The crowd had parted for the procession of religious devotees, and now it parted again at the will of the Black Tree God. From the crowd stepped forward a middled-aged female—her greying fur and untidy whiskers made her instantly recognisable as the High Executive Councillor. She came to a stop beside the writhing body of the invertebrate beast. The creature was still safely secured, wrapped breathlessly, in its parent's powerful limbs. Creaking wood began to grind and warp at the centre of the tree, the gaping hole from which the child came was being reshaped by the alien half of T-Zu-Hosto. One tentacle limb broke from the group and made for the Councillor. Mucous goop dampened her fur as The Black Tree God caressed her stubby arm, slowly slicking its limited length, before settling into the palm of her paw. They shared a mutual grip, as though lovers. She was guided by her god into the break in the tree's trunk and sat, justly, on the intricate bark wrought throne that had been created.