Beatrix

CW: Transph*bia in the character's past.

Growing up, Beatrix had always felt... different. Different from her peers, different from her parents, who adorned her in articles of cloth that she didn't like but that her parents said were befitting a young male. But that wasn't what Beatrix wanted; instead it was a yearning for flowing cloths and bright adornments. It was more than that, though. It was a feeling deep down that -- maybe she was different. It wasn't just a feeling, it was fact, and figuring it out was a long and hard road. Her original clan was unkind, saying such 'imagination' wasn't befitting the current landscape they were forced to live in - that there were more important matters. Younger dragons teased her. For a long time her parents insisted she dress in a masculine manner in spite of her feelings. But Beatrix never dropped it, never stopped insisting that she was who she was - a female.

But not hiding this fact from her original clanmates led to further teasing and sometimes vitriol, which had a cost on Beatrix. She hid herself, tucking bits of her personality deep into her psyche, compartmentalizing pieces of herself. She started to withdraw into her own space, her own little world. It was a layer of protection for her and Beatrix quickly learned that no one could say a mean word to you if you simply didn't talk to them.

Inevitably it wasn't quite enough. Inevitably Beatrix had to get out, outoutout and away from the stifling clan she lived with. She packed small bags of hope, a little treasure, a little food, a little warmth, and attached them to her sides. She wrote a goodbye letter to her parents. And then she walked, braving different landscapes of varying levels of difficulty. Some void of water, some void of vegetation and other foods. Some where blizzards were so ferocious she had to hide behind rocks and squeeze her eyes shut, clutching into herself to fend from the cold.

And it was behind one of these rocks, one cold, treacherous night, that suddenly warmth overwhelmed her. She looked up into the eyes of a beautiful spiral who called himself Lumos. That night she was saved; it was Lumos who rescued her, Lumos who introduced her to his clan, Lumos who gave her beautiful, glowing flower garlands and nightshrounds. To this day Beatrix can be found keeping herself to the outskirts of the clan, talking only to Lumos, skittish and frightful of others. But Lumos didn't just save her that night, he gave her acceptance and hope, and every day she grows just a little bit stronger.

-- @boringmurderer