Orchid

ORCHID- Co-Leader, Head Child Caretaker

Relationships:
Azalea- 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- Daughter
Begonia- Daughter/Employee
Lavender- Son
Flower (Bantam Fangar of unknown color), Petal (Smoky Bantam Fangar)- Charges
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Orchid's upbringing was standard for a Guardian; put yourself before others, protect your future charge with your life, you are only whole if you fulfill your expectation of being a protector, etc.. Orchid was a naturally gentle and selfless dragon who quickly learned to find his purpose in helping others. As he left his clan of origin, everyone he left behind was certain he would make a spectacular guardian one day. Not long after he left, he came across a young orphaned bantam fangar left alone in a cold den, shivering and hungry. Refusing to let this creature die alone, he took her to his own cave and nursed her back to health. He named her Flower, and he decided to keep her around as his charge. The two lived happily for a few years in each other's company as Flower grew up into an adult.

One day, as Orchid and Flower rested together, an earthquake struck their once peaceful home. The two scrambled to get out of the cave, but the ceiling soon crumbled and buried them both under a pile of rocks. One of these rocks hit Orchid in the head hard enough to knock him out. When he woke up, he pulled himself out of the rock pile and immediately called for Flower. No response. He frantically dug around in the remaining rocks, hoping and praying that she hadn't been crushed. She wasn't there. He leapt out of the cave and yelled Flower's name out again, growing more and more desperate by the second. No response again. Not even a flight around the area yielded any results. Flower was gone.

Orchid sobbed in his cave as his soul felt more broken than his home. His whole life's purpose was to protect his charge, and he'd failed. If Flower wasn't dead, she was long gone from his home territory. Orchid convinced himself she left because he'd failed. Failed to protect her, failed to provide for her, failed to be a proper guardian in her time of need. Wherever she was now, she probably resented him; at least that's what Orchid thought. Strangely enough, however, he didn't feel the suicidal weariness that most Guardians felt upon losing their charges; instead, he felt... like he had to continue living? He couldn't tell why. Because Flower would've wanted him to? Because he thought it was a more fitting punishment than letting himself die? Because maybe, if he restarted his Search... he could try again with another charge? Whatever the reason, he left his home cave and moved to a new one where he lived in solitude, not wanting to let any dragon see him in his state.

After some time, Orchid would soon get the chance to take care of someone again. As he flew in search of food one day, he noticed a Mirror dragon on the ground struggling against a beast twice her size. Even from high above, he could tell the Mirror was having trouble running away, likely due to fatigue as well as an obvious leg injury. Wasting no time, he bolted down to the ground and rushed at the beast, killing it after some struggle. He then turned to the now unconscious Mirror, picking her up and carrying her back to his cave. He splinted her leg and patched up her wounds. When she woke up, she seemed confused and groggy as one would expect from fainting from blood loss and waking up somewhere new, but she also seemed oddly frustrated. Orchid suspected it was just from losing to the beast, but there was certainly more to it than this Mirror, whom he now knew was named Azalea, was letting on.

(TBC)