[Open] What is revealed to them, I cannot see.

[Mar'aat]

From far beyond the infinite dark, there must always be a ray of light.

Those were her thoughts now. In fact, those were her very first thoughts - ever since she could begin to think, or at least that she could remember. Was this it? Was this her life? To live in this warm, damp darkness. There wasn't even enough room to stretch out, though the walls were very pliable. Were they always like this? Is there something beyond eternal darkness? Curiously, the raptor extended her long, black arms. Adorned at the end were short, yet very sharp claws. Perfect for cutting pliable barriers; or so she had hoped.

Curiously and rather cautiously, the cold-blood poked and prodded at the barriers of her once comfortable pod. Eventually, it began to break. A long slit striped vertically, allowing a ray of light to intrude. It was.. so bright, so harsh, yet.. so warm and inviting. And what's this? She took in.. breaths of the delicious air enveloping her. The reptile's rounded pupils dilated to thin slits as she shifted to look out. It was so blinding, but how she loved it. But, her curiosity got the best o her. Leaning too much against the broken barrier, the slit ripped open further, causing the damp, exposed raptor to fall from her pod and onto the ground. Thud.

"E-Ehh.." a slight groan escaped her. Was this speech, or was it aggravation? The wet, scale-y beast shivered. Though the sun was out, the air hitting her damp skin sent a chill throughout her being. She looked up to the sun, glaring down at her, causing her pupils to dilate once again. Raising her left arm, she shielded her eyes from the blinding source of light as she looked to the skies. Goodness, she thought, what an amazing view. Everything's so.. big. Her emerald gaze shifted from the sky to the trees of the Orchard, and to the grass in which she fell upon. An icky fluid clung to her, the 'stuff' that protected her in the encasing pod.

Still laying on her side from falling, she looked to her protector; a lifeless, now shriveled up case in which she had remained in for so long. The raptor then focused on herself. .. Whoa. Has the darkness clung to me? Her thoughts were meant as a joke, but in a way, asked a serious question. She looked at her drying scales and short, sticky feathers. She was almost as black as the dark that ensnared her. Lowering her arm from her face, she placed it firmly against the ground and gathered up her hind legs. Standing would be difficult, but something inside her pushed her to do it.

She wobbled and fell over a couple times, but eventually her long tail worked its magic and kept her balance. Though her legs were still shaking, she took in deep breaths and stood with her tail completely straight behind her. Holding her elbows close to her with her wrists at a bend and touching, outstretched from her breast, the black beast looked out over the Orchard. "Mm.." An insignificant noise escaped her, matching her thoughts. What next? Where would she go? Staying next to her pod for now.. Might be the best. In slow, shaking movements, the raptor looked over to her prison and managed to wobble over to it. One foot in front of the other.

[Deleted]

It had been quite some time since Nerah was last here. She’d left the place of her birth for a nearby forest years ago, alongside three other creatures. Back then, there were only two known types of creatures – canine, like her, Silva, and Yamir, and feline like Antares. Now there more – a mix between the two species she had known and reptiles. Perhaps there were reptile mixes, as well, though she had yet to discover any.

The normally cheerful, multi-hued absconding canine padded between the trees, tail and ears drooping. Even though she was the oldest canine that she knew about, she still considered herself a young creature with many, many years ahead of her. Still…so much had happened in her life that – at the moment – she felt old. Yamir had disappeared over a year ago and she held no hope of seeing him again. Silva and Antares were mates and she rarely saw either of them even though they were all still pack. Her own mate – ex-mate, she reminded herself – kept coming and going, putting her heart through so many twists and aches she marveled at the fact that she could still feel joy. The son that they had created together disappeared around the same time as Yamir. Last year there had been a massive plague outbreak that nearly killed one of the trees in the orchard – the one that once housed her pod, in fact.

At least she had her daughter. And the diseases didn’t return this year. And the pods were still growing on the trees. A lot of bad had happened, but there was still good in the world, and she tried to focus on that fact rather than things in her past. Being depressed never helped anyone.

Something to her left crashed to the ground. Her thoughts forgotten, she changed direction and bounded toward it. One of the pods must have broken! That was the reason she was here in the first place – she loved greeting the new life that came from the pods. It was something she and Silva used to do together, and she saw no reason to wait for the darker canine to be available before making the short journey to the orchard to continue the little tradition. Besides, the world was lonely right now, and she could use a companion.

Nerah slowed to a stop when she saw the newly-emerged reptile. She gave the newborn a few minutes to get used to the outside of her pod, not wanting to scare her. She waited until the reptile started taking its – her – first steps, and then decided it was a good time to make her presence known.

“Hello.” She dipped her head to the newborn. “Welcome to life. I know it can be scary, but it’s actually rather nice once you get used to the light.”