Ox

Ox is the second hatched and the second oldest in his family unit. He is outwardly very elegant and quiet, almost down to earth looking at all times, but on the inside he's a true monster. His name comes from the dramatic curl in his horns and his coloring which is similar to that of a musk-ox's.
== Biography ==
Ox was always used to being second best in his dragonet-hood. He was hatched as the second oldest of his troop and that was all he ever seemed to be. He was rather loud and boisterous as a dragonet, but after he started fighting in battles during the SandWing Succession War, he changed.
In his juvenile years, Ox became much quieter and more reserved. A lot of dragons in his own troop couldn't tell what he was thinking and feeling anymore and they were all much too busy with their own issues to really care. However, his bigwings, Buffalo, did seem to care about him.
They spoke often after battles and shared their views and opinions with each other and found that they had a lot in common. However, Ox never approved of Buffalo's violent tendencies and views, but respected them and didn't try to argue with him to change his ways. His strong leadership had ensured the survival of their entire troop, so who was Ox to complain anyways?
Ox and Buffalo often stayed out at night to talk with each other and converse when they couldn't sleep. They were as close as two MudWing brothers could be. However, because of his much stronger connection to Buffalo, Ox always felt disconnected from the rest of his siblings. 
One night, as they conversed, a pretty MudWing female passed by, clearly lost in her own thoughts and world. She paid no attention to them, although both of the brothers' attentions had been on her for as long as she walked past them. From the moment he saw her, Ox was desperately in love with her. And the worst part was that Buffalo seemed to be caught up in the young MudWing as well. 
They didn't talk of that night ever again, nor the female MudWing, but new tensions seemed to grow between them like tumors. Ox knew that Buffalo was thinking about the MudWing as much as he was. And that made him all the more determined to find a way to approach her and woo her first. He went slow, first finding out who her troop comprised of and a few other things about her. Ox knew she was quiet and his brother would never be able to court her. 
Eventually, his patience and careful planning was awarded. 
Thistle, the elder brother and bigwings of the female MudWing offered her talons in marriage to him in exchange for the fairly large amount of treasure Ox had collected and bartered for as a hobby for a good few years. Ox agreed and a meeting was set between the two before they were engaged. 
Within their first meeting he learned her name; Lamb.
However, when news of their engagement reached Buffalo, the tension snapped. Buffalo approached Ox in a fit of rage, threatening his life if he didn't back out of the engagement. However, Ox had already given his part of treasure to Thistle and he wasn't walking away empty handed. He ignored Buffalo's threats and was engaged to her only a few days later.
The marriage ceremony (which was looked down upon by most of the MudWings due to the oddity of it in their society) was only a few days away when Buffalo kidnapped Lamb from Ox's sleep house. Ox declared war on his brother and swore that he would kill him for taking what was his. And thus the brawl between brothers started.
Their quarrel split their brothers and sisters in half. Boar, Stag, Moose, and Thistle all chose to support Ox. Yak, Wildebeest, Goat, and an unrelated female MudWing named Fawn all chose to support Buffalo. It was considered a small but violent civil war between sibs. It raged on for weeks, and then months. Throughout it, all of the other MudWings looked down upon the family feud with utter disdain and disgust. However, it was only a matter of time before a dragon was killed.
Boar and Stag had gotten into a violent brawl with Fawn and Goat, and it ended with all of their blood being spilled and Stag's death. Queen Moorhen had enough of the unnecessary violence and summoned both of the brothers to her palace. She threatened them both with death if they didn't stop fighting in the streets and disrupting the peace. They ignored her demands.
Luckily, two dragons, a MudWing named Bull and a MudWing-IceWing hybrid named Grizzly both showed up in the Mud Kingdom one day. They were looking for a missing sib of Bull's, and ended up getting pulled into all the drama. Heather, Lamb's sister ended up going to Bull and begging him to stop the fight and save Lamb in exchange for information about his sister's location. Bull agreed and he stole Lamb from Ox (who had her at the time) and snuck her into SkyWing territory. He left her there, promising that she wouldn't be found by the brothers. 
However, Ox grew lonely and furious when he realized what had happened. Despite the harsh tension still going on, he spent weeks trying to track down Lamb. Weeks turned into months before he finally got a lead. Unfortunately, Buffalo was tipped off as well, and Ox ended up flying to SkyWing territory as fast as he could. He raced against Buffalo, each searching desperately until they both found her at the same place at the same time.
A deep anger like no other had burned in Ox's chest when he saw his little Lamb sleeping next to a stranger dragon wearing a metal mask. The masked dragon then informed him that if he and Buffalo were able to kill him in a fight, then they could have Lamb. Ox instantly agreed in a fit of obsession and aggression. However, he was easily beaten and almost killed. The masked dragon spared him, only because Lamb had begged him to. 
Ox went back to the Mud Kingdom with a bruised and beaten Buffalo and the two went their separate ways and accepted their defeat and loss, ending the feud. Their siblings all scattered as well, lost to Pyrrhia.
