Emberwood the black hills, the bad lands, the calloused east

When he sucked in life's first breath into his newly inflated lungs, it was released in the strong cry that his mother longed to hear. Tiny jaws parted wide to wail his offense at being forced into the unknown and being so roughly handled. Something poked and prodded at his little face, smoothed across his ashen dorsal, and he attempted to writhe away fearfully from every gesture.

Finally, the boy who was to be named Sundance's yowls quietened to soft mewling. Entirely unaware of the emotion brought forth by his arrival, he simply scooted close to his dam - tiny nose trailing the length of a pallid forelimb in search of her warmth and comfort.