Grayfox

Siblings: Unknown

## Appearance:

Gray looked like a somewhat normal SandWing. Normal in build and color, but the amount of scars and metal would probably have had most take a second look. Her scales were said to be similar to the color of molten gold, though somewhat muted. Her underscales are a much lighter, somewhat whitish version of her scales. Her frill was a much more sandy yellowish color of her scales, and slightly darker and her wing membranes are the same color as well. Her horns were a dark tan in color, along with her tail barb. As stated before, she had many scars and plenty of metal jewelry on her, a good chunk of which contained some type of enchantment. The most notable of her scars are: the fact that she was technically missing most of her right leg (she used a metal replacement that was enchanted to act like an actual leg and a separate enchantment on a ring to hide the fact it was metal), the burn scars that went up what was left of her right leg all the way up to her shoulder, the numerous burns on her left leg and talons, the large gash she had going all the way down the right side of her neck, the chunk she was missing from the left side of her tail, near her tail barb, the claw marks along her underbelly, the small bits missing from her wing membrane along with a few holes, the bits of frill that have been burned or cut, faded heavy burns on two of her left talons, and the dappling of burn scars and bits of metal she had all over her scales from working as a blacksmith. She a few other minor scars here and there was well. As for jewelry wise, she had three metal tail bands, each with its own enchantment. The largest one was enchanted to basically make her more paranoid and wary of others (which ended up slowly increasing over the years as it kept making her more and more paranoid and the increased that paranoia along with what the degradation that the use of her magic caused), the middle made her less noticeable to others, and the smallest was enchanted to relieve her of the pain her scars caused her. She also had several earrings in both ears that were made of bronze, though only one had an enchantment that increased her eyesight. She also had an armband that was made of a smoky bronze looking material that just contained a capsule that had a beetle engraved on it and the word Bronze engraved on one side with the capsule looking to be of excellent craftsmanship, yet the armband and engraving to be of poorer craftsmanship than anything else she wore. While the armsband itself wasn’t enchanted, it contained her first enchantment, an enchanted beetle, and was one of her first blacksmith projects. Later in her life she also took to carrying a dagger which was enchanted to never break and always be sharp. Occasionally she would wear something else metal wise, but those were the main things that were always on her. Despite only being around 18, she often came off as looking much older, as if she was in her 20’s 30’s or sometimes 40’s. This was mainly due to how harsh and tired she looked, and might also be a toll using her magic took on her (some also suspected it was an enchantment, which wasn’t entirely true, but not entirely false. The enchantment she had that made her blend in often made others simply believe she was older due to her looks upon first glance without any further inspection). Gray was also noted to be a rather bulky and muscular dragon, likely due to her blacksmithing, and was rather tall for her age. She almost always had a harsh look to her and bags under her eyes. While dead Gray mostly looks the same, just faded. There seemed to almost be outlines of her jewelry with her, most likely because while it was important and could be considered part of her, it still exists, and there just seems to be an outline of her right leg.