== Appearance ==
Ox has a coloration that tends to make him stand out in the crowds. He's also a little more overweight than an average MudWing and tends not to care too much about health or muscles or anything like that. He's rather tall, but tends to slouch often and has terrible posture that makes him look shorter. 
Ox has completely adorn himself in pale gold and diamonds. His favorite accessory is the golden crown of leaves that he wears on his head whenever he can. He also likes the ring in his nose complete with the diamond hanging off of it. He's almost never seen without some sort of gold piece on his body. 
== Abilities ==
Ox can breathe fire and hold his breath for up to an hour like any other MudWing. He's also still surprisingly strong, despite the fact that he has a bit more fat than muscle proportion wise on his body. He's a strong fighter and won't hesitate to get his talons dirty if everything starts going downhill.
== Personality ==
Ox started out rather loud and talkative in his lifetime, but over a good while, he's shut up consistently more. He's very good at keeping a straight face and it's hard to read him and his emotions. He keeps up an extremely calm and down to earth facade, even though he's just as aggressive as Buffalo is. He's a master at faking. 
Ox gets attached to things rather easily and once he does, he obsesses over them for as long as he allows himself to. However, he still does think before he does anything and tends to be one of the smarter MudWings in the bunch.
He has a sort of smoothness to him that tends to make him look more official and in control than he really is.
== Relationships ==
=== Buffalo ===
Ox really did used to trust and like Buffalo and couldn't imagine anything bringing them apart--certainly not some female MudWing--but it happened anyways. Ox feels as though the situation was out of his control and there was no other fate for him and his brother but brawling and fighting. Ox is not intimidated by Buffalo in the slightest and often looks down at him, thinking he's much better than Buffalo will ever be. He's secretly always been jealous that Buffalo was the bigwings of the troop instead of him.
=== Yak ===
He finds Yak to be rather annoying at times, but Buffalo cared decently for Yak. There have been times when Buffalo comforts Yak after particularly gruesome battles. During the civil war between him and Buffalo, Ox was rather disappointed that Yak chose to align himself with his bigwings.
=== Wildebeest ===
Wildebeest is a very closed off sort of dragon and too unpredictable for Ox's liking. He really didn't mind too much when Wildebeest followed his twin right to Buffalo's side.
=== Moose ===
Moose is Ox's right talon dragon. He knows that she's full capable of taking care of herself and she was loyal to him unquestionably throughout the entire quarrel. She supported his motives and him in general no matter how ridiculous and dramatic everything became. 
=== Boar ===
Ox is wary of Boar in a very hushed manner. He is well aware that Boar could easily snap and kill him with even more ease. His trust in her isn't exactly solid. This is because she doesn't support his motives or purpose at all. It's just because she felt as though Buffalo had personally wronged her and only joined Ox because she had a petty little grudge against her bigwings.
=== Stag ===
Although he had never been all that close with Stag, Ox still loved his sister like any brother. He mourned for a good few weeks after Stag had been killed and found that he despised Buffalo even more after one of his supporters killed his own sister. Deep down, however, Ox knows he's using Stag's death as just another reason to hate Buffalo.
=== Goat ===
Ox was actually quite close with Goat before everything started heading downhill for the family unit. He would always play fight with her and baby her when she was younger. He often played pirates with her whenever she wanted. He was very sad to see her team up with Buffalo for reasons he didn't know and she wouldn't say. 
=== Thistle ===
Ox doesn't truly like Thistle or enjoy his company. He thinks that Thistle is some of the lowest scum in Pyrrhia, but he says nothing about it. He simply fakes a smile and a hearty laugh and puts on a facade that Thistle easily falls for every time. The only reason Ox doesn't completely ignore Thistle is because if he had lost Thistle's support during the feud, then Buffalo would have the upper talon.
=== Lamb ===
Ox truly does love Lamb, he just doesn't really know how to express it properly. He has no problem with being smooth and courteous to her, but when he doesn't get any response from her, it really does irritate him. She makes him crazy and he knows it. With her around, even he doesn't know what his next move is going to be. Ox honestly just thinks she wouldn't be able to handle herself without his help and protection and only wanted to keep her from himself and away from the cruel outside world. 
=== Warcry ===
Although after the fight, Ox was sour about the results and generally very bitter when he thought of Warcry with Lamb instead of him, his hatred for the SkyWing-NightWing hybrid subsided. He realized that if he really did love Lamb and wanted what was best for her, then he'd leave her alone with Warcry, who had managed to steal her heart before he was given the proper chance to.
== Trivia ==
* Ox's golden leaf crown comes from the same dragon who made Lavender's golden leaf necklace.
* Ox has been described to have the conversational smoothness of a NightWing.
* He bases the way he does his jewelry off of NightWing scales sometimes.
* He created a paste from a plant that allows one to temporarily glue jewels to their scales for a day or two, which has become quite popular among nobles and aristocrats from all tribes that don't want to commit to having jewels embedded in their scales but still want the flashiness of gems on their bodies.
* He actually really likes emeralds, but they don't go well with his scales so he often doesn't wear them.
== Gallery ==
Category:Characters
Category:MudWings
Category:Males
Category:Content (Venusbombyx)
Category:Status (Nobility)