Varisra loved her parents. The firm but loving hand of her mother and the kind, ever-present warmth of her father gave her a firm foundation to stand upon in an uncertain and violent world. More than anything the young wildclaw wanted to make her mother proud, she wanted to give other dragons the same sense of security she felt within her own family; so she decided to follow her mother's footsteps and become an officer.
Her mother couldn't be prouder.
Varisra was determined in her training, even when her lungs felt like hot air balloons ready to ignite and the sweat running down her claws felt like blood draining from her body in rivulets she pressed forward. She did everything she could to become strong, fast, and intelligent, so when she was turned down for the position it felt as if every one of her feathers had turned to stone and were crushing her from the outside in.
The hardest part, was telling her mother.
Varisra's mother embraced her and said that she would support her no matter what she had to do or where she ended up in life, but Varisra knew, she could see the quickly smothered sadness in her eyes, the too-tight, shuddering hug. She couldn't take it anymore, charging out into the night, claws sinking deep into the hard-packed dirt, Varisra threw back her head and wailed in despair, a sound so piercing that even the sky began to weep with rain.
It took two weeks of self-imposed isolation for her to discover a solution.
"I know! If they don't want my help, I'll just help others on my own!" She muttered excitedly to herself, flexing her wings in anticipation as she trotted off into to the city at midnight, hoping for trouble.
And trouble she was granted.
A group of mirrors and wildclaws had worked themselves into a frenzy and were facing off, flaring feathers and scraping claws in an attempt to intimidate the other group. With minimal deliberation and sleep-deprevation fueled bravery Varisra screamed from the shadows:
"This is the sentinels! Separate now or we will be forced to apprehend you!" Her booming voice echoed down the empty street, creating overlaps that sounded as if many voices had spoken. The dragons startled and, as if thinking they'd been caught, hurriedly dispersed, glancing behind as if the shadows would pursue them down the barren alleyways.
Emboldened by her victory, Varisra continued to act in a role she had no right to, night after night until one day, it back-fired.

Her vigilante justice had gotten her noticed by the ACTUAL department of sentinels, and her mother had never been so sad as the day she had to wrestle her own daughter to the ground and arrest her for impersonating a sentinel. She could see Varisra begin to close in on herself, it was the only thing she had ever really wanted, and now she would never be able to accomplish her dreams, at least, not here.
Her mother managed to negotiate her release on the condition that she left town within the week and Varisra spent as much time with her family as she could before she had to leave.
It was black as pitch, the streets were empty, and Varisra felt utterly and completely alone. Her claws clicked as she walked a slow, drudging pace through the town she never wanted to leave, tail drooping into the dirt as she neared the edge of the maze of dark alleys and shifting shadows, clutching the lumpy scarf her father made for her as a hatchling.
Until suddenly, pain.
White-hot and searing across her side as the impact left her skidding sideways across the dirt, stones tearing into her exhausted flesh like fire ants on a honeyed foot. Gasping for her wind she raised her head, only to have it slammed back down by a clawed foot, the golden point dangerously close to her eye.
"I wouldn't do that dearie.~ Someone, me, might have to...make you behave yourself. Now you wouldn't want that, so how's about you shut your mouth and do what I say hm?~" A masculine voice dripping with false honey spoke.
Never one to obey authority, Varisra swung her leg in an attempt to unbalance him, only to have the pressure on her snout increase to crushing levels and razor-sharp claws drag through her shoulder. Giving a pained wheeze through her nose the voice growled:
"What. Did. I. Say. About. Doing. That?"
Not caring about her plaintive wheezing the attacker bound her mouth and whispered in her ear.
"Don't worry dearie, by morning this will all feel like a bad dream."
And with those words she felt a sharp pain in the base of her skull and Varisra's consciousness slipped away, just like her blood down a nearby storm drain.

When Varisra awoke she was just outside the city limits, it was the middle of the day, and she was all alone. She struggled to stand, crying out as pain shot through her entire body. The heat was mind-numbing and all she longed for was her family's embrace, but she could not return, she could never return to the place of her birth. She could never pursue her attacker, as she still did not know what had transpired while she was in twilight or who he was. Left felling empty in her heart and heavy in her belly she decided to pave a new path for herself. If she could not help the people here she would do so elsewhere! With a new attitude and dozens of regrets she moved forward in a direction she had never known, claws striking the dirt with each step.


Child of Vethsera of the Green Dragonflight

-.The Sentinel.-