Solo Hey Mama

[Mayra]

45th of Summer, 515AV
7th Bell, Dawn
The Pride

It was early when Mayra pushed aside the canvas entrance to the birthing tent. She felt off today. If Mayra had it her way, every day would be similar. Safe, normal. Of course today was the exact opposite. Not only did she feel weird waking up three bells late, but she also had lugged her awkward swords through town. Her lack of knowledge on how to care for them had gotten her some odd looks and more attention than she wished, so Mayra was grateful to duck into the birthing tent.

Striding over towards the chests across the tent, she laid her swords and pack in the corner, uncapping her waterskin to take a sip before turning away from her things.

"Mayra." Saron's voice rung from the front of the tent. She looked up to see the barbarian's hulking shadow in the entrance the orange morning sun highlighting his figure. Just behind him she could see the brown braids of Mianda approaching.

Greeting. She danced her hand across her chest, making sure she had it right this time. He stepped inside the tent, copying acknowledging her wave with one of his own. Behind him, Mianda ducked into the tent, a pleasant smile on her face as if she wasn't expecting Mayra to be there. Am I not supposed to be here? Mayra glanced at her hands, nervous. She could feel the calm pressure of the other two figures in the room along with the stumbling warm bodies of the puppies in the whelping box.

"Morning." Mianda greeted her, leaning over the whelping wall to pet the new mother. "Would you please make her breakfast? Like I showed you." Mianda requested, brown eyes lighting up expectantly. Mayra nodded, glancing at Saron hesitantly before giving a pointed look towards the swords in the corner of the room. When she looked back at the horselord, he was grinning.

Mayra turned away before she rolled her eyes this time, not taking the chance that the brown eyed human could read her expression. Moving towards the whelping box, she removed the empty feeding basket and strode back towards the food chests.

Remembering how Mianda had taught her the day before, Mayra scooped a small clump of grains into the basket before opening the dwindling supply of sausages and pulling one out. She heard a strange cooing behind her and glanced back to see Saron crouched in the whelping box, talking to the new bother. Smiling, Mayra turned back to the sausage, grabbing it with both hands. She was less reserved about greasy hands as Mianda was, and dove in, ripping off chunks of sausage and dropping them into the food basket. Once she was done, Mayra leaned down to wipe her hands in the grass beneath her, effectively getting most of the grease off. Not too worried about the rest, she grabbed the clay bottle of oils and poured that into the mixture, grabbing the wooden spoon and stirring it together until all the grains were mixed in with the oil to create a tastey mush for the mother.

"Here ya go, Mama." Mayra stood, walking back over to the whelping box and hooking the basket on the side. Unlike the day before, when the dam couldn't be less interesting in the meal, the mother stood up right away. Her pups were distracted by Saron who had turned into a small child, petting and cooing at the infants.

"For such a notorious warrior, you would think the man had some dignity." Mianda chuckled to Mayra, who only smiled in return. It was no secret Saron probably had the largest heart in all of Cyphrus, so it was unsurprising to see him cuddling with the pups so quickly. "Socialization is good." Mianda switched into business mode as she watched the mother dog wobble over to the food, gulping down the sloshy mess with vigor.

[Mayra]

Date of the season, YearAV
The Bell, Time of Day
Location

"Huh?" Mayra turned to Mianda, who was just coming back fromt he food chests with the clay bottle of the mother's vitimans.

"Once the pups are strong to open their eyes, we put them up front. Let the kids play with them. Cats, horses..." Mianda sighed, which brought Saron's attention to her. He motioned something towards the tent and Mianda nodded. He stood, and turned to Mayra.

"Once Mianda has finished, you will practice with me." Mayra nodded and then stole a glance towards Mianda, partially hoping the dam would keep them long.

"Go Saron. Lady time." Mianda urged her husband out of the tent and Mayra could only stand silently and watch. Letting her eyes drift across the tent, she realized there was another whelping box set up, which had not been there the morning before. Curious, Mayra storde over to the reed fencing and peered inside, finding that there was no living creature looking up at her.

"Another man will bring his dog in two days. We will do this again then."

"Was that who was here yesterday?" Mayra questioned, turning to see Mianda picking up the clay bottle of vitamins for the dog. She sloshed the insides around, peering inside before answering.

"Yes." Mayra turned away from the empty whelping box to the full one to see the new mother finishing the last of her small meal. "But today, we must look after the mother, Yaiq." Mayra peered in the whelping box, counting hte puppies out of curiosity.

