Vyara

Vyara never thought she would be in a position of power. Of course she was aware that her adoptive mother, Celestis, was the clan leader, but there were so many other dragons in leadership positions above her that she never thought she would be the one making those tough choices. But then things changed.

At first, when Celestis vanished, Vyara was devastated. Her mother was gone, without any trace. Vyara had been too young at the time to go search for her herself, otherwise she would have spent every waking moment combing Sornieth, seeking any hint to Celestis’ whereabouts. Unfortunately, Vyara was stuck in the lair, waiting by the entrance to peer hopefully up at every face that went in or out, praying that one of them would finally tell her that they’d picked up a trail. But no matter how long she waited, no one ever had any news to report.

When it became apparent that Celestis wasn’t coming back, the clan fell into chaos for a time, as those that considered themselves next in line all vied for the position of leader. Thankfully Beau was able to take charge and bring an end to the fighting before things got too out of hand, but that also left him in charge of Vyara as her new parental figure. And while Beau was a good commander and fighter, able to keep the rest of the clan in line, he was anything but a good father. Cold, demanding, and a perfectionist, Beau had it in his head that Vyara needed to be exactly like him if she wanted to lead the clan well someday, and he was determined to make sure that his vision came to pass. He trained her relentlessly, driving her to constantly do more, do better, leaving her tired, shaken, lonely, and withdrawn. There was no one to help her anymore, she could only learn to endure.

Vyara believed that this would be her lot in life for many years - she could never meet Beau’s impossible standards, and so she believed he would never hand over the reins of the clan to her until the day he himself could no longer manage it. But then the unthinkable happened. Beau, the hardened commander with a heart of stone, fell in love. And not only that, he decided to run off after his supposed one true love to join them in another clan! It seemed insane, and yet somehow it had happened.

Unfortunately, with Beau running off into the sunset, it left another power vacuum looming over the clan. With terrible memories of what had happened last time running through her head, Vyara knew that she couldn’t allow the past to repeat itself. And so, with great reluctance, she stepped up and took her place as head of the clan. Thankfully, between her training under Beau and her status as Celestis’ daughter, very few dragons dared question her eligibility for the role. There was some minor grumbling about her youth and relative inexperience, but between her background and the more pressing threat of the rebels, the clan settled quickly into the new status quo.

At first, Vyara felt woefully inadequate as a leader. She hated conflict and confrontation, and despised public speaking, and yet now she was expected to speak to her clan regularly, to mediate conflicts and guide her people. She felt on the edge of a breakdown almost every night as she climbed into bed, exhausted from the day’s trials. But slowly things started to come more naturally to her. Tigerstar, the clan’s healer, noticed that Vyara was quite stressed, and offered her ear as someone who could listen and offer advice. Soon, the two became close, with Tigerstar acting as Vyara’s closest friend, advisor, and confidant. Vyara also chose her childhood best friend, Raptor, to take Beau’s former role as commander and Vyara’s second-in-command. Having someone else to help shoulder the burden of leadership made a huge difference, helping Vyara gain confidence in her place as leader of the clan.

Leading the clan, dealing with the rebels; these were all things that Vyara was slowly learning to deal with. But there was one last problem that plagued her, one that she hadn't even dared to mention to Tigerstar or Raptor. She’d been getting these strange…visions. Moments of foresight or premonition that came to her seemingly with no warning. So far it had only happened a handful of times, but they seemed to be coming more frequently, and with more clarity. She knew she should say something to one of the others, but so far the visions had been benign, if not blatantly helpful. And some part of her just knew that they were sent to her by Celestis, who was still watching over the clan from the stars above. It was too personal for Vyara to talk about just yet, so for now, she kept them to herself, used what they showed her to help her people, and basked in the feeling that somewhere out there, she knew she was doing her mother proud.
^^Credit to CupcakeNova^^