Minerva

Minerva is a stern follower despite being from the Shadow Flight, as she had been raised in the Southern Icefields when her birth clan had traveled there when they had lost a territory dispute with another clan and were forced out. They were welcomed in by follows of the Icewarden and from a very young age she had learned more about the Ice Warden and his children than she did about the deity that her clan had loyally followed until it was felt that the Shadowbinder abandoned them in their time of need.

And so the young half-breed grew up learning of her new home and new deity with fascination. Minerva promised she would do anything to keep her new home safe.

Minerva took after her father for a majority of her appearance, in both resembling more of a Nocturne and similar genes but she truly loves the soft, feathery wings she inherited from her Skydancer mother, spending a lot of time preening the black feathers until the shined.

Her juvenile years went by without much fanfare. Minerva enlisted with her clan's soldiers, learning the art of fighting so she could go on patrol and protect her home. Most of the time it was simply running drills and patrolling an empty landscape with the biggest adventure happened if they stumbled across a hostile member of a local Beastclan, but nothing that Minerva would ever consider a real threat.

Though that peace would not last, when a dragon clan encroaching from the Tangled Wood was making it's way southward, leaving devastation in it's wake by attacking clans by surprise and claiming their territory in the name of their leader and clan which had outgrown their home over the years and simply wished to claim more to continue expanding. Minerva and her clanmates only received word from a dragon that had fled from the fighting and managed to stumble across their home, succumbing to her wounds once the warning had been relayed to them.

The soldiers prepared for war, Minerva gladly standing beside her clan mates as the enemy approached them, much like a plague that had been spreading across the land unchecked. The soldiers cried out in a roar about their loyalty to the Icewarden and Minerva felt afraid, but strong in her belief that she had to defend her clan no matter what. She adjusted the sash she wore around her waist that bore the symbol of the Ice Flight proudly. The tailors of her clan had spent days making it, with the Icewarden's blessing, so that in the throngs of battle the soldiers could tell each other apart so that no one could accidentally be attack by a fellow clan mate and be able to quickly tell friend from foe. The group of soldiers, although severely outnumbered, surged forward without fear, confident that they would have a better advantage as they were not being caught off guard, which had been the fighting tactic of the enemy up until now. How could they hope to win when their biggest advantage had been removed from them? This confidence helped to booster the will and drive of Minerva and her clan, they all expected to be celebrating with their families by the end of the day.

Sadly, although they won it came with a heavy cost. The waring clan had pushed back into their home, catching up innocent civilians in the crossfire, and no matter how desperately Minerva and the others tried to force the fight back into the open, the Shadow Flight was determined to either claim the land or cause as much carnage as possible if they could not win.

Minerva collapsed due to a blow to the head, falling still upon the snow. When she awoke she was met with devastation. Much of the clan members had been killed in the cross-fire of the fight, and although the enemy clan had retreated, deeming they could not afford too many lives lost, they had succeeded in the goal of leaving Minerva's clan in a weakened state.

Though what she did see shocked her. A Tundra clad in white tending to the injured, another Tundra in thick brown furs helping to carry the injured to the other. A Tundra with...four eyes...was fighting a scragglier and was quiet ferocious in his battle before a gentle claw touched her back and snapped her from the fight, causing Minerva to jump and pull back her upper lip as she found it difficult to take to the air right now. One of her feathered wings hung limply at her side and Minerva was pretty sure that it had been broken in the battle.

The Tundra that had touched her shoulder was quick to bow her head and apologize, introducing herself as Katrun and that she and her fledgling clan had stumbled across the fighting and could not ignore others in need. That two of the three male Tundra's had charged into battle and Minerva than noticed many dragons incased in large shards of ice, while others simply laid dead.

The Healer, who Minerva would learn later was named Hermes, was called over and he came to examine her. Everything was happening faster than her mind could process and next she realized she was in her clan's infirmary, her wins put in a stint to help the bone mend.

Minerva was taken by surprise that strangers had readily rushed to the aide of her clan, which would have been completely wiped without their aide. She looked down at her sash, gently running a talon across the emblem of the Ice Flight, wondering if they had been sent there in her hour of need? How else could they have just happened to stumble across the fighting?

The four dragons remained with them, and Minerva could not get over not only how different each dragon was, but how they complimented each other and perhaps the most important thing for the young half-breed was meeting another dragon similar to herself. She found his golden eyes incredible and the fact that, like she, he was proud of his half-breed heritage while the members of her clan were not rude about it, but often told her not to mention it and to keep her wings covered if she ever traveled to another area, but these dragons accepted the dragon, named Styrax, as if there was nothing different about him. He told her how proud he was of his eyes and it reminded her about how proud she was of her own feathered wings.

Eventually it came the time for the four dragons to leave, Hermes leaving behind some medicine to give to the remaining injured to help encouraging them to heal faster. During this time Minerva had spent a lot of time talking to each member, usually either Styrax or Katrun, as he was a half-breed and Katrun had been helping Hermes by tending to the less severally injured.

The half-breed had been weighing her options day and night, often tracing the emblem to try and gain clarity in her thoughts so that she could make the right decision. Her current clan was recovering and the enemy would not return as it had cost them too greatly and they had already spread themselves thin.

Minerva made her decision, and chased after the other four, requesting to join their clan. It wasn't uncommon for dragons to go where they thought they fit in better, and with another half-breed already accepted among them how could she not want to go to a place where she did not have to hide her feathered wings? There had to be a reason that she and these others met, and who was she to try and question the Icewarden's plans? She was a soldier and simply followed the orders given to her to try and make her home better, and perhaps these were orders that came from a much higher source than a clan leader or her parents? Regardless she couldn't let this opportunity go without at least asking if she could join.

To her surprise Hermes, who happened to be the fledgling clan's leader and that caught Minerva by surprise, accepted her without question. The dragon, named Sirius, seemed skeptical but he did not outwardly object to the decision and a relief washed through Minerva, who had begun to wonder if she had simply just made a fool of herself for just asking to join a new clan so quickly. She promised them that she could help protect them, that her experience in fighting would be beneficial to a young fledgling clan. One war really was enough for Minerva, but she would fight again to protect her God and her new clan, for she would not give up what she held so dearly and perhaps that was why her request to join was not denied.

Regardless of the reasoning, she found herself among her new clan. She had fought for her home and found a place to truly belong. After another week or so, she once more was flying with ease, her wings feeling good as new. She had served the Icewarden by protecting his realm from encroaching enemies and Minerva would continue to do so until she fell in battle. Though there were not many fighters among her new clan, they were unique and had different styles. Although she had military experience, she did not feel confident in being a leader, preferring to give that title to Sirius and helping instruct him on things they could do to improve their defenses. Luckily, the Frigid Floes were not a place that most wanted to try and claim territory from.