## Personality:

### Alive:

While alive Gray was often described as being unnaturally paranoid. Unnatural in the sense that it seemed to dominate any other aspect of a personality she may have had once had. Everything seemed to be overpowered by her paranoia. This was likely due to enchantments she had on her (which many had suspected, but never managed to confirm) and the slow deterioration she was likely suffering from using her powers too much. Anyways, as stated, Gray was paranoid to an extreme. She often seemed to think that others were out to get her for random reasons, trusted pretty much no one, and it was well known you approached her from behind or unannounced at your own life as she was liable to throw whatever she was working on, so something either sharp or molten hot, or whatever was in her vicinity. She was also paranoid about others using her for her powers or being locked up or being used as a weapon or anything of that sort. Before coming to the Sand Flyers she never stayed in one place for too long and even after joining had a habit of disappearing for days on end and then reappearing. She was rather secretive and very few of her enchantments or what she ever enchanted were ever known. She never really seemed to sleep, another suspected enchantment (though some also pointed out that she might just be taking cat naps). Most of her enchantments seem geared to things that were fueled by her paranoia. Despite all her paranoia, Gray never had an interest in making herself invincible, even after the loss of her arm. This was mainly because she feared being unable to die, to be forever stuck on a place where she would always be wanted and hunted for her power. While she was paranoid about dying, it seems her fear managed to overrule her paranoia. She also wasn’t the most stable dragon, there were times where she would lash out at others or her mood would randomly shift. She was also noted for being rather snappish and waspish with others and her temper was never the best, even on her better days. While it wasn’t too worrisome when she first joined, she did continually get worse as the years past to the point it did become a worry when she’d finally snap. She also didn’t quite fear her powers, well more like her paranoia overwrote any fears she may have once had, leading to a cycle of continual paranoia, as at one point in her life she did in fact fear this very scenario. Despite all this, there were moments and hints of what her personality may have been like without enchantments showed and animus powers that slowly chipped at her soul that did come through. Such as her loyalty to the Sand Flyers, even with her extreme paranoia, or hints or sarcasm that came out here and there. Or the fact that there were a talonful of dragons that she did honestly care for, such as Shore, Forge, and Lupine, that often caught glimpses of someone else who had once existed. That and her passion for blacksmithing. It was about the only other thing others really commented on besides her paranoia and perhaps one of the few things that made her happy. At least, as happy as someone in her state could be. As a result, pretty much any enchantment she made was on an item that she herself made, through this could also be due to paranoia of where any other item that she hadn’t personally made may have come from it, a part of her honestly took great pride in her work and she loved it. This kind-of hinted that Gray may have had, or still had a bit, of an artistic side to her, given how she also enjoyed engraving details into her works. It was also known that Gray had a habit of enchanting sheets of metal, not the final item, meaning that even if the item itself was destroyed, the enchantment stayed as it was the metal, not the thing, that held the enchantment. This was a habit from her younger days, when she was a lot more careful with her powers and figured that this made a good backup because while items were easy to destroy, destroying the metal was much harder, that stuck around and still made sense to her. Overall, by the time of her death, Gray was a dragon that had lost whoever she may have once been in others minds, but to some, still held traces of another. She wasn’t stable and there was a very real danger of her snapping before her death. Yet, the moments where she showed some part of who she may have been did have a lot of dragons wondering just what she could have been like and honestly wanting to see or meet that dragon. She was a very good warning to the camp about what powers can do to someone.

### Deceased:

In death, Gray’s personality has certainly changed. What used to be a dragon ruled by paranoia has become a dragon, who while somewhat paranoid, bears little resemblance to who she once was. What used to be overwhelming and unreasonable paranoia now is a much more reasonable distrust and paranoia of strangers and the unknown, given her circumstances, and while it probably still isn’t the most reasonable, it’s a lot better than what it once was. Most of her paranoia here was developed from the fear of others using her powers for their own gain. She also comes off as seeming older than her age at some moments, yet younger at other times. Which makes sense, given she had to grow up fast to survive as an animus, but at the same time she wasn’t able to grow in some ways as she started to lose herself. This can lead to some interesting moments and some gaps in her knowledge of others or society. She is a somewhat snarky and sarcastic dragon who often makes quips about something that may annoy her or makes her wonder where common sense went. Half the time she does use sarcasm as a defense or when she is nervous, meaning it’s likely a trait she falls back on from when she was alive. Her sense of humor is also rather dark, as she tries to brush things off that bother her or are too dark by making them seem a little less dark with humor, though she does have some limits on what she’ll joke about. That and she doesn’t show her humor often, just bits and pieces now and then. She shows an extreme loyalty and devotion the the Sand Flyers, though a part of her will admit that some of it is due to the fact that they did care for her and even accepted her during her less than admirable years. The easiest way to get her angry is to insult one of the Sand Flyers in a way she feels is injust, because she loves them all, but she is in no way unaware of their faults, nor is she going to excuse their faults. She also has conflicting feelings about who she became in her life. While she doesn’t like the dragon she ended up becoming, a selfish part of her doesn't regret it due to where it lead her. She does regret not ever meeting any of the dragons she cares for as herself though. She is openly an opportunist and takes what life gives her and makes the best of it before moving on. She sees no point in complaining or whining, it solves nothing. Something that was somewhat surprising is that Gray has a high belief in honor and integrity, which is somewhat ironic, and sad, given her own downfall. She also holds a high value on freedom and in never becoming a weapon for someone or a prisoner. She loathes manipulations, likely due to the war and what she may have encountered due to her powers, and she hates how others view animus. To her it seems that once someone hears that word they either think weapon or insane dragon, both of which possessed some truth for her. She also has a somewhat mixed view on animus. She acknowledges their power and how they can loss their soul, but she also thinks that how others treat them is part of the problem and that at this point both sides are to blame. After all, animus don’t ask to be animus. And while she doesn’t like manipulations, that doesn’t make her blunt. She knows how to be subtle and how to lie or stretch the truth, she had to for a while after all. She just tries to do it as little as possible. Even in her death through, she is not really a dragon person. She doesn’t like being crowded, she doesn’t like being forced to spend time with others, and she’s still liable to try and throw something at you if you invade her space. She doesn’t mind interacting with others, it just tends to be that she has limits. She is a very logical thinker, which was shown in her life with what she did with her enchantments, but this often made it hard to connect with others on top of being an animus. She doesn’t entirely mind being a ghost, it’s given her time with her mind back. There is one thing that she does mind. She can’t blacksmith. Something that is still her passion, but there isn’t really a way for her to do. She also shows a love for engraving and fine details as well as art, though, again, she can’t really do anything with it. There are times through where she reverts back to how she was when alive, likely due to her trying to separate the memories and who she once was and the difficulty of it, though these have become a lot less frequent over the years. Overall she is a very different dragon with some traits that seem to have carried over. She still is paranoid, with a love for blacksmithing, still holds several of the same fears, and a less than sociable personality at times, but she is also extremely loyal and defensive of the Sand Flyers with a sense of honor and integrity and a rather dark sense of humor at times. She still doesn’t have the best temper, but does honestly care for those around her in the Sand Flyers. She’s an interesting mix of a logical thinker and an artist who loves her craft and is very annoyed at not being able to do it anymore. She is thankful for a second chance with her actual personality as a ghost and admits that the reason she’s probably still around is a desire to be able to actually at least give others the chance to get a glimpse of who she once was.

