'Pyrite', also known as the 'Pyrite
Mask', was a "false" female SkyWing who was introduced in Winter Turning. She was created as the result of a necklace
Animus magic|enchanted by Chameleon to transform any Dragons|dragon
wearing the necklace into a female SkyWing with the following four
conditions:

1\) Completely loyal to Queen Scarlet and the SkyWing tribe

2\) Insecure and weak

3\) No memory of his or her former identity

4\) Compelled to wear this necklace at all times with life-or-death
urgency

The mask was used for years to imprison Hailstorm. Because the writing
was cramped and filled every inch of the paper, Winter suspected that
"the following conditions" were created specifically for Hailstorm.

## Description

Pyrite has pale interesting orange scales that are close to yellow, like
the inside of a peach, and innocent darker orange eyes that are the
color of Qibli's earring. She wears a small brown pouch on a gold chain
around her neck, tight as a choker, and a gold nose ring on one side of
her snout. She is bigger than Winter but smaller than Avalanche, with a
soft voice. She is thin, quiet-looking, and her wings are constantly
twitching nervously. She has longer legs than Winter and a long neck.

Inside of Pyrite's pouch is a small, folded piece of paper, crumpled
around the corners. The enchantment words are scribbled in dark red ink,
with some of the words faded or caught in the wrinkles and hard to read.
The writing fills every inch of the paper, front and back.

## Personality

According to herself, Pyrite has an awful memory and a terrible sense of
direction. She is fidgety, nervous, and insecure, as well as very
clingy, flappy, and anxious whenever other dragons speak to her. As well
as being skittish, secretive, and strange, she believes that she is
clumsy and useless and not very good at anything. Moonwatcher said that
it is very shallow inside Pyrite's mind, saying that Coconut's thoughts
are not much deeper than hers. Moonwatcher also said it was as if her
mind's repeated thoughts dug grooves in her mind.

## Biography

### The Jade Mountain Prophecy

left Winter Turning

She first appeared in the prologue when Winter and his brother,
Hailstorm, explored the Sky Kingdom. After Hailstorm was defeated and
captured by a patrol of SkyWings, a dragon wearing the "Pyrite Mask"
necklace, presumably Chameleon, put it on him.

Later, Winter and his Jade Winglet friends visited the Talons of Peace.
Riptide brought the two SkyWings in the Talons, Avalanche and Pyrite, to
see if they could help them. Moonwatcher showed them a sketch of an
oddly-shaped mountain she saw behind Scarlet when Icicle was being
dreamvisited by the ex-queen. Pyrite eventually agreed to take Winter,
Moonwatcher, Kinkajou, and Qibli to the place where Scarlet was
suspected to be after Moon pressured her to tell the truth.

Later, when Scarlet's unknown NightWing companion attacked, Pyrite's
necklace was removed by Winter, and Hailstorm was revealed underneath.
Winter described the change as "the scales sliding off as though she was
melting and growing and snapping into place at the same time. Her snout
narrowed and lengthened. The orange color bled swiftly out of each
scale. Sharp spikes shoved up through the skin all along her back and at
the tip of her tail."

Even after Hailstorm took off the Pyrite mask, her memories still
lingered in his mind. For a long while, he was not sure if he was an
IceWing or a SkyWing. This confusion was most shown when he approached Eagle, thinking that he was still Pyrite. Eagle had been a
friend of Pyrite, and since Hailstorm was no longer Pyrite, Eagle did
not recognize him. He thought it was a "sick joke," and probably would
have attacked Hailstorm if Meerkat had not shown up.

It was later revealed that Pyrite's mind and body were nothing but an
animus enchantment on a necklace in which whoever wears it takes the
mind and body of the SkyWing, Pyrite. Moon referred to it as the "Pyrite
Mask." The "Pyrite Mask" was enchanted by a small piece of paper, ripped
off from Darkstalker's scroll. The paper reads:

Enchant this paper so that when any dragon wears it in the form of a
necklace, he or she shall fully become a female SkyWing named Pyrite,
with the following conditions:

(1) Completely loyal to Queen Scarlet and the SkyWing tribe.

(2) Insecure and weak.

(3) No memory of his or her former identity.

(4) Compelled to wear this necklace at all times with life-or-death
urgency.

It still kept Pyrite's memories, even if someone different tried it on.
Winter decided he needed to know how wearing it felt. When he tried it
on, Qibli ripped off the fourth condition beforehand so Winter could
take the necklace off. It appeared to have worked since Winter did not
argue with Qibli once Qibli slipped the necklace off him after less than
three minutes.

## Relationships

### Cirrus

Cirrus was a member of the Talons of Peace with Pyrite. He was
protective of her, as he did not want her to leave with the Jade
Winglet. Winter heavily doubted he was in love with her, and the case is later broken down in Escaping Peril when it turned
out that Cirrus was a RainWing named Chameleon who worked for ex-Queen
Scarlet and created Pyrite as a secret enchantment.

### Eagle

Little is known about Pyrite's relationship with Eagle, but they
appeared to be good friends. So much so that as Hailstorm, Pyrite was
devastated when Eagle did not recognize her when she called out to him
in Possibility.

### Riptide

Riptide is the leader of the Talons of Peace and took care of Pyrite
when she was a member of his organization. He was gentle when speaking
to Pyrite, and Winter got the impression that he had spent a lot of time
managing her.

### Scarlet

As per the enchantment modifications, Pyrite always does her best for
Scarlet and is completely loyal to her. She stated that she would have
kept fighting for Scarlet as long as she needed Pyrite and that she
refused to sign an oath to Ruby because of her loyalty. When Pyrite
thinks of Scarlet, a surge of powerful emotion rolls through her. She
believes that Scarlet is amazing and took care to see her at least once
per day when Pyrite still lived in the Sky Kingdom, even if from a
distance.

## Quotes

Hi. Listen, whatever it is you need, I don't think I can help
you. It's not that I wouldn't like to. I would like to, really, I wish I
could do all kinds of things, but the truth is I'm not very good at
anything and I'm sure I'm not the dragon you're looking for, so …

to Moonwatcher Winter Turning

145

-----

I can try. I mean… I might get us lost, but… I'll do my best,
for Queen Scarlet. I always do my best for her.
to Riptide

Winter Turning
148

-----

I'm completely loyal. I would have kept fighting for Queen
Scarlet as long as she needed me. But when Ruby took the throne, she
made everyone swear an oath to her, and I couldn't do that, you know?
I'm completely loyal to Queen Scarlet. Always and always and always.

to Moonwatcher Winter Turning

153

-----

I feel sorry for her. Her brain is very odd. It's like her
thoughts are stuck in a circle. I don't know if she's been hit on the
head really hard or something, but they just go round and around: I'm
completely loyal to Queen Scarlet. I'm not very good at anything. I'm
glad to be a SkyWing. I'm clumsy and not very bright and generally
useless. And then back to, I'm completely loyal to Queen Scarlet.

Moonwatcher to Winter Winter Turning (book)|Winter
Turning
156

-----

There go my stupid talons, getting in my way as usual. I wish I
weren't so clumsy and useless.
Pyrite's thoughts

Winter Turning
218

## Trivia

  - The enchantment has an insidious dullness that leaves a miasma after
    only a few minutes of wearing it.
  - Pyrite feels similar to the NightWing tunnels: the twisting of
    magic. It is a strange shifting of the world, like tugging apart a
    dragon's muscles from inside them.
  - Whenever Pyrite slept near Cirrus or Winter, she would have strange
    dreams about snow.