Name: Tikallie
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: *Flails hands wildly*
Weyr: Western Weyr
Rider Rank: Wingrider
Previous Rank/Craft: Drudge
Physical Description: While none would ever mistake calling her tall, Tikallie is certainly not the shortest person in even her immediate family at her 5’3” height that serves simply to draw attention to every flaw that she has. She was born with white hair from the hair on her head to her eyebrows and eyelashes that frame her narrow reddish-brown eyes, much unlike any in her family that all have black or brown hair. Thanks to her insecurities about how her hair looks she’s been known to use red flowers to dye the ends of her hair as they tend to transfer the most color over of any flower color she could use and it at least lifts her confidence a bit, but she still lets it grow out very long despite disliking it. Between her hair and the pale nature of her skin she tends to avoid sunlight if she can but does not burn incredibly fiercely as long as she isn’t out in it for hours without protection.
Many small scars litter her face, neck, chest and shoulders, faint and barely noticeable unless someone were staring straight at her and she’s not fond of letting that happen. They’re long healed scars from when she was bullied by her older siblings, shoved into rose bushes and other sticker plants when her parents and the other adults in their lives weren’t looking. Due to how many and how bad they look generally she uses a sort of dust or makeup to cover the scars and keep them from view, but the easiest way for her to keep anyone from seeing the dozens of scars is to never look them in the face, which she so rarely does anyway.
While she’s most fond of wearing dresses and pulling her hair into various styles, she has been trained well in what she should wear to fight the menace that is thread and rather likes the leathers and face covers as it means no one can see her scars. Off her beloved Gaerdalth she can be found in dresses and covered in flowers as she literally will cover herself in them from her hair to around her neck and down in her boots, even up her sleeves. Any flowers she can find an any that she works with that are in season.
Personality: To call Tikallie shy would be an understatement, if she doesn't know you very well she just barely lacks the capacity to even talk to you, especially if the person that wants to is within her age range. Thanks to the bullying that she was subjected to at the hands of her older and even younger siblings, the children that her siblings were friends with, even the rest of the children in the Hold, she generally views those within her age range as dangerous and untrustworthy. Add her guillibility in there, a trait she's painfully aware of even if she can't help it, and a mixture of it and the past cruelty has made her more than a little withdrawn from her peers. She can speak and does, usually in short sentences and very quietly, but chooses often to avoid it if at all possible which leads many to believe that she's either afraid or incapable of connecting with others. To her credit neither is true, she can connect and often isn't afraid of the world around her thanks to her own curiosity and desire to see as many plants as she can, as many flowers as are out there. If given the right amount of understanding and time for her to get used to those she's around Tikallie is capable of great kindness to those that have earned her respect and her loyalty runs deeper than most know. Though it has yet to be asked of her the girl would put herself in harms way or give her life to protect those that she cares for, even if they are few.
Most of the time her issues can be narrowed down to her insecurities, bred from the way she was treated and neglected in life by her family and most those around, and while most of her life dealing with them was a lot, most of them have been pressed back since her Impression to Gaerdalth who has done nothing but heap love and confidence upon her. Through this bond she's managed to come out of her shell even just a little bit with goading and has begun reaching out to others, especially those in the same wing as her who fight alongside her, as their lives are as much in her hands as hers is in their's. It has brought some level of trust to her and loyalty being something that they've earned she's become a more generous person with her time and with her actions because of it.
Positive Trait List: Compassionate, Curious, Loyal, Generous
Negative Trait List: Unexpressive, Withdrawn, Insecure, Gullible
History: Born the middle child of five in the desert Hold of Igen there was something... off... about the third born child of these two flower and spice merchants that had never had an issue with children before or after. Incredibly pale compared to her darker skinned family and born with bright white hair they named her Tikallie, a name that purposefully matched no one in their family or anyone that they knew. An outsider in her own family, her siblings often left her alone and her parents, unsure of how to deal with her other than to simply let her do whatever she wanted and make certain that her pale skin didn't burn, she was left all but alone near the only thing that she showed an interest in... plants. Because of this she grew up with minimal contact and the little she got was so rarely positive. Abused by her older siblings, her eldest sister the most, even her younger siblings followed suite while her parents in general avoided the knowledge though whether this was because they didn't care or because they were oblivious and never stopped working to notice that she was in such dire shape is still an unspoken mystery.
The bullying ranged from mental to even physical in nature, everything about her insulted in 'teasing' manners, sometimes her face shoved into sticker bushes or rose bushes which gave her the dozens of small scars that cover her upper body. After turns and turns of it she was so withdrawn that she barely spoke to them or her parents even though she knew full well how to and no one outside of her family could hardly remember her. Tikallie was a ghost to the entire hold, only spoken about as if she were a spirit that walked about the gardens and helped the plants to grow, for they were all she cared about. Long after all but her youngest brother had gone on to be either Searched to stand as candidates or gone to find a craft, the small girl worked in gardens with plants and preformed drudgework for her family's merchant business. It was easy, for she barely had to speak and often was left to her own devices unless she was ordered around by her parents or younger brother and these were generally jobs involving the shipment or delivery of flowers for different things across Pern.
