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ooc murr
She'd been told of the impending foaling by Ulilohi, but of course that had been only passing word of the due date and so Io had been checking up on the mare (which she'd fondly named Rio) everyday for quite a while now. But without signs of any arrivals. It had infuriated the woman for the longest time ever, at least until that morning. Io had crept in quietly, passing her fingers over Neo's snout gently as she passed by to Rio's stall. The mare was shifting around on her feet uncomfortable. And at that moment Io was filled with numerous emotions. Excitement, dread and worry to name a few. She'd not dealt with anything of this kind before, despite being familiar with animals. She didn't know if there was anyone more skilled than her but then again she was more than willing to ask for help. When a creatures life was in peril she was willing to push her pride back. Especially if it was something as useful as a horse.
Io left the stable quickly and howled into the midday sun before returning to Rio. There was a larger stall ready further along, because of course Io had better sense than to keep her beside Neo when it was obvious she'd get more flustered. Leading the greyish creature along to it quickly, she petted her soaked shoulder gently, before closing the stall and waiting outside. There was no need for her to stay in doors and if help came she'd be able to wait for them.
Test my reality Check if there's a weak spot Clingin' to insanity In hopes the world will ease up
Seeing he spent most of his time at the stables, it would be ridiculous to him not have noticed that they would soon have a new arrival. One mare was heavy with foal, that was plain to see. Frodo feared for the horse, as he knew that without the technology and equipment that civilization might once have had, the mare could surely die during the birth of her foal; perhaps even bringing death to her young one, too. Still, he prepared himself for it, counting off the days when he believed she would be due. He was no expert on childbirth, but he was perhaps an expert on pregnancy now, with Gemma carrying his pups. Or so she claimed. And he knew a lot of horses, having been raised with them. It only seemed natural he'd want to help.
So it was on that morning that he was aroused from sleep by an animal tender, the howl clearly coming from the stables, and Frodo knew at once why. He picked himself up, recognizing the howl as someone he'd met before, Io, but he'd yet to fully get to know her. She seemed rather strong willed, and that was what he had summed her up to be so far. There was time plenty to get to know her further though, especially as they'd had to cooperate quickly if they were to bring the foal out safely, and the mother too.
The man dressed himself in cool garb; a baggy shirt, old breeches of some sort, and of course the bandana round his neck, before hurrying to Io's side. He opened the stable door quietly, to catch the red and white furred collie-woman lead the sweating mare to a larger stall. The horses around him were getting frisky and excited, and he knew this might make the mare nervous. 'Lo there, Io. he whispered. Young 'un on its way, takin' charge an' all that. I'll put the 'orses out ter nibble their fill, you follow? Less spook for the mare. he asked. One by one, swiftly and with much silence, he led every single horse out of the stables, into the fields that lay around. He purposefully missed out the fields that had been starting to grow crops in, and instead filled ones that seemed empty yet secure. He knew the horses well enough to know which mare liked which gelding, which stallion was friends with which foal... he sorted it out, to the best of his ability, before hurrying back in the now almost empty stable. He saw Io waiting outside, and wondered if she'd be joining him. He expected her to know a lot more than he did... all he knew was how to calm an animal, not how to deliver a child.
He creaked open the birthing stall door, and stood cautiously but with much calmness. He didn't want to seem frightened or nervous. If the mare sensed his fear, she would fear also. That would not be good. Quel esta. the elvish he spoke seemed to soften the ears of the horses that heard it. They might not have understood it, but it was sort of calming to them, he had learned in past situations. As he had grown wiser, he'd known to use low speech with his elvish, so the horses would be able to see what he meant more. This was what he did now. He spoke elvish tongue, yet used his body language to create the low speech that was so simple and fluent. Furthermore, he gently patted the mare's flank, trying to get her to lie down for the birth. As far as he knew, birthing while standing was not a good idea. Something he noticed though, was how sweaty the mare was. Ed' i'ear ar' elenea... the man muttered under his breath, more out of habit than communication with the horse. Just another curse he knew. We'll be needin' wet cloths. he said. Shall I hop my boat and go get'em?
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ooc murr
Frodo was swift to respond, and Io was thankful of such a thing. Her silver eyes darted to Neo, one of the ring leaders in the excitement. Nodding to the male, she opened Neo's stall door and entered. With a defiant tug at his snowy mane, she attempted to remove him from his bed, but he remained still. 'Hold on, I will get Neo out' she said, the annoyance she felt towards the stallion not filtering through into her speech. Ducking low as to avoid the beams she mounted the horse and rode him out into the field. Neo stood a little way away from the others, blue eyes towards the stable doors. After all, he was the dominant stallion and Rio, the mare inside, was his counterpart the matriarch of the herd. And while the foal was not his, he was still fond of the darker mare.
