Frostberry

Nestkeeper

"Young children should never be forced to fight to the death. Such a thing is only a waste of life. But so am I. I should have stopped it, I should have rebelled against them. Instead I led hatchlings to their deaths. I now give up the way of the warrior and swear to never train another young soul again. Maybe someday I can be forgiven of my sins and finally rest without hearing those young screams of agony."

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Frostberry was once a talented fighter and a successful trainer to young soldiers. However a change in leadership made for the soldiers to be trained younger and younger. Hatchlings were sent on the battlefield and were easily crushed as a result.

At first the Wildclaw paid little mind to this and continued to do her job as a loyal dragon should, yet when another battle came and Frostberry truly witnessed what she was putting the young ones through, she broke down. After the battle, she tried to reason with her leader and when that failed she told them that she would not train anymore hatchlings to go into battle and die.

Branded a traitor, the leader of the Clan fought Frostberry and wounded her within an inch of her life, but Frostberry managed to kill the leader in the fight. After that, she struggled to run while the dead leader's supporters were hot on her heels. After many days and skirmishes, the revenge party left Frostberry lying in a pool of her own blood to die alone.

Luckily for her, a healer named Castor found her and took her back to her Clan, fixing her up and the leader Luke offering her a place. At first Frostberry was uncertain but the goodwill of the Clan eventually won her over. However she was skittish to tell them her story but to her surprise, the clan did not turn her out and Luke even offered her the job of nestkeeper.

Luke said that it would be a way to repent for all she she did and Frostberry accepted, officially turning her back on the way of the warrior and fulfilling her days with watching over and passively teaching each new generation.

Being a rather young dragon, Frostberry was excited to have hatchlings of her own, the whole clan traveled to the Tangled Wood where the young would be born. While Frostberry made every nest perfect she went the extra mile for her own nest. When it was time for the eggs to come, Frostberry guarded and tended to them day and night, she was even reluctant to let kind Uronaar near them.

Yet, when the eggs were due to hatch, there was a problem. All of her hatchlings died within a few days of birth. Distraught but determined to be a mother, Frostberry tried again and again, but every time was met with the same results. And her most current brood was no exception. One of her eggs didn't hatch and while the other did, it was obvious that she was a cripple. Taking her daughter, Frostberry hovered over the remaining egg until it slowly started to wobble and crack. Her second daughter was born and Frostberry just finished naming her Palerose when she noticed Palerose wasn't moving. She was dead.

Frostberry knew that this was punishment for what she did in her old clan, and while the first deaths greatly saddened her, this one broke her. Before she at least had time to spend with her hatchlings before they died. Palerose only got her name before death claimed her.

But before she could fall any further, her surviving hatchling snuggled against her and chirped happily up at her. She still had this one, and Frostberry would make sure she survived. She was named Leah.

Frostberry is very protective of her crippled daughter and coddles her relentlessly, carrying her everywhere and keeping her at her side constantly. It is very obvious that if something isn't done about Leah, she will die too. A cripple wouldn't survive long being a nomad. Luke thinks that their friends at Clan Vogelzang might be able to take her in. Frostberry doesn't want to but if it will help Leah to survive then she will let her baby go. Frostberry had since lost contact with her remaining daughter, the last she heard of her, Leah was living happily with the Vogelzang but after that, nothing. Frostberry can only hope that Leah is doing fine and that she will continue to live a fine life.

Frostberry's luck seems to have turned a little, never since Leah has her brood survived but her latest babes, Leena and Sinopa, have defied that. Leena soon left to join to the Shadowbinder and while Sinopa decided to stay, truly wanting to look after her mother and keep her company.