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Chanda heaved a sigh, rolling onto her side in the grasses. How had things become so...so complicated? The hind looked about her, at the unfamiliar shrubs and grasses. she had come so far away from home, for him. He really was a magnificent creature, strong and good. She'd never fallen for anyone like this before. This made it seem like she'd never fallen for anyone else at all. The world had never been so deep, so real and vivid. He had changed... The hind couldn't help a sorrowful glance at her swelling belly. He had changed everything.
The day she had met him, it had been glorious. So regal he seemed to glow int he sunlight, and yet, there was a startling intensity that made her shake. He had appeared with a yearling in tow, reluctant to say anything about where they had come from and why they had left. The hart must have felt the same as she, for over the weeks and months, they took to meeting in the groves in the warmth of the failing summer afternoons. But as autumn set in, things had begun to change. He wanted to return home, to their labyrntine herd, and he begged Chanda to go with him. Finally, he told their story, why they had left their home to come to the hartlands. His mate, his child's mother, had been stolen from them, the life robbed from her in the middle of the night. There was no explanation, no reason to what had happen. The beautiful hind had simply fallen asleep in the night, and never woken up. Decimated, he and his son had struck out for a new beginning, seeking to leave everything behind. But then, then he had found Chanda. She had been the one to bring color back to the world, to remind him that there was life still worth living. With tears in her eyes, joyful ones, she agreed to return with them. Her sister was happy here, and all Chanda had done was intercede. Perhaps it was time she began a family of her own. After all, she would return, and have time to share the wonderful news with her sister, right?
They left that night, tracing their way to the labyrintine herd. At first, thingsh ad been marvelous. The herd was far different from anything Chanda had ever known, exccentric in their ways, not always completely honest, but more honorable than not. She began to learn of a freedom that she had never quite known had existed, desperately in love in a place that celebrated one's freedom so highly. She would never quite understand what had changed. Her beloved quickly became jealous of anyone who came too near to her. Slowly, he seemed to want to control more and more of her life. Chanda's eyes squeesed shut, wishing the wonderful warm sunlight would simply go away. More and more they had begun to fight as winter had set in. She had so much love for them, the hart and the yearling both. But now, as their fights grew in intensity and frequency, she couldn't help but pine for home, for familiarity. She couldn't leave, especially not now.
Spring had come, and their fights hadn't ceased. Silly little fights about silly little things that shouldn't have mattered, not when you loved someone. He seemed to hate the thought of her on her own, but that very thought was something Chanda railed against with all of her might. She wanted her freedom, and she hated him for trying to control her. Pushing her to act like the lady she wasn't, the regal and graceful thing he was, instead of the rough cut battalion brat she was. Stand there and look pretty. Chanda's brow wrinkled with disgust. That was one thing she did not do. But now... Spring had come, and their fights hadn't ceased. She was sure that he hadn't yet noticed the way her belly had begun to swell, the slight and subtle changes her body was taking on. Chanda knew. Somewhere deep inside her there was life growing, she couldn't simply leave now...

