Nicholas

Nick, the Juggernaut(And unwilling leader)
Main Theme: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing


Previous Life


Nick was loved by almost anyone that met him. He was raised in a light clan, adopted in by his parents. He was a prince and a kind one too. He'd help debtors get out of their sentences by paying it for them. If there was anyone who knew him best though was his beloved older brother. He didn't care that Nick wasn't his blood brother. His brother was named Gabriel, and he was the crown prince. The two, when little, would run amuck. Some members of their father's court blamed the young plague dragon since the clan had a bad history with another strong kingdom that was in that flight. No one really cared, or that's what Nick and his family thought. One night. when Nicholas was wandering the grounds, he stumbled on the knights mumbling about their distrust for him. Nick, being still a kind and gentle dragon, chose to ignore it. He went to his room but did get into some alcohol. He didn't get drunk, just enjoying a single glass of fine wine. He was an adult, and this was a fine thing for anyone to do. The next morning he woke up with a headache though. Nicholas normally never touched booze, but felt like having a glass since his brother swore it helped take the edge off of troubling things.

He got dressed, taking slower than normal because of the buzzing pain in his head. As he made his way out, a knight got in his way. The knight glared at him, Nicholas surprised. While he knew they didn't like him and recently learned they hated him he didn't expect such a glare. Due to his headache, he ignored the knight, gently pushing past to tease his brother. The knight got in his way, now holding his weapon at Nicholas's neck. The young imp lifted a brow and asked what in the world the knight was doing. He shoved past him now, no longer wanting to be around this rude knight. What he saw started the ruin of his life. His bother's body was mangled and torn up. The wounds had gone infected, dried puss mixed with blood covering his blankets and body. Nicholas ran to him, stopped now by two knights. They shared the same hate-filled glares. He was grabbed by both, being dragged somewhere. Nicholas screamed the whole time, tears streaming and anger mixed with confusion marking his face.

His father read the charges. Nicholas was charged with murdering his big brother Gabriel. No one in the clan was a plague dragon, and the wounds on the body were from plague magic. What was worse was they found the bottle he drank from in his room, something Nicholas knew wasn't there when he woke up. The evidence was very incriminating, and murder was the worst crime in the kingdom, second only to mass murder. Nicholas tried to speak, but his adoptive father yelled over him, pain in his eyes. The only one who didn't seem upset was his father's right-hand dragon. He looked downright pleased, making Nicholas start to feel angry. The penalty for such a crime was death, and Nicholas knew fully well he didn't want to die. His father, even though filled with grief, chose to spare him. The punishment would be every dragon could be informed to be wary of him. Shame became his punishment, and Nicholas would soon learn death may have been easier.

As he made his way out of the palace, people threw rotten food at him, some even throwing dung. His clothing was ruined, the muddy paths that most walked on covering his paws and feet. As he left, he found out he'd have to fight to make a living. being an adventure had its perks, but his reputation made it hard. He was paid less unless he threatened merchants. People would taunt him about joining him on his adventuring. Nicholas no longer trusted anyone anymore though. If someone tried to do anything he didn't like, he'd attack them using beast clan members that were not sentient. He found it hard to make money to live through, forced to sleep outside and no longer able to sleep easy. Monsters had become a common thing that if he rested deeply, he'd get attacked.

He chose to try to buy help, in the form of a slave or fodder. He knew raising someone's level and throwing them to one of the gods made good, quick money. As he made his way into more and deeper dark allies he found one dragon he couldn't stand. They were a cruel slave dealer, even beating ones too young to protect themselves. Nicholas had allowed himself to take dangerous jobs like killing others so he was mostly numb to these kinds of things. What made him do something was when his eyes landed on one hatchling. Her eyes were so bright, kind, and full of hope. He tried to ignore her, but her eyes lingered in his mind.

That night, he broke in and brutally murdered every dragon that worked for the slave trader. For the trader, he just squished his head like a grape. He was covered in blood, every dragon too scared of the dark imperial to move. The first to do anything was the hatchling. She crawled over to him, one leg was broken and her left wing twisted in a painful position. This didn't phase Nicholas though. What phased him was how determined she was to get close to him. He moved a little, hoping that she'd grow tired from pain. Instead, she continued to go to him and looking at him with her kind eyes. After a while she had him backed to a wall. Nicholas looked at her, eyes dead inside, and angry. Instead of halting she went faster.

He didn't know what to expect, but she nuzzled her matted self to him. Her fur got covered in blood, but she didn't care. Soft purring like sounds came from her. He went to smack her away, but her kind eyes locked with his. He lowered his paw and stayed like this for a while. Soon other slaves made their way over, each expressing gratitude. None touched him though, that was something only the tundra hatchling dared to do. After day began to come and the hatchling fell asleep he made his way to leave. He didn't notice for a while, but the hatchling had been following him. Nicholas had washed the blood off himself, but the hatchling was a dirty mess still. Nicholas finally noticed when he heard whispers from dragons as he walked through the town.

