°○𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝○°ᵃᵒⁿᵘⁿᵍ

06|| Delivery

"I couldn't" I say. She makes a displeased face before she tugs my arm, forcibly pulling me into the group. I freeze in shock as I feel Aonung, Tsireya and Tonowari's arms circle around me as well as hers. 

I stay tense even after we separate from one another. 

"We have an important task to do today" Ronal says as she pulls me aside. I raise a brow as she continues.

"One of the villagers has fallen into labour, which means we will be delivering a baby Metkayina!" Ronal says smiling. It was the first time I had seen a hint of excitedness on her face as she pulled me along.

"With our births, they are done in water to relieve pain. It connects our birth to our death, all being connected by the ocean. Delivering a baby is simple yet difficult. You will see." She said. 

"Umm Ronal?" I say, she stops for a second to hear what I have to say. I pull out the object Reya had given me, when she tackled me it snagged onto my waistband.

"Tsireya gave this to me and told me to ask you. What...is it?" I say holding it out for her to see. Her lips slightly tugged upwards as she held it in her hands.

"I remember when I wore this..." She exhales. She holds it against her chest, reminiscing old times.

"The Tsahìk in training will receive one of these after they have have proven themselves worthy over time." She chuckled slightly at the memory. "I worked two hard months to get mine"

She folded the material and placed it in a small satchel she had on her hip. She signalled me to follow her once again. We walked along the sand as we entered a marui where the sounds of a woman howling in pain where prominent. I watched Ronal do her work, making mental notes for the future. 

"It is time to move to the water" She declares after some inspection. Her mate picks her up, similar to how the groom picks up the bride in human shows norm made us watch. He walks her to sea and slowly lowers her. The creases on her forehead subside for a moment as a wave of relief washes over her features. She was still in pain but it was significantly much less than before. She heaved deep breaths as she was swum further into the water. 

Ronal did yet another check. Explaining to me what each of them meant. She held her ear to the woman's stomach, as well as pressing her palm to the underside of her swollen stomach.

"She will feel the need to start pushing soon, that is when the baby will arrive, it is quick but tiring. After birth the baby is put straight on the mothers chest." 

I nodded along with her words.

"I need to retrieve some after birth medicine, I will back as quick as possible" She declared, not leaving room for argument before leaving. As if Eywa was testing my luck the woman began to move.

"What's wrong?" I ask kindly, resting a hand on her shoulder. She places a hand over mine and her eyes press together strongly before opening once again. 

"I..I feel like I need to push. But the Tsahìk isn't here yet!" She yells out, worried for her soon to be born child. 

"Don't think about that. Think about how exciting it's going to feel having your child in your arms. Okay?" I say as she gives me a weak nod. She clasps her mate's hands tightly as I manoeuvre myself between her legs. 

"When you feel the need to push, do it as hard as you can." I tell her. I didn't wake up today expecting to deliver a child but here I was, about to do so. It didn't even remotely gross me out, I was just nervous. She clenched her jaw as I saw the very crown of the head appear. 

"That's it, you're doing such a great job!" I cheer. More of the head slowly reveals itself the longer she pushes. 

"I can't do this, I can't do this" She murmurs to herself as her mate tries to keep her going.