Regalia

beep boop essence has adopted this page officially :)
I used to think that I would grow up to be the hero in my own story, but I think I've become the villain
----
Many years ago, there was a young SkyWing dragonet called Gale.
She was frail and thin, with a slight build. Her talons were often splayed out as if the slightest breeze would knock her over, and she constantly flared her wings in an effort to make herself look bigger. Despite this, she exuded a powerful aura of happiness and euphoria. Always smiling, she bounced around her village wearing a broad grin and twinkling eyes.
Her scales were a pale, washed-out light-pink, glowing in the sun. Her underscales were an extremely light pink, so pale that at first glance, it looked white. Her spikes, horns, and talons were dull shades of silver-pink that glowed with a bright sheen. The plated scales running down her spines and along her limbs were pale red.
Her eyes were light hazel, streaked through with amber, and were often filled with a gleeful look. Light pink scales speckled her snout, limbs, and the tips of her wings. Her wing membranes were pale white-pink, and shone in the light.
That joyful dragonet is gone.
Today, Gale is no longer thin, but sickly. No longer pale, but pallid. Not a happy smile, but a cunning one, even if she smiles at all.
Today's Gale wears a patchwork of burn scars, a ragged map of black etched across her once-beautiful body. The largest ones zigzag around her spine, slash across her right shoulder, cover her left wing, and run along her snout. Her left eye is permanently clenched shut, amidst the mess of brown scar tissue that covers it.
Now, Gale stands with her wings tucked in and an eternal scowl on her face. She wears a defensive posture, as if something could pop into existence and tackle her at any moment. Deeper in her eyes, she carries an ember of mixed emotion - sadness, nostalgia, fury, jealousy. But she'll probably never let anyone in.
----
Once upon a time, Gale was happy.
She was satisfied with her life and constantly surrounded by a throng of friends. Always smiling, Gale gave freely and always received back. She was the color of a rosy sunset, and her joyful, dancing eyes could light up the darkest room.
After the accident, Gale was a different story.
Today's Gale glares out of her scarred body with angry, baleful eyes. She is violent, unpredictable, and has anger management and trust issues. Today's Gale can blow up at the slightest irritation, a grenade waiting to be set off.
Her former friends flocked away like frightened birds, and for good reason. Those who were once close to Gale wondered where the caring, beautiful dragoness had gone - now, all most dragons see is a vicious SkyWing wanting revenge on the world and hating everything in existence.
Often Gale keeps to herself, and is known as "that one freak in the corner." After multiple failed attempts to reconnect with her friends, Gale gave up and decided she was better off alone anyways. At this point, she prefers being alone so nobody will criticize her crazed mutterings or ridiculous mood swings.
Gale has zero self-esteem and hates everything about herself. From her appearance to her firelessness to her personality, she wishes she could just be someone else. She acts like she can't change her personality and like she doesn't care, but the truth is that she hates being this dragon. She really does wish to be a better soul, but no matter how hard she tries, she eventually ends up pushing others away again.
Gale secretly admires dragons like her sister who can continue believing in the good of dragonkind. From what she's seen, there's no hope left for Pyronia. She's a true nepotist and usually only sees the bad in things - you can count on Gale to tarnish your perfect day. And indeed, she holds only anger and sadness in others' memories.
As a young dragonet, Gale loved reading scrolls. The ones where heroes defeated the big bad animus dragons? Yup. The ones where dragons were heroic, dashing, brave, and somehow managed to get love on the way? Check. Gale grew up believing in miracles, but those dreams were shattered later.
Although she might have a disdain for school, Gale is pretty dang smart. Maybe not scroll-smart, but she has a quick mind, fast reflexes, and legendary analytical skills. These smarts can help her stroll into a fight, size it up, leap in, and hopefully win.
Which brings me to my next point: fighting. Although Gale might not look like it, one of her only redeeming traits is her skills at physical brawling. Her sleek, lithe build means she can stalk, prowl, and leap like an overgrown wildcat.
For all her brains, though, Gale doesn't understand one thing: emotions. The only things she ever feels are anger, irritation, and disdain. She used to feel other things, like sadness, but she covered those up and shoved them into the deepest, darkest pits of her mind. Her mantra is don't show weakness.
