Yapok

My precious little guy Yapok. Old character and definitely one of my dearest favorites. I believe she came from around 2019?

Name (& Nicknames)

Yapok (Possum, the Executioner)

Tribe

Skywing (biologically 100% Rainwing, but has always lived in the Sky Kingdom and has always tried to be a Skywing, hating that she was born a Rainwing)

Gender

Female

Pronouns

Doesn't care, but not in a "any pronouns" way. More of a "that's a trivial matter, I could care less" way. So basically any pronouns. Feels the same way about her gender. Fun fact, they're designed so that I could write them as either male OR female (or other, idk) and it would make absolutely no difference. Basically, when I first made them, I specifically made their personality so that it could fit either gender to me, which lead to problems with deciding whether to make her a male or female back then (this was before I really knew of "other" options).

Home

Sky Kingdom

Orientation

Doesn't know, think it's trivial. She could be anything. She ends up paired with Chaos (male) though. She's definitely a demi though, I think she'd be capable of loving anyone she could actually form a close and trusting relationship with (she sees others as who they are, not as what gender they are) but otherwise doesn't actually feel attraction.

Occupation

Royal guard, executioner (against her will), prison guard, (wannabe) scientist

Significant Possessions

Trusty spear, a family heirloom dagger with a gilded and ruby-studded hilt, a pair of treasured horn rings, miscellaneous scientific stuff

Personality

Kind of the "grr I hate everyone, stay away from me for your own good, mad angry scowling at you you're not my friend" but puts anyone capable of making them smile on a pedestal cliche. Lol. Absolutely loaths being compared to or called a Rainwing in any way. Aloof and slouchy, kind of the "lone wolf" kind of person but not in an emo way or anything. Very intelligent and analytical, as well as tough and somewhat stoic. Well-mannered and polite, but if she is disrespected she will not return any respect, and may act somewhat aggressive, confrontational or cold. While she doesn't enjoy starting fights anymore, she will very much defend herself and accept a fight from someone else whom she feels slighted by. Doesn't like following anyone unless she chooses them to listen to, tending to prefer primarily taking her own orders. Has a sort of kindness and empathy buried in her shielded heart, which may ocassionally show itself in unusual actions (like giving a loaf of bread to a starving dragonet, or tending to prisoners' wounds, or worrying about anyone she truly cares for). Very serious, easily annoyed by antics. Sometimes easily annoyed in general. Kinda a bit of a grouch... And also kinda a bit lonely.
Due to damaged/weakened lungs, she doesn't speak too often and may speak sort of hesitantly or slowly. Her voice is gravelly and deep, and she kinda sounds like a chain-smoker. "When she... talks like this... it's not because she's trying to... to sound... edgy..." her lungs were damaged due to long time living in high attitudes in smokey Skywing homes since the day she hatched. It is very possible she has asthma as well, whether it was caused by or worsened by such conditions. This character may ocassionally make gasping or wheezing sounds, especially after a lot of talking or physical work, much to her horror.

Appearance & Stuff (TW for mentions of scars!)

Usually stays orange when out in the open to appear to be a Skywing, but tends to be more grayscale otherwise. See refs for a better idea. Considered slightly "deformed" (and not just because she's not a Skywing). She has a flat snout like a Mudwing that slopes downwards, rather than the typical dip between the eyes from forehead to snout in both Rainwings and Skywings (can be drawn without, idm). She was also born with seemingly webbed hind feet. The skin between the toes is stretched out, not quite like a Seawing but reminiscent of one compared to normal hind talons. (Possibly some sort of syndactyly case??) She has very piercingly pink eyes, amusingly enough, and has no Rainwing frill anymore after chopping it off. Her ears are oddly triangular shaped, being surprisingly pointy; she has long curved spikes, nose horn, and chin spike; and her horns also have an unusual shape. The magenta horn rings on each horn are unable to be removed. They were a gift from a deceased sibling and she refused to remove them as a dragonet; because the backwards point on the end of her horn, she can't remove them even if she wanted to now, and doesn't think chopping parts of her horns off to remove it is worth it. Her pupils are often in hostile slits and her posture tends to be standoffish and hunched over. She has a scar on her right wrist, a double slash running down the left side of her snout, and a glasgow grin slash on the right corner of her lip. Scar tissue prevents her lips from being shut around either of the facial scars, although untouched areas can shut just fine. The slash on the left of her face cost her some teeth, which were replaced by metal ones. The scales/skin on her tail is kinda wrinkly-looking due to a very old burn wound (inspired by the opossum stealing fire story lol), and her foretalon fingers are pink with rough skin due to more recent burn wounds. Small, faint scars decorate her body here and there from countless fights, but as mentioned they are faint. Most can only be seen from a very close inspections, having healed over quite well due to finally having a doctor. Her tail usually stays straightened out (except when curled around her spear) and her posture matches that of the typical Skywing's. She is often glaring, scowling, or just seeming to be done, although she does kinda have a rbf (partially due to the facial scars). Her tongue is pointy, but not forked, and she has an obvious pair of protruding fangs. The eyelashes are more a personalistic component of my artstyle, and therefore not necessary lol. She is very muscular (especially due to being a spear-wielder), although she is thin, lithe, and flexible like a rainwing. Unfortunately, she doesn't get a ton of food due to drought and scarcity and therefore often has visible ribs (and sometimes other major bones). It's a shock she can even fight so well.

Fighting (TW for mentions of violence, obviously)

When it comes to fighting, the most terrifying thing about them isn't their skill, strength, speed, abilities (especially since she REFUSES to intentionally use any of her Rainwing abilities besides to turn orange); it's her endurance. This character just seems to be able to take hit after hit, and they don't seem to phase her. She has an absurdly high pain tolerance and a strong will. It's not even a durability thing- you do as much damage to her as you would to the next dragon- but that it doesn't seem to stop or even slow/deter her. Simply whacking her a couple times is NOT going to win a fight, and often puts opponents into a panic when they land a decent hit but their opponent doesn't seem to even notice. Some past surviving opponents have compared her to a zombie. She tends to aim a bite for the throat in a fight, but doesn't actually like to kill. Once latched on, it is extremely difficult to get her off due to her Rainwing needle-like teeth and long fangs. She uses this method to either threaten or suffocate an opponent into submission so that she can let them go, alive but defeated. Ocassionally, Yapok may actually try to provide some basic first aid to unconscious opponents (since they can't protest), stitching up wounds and attempting to stop the bleeding and such. Additionally, to get around the inability to breath fire, she figured out how to create a flammable gas and how to protect herself from contained flame exposure wit (basically the fuels (like kerosene or paraffin) and the fire-retardant gels you may see fire-performers use in our world) and strikes her metal teeth together to create a spark. When the gas lights, it gives the illusion of her breathing fire, must to her obvious delight. Unfortunately, she is biologically a Rainwing and has Rainwing lungs which were not born accustomed to the high altitudes, thin dry air, and tons of Skywing smoke everywhere everyday for her whole life, which took its toll on her lungs. She can't fight for long extended periods of time because it gets harder and harder to breath the more exhausted she is, and she does have some lung issues she hasn't tried to remedy. Good strong well-placed blows to the chest may mess with her breathing, meaning a good blow that knocks the wind out of her will give you the uppertalon. Due to a low hung head and a well guarded fighting stance, combined with playing defense more often to give herself time to analyze an opponent and adapt before making any risky moves, this isn't easy to achieve, however. Prefers talon-to-talon combat, but if her opponent is too difficult to manage weaponless, she often ends up whipping out her spear. She is very skilled with it, utilizing all of her limbs (usually just arms & tail though) to wield it.