Zechariah

-Faeries help with small details
-Uses his plush snake to talk to hatchlings, he pretends it's real
-Gentle personality
-A little awkward (especially if he finds a dragon attractive)

The worn maroon-colored imperial reared his head back as one of his fairies flew up to his nose. She whispered something quietly in his ear, and he let out a chuckle. His voice was low and gravelly, as though he’d spent one too many years shouting whenever he grew a little too excited. The fairy landed on his nose and gazed down at the little hatchling. The tiny blue coatl looked back up at the imp with crystal green eyes.

“Hi, there, little one,” he said gently, lying down with his massive paws laying out in front of him. The other hatchlings nearby started to gather around as the baby coatl took a seat in front of Zechariah. The imperial looked down among the small hatchlings that watched him with interest. He smiled at them with affection. He loved nothing more than playing with the hatchlings in his clan. No one else dared to spend as much time with them as Zechariah was willing to.

He puppeteered his small plush boa constrictor, making it slither up beside him. A few of the hatchlings let out startled cries and scuttled back. The snake opened its mouth and let out a chuckle that sounded a lot like the one Zechariah had let out just a few minutes ago. The imperial smiled and rose back to his feet.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said as he turned away and feigned doing something else, still manipulating the plush snake to move. The snake reared its head up before lying down and grinning at the hatchlings who gathered around it. “Would you like to hear a tale that no dragon has heard from a snake’s mouth before?”

“Is it a fairy tale?” the small coatl asked scornfully, making their disdain clear. In response the snake laughed once again. The snake began to move around and in between the hatchlings. It shook its head before responding.

“No, no. It’s a story as true as you and I,” the snake rested its head on the ground and began to spin its tale. “Long ago in the plague region, there was an imperial named Zechariah. See, he was born with this love of show and sweets. He was gentle and didn’t want to hurt others if it meant his survival. He wasn’t really fitting in in the plague region, of course. But Zechariah was afraid to admit his fear in case of his plague clanmates turning on him.”

“Why would they do that? That’s ridiculous, he’s part of their family,” came a chorus of protests from the hatchlings. The snake bowed its head and slipped back to the front of the circle. Zechariah winced at the question and the memory it brought, but he kept his back turned and said nothing. Instead, he maneuvered the snake into an upright position.

“Well, it’s not the same in plague as it is in wind,” the snake admitted. “So Zechariah finally worked up the courage to leave his birth clan behind. He left in the night. The next morning was the morning he learned why he was wrong to leave his clan in the first place. A pack of mirrors were travelling through and they weren’t happy with the imperial’s presence in their territory. They attacked him all together… and Zechariah would have died if the mirrors hadn’t been chased off by a herd of centaurs passing through.

They helped Zechariah up and tended his wounds, then they escorted him out of plague. He flew all the way to the wind territory, where he met this clan. He found his specialty in making candy and telling stories, and he’s been at home here ever since,” the snake bowed its head before slithering back to Zechariah’s side.

The hatchlings crowded around him. “Is that true? Did that really happen?” they asked as they practically climbed up his legs. Zechariah laughed once again and nodded. “Yes, yes it really happened. That’s how come my eyes are red, you know.” They laughed and one by one began to saunter off.

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