Nymeria

Position: Care-taker of plants

Everything was a pleasant dream of sunlight, wings outstretched, back against a warm stone, her mother's voice cooing in her ears, until suddenly everything was dark. Nymeria couldn't breathe. Feeling confined and confused, the young one pushed desperately against her bonds, the wall of her prison of dreams giving way with a loud crack as she tumbled out of the shell and onto the floor in a yolky, sprawling mess.
Flinching away from the bright light, the young nocturne curled protectively into a ball, but alas! Her wings offered little shade from the aggressive sun.
"Nymeria." A familiar voice called to her.
"Come on out sweetie its okay." Scampering desperately into her mothers arms she hid from the sunlight as her mother gave a soft chuckle.
"Do not fear it child. The sun gives life to all things. Why, the sun warms the wind on our wings and makes the flowers grow and bloom." Nymeria just blinked owlishly at her.
"Come, let me show you." The hatchling dutifully trotted after her mother, her eyes slowly adjusting to the accursed sunlight.
It wasn't long before they came across a clearing filled with bamboo shoots, leafy plants, and wildflowers. Nymeria's jaw dropped in awe, earning a smile from her doting parent.
"You see my poppet? None of these flowers or herbs would grow without the sun." Nymeria continued to stare, eagerly smelling the leafy scents and bounding up to the flowers to get a closer look.
"Come now Nymeria, we must go show the clan that you've hatched." The young nocturne followed her mother, but did not take her eyes off of that clearing until it was well out of sight. She would come back one day.

And one day she did, as soon as possible of course. Nymeria became enamored with the plants, from the aster, to the nightshade, even to the rosemary growing in the various parts on the clearing, HER clearing. She got along much better with the plants than she did with other dragons after all. Her precious plants never called her names or claimed that she would infect them if she touched them with her thickly scaled paws. It's just genetics! Why couldn't they see that?! No, her plants were different, they loved her thick scales, it meant that she could dig through hard, rocky soil to make the ground fertile for any sort of plant.
She grew to love the sunlight she once loathed, for it was a friend to her plants as well. Sometimes her mother would come and see how she was doing, and she would always tell her what a wonderful job she had done with the clearing, and how proud of her daughter she was for being so passionate about something.

One evening, when her mother had just left from a visit, was when she found them. Nymeria was giving the plants a quick water when she came across some flowers she'd never seen before.
"Oh well, it couldn't hurt to give them a little water, I'll look them up in the library later to find out what their caring needs are." But as she tilted the can and poured water on them, a

Myosotis Fox

Familiar

A loyal, but forgetful companion.

2000

leapt up an gave an indignant yelp. Nymeria jerked her paw back, startled, and the can went crashing to the side. The fox gave an angry snarl and made to snap at her.
Nymeria fluttered her wings open defensively, attempting to appear larger, when the fox suddenly stopped. Afraid to move for fear of being bitten, Nymeria held stock still as the fox examined her wings with keen interest before butting their head against the semi-transparent webbing and lightly touching the flowers on their body to her wing. Hesitantly, Nymeria foldied her wings again. In response, the fox promptly curled up next to her and went to sleep. She regarded the animal with interest, sniffing at the flowers before realizing how late it was and falling asleep right then and there with her newest friend.
The fox, whom she later named Mio, decided to stay by her side and help her with the plants around the clearing.

However, all good things must come to an end and when Nymeria went back to the clan to stock up on supplies there was the largest beastclan attack her birth clan had ever suffered. Nymeria never learned how to fight, for she had been born in a time of peace, and so she fled, flying as fast as her wings would carry her through the sparks of chaos back to her safe haven, her garden. But the beastclan horde had smelled dragon all over the clearing, and set it ablaze. Screaming in anguish Nymeria dove to try to find Mio. Luckily they were alive, but covered in scratches from a fight and desperately trying to put out the roaring flames. Nymeria scooped the fox up, tears streaming from both their eyes as she flew deeper into Wind territory, desperate to get away.

The pair flew for days with almost no rest, trying to find land that another clan would not chase them out of and that wasn't over-run by hordes of tengu.
Finally, in a stretch of land covered in cliffsides and almost too close for comfort to the Twisting Crescendo, she found a large bamboo forest. Her wings drooping from exhaustion, Nymeria collapsed onto the ground with Mio and promptly slept.

When she awoke, she decided to explore the area to be sure it was safe. She could smell the scent of many dragons, but it was stale, as if the land had been abandoned. Satisfied with this, she began to explore her surroundings more freely, until Mio suddenly ran up to her with an excited bounce in her step and a happy yip on her tongue. Following Mio, Nymeria soon found herself in a massive, sheltered clearing, even larger than her previous one. Jaw dropping with a soft pop, the nocturne began to weep with joy as the sun made the grass around her glisten like glass.
She hadn't been able to save any of her plants from the fire, but she did have the seeds she had bought from a tradesdragon visiting her clan at the time of the attack. Reaching into the grass in a properly shaded location, she began to dig, her thickly scaled paws slicing through the dirt like water, but then delicately handling the pouch, as she planted the seeds that would start her new life, thistle.

Many months later and her clearing was starting to take shape. It was the morning that her thistle had just begun to bloom when she heard the sound of dozens of wings striking the air. Fear struck intself into Nymeria, but she would not lose her garden again! Charging out of the forest, she flared her wings and hissed dramatically at the dragons that were landing everywhere, Mio snarling by her side.
Most of the dragons ignored her and crawled down the cliffside into the town-like structure underneath, but a few gave her strange looks and regarded her carefully. One, a female imperial with scales that shimmered like an icy rainbow, addressed her.
"Hello friend, I am Yachi, the matriarch of this clan, may I ask what you are doing here?" Nymeria gave a nervous stutter at the power that radiated off of the plague dragon.
"I-I thought it was abandoned! But I won't leave my garden!" Her legs trembled, but her face was determined as she stood her ground. Yachi gave a soft laugh.
"Well you are welcome to stay here, we would love to have a plant care-taker in our society, what is your name poppet?" Nymeria relaxed at the sound of the familiar nickname, the one her mother used to say.
"I'm Nymeria." Yachi gave a smile and stepped out of the way as a young imperial came barreling past her.
"Hiya! I'm Roseth! I heard you are good with plants! That's great! Want to work for me at the Windchime cafe?" Nymeria gave an awkward smile as the exciteable imp continued to barrage her with questions about plants and tea, taking note how butterflies seemed to flock to Roseth, Nymeria thought she might be useful to have around for pollination purposes.

Nymeria's garden grew with the help of Lukas, Perrin, Roseth, and of course Mio and herself! She grows both the plants she loves and plants that can be used for medicine and food for the clan, she even does some part-time work at the Windchime cafe, but only to make sure the tea is steeped right and only to be able to buy more supplies she swears! The White Raven Society treats her kindly and never judges her for a condition she can't help. After all she's not the only one there with a condition. Lukas even praised her for her ability to dig through tough soil.
"Now I'm not the only one doing all the work!" He exclaimed with a deep throathed laugh. Nymeria spends her days contented with Mio in the garden, and she wouldn't have it any other way.