Shade

Name: Shade
Friendly/Compassionate/Calm

Quote: The world if full of monsters with friendly faces and angels with scars.

Position: Bard/story teller

Personality: Shade is a easy going drake with very little that irritates him and even less he cares to start a fight over. this attitude doesn't win him many friends as some see him as intimidating, he doesn't seem to mind much and is just as happy curled up under a tree playing his lute as talking to another dragon. he is very protective of his few friends and can often be found joking and talking with them, often verbally sparring with one of them and laughing off the insults. Shade keeps to himself and can often be seen as lazy to many who don't know him, but is actually very hard working when he wants to do something, his determination once ignited is frightening as he very seldom allows something to delay him long.
Shade is a very passionate dragon once he finds something to interest him although holding his interest can be a difficult thing. his loyalty in unquestionable until he decides to cut ties with another, although to get him that upset is a very hard thing. he is very patient and kind, showing compassion even to those who don't really deserve it. Shade can be sarcastic when the mood strikes him or he's around his mate, often poking fun at her or challenging her in small ways. he is very affectionate to his mate and can often be found curled up with her, either cuddling, verbally sparring, or simply relaxing.

Quirks: Old fashioned, Protective, Loyal, possessive, territorial

Background: Shade never had much of an attachment to his hatch clan or family, his parents favored his older brother as did the clan because the male had dark purple eyes instead of his light violet eyes. the clan thought the elder would be better at magic and closer to the Shadowbinder because of his eyes and he was treated much better than the younger male, who seemed less enthused with his older sibling than the rest of the clan. Shade was a better fighter and much more intelligent than his brother was in some areas, his talent and knowledge often got him scowled at by the elder dragons, the problem was his pale eyes made the elders whisper that his magic was faded and therefore he was not a true shadow dragon. Shade never paid much attention to these whispers and often wandered from the clan when he had the chance, wandering to the edge of the territory and watching the water, other dragons, or whatever caught his attention most at that time.
He had no real friends in his clan and felt no ties to it, he spent most of his time off in the brambles practicing a lute he had been given by a wandering bard out in the brambles. Shade spent hours out in the Tangled woods alone and playing the lute, until he was very good at it, rivaling most minstrels and bards he had seen as few as those were. Shade began playing in the clan, not interested in attention, but in entertaining himself, soon he noticed several of the dragoness his age would stop and listen to him play a few moments before going to fawn over his brother. Shade never let this bother him, he had better things to do than worry about flings his brother had or who was doing what, he wanted to leave the clan and find his own place somewhere else.

He would get his chance when he overheard his parents talking about selling him on the auction house, the thought of living there with so many others and looked at as though he were a piece of meat didn't appeal to him. he decided to leave the clan behind him although he didn't know where he would go exactly only that he would walk and fly there; it was late a few nights later that the young male slipped from his family's den and disappeared into the night without a sound. Shade camped as he traveled until he found small towns and villages he could stay in for a few songs and eventually he joined up with a small band of Mercenaries who took him in and helped him get better with his sword while they had the chance. Shade felt more at home with the mercenaries than he ever had with his hatch clan, being treated as if he had always been part of the group helped and the young hatchling flourished with the small group.
Shade stayed with them for many years, well until he was a young adult, and he enjoyed the company of the crude drakes much more than he thought he would. they didn't ask for much, play a celebratory tune when they camped after getting paid and let them get drunk in town so long as he'd drink with them, he preferred sipping his drinks instead of getting drunk. they paid him for the songs he'd play for them or he'd get paid by a tavern owner for the drinking tune he'd play in taverns, either way he didn't much mind and never really demanded payment, they were his family in a way and he wouldn't demand such from family. his time with the mercenaries came to an end when they went to a town and they had been attacked while he was out gathering supplies, he knew several were dead when he saw them; the survivors opted to stay in the town to heal while Shade moved on. they wished him luck and sent him with supplies, writing letters to him often to keep tabs on him and find out if he needed anything, they may have not shared his blood, but he was one of them and they looked after their own.