'There, he is all sorted' Io announced calmly, moving over to the stall Rio was in and clambering over the fencing rather than opening the door. The hybrid slid from her perch and into the stall, standing and petting the mare with the aside, 'Usiąść przed zranić ...' in her native language. Surely enough, between Io and Frodo's verbal efforts it wasn't long before Rio settled down on the hay bedding.
I have no idea about birth, and neither does Frodo, it seems wc: // 603
Frodo Silvertongue
Test my reality Check if there's a weak spot Clingin' to insanity In hopes the world will ease up
Frodo was certainly interested to see that Io had her own horse. He was hardly surprised, of course, seeing as she probably loved animals, considering her rank. He'd already led his own horse, Strider, out. He was sort of the opposite of Neo. It didn't seem like he had many friends, and although he was grumpy and violent, liking to cause trouble, he was definitely not the leader of the herd. He thought of himself as dominant though, perhaps not even part of the herd. A sort of bad guy, was Strider, the outcast. It upset Frodo to see the stallion like that, but it was for the best. He happened to like a horse with personality; a horse with spirit and grumpiness was all the more interesting when it came to taming and riding the creature.
Frodo scooted over a little when Io came back in again. Together they managed to bring the mare to her side, and the wolf watched with wide eyes as her stomach heaved, her sides plastered with hair and sweat. It was obvious that the poor horse was in pain. He couldn't even begin to imagine what giving birth must be like. Or even carrying another life in your for a full on year, that would be hard. Gently, he caressed the mare's sticky neck, stroking it until it was soft and dry and relatively clean. When he pulled up his paw, it was sticky and matted with coarse hair. But he didn't mind. At least it had seemed to sooth the mare. What's the ol'girl's name? Frodo asked, still on his knees as he turned to ask Io the question. He then continued speaking, to the horse this time though, ushering soft words of calming and wisdom. He offered another stroke, this time on her nose, and then crouched upwards, waddling over to her rear end.
The foal was definitely coming. The horse was whinnying and shrieking in obvious turmoil. Frodo winced and pushed the mare's tail aside, a tad embarrassed when it came to looking at a horse's private area in detail, but doing what needed to be done anyway. He answered his own question about the wet cloths and stood up, grabbing some clean towels that hung up. He wandered behind the stables where a natural spring ran; so tiny it was often overlooked by most, and he drenched the towels in wam water.
The man ran back then, leaning over the horse once more, clearing away the hay around her rear end. He lay down some towels and then held the last one in his hands, open wide as if to catch a watermelon that'd fall from a sky, not a baby about to be born. He set about wiping the mud off the mare's hind legs, and no sooner than he had finished, he saw the start of something erupting from her. Oh my giddy, triangular aunt. he muttered to himself, breathless. This was so exciting. He was going to help birth a foal! He turned to Io and grinned widely, not afraid. Hey, do yer, do yer wanna do it? I can comfort her. he said. He had a knife just resting on the stall-wall when it was needed to cut the cord, but he didn't know too much about bringing the thing out. Almost regrettably, he handed Io the warm blankets. They were wet mainly to clean off the thing when it was born. He moved from his position behind the horse and scuttled to her front, which he bent down over, hushing the mare and stroking her powdery nose.
Io eyed Strider carefully as he stood separate from the herd. She'd noticed his out of place dominance before, and as Neo was thankfully a docile male as standard, it had never escalated past anything but a harsh bray in the outsiders direction. Unlike Frodo, Io always prefered a horse that was quick to train. Her harsh personality when it came to such things was not built for endurance and the woman was adamant when it came to efficiency.
The hybrid stayed at the mare's side diligently, petting her soaked snout gently as she made herself comfy upon a small mounting block, she'd put in here earlier. Just out of the way far enough in case she got jumpy. Silver eyes turned towards Frodo, flicking back to Rio once she'd regarded him. 'Rio' she answered, 'Her name is Rio'. She hadn't been given a name before Io had taken up the position of Elan Soquili, so Io, refusing to refer to her as 'that one' and occasionally 'the grey mare', had titled her Rio. A city in Southern America as far as she knew.
Io frowned, ready to relay loose instructions, 'I think we should stand back and watch for a while. Odds are things will work out fine, but just in case, we will watch. Make sure you keep an inch or so of hay everywhere, as a cushion'. Taking the blankets from him, she placed them beside her and waited patiently.