"Six?" She didn't turn to Mianda this time, feeling the woman drawing closer to her.

"We took her to eliminate in the afternoon and she had another. We weren't expecting it." Mayra nodded, confused.

"Can the pups stay in so long after their siblings' birth?" She asked, still watching the pups, looking to identify the new one.

"It depends." Mianda stood next to her, looking into the whelping box as well. "They don't often survive." Mayra's eyebrows scrunched as she recognized the new pup. There were a few ticks of silence as the two women watched the pups migrate back towards their mother. Some of the senseless creatures lost their way and bumped into the wall before turning around and trying for a different direction. It was almost comical watching the blind, deaf puppies whine and meander about their small cage.

One small black dog had a particularly hard time finding his mother and once he got within her reach, Yaiq simply picked the pup up, dropping him near her other pups. But besides this adorable scene, Mayra's eyes were stuck on the new pup. He was much much smaller than the rest, and unlike his very active siblings, the pup was shivering.

"Something is wrong." Mayra muttered, placing a hand on the makeshift reed wall and stepping over it to enter the whelping box. She crouched near the lone pup, scooping him up in her hands. He was not much colder than her palms, but still noticably chilled.

"The runt." Mianda informed her, almost emotionless. Mayra knew what it meant. Out of five pups, they had only hoped for three to survive. Now with six pups, and one at a severe disadvantage to his siblings, the expectation was the same. Only three would be likely to survive.

"We should warm him up. He isn't as active as the others." Mayra observed, cradling the smaller pup in her hand easily. With her other hand, she gently rubbed along his back, trying to give the pup some warmth.

"The mother has already rejected her, there is not much we can do. If she survives, it will be Kihala's miracle." Mianda spoke, a sad note in her voice. At the mention of her gender, Mayra turned the fragile pup over in her hand, examining the dog's sex for a moment before confirming Mianda's previous identification. Inching closer to the mother, Mayra set the pup down near her, but away from it's siblings, hoping it will find a chance.

"Come, Mayra." Mianda called, and Mayra turned to see she had turned back towards the chests. "I will show you how to make the meals for the mothers." Mayra sighed, watching the pup move slowly towards the smell of her mother before standing and stepping out of the cage.

[Mayra]

"Not today." Mianda spoke, placing a bread basket down on the table in the corner of the tent. Curious, Marya followed the barbarian woman, peering in as she unfolded a meat-looking patty from the cloth inside. "We found a new recipe. One of Hesbri's friends, the butcher's wife, is making them. Better way to keep the guts and grains together."

"What's in it?"

"Mostly the same. Fiber-rich grains, leftover innards, but added eggs. We will still put the vitamin oil on it, but it will be easier to gice it to her this way. Not much hassle."

"Oh." Mayra nodded at the lengthy explanation. "Two?" She looked at the small size of the patties as Mianda placed the first in Yaiq's feeding basket.

"Three?"

"You want me to get her water?"

"Please." The command was short, and Mayra felt happy she was sliding into her role as an assistant. She wasn't a complete idiot when it came to dogs, not like she was with cows, but Mayra still knew she didn't know much about birthing animals, merely taking care of them in general.

Stepping outside the tent, Mayra dipped the water basket into the vat of water by the tent and returned inside, coming to stand beside Mianda and hook the basket next to where she was hooking the food. Eagerly, Yaiq brushed off her pups with ease, coming to the food to eat before even glancing at the water.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Mayra]

"Please clean out the whelping box for me, I've got to go see Balay for something." Mianda called to Mayra, passing her at the entrance of the tent. Sighing, Mayra hooked the water on the side of the whelping box and turned around the grab the shovel and bucket. After working with the cows for so long, Mayra had decided she preferred an herbivore's waste over any other animals. Dog shit just smelled... horrible. As much was evident when Mayra stepped into the whelping box, the stench slapping her in the face.

"Oooh, fresh. My favorite." Mayra grimaced, bending to scoop up the glistening rounds of dung. But Mayra's brows dug down when it wasn't just a warm brown color in the mix, but chunks of red as well. "Oh hun, please tell me this is normal?" She murmured to the dog, scraping the last bits of shit from the grass and tapping the shovel on the bucket. There had to be some extra stuff coming out after a birth right? Surely it wasn't just the pups in there.

Mayra stood once all the feces were gathered, quickly tossing a leg over the side of the whelping box. After disposing of the feces and swishing her hands around in the cleaning water for good measure, Mayra returned to the whelping box, patting her hands dry on her shirt.

