Ash

Many years ago a fierce wildclaw warrior took a gentle pearlcatcher as his mate, lovely as he since they shared similar colors and genes. He joined her in her ancestral home in the Sunbeam Ruins which he decorated in the wildclaw fashion, and they had many healthy hatchlings, both wildclaw and pearlcatcher of which he was proud. One of his many daughters, a pearlcatcher, was unhappy in their large den. She was sure she was special, even though she hadn't yet earned a name. Her family wouldn't allow her a fierce name that she felt she needed, and she wouldn't accept a gentle, cowardly sort of name, like her mother, Doodle. Her wildclaw siblings wouldn't allow her to fight in the arena or even hunt, because she was just a pearlcatcher dragon. They mocked her ambitions, and told her to learn to paint so she could decorate the lair with scenes of their glorious battles as they would describe to her. That was the closest she could ever expect to get to battle. She was just a pretty little thing, despite her strong secondary gene, peregrine. She believed it was because her black tertiary was mauve colored in her peacock gene, that nobody could take her seriously. She longed to prove them wrong, to show them that she was a wildclaw in spirit, and only pearlcatcher in body.

She wanted a mate to match her unusual temperment, but finding a dragon like her ferocious father, Toro, was difficult. He was strong enough to fight alone so he could take a mate solely for her beauty. Other wildclaws wanted a mate to match them as a pair in the arena. She couldn't settle for less than a wildclaw even though none were interested in her. She had one pearlcatcher suitor that adored her determination, but she spurned him. He had her orca colors, but in fern and paisley genes that she found too cutesy and soft. And, white wish gene was unbearable. She thought that the only way she could get what she wanted, would be to disguise herself as a more fierce-looking dragon so she could get into the arena without her family stopping her. She tried many things to darken her wings, but the purple always showed through.

She was desperate, and had one final idea, to burn the peacock spots from her wings. Even if she went too far and didn't just char the spots to black and left holes in her wings, she would look menacing and dangerous and never be underestimated again. She was willing to try it, but not able to light a fire. She had to find one.

She flew to the Ashfall Waste. She found a lava flow and dipped her wings close to sear them, ignoring the pain. Her wings smoked from the heat, but the mauve color and much of the light gray of orca were a deep, sooty black. Just as she was satisfied with the result, a sudden tremor shook the narrow lava rock she stood on, and she fell into the lava, screaming. It pulled her under and along, and she couldn't free herself. But then she realized that she was moving up and out of the lava, pulled along by a struggling male dragon. He had followed her just to be able to see her, and when she fell he rushed to her. The power of both of them working together was finally able to pull them free of the lava, but they had severe burns, and were horribly misshapen. They were both black and red in many places, with just some light gray and white left, more on him than her because of his white tertiary. They escaped, but their pearls had developed cracks in the heat. More painful than the burns they cradled the pearls as the essence leaked from them, and surrounded them. Somehow, the pearls comforted their agony with a glowing vapor, until nothing was left of the spheres but dull shards.

Over the next few days, it became clear that their legs would never heal, and they dropped off, leaving extra wings where they had been. Their bodies had elongated and they had both developed sailfins to compensate for having to fly instead of walk. When they were nearly recovered, she despaired of ever becoming a fighting dragon, but her new friend told her that she looked as dangerous as any dragon. She thought to herself that he looked much better in the colors of the volcano, with black as ash, red like the hottest lava, and white like steam. She examined herself and saw that she too had those colors and her new scales and feathers were beautiful and impressive. She decided to take the name of a volcano, and the same for her mate, because she could accept him now. He was brave, and he was strong and his colors were intense. Together they started a new den of volcanic Auraboa dragons, to the envy of many. This is the legacy belonging to Krakatoa and Vesuvius.

This is a hatchling from their second clutch.

---

Subspecies page: Igneous Amphitere