## Backstory:

### Pre-TMSH:

Gray was born a little less than a year before the war of the SandWing Succession, and there wasn’t really anything notable about the first year of her life. She lived happily with both her parents, Cabrie, her mother, and Arefy, her father, and at the time her name was Rutile. There were some murmurings about Queen Oasis and her daughters, but she never really paid it any mind. Then Queen Oasis died and the SandWing Succession started. At the time Rutile was just about a year old and was honestly more worried about her unhatched siblings than who would be Queen, as she was excited to not be the only child around. Yeah, she got that the war was serious, but honestly the worst it seemed to do was make her parents fight. And then it happened. Rutile was playing around with a scarab while watching her siblings eggs as her parents argued, as they both had different ideas on who should be Queen, when she accidentally enchanted the beetle saying, “I want you to be my forever friend who’ll help me watch over my siblings!”. And lo and behold, the beetle changed, all of a sudden acting like a pet, while Rutile giggled and her parents sat there stunned, finally no longer arguing. She then proceeded to enchant it to be a dazzling copper color, so “she’d always know it was them”, as at the time she didn’t have any clue what this power was or how using it could go wrong. Her parents quickly made her stop using her power and explained that she could only use it so much before it ran out. They never told her what it was. It was a few days later when she overheard them arguing about which Princess they should give her to, as she would turn the tide of the war and could be a valuable asset and weapon. Now, Rutile may not have been the most mature child out there, but she understood what her parents were talking about and whatever positive view of the world she once had pretty much shattered. After all, her own parents who may have argued but did love her, were now talking about her as if she was a weapon, an object. Heartbroken, Gray didn’t know much about the world, but then and there she decided that she’d never be a weapon for anyone. Ever. It took a few days, but Gray finally had a plan. She didn’t know what this power was called, but she knew the basis of how it worked and what it did. So she enchanted every dragon to forget who she was, especially her parents (exact enchantment: “I want everyone to forget who I once was as Rutile, I want everyone to forget that dragon once ever existed”). And so, now she was alone. No one would know who she was or where she came from. She was even going to have to change her name now, it wasn’t hers anymore. She ran through the desert with a small sack of what she had, including her first enchantment, wanting to cry so bad but refusing to because this was now her life, so be it. She hid out in various towns, easily blending in as yet another orphan from the war. She eventually chose a new name for herself, stalling because a part of her wanted to hold onto her old life, but in the end she couldn’t. So, she chose Grayfox, Gray for short, as it was a short and simple name that she hoped others wouldn’t pay much attention to. And it worked. She was constantly traveling between towns, not wanting to be in the war or found out by another dragon, or three moons forbid a Princess, and figured it was safer to simply always keep moving, which was the start of her paranoia. During her times in the cities she also learned what her power was and what it did, along with the consequences of it. When she was about three, she ended up running into an old SandWing blacksmith called Bronze, likely named that for the bronze tint to his scales. He was rather kind and allowed to watch him make a dagger. Gray was instantly captivated. She ended up following him around, trying, and failing, at being stealthy, even going so far as to try and set up her own makeshift forge, which did not end well and resulted in some of the burn scars she still has on her left forearm. Bronze ended up taking Gray as an apprentice, both to spare her own life from her own foolishness and because with the dedication and stubbornness she showed towards learning blacksmithing he was pretty sure she’d be a good apprentice. And so for four years she learned under him, enjoying his company and coming to see him as a grandfather figure. But like all good things, they come to an end. One day he confronted her about her powers, and while scared at first, he told her he wouldn’t turn her in and he just wanted her to be safe with her powers. Gray was relieved and even told him about her first enchantment. They then even worked together to make a capsule for her first enchantment, as the beetle wasn’t dying (due to the forever part of her enchantment). That was the last thing they ever made together. One of Bronze’s sons had overheard what the tow were talking about and figured he could raise their families status by handing Gray over. So he confronted the two and him and Bronze argued before Bronze’s son simply said that it didn’t matter what his dad said and while he loved him, right now he was blind before grabbing Gray. Now Gray wasn’t going to go down without a fight and ended up flinging some embers at him. Which managed to get into his eye. Bronze’s son shrieked and blindly flailing and shoving Gray. Who lost her balance and partially fell into the furnace that was still going at max temperature as the two had started to work on a necklace to hold the capsule. Due to the heat more than half of her entire right forearm was seared away  and with the coals burning several other parts of her body she was in and agony. Unknowingly she tipped some of the molten metal over and started a fire in the forge. Bronze’s son managed to get away, but Bronze was old and soon the smoke got to him and he collapsed. Gray was pretty much out of it, having really passed out due to pain. In Bronze’s last moments he used his own body to cover Gray’s and saved her life. At the cost of his own. Now, Gray was somewhat lucky