Nakai’s group were making quick time of the long distance between them and Raia, although every few days she would move to a new location, Nakai knew she had found Wang Bao since she wouldn’t be on the move for too long. Although Raia had found Wang Bao, Nakai was still nervous about Wang Bao’s condition. So much time had already passed and he was unsure of how he would find Wang Bao. The pregnancy was already high risk but now Wang Bao’s safety was on the edge of a very high cliff.
During their travel to Raia, Nakai had been counting the days between changes in location and he noticed the old doctor would move her group every three days. When Nakai woke up before sunrise, he was expecting to see Raia in another location but she hadn’t moved. They were less than 70 kilometers away thanks to them taking only a few hours to rest every night. When Nakai made sure the location was correct he ordered everyone up, making them move as fast as they could. While they ran through the dense forest, Nakai informed Nera and Wang Xei, his voice stable even though he was moving at a fast sprint.
“They haven’t changed locations yet, we need to close the gap between us before they move.”
Nera understood the urgency since there were multiple things on the line but he had to look at it from another perspective since Nakai was too close to the situation.
“What if they move? How much longer do you think Bao can last out here?”
Wang Xei called over from the other side of Nakai.
“I’ve already made a call to the Dwarf royals, they have people searching the forest on their side just in case. If we miss Bao today, I’ll tell them to move in and cut them off.”
After that, the men fell into silence as they kept running at a great speed. They didn’t stop until their men’s legs could no longer keep up with them but even then, Nakai didn’t want to stop. Had it not been for Nera, Nakai would have carried on alone. Aside from Nera, the only thing that calmed Nakai down was looking at the tracker and seeing how Raia still hadn’t moved yet. It was early evening as Nakai watched the map on his screen, seeing that Raia hadn’t moved out of the area, made Nakai both happy and nervous.
. . . . . . . . . .
When Wang Bao woke up, he didn’t know what had happened for a while. What he did know though was that he was surrounded in the stench of blood. He knew some of the smell was coming from his own bloody face but the foul smell was so thick that it could only come from a dead body or three. Wang Bao struggled to open his eyes since they were so swollen but through the slits, he could see Raia sitting sadly beside his bed. When Raia saw Wang Bao was awake, she mewled softly before nuzzling Wang Bao’s arm. Wang Bao had no strength in his body but he forced his arm to reach up and rest on Raia’s forehead, his speech slurred as he muttered.
“I knew it was you out there.”
Raia answered with another soft mewl before Wang Bao fell asleep again. Since Wang Bao was still chained up, Raia had no way of getting Wang Bao out or clean, she also didn’t want to try to get Wang Bao free since she didn’t want to risk hurting the injured man more. Instead she decided to move the dead bodies out of the room before pulling a blanket over Wang Bao. The smashed window let in a cold breeze that made Wang Bao shiver in his sleep but Raia was too big to get on the bed with him, all she could do was roam around the small cabin and drag all the blankets back to Wang Bao’s bed. Once Wang Bao was sufficiently covered in blankets, Raia went hunting for worms to munch on, keeping a keen ear on what Wang Bao was doing.
In the morning, Wang Bao woke up with a still swollen face but he could open his eyes a little more. The loose tooth from Wang Bao’s first beating felt on the verge of falling out of his face so Wang Bao painfully reached into the side of his mouth, pulling out the small bone before throwing it away. Never in his life had Wang Bao needed to have a tooth removed or any fillings, while laying on the blood bed with the thick layer of blankets on him, Wang Bao started wondering why it was him who had to be caught in all these situations. While he was lying in self pity, Raiai came back into the room through the new door in the wall, her face was slightly dirty from spending most of the night hunting worms, though Raia had done her best to clean it from her face since she remembered how uspet Wang Bao was when she got his clothes dirty.
Wang Bao couldn't have cared if Raia had gotten his clothes dirty though as he hadn’t been able to wash his body properly in the time he had been with the old doctor, relying solely on a bowl of water and rags. Wang Bao was beginning to feel hungry as he pushed the pile of blankets covering his body away, the collar connected to the chain rattled noisily and Wang Bao weakly tugged on the cold metal. Of course there was no way Wang Bao could pull the chain out of the wall and Raia gently pushed his hand away, her mouth closed around the chain to keep the tension from hurting Wang Bao before her paw pushed down on the length of chain closest to the wall. With only a little pressure from her, the chain was wrenched out of the bolts holding it to the wall.
