New Pups

Bud watched from the entrance to the medicine den. Matias and Kye perched at the prey-pile, sharing part of a deer. They ate quietly, but the sun glowing on their pelts and sleek muscles spoke quite loudly.
Kye's belly was swollen from the pups she was carrying. Bud sighed quietly. It wouldn't be long now. Soon the nursery would have yet more occupants. It was getting very crowded in there. Some of the pups would be old enough to become apprentices soon, Bud concluded. She wondered what Clawface would have them train as. She shook her head, still pondering these things, and turned to the mismatched piles of herbs that needed sorting.
~~~
That night, Bud was woken by a slightly feeble yelp. She sat up, looking around. Mystic was nowhere to be seen. Bud bit her lip nervously. Where was her mentor?
Another yelp of about the same tone sounded, and Bud sprang up. She whisked out of the den, looking around. A whine, with a slightly feeble note involved, rang from the Nursery, reched a fever pitch, then died down again. Bud zipped across the clearing and into the nursery.
"It hurts...." Kye groaned. She panted heavily. Bud stood frozen for a moment, half shocked and half uncertain, before she leapt into action. She shouldered her way out of the nursery and past Matias, who had come up to see what was going on, and pounded back to the medicine den.
Her mind clicked automatically. She deftly grabbed a few different herbs, ran back across to the nursery, and got to work.
~~~
A while later, Bud sat back, worn out, and licked one paw. She still wasn't sure if what had happened had really happened. She had just taken care of a birthing mother. Alone........by herself.......
Kye, meanwhile, nestled contentedly into the moss and feathers that lined her nest. Two young pups nestled with her, and Matias, looking proud but rather awkward, as if the idea of being a father had just become a reality for him and he wasn't sure what to do, perched next to her.
Bud pricked one ear, listening quietly to their conversation.
"That one's name is Cora," Kye muttered, touching one pup's head with her nose. "The other is Karma."
Matias nuzzled his mate happily. "They're beautiful," he murmured. "Just like you."
Bud smiled slightly. She stood, stretched her ivory paws out in front of her, and padded back to the medicine den. She flopped into her nest with a heavy sigh and closed her eyes.
She was suddenly aware of a presence beside her. Opening one eye, Bud could see Mystic standing over her.
"You did well tonight," she whispered quietly. "Sleep now."
Bud did so without hesitation.

((Woot! New pups, the children of the power-pair. ;) Yey! ^^ ))