Ceryle

Character belongs to Lucy, coding by Ophelia. Page is best viewed with rail closed!Image credits: [1] [2] [3] [4]
Ceryle
SkyWing
Agender
che'/cher
Bisexual aromantic
Gardener & writer
Vervet
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#e9f5fe
#c1d8f0
#9ebcd5
#7da7c4
#437190
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Description
grey, white, and blue
Comforts
:⬩ warmth
:⬩ music
:⬩ candles
Fears
:⬩ the cold
:⬩ shattered glass
:⬩ the color red
Personality
how do you live when you've never learned how to?
Biography
Ceryle's mother speaks to cher every night, curled up in the corners of damp caves. She plays with the glass chandelier that hangs ornate from a crevice in the rock. She whispers of che's egg, which had always glistened a brighter white than che's siblings. How she and the father thought it a blessing of good luck, that the dragonet would grow to be as strong and pure as the eggshell.
Her laugh is cold, sharp with hindsight and regret.
She leasd che' along on hunts through the deeper caves, searching for sniffling moles or crawling grubs in the depths. Ceryle always asks to go alone. She returns that with a smile tight with teeth. She mutters of the days before hatching, where the reds and golds of unborn dragonets finally started to shine through shells that started to fade translucent. Ceryle looks down at che's own scales, ghostly in the dark.
They did not glimmer the same, che's mother whispers. The shell thinned to grays and whites and blues and — che's claws close tight across some creature, furred and blind. They are hunting, che' mumbles. Stories scare the creatures away.
Her face creases. They are not hunting, she snaps. They are begging the caves for scraps. Let her reminisce, she insists. She gave away so much that che' could never comprehend. She continues hissing.
They do not find anything else. Ceryle wishes for the bliss of silence.
The other two scramble over the rocks, playing outside with citrus and canary scales. Che' rests inside the dark and watches, mother by che's side, always by che's side.
She reminded cher not to go outside. Never to go outside. It is not safe for che' outside. Che' looks at the others. They play and fight and drag back enormous bleeding prey. The queen does not care about them. The queen cares about cher.
Che' thinks that means love, until che's mother starts growling tales about the SandWing ally, and the tower of dead dragons in the sand.
Ceryle dreams of clenching talons tearing cher apart. Che' dreams of red floors stained with blood and che's pale eyes staring sightless. Che' is cold under the shelter of che's mother's wings.
Che' wanders out into the sunlight one day, to get a breath of the open air and feel the strengh of the light on che's scales.
She yells at Ceryle for stepping out of the cave. She threatens to abandon che'. She screams in a hollow voice, about all she used to have and all she has lost, everything she gave up for che's sake. She whispers, defeated. She says she misses him.
The other two watch with large eyes. They slip away.
She is crying, sobbing, gasping an apology that is not for cher. Ceryle whispers a sorry that isn't heard as they try to wrap her in a hug. Che' is sorry, please forgive cher. Her scales are bloodied ice, as fragile as the chandelier that sways above.
It is her claws clench around Ceryle's throat in che's dreams.
The other two are whispering. They do that often, but it happens far more often now. The night is chilly, and che's talons are shaking but che' cannot move. She is sleeping, and che' doesn't want to wake her. Che' watches them. They look at cher with blankly yellow eyes. Che' looks away, burying che's head under one wing.
The whispers continue. They are excited, energetic, planning something with the outdoor world. Che' tries to listen, but che' is tired and che' slowly drifts off, barely aware of it.
The other two are gone by morning. They do not return.
She does not speak for an eon. She shatters the chandelier, spraying shards across the caves. She screams, she shouts, she growls words that che' has never heard before. She speaks of contempt. She is angry, angry that the others would abandon her. How could they leave her, after how much she sacrificed?
She does not mention Ceryle. Yet she notices cher, watching her carefully, and her wrath turns.
She sacrificed it all, for cher. To keep cher safe. For all that? For all that, all Ceryle has given her is pain, all che' has given her is a ruined life and a ragged voice. She wishes Ceryle was never born. She tells Ceryle that this is che's fault. She shouts about a perfect life she lost, for this. Che' does not understand, but her voice is loud and screeching, as if she was running the broken glass over che's scales, again and again. Che' cowers, nodding and mumbling, until she finally falls silent.
They do not speak again.
She speaks to cher, but che' does not say words in return. She still sleeps with her wing over che'. It is not the same. It is the same as it has always been, except che' is seeing it now. She loves cher, she says one day. Che' loves her too. Ceryle almost says this.
Che' tries to ignore the fear burning in che's chest. Che' loves her. Why is che' so afraid?
She leaves one day. She says it will only be for a bit. She needs to find a new cave, she needs to find prey. She's leaving che' behind a lot more now. She pretends nothing happens, even though che' knows she can feel che's talons shaking. She smiles like the glazed over faces of dead animals.
Ceryle holds a glass shard in the empty cave. It is like ice in che's talons. It wells blood and pain where it cuts too deep into che's scales, but che' does not release it.
Che' imagines swinging it at her. Che' thinks about stabbing, sinking it in like che's talons into prey. Che' imagines her splayed out like a dead deer, bleeding out upon the shattered glass. Che's mind aches more than che's palm, the allure of those thoughts horrifying and tantalizing. Cheryle loves her, doesn't che'? Che' glances down at che's talons.
Che's blood is red.
Ceryle leaves the cave. It's been a day and she has not returned. The sky is so full of light it makes che's eyes hurt. Che' rests on a warm rock, imagining that she never comes back. That thought causes a twinge of undecipherable emotion, but there is some peace in that.
Che' does not know why che' decided to leave. Che' simply did, working che's way down a ledge. Ceryle tries to imagine flying like the other two did, but che's wings feel heavy and a primitive fear keeps che' clinging to the mountainside.
Che' wanders under che's talons weigh cher down like rocks sinking in one of the lakes back home. Home... che' will go back, soon, but not now. Che' finds a clearing in the valley. The grass is softer than everything che's known. After che' wakes up, che' promises. Che' will go back home. The word feels foreign in che's thoughts.
Ceryle knows that cave is not home, but that thought is lost in the blur of a mind that can finally rest.
Che' dreams of the glass che' spent months carefully avoiding. They soften under che's talons and and disappear. The rocks sink around cher. Everything feels soft, pliant, and it feels like the world is melting. It feels... wrong.
Ceryle blinks away into that same softness, wrapped in the heavy hug of a gentle warmth.
Relationships
Miscellaneous
:⬩ Named after a type of black and white kingfisher.
:⬩ Has an odd fascination with perfume despite che's sensitivity to strong smells.
:⬩ Has an unnamed condition that decreases development of yellow and red pigments in che's scales.
Gallery
CerylePlasmawolf2016.png|Art by Plasmawolf2016
Wheatfiller.png|Art by Wheatley
Wheatfiller.png|Art by Wheatley
Wheatfiller.png|Art by Wheatley
Wheatfiller.png|Art by Wheatley
Category:Work in Progress
Category:Characters
Category:Non-binary
Category:SkyWings
Category:Occupation (Writer)
Category:Occupation (Other)
Category:LGBT+
Category:Status (Commoner)
Category:Content (Mezepheles)