Oh, these little eyes || Scorch, Drustan, Any

[Scorch]

WATCH THE FLAMES CLIMB HIGH INTO THE NIGHT

Vi was not the only one to feel that pang of guilt at the thought of abandoning a child because of death, or something akin to it. In fact, she herself was a product of this event, a child left in a world where her parents no longer existed - and Scorch begrudged herself that fact every day. I should have been stronger, I should have been there for Vi instead of obsessing over Volcan, I should not have died. But these thoughts were futile, and ultimately, her child had returned to her; parabolic. Every day that she got to spend with Vi, feeling the swell of her stomach and gently  bringing smiles and laughter to her blue daughter's somber face, was a gift. A blessing.

As she traveled from her thicket, Hestoni's scent heavy on her skin, she wondered if perhaps today would be the day for her youngest child. The duties of queenship were forgotten that morning as the sun shone with the strength of a new season, warming her hide in a not unwelcome way. Eager to find out, she made her way across the short distance between her thicket and Vi's usual clearing. But her daughter was not there when she arrived, and the scent of pre-birth fluids told the rest of the story.

Slightly panicked and feeling her guilt double at the thought that she might miss the birth, Scorch tracked the scent as quickly as she could through the kingdom, stumbling just as her blind daughter had until at last she found them. Or, almost them - when she arrived, the babe's hooves had just begun to peak out of his mother's opening. Breathtaken at the sight of her daughter's struggles, Scorch kept a distance from her that allowed them to bask in the deep-seated intimacy of the post-birth haze.

Maybe she can't remember right, but no - this is the first of her children's births that she has ever witnessed.

As the child began struggling with the weight of himself as they all do at birth, the crispy rat pushed through the bracken and came wordlessly and tearfully to her daughter's side. Smiling with trembling lips, she reached out and pushed back Vi's forelock which stuck to her eyes sweatily, a mother's - and grand mother's - pride radiating almost tangibly from her big, sappy heart.

"I'm so proud of you sweetheart," She muttered emotionally into the dip of her daughter's jaw. Planting a kiss there, she waited a moment before turning to face her grandson; beautiful, beautiful boy that he was.

"Hello little Drustan," She murmured, reaching out to add her own technique to the grooming of the colt. "You will do well on this earth."

Still sniffling as her maternal emotions overflowed, she looked back up to her blind daughter, her heart squeezing painfully with the next words she spoke - but still, happiness prevailed in this exchange. "He's beautiful, Vi. Blue roan like you, blue eyed, as cute as a button. He's already strong - just like you."

Scorch

Once Khaleesi of the Amazon Jungle