Cattail

cattail
A hybrid that fit into neither of her tribes, Cattail has spent most of her life feeling alienated and estranged from the real world. She was either scorned for being too weak to qualify as a SandWing, or avoided by the majority of SeaWings because she was way too different. Anyone who knew how horribly unconfident she was back then will probably assume that she'll never get better, never be a different dragon.
But they were wrong.
Like the shifting sands and the rapid currents, life changes. And while Cattail thanks the lucky stars that she finally feels accepted, that another stroke of fate was kind to her, she sometimes still gives herself too little credit for how hard she has tried to make the world a better place - in her own unique way.
name 	name
 	
Background Information	Background Information
Art By 	text
Creator 	essence
Aesthetics 	cattails, pond life, frogs, potted plants, flowers, sweet food, aloe, decorative stones, seashells, gentle pools, spring rain, meadows
Main Attribute 	uniqueness
Elemental Attribute 	nature
Theme Animal 	puppy
Theme Color 	lilac, purple
Theme Song 	
song - artist
MBTI Personality 	ISFJ-T (ambiverted)
Character Information 	Character Information
Age 	11 D.Y. / 21.5 H.Y.
Gender 	female
Pronouns 	she/her
Orientation 	lesbian
Occupation 	botanist, herbal tea shop owner
Tribe 	sea/sand
Other Names 	kitty-cat (don't call her this unless you're close to her though)
Goal 	to show the world she isn't weak
Residence 	Hikari
Relatives 	lapis (mother), arizona (father)
Allies 	lapis, pollock
Enemies 	her old bullies and anyone who judges her for who she is
Likes 	desserts, cute animals, castella cake, red bean, frogs, warm colors, the smell of rain, fresh herbs, tea, helping out a creature in need, the idea of romance, singing to herself, plants, nature, swimming, calm waters, reassurance, security
Dislikes 	blistering heat, violence, pain (be it her own or someone else's), any form of discrimination, darkness, heights, saltwater, fish, artificial smells, smoke and fire, being ridiculed, feeling like an outcast, spicy foods, death
Abilities 	can fire sharp but non-venomous spikes from her tail that regrows at a moderate speed, good swimmer, extensive knowledge on herbs and plants
Weapons 	her spikes, but she doesn't use them often
Love Interests 	maybe... maybe.
Quote 	just because "cat" is part of my name doesn't mean i prefer saying meow. woof!
appearance
* a smol adult dragon
* body shape is that of a sandwing
* lilac-pink main scales, with a green stripe running down the neck and down to the tail
*white underbelly
* light periwinkle seawing sail on the back instead of a sandwing one
*the most important thing about her is that her tail, instead of being a normal barb, ends with a spike that looks like a cattail. this has no poison, but it is pretty sharp, and she can fire this spike off at will and they always regrow
*seawing webs between claws. has fins on each of her legs, but no gills
*all of those webbings are pale lime green and so are her wing membranes
*cyan eyes
personality
From an outsider's perspective, Cattail's personality can be summarized in a few words.
Most dragons see her as shy and quiet in public, which is true - but this quiet aura makes a lot of dragons perceive her as weak, helpless or dependent. That's where they're wrong. Despite everything, Cattail is intelligent and her mind works fast, however, mustering courage to speak her thoughts is very difficult.
This translates to one of Cattail's main character flaws - she's too self-conscious, too unsure of herself, and perhaps a little cowardly. Often she has the power to make a change, to do something significant, but she convinces herself out of it, not believing in her capabilities. Due to past experiences, she often feels like she doesn't fit in amongst other dragons, leading to self isolation and a tendency to prefer speaking to other lifeforms, such as plants and animals.
Because of this lack of confidence, Cattail dreads confrontation and is intimidated by most other dragons, always fearing the worst things they would say. She often assumes the worst of dragons she isn't familiar with, thinking that everyone is judgmental towards dragons who are different like herself. It is hard to bridge a connection with her at times because she often tries to shut down dragons who she deems as intruding on her life, something she's almost deathly private about.
Despite every flaw she has, Cattail remains strong willed, a soul that can't be tied down. She refuses to be put into a box, shuts out any comments that tries to reshape her into something other than she is. She is stubborn, and while she is meek, nothing will sway her firm beliefs. She detests being told what to do, and will only follow orders from those she truly respects and trusts, or those that she believes is done from good will alone. The dragoness is good at heart, and while her cowardice may prevent her from showing it, she is trying to change this. 
Outsiders may judge her a little too quick, but once Cattail does get close to someone, you can bet that they're going to be inseparable. She is loyal, and very much so too, to dragons she values in her life, how few they may be. Her loyalty is so strong that it would be easily used against her - provided that you knew about it. Around close friends, she displays a much warmer and even lively side, being much more open about her interests, opinions and passion, as well as being affectionate and outwardly caring. 
