ORIGIN

In one of the caves on the side of Ursa Minor, Asimona sat, alone, a half-eaten carcass on the freezing stone next to her. She sat at the entrance, looking out at the falling snow and the aurora gleaming above, rolling a stone in her claws. She'd found it a little while ago while hunting, just laying out on the cold mountainside. A quick check had confirmed - life brimmed from within. She'd considered taking it back to Leo, where the rest of the Lair was staying, but something had kept her here. Perhaps it was her natural call to raise children in the cold mountain rather then a volcano, or maybe it was the snowflake markings across the obsidian surface - snowfall upon hardened lava had a nice poetic contradiction in her eyes. What was once stone so hot it glowed and moved, liquid stone, was now solid, cold, and patterned with snow. She liked that - and it seemed appropriate to make the creature's new home one in the snow that dappled its stone.

Her mind made up, she clutched the stone tight in her claws and closed her eyes, letting her magical energy flow into the obsidian. It was cold, like her own aura, but she felt hot under her skin as energy passed between her and the rock. It went on for a few seconds, silent in the cave besides the howling wind outside, and then it settled. Magic thrummed from the obsidian now, which Asimona sat against the far wall of the cave, protected from the worst of the winds. She hadn't decided, yet, whether she'd raise this creature herself, or if she would simply let it grow as it would - as many creatures in the caves did. Either way, she'd return here to check on it periodically, to make sure it grew and hatched safely.

The obsidian set in place, she turned back to her meal, finishing up what was left, before pushing the bones out of the cave to tumble down the mountainside and cleaning the blood and fur off of her muzzle and claws. She stood, glancing back once more at the obsidian, before stepping out of the cave, and taking off into the skies.

*exit