Miri

Miri is a demikami of a SandWing and the water goddess Mizu. She's a synesthete and a total oddball. Your resident weirdo.
== Appearance ==
Miri has always been an odd dragonet. She is a dusty yellow, like most SandWings, and she has all the usual attributes, tail barb and all. But there's also something else. Inside her scrawny wings are blue patterns not unlike the SeaWing royal glow stripes. However, they don't glow, and look less like swirls and talonprints and more like... ripples. For most of her life, Miri has kept her wings folded, trying not to fly, ashamed of those telltale patterns that flash a message to the whole world: she isn't normal. On the outsides of her wings, she has pale burn scars.
Miri's eyes are not the usual pure black either. She has startlingly blue eyes, like crystals. They're wide set in her face, and give Miri a slightly clueless but adorable look. She's surprisingly tall for someone so unobtrusive and is usually expected to fight, but Miri hates it. She wants a peaceful life and walks with a terrible posture to make herself look small.
== Personality ==
Miri has Associative Synesthesia, meaning she associates different sensations with colours. She used to find this completely normal and was shocked when she realised that other dragons can't see the 'rainbows'. Whenever she gets one sensation, the edges of her vision turn a certain colour. Over time, after her past in the Scorpion Den, she's grown to find this strange and sometimes annoying. After a lifetime of others telling her that she was never going to get far if she didn't toughen up, she's sensitive and silent most of the time.
Miri has very low self-esteem, feeling useless and out of place much of the time. She's a comforting dragon to have around, even if she hates herself sometimes. Her view of the universe is childish and slightly strange for most other dragons, and she's always wanted a friend who could listen to her ideas.
Miri disapproves of the usual SandWing stereotype: the rouge hiding in the alley, wanting to steal from you. She hates treasure, jewellery and shiny things, and will never understand why other dragons love them so much.
== Backstory: The Scorpion Den ==
Miri never knew her parents. Her only memory of her father was from a long time back and was always hazy and blurred: an image of talons the same colour as hers shoving her into a basket, hastily covering her up, while flames rolled around the edges of her vision and dragons roared at each other.
Miri's orphanage told her the story in their own way. According to them, she'd been found on the steps of the building, wrapped in a blanket and crying. The orphanage had taken her in from the goodness of their hearts.
Miri was never treated badly in her small home. She stayed inside, out of the heat of the sun and the rough dragonets on the streets. She stayed inside with her blanket, the one she'd had her whole life, her father's last gift to her. She stayed inside to escape the street, where dragonets blew fire at each other, while blue swirled around in the corners of her eyes.
It was one of these days when the fire started.
Miri had never known something so terrifying. The flames licked up the walls of her only home, burning, destroying. Miri ran, looking for an escape, scared out of her wits. She was only two and a half. She was surrounded by fire.
"Miri!" She heard. The orphanage owner had seen her. Miri ran towards him, trying to ignore the pain. She jumped out of the window, wings covered in burns, and landed in a pool of water. It soothed her pain, but the only home she'd ever known was gone.
The next few weeks were a jumble- Miri scavenging food to stay alive, Practically living in a small pool of water, burns stinging her wings with the constant reminder that she had nowhere to go. Miri was thin and starving, ready to die. Then, her rescuer came.
Cygnet was a tiny hybrid of the SkyWings and the IceWings. He kept a scroll store in the western part of the Scorpion den, near the oasis it was centred around. Miri lived in a back alley nearby at the time, surviving on coconuts from a stray palm tree growing from a crack in the tiles of a courtyard. When Cygnet found her, Miri had been a tiny dragonet, wings barely even healed, and she'd looked so pitiful that Cygnet decided to take her in.
He brought her to his scroll store, took care of her wings, and, over the next year, taught Miri to read.
Cygnet became like a father to Miri. He took care of her, helped her learn, gave her food, and taught her to survive in the streets. He helped her feel safe in the Scorpion Den, something that was priceless to her. And Miri helped Cygnet sort scrolls, get water, and make him laugh every day.
One day, Miri was getting water from the oasis when she saw them. They were... not normal. She didn't know who they were, but all her instincts told her to run.
She walked faster, passing their group. The largest of them stepped in front of her. Miri shrank back.
"Who are you?" she asked, covering the tremor in her voice. "What do you want?"
The largest smiled. "We're here to save you, little dragonet."
