bleh never mind I'm too lazy to fix 2 characters. anyways one of my two characters is completely re-vamped. Kris is done.

『 Kristopher Vlahos 』

"Kris"

18 years || Male || Bisexual

Role: Rider

Appearance:

This male's hair is a feature he takes pride in. His hair is a thick head of curls, though they appear to be rather loose compared to tight spiral curls. While Kris does have a lot of hair, its length only reaches the back of his neck, ending right above his eyebrows in front of his face. It also covers the tops of his ears. The top is slightly longer than the bottom, allowing him to pull the tops of his hair into a small, spikey, ponytail, it is too short for much else. You would need good lighting to discover his hair is not black, instead, it is a very dark brown. An attractive feature of this young man. His hairline is not visible unless pulled back, and then you can see he has a slight widow's peak.

Kris stands at the taller height of 6"4'. Exactly one inch above his older brother. His shoulders are broad and his build is leaner. Part of his life growing up consisted of swordsmanship training, and other athletic activities, so this rider is left with a lithe figure. He is agile and graceful. Deadly and poised. He has worked for years to achieve this. His skin tone can be referred to as "sand", and has warmer undertones. Kris tans rather nicely and as a result his skin darkens the more he is exposed to the sun, ending in a dark tan by the end of summer.

This male doesn't have many noticeable birthmarks besides one rather large one he keeps hidden. It's not as noticeable as most, but it is as large as his hand and is right over his ribs, on the right side of his body. It is a lighter coloration of skin compared to the rest of him, that does not really tan, it stays more of a lighter white color though it is flat. If you were blindfolded and ran a hand over it you would be unable to detect it. It is less noticeable due to its coloration being neutral and similar to his skin, but he is rather self-conscious about it. Other marks he has included a few tiny moles scattered across his arms and face. A feature most only notices when close up with this prince, is his hazel eyes. The iris surrounding his pupil is an amber-like brown, a rather light color with small golden flecks dotting the area. The remaining half of his eye, is a paler green, growing darker as it reaches the end of his iris, which has a dark ring surrounding its outer edge. His orbs are framed by long, dark lashes.

Kristopher's facial features appear more feminine, with soft slightly angled brows sitting above his orbital rim, more comparable to that of women, without being completely feminine. His nose is narrow and shorter than that of your average man, though it is rather straight looking. Now his cheekbones are also more prominent, though not in a way that gives his face a tight look, or one that makes him seem as if the sides of his face are "dented". This male's jawline is defined, but not completely sharp, while his lips are full with a soft cupid's bow.

This male's scent can vary depending on the occasion, he can sometimes take on a more salty, fresh scent after a swim in the ocean. His home is on the coast so this is a more familiar and regular scent. Swimming was something he particularly enjoys and likes to spend time doing. Or he can have more if an earthy scent such as a less pungent variation of sage, commonly found in prairies. He does not have a distinctive scent. Even if you cannot recognize his smell, you will be able to recognize his voice. Kris's voice is rather smooth and deep sounding. At a glance, his walk is also rather smooth. He moves at a faster pace while his head is held high.

Attire:

Kristopher particularly likes jewelry. He has a variety of rings and a particular necklace he almost never takes off. It's a loose-fitting piece made of thin leather-like material with a detailed silver cross on the end. Kris isn’t really religious, he just likes how it looks. He doesn't care for bracelets as much. He keeps his clothing simple, normally sporting a light, loose-fitting blouse of some sort, though keeping some of the buttons on the top partially open, and a pair of black pants.

Personality:

Kristopher is a social being, enjoying the company of friends and acquaintances, though can be more reserved toward new faces. With convincing, a new person may be able to open him up more, but not enough to make him delusional or leave secrets unguarded. He tries to keep his private life, and his family guarded, he doesn't like to talk much about it. Kris often finds himself having suspicions about new faces, he has been used before, so he won't be quick to completely open up to someone until he is confident he can trust them. His personality tends to attract all types of people, he is naturally a more flirty person, he is somewhat aware of it and will occasionally put it to his advantage. Subtle comments or expressions, body position, and change in focus all contribute to this. He keeps his “friends close, and his enemies closer”. In any event, those he doesn't particularly like, but needs to get along with, he can whip out his charm, making him seem as if he is totally and completely interested in them. Though this can quickly turn if he starts to get annoyed, which will clearly be seen in his expression or tone of voice. He won't get physical over a disagreement.

