Gavin

In many ways, young Gavin isn't what you'd expect of a Plague dragon.

Abandoned by his parents from birth for reasons yet unknown, Gavin learned most of what he knows all by himself. Because of this, the values (if you could call them that) of the Plague Flight were not instilled in him. Only instinct governed him, and the only way in which he resembled his fellow Plague dragons was his innate aggression.

As Gavin got a little older, he found himself confused as to why those in his Flight spread disease and despair. He didn't understand the prospect of balance; didn't understand that the Plague flight was necessary to keep the world from becoming overpopulated. When he did get old enough to understand, he turned away from this logic, determined that there had to be another way to keep balance in the world without so much prolonged suffering.

Gavin was still young, though, and while his mentality was strong, his body wasn't. He was underfed and largely unskilled. One day he found himself surrounded by a group of his peers. The clan leader offered to take him in... on a few conditions. One: he was never to look for his parents - his loyalty was to be only to the clan and the Plaguebringer. Two: he was to be like them, and spread disease.

The young Skydancer didn't much like this idea, and, naive to consequences, told them so.

The clan mocked him for being a 'broken' Plague dragon and not doing what his kind and his god called him to do. Gavin hadn't expected them to be so cruel; they had made an offer and he had turned it down, that was all. But he realized now that they hadn't expected the reason he gave them. He realized now that it wasn't "okay" to be who he was, and resist his Flight's tendencies.

Words escalated into fighting. The Plague dragons went easy on him initially, if only to mock how weak and broken he was. "I'm not broken," Gavin would shout stubbornly. The clan leader's response: "Then soon you will be."

Then, the only part of him that could be considered 'normal' kicked in: he lunged savagely for the clan leader and sunk his teeth into her neck.

All hell broke loose. As the leader fell to the ground, choking and gasping, the others came after him. Gavin turned tail and ran, knowing it was his only chance of survival. But his speed was no match for theirs. He was beaten profusely. It was prolonged and got worse as it went on - the nature of disease itself. He couldn't escape the storm of talons and teeth. And as the clan leader had promised before her demise... he was broken.

Some weeks later a different clan found him. Their eyes were light purple, not red. They, too, asked if he wanted to join their clan - but this time it was without condition. Mera, another Skydancer, promised him he would be safe with them, sensing that something dreadful had happened. Her voice was young, and Gavin realized she wasn't much older than he was. He nodded, and was taken to his new home in Crystalspine Reaches.

Gavin is closest to Mera, but also gets along very well with the clan leader, Rionach. He doesn't get along wonderfully with the other Plague dragons in the clan, save for Scourge, with whom he formed a cautious friendship. He passionately upholds the clan's ideal of helping those affected by the plague. He has little regret for not joining the Plague clan that approached him. The way he sees it, the torment was worth it, despite the lasting physical and mental pain he feels... because it led him here, a place where he could live by what he had believed from the very beginning.

Gavin is still haunted by the death of the clan leader he encountered in the Scarred Wasteland... but not as much as he is haunted by the memories of his own suffering. To him, it's all the more reason to keep anyone else from being affected in such a way, so he defends his clan with vigor. All members of the clan respect him, even those who don't like all of his viewpoints.