Miri shook her head, backing away. "I've already been saved. Leave me alone."
The leader of the group smirked. "You wanted it this way, tiny dragonet." He reached for her and grabbed her. 
Miri screamed and tried to get away, it was wrong, this person couldn't do this. Cygnet would be so worried if she left. This thing couldn't just take her away-
That's when she realized. This monster wasn't a dragon. It wasn't natural. And it was coming for her. Miri fled down the alley, running, terrified, as the thing followed at a leisurely pace, but it was still so close behind her. She ran around the corner and found Cygnet, staring at her. 
"What is-"
"Monsters!" panted Miri. "They want to take me away!"
Cygnet stared at the group of not-dragons and went pale. "Miri. I knew what you were this whole time. You need to run. I'll take you to a safe place." 
Miri stared at him. "What?" The monsters were closing in.
"Run, Miri!" Cygnet screamed as the leader of the monsters pounced. This time, Miri obeyed. She pelted down the alley, running for her life. Cygnet followed, the monsters hissing and laughing as they flew in pursuit. Cygnet ran beside Miri. "I can't explain here, but you can be safe from the... monsters somewhere. I was when I was young, you can be too. I'll bring you there. I should have brought you there long ago."
Miri stared, uncomprehending.
She followed Cygnet, her friend, down a street, and stopped short. The alley ended. There was no way out. The monsters closed in. "So. You did a very good job of escaping right there, but this really is getting boring." The leader drawled. "Nobody needs the hybrid... much too virtuous. But the little one... " 
The monsters pounced forward. Cygnet fought the first two, but they held him back, restraining him. Miri tried to run, but she was cornered against a wall. "Going somewhere?" The monster leader chuckled, reaching for her. "You'll be useful to our cause."
He reached for Miri, who pressed against the wall, scared out of her wits-
The under street plumbing exploded.
Water gushed sky high, exploding outward, drenching Miri, the monsters, and Cygnet, who freed himself. "Go! GO!" Cygnet yelled, flying into the sky. Miri didn't hesitate. She followed Cygnet.
==Backstory: Camp Gin Chi==
Shortly afterwards, Miri and Cygnet arrived at Camp Gin Chi. Cygnet had sustained a fatal wound to the neck and died on the threshold of his childhood home. Miri was taken to the House Of Mizu, where she recounted the events between her sobs. 
Miri spent the next few weeks learning as much as possible about the Kami. She spent most of her free time in the library, thinking about the mother she'd never known. She became reclusive, with nobody to talk to, and spent more time with her scrolls, in the library, closed off. She began to think that she was unwanted and that nobody loved her. 
One day, she was walking outside, after it had rained, and saw puddles all over the ground. She saw her reflection in one and was startled at how old she looked. She thought about Cygnet, and her father, who was probably dead. She felt lonely and abandoned, even worse than when the time her orphanage had burned. 
She started to cry. Her tears splashed into the puddle, and then she saw something. Her reflection was changing. 
Miri looked closer. The face in the water was smiling at her. Miri recognized it. It was Mizu's face. Mizu smiled and shook her head. Miri understood the message. You are not alone.
Miri became more social after that, smiling and laughing. She spent time outside. She went swimming. She finally felt like she belonged. And even though she's still never met her mother... she has hopes for the future. 
==Relationships==
===Mizu===
Miri has never personally met her mother but considers her a kind dragon. She feels like her half-siblings should also be able to meet their mother.
===Cygnet===
Cygnet was like a father to Miri. He gave his life to bring her to camp. She still grieves for him a lot but is slowly learning from her siblings how to move on. It's still painful, though. No one at camp remembers who his Kami parent was.
===Shima===
Miri considers Shima a kindred spirit. She helps her fellow Mizu SandWing when she goes overenthusiastically crazy, and in turn, she's got a friendly dragon with her who keeps her spirits up. Shima and Miri are good friends.
=== Cylas ===
Miri likes Cylas in a sisterly way. She thinks he's a pretty funny dragon. She may or may not have done his homework for him at some point.
==Trivia==
*Miri's original name was Mira, but her name was changed in the editing process of her backstory.
*Miri can break your brain by asking you the unanswerable, like what the past tense of 'smite' is.
Category:Characters
Category:SandWings
Category:Work in Progress
Category:Dragonets
Category:Hybrids
Category:Occupation (Healer)
Category:LGBT+
Category:Females
Category:Content (LadyScarab)