Kingsnake

He/Him

Name Pronounciation King-snake Mate Crow.. although they are in another world. Familiar Gearworker Job Helping travelers through the Barren Forest

Kingsnake

Lore
Kingsnake wandered through the forest, wondering what had happened. He was swimming in the Ocean happily just a moment ago. Snow glittered on the trees happily, and he sighed, wishing that he was back home. He had noticed that a bird was circling around him, probably thinking of him as prey. When they dived down onto his head, he did not exactly know what to do except suddenly blurt out "Roxy." and pet the bird. They held a lantern and looked at him. "A guide? Is that what you are, Roxy?" He said.

Most worlds don't have skeleton birds there to guide you through forests. Actually, most dragons don't form emotional attachments to skeleton birds. Kingsnake was not most dragons, and this world was not like most worlds. He felt pretty bare without his cloud halo and green bandanna, so he kind of just dug around the forest. It didn't take him too long to find spare pieces of cloth and leaves, although they were very dirty, they made him feel better. When he finished, he looked a lot like some forest beast.

It was just a while after dressing that he realized that he was in fact, not himself anymore. He did not have the fully feathered wings, he did not have whiskers, or eyebrow things, or tail fins, or anything else he knew he had before coming here. He wiped tears away, thinking about how it was likely he wouldn't ever end up back home.

He walked in silence for a while, before entering a clearing with fire and dragons around it. He felt like he was intruding, but what choice did he have? Go back in the dark forest and also undo all of Roxy's help? Nope. Couldn't.

He looked at the strange dragons. A sort of raptor who looked like they didn't want to be there, a tiny dragon who looked kind of innocent, two much larger dragons who were bulky and webbed, and lastly a giant dragon that looked almost like a Taihoa with wings.

He slowly walked into the clearing, gently, with his head down. "H-hey..? Do you know the area well?" He asked. The dragons all looked at him, confused. One of the dragons webbed dropped some food they were eating, scowled, and picked it back up again.

"You- you have at least met the other dragons here, right? Know that we're the dangerous ones?" The grey and blue one asked him back. Kingsnake shook his head. They sighed and spoke again. "Guess we should introduce ourselves. The edgy black one is Deathling, the purple lonely one is Fjord, the tooth loser is Lorcan, the weird tiny one is Venom, and I'm Coriander." He snorted at 'Tooth loser' and thanked Coriander. "I'm Kingsnake, and I'm not really.. from around here."
"No surprise at that point, nobody would wander in here and interact with the Hazebeacon." Deathling said. "Anyways," They continued, "It's time for the stupidity test." Fjord protested "You can't just go around giving literal poison to everybody you meet."

Too late, for she had given him the poison and he had downed it. Deathling wheezed, Fjord facepalmed, Venom was still in shock, and Coriander laughed. He looked confused. "Can I have some more? That tasted kind of nice, for poison."

Coriander and Fjord found a little less humor in that statement. "No." was Deathling's answer.

Kingsnake, after spending some time there, left and decided to explore the forest a little more. He made a home for himself near the clearing, pinned a map in the house, and found the entrance to the forest. The clearing was surprisingly close to the entrance. He thought for a moment, and decided that if he was going to stay here for a long time, he might as well do something. He then built a stall, somehow found a bell, and came to the conclusion that he should guide other dragons with the company of Roxy.

One day a lone Spangyroo walked up to the stall and started making additions and fixing it up. Kingsnake walked back to see this, and took them under his wing. He makes things with the help of Roxy and as he calls them, Gearworker.

Kingsnake, after a while of living here, found a shiny stone. It was a rock similar to one that Crow had given him many years ago, a gift before they were even real friends.. Kingsnake gave it a sad smile and took it to his home, then surrounded it with dried flowers.

He later learned of it being called a fortification agate. He'd just have to hold still, for now.. Like the rock.

~~~
(Read Dreamworld's Lore before continuing.)

Esca. Dreamworld Esca. There was a time, once, when he fell in love with the dreamer. He loved the unique creativity of her, her beautiful blue fur that seemed deeper than the oceans he lived in, the way she rambled on about dreams of other worlds. He suggested she write, and she did. They were perfect together.

That was all in the past now. Dreamworld had... Dreamworld had a different trainer. Kingsnake asked her to live with him, with his trainer. Dreamworld asked the same of him. Neither could agree as to which would leave, and it dissolved into hate for one another. Dreamworld wasn't one to hold grudges, in fact, she wouldn't hurt a fly if it insulted her, her friends, and her entire family. Kingsnake, however, held grudges for lifetimes. He embarrassed a bully in front of their entire friend group after they insulted him once. It took years to build such a masterpiece of a plan, put all of their trusts in the right place.

Kingsnake would protect her from dragons who used her, and in turn she made his life much better. But all good things must come to an end, and their desire to be together was too strong.

So it was hate. He wanted her to experience the same pain he did when they left each other. Unreasonable, maybe, but he could have stabbed her the moment she first left.

He met Crow, not long after running away from his trainer. Crow was a dragon he met in the ashy areas of a Volcano area, pitch black and eager to fight. And so they fought, many times over, each time with less fighting and more flirting than the last. They fell in love, and fit together as a pair of rough dragons. That was the best part of his life, even before the time he spent with Esca.

Now, he was almost coming to regret what he did to Esca. Revenge? For something that was both of their faults? She couldn't even hurt him back. She was probably hurt herself when they broke up.

...Quillrunners don't change their spots. They're like that forever. How dare he think about changing? He's irredeemable, just... bad, for lack of a better word.

But he's not a Quillrunner, and he doesn't have spots. His trainer isn't here anymore to tell him not to. In fact, they parted long ago. So why does he still feel so attached to them?

He'd have to settle that later. Now, he had to... uh, what did he have to do? Right. His house was probably messy after their encounter. He grabbed a broom to sweep with, and cleaned the flooring. It was covered in dirt and grime, and then he realized just how confused Dreamworld must've been, to wake up in another world that could easily be a dream. She would be dirty, and perhaps even dirtier after running away. He got used to being dirty, but she never had been.

Kingsnake missed the feeling of Dreamworld stretching her thin wings over him as they lay down and talked for hours. His heart twisted in an aching, unfamiliar way.

Guilt?

Was the pain he felt now guilt? He'd felt the twist more often than you'd think, being forced to carry out his trainer's demands. No, it wasn't guilt, he'd felt it before. He felt guilt, but the other feeling overpowered it.

Loneliness?

He, for all his life, had never truly been alone. There were always friends surrounding him, his trainer had always been there to back him up if things got bad, Dreamworld and Crow spent time with him, and so many others rejected the thought of being lonely for him. So is that was this was now? He had friends here, but they weren't supporting him. Actually, they probably wouldn't understand at all if he explained how he hurt Dreamworld. He didn't know anyone truly in the dark forest he called home. He didn't know secrets that he should never tell, he didn't know if any of them had killed before, their family ties, favorite color even.

The only companion that he had from his home he'd chased away. The only other dragon he knew before. Dreamworld Esca, a dreamer who was most certainly lost, confused, or maybe hurt. Even through a rough breakup, he still cared about her. In a way.

He had to fix this. He didn't deserve an apology from her, any forgiveness, sympathy, empathy, or even pity. He deserved nothing from her. She deserved an apology.

So he'd go and apologize to her, then. He'd fix this.