“Thank you, Raia.”
Wang Bao leaned on Raia’s head and slowly stood out of bed, his legs felt weak and he could feel his heartbeat in the wounds on his face but Wang Bao pushed through, walking out of the blood filled room. Raia squeezed her body through the doorway and stayed close behind Wang Bao until he was on the sofa. Wang Bao’s plan had been to go to the kitchen but his legs were too weak to carry him there. Once Raia saw Wang Bao was safely laying on the sofa, she closed the bedroom door to keep the rotten smell inside then trotted a few steps to the kitchen. There was no way Raia could cook for Wang Bao but she could pull out food from the fridge and cupboards.
Wang Bao tiredly watched as the floor in front of him became filled with meat, bread and milk. The sight of the food made Wang Bao hungrier with every passing second, with a loud groan he pushed his body up. Raia sat patiently behind the food and waited for Wang Bao to point out what he wanted. Most of the morning was spent by Wang Bao tearing his sandwich apart in order to get it in his swollen mouth, washing it down with milk. After his sad meal, Wang Bao tried to move to get off the sofa but Raia stopped him, nudging him back down with utmost tenderness. Wang Bao spoke to Raia as if she was a human.
“We should go now, is Nakai close by?”
Raia let out a low purr before using her paw on either side of Wang Bao, nudging his chest gently. Wang Bao understood what she was trying to say and pushed her back while agreeing.
“Okay,okay. We’ll stay here.”
. . . . . . . .
Within one day, Nakai’s group had covered half the distance. When Nakai woke up the next morning to see that Raia was still in the same location, he felt something was wrong. She had been in the same spot for five days now, meaning that something must’ve happened to Wang Bao. Although everyone’s legs were in pain from the intense distance they had covered yesterday, Nakai ignored it and made everyone move. He was boiling up inside with the thought of Wang Bao being injured and it made his body move faster. As the hours dragged on, the distance between him and Wang Bao closed, Nakai’s fear was only becoming stronger, as if he could sense something was wrong. By the time the last of the light was fading through the treetops, the sight of a small cabin similar to all the other ones they had passed came into view. From the inside of the cabin, Raia came running out. Her mewling was filled with panic. The small group of troops scanned the area while Nakai along with Nera and Wang Xei sprinted in through the entrance of the cabin, Raia tried squeezing her way in but there was no room for her once all three men were inside.
On the floor of the living room, Wang Bao was keeled over in pain. He gripped his belly while he was on all fours. His face was still swollen and in pain but it was nothing compared to what was going on inside him. Just as Wang Bao let out a loud pained scream, Nakai was beside him. Wang Bao felt a large hand on the base of his back while Nakai took one look at Wang Bao’s bloody and bruised swollen face before standing back up in anger. Nera saw the look in Nakai’s eyes and pushed him back down the ground, his voice stern.
“Take care of Bao, I’ll look for the others.”
Nera could smell old blood and followed the scent to the bedroom, when he opened the door the foul stench multiplied, leaving everyone gagging. Although the window had been smashed open the stench still lingered in the air of the room. Nera quickly shut the door before returning to Nakai’s side. When he crouched down, he could hear Nakai trying to find out what was wrong.
“Wang Bao, what does the pain feel like.”
“I feel like I’m being ripped apart~”
Nakai felt around Wang Bao’s bulbous belly that had grown to the size of a full term pregnancy, while he held some of the weight of Wang Bao’s heavy belly, Wang Xei was on the phone. He was talking to the Dwarves that were waiting by the border, when they heard that it was Nakai’s lover that was in trouble, they immediately crossed over and headed towards their location. The Dwarves were making their way by motorbike, so their trip would only take a few hours but they didn’t know how long Wang Bao could last with the amount of pain he was in. With the help of Nakai holding the weight of his belly, Wang Bao was able to breathe a little easier but there was still an excruciating amount of pain in his body. When Wang Bao thought the pain was subsiding, another bout of pain shot through his lower stomach. All Wang Bao could think of was the pain was too similar to the pain of labour. The thought became concreted in his mind when there was a short break from intense pain before another round kicked in. When Wang Bao felt another break in the pain, he looked up at Nakai with his disfigured face.
“I think I’m in labour.”
“What?!”
