Description:
Zala is very accepting of odd quirks and has a few of her own. She can be rather reckless when it comes to fighting in the way that she’ll charge into things without thinking about a strategy or even bothering to think about whether or not she can beat the enemy. She tends to speak her mind more often than not and gets herself into unpleasant situations. She is extremely stubborn and persistent when it comes down to it and has a hard time admitting she was wrong in arguments. She also has the tendency to collect random trinkets that are typically useless. Zala loves to wake people up by grabbing her stick that was wrapped in snake skin that she keeps hidden in her lair and sliding it gently across the sleeping dragons scales and if that doesn’t work she resorts to screaming “Oh no! There’s an extremely venomous snake on *Insert dragon name here*!!!”. And if it still doesn’t work it’s because that dragon has had this happen to them before and they don’t care anymore. When that happens Zala starts pouting and goes to sulk in her lair in a weird attempt to guilt tripping them into at least pretending to be scared (it usually doesn’t work).







Backstory:
Zala has been traveling around Sornieth on her own for as long as she could remember. Sometimes she would buddy up with a random dragon that she got along with for a little bit before they went their separate ways. On one particularly sunny evening she stumbled across a heavily wounded Alstronemeria Fox laying in blood soaked moss. The fox growled weakly as Zala approached it. Zala ignored the fox’s warning and walked up to it hurriedly, the fox stared at her with drooping eyelids before giving up and dropping it’s head to the ground most likely expecting to be finished off.

Zala mentally cursed herself for not learning any healing spells and quickly took off her black linen wing wraps and begun wrapping up the deepest wound, a large gash on it’s side that was still bleeding profusely. After she was done wrapping up whatever she could with the linen wraps she took off her scarf and carefully wrapped up the fox so that she could pick it up without hurting it more. Carrying the bundled up fox by her teeth she started walking in the direction of a certain fae dragons house. The fae was a nature dragon going by the name Korinne. She specialized in healing magic and also knew her way around herbal medicines.

Luckily Zala didn’t have to walk far since Korrine’s clan was set up nearby. She wandered through the lush Everbloom Gardens until she came across a familiar area. There was a pool of crystal clear water surrounded by trees still in bloom, beautiful wildflowers were scattered around the pool in clumps of bright colours. There were brightly coloured dragons all together eating and enjoying each others company. Zala started walking around the lake towards where the nature clan was gathered.

A young spiral only a few days old with a mix of bright green and pink scales noticed her first and and bounded over to her with bright green eyes with a touch of yellow swirling in her irises. “Who are you? I’m Mimi! Whatcha’ holding? Is it important? I bet it’s important, isn’t it! Ooh, show me, show me!” The dragonet started bombarding Zala with questions and bouncing up and down trying to get a look what she was holding.

The other dragons took notice of the newcomer and a skydancer quickly shot out of the crowd and over to the young spiral. He studied Zala suspiciously for a few moments no doubt trying to read her emotions and energy, with a swift nod of his chocolate brown head he turned back to his clan and called out to them “She’s safe, don’t worry!”. He gestured for her to follow him and he began walking back to his clan with the spiral running in front of him giggling a bit.

Zala walked after them being careful not to let the fox hit anything. She put the fox down gently in front of her and rubbed her aching neck before scanning the crowd of dragons. She saw a few familiar faces but not the dragon she was looking for. “Do any of you know where Korinne is?” I asked them. Tulip, a large Guardian with bright red and yellow scales, nodded and told the chocolate coloured Skydancer to get Korinne.

Tulip is the leader of the Flora clan and her charge is this beautiful pool her clan lives beside. Zala looked around and spotted Flora’s mate, a Tundra named Ember. He was named after his glorious fire coloured fur and had kind brown eyes. He was, like most dragons, way smaller than his mate Tulip, but he was still a bit bigger than Zala was. She sensed a strong magical presence approaching from the right, Zala glanced over and saw the chocolate brown skydancer flying with a small bag in his talons and a tiny blue fae on his back. Zala twitched her tail impatiently as she waited for them to land.