in her injury as it had cauterized so she didn’t bleed out and die there. In the morning she woke up in a haze of pain, with the forge partially burned and Bronze dead above her. Gray broke down there and then. The one dragon that seemed to accepted her, that had motivated her, was now gone. Because of her powers and the ones that wanted it. She remembered in her haze to cast an enchantment that made others forget that she was an animus, which ended up just being Bronze’s son as he hadn’t told anyone. Bronze’s death and the forge burning was considered an accident. At this point Gray felt that she couldn’t trust anyone and that everyone was likely to either turn her in or knew someone who would. She was really on her own. Gray left the town and began to start her life over. Again. She kept the capsule the two had made and began to make her own forge, which took months and was extremely hard with a missing limb. It took almost a year for her to make her own and one of the first things she made was an armband to hold the capsule. Looking back, it wasn’t the best thing, but she was extremely proud that she’d made it and even engraved Bronze’s name into the armband to remember him. Over time she improved her skills and started making things to sell. She also made sure that her forge was portable so that she could constantly be moving so she wouldn’t be stopped by those in the war. Not long after she made the armband she also made a tailband, enchanting the metal so that when it was in contact with a dragon it would make them more wary and paranoid of others (in hindsight, those were not the best words to use) as she was afraid that she’d get attached again and have something similar happen. And it continued like this for a couple of years, with Gray making things in obscurity and slowly improving her skills while getting more and more paranoid. Soon she started enchanting other things that she was making for her, such as the tailband or earring as her paranoia started to overcome her reservations about using her powers. She did make sure that her enchantments were always in the metal through, not the item, as she found it more resourceful and easier to make multiple things out of or remake something without having to re enchant something. She was about ten when she finally was confident enough to make her arm. It took several tries, plenty of swearing, but she finally got it. She enchanted metal of the arm to act like the limb it was shaped after and the armband that attached it to her remaining forearm to allow the limb to grow with the dragon wearing it, and a ring to disguise it to look like her own arm. And this was pretty much her life up until she was 12. She lived as a traveling blacksmith and had gained quite the reputation for the quality of her work. This did lead to a few raids on her tent, which did result in a few scars, but overall she was fine. But as the war progressed Gray became more and more worried and paranoid about being found out. And then she met the Sand Flyers, or more accurately Shore at first. While extremely paranoid about them, something about them fascinated Gray and pulled out a part of her personality that had disappeared. She ended up hanging around the camp for a bit. And then Shore found out about her powers. Now, Gray was ready to kill Shore, until Shore blatantly said she didn’t care and left. Now this stunned Gray, who had pretty much been running from dragons who did care. Stunned her enough Shore just walked out. Now, in no way at this point was Gray trusting of the Sand Flyers, but over the months she slowly entered the camp and became a part of it. She didn’t trust them, but they were willing to help her, even knowing her powers, well at least some of them. She did grow close to a few dragons, mainly Shore, Lupine, and Forge. Shore because she was an honest presence that just didn’t care about the powers, and while Gray was alright with Ablaze, she never could trust her as someone in power, Lupine who looked so similar and had such a unique personality that Gray couldn’t ignore or say no to her, and Forge who reminded her of her beginnings as a blacksmith and found herself occasionally helping now and then. Now she did have plenty of stories and adventures with the Sand Flyers over the years she spent with them and even became a Sand Flyer herself (sorry, but I’m not writing that all out and I doubt many would read about it) but as the  years went Gray became more and more unstable and did keep using her powers. Now, the Sand Flyers aren’t sure if Gray had a bout of stableness that allowed her to see where she was headed, to snapping, but Gray went out to battle with none of her enchantments on. And they were right, Gray had been listening to Lupine and Forge when something kind-of struck her. She wasn’t entirely sure if it had been something to two said or did (it was the fact that when she looked at Lupine and Forge, all she could see were a sibling she never knew and Bronze that gave her a sharp and short wake-up call), but she managed to look back on the last few years and realize something. She was getting worse, temper wise, with her paranoia, etc. and she was becoming someone she never wanted to. But… there wasn’t any hope for her anymore, was there. But maybe there was something she could do. So, overcoming her paranoia in her last moments, Gray removed all her metal enchantments, even her leg, and headed off to where she’s heard a battle was. She was torn to shreds in the ensuing fight, and her last sight was of Shore’s horrified face, but she never regretted it, even as a ghost. While surprised to be a ghost, Gray was even more surprised at how different she felt. And the other ghosts were surprised at how different she was. Over the last three years she ‘s regained much of who she used to be and learned a lot about the others. When Bushmaster died, she felt pity and sorrow, understanding how betrayal felt, which ultimately lead to her following Bushmaster, that and the fact Gray saw her as almost an honorary Sand Flyer for what she’d been trying to do.