Nakai almost couldn’t register what Wang Bao had just said when he felt Wang Bao’s belly contract, the muscles tensing up painfully while Wang Bao tried to hold in another cry of pain. Nera and Wang Xei looked at each other before they bolted to the kitchen and bathroom. One of the men from outside popped his head inside to check out what all the screaming from Wang Bao was but a chair in the living room was headed straight for him. While Nakai helped Wang Bao to pull his clothing off, he shouted to the people outside.
“No one is to come inside until I say!”
Wang Bao let Nakai tug his pants off of him before he was laid back but a sharp pain hit against his spine, causing him to cry out.
“It hurts~”
The weight of the babies inside him was crushing Wang Bao’s back in the position so Nakai quickly pulled Wang Bao up to kneel. On the floor, Nakai could see Wang Bao’s water had already broken and Nera finally came over with towels. Wang Xei followed behind with hot water. Sensing that he will most likely be giving birth naturally, Wang Bao started to panic and he clawed at Nakai’s arms.
“I-I can’t ...Nakai don’t make me~ I can’t do it….I don’t..”
“Breathe, Wang Bao. The babies are coming and we’ll get through it, okay?”
Nakai helped Wang Bao work on his breathing before moving behind him, allowing Wang Bao to lean against him so he wasn’t lying down fully. Wang Bao felt his legs be hooked over Nakai’s and he just realised how exposed he was, Wang Bao tried to cover his lower half but Nakai pulled his hands away, speaking firmly.
“Don’t worry about that. The twins aren’t full term yet so they won’t be as big as Hera. Nera, what’s happening down there?”
Wang Bao shut his eyes from shame as his Brother in law used a torch to shine on his rectum. Nera had never seen a birth happen but he knew what a normal butt hole was supposed to look like.
“It’s leaking some sort of clear thick liquid, it looks to be loosening too.”
“Check how stretched he is.”
Before Nera could put his hand near his hole, Wang Bao shouted loudly.
“No! The only one touching me down there is Nakai!”
“I am behind you, how can I see how far along you are?”
Wang Xei moved to Wang Bao’s side and looked at Nakai while nodding towards Nera.
“Get in front, I’ll hold him.”
Nakai narrowed his eyes at Wang Xei as if he still couldn’t be trusted, causing Wang Xei to roll his eyes.
“I have my own lover and daughter waiting for me, get a move on before I shove my hand up Bao’s behind.”
Wang Bao shoved Wang Xei’s shoulder which garnered no movement before growling out.
“Don’t you dare!”
Nakai didn’t hesitate any longer as he switched places with Wang Xei, Nera scooched over to allow Nakai to look at what was happening with Wang Bao’s behind, Nakai then moved his hand towards Wang Bao. When he looked up and saw Wang Bao staring down at him with bruised swollen eyes, his voice was soft.
“I’m going to see how stretched you are and if one of the babies has moved down yet, tell me if it hurts.”
Nakai kept one hand on Wang Bao’s thigh that was now hanging over Wang Xei’s while his other hand pushed inside of Wang Bao’s rectum. He could already feel Wang Bao’s insides had stretched more than usual, Wang Bao’s insides were able to take all of Nakai’s hand easily, finding no problem with his forearm too. Nakai felt Wang Bao grab a hold of his hand resting on his thigh firmly, making him look up in concern.
“Does it hurt?”
Wang Bao shook his head as his eyes scrunched closed, Nakai could see Wang Bao’s stomach was tense again before he felt Wang Bao’s insides contract too. Nakai let the contraction pass before he pushed his arm in deeper, looking for Wang Bao’s womb. When Nakai was almost elbow deep he felt an opening in Wang Bao’s intestine that wasn’t supposed to be there and pushed his hand inside. The area was tender and Wang Bao groaned loudly before Nakai felt the head of a baby. The head felt close to the size of his fist which surprised him and he slowly pulled his hand out. Not bothering with wiping the viscous liquid away, he looked at Wang Bao.
“The baby is almost in your intestines, they feel slightly bigger than a human baby but not giant size.”
Wang Bao opened his mouth but nothing came out for a few seconds, when his voice returned it was higher pitch from confusion.
“What, what does that even mean?!”
“I think the doctor got the sizing wrong.”
Wang Bao wanted to say something but his voice was taken away again as another contraction hit him, this time he felt something different, as if he needed to poo. Nakai and Nera also saw a change in Wang Bao’s hole. Before Nakai could inform Wang Bao or Wang Xei, Wang Bao let out a gut wrenching scream. The babies were coming.
