Into the First Morning's Light

[Embri]

Embri sighed heavily, rolling over. It was no use. No matter how she lay, it just wasn't comfortable. With a soft huurrrr, she lurched to her hooves, annoyed by the effort it took. With an exasperated glance at her swollen belly, Embri roused herself to full wakefulness.

Glancing over at the bed a few steps away, the flaming unicorn admired her sleeping bondmate's form. Both of them normally preferred to rest together, but recently Embri's frequent night time trips were interfering with Angel's sleep. She stepped over to Angel, grabbing a corner of the rumpled blankets and pulling them back over her .

Hooves thudding softly on the carpeted floor, Embri slipped out of the room and onto the balcony, overlooking the main chamber of the Corrupted Cave. Unfurling her wings, she glided downwards, heading for the cave entrance. It was quiet here, save for the occasional scream from the torture chamber and the bubbling pops of the wall slime.

She beat her wings a few times to hover, touching down. Embri grunted as her hooves hit, her own weight bearing down hard on her feet. Wings folded back, the equine slipped out of the cave, trotting into the gloomy darkness of night. Her hooves found a familiar path; away into the forest and a secluded hollow scorched black from heat, where she disposed of her bathroom needs. Feeling somewhat better but still restless, the unicorn walked slowly out into the wilds, listening to the sounds of her hooves on the hard packed dirt and the myriad creeks, chirps and calls of nocturnal life.

She walked for quite some time, trying to settle the annoying feelings inside her body that were keeping her from sleeping. Meandering her way through the trees, Embri simply let her hooves choose the path, sloping generally downhill and away from the Cave. These night time walks were becoming a vexing habit and necessity, though she hadn't felt quite this bad in a while. A waft of scent on the cool night breeze caught the equine's attention, turning her head towards a familiar destination. Walking carefully through the dense undergrowth, Embri pushed her way towards the scent - warm sand with the faintest overtones of sulphur.

She finally reached a small cave, shallow and dry against the side of a ridge, bordered by a small water pool. However, what interested her was the sand wallow just inside the cave mouth, heated from below by a geothermal vent of her own crafting. Embri had found this lovely place some time ago, and considered living here, but it was too close to civilization for her tastes and a bit too small. However, it made a fine retreat from the Corrupted Cave. Sinking down gratefully into the deep, hot sand, she heaved a sigh of relief and rolled, shaping a deep hollow to lay in. Embri kicked sand around her belly with her forelegs until she was feeling much warmer. Eyes drifting shut, she quickly fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vague dreams were shattered by real pain, jolting Embri into wakefulness. Throwing up her head, she snorted, nostrils wide, but there was nothing out of place around her. Head twisting left and right, she huffed as a second wave of pain rolled down her flanks. Ears laid back in alarm, Embri scrambled to her feet, sand sliding off her fur in sheets.

~What is wrong with me?~ Confused, Embri twisted her head about to look at her belly miserably. She staggered over to the solid footing of the cave. This time was worse. Much worse.

[LordPsycho]

((OH OH, It's time! Quick, where's the local vet when you need him?))

[Embri]

Embri sank down to the smooth slate floor of the cave, tucking her tail around her legs miserably. Too hot, too cold, too uncomfortable... The unicorn dearly regretted leaving the company of her heartsister behind.

As another wave of muscle spasms made her groan, she gave up all pretense of being able to go back to the cave, and called with her mind as strongly as she could. ~Angel? ANGEL! WAKE UP! I NEED YOU!~

Neck stretched out across the flat stones, Embri panted and closed her eyes, fighting against a body that was no longer hers to command.

[Angel]

*Angel tosses in her sleep, unable to get comfrotable all of a sudden. she punches her pillow, bearly awake, the cold air of the room is unfamiliar and she misses the warm solidity of her bondmate. a sudden shout jarrs her fully awake*

~EMBRI! ASHKE?! ~

*she scrambles to her feet in a wild rush and is almost floored again by the strange sensations flooding across the link. she clamps down on it in suprise and shock, it takes her a moment to recognise the feeling but once she does her eyes go wide and she scrambles off the cold stone balcony and plunges through the caves and out the door, not even bothering to grab her jacket.*

~Embri! i'm coming!~

*the dark trees blurr past untill finaly the little clearing comes into sight. it glows to Angels heatseeking eyes and she tumbles into a rough landing, luckily on to the soft sand. her heart pounds in her ears and her breating is quick and shallow with panic.

sand sprays every where and she gains solid ground. in a moment she is kneeling beside her Sister and runs her hands over her trembling neck*

~i'm here ashke...~

[Embri]

~Angel... Angel-Shani-AngelAngelAngel...~ Words chase themselves through Embri's mind, followed by a flood of relief as she realizes her heartsister has come.

~ANGEL! HURTS! What's wrong? Can't get up...~ Embri's panicked thoughts jitter together, and she tries to rise again, taking comfort from the familiar touch on her neck.

Embri grits her teeth against another wave of spasms. "Went for a walk." She pants, "Nice warm sand wallow. Fell asleep... Woke up, hurting!" Hooves scrabbling without footing on the stone, Embri thrashed her back legs against an invisible opponent miserably.

