Riley

Riley
• Caretaker / Former knight

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xxxTheme song: Air traffic controller - Blame
Battle theme: [url=]none yet[/url]

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AMAZING art by Meese, click their UN to go to their art shop!

Riley’s childhood wasn’t a happy one. She had been left to fend for herself, forced to scavenge for scraps and hiding from dangers all alone. despite this, her life got better when she met her ‘brother’- a black skydancer who was named ‘Boone’. Boone was a fighter- unlike the tundra he faced dangers head-on and got his fair share of scars to prove he had fought to survive. Riley was intrigued by this young stranger, and it wasn’t long before the two began to refer to the other as ‘siblings’. Boone taught Riley how to defend herself, and Riley in turn patched her brother up whenever he got hurt.

Though their personalities were wildly different, the two were as close as siblings could be. Eventually, Boone got a job at a clan who saw the skydancer’s capabilities after he took down one of their scouts, mistaking the dragon for someone who intended to hurt him and his sister. Riley wanted to join the clan as well, and after Boone threw a fit because of how the tundra was treated she was allowed to. Riley became an apprentice to the clan’s healer, having a natural urge to help rather than harm. Boone became a knight, and was quick to climb the ranks. His natural instincts and quick reflexes made him a formidable fighter, and it wasn’t long before he was training lower-ranked knights. Riley frequently helped out, and many began to notice that the tundra was more than capable of matching her brother in strength, agility, speed and endurance. She was just as good at fighting as the skydancer, and so it was decided she would also join the ranks of the knights, though the tundra was not really happy about it. Still, the prospect of being able to defend the innocent was enough for the tundra to begrudgingly accept her new job. Boone assured her that if she did her job right less dragons would be hurt and would require healing, and Riley eventually began to enjoy her job.

art by me :D

However, she was still a gentle soul, who despised hurting others- ESPECIALLY hatchlings. The white and red dragon remembered all too well how she had been hunted, harmed and nearly killed by adults as a young dragon, and vowed to do everything in her power to protect hatchlings and young dragons from having to live like she had. Which is why whenever she found an injured hatchling, she took them with her to the clan, hoping they’d have a better future there.

What Riley didn’t know is that behind closed doors, her brother was told to kill those very same hatchlings. And he did, seemingly without regrets.

One day, Riley and her brother were summoned by the clan leader for a special mission, which he told them only theey could complete. Bordering on the clan’s territory was a land that was whispered about in myths and urban legends- a land ruled by a woman only known as ‘the duchess of terror’. Apparently the duchess had passed away, leaving the supposed ‘evil’ territory weakened, and with a new, weaker duke or duchess ruling it. Riley was hesitant, but her brother had already accepted.

And so Riley went on a mission that would change her life forever.

The duchy was filled with guards, either patrolling or just relaxing in various places. Riley had a tough time staying undetected, but Boone managed to do so just fine. The beings that guarded the land were no odinary dragons- ghosts, demonic entitities and other supernatural beings roamed the land seemingly without a care- fitting, since the duke or duchess was supposed to be a terrifying monster without a shred of anything vaguely dragon-like.

The two knights eventually came upon the grim mansion of the current ruler of the territory- which was surprisingly easy to enter. Boone suspected the area was filled with traps, but… if there were any the two were very lucky not to trigger them.

Finally, the two came upon what appeared to be a throne room, with a young dragon sitting on a throne way too big for her. She wore an elegant black dress, and half of her face was obscured by an intricate mask.

Riley was confused, but Boone immediately drew his weapon, figuring that this was either the duchess or the child of the current duke or duchess.

Boone saw both as a sign the hatchling was worth killing.

However, something prevented both him an Riley from advancing and finishing their mission. Something kept them from just lunging at the small dragon and ending her life.

That something being the ghosts of several young dragons blocking their path, shouting about how they would get revenge on the ones who killed them. Riley recognized most of the young dragons- how could she not, with how she had guided them to the clan? Not understanding why the ghosts of the hatchlings were there, or how they had died, it took a bit before she caught up with what the young ghosts were telling.

They wanted revenge...
...on the one who killed them...
...the ‘dark dragon’.

Riley backed up the second she realized Boone had been responsible for their deaths, horrified that her brother would do such a thing. Boone didn’t say a thing to defend himself, eyes still trained on the dark yet elegant dragon.

The young - still living- dragon then clarified that she had taken in the young ghosts when they just died. One of them had seen Riley and Boone enter, and figured they were going to hurt the dark dragon because she was a hatching. From the point of view from the ghosts, both Riley and Boone were evil and hated all hatchlings, wanting to kill them.

Riley tried to defend herself, but Boone was more interested in knowing who the hell this dark dragon was.

Apparently, she was the young duchess, who was tasked with protecting the land and those who excised within it. The duchess was just a hatchling herself, but seemed determined to protect the ghosts from both Boone and Riley.

A fight began, and very quickly it became clear that the duchess was no match for Boone, and Riley watched in horror as the small dragon was pinned down. She wanted to stop this- wanted to be angry or at least move but- but she couldn’t.
She couldnt do anything as her brother prepared to kill yet another hatchling right in front of her.

However, a terrifying beast interfered, not only blocking the finishing blow, but pinning Boone down. In an instant, the tense air had changed, and Boone changed from someone who was angered to someone who was begging to be released. Riley could hear the terror in her brother’s voice, but…

...she didn’t want to help.

