Ruby

Pairbond: Cricket

Went on a bit of a journey, but she's back with me now :)
—

Ruby had not received her name from her mother, nor her father.
It had been a label, rather than a gift. Bestowed upon her by some faceless stranger and a stranded lullaby. Kept for convenience, and because she'd lived in it so long she wouldn't know who she was without it.
Born of the forest and the sea, she was neither. Raised in night and fire, both abandoned her.
So much change, so much loss. Her only constant had been herself, reliable. Her own skin and claws and bones. The deep red of her fur, blending with blood.
It spoke to her, when she was confronted by it, be it spilt from a sharp stone in the dirt, or the slash of an enemy's rage. Be it hers, or not.
She felt her blood keenly, and knew its returning trail. From nocturne hold and burning pact, she fled the familiar.
Back to the place she'd began, the chance for a home.
A chance once lost, seized again.