Azalea

AZALEA: Co-leader and Militia General

Relationships:
Orchid- Mate

Azalea and Orchid became inseparable as Orchid saved Azalea's life and nursed her back to health. Despite Azalea's hesitance to let herself be vulnerable and Orchid's desperation to prove himself as a caretaker, the two soon saw eye-to-eye and eventually founded the Mystic Garden together. Neither can imagine leading their new clan alone.

Belladonna, Begonia- Daughters
Lavender- Son
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Azalea spent her young life in a pack with other Mirrors like her. Her pack hammered the idea into her head that she would be worthless if she couldn't keep up with everyone else. Stubborn and determined to prove herself, she poured herself into improving her physical health and hunting abilities. Though she frequently tired herself out both physically and mentally by holding herself to sky-high standards, it was the only way she knew how to feel good about herself. On days where her self-esteem was unusually low or a pack member berated her for an unsatisfactory performance, she would recklessly launch herself into a dangerous solo mission in an attempt to redeem herself. These missions ended in varying degrees of success.

One day, one of these solo missions ended badly for Azalea. In a fight against a massive beast, she fractured her front leg and found herself unable to run to safety. She called out to her pack members, hoping one of them would hear her pained cries from far away, but no one came to her aid. In a last-ditch effort, she flew away from the beast; unfortunately, her energy was not sufficient enough to carry her far, and she hit the ground with a thud as the beast caught up and loomed over her again. As blood loss and exhaustion worked in tandem to pull her out of consciousness, her last conscious thought at that moment was chiding herself for not being good enough to fight off that beast. She passed out to the sight of a purple blur rushing at the beast.

When Azalea woke up again, she found her leg splinted and her wounds dressed. She was in a damp, quiet cave, far away from where her injury occurred. At the entrance of the cave stood a Guardian she didn't recognize. He introduced himself as Orchid; he'd been flying nearby looking for food when he found Azalea struggling, so he killed the beast himself and brought her home. Though Azalea was frustrated to hear she'd have to stay in the cave for several weeks to properly heal her leg, she was grateful to Orchid for saving her when she couldn't save herself. The two spent the next few weeks chatting and getting to know each other as there was little else for Azalea to do. She grew restless over not being able to take care of herself; the idea of letting herself be vulnerable was foreign to her. However, Orchid's tender and inviting nature calmed her to a degree, and she soon felt more comfortable letting him take care of her as she needed. Though she didn't fully trust him yet and found him a tad overbearing, she knew few other dragons who would go out of their way to help her like this.

Eventually, Azalea's leg made a full recovery. She thanked Orchid for his help, but she intended to leave and reunite with her pack. Orchid warned her against it; he claimed she should still be careful on her leg, but Azalea knew that he was worried about her deep down. She insisted she would be fine on her own, not wanting to rely on someone for longer than she felt she had to, but she met in the middle with Orchid by allowing him to travel with her until they found her pack. As they set off, she realized she actually felt a lot more secure leaving with him than she would've by herself. It felt nice to have someone by her side who genuinely cared about her safety, though she wouldn't fully realize it yet.

After a few days of travel, Azalea saw her packmates in the distance. She eagerly raced over to them, expecting them to warmly welcome her back. Instead, they rolled their eyes as they noticed her. They confessed they thought she had been killed on her solo hunt, which is why they didn't go looking for her. Now that she was there alive, they laughed at the idea that she was weak enough to take a month and a half to escape one monster. Azalea's heart sank as she heard such horrible words from the packmates she'd been trying to earn validation from her whole life. Rage soon took over as she scolded them all for their behavior. She'd experienced more kindness from a complete stranger in the past month than she'd experienced from her so-called packmates in a lifetime. Now that she knew she didn't have to bend over backwards to prove to others-- or herself-- that she was worthy of respect despite her weaknesses, she felt no regrets as she let her shocked packmates know how she really felt. Not caring how they felt or would've responded to her rant, she whipped around and stalked back to where Orchid watched her, telling him she was ready to go back home. With that, they flew back to the Crystalspine Reaches, Azalea ready to start her new life.

(TBC)