Xie

She was born into a family of warriors, a ferocious and brutal clan who took the phrase "survival of the fittest" with utter seriousness. Her parents, pleased with the splattered red birthmarks covering her body, named her Xie, "blood", in hopes that she would be a great warrior, shedding the blood of her enemies.

In their band, there were only two options: fight for the clan and make it out alive, or be left to the mercy of their many enemies. The young were trained rigorously from the moment they tumbled out of their eggshells. In fact, several of Xie's clutchmates didn't survive the first few weeks of their life, so harsh was the instruction. No tears were wasted at these young deaths, and no thought given to the hatchlings after they were buried. Xie managed to survive by dint of her fierceness and her stubborn refusal to stay down. But even that was not enough to keep her from being beaten by a larger and more experienced dragon in one of her clan's many battles.

She was left broken and bloody on the battlefield, and though her clan knew that she still clung to life, they left her, because a dragon that couldn't help itself was not worthy of remaining with them. She was found by Caoimhe and Kennar, who managed to carry her, clawing and cursing, to a safe den in which she could recover. She spent days in and out of consciousness, but eventually began to heal. Caoimhe managed, with great difficulty, to pry Xie's story out of her and, realizing she had nowhere else to go, invited her to travel with them. Kennar was reluctant to take her. He had heard of her clan, and knew that any dragon who had managed to survive in it would be a trial. Caoimhe managed to talk him around in the end, however, and he could not help but pity the fierce little hatchling with a story so like his own. Xie, after a lot of squalling and fussing, grudgingly accepted Caoimhe's offer, knowing her clan would never accept a failed warrior back into their midst.

Xie is fierce, proud, stubborn, and often at least a little bit angry. She keeps her more tender emotions well buried under a healthy layer of anger and cynicism, and her moments of open affection are few and far between, though growing more frequent the longer she stays with the Windrover clan.

She has a very hot temper and can snap very quickly. One minute she's quietly sunning herself, the next she has another dragon pinned to the ground by his throat. The other dragons in the clan usually know not to mess with her, because it's not worth the revenge she will exact.

Because her birth clan abandoned her for failing to beat her opponent, or at the very least return to the clan on her own power, Xie constantly feels as if she has to prove herself, particularly in battle. She can never refuse any challenge, even if she doesn't know what she's doing, or knows that it's going to be too much for her. She will keep going until her heart bursts rather than concede that she can't do something.

Though she doesn't like to admit it, she is very fond of Caoimhe and Kennar, who took her in and showed her the first kindness she had ever received. She respects Kennar's great strength and endurance and regards him as a sort of captain. He is the only one that she will consent to take orders from. He has had to intervene several times when her temper got the best of her - such as knocking her down while she was strangling Haroun for dithering in her direction. She will usually take his interference as a sign that she has gone too far, and will find a solitary place to fume until she can get herself back under control.

Despite this, she has never quite gone too far with one of her own clan. She does feel that they are her new family, and would never (though she takes care not to let on) maim or murder one of them. Smaller injuries are fair game, though, and her idea of a small injury is considerably broader than most other dragons' definitions.

She is rather dismissive of the more scholarly pursuits, but secretly she is very impressed with any dragon that has a wide breadth of knowledge, since all she really knows is fighting. Though she tries to act as if she doesn't really care, and would never admit it aloud, she is absolutely, completely and utterly tip-over-tail in love with her mate, Jian. She admires his knowledge and believes (but would also never say) that he knows just everything in the world. He is one of the few dragons she trusts will never let her down. Jian understands her very well and knows how she feels about him. He recognizes that her indifferent attitude is her defense mechanism, so he doesn't let it bother him.

In spite of the fact that she acts as if she couldn't care less about her clan, heaven help any outsider who tries to mess with them. They will find themselves with a face full of teeth and claws, and absolutely no mercy.