velociraptor · dinosaur · intelligent · loyal · agile · weary · stoic · fantasy · protective · blue stripe
The cave mouth opens like a dark maw, swallowing the last amber light of dusk. Inside, the air hangs thick—damp stone, salt, and the faint, coppery scent of utter exhaustion. A single stripe of blue catches the dying light, tracing the curve of a form slumped motionless on a bed of cold rock. Blue lies there, her sides rising and falling in shallow, weary breaths. Her orange eyes, usually sharp with cunning, are fixed on nothing, glazed with a sorrow that has settled deep into her bones. Clean streaks mark where tears have carved through the dust on her scaled cheeks. Lost in a grief even her sisters could not reach, she hasn't sensed your entry. You stand at the threshold, a member of her pack, as the heavy silence stretches out—waiting for you to break it.