[open] In light of the seven hells, I came to you

[Iron]

Sometime, during the night, Iron had scaled one of the trees.

He lay the length of a bough thick enough to support him, as just the tip of his tail twitched from side to side amidst the blazing leaves and barer branches around him. The panther knew that he was decently concealed despite the constant barrage of wind that shook the leaves loose from their twiggy moorings and scattered them all along the ground. Up here, he was content to be alone with nothing but the sighing of the wind through the trees. Sometimes, he smelled the horses passing below and it stirred vague thoughts of hunger and the hunt in him but the horse-part of his brain balked at them.

Iron did not hunt his own kind.

Not for food or sport.

He could have napped but the quiet crunch of leaves underfoot roused him. One yellow eye cracked open and he angled his head just so to give him a better view of below. At first all he could see was the burning miasma of color that came from the leaves still clinging to the branches of the tree but gradually, he began to make out something else - a horse! Only a mare that looked rather sorry and unkempt which accounted for the awful stink crowding his nostrils as he chuffed from up above her. She seemed in dire need of a bath and some grass to fatten her up just a little. Her rank smell made him scrape his claws along the sides of the bough that held him.

By the stars, she needed some care!

Iron did not think he was the sort to give it to her as he climbed to his full height then padded out to the end of the branch and leapt gracefully down to the ground. It just so happened to be close to her since she picked that spot to lay down in. “Giving up?” he asked in a growly sort of tone before sitting back on his melanistic haunches, the tip of his tail still just twitching from side to side like a metronome. There was no grin on his face - it’d be full of teeth and probably just frighten her anyway but the look he gave her was simply one of concern.

@[Brine] forgive the crappy post. i usually play him in tandem with his twin sister so him separate is a bit new to me lol. but i love brine, love stalking her! <3