Kallik couldn't believe it. It seemed like forever ago since she had fostered Kissimi. Now after so long, she was finally going to really be a mother.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Kallik asked Yakone.
Yakone smiled back at her, "It's wonderful."
And standing side by side, they looked out over the fields of endless ice. This was the perfect place for them to raise their cubs.
As excited as Lusa was over having her cubs, she couldn't help but be a little nervous.
"You got this?" Miki asked in concern, looking at her belly.
"I've traveled to the Endless Ice and back, I can handle anything," Lusa replied.
As anxious as Lusa was over this birth, she knew she was ready.
Toklo was patrolling the edge of his and Aiyanna's territory. It had been good to put their two territories together, and with their cubs on the way, they would need the extended space to raise them.
"Are you ready?" Toklo asked, looking at Aiyanna's belly.
"Come on," Aiyanna retorted back, "I fought for this territory by myself, I'm not going to be brought down by having cubs.
Kallik had always thought herself a natural mother. But it was one thing to take in an orphaned bear cub, it was another entirely to actually give birth to one. If enduring this was a natural part of motherhood, Kallik was not a natural. "AHHHHH-OWWWWWWWWWWW!" Screamed Kallik, "AHHHHH-OWWWWWWWWWWW! Let me freEAH-OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
Yakone couldn't help but feel the concern for his partner rush over him. He remembered what it was like when he lost his toes, but he had no way of knowing how this compared. If this felt anywhere close to that, he couldn't wish that on her, but if this felt worse, what could he do? Only watch his partner scream, wishing it was over for her.
But if Kallik was having a hard time, she had no idea that Lusa was handling the very same thing much worse that very moment.
Lusa was screaming uncontrollably as she writhed on her back. No bear could bare this, and although Lusa had adapted to the wild since leaving the Bear Bowl, deep down she was still a softy. There got to be some sort of herb to numb the pain, a small part of her mind that remembered Ujarak's training said. But she couldn't articulate this thought to Miki through waves upon waves of pain. Pain, Lusa's inner thoughts said, Pain! PAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN! Lusa flopped her head on the ground, screaming under the weight of it all.
As Tolko watched Aiyanna screaming and writhing, he wondered how his two traveling companions would handle their own cubbing. Had they already had theirs. As much as Toklo loved Aiyanna, he still had a strong connection with the two bears that had shared his journey since almost the beginning, and seeing Aiyanna screaming like this, it made him feel weird that he was the only of the three that wouldn't go through this.
"Anything I can do for you?" asked Toklo, bending down toward Aiyanna gently.
"Kill me." Aiyanna gasped through gritted teeth, only half joking.
"Uh…" said Toklo, not sure how to respond, "I'll just wait here then in case you need something."
As Aiyanna continued screaming, he hoped no other bears would overhear and suspect weakness on their territory. But if they did, he would be willing to fight.
It can't be more effort than what she's going through.
"Okay!" Cried Kallik, "I admit it! I can't take it! I give up! I give u-OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
"Wait, how can you give up?" Asked Yakone, "You're having a cub, it's not some sort of challenge that you can just surrender."
"Well if it was, I would have quit long ago!"
"Then perhaps it's best you can't, or then there wouldn't be any mothers."
Yakone realized he had said the wrong thing, but before Kallik could respond, another wave of pain took her.
"AHHHHH-OWWWWWWWWWWW!"
Of course if there was a way for Kallik to quit he would have wanted that. Seeing Kallik in pain like this was just too much. But then again, he wanted to be a father. Was it fair to expect her to go through this and encourage her on, knowing of the wonderful end results, when he knew that if he were in her place, no amount of encouragement could make her anymore ready to endure it?
Miki had come back with a load of herbs Lusa had requested through a break in the waves of contractions that racked her very being. Instantly, she dug her snout in, not caring what was what Just make it stop! But nothing had helped, and poor Lusa was back to kicking and screaming into the air in moments. Lusa had healed broken legs, even been mortally wounded herself, if birthing was the worst thing one could feel, then how come it was the thing she couldn't find an herb for?
Lusa had been to the Endless Ice and back, and the one thing she couldn't bare over all others was the most natural event of all. All those days she had to force herself from falling into the long sleep, all the effort she took into putting one foot in front of the other was nothing compared to the energy it took to keep pushing this thing through every contraction and rip of pain she felt. But it was an effort she could not stop doing no matter how hard she tried. As hard as it was to push, it was impossible to hold back.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Lusa screamed.
Miki could do nothing.
Aiyanna was no longer responsive as she continued to wail, blind with pain. Toklo wasn't sure what to do. Toklo was proud of all he accomplished on his mission to the Endless Ice, but by the way Aiyanna was acting, he wondered if it was really as big of a deal as he'd thought. Perhaps all the pride he put into his journey was being upstaged by his partner baring his cub. And Kallik and Lusa would be facing the same thing themselves sometime or another.
Perhaps I'm not the toughest bear I know after all.
"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Kallik cried, the cub falling out onto the ground.
"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Screamed Lusa, the cub bursting forth from her feeling like a whole firebeast emerging from where it had no place to fit, "My-"
But the burst of pain was over. She looked at Miki who was looking at her as if expecting her to continue. Even though the sheer agony was over Lusa was still very soar. Miki was her partner, there was no need to hold back. Hunching over, she groaned, "my…"
Aiynna's final shriek penetrated the the forest, and with that, the cub was born.
Kallik was breathing hard recovering from her ordeal.
"Are you okay?" asked Yakone.
Kallik was about to nod when another contraction hit her. Another cub was coming. Oh no, she wasn't ready.
"AHHHHH-OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
Lusa took in the fresh air of the forest in relief. It was over.
But then she noticed Miki looking at her belly.
"Uh Lusa, I think there's another.
Lusa only had a moment to process before it hit, and Lusa was screaming once again.
Aiyanna only had one cub, and Toklo couldn't help but be relieved it was over.
"What should we call her?" Aiyanna asked.
Toklo looked at his new daughter lovingly. He remembered his mother who had left him after Tobi's death. She was heartbroken, and hadn't wanted to see him die, but she had also sent Lusa his way.
"How about Oka?"
Though the birthing was hard, it was over. As Kallik let the cubs drink her milk, she looked up at Yakone.
"They're wonderful, aren't they? Our little Chulyin and Suka."
As Yakone nuzzled beside her she looked at her new family. It was hard to get here, but with the love filling her for her cubs, she knew she really was a mother at heart.
Lusa was glad to have had Miki by her side. The second cub didn't take as long as the first, but if it wasn't for Miki, she didn't know how she would have managed, which as it was, wasn't very well.
But now with Yogi and Ashia, their cubs, Lusa finally knew, she had found her home.
