Is it natural to feel... concern for another in such a way? I have watched her and I have seen the way she grows so round, a roundness that even surpasses that of Renai's during my time lurking the Asteraian borders. I am dubious that any creature can grow so large and not be somehow impeded. It does not seem natural and yet, I must accept that it is. How strange. I have no connection to whatever is inside her, and yet I feel drawn to the den each day. She has stayed in there so long, it seems. I have waited outside its vicinity just as long, always waiting in the shade and darkness. It is a curious thing - I do not know if such a desire is considered the norm. I simply wish to understand her condition. What does she require?

It is in the night that I hear her breath running ragged from the darkness beyond. I lay in wait some distance away, perched steadily atop one of Glorall's boulders as the scent of blood permeates the air. I frown if only for a second. If I am correct, then surely this is normal. Renai had smelt much the same way. She had awoken in a pool of her own blood. It only feels right to expect the same of Achlys, though I do not doubt she will endure better than the Asteraian girl.

I cannot say exactly when it occurs for time moves slowly now, but eventually, I hear a sudden whimper from her den. It stirs an agitation within me. I can feel my hackles prickle to attention, my ears swiveling forward with a growl slipping through my teeth. I do not... like that sound. Not from her, at least. It is what prompts me to move closer now, slipping from my position and approaching the den with a low bark of arrival. I do not wish to startle her, after all. I take my place there, outside the den's mouth. The hollow she hides within resonates with the far off sound of children's whimpering; it is thick with the scent of fresh blood now. I cannot help but glance into the darkness but nothing comes of it. I can see no more than I might have twenty feet away.

It is when the sun begins to peek across the ocean that I hear a wheeze of a cry. It breathes out of the den like a final breath. The barest hint of light begins to spill across the territory then, illuminating the den's lip and allowing me the smallest glimpse of her dark form within the bowels of the earth. I grumble a greeting, and I do not hesitate to slide down once more into the den. I stay close to the wall, my fur brushing against the dirt as my feet find the residual warmth of her body and blood. It is here that I find her, sprawled out and quiet and yet, her ribs rise and fall. It is only for a split second that I wait before I shuffle about, finding a position along side her. I lower myself, then, to lay beside her, pressing myself into her body in order to share what warmth I have.

Curiosity, however, must be satiated. I arch my neck across her smaller body, finding the four children nestled deep into her fur. Three are difficult to find at first, their dark forms hard to distinguish from her own. I find them all, eventually, however, and immediately begin to prod at them. I test their limbs. I push them away from her, watching them crawl back. Their squeaks mean they have voices; and that they have a will to survive. For now, it is acceptable. Three males and a female. The males are dark and the female light. Though she is much like myself - and my Eloah - she is not mine to name, I do not think. She is Achlys' part of me. I am content to let that part of me truly be Achlys'. I had been unwilling to let Renai name the part of me I gave her. But Achlys? She is... different.

As for the males, I name them in simple order. They are aligned against her stomach, after all, and I notice each of them has their own unique merits. One is marked with a paler shade of crimson - I had licked at them briefly, these marks, to ensure they were not blood. Eros, I speak, moving on to the next, whom already seems to be much... plumper than the others. Erebos. And, finally, the last - Elohim. They are names even Ava would approve of.

For now, though, I do not worry about any others. I simply lay beside her, releasing a brief call to any who may desire to aid her in her time of need. It hardly matters, however. I will keep her warm for now and then, when the sun rises, I will hunt for her. For now, I am merely content to watch the children, playing close attention to the pale female child. She is, after all, a curiosity. How is that she takes most after me whereas the others do not? How is that Eloah was much the same? These things are... most curious.