Closed Baby Trouble (Lale)

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Timestamp: 19th Day of Fall, 515 AV


It was one of those days when try as Seirei might, nothing seemed to go right. Lukar and Lira had been fretful all night, waking up many times throughout the night rather than the few times they normally woke up to feed. As a result, Seirei had gotten very little sleep. Her head felt...fuzzy. As if it were wrapped up tightly, or trapped in a cloud. Her movements were sluggish, and it was difficult to think.

Despite this, Seirei had gotten up, and went about the motions of getting both herself and the twins ready to face the day. Lukar and Lira were fretful, and fussy. It took more time than usual to get them settled into feeding, burped, and changed. Feeding the twins had been a challenge. And it had only gotten worse from there.

Seirei stared at the children in her arms in weary dismay. Lukar's cries were the louder, more robust of the two. But Lira's were more shrill, and urgent. Both were demanding things that she simply didn't know how to give.

Why were they crying? They weren't hungry. They didn't need to be changed. Seirei had tried both of those things already. And they couldn't be tired because they had just woken up from their nap. How could Seirei make them stop crying if she didn't know why they were crying?

Were they sick? Seirei shifted Lukar and Lira around to free a hand so she could feel their foreheads. They didn't feel warm to her. They hadn't started eating any solid food yet, so they couldn't have eaten something that had made them sick. Their faces were flushed a bright shade of red, but that was because they were crying so hard. Wasn't it?

Seirei didn't know what else to do. She had already tried everything she could think of. But no matter what she did, Lukar and Lira kept crying. As Seirei frantically tried to think of something else she could try, she couldn't help but feel like crying herself.


Word Count12,650 words.
.
.

[Lale]

Lale Lale had began to appreciate her knew life with the Dawnwhispers, there were decidedly worse owners to have as a slave. That said adjusting to the lifestyle had been and was a challenge. The work was unfamiliar and the amount of things Lale had yet to learn was vast. Crawling out of her tent into the Chilly dawn Lale Stretched her back and let out a long yawn. The Pink and purple signs of Syna's rise were coloring the Sky and plains in a myriad of beautiful colors. Taking a moment to marvel at the Vista Lale pondered on what it was that she needed to accomplish. Taking a walk around the encampment Lale cast an eye to the animals just beginning to stir with the new day some still laying about lazily enjoying the last moments of their morning. As Lale made her way through the camp she heard one sound that didn't quite meld with the other sounds of the morning, the sound of two babies squalling coming from one of the tents. Making her way towards the tent Lale knew the Origin of the squalling, she had seen the children and the girl who cared for them, though had yet to associate with them, unsure as to if they where all children of Shahar or not, the girl seemed to Lale to only be a child herself. Lale hadn't put much thought into the subject spending most of her time busy with some job or another, but the girl and the two children hadn't escaped her notice. Making the decision that the girl was Certainly a Dawnwhisper, and as such one of Lales masters Lale made her way to the tent before stopping just outside of it. Standing there for a moment Lale pondered the Etiquette of entering someone's tent in the morning hours before deciding that if the babies were up, then so to would the girl. Poking her head into the tent Lale looked for the shape of the girl in the still dim confines of it. Spotting the girl and the two children with her Lale gave the girl a gentle smile. "Crying baby, no let sleep? If no mind, Lale help with little ones?" Lale hoped that the girl would pick up on her goodwill, It was true that they had never really talked before but they had at least seen each other within the pavilion, there were not so many people within it to begin with.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Seirei was startled when someone poked their head into her tent, but she was too frazzled for the usual wariness to take over. Instead, she was too frantic over her children to feel much of anything else. When she looked up briefly to see who it was, she recognized Lale. The woman was a giant compared to Seirei. She also looked to be several years older than she was. Normally those two things combined would make Seirei more than a little intimidated of her. But she also bore the mark of a slave; a tattoo of a red rose, and a black circle. Seirei didn't know enough about the Kenash dynasties to know which family had that symbol, but she did know that only the ruling families in Kenash had special marks for their slaves, so she knew that Lale must have belonged to one of the ruling families. A captive and a slave were essentially the same thing. Because of that, Seirei couldn't help but feel some sense of kinship with the other woman. Or maybe it wasn't that as much as the fact that she emphasized with her since she knew what it was like to be a slave.

She had seen the other woman around a few times...she was unable to call Lale a slave even in her own mind. Not after what she had endured as a captive. They never really spoken, so Seirei couldn't help but wonder what the woman wanted. Until she spoke.

"You want to help? Can you? I don't know why they're crying. They aren't hungry. They don't need to be changed. I don't think they're sick...they don't feel warm, at least. But nothing I do seems to help. No matter what I try, they won't stop crying!"

Seirei was babbling, and she knew it. She also sounded frantic, and desperate. But if Lale was willing to help, and had any ideas of what to do for the twins, Seirei was more than willing to beg for help if she needed to.


Word Count14,932 words.
.
.

[Lale]

Lale Stepping into the small tent Lale Decided that she had made a mistake, Lale barely knew anything of babies. With that in mind Lale decided she would do her very best to help the young woman out. Making her way over to the woman Lale picked up one the infants, The male infant of the two. Cradling it's small body in her arms as tenderly as she could. Lale felt as if children where made of materials that could shatter at any moment and holding the child was an act that needed to be handled with the utmost precision and softness. As Lale lifted the child Lale could feel almost immediately that there was indeed t=something the child wanted but because the vagueness of the desire Lale had to think hard on what it was exactly the child wanted. Acting on impulse Lale stepped backwards out of the tent with the baby in arms and Held the baby close against he to shield it against that first puff of brisk air. The child gasped at the new environment but his crying stopped as he blinked his small watery eyes and looked around. Walking around the circumference of the tent with the child cradled against her bosom Lale smiled at the little one cooing at him and talking to the infant. "You wanted to see world, no? Little man is already craving adventures?" Walking back around to the front of the tent with a slightly less fussy baby. Poking her head back into the tent Lale Looked at the girl Seirei. "baby say, he ready to see the day" "But little mama still need sleep, no?" Lale wanted to help but at the same time she didn't want to force the little woman to lose any more sleep than she already had. By the looks of it she seemed to need as much as she could get.