Amelia

WARNING: Amelia is a warrior, and as a result of that her lore does include some fighting and injury. It's not graphic, and she's fine in the end, but it's something to be aware of.

Amelia never wanted to join the clan. She'd heard of them, sure, but she never wanted to join them. Why would she? She was a warrior, and they were... not.
Sure, there were a few. Signis put on martial arts displays, and Yuki, Uriel, and Sky were known to defend the clan. But a few strong dragons hardly made a clan a welcoming place for a warrior, especially when everyone else was more focused on drawing and painting and dancing. (And blowing stuff up occasionally, but from what Amelia could gather that was for science and on accident.) A clan focused on peace and creativity was hardly the place for a warrior. And that's what she was, what she was born to be, what she was trained to be, and what she would always be. A warrior.

She's alone when it happens.

The toridae had never posed any real threat before, but there are more of them this time, and by the time she realizes just how many there are, she's surrounded. She curses herself for making a rookie mistake and tenses, preparing to take off. She'll fly back to her clan and call for help. No big deal. She's done it before, she'll do it again.

The searing pain in her left wing, however, is new.

A toridae hidden in the bushes hooked its tail through her wing and tore through the entire back half of it. She tries to fly, but it's obvious she's going nowhere, and the toridae keep getting closer. She turns around, staking, claws at the ready. Might as well take as many of them as I can with me. The last thing she remembers is teeth sinking into her tail as she hits the ground.

She wakes up in an unfamiliar den. It's warm, and the searing pain has faded to a dull ache... the toridae! Where is she? Is she safe? Is she alive? She tries to sit up to assess the situation, only to find a Fae sitting on her shoulder.

"Welcome back. Don't move. We're almost done here." Amelia reluctantly settles back down, and the fae continues. "My name is Frost, and the other dragon here is named Leolin. We're the clan's healers. One of our friends saw you fighting the toridae, and when it looked like you were injured we brought you back here. How do you feel?"

"Mmmm, better. Thank you."

"I told you it would work," says a dragon from somewhere near her tail. This must be Leolin.

"I'm glad it did. That was a nasty wing injury," Frost responds. The two healers fuss over her for a while, muttering to each other, before Amelia breaks the relative quiet.

"Where, ah, where am I, exactly?"

"Aaaand this is why I usually do the talking to patients when they first wake up. I'm Leolin, by the way." An aqua bogsneak comes into Amelia's vision and sits down in front of her with a kind smile. "Allow me to explain."

By the time Leolin's done explaining and answering Amelia's questions, the pain in her wing is almost gone. Frost and Leolin finish checking their work and turn to leave her to rest for a while. Just as they reach the edge of the den, something occurs to Amelia.

"Oh, one more thing, if you don't mind," she says.

Both dragons turn back to face her. "Yes?" Frost asks.

"What happened to the toridae? They were right near the edge of our clan's territory, and if I didn't fight them off..." Amelia shudders, thinking of what that many of them could do to a dragon less prepared than her. She nearly died as it is, and she had trained for this.

"Our team took care of them, no need to worry," Frost says, carefully hovering in midair.

"All of them?"

"They took care of every toridae they saw."

"I can ask Yuki to send a team out to check the area again if it would make you feel better," Leolin chimes in.

Amelia nods. "If it's not too much trouble, a quick look would be much appreciated."

"Of course. I'll ask right away." With a parting smile, Leolin slinks out of the den.

"I can't imagine Yuki would say no, and in fact, I'll go myself if she does. We'll keep your clan safe. Now, get some rest. You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like, of course, but you should at least get a few hours of sleep if nothing else." Frost nods decisively and swoops off into the sky.

Amelia settles down for a much-needed nap. If they had handled the toridae when she couldn't, they clearly had some skill, and if this is how they treat outsiders... maybe joining this clan wouldn't be so bad after all.