Ka-4010: ✖ Kaelen ⸙
Personality:
Kaelen comes off pretty rough around the edges, hiding a deeply protective core behind a weary, cynical exterior. Heavy with survivor’s guilt, he’s convinced he was too weak to save his tribe when it mattered most, fueling a self-reliant thief's mindset where survival comes first and sentimentality is a luxury he can't afford. He keeps his guard up and pretends he only cares about getting by day to day, masking his heavy past with dry humor and a tired smile. But despite his hard-bitten instincts, Kaelen possesses a fierce, unspoken loyalty. He will recklessly throw himself in front of an eight-foot iron monster without a second thought to protect Drake, proving that behind his hardened, ash-stained demeanor lies a fiercely devoted brother who refuses to fail the only family he has left.
History:
Once part of a proud tribe of rock dragon Kiamaras, Kaelen's world was shattered when invaders wiped out his subspecies and exiled him from his volcanic homeland. Forced onto the fringes as a young survivor, he turned to thievery and scavenging just to stay alive, carrying the bitter weight of believing he had been too weak to stop his family's downfall. His aimless life shifted on a volcanic ridge while hunting for fire-salts, where he dug out a tiny, shivering hatchling trapped under a cooling lava ledge. Noticing the scrawny kid shared his exact raw, crystalline gold markings, Kaelen took him in, naming him Cinder. The pair became inseparable, carving out a living by hunting moonstones, ancient dragon bones, and gold across desert ruins and frost-bitten lowlands. Their bond was cemented during a harrowing heist in a mountain fortress for the Sunfire Opal, where they accidentally woke an eight-foot iron sentinel; after Kaelen took a brutal, rib-crushing blow to shield the drake, the little guy jumped onto the machine's neck and fried its gears with his tail, solidifying their life of wandering scavengers into an unbreakable, found-family partnership.
~~~
The ash hit the back of his throat before he even saw the kid. It tasted like copper and burnt pine, thick enough to choke on.
Kaelen had only trudged up the volcanic ridge for fire-salts—nasty, expensive stuff rich alchemists used—not a rescue mission. But then he heard the squeak. It was a pathetic, high-pitched wheeze coming from under a collapsed ledge of cooling lava.
He dug him out with bare, ash-stained paws.
The hatchling was barely larger than a boot, shivering so hard his teeth rattled, scales charred black. But when the little guy blinked open two wide red eyes and flared his tail, Kaelen froze. Right along its ridge was a row of raw, crystalline gold—matching the bright, swirling gold stripes running up Kaelen’s own dark fur.
"Well," Kaelen muttered, pulling the warm, scrawny drake against his chest. "Guess you're coming with me."
They’ve been inseparable ever since. Family isn't something either of them ever planned, but it happened. They built a life out of scavenged trinkets and scraped knees, wandering frost-bitten lowlands and desert ruins, hunting down whatever shone. Ancient dragon bones, raw moonstones, gold coin— anything, it was fair game.
Their worst idea by far? The Sunfire Opal.
It was sitting inside a crumbling, drafty mountain fortress. Cinder—who was bigger now, though still small enough to ride Kaelen's shoulders—could feel the opal’s hum three valleys away. The air in that vault smelled like old dust and ozone, so cold every breath burned.
Cinder squirmed through a rust-choked air vent, his clawed feet making a faint click-clack-click against the iron. Below, Kaelen slipped past sleeping guards, keeping to the shadows.
Then came the mistake.
Cinder snatched the opal, but it wasn't on a pedestal. The stone was wired straight into the chest of an eight-foot iron sentinel.
The machine woke up with a hideous, grinding screech of rusted gears.
"Cinder, jump!" Kaelen yelled, abandoning stealth completely.
The construct swiped a heavy iron fist, barely missing the drake. Kaelen leaped onto the thing's chest, taking a brutal backhand to the ribs that sent him sprawling across the stone floor, spitting blood.
Cinder squeaked in terror but didn't run. The little idiot hissed, flew straight onto the sentinel’s neck, and jammed his sharp, gold-tipped tail directly into the glowing neck seam. Sparks erupted in a blinding, white-hot shower. The smell of fried copper filled the air as the automaton shuddered, froze, and collapsed like a pile of scrap metal.
Kaelen didn't waste time. He scooped up the stunned drake, shoved the opal into his pouch, and scrambled out the window into the rain just as the alarm horns started screaming.
They spent the night huddled in a damp cave, bruised, bleeding, and sharing a strip of dried meat. Cinder curled up against Kaelen's side, purring like a rusty engine while clutching the opal under his chin. Kaelen wiggled his sore ribs, looked down at his tiny, terrifying brother, and finally let out a tired, breathless laugh.