Raira

Raira had always been a free spirit. From the moment she was born, she had been contrary to her parents. It wasn't as if she lived to disagree with them, but she certainly had a mind of her own and nothing anyone said could dissuade her from doing what she wanted to do. Stubborn to a fault. The last thing Raira ever wanted was to be in charge of an entire clan but despite that, when given the opportunity to leave her little Lightning Clan to explore the greater world with her brother, she took it. Though, she hadn't anticipated he'd settle them down so quickly...

She still hasn't really forgiven him for that and regularly leaves the community to explore on her own. If asked, she'd explain that there was something inside of her, something that vibrated with an intensity she couldn't explain and the only solution was to fly free and explore at her own pace.

Raira didn't have many friends growing up, but the one she had was the truest friend she'd ever had. Pache, a male Fae dragon who despite being hard for her to understand, had become her closest friend and confidant. She could tell him anything and he would always listen with eyes that seemed to always understand her feelings. She'd often sneak him into her nest to hang out with her, since he was small enough to hide in her wings. The only person who knew about Pache was her brother Cuprite, who despite not understanding how she could understand or communicate with Pache respected her relationship with him.

Raira remembers a humorous moment when Pache and Cuprite misunderstood each other.

"...What? Why are you doing that?" Cuprite asked, his eyes narrowing as he watched the small white Fae dragon flutter around him, bouncing up and down from the ground wildly, his head frills moving and undulating.

"Raira!" The smaller dragon called, his voice high-pitched but utterly monotone.

"What about her?" Cuprite asked again.

"Birth! Birth!" Pache cried out, still trilling frantically.

"What?!" He asked, blinking. "Are you trying to say Raira has laid eggs? That's not even possible! She's too young!" He started, now frantic. "Oh god, how would we explain this to mother? Should we tell her? Do we have to?" Cuprite mumbled to himself, mind churning.

Pache visibly deflated a bit before starting back up again. By the time Pache spoke again, Cuprite was already running to find Raira. "Birth day! Birth dayyyy!" He cried out after the larger dragon.

Cuprite had found Raira by that point and a rather humorous exchange took place in which her brother, face impossibly red, tried to ask her if she had laid any eggs recently. Which had, in fact, prompted a rather red face from her as well. They had a rather long conversation about trying to learn how to properly read Pache's frills but that certainly wasn't the only time Cuprite and Pache had misunderstood each other.

When Raira arrived at the Gladebough Village, she met an incredibly handsome and sweet Imperial Dragon whom she fell instantly in love with. She spent the first few months they were in the village, following him around, trying to impress him with both her physical prowess and intelligence. He didn't seem interested at all at first. He often scoffed silently and turned his nose up at her, walking away. But after months of trying and trying, Raira was a few steps away from giving up on him completely when he actually responded to her.

"Bercilak! I found a pretty stone while hunting near the river that I wanted to show you." Raira called out, grinning as she dropped the stone at his table, where he was reading a scroll on the history of fighting tactics used by Ice dragons. She half expected him to completely ignore her and was ready after waiting a moment to pick the stone back up and turn away.

She watched him look up from his scroll, however, head raising just slightly as he looked at the stone. "It is.. very pretty.." He mumbled, glancing her away for the briefest of moments before looking back at his book.

From then on, Raira never left Bercilak alone and it seemed as though the younger dragon didn't mind. The true turning point in their relationship, however, came on a hunt Bercilak had accompanied Raira, her brother, and her brother's mate, Eden. The four were prowling the groves below the village. Eden and Cuprite split off, Raira assumed to go have some alone time. The thought alone made her incredibly jealous and she stuck her tongue out after her brother before continuing on. As she walked, however, she heard the roar of a dire claw.

It swiped at her and she barely managed to dodge out of the way. It felt as if everything moved in slow motion. The leaves in the trees seemed to still as she watched Bercilak leap out in front of her, fighting with the bear. He was severely wounded, but the young dragon did manage to hold his ground against the bear long enough for it to tire of them and run off. Worried, Raira raced to his side.

"Bercy, are you okay? Oh my goodness... Oh no... What am I going to do.." She cried out, tears streaming down her face. In her mind, his wounds had to be fatal, she just knew it.

"Calm down, little one..." He replied, his voice soft and even toned. It sounded as if he wasn't even hurt. Which, Raira had to admit had bolstered her mood considerably. Tears still streamed down her face but now, she felt like he would be okay, that it would be okay.

"Let me go get Cuprite!" She called out, starting to get up. She was stopped by Bercilak, who had grabbed her leg and pulled her back.

"Stay... He'll come back to check on us and I don't want you to be alone out there..." He grumbled, voice deep and now tinged with obvious pain. Raira could feel her heart breaking for him but she stayed with him, doing what she could. Cuprite did eventually find them and rush to help his sister get Bercilak back to the village for healing.

Since that moment, a sort of unspoken bond formed between Raira and Bercilak and they became mates despite never asking one another. Because of this incident, Raira spends a lot of her time researching healing salves and healing magic so that she never has to feel that helpless again.

written by hylianrose
word count: 1,090