Test my reality Check if there's a weak spot Clingin' to insanity In hopes the world will ease up
As soon as he heard Rio's name, Frodo knew that there couldn't have been a better name for the mare. It was a perfect dub and definitely suited the beautiful horse. Rio. he repeated with a smile. Rio the mother. whenever he was deep in thought or awe, his words were always more precise, and articulate. It wouldn't last for long though. There was a sort of magical air though, and Frodo was beyond excited. He'd never really seen anything so big and magnificent as a horse give birth before. Gemma was due any day now, but he knew that she'd want to give birth one her own. That he was fine with. He'd experience his own birth here. Although he would miss the birth of his actual children, he'd be able to see them afterwards anyway. And that was all that mattered, really. But he knew that this mare needed someone with her today in case something went wrong. He wouldn't forgive himself if she had to experience too much pain or horror.
Io then seemed to take charge. That definitely made him feel less nervous. She obviously would know these sort of things - the sort of things he really didn't. Okay, phew. I - I didn't. I mean, what if? he trailed off nervously, and then shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say what he had to say wasn't worth listening to. He took her advice and spread some more hay around, especially near Rio, and gave the mare a silent good luck muttering before turning to stand beside Io. He watched from afar, still grinning. And eventually, he could make out front feet, and a head. At least it wasn't a breech birth, he thought with a happy sigh. But everything looked a bit...well, disgusting, really. Was birth always this messy?
Io frowned softly to herself, how she missed her boys. Though they were hardly boys any more. They'd have shifted by now, and it broke her heart to remember that that was something else she missed. Oh, they'd be fine creatures now. Strong, tall, smart. Yes, how smart they'd be. With there fine breeding she had no doubt they'd be proud creatures. 'It is a place far down south. A city. My father spoke of it once...' And how she missed that man, they one parent who ever showed her love on a daily basis. Rosa Berlin had been a hard callous woman. But despite this Io knew she cared. It would have scared her however, to see the similarities. And she noticed the worry in Frodo, but she ignored it. 'She will be fine. But if something does happen at least were here...' she didn't have much of a contingency plan in her mind. Io was much better suited to going with them flow.
Rio neighed again, she shifted around and panted heavily. Obviously in pain, but Io felt little sympathy. It was merely a woman's duty. More of the foal emerge and so far everything seemed to go fine. 'If she takes a bit of time do not worry, clear the head to let the foal breath and let her take her time. I am not sure whether she had produced before'. She didn't know much about horses, but she knew basic medical care. Very basic.
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Test my reality Check if there's a weak spot Clingin' to insanity In hopes the world will ease up
Frodo nodded to himself when Io casually explained the origin of the horse's name. It was quite interesting to hear the word "city" again, as it didn't seem new places were named cities or towns any more. Only territories and packs. The traditional way of wolves, he supposed. Frodo couldn't help but think about the fact that things didn't really seem to move forward around here. No more scientists and no more inventors. Or at least, not that he knew about. Hopefully it'll all go t'plan. he commented stiffly, still a tad nervous as he watched the horse. Rio still looked quite young, perhaps not in her prime yet, so he doubted she had birthed a foal before. That might make things just a little bit more difficult, yet she was a calm enough mare so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
The head seemed to fully come out by now, and then finally the rest of it seemed to come out, much quicker than the head had. Frodo shot Io a quick look, an agreeing one as to what she had said last. It shoul' be spiffing enough now. he commented, slowly walking inside and up to the mare, making as little noise as possible. He didn't want to disturb her too much. He took a step backwards in fright as she stood up suddenly, but it was only to shake herself off, and soon the mare was turning around to lick her foal gently. Frodo picked up the blankets and helped her clean the foal off, dying it's head mostly until it was free of any dampness. He couldn't really tell if it was a boy or a girl, and at the moment it's fur was dark, like every other foal until it reached a certain age. He couldn't really tell much about it, but at least it seemed healthy, and alive.
Everything went to plan. Perfectly in fact. The foal was delivered safely, a testament to both Io and Frodo's care and Rio's natural maternal instinct. The red and white collie held back a snicker as Frodo leapt back, scared by Rio's sudden movement to stand and tend to her child. Io herself stood, moving over slowly to pet the mare softly as her head dipped to clean the filly (as much as Io could see). 'She did well...' the hybrid commented, clearly impressed by Rio's first time foaling. 'She will be one of AniWaya's finest brood mares, I think'. There was a small silence that filled the stall. 'Of course, she will need a rest first. A good few months wait...' Io watched as Frodo helped clean off the filly, the mare didn't seem to mind and, in fact, seemed happy to have the hunter aid her where she had no experience and only instinct.
'We will keep the herd outside tonight, tak?' she asked, turning to the male, 'I do not think it will rain tonight and I will go and make sure there is water in the trough and hay in the rack for them'. Io petted the foal too, looking down at the dark creature and smiling. 'Smoke, that is her name. Her coat does not seem like it will lighten much.' Yes. Her name was truly Smoke, dark like her coat.
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wc: // 603
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