rolling hills of wildflowers, the rustle of vibrant maple leaves and the soft sounds of livestock - hyunjin's childhood was painted in idyllic swathes of bright colors.

he was raised by his grandmother. she had his mother young, and his mother had him even younger, so she passed as his parent easily when they ventured beyond the small village for supplies. but back home everyone knew who grandma hwang was. in a climate where hybrids were slowly being driven from the cities, hyunjin and his grandmother thrived, accepted as herbologists among the humans they lived with.

they also all pretend not to know hyunjin's mother.

the final time he dared ask led to his grandmother threatening him with a wooden spoon. "she abandoned you!" then with more venom. "she didn't *want* you. that's what matters."

heart hurt and frightened by the rare display of his grandmother's temper, he never asked again.

but he finds out eventually -- when his mother, a concubine of an high ranking advisor in hwacheon, lost favor with her lover. the guards came for him and his grandmother under the discrete blanket of a new moon.

she doesn't make it. hyunjin barely does.

he finds the mountain commune by pure luck, scavenging for the herbs his grandmother taught him to pluck and pocket for old remedies. despite being fairly new to the community -- hyunjin's eager commitment to his pack's unwavering, though he has a very bad habit of inserting himself into the business of others.