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

it was the blood that first drew him in, as it does to all carnivorous beings. stigmata had missed the strife that came before, but he was unwittingly present for the goodness that came after. for the new light that had been brought into this dim, shrouded world.

oh, my child, he heard her cry - fawning over something he could not possibly see from his radius - and the sudden sound of her voice stayed his approach. she couldn't be here. surely she was tucked away in the willows; safe and surrounded by teeth... but it only took a single glance to know it was her. tucked beside only a single pair of jaws to guard her precious life, and he didn't think it was nearly enough.

her return to labor further kept him at bay, and the two shakti's combined preoccupation with the birth left him a shadow unnoticed in the middle distance. he did not try to approach until things appeared to calm once more; and even then, he stood a ways back and chuffed, lowering his dark crown respectfully as he met the blossomed mother's everlasting jade eyes.