He didn't know why, but he scooped her up, quickly getting out of sight and out of town. He was surprised to find himself cleaning her off in a river and treating her wounds. The hatchling wasn't though, her warm eyes burning into his soul. Before long, she became his partner. He didn't know why but he wanted her to always be near him. Soon he grew worried that she'd hear of the rumors of what he did and tried to keep her from hearing them. Soon though, she heard. When she asked him about it, he went mad, screaming he was innocent. To his surprise, she believed him. Since then Amiria, as he called her, forced him to join a clan. Nicholas has no intent on being helpful though, never even entering clan grounds. But he'd never leave the tundra alone, Amiria the only being he'd ever trust.


Life in the Lucent Cosmos

It didn't take long for the two to decide to move on from their current clan.

Together, they wandered most of Sornieth, Nicholas the ever-emotionless one, but Amiria always at his side regardless. Nicholas started seeking out more honest ways of making gold, due to Amiria's constant imploring. Of course, honest gold was much harder to come by, and the two found themselves with hungry, rumbling stomachs on more than one night. Nicholas, being a strong fighter, at least could easily take down prey, but Amiria, being a tundra, stuck to a more vegetarian diet. In certain climates, this made food much harder to come by. But they never gave up, and continued moving across Sornieth in hopes of a better life.

"Fleeing" was getting old. Very fast. They previously had found a good residence in the Viridian Labyrinth, but were chased off by yet another clan. Without many options left, the two headed for the Scarred Wasteland. With Nicholas's natural affinity to plague magic, he knew that the two had a good chance of being able to survive.

They were doing well for themselves, too, with Nicholas finally finding work as hired muscle for a black market, when trouble found the pair yet again. On the run once more, they raced towards Starfall Isles, leaving their lives in the dust. But, the trouble wasn't quite done with them yet. Deep in the Starwood Strand, where the two were quietly hiding, a band of assassins sent to finish the two appeared from thin air. Nicholas fought, teeth gnashing and claws slashing as he desperately tried to keep the attackers at bay. He ordered Amiria to run, and surprisingly, she did.

He thought all hope lost. His attackers surrounded him, circling him like wolves, as he growled lowly to keep them at bay, his hatred boiling deep within him. One of them, a wildclaw with scarred green scales, jumped towards his throat--

But was thrown to the ground by a much larger imperial. Two more imperial barreled behind him, charging into the fight with tenacity. With the odds a bit more even, the attackers scattered, fleeing back to where they came. Nicholas glared the other dragons down, trying to decipher their
motives, when a grateful Amiria came bounding up behind the dragons. She had found help, she explained. The leader of the group, the first imperial to come to his aid, introduced himself. His name was Arthur, the leader of the Knights of the Cosmos. Irritated, Nicholas growled out a "thanks," before turning away. He called out to Amiria to follow, but she remained still. These dragons had just saved their lives! Arthur began to explain that they were a sort of muscle-for-hire, and that rescues like this were the norm for them. They worked for the good of Sornieth, fighting off those who wished to do harm whenever they could. Once again, Nicholas became irate, growling for Amiria to follow, but she refused. He finally gave in, and turned to the leader. Why help them? He had nothing to offer them in return. He refused to offer them anything in return. In fact, he just wanted to leave.

And strangely enough, the three imperials respected that. Arthur smiled, and rather than return the hostility, complimented Nicholas's fighting abilities. Nicholas was... rather taken aback by this. It'd been so long since he'd been shown kindness (by someone other than Amiria, that is), that he truly wasn't sure how to respond. So he growled another "thanks," his muscles still rigid. Amiria was staring up at their rescuers with bright, shining eyes, and it made Nicholas sick. He still felt rage beneath his scales.

Say, what were they doing out here anyways? The second imperial, a large, pure white male asked, his voice a deep rumble. Nicholas barked back that it was none of their business. But Amiria, she was still star-struck. Reading into the situation, the group offered the two a place to sleep for the night. Not wanting to risk Amiria to another attack, Nicholas begrudgingly agreed.

Once back at their lair, he quickly noticed it was full of quite the variety of dragons--many of them fighters like himself. He was rather impressed, but refused to allow them to see this. He ordered Amiria to stay in the cavern, and opted to sleep outside himself. The other dragons didn't judge, but rather respected Nicholas's wishes. Once daylight broke, he reluctantly crawled back into the cavern to retrieve Amiria... only to find her having a lively conversation with a few of the other dragons. She was beaming, and once she saw him, she bounded over to him, full of life and glee.

He had a feeling they weren't leaving.

But, maybe things would be different this time? After all, there was something about those fighter leaders...

Art