[mature] Champion.

[Ainlif]

He moved through the dark forest with the grace of a hunter, melding from one mass of shadows to the next with only a flash of deep red-gold when any sunlight pierced through and flared across his coat. Bright, amber eyes were embedded like wicked jewels in a black face, as wild and attentive as the other beasts in the forest - and the creature locked away in his mind.

His head was held low as he paced forward on a lengthy path, wide eyes unblinking and looking every bit like a dragon on a hunt. Perhaps like his mother's tattoo, now buried deeply in his mind alone. Or something similar to it. Something birthed from it and the long-lost Jungle he was raised in. That she'd been Queen of.

So long ago.

He dashed the memories away with a jerk of his head, black hair falling across his muscled neck and over his face. By all appearances, he could be tracking something. Though as reality would have it, he was retreating. Gaining distance. Others were pressing in today, strangers wandering deeper into these forgotten forests. And the last thing he wanted was to come across other people. Once upon a time, he may have been decent at it. Diplomatic, even. Perhaps it was in his blood, he thought dryly with a bitter taste in his mouth.

But he was most certainly not diplomatic.
And he was not friendly.

And he could never tell what would call the beast out, take over and consume him like a separate entity. Turn him wild and vicious. But at least he was no longer seeing the ghost of his dead child. Maybe he could say now that he was only half-crazy.

I've been on a long road with the devil right beside me

ainlif

rising with the morning sun; it’s a hunger that drives me