Xenoux

She is the main protagonist of *Xenoux's Strife*. After breaking her jaw and losing her mother, she struggles to adapt to a new life when humans take her in.

## **Physical Appearance**

She is larger than the average for her species with brighter red skin, and a longer, thicker tail and limbs. She has large yellow eyes with black slit pupils and yellow accents on her tail, cheeks, legs, and abdomen. The end of her tail and the frills running down her neck are black. Her head antennae and feathery plumes are bright yellow with blue bases and black tips; more feathers with the same coloring line the backs of her long, powerful arms, which have five clawed fingers of the same length. She has equally powerful legs resembling a theropod dinosaur's, with large, clawed, three-toed feet. The innermost toes are longer than the others (which have white webbing) and resemble a *Dromaeosaur's*, with the long, curved sickle-shaped claw. Her hands and feet are black, and have yellow pads on the fingertips and palms. The large tire on her chest is black with white and red accents, and the similar coloring and texture is present on the base of her tail. Her snout is longer and more jagged, with a white scar on the left side of her lower jaw, a sign of healing after breaking it. She has larger nostrils and a mouthful of viciously sharp teeth.

As a hatchling, she had no feathers on her limbs and tail, darker skin, and proportionately larger eyes. Her mouth only had a few teeth. She gained her current traits as she aged.

## ***Xenoux's Strife***

### **Chapter 1**

The story begins with a young Xenoux and her mother Malva walking through human suburbs to a house simply known as the home of the sandwich man. Xenoux asks how much farther, telling her mother she's starving. Malva tells her they're almost there. She explains to Xenoux that the man living in the house befriended her by giving her a sandwich to revitalize her when she'd been injured in her youth. Xenoux asks Malva if he'll give her a sandwich too, to which she replies if she behaves well enough. Malva continues she wouldn't know what to do if Xenoux went crazy, considering her excitable, skittish, and temperamental nature (which makes her behavior unpredictable).

Mother and daughter arrive at the house, with Malva knocking on the front door. Xenoux looks around worriedly, telling Malva she doesn't like the look of the settlement. Malva soothes her daughter, telling her she'll be fine. The door opens, and Xenoux looks up to see a tall bearded man towering over her; half curious, she walks up to him and sniffs him, noting his weird smell. The man greets Malva warmly, and Malva reciprocates before going into the house. Xenoux cautiously follows and examines the house's interior. The man picks up Xenoux and carries her through the house to avoid stepping on her. The young lizard becomes anxious about being carried by a human and is relieved when he sets her down on the floor in the kitchen. Malva introduces her to the man, and Xenoux shyly greets him before sidling next to her mother. The man then leaves to prepare a sandwich for them. When Xenoux asks Malva what a sandwich even is, the latter replies that she'll find out.

The man returns with a large sandwich, giving one half to Malva and the other to Xenoux. The former rapidly gulps down her portion, while the latter only sniffs her half and takes a nibble. Malva asks her daughter how it tastes, to which Xenoux replies it's alright. After eating a few bites, Xenoux tells Malva she can have the rest, but her mother insists she finish it. Xenoux complies, knowing better than to answer back. She sees the man smiling at her and nods at him to show she liked it. Malva tells Xenoux to stay put while she goes outside; the man has to do the same, leaving Xenoux alone. She observes the weird objects in the kitchen before noticing a red ball a few feet away from her.

She walks toward it and, seeing it rolls when pushed, becomes interested in it and starts playing with it. However, this doesn't last long, as a woman appears, sees her, and rushes over to grab her. Xenoux dodges and tries to escape, but the woman grabs her and tosses her out the front door to prevent her destructive behavior. Malva calls Xenoux's name before noticing and approaching her. She asks what's up, and Xenoux tells her what happened in the kitchen. The man, hearing this, realizes that his wife saw her; he goes in and tries to reason with her. Xenoux tells Malva she doesn't want to come back and jumps over the fence before running back the way she came. Malva catches up with her and takes her back to their home in the woods, soothing her. They later bed down for the night.

### **Chapter 2**

Early the next morning, Xenoux is woken up by Malva to come hunting with her. Still feeling full from the sandwich last night, Xenoux replies she doesn't feel like eating. However, her mother snaps at her to come anyway, saying it's either that or go hungry today. Xenoux takes the first option and keeps quiet as she follows Malva. As they head to the plains nearby, Xenoux wonders why Malva is angry with her, but decides not to ask her until after they've caught breakfast. She helps Malva hunt down a female Oinkologne. While they eat, Xenoux asks Malva why she's in a mood, but her mother refuses to answer. Sighing, Xenoux eats her fill and quietly says she'll leave her mother alone before walking away. After a little way, however, Malva sharply calls her back, snapping not to leave her sight. When Xenoux returns, Malva tells her she's not upset with her in particular, just tired. She licks Xenoux's face, telling her she loves her.

