HERO OF THE STORY — intro

[roan ;]

[div style="width: 45%; text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: times new roman;"]♡ — Truth be told, Roan hadn't really had much time to spend with his little siblings as of late. With Brandy and Lu getting hurt, and then his mama just a little while later, the draconic feline had been kept busy not only with treating their wounds and checking up on them, but also going to collect new supplies to replace what had been used on him. Most of the time, when he ended up returning home for the day, he felt exhausted, with tiredness clinging to his every limb and dragging him towards his bedroom without so much as a second to spend with his family. Honestly, most of them were lucky if they even got a hello from the young sage before he buried himself in the blankets, eyes shut tight. He felt slightly bad about it, but he also knew that Roxie would approve of what he was doing, not wanting him to work himself dead without any sort of rest. It was just a shame that it meant he hadn't interacted so much with Margaret, despite having been so delighted to have siblings in the first place. Maggie was young, and Roan wanted to be able to be around and teach her things, but it seemed as though the world was simply against him. Still, he had asked for a way to help others, and he had certainly gotten it.

The young practically teen had all of this on his mind as he ventured towards the jungle that day, the pouch bouncing against his side woefully light. For the most part, Roan had planted and tried to cultivate little pockets of herbs that he could harvest from to fill his bag and the temple, but there were certain plants that simply wouldn't grow without the dark, damp environment of the jungle. This meant that Roan needed to delve into the jungle on his own every so often, usually not telling anyone before he went off. He hated the secrecy, but he didn't want anyone trying to stop him from doing his job, least of all his mama.

The jungle was twisting and thickly dense with growth as usual as he stepped inside, pulling his wings in close to himself and glancing around. There didn't seem to be any sort of danger today, so he felt safe in moving forward, stepping carefully over the roots of trees and avoiding the small prey animals. It was best not to scare them off, in case he got hungry later and wanted to try hunting. However, in his hunt for herbs, he was caught off guard by the presence of a foreign scent within the jungle. It was distinctly familiar, since it clung to both his pelt and his mother's, but also wholly unique. Maggie. His heart leaped up to his throat at the realization, and as he quickened his pace, sure enough, he heard Maggie's soft and startled voice shouting out an ow. The exclamation only drove Roan to move faster, practically leaping through the trees to where his little sister was. His eyes softened immediately upon seeing her, and he quickly moved over, his long tail curling to touch her side protectively. As he looked down at her injured paw, the sage muttered a bit breathlessly, "Maggie... what happened? You... you shouldn't be out here, especially not on your own. It's dangerous out here, and I'm sure mama wouldn't want you getting hurt..." The boy knew he was being hypocritical, but he just couldn't help it. Maggie was just so small, and vulnerable to everything.
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