Evening may be young, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a purpose.

By all appearances they came to the Island by chance, a foundling adopted and brought home by the leaders. A coincidence, many would say, and a great fortune to the young hatchling. But if Evening has learned anything in their still-short life, it’s that things often happen for a reason, even if that reason isn’t immediately clear.

Evening feels a strong pull to the Island, and to the clan that so kindly adopted them: it is their home, yes, but more than that it is the place they’re meant to be. More than just another outcast taken in by the kind souls of their new family, Evening simply knows -- don’t ask them how, for they couldn’t say -- that they will have much to give to the Island, for as long as it and the clan will have them.

Despite their somewhat unsettling appearance, Evening is a kind-hearted, compassionate dragon, driven by a firm belief in helping others as they themelves were helped and brought to the Island. They have an almost preternatural -- some might say deity-given -- talent for sensing the inner feelings of any dragon or hatchling they come into contact with. Even if the dragon themselves insists they’re content, Evening can pierce through to their deepest heart and recognise the needs or yearnings hidden within.

Perhaps because of their youth, Evening often has some difficulty in self-expression and communicating with others. They possess a great gift for interpreting the feelings of others, empathy that borders on the divine, but they are not so talented when it comes to expressing their own. For that reason, they struggle to convey what they know and understand of potential newcomers to the Island, and frequently struggle with self-consciousness and frustration with their own inability to express themselves.

None of Evening’s new family have ever shown any doubt or mistrust, despite their poor communication skills, taking their intuitive feelings on faith and heeding their advice where it’s given. The Island leaders assure them that their confidence will grow as they do, and that they will learn through experience and practice how to more effectively use their words; until then, others are happy to show patience, waiting for Evening to finish speaking even when it’s difficult for them, and despite their youthful stubbornness they are slowly learning to accept help when it’s offered.

---

From the moment she saw them, Bei knew there was something special about the young skydancer foundling.

Though they showed no signs of mistreatment or neglect, it was obvious at a glance that they were lost and lonely and in need of a loving home.

That alone would have been enough for her to take them in, of course -- how could she call herself a leader if she didn’t extend a claw to a lost, lonely hatchling? -- but something in their shining Shadow eyes told her that they were more than the easily-overlooked urchin they first appeared.

There was empathy in those eyes, and an understanding she rarely saw even in full-grown dragons, and though she had made this decision many times before, it had never come more easily or naturally to her than it did that day.

“Come,” she said, with a smile to set the hatchling’s mind at ease. “I know just the place for you.”

by alexmonstrous


by jackaling