<sub>Shadowborn. A brand, widening the rift of the North and West from the East. A curse, brought upon your blood by the wrath of the Renegade One... That which extends from your father and his father before him.

Shan paused to catch her breath. Dry leaves, orange-red like tongues of fire and no doubt from the dying bough of a tree, were driven about her by the mountain breeze as she walked. The air was becoming thin, so high had she climbed up the mountain which was her clan’s favored place of training, but it was worth it. She was above civilization now, and free from its distractions… as if she didn’t have enough internal distractions already. Throughout her journey, she couldn’t help repeating her sifu’s words in her mind. Although she knew the story by heart ever since she first heard it years ago, Shan found herself looking back to it whenever she recalled her... problem.</sub>

Chapter link (I recommend that you read it and leave feedback if the excerpt hooked you): [link]

Other connected illustrations: [link] (or if devART is wonky, previous illustration: [link])

The girl is a Lucario; she's the main character in a story that began with A Lengthening of Shadows (although the two one-shots that comprise the story focus more on events that will be future catalysts in "Truth Behind the Eclipse").

This is my first piece to fully utilize a tablet for lineart, although I still return periodically to the mouse for coloring and shading large areas. However, I managed to cut the amount of time I usually spent on illustrations like these to about half as a result. I am so sorry for the gigantic gaps between artwork submissions, but it's college hell month for me and major requirements come one after the other, if not all at the same time.

Pokemon (c) to Satoshi Tajiri, but the character Shan and her gijinka form were borrowed from Chaos Githzerai.

THIS ART IS UNDER THE PROTECTION OF SPIKE, INC.