Rhiri

Rhiri is the headstrong but sweet sister of Elarth, Haven's own timid and dramatic vampire Pearlie. She prefers to be polite and welcoming to anyone who enters the clan, but anyone who mistakes that kindness for weakness is in for a rude awakening. Her preferred form of retaliation is verbal, as she has a quick wit and a quicker tongue, but Rhiri has also been taught self defense by Sequoia, ranging from unarmed combat to the use of knives and a bow.

More often than not, her self defense skills are used more to finish other dragon's fights than to start fights of her own, believing that a lady doesn't start fights, unless that lady wants to, of course. She never shames other ladies for starting fights, she just prefers not to unless it's a last resort.

Rhiri is highly protective over her older brother, mainly due to the fact that he ran away from home as a hatchling, and Rhiri and their parents only learned that he was still alive and well months later, after Haven reached out for the second time, the initial attempt having been sabotaged by Almediha. She spent her first few months of life trying to comfort her parents, not because she had been asked to or expected, but because she wished to.

Elarth's injury, the trauma of having him turned, and finally his disappearance had been almost too much for them both to take. Morticia had begun to seclude herself in the archives, while Afi would remain in the den where they had nested, keeping Rhiri with him and watching over her with an anxious eye. It was only when Elarth was declared alive and well, living with their allies in Haven, that their parents finally began to readjust to normal life.

Rhiri soon began to see visions in her pearl, whispers of danger or the harvest or things that may come to pass in individual lives. Upon speaking to her father about what she had seen, Afi took her first to Blizz, to relay the dangers that she had seen, before taking her to Aonani and asking for her to help guide his daughter. Rhiri was thrilled to be working under the tutelage of Aonani, and to meet and converse with the other Diviners in the lair. The only caveat of Rhiri's powers, Aonani had warned, was that she would never be able to receive visions of her own future, nor would the other Diviners be able to peer into her future for long. This later proved to be nearly fatal.


The day it occurred had been lovely, the sort of day that was perfect for gathering herbs and flowers for the healers of the Glade, which was exactly what Rhiri had chosen to do. She was far from the clan and extracting some of the more...resistant plants from the Shrieking Wilds when she was suddenly aware that she was not alone. Quiet whispers broke through the growls and screeching that always filled the Wild, whispering about Capsule in any shade of red...and vampires.

After that, all she could do was fight, and she ensured that far fewer of them were left standing when they finally managed to knock her down and keep her there. She didn't recognize the dragons who attacked her, which told her sluggish brain that none of them were of the Glade, but before she could truly process that idea, everything finally faded to black.

When Rhiri woke, she found herself in a strange, dark place, full of shadows and whispers. Turning her head to try and ascertain where she was, she found herself surrounded by glowing, wavering dragons, and as she looked for longer, a dearly missed friend, Pinja, fluttered into her vision. Rhiri reached for her, but the Fae immediately fluttered away, her crest moving erratically, almost as if...almost as if she was afraid. Rhiri was lost then, with no idea of the time that had passed, when something in the shadows suddenly changed.

A soft, mournful sound, like wailing, floated through wherever she was, followed by the softest fluttering of wings. Rhiri forced her eyes back open and, after some considerable trouble, managed to lift her head and looked up, finding herself looking up at the Glade's quiet, shade-touched healer, Adam Crowley. Unlike the other dragons surrounding her, his form was solid and unmoving, until he realized that he had her attention. He glided down from the ceiling and landed several feet in front of her and began to move away, looking over his shoulder and returning when he began to slip out of sight.

It took several more movements for Rhiri's brain to kick in and realize that he wanted her to follow him. The struggle to get to her feet lasted seconds, minutes, hours, days, she didn't know, but each limb felt as if it was weighed down and trapped in quicksand, but finally she was standing, albeit shakily. Each footstep felt harder than the last, and every time she reached Adam he glided further away, insistent on her continuing to progress. The shadows around them began to filter away, the dragons left behind, and when Rhiri finally collapsed, too exhausted to move any further, the dark had been replaced with a soft, fuzzy light. A moment before she fully slipped away, she felt Adam gently pat her on the head, as if congratulating her on a job well done.

When Rhiri next woke, it was to the faces of her parents, full of emotions that she had never wanted to see them suffer again, Afi looking absolutely broken inside with tears rolling down his face, and Morticia being physically present but clearly tucked away in her mind. She raised an arm, difficult as it was, to try and wipe away her father's tears, when she noticed that her arm was...far more patched than she remembered it looking.

Shaking that thought away as a problem for future Rhiri, she began gently wiping away her father's tears, which just seemed to make him cry more, hugging her and sobbing in relief, while Morticia blinked once, twice, and then began to tear up. Rhiri glanced towards the ceiling as her parents tried to hug the life out of her, and found Adam staring down at her once again. He gave a quiet, hoarse croak, and flew out of the room.


Later, after everyone had been reassured of her health and continued life, Rhiri learned that she had been found by Blizz on patrol, and that her shriek of anguish had been heard all the way from the Wilds to the top of the Glade, believing her to be dead. When Vela began to try and ascertain the cause of death, the other remaining dragons having taken their fallen compatriots away, she had realized that Rhiri was still alive, and the two Mirrors had raced her back to the Glade.

It had taken a combination of Adam's darker magics, Fugue's inherent magical presence, and Concerto's craftmanship to fix the damage that was done to her, but even then, she had been fading far faster than any healer could halt. It was then that Afi said Adam had slipped into the room, clinging to the branches that formed the roof and going completely and utterly still, as the air around him began to hum with magic. He had remained like that for two days, until he suddenly opened his eyes and fluttered further into the boughs above, right as Rhiri finally opened her eyes and began to stabilize and rapidly recover.


While Rhiri's life has now changed to some degree, much of it remained the same. She returned to the Diviners to open arms, and began to relearn how to channel magic into her pearl to see what the future held. Afi and Morticia refused to let her out of their sight for the first few months after she had recovered, a burden that she bore with grace, and Afi had begged her not to leave the Glade alone until she was fully recovered. Rhiri was slightly less agreeable about that request, but Morticia joined him in requesting it and she finally relented, often traveling out with Blizz or Josta, or both.

Rhiri has returned to her self defense training with a new vigor, sparring with Sequoia or any other available warrior to hone her skill to a far higher level than it had ever been. Another Diviner, Yuta, who had become very overprotective, began to sit in on the sessions, learning both to defend himself and, he admitted, to hopefully be able to defend Rhiri in the future. Their future, Rhiri was very happy to reply, was something that she would very much like to continue discussing.