Pierce

Pierce is true dragon of Nature, at least in most respects.

He hatched in the Viridian Labyrinth as a Wildclaw: a breed crafted by the Gladekeeper herself. He was always more interested in exercising his mind than in physical exertion, too. So, scholarly by nature, he naturally took up the study of plants, specializing in trees in particular. That said he was more interested in studying myths and folktales than botany. Even as a hatchling, he dreamed of being a paranormal investigator. To no one's surprise, hearsay of unusual occurrences involving plants got him particularly excited.

So, now a young adult with no one to hold him back, when he heard about unusual occurrences in the Starwood Strand, he was on his way to the famous woodland as quickly as he could. This would be his first venture into his field: studying the starwood trees as a biologist while investigating the unusual occurrences as a hobbyist paranormal investigator. It seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Pierce, full of wide-eyed wonder, wandered the strand, taking notes on his observations of the trees and collecting small samples to press into his notes like a good botanist. His mind, however, was racing with tales of all manner of beasts and apparitions witnesses claimed had chased them through the woods. Stories of dragons going missing for weeks, only to suddenly turn up half-dead later, or having never returned at all. The Starwood Strand was absolutely pulsing with mystery, and Pierce's curiosity drove him like a starved animal towards it.

The study of the trees went on as planned for several days. Though the trees were truly a sight to behold, being unlike any of the plants in the labyrinth, they were still, all told, just plants. No mystical, wild beast showed itself, no spirits visited him in the night, and not even any of his belongings went mysteriously missing. While most dragons would probably be put at ease by this, it was a little disheartening for Pierce. And so, he did the most natural thing for a paranormal investigator to do in his situation: he did what all the folk legends warned against.

Pierce took a stroll into the woods. It was light, airy, and leisurely at the start. He even took a clearly marked hiking trail. Really, it was quite pleasant...while he was there, in the shallow end. But then, he wandered off of the trail. Intentionally, even. Almost immediately, the air held a different feel. There was nothing trimmed and kept about these woods. Nothing tame or mild. This... This wood was wild. Being from the labyrinth, he could sense it immediately. In that way, it reminded him of home. Here, nature was rampant. And due to his roots, it gave him an odd, false sense of security. Very false...

Filled with wonder, and excitement rising at finding what he was looking for, Pierce continued his walk, taking in every sight, smell and overall sensation that he could. The wild starwood flowers here smelled absolutely entrancing, and the ground was covered in fallen leaves and springy moss. It was so quiet. It was so calm. The call of small birds would sound on occasion. Something would skitter in the undergrowth. This was a whole new world. And this new world was swallowing the blissfully unaware Wildclaw whole.

Over time, he began to feel a little lightheaded. He wandered on, dismissing it as being around the smell of the starwood blossoms for so long. His back began to feel colder, and he began to lose feeling in his wings. He hardly noticed. On and on he wandered... Deeper and deeper to where sensible dragons would not go. And then, finally, he chanced a look back. Reason, for a moment, cleared the haze of fantasy from his mind as horror took hold. Behind him, he could see a trail of pink petals littering the ground. On his shoulders were two, pink stubs, from where said petals were drifting. These little bunches of petals were where his wings had once been.

Pierce shrieked in alarm, and bolted off in a random direction. He was no longer a daring investigator nor a curious scientist. He was a frightened hatchling with no sense of where to go nor where he was. Whether his mind was playing tricks on him or if he really noticed the little things that followed, he had no idea, but he thought he heard small peals of laughter here and there as he ran, and the sounds of birds and skittering were suddenly sharper and more intrusive than they had been before. His panic rose, and he thought he caught glimpses of all the creatures he imagined when hearing the stories about this place. Why oh why did he come here?!

And then it was silent.

It was still.

Pierce was enveloped in darkness.

When Pierce awoke, he was different. During his time unconscious, he had communed with two beings. One, he had heard the name of: Astarrea. Some of the dragons who had gone missing reported that name. She was said to rule a part of the Starwood Strand: a sort of powerful guardian spirit of that section of the woods who did not tolerate intruders. The other stood by her side. He was called Sanmei. He stood as the guardian spirit's equal, tall and proud, looking scornfully down at the Wildclaw. Yes, the dream was coming back to him, albeit hazy.

They questioned him. He felt his heart and mind being sifted by the spirits. They discussed something with one another, though his mind could not comprehend their words. Then, they discussed something with him... Pierce could not bring to mind the details, but he knew without a doubt what the end result had been. He had trespassed on sacred ground. He had carelessly barreled into Astarrea's territory, and trampled thoughtlessly over her terrain. He had even stumbled into a cherry blossom grove guarded by Sanmei, Astarrea's husband. In exchange for treading where he ought not as an outsider, he would lose his position as an outsider. He was now one of them: a part of their world, and subject to them.

Pierce would survive, but no longer as a dragon who could more or less shape his own destiny. He was now under the rule of Astarrea and Sanmei, no longer as a dragon, but as a kodama: a tree spirit. As he had been transformed into one and was not naturally a kodama, he would be a second-class citizen of their world. His new, natural form was of a cherry blossom tree, and he lived in Sanmei's grove. However, being a kodama, he could transform into other shapes, his fondest being his dragon form. And though he had his pink, feathered crest atop his head, his wings remained missing, and spindly roots always twisted around his body. His old body was forever lost to him, even if he could reshape his form to look much like it, and unless tasked otherwise, he was restricted to wandering the territory of his masters.

Pierce is a true dragon of Nature. After all, how much closer could he get?

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So, I submited his bio to be critiqued in its rough form (I didn't give it any proofreading before submitting it.) This is the critique I got. (Spoiler alert: I did okay! :D)


I have a problem: I keep buying sakura dragons. x_x I don't have the money for this...

But look at who he could be!



He just needs a sakura flowerfall and 4 of the Morganite set.