Bengal

Huge and jolly, with a booming voice and an energy that never seems to run out, Bengal is a very popular dragon, which she loves - especially as there's something wrong with her. Or so she'd put it. Though she's a mature dragoness with a beloved mate and many children, many battles under her wings and many sights seen, Bengal has never found a charge.

She's never even really felt the urge for a charge. When she came of age, she left home because it seemed like the proper thing to do, and she knew it was what she should do. It was what all the other young guardians were doing. In fact, it was what most of the young dragons in her clan were doing. As a wind clan, dragons were inclined to travel. So without ever really talking to anyone about the trouble, Bengal wandered away, positive that she'd find something... it was what guardians did, after all! And who'd ever heard of a guardian with no charge?

But it seemed like she was shaping up to be the first. For years she wandered, and for years she found nothing, and the looks from her fellow guardians became more pointed and more pitying. They knew she was wrong somehow... something in her head gone awry, a connection she'd never quite finishing making, beyond her control. Hardheaded and happy Bengal began to feel the stigmatization soon enough, even if she couldn't exactly put words to it, and started to avoid other guardians. Her big personality became even bigger to compensate, although she felt lonely sometimes.

When she came to Wandering Gale and was offered hospitality she decided to stay for a while to help out. A while became years upon years and she never really left. Oh, on the trips wind dragons sometimes take, of course, but Wandering Gale was the point she always returned to, where her lack of charge was never commented on, even in the clan with so many guardians. No one seemed to bat an eye. Wandering Gale saw too many unusual things to judge her being an anomaly.

And then, wonder of wonders, Bengal found a lovely plague mate, and made guardian friends who accepted her with all her weird foibles, and from then on she never wanted to leave the clan.

Now, her hunting partners are Sunbell and Sestina. Bengal is a supportive friend to the damaged Sunbell. She doesn't have experiences exactly like Sunbell's, but she understands feeling broken and knowing something is off. Sestina has a relationship that's very simple but very supportive with Bengal. They are noisy, obnoxious friends who never seem to have a dull moment together. They're very positive with each other and always expect the best from each other.

Bengal also has a huge respect for Juniper, like many dragons in the clan. Her easygoing nature has even won over Larch, and she can make the high-strung pearlcatcher laugh - a lot!

And best of all, she's even found herself a gorgeous mate. Anemone is small, clever, soft-spoken, and totally smitten with his huge guardian girlfriend. They're one of the most reliable couples in the lair when it comes to only throwing nests with each other, and Anemone has seeded her with fungi in a weird plaguey token of affection. He actually lives in the trees growing from her shoulders, catching and eating the insects that are attracted to the verdant forest draping off her scales. He never has to leave her, even on the battlefield, which makes the lazy Anemone very happy. Bengal is very happy too. An enemy of the clan would be better off stepping in front of a freight train than threatening her happiness.