Animal

Animal is a notorious blood colored SeaWing-SandWing hybrid, known for killing and eating dragons brutally despite his neat and elegant nature. He was named for the savage way he came out of his egg, snarling and teeth gnashing upon shell, like a wild animal.

Biography[]

Animal was hatched on a beach near the 'foot' of Pyrrhia.

His mother was a runaway SeaWing royal and his father was a SandWing. His mother, Polyp, had fled her kingdom once she learned of her royal roots and realized that the queen and her soldiers would be coming for her. Fearing the worst, she chose to be as far away from the SeaWing Kingdom as possible, and traveled to the Kingdom of Sand before crashing in the town of Possibility. There, she ran into Animal's future father, Agave, who agreed to harbor her and hide her from the SeaWing guards who were after her. As Agave nursed her back to health, the two began to fall in love.

Agave caught wind of SeaWing soldiers being sent to Possibility to look for Polyp and the two fled away from the heart of the Kingdom of Sand and to the foot of Pyrrhia, where they were sure they could love in peace. They had two dragonets--Animal and Castaway.

The happy couple believed their children to be smart, kind, innocent, and beautiful and lived as a happy family for four years unbothered. But their bliss couldn't last forever.

On the eve of Castaway and Animal's fifth hatching-day, their small hut was attacked and burnt down by some SkyWing bounty hunters who had caught wind of the missing SeaWing princess and the reward money Queen Coral was offering to get her back into the Kingdom of the Sea. They attempted to abduct Polyp, but Agave intended on putting up a fight to stop them. Their two dragonets hid in the corner of their once cozy home, trembling with fear, their eyes wide as they watched their mother fall to the ground, blood trickling from her mouth and their father fall as well, not too soon afterwards. The two lovers intertwined tails and talons as they took their final breaths.

Realizing what they had done, the SkyWing bounty hunters realized they certainly wouldn't be getting any reward money, and that the two dragonets, capable of speaking and spilling their now dirtiest secret to the world had witnessed the whole scuffle. Not knowing what else to do to save their hides and reputation, they cleaned the blood from their talons in the ocean, grabbed Animal and Castaway, and locked them away in an abandoned SkyWing prison camp that had been unused for years. The two were shoved into basically a glorified metal box, which the SkyWing would repeatedly melt and un-melt to let them in and out. Most of the time, the dragonets spent in the metal box, which would reach a horrible heat on scorching hot days and cruelly cold on freezing days and during the night.

Castaway stayed relatively unharmed in the camp. She was quiet, learned to duck her head and take insults with a grain of salt, and never question the word of the SkyWings who had taken her and her brother from their home. Animal, however was different. While he was equally as quiet as his sister, he had a haughty sort of arrogance and elegance to him. He was often beaten simply for looking at a bounty hunter 'wrong'. Most of the time, he took beatings for defending his sister or for simply throwing his own body over her fragile one. Animal did everything in his power for the next three years of his life to protect his little sister. Eventually, he found a way for his dear sister to escape. It was a small crack in the metal walls from the stress of being fused and unfused repeatedly for those three years. With a bit of pushing, Animal managed to open the crack wide enough and use a small bit of his fire breath (kept secret from the SkyWing bounty hunters) to make a smooth hole for Castaway to just barely squeeze out of. On the night of her escape, he told her to go get help and not to turn her head to look back once. He hugged her tightly and gave her a small nudge on the cheek before pushing her towards the hole and watching her wriggle out.

From then on, Animal sat there in wait. Two days from the fateful night, the SkyWing bounty hunters served what they called "very special soup". Starving, Animal ate it, and found it unusually delicious and much more different than the normally scorched or scrawny prey the SkyWings had been feeding him for three years. He found himself savoring the taste of rich, buttery meat and broth on his parched tongue and even asked for a second serving. What raised red flags was when the SkyWing happily filled his bowl again. They had never given him a second serving. Not throughout his whole life being imprisoned by them. He dropped the bowl and the SkyWings began to laugh their horrible, deep laughs. They informed him that he had just eaten his sister.

Sick to his stomach, Animal could only drop his bowl and sit in shock and terror as the SkyWings told him that they had caught his sister escaping, killed her, chopped her up, and made her into soup. Making a show, they rubbed their bellies and taunted him, claiming that she made an amazing soup. They took their time fusing the metal door shut again, paying extra attention to the hole and making sure it was covered up.

However, what they didn't tell Animal was that his sister was very much alive. Castaway had successfully escaped from the talons of the dragons who had abused her and her brother for so long. She headed towards the smell of the sea salt and the sound of the ocean waves, far away from the camp. The SkyWing bounty hunters had been so furious and humiliated that they had lost her, that they didn't want Animal getting the same idea of escape. So, they decided to lie to Animal and tell him that they killed her. Their plan had worked perfectly and they knew it well once they saw the look on his face and the change in his red eyes.