Slowly her shock made way for anger, which then turned into rage. How dare he beg for her to help him, how DARE he plead for forgiveness?! HOW DARE HE LOOK AT HER AS IF SHE WOULD HELP A MONSTER LIKE HIM?!

Though her rage was near tangible, Riley stayed quiet. And quiet it would remain, at least until the duchess spoke. She called the beast back to her, and it stayed near her, towering over her as a hellish guard. The ghosts were a bit scared, but mostly delighted to see their murderer reduced to a shaking, crying mess. The dark duchess offered Boone a choice: serve her ten years for every life he stole or die a slow and agonizing death at the hands of those he killed.

In his fear, Boone chose to serve the duchess.

It was only then that the young duchess turned to Riley, who’s rage slowly but surely became mixed with a near instinctual terror. For a few minutes all that could be heard were Boone’s quiet sobs, before the duchess turned to him and ordered him to get up and show Riley the door- she had no interest in the white and red knight.

Boone obeyed in a panicked sort of fashion, scared out of his wits by what he had seen, and all too eager to leave.

When the two found the main enterance to the mansion again Riley was the first to set foot outside of it, happy to be out of the grim building yet still feeling anger beyond anything she had ever felt before. She turned to shout at her brother- to scream at him for doing the things he had done, but what she saw made her pause.

Boone tried with all his might to leave the mansion, but dark, shadowy chains kept him from doing so. The skydancer grew more and more panicked and begged for Riley to help him. After a long silence, Riley turned away from her sibling and left him.

He had chosen to serve the duchess, and he would.

While slowly but surely wandering trough the duchy, Riley began to hear whispers. Voices giggled and stated she was a fool, some wondered why she’d kill next, others asked her how many hatchlings had died because of her. The more Riley heard, the more she just wanted to leave.

Once at the border of the duchy, Riley removed all her armor and weapons. Never again… she’d never, EVER fight again! She had been such a fool- trusting her brother like she had. Why had she never questioned where the hatchlings she ‘saved’ had gone? Why did she believe her brother when he told her he had guided them to a safer clan to live?! Why did she keep believing those lies?!

For months, Riley wandered. Lost, hungry and saddened by the truth of what both she and her brother had done. She would have died- she SHOULD have died during that time- but something just kept her going.However, there’s only so much one can endure before passing out. Riley figured she’d die- figured her life was over and that she had become what she had hated most as a hatchling.

But she didn’t.

An uncertain amount of time after passing out due to exhaustion, the white and red tundra woke up in a warm and comfy bed. There was a glass of water on the night stand, and a letter under it. Confused but thirsty, Riley drank the water and read the letter, which only left her with more questions than answers, but did give her a lead as to what to do next.

Making her ways trough the corridors of this strange place, Riley eventually came to a door of what appeared to be an office. The letter had given her clear directions to this exact door, but why was beyond the tundra. She hesitated for a bit, before knocking. A voice on the other side told her to come in.

The office beyond the door was well lit, though more than half of it was shrouded in an unnatural darkness. A voice told her to take a seat, and asked her a few questions. Riley, though questioning everything that happened more and more, answered as best as she could, before asking why she was here- and where ‘here’ even was.

The voice told her that she was in a prestigious magical school, and that they found her based on her ‘qualifications’. Riley had no idea what those qualifications were, but was silenced when the voice asked her if she’d like to work with hatchlings.

Shocked and a bit scared, Riley immediately asked ‘why’, only to hear that whoever this dark being was, they had seen what Riley had gone trough (or at least read about it). They knew about her troubled childhood, they knew of her and her brother’s time together and what had transpired to cause Riley to wander aimlessly. They knew everything.

The tundra was unsure what to think, but after she finished processing Riley realized this could only mean one thing:

She had died- she had died and was in purgatory, heaven or hell.

This idea was only enforced when the voice told her that they would have done something about it earlier, but couldn’t meddle with the affairs of living dragons.

She had actually friggin died!

Riley numbly agreed to take the job, and the voice seemingly summoned a male dragon, telling him to explain to the new caretaker how things worked around here.

The dragon – a purple and golden pearlcatcher named ‘Emion’- explained that Riley would be a caretaker and sort of teacher to quite a few hatchlings. The young dragons would be powerful beyond a normal dragon’s capabilities, so it was good Riley knew how to defend herself. The white and red dragon figured these children were probably angels or demons- depending on if this was heaven or hell (so far it appeared as neither- it was just really confusing). Emion went on to explain that most of these hatchlings weren’t really capable of feeling emotions yet, but that Riley’s presence could teach them to feel them. The tundra was only half-listening.

Emion showed her out of the huge, castle-like building of the school and guided her towards a rather spacious mansion, all the while explaining the finer details- it would be a 24/7 job, the pay would be beyond generous and though she didn’t really have vacations until another person applied, the hatchlings would love to meet her.

Riley idly wondered why she’d need vacations when she was dead....

Before she could ask why a dead dragon would need vacations Emion had already opened the door to the mansion, and was in the process of introducing Riley to the various hatchlings present and telling them to ‘be nice and not kill her’.

Which is how the white and red dragon became the main caretaker of ‘The Orphanage for extremely gifted hatchlings’.

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[extra bits/trivia]

[ Riley did not die. She's still alive even though she's convinced she's not ]