Koibito (Fukutsu no Seishin)

"I have left wandering behind me, and I will never return there."
== Background ==
If asked where he originated from, Koibito would say it didn’t matter.  He was still a hatching when he stumbled through Sornieth, dodging danger wherever it appeared and doing what his species did best - surviving.  He never knew his parents.  His egg was almost cold when it hatched, only kept warm enough by the Ashfall Waste’s natural heat and occasional lava flows.  Alone and knowing nothing of the world, he had run and run, hiding from the strange creatures he later learnt were dragons, just like him, until he found a coast, and what a strange coast it was.  The trees around him reached for him with their strange whispers and drew him back in, away from the water.
Alone and unwary, he had been ensnared by the timelessness of the Starfall Strand, incapable of finding a way out, but also reluctant to do so.  He was safe there.  Nothing was going to hurt him.  The strange creatures never found him in there.  He lived there in blissful happiness, never wanting for food or water, until one day the Strand made a mistake and he slipped past its border, falling into the water.  The frigid nature of the water shocked him to the core: a fire dragon was not supposed to feel so cold.  Floundering, he was going to drown.  He had no knowledge of swimming, and his limbs would not move in a way that would keep him afloat.  It was not in his nature to give up, but as the water closed over his head, flooding into his mouth and threatening his inner fire, he knew everything was over.
Just as his eyes began to drift shut, powerful jaws clamped around one forelimb and he found himself racing back up, breaking the surface and racing towards land.  He panicked, wondering what this predator was and astutely aware that they were heading further away from the safe woods.
Once they were on land - a strange grass that felt alien beneath his feet - the fluffy dragon shook himself off, spraying Koibito with more water, before introducing himself as Kanshi, a member of a nearby clan.  Questions from the tundra, as Koibito later learnt he was, were all met with uncertain answers - what was a clan? - and he found himself being led to a floating island - did anything want to make sense here - where he was accosted with the site of so many dragons.  He had never seen such a large gathering before, and he didn’t know what to do, until a small one approached him, her frills showing curiosity.  There were dragons like her in the safe woods.  He’d not interacted with them much, but he knew they were safe.  Talking to her was the easiest - something the rest of the clan found strange and he later discovered she spoke in a slightly different language to most - and he agreed to stay, at least for a while.  A while turned into forever as he and the fae, KetsuekiRyuu, grew closer and closer, eventually becoming more than just friends.
He now knows that the woods are not safe and would have killed him had he not escaped, and has no desire to return there.
== Personality ==
Koibito has never really learnt to integrate with large numbers of dragons and prefers to stay with a small group, finding isolation also unnerving after so long by himself.  Despite, or perhaps because of this, he is fiercely protective of those who have entered his ‘inner circle’, particularly KetsuekiRyuu and Kanshi, who he recognises he owes his life to.  The idea of being helpless is one he rejects vehemently, and he threw himself into combat training so that he never has to be helpless.
To dragons that do not know him well, particularly visitors but also the more distant members of the clan, he appears cold and unapproachable, and also quick to violence, but to those that do know him, he is loving and protective, just shy and socially awkward, with more than a touch of paranoia thrown in.  He fears losing everything now that he has finally gained it, and can be quick to judge.  Sometimes too quick.
== Role Within The Clan ==
In his own mind, he is KetsuekiRyuu’s bodyguard, although she hardly needs one and he knows it, but he stubbornly insists that a mage needs physical protection beyond her barriers, and she doesn’t protest too much.  Most of the clan consider him to be the consort: he does not run the clan, nor make decisions pertaining to the clan, but he is there to support KetsuekiRyuu in all her decisions and keeps the responsibility from weighing down too heavily upon her, as it had done before his arrival into the clan.
== Appearance ==
His time in the Starwood Strand has caused changes to take over his body.  What was once plain hide is slowly beginning to morph into strange patterning unknown to the rest of the clan, although Toki and the mages can find no negative affect to it, so he does not give it much thought.  His wings are gaining a pattern similar to one of the strangers who lurks below most of the lair, but that, too, seems to have no negative effects.
Taking his self-appointed task of defending KetsuekiRyuu seriously, he has dressed himself in spiked armour, a weapon at his hip although he prefers to use his claws and teeth in most situations, saving the weapon for opponents too big to be easily taken down by teeth and claws alone.
== Abilities ==
=== Magic ===
He is not inherently magical, but his time in the Starwood Strand has imbued him with a slight passive ability, the most noticeable being the ability to converse with fae with no difficulty at all, making him an effective translator.
=== Mêlée ===
Koibito has worked hard on his combat abilities and now ranks near the top of the clan in battle strength.  Unlike the other top warriors, however, he rarely enters the coliseum, not wanting to leave KetsuekiRyuu alone for the length of time that would require, preferring to remain by her side and hone his skills in a large cavern within the lair that was created for dragons that wish to keep their skills sharp without making the long journey to the coliseum venues.
== Relationships ==
WIP
== Trivia ==
* Koibito (恋人) is Japanese for lover
Category:Consort
Category:Fire Dragon
Category:Male
Category:Mirror