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"I'm going, now. Please take care of yourself."
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Luggage:
none!
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B I O G R A P H Y
______ Heath was given as a gift from the Facella clan. He has the unfortunate destiny of having 8+ charges, all the imperials from the Shotaqueen clan. He goes back and forth between the Starfall Isles and Sea of a Thousand Currents quite often, often going through The Scarred Wasteland to do so.
He occasionally brings other dragons from the Kaimiiru clan to visit the Shotaqueen clan.
He did stay in the Kaimiiru clan for it's Civil War, and has since then returned to The Scarred Wasteland to look over both his charges. He visits the clan a bit more frequently, worried for the others...
But he had no need to worry, for many warriors protected the clan and even strange travelers lingered around for the weekly festivities. Finding an easy life not to be in his taste, he bid his dear clan farewell and decided to look for another.
His first stop on his journey to look for another clan brought him to the Aetherwood Garrison located within The Southern Icefield, he noticed how almost all of the dragons here seemed geared for battle which led him to believe that its not an easy life for them. He knew he wanted to find a clan that would let him live a more difficult life, but he didn't want to stop traveling right away.
He recognized two of the warriors within the Aetherwood Garrison, and then noticed that the third one of them was missing. He pushed his thoughts aside and then begun talking with some of the other travelers in the Aetherwood Garrison to learn their reason for setting off and traveling. All of the travelers had many reasons for traveling, some of the reasons amazed him. Though he soon begun to travel again.
While he was travelling, Heath found himself caught up in the twisting crescendo. He probably would have died had he not been saved by a ridgeback making her way through the storm on an airship. She brought him back to her home, a strange Island floating above the great vortex below. It took some time for Heath to come to terms with the fact that he had not died and the island was not the afterlife.
While he was there, and healing, he visited the castle quite often. Queen Hestia seemed endlessly curious about him and his travels, and Heath found the castle quite hospitable. During his visits to the palace, he made the acquaintance of Magiere, a lady if the court. She was beautiful and fierce and Heath was captivated by her. Not wanting to get distracted, he tried to ignore the beautiful wildclaw, but it wasn't long before he realized she had taken a shine to him.
They had a nest together, and had two beautiful sons. As their sons grew and made their way into the world, Heath had to admit he was not satisfied on Crescendo Isle. He was happy here, yes, but life was far too easy. Hestia provided everything a dragon could ever want or need to survive. Even the presence of Magiere was not enough to sway him. Though they had enjoyed their time together, it was clear their relationship was not one that would last. So he packed his bag and joined the ridgeback who had brought him to the clan as she sailed to make her delivery rounds.
If only he had known life in the kingdom would not remain as peaceful and easy as it appeared.
Along the way, in the middle of the vast sea, they encountered a single, medium-sized boat full of pirates, but not quite the kind you'd expect. The pirates aboard were all quite young, some even still shedding last bits of their hatchling mane, led by a not very familiar but quite arrogant, self-proclaimed "Pirate King". Which was also rather young and inexperienced looking.
"Halt! I am Astero, the famous Pirate King and Conqueror of the Boundless Sea! State your purpose for sailing through my territory!", shouted the Pearlcatcher covered in a green, red and gold body paint that was probably supposed to give him a royal look, but was rather hastily and cheaply done.
"What Pirate King? Nobody by that name exists.", exclaimed the Ridgeback calmly after noticing Heath's confused look. "Yet I know you. I've traveled this sea a thousand times over and noticed you more than once. You used to be a dock worker, a wee little weak boy. And later on, a deck swabber for a merchant ship travelling towards the Sunbeam Ruins." Nonchalantly, she leaned onto the side of her ship and grinned at Astero. "I would love to hear how did you manage to grab a ship and get more dragons to play pretend with you." She was obviously teasing the young tattooed dragon, but there was also a feeling of dominance coming from her self-confidence. As if it was mutually understood some time before that she's the older, smarter and generally better than the one proclaiming himself the Pirate Of... Somethingsomething.
Astero really did seem flustered all of a sudden; this was not the reply he was expecting. Even some of his comrades covered his snouts and turned their heads in an attempt to hide the giggle that escaped them. "I... Well..." He cleared his throat and tried regaining his composure. "You can hear all about me and my... My achievements when you and your comrade get aboard my ship!" Slamming his front foot down as if trying to establish dominance, he added: "AND WE'LL TAKE ALL YOUR CARGO, TOO!"