Cattail fears hurting others despite the fact that she can hardly be considered dangerous, and has a lot of second thoughts when it comes to making decisions. Concerning those she loves, she will often think about their well-being more than herself, and is actually pretty selfless no matter how cowardly you perceive her to be. Even though she dislikes interaction with strangers, she loves her job as it allows her to show the world that she is still kind at heart. 
This hybrid may not be the outspoken, daring hero in every story, but she is far from helpless, and she thrives to prove that she isn't. She's always trying to improve - but good thing for her, she is someone who knows how to enjoy life as it comes, and that's enough for her. 
history
As a young dragonet, Cattail had a fairly decent life. She was born in a cove near the Sea Kingdom, and the moment she hatched out of her egg, she started paddling almost based off of instinct alone. Despite having no gills, she splashed around and played in the waters, living a carefree life until the day she was old enough to attend school.
The young hybrid did slightly better than the average dragonet in terms of academic abilities, but she does not recall school being a good time for her. The purebred SeaWing students were initially skeptical of her and most of them refused to approach or befriend her, some out of fear of her odd looking tail. A few more daring dragons even bullied her - just a few words, really, saying how she looked like a freak with that spiked tail that resembled nothing of a SandWing's barb, and some sneering at "how a hybrid had turned out to be so wrong". Cattail was a shy and quiet dragonet, and this only served to reduce her self-esteem. The worst part? Her father, an irresponsible SandWing, had left them behind and ran to start a new life of his own, presumably with a richer partner in mind.
She voiced her concerns to her mother, and fortunately, Lapis listened to her. The two of them moved away from their old home and found a small house in the Sand Kingdom - one that just needed cheap rent, due to their less than ideal income. Cattail matured faster in these tough times, helping her mother out whenever she needed it and learning how to live simply, saving up money and constantly being on the lookout for a place they could buy for themselves. Lapis does spoil her daughter once in a while, of course, as it isn't all smooth sailing for the dragonet either - the mostly SandWing populated town looked down upon her, considering her "useless" and "just a wimp who needs too much attention" as it became apparent that she was venomless and practically not dangerous at all. Cattail wanted to move away, but understood that her mother was trying her best - and perhaps she picked up on the fact that Lapis still secretly missed Arizona and hoped to find him nearby.
That didn't happen, because eventually Lapis found a nice, cozy settlement in a nearby town called Hikari. Seeing a chance at a new life, Cattail couldn't have been happier. However, her insecurities and self-doubt followed her - in her mind, she still feared being viewed as an outcast, as someone too different to belong anywhere. Of course, she was also lonely - she hadn't met a friend since young, and the only dragon she trusted was her mother. Little did she know, that changed when she moved into their new home.
In her new school, Cattail took up biology and found that she loved it - it gave her a chance to study all the plants and animals she had learned to talk to when coping with her loneliness. But that wasn't the only good thing about it - there, she met a dragoness who wasn't so different from her - a pure white SeaWing named Pollock. Someone viewed as bad luck and thrown aside for being wrongly different. They had a hesitant bond at first - with Pollock being wary of anyone trying to get close to her only because of her skills, and Cattail being reclusive and generally socially awkward, but their friendship blossomed as they recognized their similarities - dragonets that didn't belong in where they came from.
The two friends had each other until school ended, which wasn't that long, apparently, but it was a few years time, enough for both of them to help each other heal and find a place in the world. Cattail encouraged Pollock to take up the job offer that Hikari's leaders put out, landing her a place at the office of The Shining Beacon as a treasurer. In return, the albino dragon told Cattail to go after her interests in plants, and she managed to learn how to brew soothing herbal teas and use medicinal herbs to treat minor wounds, something that she took as a chance to earn more money and make her mother happy. Eventually, Cattail managed to turn their house into a herbal tea shop, eventually learning how to grow plants herself in her personal garden and selling them for extra profit. 
abilities
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weaknesses
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relationships
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trivia
*if you haven't noticed already, Cattail's design and ability is inspired by the plant Cattail from the Plants Vs Zombies series
*she loves swimming and prefers fresh water over salt water even though she can't breathe in either
*knows water acrobatics and is pretty graceful on water
*her favorite animal has to be frogs
**she has a aquamarine frog statue in her personal garden, it makes her feel at peace. she bought this from harmonia
*owns a golden retriever pet dog called Toby
*has a mild fear of great heights
*prefers sweet over savory any day
*has a decent singing voice
*loves eating eggs
*lime is her favorite shade of green
*disaster gay that gets flustered super easily especially around pretty girls
*says "woof" whenever a random word or sound is needed
gallery
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Category:Work in Progress
Category:Content (Light Fairy)
Category:Characters
Category:Females
Category:SandWings
Category:SeaWings
Category:Hybrids
Category:LGBT+
Category:Inspired by Fiction