Kohl

Kohl was a feral dragon. He is only slowly picking up on the concepts of language in general and common Draconic in particular. He is uncomfortable around other dragons except for Skinktongue.

His eyesight is not like many facet-eyed; in fact, he's very close to a primal in how he views the world. He sees everything wreathed in flame, and the flames tell him things--although they are rather biased against Water. The only difference between him and a true primal is that he has little to no control over flames, with the exception of his own inner Fire reserves, like any other Fire dragon. Nudibranch would prefer to use him to monitor her reactions, since he can accurately judge the temperature of anything. However, since the laboratory cave is still a little too crowded and enclosed for him right now, he tends to help out by gathering items instead.

Story: Lone Hatch

He hatched alone. His parents' nest had been the result of a quick fling, and they and their eggs had been scattered far and wide. His vision was clouded with flame. Everywhere he looked, there was fire and destruction.

He squealed in terror and ran, but could not escape the flames. Eventually he realized that the flames he saw were simply a result of his unusual vision, but his first few days were filled with fear as he ran from the danger until he could run no more.

After his first exhausted sleep, he awakened to see that his hatchling vision had cleared a little. Myriad flames still licked around the edge of his vision, but he could focus on one flame at a time now. Feeling a little silly for running from something that only existed in his mind, he began walking. He found a few plants to sustain himself as he traveled.

The Ashfall Waste surrounded him, leaving its mark permanently on his body. He met no other dragons, nor any Beastclan. He learned to sharpen his vision, to not trust the flame and shadow, but to use it like the Mirrors used their heat pits. He grew wary and skittish, but a keen judge of temperature.

He had only just found himself on the edge of the Fire realm when he was surrounded. Fierce dragon warriors spread their wings threateningly; one was a giant of a Guardian, the others Mirrors. "Who are you?" the Guardian bellowed.

He snarled, and prepared to fight.

"Look, he's scared to death," one of the Mirrors said. "He's hardly more than a hatchling."

He bared his teeth.

"I think he's feral." Another Mirror lowered her wings and spoke softly. "Don't worry, we aren't going to hurt you. Can you come with us?"

He didn't quite understand the words, but he loosened his jaw and let the canines recede.

"That's right. Come on, we'll see if we can't find someone for you to talk to."

The warriors led him down to the water's edge, where they assembled a small assortment of dragons to try to communicate with him: every Tundra in the clan (there were three), a Multigaze Fae and two Multigaze Coatls, a Fae who lived in the tidepools, and a Facet-eyed Nocturne.

He grew more and more anxious as they approached the water. It was as though the blue of the water was destroying the flames of his vision, and he struggled.

"Oh, let him go," the multigaze Fae said suddenly. "He doesn't know what's happening to him and just wants to be left alone."

"Or perhaps," the Facet-eyed Nocturne said, "he needs to understand." He flew down close to the feral Tundra, and opened his eyes wide, to show he understood. The Tundra's own eyes widened, and he calmed down.

"Come with me," the Nocturne said, in a comforting grumble that sounded much like a Tundra's. "We have friends for you."

The Tundra's vision cleared. Once again, the flames flickered around his sight, but they flickered calmly around the form of a blue Nocturne. The flames said this one could be trusted. And so he went.