"Njeve, I need to speak with you." There was a strain to Chanda's voice, why wouldn't he just listen? She understood that he was an important hart in his herd, that he had important things to do, but what she had to say was equally important, if not more so. She had spent the past weeks puzzling, grappling over when or how to even tell him, and now when she did, he had other things to do. "Not now, Chanda, I have business--" The hind slammed a heavy hoof to the ground, "I don't care what -Business- you have to attend to," Anger seethed in her words as she spat them not an inch from the hart's face. Her heart was beginning to break, and anger began to seep out of the cracks. The other herla around them stopped what they were doing, almost paralyzed by the tension in the air between the two. It was a well known fact that Njeve was a hart who got what he wanted. He expected others to do as they were told, and never took well to argueing, and here that pretty little girl of his, probably half his age, stood in his face, making demands. All it took was a look from their leader, and the other herla suddenly found things to do well out of earshot.
Njeve's eyes settled on chanda after a moment, their vivid blue burning with anger. Those eyes always smoldered, wether with love or hate, there was always a feral intensity, a sort of wild danger that was so completely entrancing. He yelled, yelled things so harsh and hurtful that Chanda would barely remember them afterward, and yet burst to tears at the thought. She had just wanted to tell him, just wanted him to know--The hart lunged foreward, and chanda felt the sting as the flat of an antler lashed across her cheek.
Chanda stepped back, eyes wide with suprise. She watched him, yelling at her, and her eyes narrowed. How dare you. The guardian's words were frighteningly solomn, and soon that same gravity spread itself through Chanda. Exactly... How. Dare. He.
She thought, at least momentarily, about giving him a warning. Telling him to stop what he was doing before he got hurt, but then that damned man just kept yelling, barking in her face like a rabid dog. No one, no one touched her like that and got away with it, and this was the man who was supposed to father her child? I don't think so. Her legs bunched beneath her, and the heavy hind snaked foreward, and though the hart easily matched her bulk, he was sent tumbling. The hind gave him a swift kick to the gut as he tangled under her hooves, before planting a forehoof rather sqarely on his throat. She looked down at those beautiful, hateful blues, and couldn't do anything but seethe. "You listen to me, you filthy beast. You -EVER- lay your hoof on a hind like that again, and I swear to the Guardians, I will castrate you myself. Do you understand me?!" She snarled the words, and when she got no answer, her hoof insisted, digging deeper until he hart choked out his agreement. That face, so beautiful. For a moment Chanda thought she would crack, but with a shaky breath her resolve returned. "I am going home, and if I were you, I'd be praying that you never see me again."

Tears began to fall as the hind laid in the spring grasses, heartbroken, and afraid to go home. Afraid of what would be said. After all, she had just disappeared without a word for the better part of four months, and soon she would have thickets to guard, maybe by mid summer. She honestly didn't even know how it had happened, she had always thought that you needed a potion from thebear traders, and here... Here she was, laying in a field, with life growing in her belly. Desolate, and broken, it was for that life she pulled herself to her feet, and hoped she could reach the hartlands before that light made its way into the world...

Lumi had been having a lovely afternoon with one of her older friends, Ivy. Ivy was here for her weekly counseling, and Lumi's guardian was finally getting her to understand, that no matter what sexual orientation one's offspring was, it wasn't something they chose. They were just born that way. And if she continued to act this way, she would end her life alone and miserable. But just as Lumi was about to drive that point home, adding in her own little bits of motherly advice with how she'd raised her children, she'd heard the voice of her sister. Her ears perked and both hind's turned their heads to look to the direction of that voice. "Excuse me a moment won't you?" Lumi asked sweetly, rising fluidly to her feet, her tail swishing behind her anxiously as she trotted out from her hidden away home and towards the voice of her sister. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of her. She was round with fawn. "Oh..." She said under breath, her eyes wide as she watched her strong sister curl over as she was certain a contraction was hitting her. "Oh Chanda...." she murmured to herself, shaking her head as she moved over to her, lowering her head to nuzzle gently underneath her chin. Her wings fluttered anxiously even though her entire demeanor was calm. She'd helped Ivy give birth, she'd given birth herself, she'd watched their mother give birth. This wasn't the most terrifying thing to her. Though she knew it was probably making her sister panic. "Ivy~" she called as if she was going to ask her something as simple as where she might like to go today.

"Yes?"

Lumi smiled, it was clear Ivy was close to the opening, curious about what was going on. That hind was so nosey. "Come help me, I need you to go and find me some plants to help my sisters fawn birthing move along smoothly."

Ivy was closer to the entrance then Lumi realized, when she told her what she needed her red hair was visible as she moved out to the sisters. She looked Chanda over and noticed the way the straps dug into her stomach, she shook her head and pointed it out to Lumi. Lumi looked down and shook her head, reaching her head underneath her to try and loosen the straps, with in a few moments the armor fell to the floor with a clatter and she'd picked it up between her teeth, motioning to Ivy to help her get her sister into her home. With one hind on each side they slowly moved, making sure to be a support should another contraction hit her while they were moving her.

"Don't worry Chanda," Lumi cooed to her. "You'll be just fine."