Xenoux then catches the scent of a male Koraidon approaching and becomes fearful. She tells Malva, who instantly stands bolt upright and demands who the male is. He snarls that she's in his territory and she's taking his food, which belongs to his family. He approaches Malva, sizing her up. Xenoux tries to hide from him behind her mother, but he immediately spots her and becomes interested. He remarks she'd make a fine addition to his family. Malva snarls that Xenoux is hers and hers alone. Panicking, Xenoux tries to run, but the male darts in front of her to block her path. He tries to grab her, but Xenoux launches a Dragon Breath at him and runs back to Malva. However, the male quickly recovers from the attack and hurls himself at Malva.

While they fight, Xenoux tries a second escape attempt, only to be quickly foiled again when the male knocks Malva to the ground and comes after her. To prevent her from trying anything else, he hits her with Iron Tail, aiming for her flank. However, she dodges, causing him to miss, and his tail instead smashes into Xenoux's face, breaking her jaw. She feels pain shoot through her face upon impact and falls to the ground, numb. Reeling from dizziness and unbearable pain, Xenoux can only watch helplessly as the male reaches out for her. Malva then interferes, knocking him over and screeching that she'll never forgive him for hurting her daughter. As she watches her mother fighting, Xenoux feels blood pooling beneath her head and realizes the injury is severe. She then gasps in shock as the male Koraidon slashes Malva across the torso with Dragon Claw, mortally wounding her. However, she remains strong enough to retaliate with Dragon Tail and send him flying away.

Malva turns to a crying Xenoux and moves to comfort her before picking her up, placing her on her back, and using her wheels to race through the wilderness and back into the suburbs. Xenoux hears her mother grunting in pain and exhaustion as she stops and places her on a doorstep. She tries to speak, but her broken jaw prevents her from doing so. Malva coughs up blood, revealing the severity of her injury, and tells Xenoux to wait for humans to take her in. She tells her daughter to be good and let the humans take care of her as she won't be able to for much longer. Realizing her mother will die soon, Xenoux bursts into tears and hugs Malva, who also starts crying. Malva hugs her daughter for a while, then tells Xenoux again that she loves her. She then turns and hobbles away, leaving Xenoux wailing after her. Xenoux reaches out with a hand and watches, devastated, as Malva disappears from her view. She continues wailing until the pain from her broken jaw causes her to pass out.

### **Chapter 3**

Xenoux later wakes up feeling like her jaw is numb and her mouth has been sealed. Groggily, she tries to get up, but a hand holds her back down, gently telling her to rest. She hears and sees weird sounds and sights before starting to panic, thinking she has died. However, she soon realizes she's alive and fearfully examines her surroundings, not knowing where she is. She sees two male humans looming over her, examining her. They leave the room, and Xenoux quietly gets down and follows them out, turning in a different direction. She looks into all the rooms she passes by, but stops at the entrance to one when she spots a familiar form. Xenoux enters the room and sees Malva lying on a table in the middle. She quickly ascends the table and is horrified to see huge, dark red claw marks on her mother's torso. She nudges her mother, but Malva remains motionless, and her eyes remain closed. Xenoux realizes that her mother is dead and starts crying again. She lies down beside Malva's head, facing her. Tenderly placing her hands on Malva's face, Xenoux notes in shock her body is cold and stiff. She touches her nose to Malva's and mentally wishes her mother goodbye.

Xenoux is about to fall asleep from fatigue when she hears a man bursting into the room. Paralyzed with fear, she stays still as the man looks around, but he sees her and picks her up. Grunting, she struggles in his grasp, but soon becomes exhausted and allows him to carry her out of the room. She longingly gazes at Malva's body one more time before passing out again.

### **Chapter 4**

Xenoux later wakes up again to find herself in another room. She sees a masked young Togruta girl looking down at her with wide eyes. The girl says she's awake and asks how she's feeling. Xenoux realizes she cannot answer, merely looking sadly at the visitor. The Togruta introduces herself as Amelia and softly pats Xenoux to put her at ease. Amelia then presents a mirror to the young Koraidon. Xenoux looks in the mirror and is instantly horrified when she sees her jaw wired shut with a large metal ring enclosing her snout. Amelia explains her jaw was wired shut so it could heal properly, adding that the brace (defining it) would help with the process. She tells Xenoux she'll live like this for 2 months, horrifying the latter; however, before Amelia can tell her more, another person calls her away. Amelia tucks Xenoux into her bed and tells her to rest before quickly taking leave. Xenoux watches her go, wondering what else the Togruta had to say. She soon becomes tired again and lies her head down before falling asleep.

## **Skills and Abilities**

**Bite Force:**

**Grip:** She has an exceptionally strong grip and is capable of using both her hands and her teeth. The latter are thick, curved, and serrated, perfectly designed for both gripping and slashing her foes.