He was one of the greatest warriors in the Sunbeam Ruins, once, and oh how far he's fallen.

Yes, he was quite the fighter, in his previous clan, and one that put his current self to shame. His camouflage (naturally provided by his hide's previous markings) had been perfect, his claws brutally sharp, his speed unmatched...and his combat endurance had been unbeatable. He had been able to keep away from those worthless Shadow and Plague dragons, and his Nature heart had been satisfied in the quiet majesty of the Ruins, so full of life overtaking the remains of the old world. He even had a mate, before; a Coatl from the Water flight, with colors like the sun, and a smile just as bright. He had all that he ever needed in life, and he wanted for nothing.

...Then his clan decided that some little Nocturne brat was more worthy of staying with them than he was, and he found himself in the company of a Lightning clan instead.

But even with the size of this clan, he may as well have been here alone. A desert land such as the Shifting Expanse was no place for a Nature dragon; his mother may have been from here, but he is not, and the lack of plant life grates in ways he can't properly articulate to dragons of other flights. Then there was that little bratty Nocturne constantly following him around and chattering his ears off, as hyper as any Spiral, and twice as annoying, and he made every effort to avoid her, despite the rest of the clan's insistence that he should at least try to give her a chance...

...But they'll have to excuse him if he doesn't trust them after experimenting on him.

Yes, experimenting, there's no better word for it. He had been newest and closest to being able to breed once more, and so he had been chosen to have his once-useful hide turned into this brittle, shatter-prone mess. He still hits as sharply as ever, possibly even more so, but now he can barely take a blow himself without entire chunks of him chipping away, and it so drastically limits his overall fighting ability that he has to cover the most vulnerable portions of his hide just to keep even light blows from injuring him even further.

He hates it. Genuinely hates it, but there's no changing back to what he once was, and his old clan would never accept him back with this gaudy, useless skin. And his fellow fighters, including a Fire flight patriarch, would never dream of letting him go, even with his limitations. It was all just a bit...too...much.

So maybe it was no surprise that eventually, he gave in and mated with that obnoxious Nocturne, even if it had been a decision of impulse more than rational thought. It had still kept her out of his way for a while, and he had even made sure that the children could still have excellent lives in Light clans far away from here, as they deserved...except for one. He had been torn away from salvation at the last moment by this Lightning clan and given away as a peace offering, as if his son had been no more than another item to trade away in a bargain.

Curacao started hiding away from them not too long after that. But can anyone really blame him?
by dariiksnake