"Hey mama," She cooed, watching the pups as she neared the tail end of the Elk Dog. The pups were snoozing near her belly. Like a cute pile of multicolored fur. Of course the mother was using this chance to drag a wet tongue up the halfbreed's neck and cheek. Mayra giggled automatically, whipping the stinky wetness off her face with the back of her hand and reaching forward with the other to scruff the mother's ears. "You okay?" She smoothing her hand under the dog's chin. Settling into a crouch, Mayr patted her hand on the floor, hoping the dog has some training to understand to sit or even lay down. Obediently the dog lowered herself onto her rump, ears flashing up in attention.

She as a hunting dog, of course she understood basic commands.

"Good Mama," Mayra cooed, leaning forward towards the dog. she ran her hand down the chest of the hound, sensitive finger-pads brushing over the swollen nipples. She couldn't feel any unusual lumps, but there was no mistaking the weird feeling of a full chest of dog breasts. Giggling at her immaturity, Mayra gently pushed on Yaiq's shoulder telling the dog to lay down. Understanding the pressure, the mother surrendered to the ground, seemingly unaffected by the check up.

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Mayra]

Now that the dog was laying down, Mayra hestitated no longer, parting the fur around each nipple to check that it was regular. The dog didn't flinch at the pressure, so at least she wasn't in pain. Satisfied that everything was okay with her lactation, despite not knowing the first thing about lactations, Mayra manouvered over to the end of the dog. She lifted the short tail, to see that there was a small amount of crusty discharge, but nothing seemed unusual.

"I'll get that for ya." She muttered, standing to step out of the cage, where she came face to face with Saron.

"Did Mianda as you to check on her?" Wide eyes drifted down to the large crossed arms of the barbarian before going back up to his expression. As usual, the mixed blood could hardly recognize an emotion. Taking a hesitant step to the side, Mayra placed a hand on the edge of the whelping box, preparing to step over.

"No..." She muttered, getting out of Saron's way to grab the nearest clean rag.

"Good." Mayra perked an eyebrow up, swiveling her head back to her employer.

"But I have no idea what I am doing." She argued trying to lure a negative reply out of him as she had expected when she first saw him.

"Does anything alarm you?"

"Her nipples are fine." Mayra shrugged.

"Well then you are on a good start."

"She's got blood in her shit." Mayra added before gathering her saliva to spit on a corner of the rag. "And I have to clean her ass." She raised it up to show him as she stepped back in the whelping box. To her amusement, Yaiq was already snoozing on the floor where Mayra had left her. It was understandable of course. Popping out six pups had to take some effort.

"Good. The blood is normal, might be like that for a few days. Mianda will watch her of course, you will know if anything is wrong." Mayra nodded, lifting the dogs tail again the wipe the crust of her as. Everything in the birthing tent had been a million times mroe disgusting than the cows and yet Mayra knew she preferred this job more than the last. Even if she was wiping a dog's ass. Yaiq stirring, lifting her head to look at Marya alarmingly and the half-Chaktawe stopped once the mother was clean.

"All done, hun." She patted hte dogs rump, raising herself back to standing. "So the blood is normal, her nips are find, she's eating, drinking and sleeping well. So she is all good?"

"For now." Mianda's voice appeared behind Saron and Mayra looked over from where she tossed the rag with the dirty ones. "Looks like you took care of her without me."

The wife smiled at her and Mayra looked away, shrugging. "The blood just looked weird, so I checked her out. You sure nothing is wrong with it?"

"If its still there in a few days, we'll have to take a further look, but if it isn't, then we are all good."

Common | Tawna | Pavi "Speech" Sign | PC/NPC "Speech" Sign

[Tribal]

G R A D E S

Mayra

Experience

• Observation: 4
• Socialisation: 4
• Organisation: 2
• Animal Husbandry: 4
• Cleaning: 3
• Rhetoric: 2
• Logic: 1
• Medicine: 1

Lore

• Saron: Has a big heart
• The importance of socialising animals
• Dogs: The Runt
• Kihala: The Lifegiver
• Cooking: Fiber-rich grains
• Observation: The smell of fresh animal dung

Notes

I feel like we’re missing a skill for manipulation; Mayra is very good at it! This thread makes me love my character's job all the more. Great work thread, truly, it's good to see someone actually doing their job rather than traveling / talking. Perfect example of a model job thread here! Enjoy the rewards, let me know if there were any lore you really wanted that I've missed.