ORIGIN

And just like that, the dingo was rapidly retreating, with a chorus of victorious bellows to aid its escape. Czernobog danced in place, grunting, as if playing his own victory theme song, tail wagging wildly - before freezing at the bleat of the baby, turning to it with a soft huff. The soft touch at his neck made him flinch for one heart-tripping moment, remembering the feel of fangs and venom, but she simply nuzzled him with her tiny... horn... things? And turned to lay down.

Another bleat had him moving, and he grinned, tip-tapping over to where the fawn lay, flopping onto his side with a contented sigh, ears flicking lazily as the blood streaming from his new bite wound began to slow. Eyeing the newborn, Czernobog took one deep breath, then another, trying to come up with a word for it. Too big for a hat. No singer. Not a boat... The term flashed across his mind, and he sat up with a jolt, grinning and leaning forward to lick a messy stripe up the fawn's face, as if in greeting.

"Baaaaaaby!"

A memory tickled at his mind, of his boat welcoming him into the world, teaching how to hunt. Czernobog glanced around, too tired to hunt, and finally settled on ripping a good handful of plants out of the ground and placing them in front of Isi. "Fooooood?"

Czernobog's maw split into a wide grin, eyes practically sparkling as his front hooves tapped against the ground happily. The offered leaves were snuffled, grunted at, and glared at, before being scooped into the boar's gob, quickly disappearing down his throat with a content grumble.

At the babe's bleating, the piglet blinked, huffing, scooting forward a bit to stare in the direction the aggressive fluffy thing had run off, gaze shifting from their to the fawn and back again. Czernobog's snoot came forward to nudge against the newborn's cheek, turning to point in the direction the aggressor had run off.

"Foeeee. Intruuuder. Huuuuuurt," the boar grated out, wheezing between words, trying his best to explain just why he didn't want his charge to run off after the dingo. "Youuu. Saaaaafe. Staaaaaaaay."