Tsubaki

Tsubaki is a dragon who has spend all of her life seeking a purpose; now that she has found one, she pursues it with an intensity that can be as terrifying as her seemingly permanently blood-spattered coat.

You see, when Darkroot was still just the tiniest of clans beginning in the heart of Shadow territory, Villette and Onrad had their first nest. Their clutch of four birthed three Guardians like their mother... and one lone Fae child, who immediately ducked under her father's protective wing to escape her larger siblings. The Guardians grew and went out on Search, and their parents never heard from them again.

Tsubaki stayed.

She quietly adored and all but worshiped her father, the spy; he looked at her and saw an opportunity. If Darkroot continued to grow, they would make enemies. Enemies that would need to be eliminated. Now, they could raise warriors to defend them in large shows of strength, but Villette was always upset by violence. In Onrad's mind, it would be better to silence the threats before his too-generous mate ever learned about them.

So he trained his first daughter, his most beloved, to kill.

No one expected a Fae to be an assassin, after all; they were simply too small and frail to be a threat to most breeds. That is, unless they had been trained to slip right under the legs of an unsuspecting Ridgeback and drive a poisoned knife right into their femoral artery. Tsubaki had a knack for killing and a pliable, willing attitude; all she ever wanted was to make her father proud. So for years she did just that; became his knife in the dark, aided by the dull dark colors and Shadow magic her birth afforded her. To her clanmates she was just a Fae, in and out of the clan on an unpredictable schedule but always polite and willing to lend a hand. To keep suspicion off her back Onrad quietly hushed all notions that they were related. When he transformed his colors from dull green to bright and sparkling blue it became even easier to deny their connection.

She was content for her life for a long time; she buried her emotions down deep and just focused on her next mission, her next day, her next breath. She had a home, a job, her father's approval; what more could she want?

And then Sylvan walked in.

The Tundra came into the clan as a therapist and immediately latched onto the withdrawn, shy Fae who didn't move her fins when she spoke. His gentleness touched her quietly lonely heart, and every drop of trust he coaxed from her was rewarded tenfold. He led her to ask the questions she had been avoiding since she was an adolescent. Was being an assassin something she really wanted? How did she feel about the way her father raised her? Many a night was spent with her curled up in the safety of his mane, speaking in low voices under candlelight or in complete darkness.

They fell in love, and fell hard. Tsubaki took fewer of her father's jobs, raised a few nests with her beloved, talked about leaving her profession altogether as soon as she found a way to tell her father. Unfortunately... it wasn't meant to last.

Their healer Areli went insane, finally overcome by the Shade that he had been fighting since he was a hatchling. He killed his way through his clanmates, even destroying his mate Erin as she tried to defend him. Guardians, loyal to the last. Tsubaki fought as hard as she could and was instrumental in finally bringing the possessed dragon down.

When the dust settled, she went frantically searching for her mate.

She found him in a pool of blood and corruption, and has never fully recovered from the loss.

(REWRITE TBC)

She is quiet and shy and polite, and is always there to lend a hand to her clan-members. She listens with quiet attention when a friend needs to vent, no one would ever expect she has more blood on her claws than a rabid pack of Mirrors. When the clan leaders need someone gone, they call Tsubaki. When they need to send a bloody message to a dangerous clan, they call Tsubaki. No one ever expects a Fae to be an assassin, and being born of Shadow with the Mother's favor in magic can't hurt. No one sees her unless she wants to be seen... and by then, it's often too late.

Tsu tends to disturb other Fae and those who are used to them, because she keeps her frills entirely still when she speaks. It's partly habit and partly because she doesn't like showing her emotions to any dragon she doesn't trust. One of the few dragons she does trust implicitly is her father, and though she loves her mother there's no question of who is her favorite parent. Not that many dragons know the clan heads are her parents; she was there at the very beginning of the clan, and the trusted few who know the truth know to keep it quiet.

When she first met the quiet Tundra who became the clan's therapist, she was shyly interested in him but tried to keep it a secret; she quickly learned how futile it was to hide emotions from an Empath. The two were happily mated for a long time, until Sylvan was tragically killed in the Shade incident that shattered the clan. She has since become even more quiet and withdrawn, and her father is nearly frantic with worry for her.

Scatter Journey:
Started: Steel/Grey/Maroon
1: Cantaloupe/Jade/Olive
2: Oilslick/Buttercup/Mulberry
3: Gold/Cherry/Ruby (one-off XYY! omg)
Breedchanged 7/3/2019