Cinnamon (Collab)

collab between Stardust and Droplet! don't touch please :)
----
Cinnamon 	Cinnamon
 	
Background 	Background
Creators 	Stardust & Droplet
Artist 	-
Coder 	Himmalerin
Attribute 	text
Element 	text
Color 	text
Animal 	text
Aesthetics 	text
Song 	I Lived- One Republic
Character 	Character
Age 	text
Gender 	non-binary
Orientation 	text
Occupation 	ornithologist; sells their papers for money
Tribe 	mudwing
Goal 	to be successful; to see the world
Residence 	on the move
Relatives 	text
Allies 	text
Enemies 	text
Likes 	text
Dislikes 	text
Powers 	normal mudwing abilities
Weapons 	text
Love Interests	text
Quote 	text
At first glance, Cinnamon brings to mind warm evenings at home. Their expression is warm, and although it may not be a smile every time, it's always relaxed and comforting. In addition, their build is bulky and well-muscled, much like the average MudWing. However, the difference is that Cinnamon was built for hugs, not war. Even though they don't stand out much, there's a distinct aura around them, of comfort and warmth and memories of a long-forgotten home.
Their color scheme is calm too, gingerbread brown filling their mainscales. On both sides, deep chocolate brown separate these scales from upper and lower ones. Cinnamon likes to keep themself clean, and they often polish their scales. As a result, the burnished caramel undertones in this area are visible most of the time, especially when they step into the sunlight.
Cinnamon has tawny brown underscales, lighter than their mainscales. It's precisely the shade of their eyes, warm and deep. The spikes running down their back and the membranes stretched between their wing joints are pale, pale penny brown, paler than any other part of their body. This color often fades into khaki when the lighting is just right, and it seems to toy with the sun, varying its shade depending on the light level.
Tiny scales the color of dark cinnamon dust the ends of their limbs, like freckles. They hold their head high, not in an arrogant way, but in a way that says they know the world and what they want to do with it. Cinnamon doesn't wear much, besides the occasional satchel, but you can always catch their eyes scanning the landscape. Searching for something only they can see.
----
Ever since they were a dragonet, Cinnamon has been fascinated with birds. Their companions speculated why. Their feathers were pretty? They thought they were cute? Even though they tried, they never alighted upon the truth: sometimes, Cinnamon felt like a bird themself.
No matter how hard Cinnamon tried, teachers never liked them. They were just too flighty, their head too far up in the clouds to see what was happening on the ground. Fickle, adults said. Irresponsible, adults whispered. Cinnamon heard them all. But they didn't care. They don't care.
They're naturally independent, hating having to rely on others. If Cinnamon can do something by themself, they will. They're not necessarily shy, but they only speak when they have something meaningful to add. Instead of small talk, they revert to quirky observations or random shower thoughts when bored. 
Sometimes they come off as hurtful, and they try their best to apologize when that happens. It's simply in their nature to be abrasive, to be quick and bold and never hesitate. Cinnamon isn't particularly empathetic, but they try their best. They know other's emotions matter. They just aren't really great at actually using that knowledge.
Even though they're quite clever, their work ethic, quite frankly, sucks. It's extremely difficult for Cinnamon to focus on one thing at a time, especially if it's about something they're not interested in. At any given moment, they're probably researching three different species of birds and nursing one back to health, too. When they find a passion, they fixate on it and block out anything else. If they don't like a subject, they will put approximately zero effort into it.
Imagination is Cinnamon's primary defense mechanism, and perhaps their greatest asset. They're not very open with their thoughts, but privately, they're incredibly creative. On rainy days, they find comfort in sitting inside with a mug of hot chocolate and thinking about life in general. They're naturally reflective, and because they have a tendency to question things, this only makes them more curious about their world.
With their friends, though, Cinnamon is a different story. They've never truly liked depending on others, but they feel like they can be themself around their closest companions. The facade they put up for the rest of the world falls away. Among their loved ones, Cinnamon can be calm, and their angry moods are directed at the ones who have hurt their friends, rather than at the smallest irritation.
There are many layers surrounding Cinnamon, and they know it. They try to preserve themself from the world, hide their love for birds, their hope for the future. They don't want to be hurt. It's difficult to earn their trust, but when someone does, Cinnamon will be loyal to the end.
----
A MudWing in all senses of the word, except one. Cinnamon came into the world alone, without any sibs to guide them out of their egg. To this day, they're still not sure why. They have many guesses, but the correct one is that an animal raided their nest. Their sibs were killed while still in the egg, and Cinnamon were only spared because they were hidden under a mound of dirt. A miracle, perhaps, but not one they understand.
They were born a boy, though they quickly were inducted into another rollicking group of dragonets and found their identity there. Cinnamon never formed any true friendships before the war, but they had close enough acquaintances to help them along the path to self-discovery. They chose their name as soon as they were old enough to read, liking the way the spice smelled, the way the word rolled gently off their tongue.
Then the war came, a storm of blood and claws, darkening all the lands it passed through. Cinnamon flew under the radar during their time with the army, sustaining a frostbreath wound here, a SkyWing burn there. Nothing spectacular, nothing horrible. Their physical scars pale in comparison to their mental ones.
Throughout the war, Cinnamon never truly had anyone close to lean on. Sure, they had their adopted sib group, but they never really clicked with those dragonets. The other MudWings were either too loud or too quiet, too abrasive or too sensitive. As a result, they weathered all their storms by themself, retreating into their shell and hiding there.
