Banana

Who, who are you really? Banana and her nest sit smack dab in the center of the clan. Banana is universally regarded as the founder of the clan, alongside Risen, although she hardly takes credit for it. She more describes the clan's rising as something that happened around her, not necessarily because of her. She is, however, one of its leaders. She's considered mostly reliable, easy to talk to, and pretty friendly by the residents of the clan. She's most often seen tending to tasks around the clan, resting in her tree nest, or eating a sweet snack. Banana's easy going nature means she's a great person to go to if you need to vent to get something off your chest. However, she's not great at comforting others, so if you don't know her well, she can come off as insensitive. She won't judge you, though (unless it's something really bad. Then she might judge you a little). As a clan leader, Banana takes pride in the fact that clan members can approach her with issues without hesitation. Banana is at least a passing acquaintance with every member of the clan, but her closest relationship is with her eldest son, Jubilee. Having had a close relationship with her own father, she tries to emulate that with her child. She praises him, takes him to fun places, gives him life advice, and soothes him when he has a broken heart. Jubilee can feel a little suffocated when Banana becomes too overbearing, but they overall have a great relationship together. Banana is a stress eater, so when things are going wrong, you can expect to find her in her tree nest, a handful of honey-coated fire ants in hand.

Silver Springbok Familiar Graceful, majestic, stoic, and somewhat judgmental. 2500 Good Eater Award Trinkets To the fae with a guardian's appetite. (Special thanks FigmentOfOrigin.) 80 Pretty Buttercup Neck Bow Apparel Yellow is in this season! Show off your good fashion sense with a soft buttercup ribbon tied into the perfect bow. 650 Accent: Bursting Core Nocturne Female Only Brightshine Jubilee 2015. (3/12) Designed by Lukee. Itemid #11207

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Born a Fae, Banana was the runt of her nest. She was born sickly and weak, and the doctor shamans were not sure she'd survive a month.

For many weeks after she was born, her parents cradled her, cooed to her, and prayed to the Gladekeeper. "Let our daughter live," they prayed. "Let her live a full and happy life. Let her stand as tall and proud as the Behemoth itself. Please do not take her from us, Gladekeeper."

She survived her first month, and the next, and the month after that, and when she started to recover from her illness, her parents cried with joy. Their daughter would live. They couldn't ask for a better gift.

But as she grew, fast as all Fae do, something was clearly wrong.

Her sickly first few months of life had damaged her mentally in a way that couldn't be seen. Always either sleeping or crying from pain when awake, she never learned to express herself properly during the most formative months of her life, and it hindered her ability to communicate with other members of her colony significantly.

Banana didn't have many friends. Both because other Fae struggled to understand her, and because she was tired of being asked "Why are you mad at me?" or "Why are you in pain?" all the time. So she shut herself up in her parent's nest in her teenage years, refusing to interact with anyone that wasn't her parents or siblings.

The only Fae who really tried to understand her was her father, Aikka. Even if she couldn't express herself in a way he could understand, he still went out of his way to play with her, engage in her hobbies, and help her get along with others. He and her mother both tried to teach Banana to express herself, and Banana, in her late teenage years, started making progress. But it was grueling and frustrating, and often, she wanted to give up.

It was Aikka that kept her going. He cheered her up when lessons got too tough, made silly faces with her to relieve stress, and took her out to local towns and fairs. Her father really was her best friend, and her biggest supporter, growing up.

Unfortunately, her father and mother were both killed in a Raptorik attack on her colony. She fled after finding her father dead, and ended up taking a new home in a tree far to the north of Nature territory.

She met Risen at that tree, who she helped recover from a broken wing. He came back and checked on her every once in a while, and eventually made a base there. They grew quite fond of each other, even having a few clutches; along the way, other dragons came and joined her, and somehow, her lonely little nest turned into a tiny lair, and then a whole clan, without her really trying.