Animal sat motionless in the corner for six days straight. His mind was muddled and his head felt strange and airy. He was sick to his stomach the whole time and his heart was burdened with the worst grief he had ever felt in his entire life. Not even watching floor become slick with his own mother's blood came close to this. A year passed and Animal spent it in the box, hardly moving, mentally deteriorating faster than he ever had before. While most would have suddenly snapped into a ferocious, primitive rage, as most dragons did when they were pushed to the brink of insanity, Animal felt a sort of crushing, suffocating fog fall over him. He had become numb and could feel no more. He knew the anger was still in him. The rage he had suffered silently with mere days after supposedly eating the flesh of his own kin was still there. He sat motionless in that corner for another few days, a plan coming to his mind.

He was still the same neat and elegant dragon he had been. The same one he knew he would always be. Just...a little more twisted.

The next morning, when a SkyWing had come to open the metal box, Animal waited patiently in the corner. The SkyWing became annoyed that Animal wasn't coming to claim his meal and went into the box to shove the mangled piece of prey into his snout. That was his mistake. Animal struck and quickly killed him, sinking his teeth into the eyes and face of the dragon who had come too close to him.

He broke out of the box, stretching his legs for the first time in years. He easily attacked and killed the other SkyWing bounty hunters, slitting their stomachs open, and leaving quickly. He could help but take a bite of them, his heart barely even racing as he did so. He found that these dragons tasted even better than the soup.

Animal left the prison camp and began his secret reign of terror. He killed dragons traveling on their own and often cut out parts of them. He found a job working in a SkyWing restaurant as a chef. He wanted to share what he had discovered to them--the gift of dragons' flesh. He maintained his job, often using the organs and flesh of his victims in his dishes. Ironically, Animal was praised by many for his skill in the kitchen and cooking. For three years he kept his horrible little secret before the SkyWing officers began to investigate missing dragon cases and found common themes in them. They tracked Animal down and managed to catch him off guard. They brought him before the queen in trial and he was declared insane once he was allowed to speak in his defense.

As he was being brought to his cell, he managed to catch the officers off guard once again and fight them off. He fled to the thick, dark forests bordering the mountain range of the Sky Kingdom. He lived in there, avoiding the talons of SkyWing officers often sent in to look for him. He chose to lay low for awhile, becoming little more than a myth told to mother SkyWing to their children to keep them from wandering too far into the forest. Animal became more active once SkyWing forces claimed that he had left and run to hide in the SandWing Kingdom (even though he hadn't). When lone dragons started venturing in again, he started his killing, often choosing to cook his food and season it as he always had.

And then came along Starling, the ambitious SkyWing officer who almost ruined it all. She caught him bloody taloned as he was beginning to take his first bite of a recently killed wanderer. When she tried to take him down, he easily managed to fend her off, but found himself interested in her as he did so. Even after he had smashed her head against a tree, efficiently knocking her out, he couldn't stop thinking about her. For the first time in years, he felt a stir of emotion in his chest.

He allowed the officer to pursue him for years. He liked to leave her confusing crime scenes and messes to try and throw her off his track, but she always stayed focused on hunting him down. Toying with her became a bit of a hobby--an obsession--for Animal. He always took the time to learn more about her, whether it be from stalking her closely from behind or simply analyzing her behavioral patterns. Animal found himself becoming attractive to her wit and her odd sort of fiery personality that normally would have disgusted a patient and level headed dragon like himself. Animal wanted to rip his talons through her and hold her close at the same time. He was conflicted, and most of all, very, very alone. He could tell that Starling's mental state was slowly deteriorating the more time she spent chasing after him. He felt an odd sort of pity for her and took it upon himself to claim her and help her find her place in the world--which he was sure was at his side.

Animal approached Starling on his own. He wasn't surprised to see her charge at him, her talons outstretched, her teeth bared. With a bit of difficulty, Animal managed to pin her down. He then made his offer. He wanted Starling. Although baffled, the exhausted and weary Starling could only nod her head as he expanded on the benefits of his offer--the idea of her joining him and leaving behind the SkyWing officer force that her pushed her and put her down for so long, making her feel like nothing when she was a something to Animal.

He knew full well he was taking advantage of Starling's fragile mental state and all her suspicions and fears. But he didn't care. He just wanted her. Something to fill the hole he hadn't felt for so long in his chest. A dragon who could make him feel was dangerous. And he wanted that dangerous dragon in his talons, where she couldn't be used against him.

Animal taught her everything he knew. He allowed her to accompany him in his hunts and he felt his heart swell when she even began to develop a taste for dragon's blood and flesh. They came close to being caught a few times, which brought the idea of moving to a safer area to the two dragons' minds. Animal took her to the only place he knew outside of the SkyWing Kingdom--the 'foot' of Pyrhhia, where he ensured that his new wife would live happily and without disturbance with only him to touch, to feel, and to love.