The war was when Cinnamon turned their back on the outside world. Every day, they saw dragons getting struck down by other dragons, spiraling to the ground in broken motions. But the worst part wasn't the death itself. It was the way the sibs reacted to it, screaming, sobbing. Cinnamon could practically see them shattering. They wondered what it was like to have a heart outside your chest, never noticing until it was gone.
So they fended for themself, becoming antisocial and starting to train alone instead of in a team. And when the war ended, they walked off to be "alone" instead of celebrating with everyone else, their joy masked by a calm poker face.
When Cinnamon had panic attacks at night, they calmed themself down. In the morning, when the bright light assaulted their eyes after a night of cool darkness, they shielded their face with their own wing. Cinnamon looked like a MudWing, but what they lacked was loyalty, friends and family and the bonds that truly define their tribe. They considered themself a loner in every way, and they weren't wrong.
For the first few weeks after the war, everything was fine. Cinnamon hunted and swam and continued to train alone. They watched and reflected on the reforms sweeping Pyrrhia alone. Alone, alone, alone. It was simply part of their vocabulary, a word they had never needed the definition of before. But you can't do everything by yourself.
Slowly, instability built up in Cinnamon's mind. It was a drizzle at first, then a shower, then a deluge of worry that couldn't be swept away. As they watched their fellow MudWings healing alongside their sibs, they felt the opposite thing happening to them. All their negative emotions manifested as a new, impulsive personality. Cinnamon began making rash choices every way they turned, taking risks that they wouldn't have taken in their wildest dreams before. They went for late-night flights and dunked themself in the coldest rivers they could find.
Cinnamon had no idea why they were doing this, deep down. It was like an itch that couldn't be scratched. Other dragons watched them morph into a daredevil, wondering if it was because they had no sibs, if the lonely oddball MudWing had finally cracked. Every moment of the day, Cinnamon was moving, trying to fill that yawning void inside them. They needed companionship, they needed adventure. They needed something or else they would lose their mind.
Finally, they slipped away in the dead of night. Sneaking away from the small village they lived in was the hardest thing they had ever done. But Cinnamon spread their wings like the birds they loved so dearly. They soared away from their home in search of something new.
They wandered the Mud Kingdom area for a while, taking in the sights. The world was so much bigger than they had imagined. It was overwhelming. But gradually, Cinnamon began to find themself again, the reckless behavior dissipating. Being outside all day, trekking through the wilds, helped them greatly. There wasn't anybody to stare at them anymore. They didn't have to hold themself up under the judgmental stares of others.
What Cinnamon lacked in familial bonds, they made up for in freedom. They fell particularly in love with birds, those little feathery creatures that flapped through the skies and sang pretty melodies. Sometimes they flew alongside the birds themself, liking the freedom they offered. But all too soon, they felt loneliness creeping in again. Sure, traveling was fun, and making money off of ornithology journals they drew while walking was great. But they were still in denial of just how important relationships with others are.
While wandering near the north side of the Sand Kingdom one day, they ran into an IceWing. Their personalities themselves seem to abrade against each other - first they argued about Cinnamon being able to be there, then they argued about where Cinnamon should go next. After a heated debate, the IceWing - who introduced himself as Goose - demanded that he take them on a tour of the Ice Kingdom. After all, that was the only tribe territory Cinnamon hadn't been to yet.
Cinnamon hadn't been around so many other dragons for a long time, and at first, it felt like torture. They were the one MudWing out of countless shimmering moon dragons, and they felt themself shriveling up again, retreating back into their shell. But Goose, while coming off as irritable and grumpy, defended Cinnamon to any dragon who dared criticize them. Slowly, as their trip continued, Goose began showing Cinnamon his softer side. He revealed to them that he had a passion for ornithology too, loving the gulls that wheeled over the glacier beaches.
At first, Cinnamon had planned on taking off by themself at some point. However, Goose seemed to be shifting, his rough exterior cracking into pieces. What had once seemed like an aloof IceWing to Cinnamon had become an observant, caring... friend.
It took work to admit it to themself, honestly. Cinnamon had never wanted to be vulnerable enough to let someone else in, past their own facade. But on the last day of the trip, Goose asked to go with them on their other ramblings of Pyrrhia, and Cinnamon quietly accepted.
The two of them traveled through the continent, mapping and flying, but most importantly, birding. They doodled feathers next to a campfire at night and laughed when one of them (or both) got it wrong. Over time, they picked up more friends, a bubbly-natured SeaWing named Ethereal and a deaf but self-aware SandWing called Jackal.
Every day, Cinnamon can feel themself growing. Even though they have a group, Goose and them are the unspoken leaders. When the others need help, Cinnamon tries to provide. When they need help, when they're missing their home in a strange bout of nostalgia or sweating after war nightmares, the three other explorers take their talon and promise them it'll be all right.
Perhaps they wander, but they have their home.
----
Cinnamon, while not impressive in the more common sense, most certainly has talents of their own. First off, Cinnamon is astute. After the war, they soaked up all the information the could, from apple cider recipes to the anatomy of the cow (of course they could only take books from libraries and almost never could return them, much to their dismay). Cinnamon does a bit about a lot, lending them great help during the group's travels. They also, of course, have an incredible library of bird knowledge packed into their busy mind. 
Though they don't hold that much power in their physical side, Cinnamon most certainly isn't weak. Being a MudWing they have impressive physical strength, which they use for both carrying supplies along their journeys and relocating two bird nests at once. They can also breathe fire and hold their breath for extended periods of time, but they don't use those skills much simply because they lack the need to.
Category:Characters
Category:Work in Progress
Category:MudWings
Category:Non-binary
Category:LGBT+
Category:Collaborations
Category:Content (Droplet the seawing)
Category:Content (Stardust the IceWing-RainWing)