She still never really learned how to express herself properly; however, when the first nocturnes sprang forth from the Shadowbinder's domain, Banana found promise in the Nocturne's natural ability to mimic others. She made the change in hopes that she might yet improve her ability to communicate with others.

Her results have been... mixed, thus far. She may yet still return to being a Fae, but at this time, has not made the decision to change back yet.

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"Hmmmf. Banana says she'll take care of the bee hives today. Don't get used to it--I won't let you take advantage of her kindness forever."

"Can you ask her for the password to the vault? Banana asked me to grab the runestones for her, but neglected to tell me she'd locked them up."

"That's it! I'm confiscating your candy stash! You've gained over 30 pounds in the last month. What? What are you going to do, fire me?"

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One day, he was gone.

Her father was taken from her when a Raptorik attack descended on her colony. Banana had been secure in her parent's den when the Raptorik struck, and had not seen her mother and father die; she found Aikka's corpse slumped over a tree branch a ways away. Banana had no idea how he died, but she just knew she couldn't leave her father there.

Carefully scooping his lifeless body in her arms, she flew away, crying, with just as much raw pain as when she was a baby.

She flew aimlessly, no longer feeling safe in her own home, until her wings gave out beneath her, collapsing somewhere close to the northern shore of the Viridian Labyrinth.

She collapsed from exhaustion, both physical and emotional, still holding her father. She blacked out, for how long she didn't know; but it had been mid-day when she had fallen, and as she looked to the sky now, peering between the thinner trees that scattered the wetlands, she realized that the sun was rising to the east.

Hearing a snuffling beside her, she looked to the source, surprised to see a red Mirror there. She was incredibly alarmed, ready to run, before it opened its eyes, and the familiar green hues of a Nature dragon looked back at her. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, if she was honest with herself.

They stared at each other in silence for a while. The only noise was the chirping of birds and insects as they sat solemnly, Banana desperately clutching her father's body, the Mirror nursing a broken wing.

Eventually, the Mirror huffed, looking at Banana with squinted eyes. "So, you gonna eat that?"

Banana stared at him blankly for a moment, not sure what he meant. After a quiet 10 seconds, she grabs her father's body tighter, squeaking, "What? No! Don't touch him!"

As Banana scrabbled to get up and fly away, the Mirror hurriedly interjected, "God, I was KIDDING, kidding! I was trying to lighten the mood." He huffed and turned away from her, annoyed.

She froze for a second at the confession, then slumped back down. "That's not funny," she replied, tears in her eyes again. She clutched her father close, fingers tracing the curves of his frills. "H-he's my father." She started crying, her soft hiccupping digging into the Mirror's heart.

God, had he always been this soft?

"Fine, I just, I," he stumbled over his words, speaking up suddenly and startling Banana out of her crying, "I'm sorry, alright? I'm not good with this... stuff." He waved his paw dismissively. Banana watched him, curiously, as he struggled to find the right words to say. "Do you want help, like.... burrying th--your father?" he quickly corrected himself, before calling her father a that, lest he upset her more.

She watched him for a moment, trying to read him, but couldn't read any of his body language to see what he was feeling. Not that she was much better at reading Fae body language. "I... I appreciate the thought. But I don't know... where." Her tears fell on Aikka's head, pooling on his neck before dripping down slowly, following the arch of his neck before dripping off the edge, onto the ground below.

"Hmmph," was his elegant reply. "Well, here's as good a place as any." And so, without waiting for a response, he looked at the base of a tree right behind them, got up, and started digging.

"W-wait, what? Here?" she started to protest.

"You can't hold onto him forever, as much as you might want to." He sunk his claws into the dirt, pulling up a large chunk of roots and dirt as he uprooted a young bush. "These woods are dangerous. And he'll start decomposing before too long." He looked up from his work, to look her directly in the eye. "Eventually, you'll have to let him go." He turned back to his hole.

"Eventually, we all have to let go."

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Art by Kaniari