Donadar

Donadar emerged from the Wyrmwound fully-grown and wondering her purpose. All she knew was what she saw, nothingness and herself.

She learned how to live in the harsh Plague environment, but never saw purpose in her life beyond one meal to the next.

One day, she saw something that she had never seen before: something other than her that was ALIVE.

Donadar wondered about it for a long time. It looked like a fresh kill, but it was fresher than fresh, it was moving, it heaved and breathed and bled the way she did. Instead of trying to eat it as she'd planned, Donadar tried feeding it instead. The non-kill ate painstakingly slowly, frequently vomiting up the diseased meat that Donadar brought it. But Donadar pursued. It made her feel something she had never felt before. Could this be that thing that was Purpose?

Eventually, the non-kill recovered enough to speak. But, Donadar had no way of understanding. Her life alone had been devoid of language. It took a lot of time and effort for the non-kill to teach her enough to communicate to her with words. (To this day, speech is a challenge for her)

But when it did, this is what she learned:
The non-kill was a dragon, and she was a dragon too.
The other dragon's name was Axolotl.
There was a world outside the Scarred Wasteland, where other dragons lived.
Axolotl had left that world, but either couldn't remember or couldn't say why.

Donadar and Axolotl became mates and made a nest. Donadar wondered if this was her Purpose - sharing love with Axolotl and guarding the future hatchlings. Then one day, a small dragon scraggled in to their territory. It was a baby Spiral. They quickly adopted him into their nest, hoping he would serve as a big brother to the future hatchlings. But, the little dragon never spoke. Donadar understood that.

Later, another dragon, this one older than the Spiral, came towards their lair. Donadar and Axolotl prepared to protect their nest, but the little Spiral ran between their legs to greet the stranger. The immediate trust from the little dragon put their fears to rest, and they talked to the new dragon. Keeto, his name was, told them what Donadar didn't know and what Axolotl didn't remember and what Chance (the little Spiral) didn't say: the world outside was a more dangerous place than it had ever been. Extreme overpopulation threatened dragons everywhere. Brawls for food, starvation, and unwanted and suffering dragons abounded. He and Chance had escaped but gotten separated until now.

That was when it clicked for Donadar. THAT was what her Purpose was. She would rescue unwanted dragons from the crowded world and bring them to the Scarred Wasteland, where there was unpopulated territory to carve out, and where she would teach them how to survive in it.

From then on, Donadar has dedicated herself to taking in dragons in need and protecting her clan.

Meanwhile, the Gladekeeper watched from afar, smiling to herself that her plan had worked, that the egg she had dropped into the Wyrmwound all that time ago had developed the way she wanted it to, under her sister's nose, and learned her Purpose.