Vidarr once upon a time had been tiny. He had been this little squatty thing, and he'd heard from Father how many times he should apologize to his Mother for his size.
Drifa had always made it clear she did not need her husband's size to keep their gaggle of children in line. He could imagine that the scene of his own birth might have been similar to this. Drifa was pale, not even with the kisses and dusting of other shades as Svajone had. How easy it would be to picture them that way, his parents welcoming their first litter into the world. He'd never asked his mother if she had ever lost children, he realized - and it was then that the reality struck him.

As a male, he forgot the great risks that fell into the 'womens' lot.' His tongue briefly ran across her shoulder, trying to give her some comfort, something his words could not. He did not have the weeks to spend fretting over the lives you carried and grew. What a cruel act to have to lose those lives. They will. Vidarr repeated . We believe that those who have earned it find their reprieve in the afterlife. For the little ones, they are given their own paradise to rest in. Some choose and come back to us later, some remain in paradise only knowing the good and the warmth in the world. All they have felt is your love. All they have known is your care. He nosed tenderly at her forehead, wishing that he could physically take the pain and the burden from her.

He looked at her, dumbfounded for a moment, when she called him kind for staying with her. I....I would not leave you. It seemed like the most cruel thing he could have done, save perhaps ignoring her request to keep them safe It looks like a cruelty of nature. And you look like a mother doing everything she can for her children. His tone was sincere, his normally jovial, even booming at times voice was soft. He did not want to disturb them - any of them. Such tender little things they were, and he wanted to ensure that they had as much time together as could be allowed.

He swallowed down a low sound when she mentioned standing enough to bury them. It was a great deal many things that were unfair about the moment. That Svajone would have to endure it while in pain was cruel enough, but to leave this place without the babies she had loved? The babies she had desperately wanted - she had even said it herself. We will not rush. Vidarr did not want to make her uneasy or force her to move at any pace faster than she willed. Not then. It was perhaps a misplaced honor that she even included him in the notion. 'We' as if this was the woeful fate of their litter, as if Vidarr had been there from the first moment and not only for the last.

Liefi () is a name my people give their dear loved ones. He offered quietly. Does your name have a meaning? He asked her before he gently ran his tongue across the back of the nearest cub to him, tender as a new parent might have been. It did little to rouse them, but it was somehow soothing to Vidarr to give as much tenderness as he could to them. My mother's name is Drifa, it was given to her because she was pale like fresh snow. Two little girls, one little boy, who each had known safety and love and tenderness for their entire lives. Not many could claim such a thing.