Shade eventually met a young dragoness who wanted as little to do with him as possible, Shade, more use to dragoness swooning over him found this refreshing and soon found himself smitten as the other would drop a few coin in his hat before disappearing into the night. he found out from the village that her name was Rose, she was a unnatural beauty with grace and charm she could have had any drake she chose, but yet she had not chosen a mate. Shade set out to impress her although he still had not gotten close to her, much less spoken to her and he decided he would try to talk with her first and see if they could get along well before courting her. their game of chase lasted several months before Rose allowed him to catch her and the two started talking about anything that came to mind, of course these conversations often had a lot of mocking and teasing, but she challenged him to keep up in a way no other dragoness ever had.
Shade found himself falling deeper and harder for the dragoness, finally he handed her a harp and taught her to play, hearing her sing for the first time he felt a strange pull that promised so many wonderful things should he choose to follow it. maybe it was because he had been lied to and promised things before that turned into beatings and other such unpleasantness or maybe the Shadowbinder had favored him with a powerful magic, he wasn't sure, but he ignored the pull in favor of her. his Rose, she had many sharp thorns, but he loved her and he would fight to stay with her if she'd allow it.

It happened while they sat at the local Inn in the village, a storm the likes of which not even the eldest dragons could remember and they were caught unaware. lightning flashed and thunder roared sending the occupants of the Inn scrambling for a far corner away from the wildly swinging doors and the rain pelting in, the ground rumbled beneath them and the terrified dragons had finally had enough. the dragons ran, Shade was separated from Rose when they were jostled, shoved, and dragged out into the weather, he looked around for her, calling her real name as well as the one given to her by the thieves of her past and found nothing. when the waves began beating the land and the village Shade watched several den disappeared in the swell and never resurfaced, destroyed by the beating waves, Shade saw a young hatchling calling for her Mama as another waved reared and raced to get to her before the water. Shade made it with the hatchling between two building before the wave swallowed where they had just been and took many dragons with it, Shade moved quickly to find a place for the hatchling to stay in safety while the storm raged on around them and he worried for his mate.
Finding a safe spot for that hatchling with another adult before he went back to find his mate, not seeing her with the surviving dragons he asked about her and found out she had been washed out to sea. he wondered how long the Siren could survive in her beloved ocean before she would have to find land; he waited out the rest of the storm and waited six months to see if the dragoness would come back and lost hope with every passing day until he eventually left the village taking nothing except his lute and what he wore he wandered again, playing songs to earn treasure. his songs were sad, the tune never turning cheerful although he sometimes smiled when meeting a new dragon, it never seemed to reach his eyes and soon not many dragons approached the grieving drake. he met and traveled with two fighters for awhile, finding comfort in the familiar feel of a sword in his claws during a fight and a lute in his claws at night, his companions didn't seem to mind his silence or the mournful sound of his songs as they reasoned everyone had their own demons.

Going to a new town he set up a small den, it was temporary since he continued looking for Rose as he could, but he wanted a place to stay while he wasn't looking. many of the village dragoness flirted with him although he found no interest in them and spent time talking with several of the village warriors about what was going on in the village and worked with them when he needed extra treasure for odds and ends. he made a life for himself although he was often gone the village accepted it easily since he was a bard and bards tended to wander a lot for their own reasons, Shade never told them about Nanna although he would always think of her as Rose since that was how she introduced herself when they had first met.
When the guards started talking about a lovely young dragoness he listened for awhile and forced any hope back, he had thought it was Rose before and had been disappointed each time he refused to get excited only for it to be a different dragoness. he went to the tavern and listened to her sing and play the harp, it was a heartbreaking tune and made even sadder by the lyrics and that way the young dragoness looked out at the crowd and then back down as if she had been hoping for something. he began playing his lute, matching her melody with one of his own as he recognized who it was, when the song ended the two slipped from the tavern and went walking to catch up with no prying eyes to watch them. they would leave and find a new clan if they so chose or go on adventures until they chose to settle down, but at that moment he was simply content, he had found his Siren.