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↬ "Beast" + "Hope"

A beast, with claws and fangs and great wings and scales as all good beasts should have. Terrifying, standing nearly three times the size of a horse overlooking the town from the shade of the great tree atop a hill at the edge of the forest. It watched, and waited, its tail flickering slowly as animals settled onto its twisted horns. A common sight for the villagers, a warning for outsiders.

Watching and waiting, letting children wander close enough to play with its shadows and stumble over its wings. They tie ribbons to its mane, painting lazy flowers across gilded scales underneath clear blue skies. Its ears twitch at the sound of birds' chirping, and a wail breaks through the stillness of the afternoon. A child fallen into the river, the current too fast, too strong for the tiny thing to fight back. The parents and those nearby struggle to reach them, small hands just barely slipping from their grasp. Their head bobs underwater, concealing tears and wails alike.

The beast leaps gracefully from her post, felling the distance in one swoop and piercing the water's surface with her snout, teeth closing around the scruff of the child's shirt. Its own claws barely graze the river's floor, scrapping against the current as it holds the child afloat. It only takes one motion, one strong fleeting foothold against the bottom is enough to topple both child and beast onto the riverbank.

The child breaks away from its fangs, running into the arms of nearby strangers from that which saved it. Their wail is muffled into the stranger's shirt as the giant form lifts itself from the ground, taking care to slither away some before shaking the water off itself as a dog would. It glances at the child, touching its snout to their cheek for a moment before taking its place back atop the hill.