed each pup in turn, checking to see that none of them were too cold from their journey. Flor's white fur was still damp, but she was unfazed. Fio and Fari were dozing contentedly, brown and black bodies intertwined. Coli glanced up at Saul with a questioning look in her blue eyes, as something else occurred to her. He must have been the one to welcome Anu and her companions from Berwick -- surely Lilin would have been too preoccupied for border patrol. Did he know...? But she shook off the question, turning away as Niernan pulled his cousin aside. Saul had other things to worry about on this dark and stormy night. He didn't need to know what was eating her up inside. The weary wolf gripped the basket handle again, carrying it to the room with the fire so that she could warm up.
Blue eyes swept the room as she entered, and was greeted with a pleasant surprise. "Eclipse! Wh- I didn't know you were here, when did you arrive?" Her bobtail stirred behind her, relieved to see her niece safe and sound. And that wasn't the only niece of hers in the room -- Lilin had her puppies, and Coli whined softly at the sight of three little bodies pressed against her sister's dark fur. She couldn't wait to meet them, but she was exhausted herself and knew better than to prance over and wake up the little ones. They would have time for that later, a lifetime of playdates and puppy-sitting and sharing advice...
Instead, she accepted a dry sheet from Saul, laying it on the floor and pawing it into a loose circle, to make a sort of nest near the glow of the fireplace. Then she poked her muzzle into the basket, drawing out each of her daughters one by one and quietly announcing their names in public for the first time. It made her deeply anxious to show them, but they were not supposed to be a secret anymore. Lilin was their aunt and Eclipse was their first cousin, and they deserved to be the first to know. Grace and the other couple were strangers, but they were packmates all the same and she had to trust they would be safe. "Let me introduce you... Fiora vin Haki, Farina vin Haki, and Florina... Soul."
It had taken days for the new mother to decide if she should give them surnames or not, and finally her desire for family ties won out over her shame for their lineage. She could imagine Haku sneering at her for passing on "Haki", especially with the added syllable from Vinátta, but that ghost would not tarnish these innocent lives. The Soul name made her hesitate, but she had chosen it so that the sisters did not doubt their ties to the two Soulstorm females in the room. It had nothing to do with her father, she reminded herself firmly. They were only days older than Lilin's brood, but noticeably larger -- they grew so quickly. Soon their eyes would open, she was sure of it. Coli curled around them, her back to the fire, and glanced eagerly to her family to see their impressions.