Zane

Zane had been living with a voice in his head since he was a hatchling. The voice gave him advice and was like a guardian, helping him survive in the boneyard he'd grown up alone in. It whispered to him how to be resourceful, how to exploit situations, and how to read between the lines. He had no friends except the voice, if you could call it that, as it was always judgemental. Zane learned to trust no one and to be hypervigilant of his environment.

Zane often wished the voice would disappear, that maybe it was a sign of insanity, but it never did... until he met Vin. Vin was the first dragon he'd ever felt something for, someone who could perhaps understand him, be his soulmate. He saw her as he was flying high over the Sea of a Thousand Currents taking advantage of the clouds of mosquitoes when Vin burst out of the water in front of him with a huge merlin in her jaws. Her eyes were like fire, and she seemed to burn with an inner light. It was in that moment of awe at her skill and spirit that he vowed to follow her against the voice's advice.

They got to know each other in the lair, and bonded over the fact that they both were orphans and grew up having to look over their shoulder. Of course, he never told her about the voice, which was unusually quiet in her presence. They became friends and Zane joined the clan, but Zane secretly wanted to take their relationship further, but also didn't want to risk being vulnerable and ruining what they had.

Ever since Vin had been in his life, the voice had started to get weaker, even when he was alone. Vin taught Zane that he didn't have to be alone against the world, that friendship and trust made life meaningful. Living on edge waiting for things to crumble around him wasn't really living and after a few months in the clan, Zane started to relax around the others. He became friends with Finnegan, Mogget, and Irene and started to open up to others whom he'd just ignored previously. Vin was his confidant though and they often went hunting and exploring together.

After about a year, he felt the Clan of the Shifting Currents to be home and continued to thrive and grow, shedding his old mistrustful self in the process. He got the courage to ask Vin to be his mate and brought her the most beautiful rare blood-red roses from the Wyrmwound to give to her after they got back from a shipwreck expedition. After what felt like a century of Vin staring at the Plague roses and back at him, she put her voluptuous wing around his and kissed him. That day, the voice left and Zane had a feeling it was gone forever. He felt whole for the first time in his life and happy knowing he'd found love, something he'd never even imagined before.