Appearance[]
Murdo is your average-shaped dragon: slim, muscular, you get the idea. Being a hybrid, he has different features than a purebred. He looks mostly IceWing, with his sharp neck spikes, wings, and talons. But he also has some SandWing bits, like their unique venomous tail, and their flat head. The head and neck spikes of an IceWing are the only bits, with where smaller spikes would go are instead smooth, wavy sails.
His base scales, spikes, and sails start as a baby blue, and as it goes down, it fades into a blank snowy white, making his legs look stiff with ice at times. He also has generic SandWing colors on his underscales and wing membranes. They are a smooth, gradient color, described to be the sand on a dune in the sun, with a slight green tint.
Personality[]
Though his character isn't quite developed personality-wise, he has some basics.
He's said to be brave and adamant and has seemingly escaped the feeling of fear; he's the type of dragon who'd destroy a small scavenger village for fun. However, he's rash, and leaps before he thinks, and doesn't like to change his beliefs despite if there's clear evidence opposing it.
History[]
Pre-birth[]
Before he was born, there was his mother, Freeze, an IceWing noble spoiled by the wealth of her parents, both military leaders. She thought she was living the perfect life, with RainWings and SilkWings doing everything for her, and always buying up the best seats in the arena fights. Every day she'd head to where the Third Caste dragons lived, and basically flexed all her wealth just to see their faces. I know, sounds like she's a terrible dragon.
But one day, she saw a dragon who stood out from the rest: a timid, calm dark-toned SandWing soldier. She instantly was attracted by him, and they meet together as friends.
Well, that "friend" thing was short.
They eventually became girlfriend and boyfriend (In secret, mind you, as they were in different castes, and god forbid may you have friends with different hierarchy), and became partners that would be considered husband and wife. Freeze thought he was a lovely dragon, and she had in fact changed to be more like him. A few of her IceWing and HiveWing friends became suspicious, though. But it was fine. Very, very fine.
A few months after they really bonded, though, a terrible, dreaded thing happened: Freeze was carrying an egg.
And the SandWing was the father. Great.
Freeze became furious at her partner and abandoned him. She told her friends and family about the egg, claiming the egg's dad was some random HiveWing. Everyone followed along with it, as Freeze became more and more stressed over the span of a year. She didn't have a plan about what to do with the dragon after it hatched; everyone would know it was a SandWing hybrid afterward, after all. But in the end, she had a simple idea: lay or put the egg in the streets, where it'll live without knowing her or their father, or get smashed. Ethier way, she wouldn't get killed or banished for mothering a different caste hybrid.
So two days after, the day she would lay, she sneaked off in the night and layed a baby blue and sand-colored egg in a dark alley where the Third Caste resided. It was successful, but everything went downhill after that. It turns out an IceWing-HiveWing followed her and asked why she was there. Freeze didn't admit anything and was forcefully taken to the palace.
There, she finally had to admit that the egg was part SandWing, and was executed via SkyWing that night. Her parents were very upset and demanded the egg be found. The hybrid who found her told a few guards where they saw the egg and went to that dark alley.
Now, if it weren't for one small thing, this is where our story would end.
The egg just so happened to be near a butcher shop, owned by a NightWing, and took the egg as his own. The guards never thought the shop would take it, and assumed some Fourth Caste dragon already smashed it. And that was the end of the story for them. They never needed to worry about that again, besides Freeze's angry parents. Classical.
The NightWing who owned the butcher shop heard the news of Freeze's death, but the reason for it was never revealed. About a month after, the egg hatched, and out popped Murdo. Seeing his flat SandWing head and barbed tail, he assumed this dragon was Freeze's, and thus got killed for having a different caste hybrid. He promised he wouldn't let the dragonet be in harm's way, and said he didn't care what tribes he was from.
Newborn (0-1)[]
As his existence was basically private, the NightWing raised him as a member of the Third Caste. He taught Murdo that he should be grateful for his ranking, and how he at least had some voice. Other than that, he was taught the basics, like reading, writing, and flight, though in secret. Only the NightWing's closet friends knew about him and promised to never tell anyone about it.
Dragonet (1-6)[]
As he aged, Murdo desperately wanted to see other dragons and dragonets. Even though he knew was he was locked up, he would beg to go outside every day. Of course, his foster father said no, so Murdo decided he was done with it. On his 3rd hatching day, he left the safety of the butcher shop.
And take a random freaking guess what happened.
He got caught by a SeaWing about an hour after his escape and knowing of the incident over three years ago, they forcefully took Mudro to the palace. Just like his mom. During the flight, he wondered what would happen: would he be killed like Freeze, banished for Scavengers to kill, thrown in the arena? Fear swelled through him like a snake slithering.
When they arrived, Murdo was greeted by his two, angry grandparents. Oh, and the royal family too. They discussed what to do with the dragonet they thought was dead. His grandparents and most of the royal family said he should be killed on the spot. Murdo believed that this would be the end of the road for him.
But one dragon said he should live, as they generally didn't kill hybrids, and let him live like a Third Caste.
Everyone agreed, though not gladly, and let him pass. After all, he didn't do anything wrong, his mother did. Murdo, while flying back, wondered who was that dragon who let him live. He only knew she was much older than him, perhaps 8 or 9, and was the crown heir. He also didn't want to be afraid about his whole situation anymore, as it seemed resolved. In fact, he didn't want to be afraid of anything.
When he got home, his foster father was clearly furious. Murdo bravely explained what happened, but the NIghtWing was still upset, saying he could've gotten killed.
But that didn't matter; he was now free, fearless, adamant Murdo.
There was one thing that he did fear: the way the castes were settled. He didn't understand why it was dependent on your tribe, not how hard you worked, how hard you tried. He was also confused about why he or everyone else couldn't make friendships with other castes, and doing so would get you killed. Why was that? Were his ancestors driven by fear?
He wished he could talk about his beliefs about the castes. The only dragon he had was the NightWing, who didn't really care at that point. He wished there was a group of dragons from all castes, where they could spit out everything they thought.
After years of being stuck, helping work with the butcher shop, he got a letter on his 7th hatching day. A letter about a rebel group. How did they know about his beliefs, though? A mind reader? Probably.
But why question it, he was handed a place where he could be, the place he dreamed of heading to.
Young Adult (7-9)[]
Murdo, a few hours afterward, headed for the place the letter promised, and this, my friends, is where the real story begins.
Trivia[]
- Murdo was named after the McMurdo Dry Valleys, said that it hasn't had any snow or rain in millions of years in some places. Here's a link to learn about it! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Dry_Valleys
- Murdo's favorite beverage is sweet tea, and it's a running joke he'll sip some mid-conversation.
Gallery[]