The Fae jumped off of the Skydancers back as soon as she recognized Zala and began flapping her icy blue wings furiously. Korinne landed in front of the bundled up fox, her deep blue scales rippled as she trotted up to it immediately understanding the situation. Her crest perked up slightly as she unwrapped the Alstroemeria fox. she was encased in a soft glow and Zala could feel the magic gathering inside of Korinne’s tiny body. There was a green glow as she used the healing spell known as aid.

Zala watched in amazement as skin and fur knit themselves over the wounds and the fox’s breathing evened out. Korinne stared at the fox for a few moments before looking up at Zala “She’ll be fine after she wakes up.” Korinne said in her usual monotone voice before turning away and climbing onto the back of a dark green imperial who was snacking on some dandelions. “We will watch the fox until it wakes if you would like to leave now.” Tulip informed Zala. “Thanks but i’d like to stay with it to make sure it’s okay if that’s alright with you.” she replied whilst retrieving her scarf and wrapping it around her neck.

Tulip gave a nod and turned to address her clan “This is Zala, she will be staying with us until the Alstroemeria fox has awoken and is ready to leave.” she paused to let her words soak in before continuing “River, will you show Zala to the the unoccupied den for me?” A wildclaw with large blue wings with thin darker blue lines running across making it look like there was a current, he had a silver cherub body and a sparkling cornflower capsule underbelly, he gave a brief nod before walking over to Zala.

“follow me.” He told her quietly before he started to walk in the direction of a cave carved out of a small hill covered in vibrant tulips. She carefully picked up the fox by its scruff and followed the quiet wildclaw into the cave.

They walked down a slant and the dirt and clay covering the walls slowly turned to rock. After walking in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes they got to the end of the corridor. “You can stay in here until you’re ready to leave. Feel free to leave the cave whenever you want.” he told her while shifting his weight from talon to talon anxiously. Zala gave a small nod of acknowledgement and walked into the den so that she could put the fox down. “Thank you River!” she called out once her mouth was free. She smiled as she heard a quiet “you’re welcome.” from outside the den.

Now that she was laying down she felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her making her eyelids droop heavily. She used her wing as a blanket for the sleeping fox and gave into sleep. Zala awoke to something slimy and wet touching her face. She sat up alarmed and started wiping her face, she looked down at the bright fuchsia fox standing in front of her. “I see you’re feeling better.” Zala noted, earning a high pitched yip from the fox. “Here, I’ll show you the way back outside.” she told the fox. Zala turned and started walking with the fox trotting behind her.

Morning sunlight hit her scales when they made it out. Zala saw a early morning hunting patrol getting ready to leave and walked over to them “Hey, could you give Tulip my thanks, I have to be heading out now. Thank you.” a couple of them nodded before they headed out for their patrol. Zala turned back to the fox “You can leave now if you’d like.” She told it. The fox sat there for a few moments seemingly debating something before it yipped and ran over to Zala rubbing against her briefly. Zala blinked “Alright, well if you’re going to be staying with me you’ll need a name…” Zala trailed of thinking back to what Korinne said about the fox being female. “ Well, you’re an Alstroemeria fox so why not Meria?” she asked earning an unimpressed expression from the fox. “Too cheesy? Okay… What about Kara?” Zala suggested. The fox was silent for a few moments before it yipped happily “Okay Kara, let’s head out!” Zala cheered. They set out and continued their travels together.

After a few weeks of traveling together the duo found themselves at the outskirts of The Tangled Wood. Zala grinned at Kara and practically skipped into the mist that seemed to permanently cling to the Shadow Zone with Kara following close behind her. They wandered through the dark forest dotted with large luminescent fungi inspecting everything with wide-eyed fascination. Kara stopped suddenly, her ears flicking around. “What is it?” Zala whispered quietly. She could sense a quite a few magic users nearby, as much as Zala wanted to believe they were other dragons she also knew of a few hostile creatures that used magic.