### The Split:

Grayfox first appeared having followed Bushmaster from the camp, curious to what she was doing. She's pretty much stuck around, deciding that for now she'll help Bushmaster out.

## Animus Enchantments:

- A beetle that was enchanted to be Gray’s friend and to look after her siblings, along with being copper. Current location, unknown.

- The metal of a tail band to make whoever the tailband comes in contact with more wary of others and more paranoid. Current location, hidden in the Sand Flyers camp.

- The metal of a tail band to make who touches it less noticeable to others. Current location, hidden in the Sand Flyers camp.

- The metal of a tail band to make the dragon it touches scars no longer hurt or bother them. Current location, hidden in the Sand Flyers camp.

- A metal arm shaped like Gray's arm coupled with a metal armband that allowed the metal arm to work like a normal arm. Current location, being used by Generosity.

- A metal ring that made the metal arm look like a normal arm. Current location, hidden in the Sand Flyers Camp.

- Bronze shaped as an earring that is enchanted to give what it comes in contact with better eyesight. Current location, hidden in Sand Flyers camp.

- The metal of a dagger blade enchanted to never break or dull as a metal.

- The metal of several gold rings that allow anyone touching them to survive any extreme weather. Current location, Snowberry’s satchel.

## Trivia:

-There’s a legend in the camp that in her last breath Gray enchanted the sand around the camp. Amarok has only confirmed that yes, Gray did do something.

-Gray does in fact have siblings, which means there are other SandWings somewhere that do carry the animus gene. And the beetle that she once enchanted as a child could be used to find them as it was enchanted to “watch over her siblings with her”, through where this enchantment is now is unknown.

-Gray does not like most dragons, but seemed to hold a dislike for SandWings in particular. This is likely because SandWings have always been the tribe that has betrayed her.

-Since Gray was pretty much literally torn apart, how she died doesn’t appear like it does with Bushmaster.

-While Gray did hide the fact that her arm was metal with an enchantment, it wasn’t a secret of what it was in the Sand Flyers as several had seen her block something that should have badly injured her with it and some also caught her repairing it a few times. The reason Generosity doesn’t hide it with the band Gray enchantment is that the band that hide the metal leg was enchanted to make it look like Gray’s leg, so it’d look rather odd on Generosity.

-Rutile is a type of mineral, but in this case it’s referring to a type of quartz.