Eugene

Born a guardian, Eugene had thought he had everything figured out. He would make a living off of others, stealing their treasures and jewels from their lairs. Why sweat and toil for a living when it took almost as much work, but not quite as much, to steal it? Once he was rich he would start his own lair, his own clan, and become as good as a king, where his servants and underlings would make him richer. And he would never, ever, find his charge.

There was no need for one. He could be perfectly happy without one, so why deal with the trouble and heartbreak they brought? He saw no point in it, had seen more than a few lives destroyed by their charges, and so refused.

So he stole and lived a life of fun, uncaring of those he hurt in the process. They weren’t his friends, weren’t some of his own, so why care?

Until he saw her.

He’d heard that a clan had been able to find quite a few rare plants- medicines, yes, but also plants that would sell for hundreds of thousands of pieces of treasure per. More than enough to keep him set up for a nice long time. And it’s not like the illnesses the plants would heal were common, so him taking them wouldn’t really be that big of a deal. So, he had cased the joint for a couple of weeks, watching the defenses, figuring out the patrols, and then he had struck.

The store room was supposed to be empty. The hunters were supposed to be out hunting, the guards were supposed to all be out on patrol on the outer borders of the clan, and the herbalists were supposed to just be gone. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone there.

But she- Rapunzel- walked in just before he could grab the plants and scram, and he froze. He froze, because seeing her physically hurt. It hurt that she stood there, looking so beautiful, hurt that this was the first time his eyes had laid upon her, hurt that she still stood so far away from him. Hurt that she wasn’t in his life right here right now, and he had to fix that.

He replaced the plant upon the shelf, knelt before her, and begged her to become his.

He had found his charge.

He dedicated his life to her, to making her happy, to protecting her, to ensuring that she wanted for nothing in this life. When the Queen allowed him to stay, he threw himself into whatever job she gave him, just glad to try and make himself better for her. He fought, he trained, he did any and everything he ever could to make things better.

He even changed himself. She was a wildclaw, one of the rarest species in the world, and for him to be worthy of her? He was…he was just a common guardian, a simple creature, and she deserved so much better.

So he found a scroll. He found a scroll that would change him, and he changed himself to match her.

There was fear, at first- fear that he had only loved her because she was his charge, but he knew. Knew that wasn’t true, knew he could be something more than his common ancestry, could become something worthy of his love.

And he was. When it came down to it, he loved her because she was her. He loved her with everything he had, with everything he was, and now he could see himself as worthy for her. Even if she disagreed, even if she loved him even when he was just a common guardian, he at least felt like he was. And for Eugene, that was enough.

(Original Pre-Plague Dragon)