Sunbeam Lair dark beauty

Noctura the warrior, the fool with heart and mind in solid war against his instinct, stood and regarded his new home. It was beautiful and soulful. A huge cavern deep within the mountain range, reminiscent in many ways to the one in Thunder Dome... which he missed with a quiet sorrow. Thunder Dome had been the first place he'd ever been welcome, but he was training himself not to think like that — Ryūjin itself was the first group that had ever welcomed him, it had naught to do with the land on which he trod. His sweetest memory of that place had been a discovery he'd shared with Asterr — a narrow plateau atop the Dome that overlooked the forest within. Memories like these made it impossible for him to resign from the pack as he'd planned. His feelings for Asterr made self-banishment a painful folly.

It was almost dawn, and the first hints of sunlight shot over the horizon and slanted through into Sunbeam Layer. Noctura walked among it all, so big and composed his form was almost slowmo in its elegance, his silver eyes seeking something to distract him from thoughts and feelings both.