Canary

The first thing that Canary remembers hearing is the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves. He was created in Canopy, in one of the many nurseries, to a couple in a tumultuous relationship. Only his mother greeted him upon his awakening, his father standing away, disinterested.

Creators are never ones to deny children to anyone, no matter the state of the parents’ relationship. And so Canary was brought into the world at the mercy of a very, very strained marriage.

His Creator whispered into his ear, however – telling him that he was destined for greatness. That he could be a great hero, and that they would watch over him every step of the way. Canary internalized this immediately…

Making it his goal to become someone that his Creator and his parents could be proud of.

Canary’s early life was somewhat chaotic. His mother and father fought often, making scenes, even in public. The time soon came where they divorced rather messily, leaving Canary with his mother, who was struggling to pick up the pieces of her broken life. She projected her insecurities onto Canary, pushing him to work hard.

It wasn’t long until Canary discovered his healing abilities. Unfortunately, they drew from a rather alarming source – his own life-force. Canary could feel his consciousness slipping away whenever he healed larger wounds. However, he never told anyone – and everyone assumed that his healing was of a normal nature.

His mother pushed him harder than ever as he discovered his healing abilities – to train as a healer, even though it wasn’t his strongest power. Canary attended schooling for healers … quickly becoming skilled despite his limited powers.

Additionally, Canary discovered his ability to connect with nature – communing with the animals and the plants of Canopy to pry into other peoples’ business (he was quickly scolded for this), and tracking others by their magic.

His schooling continued, and he only pushed himself harder.

Canary became an insatiable people-pleaser. He was always working to impress others, and do his best to help them. No amount of validation would ever be enough. The poor kid had little to no sense of self-worth outside of what others thought of him.

Whenever he failed, whenever he wasn’t “good enough”, he never blamed his circumstances, only himself. Canary quickly came to resent himself for not impressing his parents – not making it so his father stayed, not making it so that his Creator was happy with him.

“But you do impress me,” his Creator whispered to him. “You are on the right path. Just keep working hard, and you’ll get there, I promise.”

So it was that Canary pushed himself harder.

Honing his skills as he grew into adolescence, Canary climbed the ranks among Canopy’s healers until he was cut off by his limited abilities. He always admired those who taught, those who were higher amongst Canopy’s elite – a dimentia called Iho caught his attention especially.

But healing and sitting around Canopy wasn’t enough for Canary, he would soon discover. While he was on an outing in Canopy’s woods, Canary stumbled upon an injured dimentia by the name of Panther. He soon brought the temperamental dimentia back to Canopy, to be healed and cared for.

Canary took care of Panther’s care himself. The two quickly grew to become close friends, with Panther encouraging Canary to follow his dreams and break the fetters of other peoples’ expectations. Canary was hesitant, but Panther’s enthusiasm brought him hope –

“You don’t have to do what they tell you to do – you can do whatever you want! You’re you, and no one else has a say in that,” Panther had said, Canary remembers. But Canary recalled his Creator’s words, too. What would they think of what Canary was doing? Was this the right path?

Canary was answered only by silence.

That silence, that peace, wouldn’t last forever, however, and while exploring with Panther, Canary was attacked by a monster. Completely unable to defend himself, Canary was given his signature eye scar, coming out of the encounter with plenty of wounds and a damaged pride.

He quickly became bitter, angry. All that he could do was heal. He couldn’t defend himself. So it was that Canary took up the bow and the sword, investing in magical weaponry that he could defend himself properly with.

Not long after that, he’d discover his talent for song – magical song, that could bolster his allies. Never himself, though, much to his dismay … It was no matter, though. What Canary lacked in magical talent, he made up for in weaponry.

The young dimentia grew more and more bitter – but also, more determined to protect others.

Soon enough, he would be contacted by his Creator again, whispering into his ear – speaking of greatness, of heroism, of deeds that he could do to save others and protect the world. They spoke of him being heralded as a legend.

“You could be everything. You could be their entire world,” His Creator whispered. It was … tantalizing, but it also scared Canary. What did his Creator mean, their entire world? He wasn’t sure, and so …

Canary continued onward, deciding not to think about it too hard.

Growing into a mostly-functional adult, Canary soon heard stories of that dimentia, Iho, setting off in search of adventure. This struck a chord in him – and he decided that he was to leave Canopy, as soon as possible. Panther agreed, and let him go – the two parting ways to go on their own adventures.

Canary became an adventurer. A traveling helper who lent a hand to anyone in need, be it with slaying monsters, delivering messages or packages, or even just offering an ear to listen to their woes. Unbeknownst to him, he was doing exactly what his Creator wanted.

“You’re doing wonderfully,” Their voice whispered. “Keep this up, and you’ll be everything to them.”

The day would soon come, however, when Canary’s luck would run short. He came across a band of shady dimentia, obviously up to no good, in a war-torn dimension. To make a long story short, he got in the middle, and then ██ ███ ████ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ ██ ████ ██ █████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ████

– Canary woke up some time later, in the mountains of Cloudtop, buried in the earth. He dug his way out, he vaguely remembers. Some time later, in his flickering consciousness, he was found by a patrol.

They told him – “Your pulse had stopped. We thought you dead – but then you started breathing!”

And Canary found himself puzzled. He had no memory of being knocked unconscious, or worse … So why would his pulse have stopped? Everything predating his awakening was somewhat fuzzy. At least, the bits where he … Well – he couldn’t remember what led him here.

“I saved you,” His Creator’s voice whispered. “You are too important to die.”

And those words have haunted him since. Canary knows not what to make of his current situation, having apparently died and been brought back by the hands of his Creator. There is a distinct bitterness, a resentment around the events of his death, when he tries to remember.

Canary started to wander … and eventually ran across the Retcons.

Joining the Retcons was a somewhat difficult, but seemingly necessary decision for Canary. He wanted to take shelter, to hide from his Creator – even though he knew that was impossible. His Creator would manipulate his actions no matter what he did, he knew.

He stays with the Retcons to shelter not only himself, but others who may need sanctuary. Canary welcomes anyone arriving at the Retcons with open arms and warm words. Creators know he needed some himself in the past.

Canary wishes to see Panther again, and often wonders what became of him.