Gale doesn't have an official diagnosis, but she often hallucinates figures that aren't real and hears voices in her mind. It has gotten better over the years, but she does relapse from time to time. Often she will lie in bed for hours, listening to a certain voice telling her you are nothing. Nevertheless, she tries to ignore them, with varying degrees of success.
However, Gale has one redeeming trait: courage. She has battled the darkest beasts of physical pain, mental trauma, and emotional unhealthiness, and she has won. After this, a simple speaking assignment in school seems like nothing.
Gale has no intention to ever find a girlfriend, and doesn't really believe in the idea of a soulmate. Deep down, she does desire acceptance from her peers. But she probably won't be getting it anytime soon.
----
To understand Gale's story, you must first understand her mother's.
Raptor grew up in Haven, a small SkyWing hunting village in the Claws of the Clouds mountains. At the annual Moon Festival, she met a fiercely loving male SkyWing named Harrier. It was love at first sight.
Eventually, the two newly christened hatchlings Gale and Dayspring were born. But Raptor and Harrier were in for a shock - Gale was fireless, and Day had firescales.
And now Gale's story truly begins.
From the moment Gale was hatched, she knew she was... different. She never felt quite comfortable in her sunset pink scales, thinking that something was always (put quite simply) off. Nevertheless, she went to school, plastering a smile on her face and forcing light laughter. Over time, she began to fake it till she made it, and as a young dragonet, she had almost completely covered up her insecurities.
Gale and Day's father, Harrier, had been recruited to serve in the military. He was never hurt fatally, but being a combat medic, he was almost never home in the village. Raptor remained fiercely loyal to him. However, she disobeyed him in one way.
Raptor never admitted outright to Gale that she was fireless. 
Wanting to preserve the happy, energetic dragonet she had mothered, she was terrified that the bad news would destroy Gale. Her mother's instinct told her that the pale SkyWing was fragile. Delicate. So she never wanted to break her.
Until the day it happened.
You see, Raptor had instructed the two young dragonets fiercely to "never, ever touch another dragon." She hammered it into their minds until they knew it as well as one plus two equaled three. Gale and Day never really questioned it, thinking it was just their mother being overprotective or weird. But they obeyed her, and pulled away from their friends' hugs, backed away from their wrestling matches. 
But one day, that all changed.
As usual, Harrier was away serving in the military. Being early morning, Raptor had gone out to get some food, like she always did. But something had changed the dragonets' will: maybe it was the burst of energy that came with that particular day's sunlight. Or the cheerful singing of the birds in the trees. Whatever the case, Gale and Day did the unthinkable.
They decided to wrestle.
Of course, both Gale and Day hesitated for a moment. Their mother's warning echoed through their heads, and for a second, they almost gave up on the idea and walked away from the game.
Almost.
Being young dragonets, they were tired of sparring with words. They wanted physical contact, thirsty to hug or handshake or bump somebody else.
And so Day launched herself onto Gale, her entire body tumbling into her sister's left side.
The immediate sizzling sound would haunt Gale forever. She remembers someone screaming, screaming and screaming and screaming. She would later realize that that was herself. She remembers Day's horrified face, and the huge gut-wrenching sobs she cried as she stared at her sister's body. And of course, she remembers the pain. The pain that wreaked havoc throughout her brain, the pain that sizzled on her scales, the pain that gave her only one thought: I'm going to die.
She survived, but barely.
The burn marks splattered all over her scales are a vile reminder of her past, and that she will never fit in. So she doesn't bother trying to - Gale does whatever she wants to do, and won't let anyone stop her. She doesn't know what will come next, but hopefully it's for the better.
----
Raptor
Harrier
Day
----
Promise-by-Lumin.png|Ref by Lumin on the canon wiki! Please use this when drawing her!
A4EF4EBA-9037-4632-A646-0160AB6294CF.jpeg|By RWD
16CC4D2A-F973-47B0-9D2E-F8A0A98E437A.jpeg|By Yinjia
2AD491AF-DA5F-44CF-92EA-6C50AD987EAB.png|Jadabase colored by Wolves
GaleByModern.jpg|By Modern
Category:Content (Light Fairy)
Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:LGBT+
Category:SkyWings
Category:Work in Progress