Requiem [Sirius the Jaeger]

Prologue

"A miracle is really the only way to describe motherhood and giving birth. It's unbelievable how God has made us women and babies to endure and be able to do so much. A miracle, indeed. Such an incredible blessing."
~Jennie Finch

It was a cold winter night. The wind was howling, catching the thick snowflakes in its dance. The twirling cold stung on the man's cheeks, making him feel as if thousands of needles penetrated his skin. Little white dots got caught in his hair and clothes, stopping them from twisting and turning through the black sky. The dancers he couldn't stop would lie down on his footprints, eradicating every proof of his journey. The man pulled his coat closer to his body, hoping to make the merciless cold sheathe it's sword of ice and snow again. He fought against the wind that now blew directly at him. It almost seemed as if nature itself wanted to stop him from continuing. Nevertheless, despite the attempts of the natural powers to stop him, he continued down the path like the warrior he was. Relief flooded over him as he finally saw his destination. The warm light flooding out of the hut let his face light up. He picked up his pace until he was running towards the sanctuary, using every ounce of strength left in him. As he neared the finish line, noises made their way through the howling wind to his ears. People running from one end to the other, others shouting orders, probably to the running people. Yet one sound was dominant among the others. His brain completely ignored anything else as it focused on this single sound, listening as if the man's life depended on it. His body stumbled forward, practically crashing into the warm sanctuary full of light. The sound grew louder as his eyes found the source of it. In the middle of the room, a woman lay in a bed, covered in blankets and furs. Her legs were probed up and she held onto the bedsheets for dear life. In front of her, another woman kneeled, petting her legs in a comforting manner while telling the woman what to do. She let out another pained scream, the sound the man focused on this whole time. To the left of the bed stood a man. He was already quite old and probably carried the wisdom of a whole library with him. He held the lying woman's hand, petting it as she let out another scream. Finally, the man's brain comprehended the situation and he immediately rushed towards the right side of the bed. "Nadia!" He screamed her name as he fell down to his knees, grabbing the woman's hand and copying the old man's motion. The woman held his hand in an iron grip as if it was her lifeline. "Sasha, you're here." She weakly turned her head towards her husband, looking into his beautiful blue eyes. They always managed to captivate her. She could stare into them all day, getting lost in the blue oceans. "Of course I'm here. I wouldn't miss my child's birth." He smiled at her, reassuring the beautiful woman he got to call his wife. "Took you long enough though. A pub would have been faster." The old man tried to lighten up the stressed mood. However, despite the old man's attempts, the tension in the air remained thick. Try to slice through it with a knife and it will break. "Well, the world is ending out there Gustav. I'm just glad I made it here in time". Both men looked towards the soon to be mother as she was about to open her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by another scream escaping her mouth, expressing the sheer amount of pain she was in. The woman kneeling at the end of the bed gasped and started to encourage her more. "Come on Nadia. Just a little bit more, I can see the head!" Nadia held onto the two hands, screaming once again as she used every little bit of strength left in her in a last push. Exhausted the woman fell back into the bed as new screams filled the room. The midwife held a little bundle of cloth, rubbing something inside of it. She made her way towards the mother's side, giving her the child. "It's a little baby girl. Congratulations you two." All exhaustion seemed to be forgotten as the woman held her newborn daughter in her arms. The child screamed with all her might, demanding attention. She only calmed down as her mother started to rock her back and forth, whispering quiet words to her. "Shhh. Everything alright. Mommy is here. Your daddy is right next to you, little angel." The man couldn't say a word as he stared at the young girl. His daughter. "S-she's so beautiful." He finally managed to let out these words. His wife smiled at him and held their daughter in his direction. "Here. Take your little pup." The man took the baby carefully, as if even the tiniest movement could break her. He looked down onto his child, nothing but love in his eyes. "Hello my little girl." He whispered to her. Upon hearing his voice, she opened her eyes to reveal beautiful cobalt orbs. Her eyes stared in wonder as she took in the image of her father. After a moment of silence, the corners of her mouth pulled up and she began to laugh. Much like the screams before, her voice was filled with dominance, even while laughing. "Hey Gustav, are you crying?" The woman asked, looking up to the elder, who had indeed tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes. "No, no, definitely not. There's something in my eye, that's all." He whipped away his tears taking on a stern face again. The couple started laughing alongside their newborn daughter. "You are a terrible liar." "Yeah, yeah. It's touching okay? I mean, it's the birth of a new life. A miracle. And it's about time this little miracle receives a name, don't you think?" The couple fell silent, now realizing they haven't thought about one. As if on cue, the child began laughing again, filling the room with her powerful voice. Now it was the Elders turn to laugh as he placed his hand on his hips. "Will you look at that. A newborn pup barking like a wolf." Suddenly, the woman's face lit up as she got an idea. "Bark you say? Then how about Laika?" Her husband looked at the little girl in his arms, before gazing into her eyes. "Laika? Sounds perfect to me." "Then it's settled."

Before anything else could be said, the door flew open again. The ongoing snowstorm outside revealed the couples best friends, who now rushed inside to escape the merciless storm. In front of the group stood a family, consisting of their old friends Alexei and Sachi Jirov, together with their two sons. The older of the sons, Mikhail, stood next to his father. If the couple remembered correctly, he was now 10 years old. His messy, silver hair looked much like his fathers. Overall, he resembled him pretty much. Next to the two stood Alexei's wife Sachi. She had beautiful black hair that she usually wore in a ponytail. In her arms, she held their second son, Yuliy. He was only a few months older then the newborn girl. After catching his breath, Alexei was the first to open his mouth. "Nadia, Sasha! We heard the baby was coming, so we came here as fast as we could." He drew in sharp breath of exhaustion, suggesting they ran all the way. Although this should be impossible, considering the raging storm outside. "Nadia, are you alright?" Sachi, her best friend asked concerned. Nadia still remembered the night they both ran away from their old village as if it were yesterday. They would have never guessed that they would be found by a patrol of the Sirius. They were brought to the village leader who, after hearing their story, allowed the two women to stay in Dogville. Yet, they would never expect that they both would marry a Sirius, and definitely never imagined to bear children. Nadia smiled at her friends nodding to her husband as she spoke. "I'm fine, just exhausted. Come and meet our daughter." Relief flooded over the family standing near the door. The four approached the bed the woman was lying on, as Sachi was the first to sit on the edge and look at the child in Sasha's arms. The little girl looked at the woman, contemplating whether she was posing a threat or not. However, as the woman smiled at the girl, all the doubts in her young mind were washed away. Alexei stood behind his kneeling friend, looking at the child from over his companions shoulder. Mikhail kneeled next to Sasha, looking at the newborn with wonder in his eyes. Sure, he was there when his little brother was born, but it still fascinated him. Sachi smiled at her friend nodding to her daughter. "She's beautiful. What did you name her?" "Laika. Her name is Laika." Nadia answered, gazing at her daughter lovingly. Alexei put a hand on the shoulder he looked over, squeezing it lightly. "Congratulations you two. You're parents now, you know that?" The group of friends began to laugh as the Elder approached to kneel at Sasha's side. He let his hand rest on the little girls head as her ocean blue eyes looked up at him in wonder. The man spoke slowly and quietly. If one wasn't listening completely, they may have missed the subtle thing he said to the little girl.

"Welcome to the pack, Laika. Our little miracle"