Autumn

Autumn, hailing from a family of... lesser prestige, has always been able to take care of herself. Her aura had always seemed to drip with a honey-like sense of sly, careful confidence. Her yellow eyes never lost their calculating glint, making simply being looked at by her feel like an interrogation. Though, she did have a certain bodily flaw. While still an embryo, she had twisted in a way that left areas of her back and tail out of circulation and unable to grow a flesh covering. Once she had hatched, the tops of spine and tail segments poked meekly out from her brown feathers like pristine white spikes. It never pained her, but it was certainly the oddity. Her parents, on the other hand, were greatly troubled by her interesting condition, being quite the superstitious dragons. Yet, they lacked the heart to give her up, so they raised her, but only from a distance.

But constantly having to keep up with and compete with her siblings for attention and sustenance would harden anyone into a machine of preciseness and deliberation. And that was exactly what Autumn was. She despised her siblings with every shred of her soul. Why was it all so unfair? Why did she have to fight simply to gain the attention and love of her parents? Shouldn't that have been a given? But as she observed, it did appear to be a given. Just not to her. Her parents welcomed and loved her siblings with open arms but made her fight for a passing glance.

What was wrong with her?

Autumn just couldn't figure it out. She knew she was different from her siblings, but she never viewed her bony physique as a bad thing. It was simply how she was. But her consistent ostracism had begun to rot her from the inside out, it's spongy hands corroding more and more of her as the days dragged on. Was it something she had done? Didn't she deserve some form of love? What made her so undeserving in her parents eyes, the only ones who's approval she craved? Oh, how she craved it. Some crumb of validation would have been enough... But in her silent, unobserved suffering, no morsel was offered.

Eventually, Autumn learned how to take care of herself independently. Out of necessity rather than age. It was early on she realized that there was nothing waiting for her within the embrace of her parents. It was such a hard bone to swallow, but somehow she managed. As soon as she was able to fly, she set out, having nowhere else to go. Perhaps she could find some other place. Surely there had to be places full of love just waiting for her to bask in it, right? That was all she truly wanted. To be accepted and cherished.

...

Through her journeys, Autumn finally happened upon the Umber Citadel. It was quite a curious establishment... a neat, dark construction neatly tucked away within the rolls and crests of the Windsinger's territory. As she neared, it felt as if invisible hands were tugging at her, trying to get a firm grasp to drag her in like an alligator drags it's prey to the bottom of the river. Was this what it felt like to be wanted? To be loved? It seemed to desire her presence so dearly, Autumn eagerly followed the invisible guide to the towering black iron gates of the Citadel.

It was here Autumn first discovered The Run. It was a dark, grueling place, full of hostile eyes and dank smells. Cobbled roads ran with black water and fog lingered around every lamp post. For what felt like the first time, a grin curved Autumn's bluntly curved face as she soaked up her surroundings. It was such a satisfying, all enveloping feeling. She just knew this was where she belonged.

And as it turned out, it was exactly where she was meant to stay. The Run was full of a variety of dragonic misfits, outcasts, and pariahs. And Autumn? Well, she was the queen of them all. She gained a fast, intimidating reputation from the day she arrived. She ran The Run. This was finally where she was meant to be... this was her love, her desire, and the sole want of her entire being. Even in such an unsafe place, she felt safer than she had all her life. She was finally home.