Drakonas £225

Name: Drakonas (Drai)
Bloodline: N/A
Species: Dayrax
Gender: Male                             Mated to: Tahrah
Birth Date: July 9th
Parents: N/A
Cubs:
Ardatha, Glaedr, Kerowyn, Immortal | out of Tahrah

Stats: STR – 10 | RES – 8 | WIS – 6 | CHA – 8 | DEX – 8
Traits: Ears: L | Tails: L | Fangs: L | Size: L | Eyes: L | Gems: L |  Horns: L | Wings: L | Glowies: UC
Mutations: Gemstone Piebald (Moonstone)
Special Bases: N/A

------------------------------------
Personality: Reserved | Wary | Observant | Pessimistic
Drai typically avoids contact, though he is polite and friendly to those he comes across. He will not talk about his past, stating only that he came from the southern lands. He does not put up with bullying and tends to be a little more aggressive than most, but has no issues 'putting down' someone taunting him - or heaven forbid, taunting or bullying a cub. Having grown up in a pride with very few cubs, small ones are precious to him and he will fight to the death to protect their innocence.

History: Born to a restricted pack in the south, Drai did not stand out of the crowd, despite his piebald. He was a quiet and reserved little cub, watching those around him and learning quickly. Made much of by his mother for his excelling at knowledge of the world, she mentioned no few times that it was a shame there were no Al Shifa anymore. The small family lived in a small oasis on the edge of the tundra, a large cave with several rooms, though it didn't go down far enough to run into many subteranean dwarax cousins. No visitors came, no loners were sighted and it appeared as if they had the world to themselves. The alpha of their pride, Heero, was protective, constantly patrolling the restricted borders with his lieutenants to keep wild animals out. Specially trained Aero females were the hunters of the pride, going out every day in the hunting grounds - just inside the restricted area - to bring back enough food for the pride. If not for being male, Drai would have strived to become a hunter, revering them for their skill. The hunters were trained in combat and the older ones taught the cubs such as himself. Drai was only the 2nd male cub in the pride, though it gave him no favors with their father, who barely acknowledged the cubs as whole, though Drai knew he had yet to become useful to his family; then, he would be acknowledged.

Setsam, an older male lieutenant, began training the two boys, teaching them to fight and defend their territory as well as gather herbs for healing. While Brom was more interested in the fighting style, trying to impress their father, Drai soaked up the knowledge of herbs and wanted to learn more, often spending more time than allotted in searching out different plants to add to his knowledge base. Setsam was lenient, however, indulging the young cub in his thirst for knowledge.

As Drai and Brom grew, they began to notice the occasional disappearance. Brom's mother brushed it off as nothing and no one ever mentioned the missing ones, as if they never existed at all. A younger female lost her mother and began asking around, but the older females quickly shushed her. Drai tried talking to her, but later, she refused to talk about her missing mother, then started acting as if nothing had ever happened - just like the other females. Drai and Brom spoke on it a few times, but only in hushed whispers, worried they'd get in trouble. Brom eventually just shrugged and began to accept the oddity, but Drai refused to let it go. He watched and as time went on, more and more females vanished. A lieutenant vanished, causing a mild stir in the ranks beneath his father, but smoothed out as he was replaced. Drai was three years old, nearing his adulthood rites when it began to impact the pride as a whole. Less prey was being brought in and the males were having to hunt. Rumors began to spread that something was hunting them down, though the lieutenants did their best to squash that, they were clearly worried about something. The alpha simply did not acknowledge the rumors, though he told Setsam to up the cubs' training, setting the rites to a week instead of a month. Drai passed his rites of hunting - still being plenty of game around - and his observation qualities set him ahead of Brom, who took the ruling with his usual shrug, knowing Drai would most likely be the next alpha if they lived to see that day. Drai internally frowned, not wanting to be the leader of a dying pride.

One day, Heero took Drai aside and informed the startled young dayrax that it had been Brom who had been steadily and methodically maiming the hunters, leaving them in the restricted zone to die of the lurking predators. It was his duty as the newest lieutenant to take the matters into his own paws and solve the problem. Drai was heart-broken, not understanding how his childhood friend could have possibly been responsible for the steady decline, but only nodded, promising his father he would do it. For weeks, the dayrax waffled, trying to see a murderer in Brom, making his friend look at him strangely at the sullen looks he was getting suddenly, but Drai simply brushed off his concerns. Against his own judgement, Drai took Brom out for a 'hunting trip' and killed him, trying not to let the tears fall at the utter betrayal in his brother's eyes. Several days passed before the dayrax managed to return home, seeing the blood on his paws despite vigorous washing. He managed to explain away the 'tragic accident' near the border and ducked into his cave...only to be pulled back out not an hour later, accused of murdering Brom and his mother. Drai was publicly denounced by Heero himself as the dayrax stood there, dumbfounded at the turnabout and barely woke to pelt off into the forest, traversing the restricted boundary for the first time in his life. Knowing he was guilty only added speed to his paws, Drai never looked back to see if he was being chased and ran into the fog of the blooming veil. He tripped on his paws as they grew heavy, but the feeling of peace and forgiveness washed over him, making tears trail disappear into his fur before he was whisked away behind the Veil.

----

Waking up, Drai was confused, left alone with only a patchwork memory of his past. As he heaved himself up and set one paw in front of the other, his memories returned - and he wished they hadn't. Maia took his people to safety? If only he'd waited, just a little bit longer! He became a quiet hunter, traveling the forest listlessly. He stayed affable and quietly friendly to those he met, trying to hide his surprise at the sheer number of species he came across. He was startled the first time he was laughed at by the smaller grans and blinked owlishly at them, a slow burn clogging his throat at the insults and taunts. He pulled in on himself, but exploded at a dark-colored thrax when the gran insulted his mother, not understanding why being different counted against him. The compact dayrax trashed the thrax and sent the poor male limping away. Unfortunately, he then gained a reputation for being an angry brute and pulled away further from those he met.

One day, Drai was woken to a little brown cub crashing into his side as her and her golden brother came pelting down a hill. Thinking they were being attacked, the large dayrax sprang to his feet, loosing a bellow that shook the trees. Tahrah caught up with her erratic offspring and the two grans faced off, each thinking the other had harmed the cubs. Cren leaped between the two before either landed the first blow, apologizing for waking the grumpy male. Startled by the words, Drai immediately stood down, huffing slightly at the pretty thrax and lightly swatting at the shyer Amakye, who apologized as well. Drai and Tahrah struck up a conversation, commiserating on cubs - from what Drai had seen in his travels, he could agree with her - and he was able to laugh off the disturbance. He was invited to travel with them for a time and much to his surprise, he accepted, becoming closer to the granthrax the longer he stayed with them.

Eventually, Drai split off, afraid of his growing affection towards the little family and not wanting his past to catch up to him should anything happen to the cubs. Tahra, Cren and Amakye bid him a fond farewell and the thera left, not expecting to ever see them again.

----

Much to his surprise, Drai did encounter the trio again and this time, Tahrah convinced him to stay, becoming a father to the not-so-small cubs. Tahrah admitted her troubles in having cubs, so both were shocked speechless when the blue thrax turned up pregnant.