[Angel]

~ok, it's ok.. shhhh..try and relax~

*she locks away what she really wants to say, ohcrapohcrapohcrap and other jumbled messes of thought, away in the back of her mind, along with all the other irrational and insane thoughts that Embri helps keep behind bars.*

~stay lying down, lying down is good... we talked about this remember?~

*she pulls the unicorns head up on to her knees and rocks, crooning soothingly. a loud voice in the back of her mind yells at her

OWWIIIEEE!!! owieowie! make it STOP!

shhhhh! wimp, your disturbing us!

yeah! *there is the mental equivalent of a slaping noise* keep yer mauth shut

the voices anter for a while before a loud metalic clang! shuts them back. Angel shakes her head and concentraits on releaving as much of Embri's pain as she can. unfortunatly, the only way she has of doing this is to expeience it herself and she shudders violently*

~this means the foal is coming, remember? you're going to be a mum very soon. just keep breathing, no matter how much you want to hold your breath keep breathing. ok? good girl... your going to be fine..~

*the voices behind the doors beg to differ and yell obscene things from between the bars in her head*

[Embri]

~No NO NO NONO!~ Embri's eyes roll, showing the whites normally hidden by her eyelids.

~Not yet! I'm not ready!~ She wails, shoving her nose up against Angel's side with a shiver. Embri wuffles, incapable of shaking the feeling that she isn't alone with Angel... the others were there, closer to the surface than usual.

~My Angel. MINE!~ Embri snarled at them all, fierce in both her need and possessive loyalty.

The unicorns nostrils flared and contracted as she huffed, easing herself over onto her side with a sigh. ~What am I supposed to do?~ She queried her heartsister softly. ~I don't know...~

[LordPsycho]

"Stop fighting it and let your instincts take over. Your body will know what to do from there" A familiar voice said from behind. Au'Marui, in his most godly coporeal form (aka his Mist form) walks up, dragging what appears to be him in his normal form, with the exception of a giant "P" on his chest, and the fact that he was bound and gagged.

"I hope you don't mind him, He's bound and gagged for your own protection, my dear Unisus." Au'Marui said, "I hope you don't mind the Company, but it is important that I be here to bless this child of destiny as soon as possible. As the first natural born Dojodian, this child is destined for great things"

With that, Dau'Pay starts to chant nearby, trying to ease Embri's pain (with limited success, considering he's not the God of Pain).

[Embri]

Embri tossed her head, whinnying at the sudden appearance of not one, but two Au'Marui's. Twisting her neck to glare over her shoulder, Embri's eyes twirled with liquid fire.

"Easy... hurrrr! for you to say!" The unicorn laid back her ears. "You're not the one ... with what feels like ... a demon in her belly!" With a resigned groan, Embri laid her head back down in Angel's lap.

"Who's your friend?" Embri finally asked, sparing a glance at the bound and gagged DarkPsycho. She managed a brief smile at Au'Marui's grand speech. "Mind? I doubt I have a choice in the matter... better you than someone looking for a meal."

[Fort]

((*Sniff* We're watching a beutiful moment here. Can I assume this is not an RP since its not in the RP section?))

[Embri]

((Apologies for not posting a description, but yes Fort, it's not an RP, exactly, since it has but one rather obvious outcome. However, it's not a static story, either, since it is being written by others as well as myself.


That said, I am not making this a closed story - you may write into it if you wish. I do ask that unless you have a very good reason for being present, to wait until after the foaling - equines are known to be rather unpredictable during this vulnerable time... and to be rather hungry afterwards... ))

[Sephirothsicase]

*Seph was at the Dojo, trying to improve his alchemy skills, all was going well, he had only to add this one drop and he would have created another poisen, he tipped it over the large beaker, only to have this massive rush of stomach pain, he couldnt see what happened, maybe he poured another chemical in but it exploded, covering him in god knows what, he stood up rather shoddily, he realised it was coming down the link, shouting and pain, and it was giving him one hell of a stomach cramp*

~Dammit Embri! I expect some warning for these sorts of things!~

*He reached over to his cabinet and pulled on his long, crimson cloak, he jammed his matching hat onto his head and ran out the door, hitting the door shoulder first, spinning out, he leapt off the stairs and into the air, wings coming out from his jacket and taking him to the air, heading in the direction of the links end*

~Stupid unicorn horn...~

[Embri]

With a shake of her head, Embri looked up and towards the west, eyes glazed over. A powerful wave of feeling spread through her mind, not one she was expecting. Anger. Not her anger. Someone else's... Seph.

"Hurrrr... I didn't think you'd come." She whispers softly with a small smile. Though she knew it would probably not go over well with the vampire, but Embri was happy to think her whole family, odd as it was, would be together with her.

[Sephirothsicase]

~Stupid horn....stupid horse...stupid horse getting preggers...~

*He lowered his altitude and set to land next to Embri, unfortunatly he was hit by another cramp, he veered to the left as his wing went limp, sending him hurtling into the floor, he rolled over head first a few times before skidding to a stop, just infront of the horse, he looked up at her.*

Damn horse... Why'd you have to put that horn in me?! I dont want to feel everything you do!

[Embri]

Embri sighed gustily and turned her head to look at Seph, another wave of cramps rolling down her flank. "I didn't... exactly ... choose this, you know!" She huffs. "As for the ... horn, ... maybe you'll ... learn something!"

"Not too many ... males of any kind ... get to go through ... a birthing." Embri switched over to mindspeech, saving her breath. ~I am sorry you had no warning. I did not either! How do you think I feel? Are you all right?~

Embri gritted her teeth. There was no doubt about it. The contractions were getting worse. ~I don't think you'll have to suffer long... the foal seems impatient ... ouch! ... to be born.~