Heath could only look on, confused, as the Ridgeback laughed wholeheartedly. "Listen, boy. Turn your ship around and sail back to the Fishspine Reef, before you all become shark bait." Suddenly, her face frowned, her snout furrowed, her eyes squinted as she gave all of them a good, long and stern look. "I know you.", she suddenly muttered while pointing at a particular Coatl boy at the back of the ship. "And you." Another boy, this one also a Ridgeback, quickly hid under the deck as she pointed her clawed finger at him. "Your mothers are waiting for you. You, the first one, you're from a particular wind clan. What are you doing on this ship anyway? Your mother always said you were seasick." To say the young Coatl was ashamed would be an understatement, but he said nothing. "And you?", she pointed back at the Ridgeback, and got a reply in a meek voice.
"We were... We were just playing! Astero told us how pirates have fun and go on adventures, and we just... We just..."
Heath felt the need to say something. "You wanted to die like the children you are?" The boys twitched, even their "famous leader"; some even looked like they're about to start crying. Heath's companion also kept quiet and turned to look at him, as she felt he had more to say.
"I am travelling the world with a purpose, a REAL purpose and even I do not feel ready for everything it has to offer, despite being older than all of you together. Everything out there is no child's play. It's real and it hurts, and I don't think any of you are ready to go out and deal with it. "
He didn't mean to sound harsh but it may have come out so anyway. Yet, it looked like the youngsters got the point through as the enthusiasm with which they tried "capturing" the two dragons in a boat faded and was replaced with the feelings of shame and guilt.
"Lesson learned, I think.", the female commented out loud. "Let's go. We too need to continue if I am to deliver all this in time." Heath nodded and they went on their way, followed by a boat full of slightly depressed young dragons. It took them most of the day, but the cargo was safely delivered and Heath himself bid farewell to the Ridgeback on the shores of Sunbeam Ruins. As he wondered what or who would he find here, he surely didn't expect to hear the rumors of an uprising brewing in the dragon lands all too close to what he called home...
And an uprising it was... multiple uprisings, actually. First, his home clan, the Mu clan it was named now, was almost taken over by an evil imperial and his army. He fought in the war against them, and the civil war cause almost half the dragons to be wiped out.
The space in the clan and the resources attracted more and more dragons to stay... until more than half of it was filled with coatl. The coatl all worked together and brought the clan from the Water Flight to the Fire Flight.
The change of atmosphere was too much for many dragons, many of which left. Even the Founder spread her wings and went out to serve the Flamecaller in order to defend her clan and to satisfy her restless Wind soul.
Heath went on brief journeys, and among one he came back to see the clan desolated by a volcanic storm. The leaderless already-shaky-at-best clan collapsed before his eyes, until there were only nine dragons left, including himself. They mostly kept to themselves in their own corner of their huge territories, but would band together against a threat or simply for company when the loneliness became too much. Their children were usually cast out when they could survive on their own, where they went to places unknown or banded together to make a new clan of sorts.
Unbound by any responsibility Heath flew out to visit his charges... only to find them in hibernation. He took care not to disturb them and watched over them for a few days, but their clan was peaceful.
He considered visiting the Flamecaller to offer his services to her... but no, something inside him liked belonging nowhere, to keep traveling. He visited whoever he could in the clan to say his farewells.
"Yeahhh shut up, Heath. You always go off on your own. Maybe you're secretly a wind dragon." Skyria chuffed. Heath smiled at the grumpy coatl who had been in the clan the longest and bid him farewell.
"Come and visit us, ya hear? I always think you die or somethin' when you go on your adventures. Give us some more stories." Thunder hummed.
Heath tried to find and say goodbye the six other dragons, but Garou was Garou, Blanc attacked him on sight, Saeurella didn't know him, Allen flew away from him, Sota froze him, and Quince tried to trap him and shouted at him to snap out of his "dumb suicide trips". The young dragons were terrified of huge size and ran away from him.
"It's time to see where the currents lead me this time, then." Heath said to himself, spreading his wings and leaping powerfully into the sky. He would be back. He always found his way home...
______ Charge: The Shotqueen imperials. All of them.
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______________HEATH______________