Appearance[]

Animal is a strangely wiry and lithely muscled dragon. His scales hold the color of deep, dried blood and red glow marks highlight his body. He sports a darkly colored SandWing crest atop his elegant head and along his slender neck and spine. On his crest and wings, slightly warped markings that are similar to those of a SeaWing royal's can be seen and are fully capable of glowing. Two long barbells hang from Animal's small chin and he's noted to have strangely thick and long horns growing from his cheekbones and head. His eyes are maroon and tend not to hold a trace of emotion. His face is rather stony and unfeeling and his voice doesn't reflect much emotion either.

His claws are sharpened and his teeth are maintained regularly. He wears no accessories or jewelry, as it often slows him down or makes noise. He has a very stoic and sharp facial shape and is notably handsome despite his deranged reputation.

Abilities[]

Although his SeaWing heritage interferes with most of his SandWing traits, he retains the natural ability of breathing fire, hot enough to melt metal. He has rather small gills on either side of his neck and is able to stay underwater for a few hours. He does not need a consistent water source to stay alive, although being near water tends to help his mental state and make him feel more at home. His talons are not webbed and his tail is not thick, making him a lousy swimmer. Animal has no SandWing barb nor venom at the end of his tail. He's able to make his glow marks light up and dim at will and is rather well versed in aquatic and even a bit of Pantalan he learned from some old books kept by his father.

Although he appears wiry and thing, Animal's strength is not to be underestimated. He can easily take down a dragon twice his size with deadly speed and underestimated strength. He's well versed in knowledge of dragon anatomy and knows what major artery to sever and when to do it.

Personality[]

Animal is a very stoic, quiet, and elegant dragon. He considers himself to be a "neat monster" and prefers not to leave a mess after he pursues some of his...appetites. He's seen as rather full of himself and egotistical, which is actually slightly true. He is observant and never directly says what he's thinking or says what he means, preferring to let other dragons figure it out on their own. He loves puzzling and challenging other dragons and watching them as they try to untangle his many webs of lies and deception. Animal would not hesitate to tell a straight of lie when asked a simple question either. Whatever makes things more interesting for him, as he despises being bored.

He tends to despise most things tacky and dull and doesn't hesitate when it comes to making dragons uncomfortable, humiliating them, or calling them out for a simple choice of earring or necklace. He's terrifyingly intelligent, and lets everyone know it full well without even having to speak words. Most dragons tend to become confused by his polite manner and tendencies, despite all the brutal things he's done...and all the dragons he's eaten.

Relatonships[]

Polyp[]

Animal had a very steady and close relationship with his mother. Her gentleness and kindness balanced out well with his father's personality, giving him a perfect dose of both common sense and wonder about the world all around him. She often sang to him and sometimes, when Animal doesn't dream of metal boxes and dragons swimming in soup, he can hear her voice.

Agave[]

Despite being close with his mother, Animal was even closer with his father. The two shared a very special bond. Agave encouraged Animal's love for reading and knowledge and often sat out by the ocean to study and read books with him. Agave was one of the few dragons Animal could ever admit he truly admired and looked up to.

Castaway[]

Castaway and Animal were as close as two siblings could be. When Animal wasn't spending time alone with his father by the shores, studying, he could always be found at his sister's side. Although his sister was the same age as him and hatched the same day as him, he always babied her and treated her as the younger sister, which she gladly took part in. He did anything and everything to protect her and valued her above himself. She was one of the few things in Animal's life that he could truly say he loved.

Starling[]

At first, Animal found Starling to be nothing more than an annoying wannabe SkyWing officer. Someone who wanted a shot at the big leagues and would do anything to get it--including tangling with cannibals far out of their league. He never expected himself to get as infatuated with her as he did. Perhaps it was her odd sort of confidence and even her own desperation that drew him to her. Maybe it was the look in her eyes and the shape of her face and curve of her snout that looked so similar to Castaway's. Either way, Animal knew what he wanted, and what he desired was Starling.

Trivia[]

Animal suffers from congenital analgesia, which proves rather dangerous considering how many physically dangerous scuffles he gets into. Thanks to his attentiveness, understanding of anatomy, and self awareness, he's often able to thoroughly check himself and ensure he doesn't bleed to death or have any broken bones after rough fights.
Animal does not consider himself to be sociopathic. Many dragons, on the other hand, greatly disagree with him.
He has a love for the fine arts and music.
He was to receive a violin for his fifth birthday, but it was smashed during the scuffle that killed his parents.
Hannibal Lecter is one of the main characters Animal is based off of.
Swans are his favorite birds.

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