One such occasion brought her to Western Weyr along with her two younger brothers in tow, the youngest was to see along the route if there were any holds with crafts that interested him. The goal of their journey to check on their older sister at the Weyr, a candidate that was expected to stand when the eggs currently on the sands hardened. To the surprise of all three their arrival was loud with the sound of humming dragons. While her two brothers were instantly excited, both thrilled for the chance to see their older sister possibly Impress to a dragon, Tikallie was not near as thrilled about the happenings and planned on not being anywhere near it. Dragons weren't something she ever considered in her life and they were large and loud and everything that was set to send her into a fit of fear, but she was drug by both of her brothers to witness it for "family solidarity" that she had never once felt. As the first eggs began to hatch her stomach twisted into knots and her body began to shake, for there were candidates that were suddenly in the line of sharp claws and ran the risk of being killed after all! She didn't want to see that! Struggling to escape from it all, to go somewhere quieter and calmer, the older of her brothers, finally frustrated with her fear and trying to hold her in place, struck her across the face as he always did when trying to get her attention. The action was followed by a noise that none of them had ever heard before, a loud shrieking scream that distracted those around them who were trying to help and resulted in an egg being blown apart to reveal a red-eyed blue hatchling that seemed to be screaming right at the trio of them. Clearly uninterested in the candidates around him, the small blue stalked to the edge of the stands and kept up the angry shrieking noise until he realized he couldn't reach them.
I can't get to you up there so you must be brave and come down here, Tikalliemine! How dare you hit her, come down here with her and I'll show you how wrong you are to lay a hand on anyone ever! Together we'll protect those that deserve it from those that would abuse them! Eyes still an angry red the blue creeled for her in desperation and concern, distressed that he couldn't get to her to keep her safe and so angry that anyone would hit the one he'd come into the world for, the small dragon forced his words to all three of them. While both of her brothers had frozen in their motions, Tikallie couldn't freeze for she felt something surging through her that pulled her towards the sands below, a bravery that filled her from the inside out and told her over and over that it would be okay. Skidding onto the sands, the little white haired girl ignored every word spoken to her, every warning yelled to her, collapsing on the sands beside her little blue so she could wrap him in a hug full of tears and shaking. Gaerdalth, as he would finally tell her after they were ushered from the sands by better trained hands, filled the young girl with love and safety like she'd never known and it helped to ease the transition and the hatred that she instantly received from her family as her older sister didn't Impress that day.
While Impressing to a dragon can be life changing it wasn't quite life changing enough for this withdrawn little girl who had never received enough in the way of contact to make a solid bond for her dragon. Somewhat unstable for days she was turned over to the hands of the mindhealers of Western Weyr by the Weyrlingmaster before she could begin her training, to teach her what she needed and get to the source of what might be causing such unbalance in the pair. It took time, as all things, to break through to the source of her issues and get her up to speed enough for her to be returned to Weyrlingmaster Liat which put she and her beloved partner behind his clutch siblings in training. While she's not fully recovered, whatever that could be to her, from the past she's managed to withstand Tikallie has come quite a long way from being a nameless ghost in a Hold to being a dragon rider and Gaerdalth has been beside her every step of the way to remind her why he chose her and the strength he sees within her. Though she's made significant progress she still enjoys the quiet moments of her life when she can relax with her dragon while he naps and takes every chance she can to surround herself with flowers even still.
Other: She has a form of albinism that left her eyes a bit darker than usual despite her otherwise pale features, the bloodvessels behind the brown still show through as red which gives her a sometimes spooky look.
DRAGON
Name: Gaerdalth
Age: Almost 2
Color: Blue
Size: 23'
Physical Description: Delicate of frame and size, this brilliantly pale little blue with his elegant markings on his wings, throat and tail is a bit longer than he is tall with a long tail and long wings to keep him balanced when flying. He's more prone to be acrobatic and speedy than he is strong which is unfortunate given his desire to throw himself before any type of danger. All those pale blue swirls and designs that cover him can seem as though they're moving on their own when he's flying.
Personality: Gaerdalth exploded from his egg with one thought in mind, protection. He's offered protection, defense, and understanding to every being in his presence be they dragon or human ever since it happened and with his somewhat gilded tongue he's able to dole out ease of heart and mind with words as well as protection through his selfless actions. Selfless only scrapes the tip of the iceberg with this dragon's personality, one that meshes so well with his rider's own loyalty and compassion that the pair of them sometimes have issues when it comes to holding back. Mainly it's Tikallie's fear for her own dragon that keeps her from letting him throw the pair of them in front of any threat, for she has yet to meet a person she'd give her life for even if both she and her life partner have that capacity. It comes from a place of love within him and it's love that drives him to sacrifice his own time and physical health for others if he's not restrained.
Aside from being overprotective and somewhat chivalrous in general the little blue is very relaxed and loves to spend free time relaxing near any body of water he can find. He enjoys his rider's affinity for plants because they tend to make the area a bit cooler in their little weyr by the beach, but he also would rather spend his time with his tail or wings in the water. Gaerdalth also enjoys naps when he's completely relaxed, summertime being the best of all times to do so in his opinion, with the heat of the sun down upon him and his rider leaning against him under the shade of a tree. Because of Tikallie's love of flowers he's often covered in them, form his headknobs to his tail and neck, flower chains and jewelry involving flowers, they'll remove it before training and fighting thread but otherwise he's often adorned.
Although this small blue is well old enough to chase after greens he has only ever given chase one time because he'll happily restrain himself for his rider's sake. Her insecurities leave him wrapped around her during flights of gold varieties as well, protecting her from any possible overwhelming feelings she might have as if he were an anchor. It isn't that he doesn't
want to chase, but being so small he often has his doubts as to whether he can catch the beautiful greens he sees rising and doesn't wish to let them down.
Dragon Art or Proof of Obtainment: Link
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