Zala pinpointed the location of the newcomers, her eyes widened when she realized they were completely surrounded. She got into a defensive position and started charging up magic in preparation. A group of Serthis slithered out menacingly from the thick mist. Zala sent a dark bolt towards a Opheodrys Serthis only to be hit in the side by a Vile bolt. Kara was doing her best to avoid getting hit while she bit at any Serthis she could get close to.

Zala was unable to dodge the magic attacks being sent her way and was close to passing out from pain. There was a loud roar from her left, everyone stopped for a moment at the new arrival. It was a Guardian with royal purple scales and blood red wings, he bared his teeth and immediately jumped into action. The Serthis didn’t hesitate to start pelting him with magic attacks. He grabbed the nearest one and bit down on its tail and drawing blood.

The battle raged on and eventually all of the Serthis were either dead on the ground or retreated. Zala was breathing heavily and winced in pain as she limped over to their saviour. “Thank you for saving us.” she said gratefully, but the Guardian wasn’t paying attention to her. He was staring at Kara with a curious expression. “I didn’t do it for you.” He responded with a quick glance in Zala’s direction. Zala furrowed her brows “Why did you help us then?” she asked him. “This Alstroemeria fox is my charge.” He stated matter of factly . Zala’s brows shot up so high they’d have shot up into the sky if not for the fact that they were attached to her face.

“You’re in love with a fox?!” She exclaimed taking a slight step back and looking at him as if he had just sprouted another head. “What? No!” He blurted with an almost horrified expression. “But isn’t a Guardians charge just the love of their life or something like that?” Zala asked tilting her head in confusion. The Guardian sighed miserably and looked at her with a hopeful expression. “Please tell me you’re joking right now.” He said in a strained voice and muffled voice due to him having his talons running down his face while he sat on his haunches. He peeked at her from behind his claws and groaned seeing her serious expression.

With one last sigh he put his talons down. “Basically, every Guardian goes on this thing called ‘The Search” where they travel around Sornieth in search for their charge. Their charge is what completes the Guardian. If a Guardians charge dies then they often lose their will to continue with their lives and are considered half of the dragon they used to be.” He explained as if she was a young dragonet (which, by the way, she wasn’t, AHEM!). “Soooo, your charge is basically the love of your life.” she said purposely trying to bug him. His tail started twitching in irritation, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

He turned to face Kara who had been watching the two dragons with a grin on her furry face. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll make sure nothing can ever hurt you again, doesn’t that sound great?” He asked her while crouching down to look her in the eye. Kara gave him a distrusting look. “My name’s Coldplay. You’ll never go hungry if you’re with me, I promise.” He said while very obviously trying to keep the desperation out of his low voice. Kara turned her head away and sidled up next to Zala who was trying desperately to avoid laughing.

Coldplay glared at Zala which just made her burst out in a fit of giggles. He looked at Kara again with a desperate expression. “Please! Please just come join me, I have a warm lair to live in if that’s what you’re worried about.” He pleaded. Zala took a few deep breaths to calm down her giggles. “you could just join us you know. We were planning on finding a place to settle down in anyways and here is as good a place as any in my opinion.” She offered the large Guardian who gave her a judgemental stare before making a long exaggerated sigh. “I guess so.” He groaned. Zala’s face lit up suddenly. “Oh! I know! We could make an entire clan here so I can hang out with other dragons while you get to hang out with the love of your life!” She exclaimed happily. “Once again, my charge is not the love of my life.” He muttered under his breath as his tail started twitching again. “Aw, don’t worry, I won’t judge you!” She Zala said with arms outstretched to give him a hug. He carefully pushed her away “look, I’ll stay with you but I’m not helping you build a clan.” He said. Kara gave him a warning glare “Fine, fine, I’ll help you build a clan.” He grumbled. The three of them disappeared into the thick mist of the forest with the sounds of their bickering echoing throughout the forest.