This male is an observant creature, picking up on verbal cues such as a change in voice, or physical cues such as a shift in stance or motion of the hand. He tries to be careful about the situations he puts himself in, however, his confidence may blindside him at times. Make a bet? If Kris is confident he will double the stakes. Offer a duel? Let him grab his sword and he'll be there. Besides this, Kristopher is rather intelligent, he enjoys studying dragons and strategizing, particularly for defensive, and offensive purposes. Battles and their endless possibilities of them fascinate him. He is quick to learn, tending to pick up on new techniques or skills particularly well. He becomes quite excited, taking rather faster and his deep voice becoming a pitch higher if he is extremely passionate about a subject. Kristopher often uses his hands to talk as well, it helps him express how he is thinking.

This rider gives off a confident air, though not in a way that suggests he is cocky. His posture is rather good, holding himself high and up to his full height, his actions swift and sure. He tends to be bolder when masked, making moves he normally wouldn't if others knew who he was, such as more risky moves during battle or training. This also boosts his bravery, allowing him to loosen up and make his motions more fluid, allowing him a more accurate strike at his target. If not out at a gathering or with friends you can find Kristopher in one of two places. The first is in some sort of training grounds, he is always looking to make himself better and increase his skills. The second is with his horse, whether he is riding alone or with his friends, a quick ride allows him to clear his mind and re-focus. Though due to him being separated from his good friend, he will be found with his friends. The third is off studying somewhere, “sharpening his mind”, dragons fascinate him, and they are his favorite subject to learn about.

With friends, you can find Kris to be a rather outgoing person. He also tends to have more of a sarcastic side and does like a good joke. Roughhousing is a fun pastime of his, which includes putting his friends in friendly headlocks. His laugh is more high-pitched and just funny to hear. This rider is a trustworthy character, he is not one for gossip and will have your back if you have his. He can be stubborn at times, if he is passionate about a subject or convinced he is right there is hardly a soul that could sway him. Kristopher is also quite protective of those he cares about, including family and friends. He will do all he can to protect them.

Dragon: Open

Strengths & Weaknesses:

Kristopher has great swordsmanship, you could say he was "born with a sword in his hands", the motions come fluid and natural, and he has been practicing all his life. This is partially for defending himself and partially because his father grew up teaching him the art. He does enjoy horseback riding and is rather skilled at it, Kris doesn’t know if any of this would translate into dragon riding. Kris is also quite strong, relying on brute strength to get through some of the daily activities he enjoys.

Kris is a confident man, which may lead to his downfall in the end. He may take on challenges too large for him to face, putting him in dangerous situations. While he is good with a sword, he tends to struggle more with any hand-to-hand combat, he can hold his own, but not very well.

Likes & Dislikes:

Good craftsmanship - He particularly likes working with wood, carving handles for daggers, and such. Though he prefers metals and stronger materials for swords that he would use in combat. He wants a job done right, and hates to see a job rushed.

Horses - Particularly horseback riding, a skill he is working to perfect. Hunting expeditions and free-riding would be done on his horse. A stallion he named Altivo, though the horse is not in Ederia, it is back home.

Dragons - This one is more obvious, he has been fascinated with them since he was little.

Rude behavior - He will not tolerate any towards himself or his friends. He finds it rather annoying.

Pointless conversation - If you are going to take up his precious time talking about the pattern of the clouds or how you just noticed that the woodchips surrounding the plants are a shade off their normal color, or some bullshit, he doesn't want to hear it.

Tight spaces - The man likes his room.

Affiliations:

open

Backstory:

Kristopher was born in Ederia to his two lovely parents, around age 6 they divorced and his dad moved away. He would switch off spending his weekends with his father and the weekdays with his mother. His father lived in a city a few miles out from Ederia and owned horses. Which got Kris into horseback riding, his horse Altivo, lives there. His father also spent time teaching him the art of swordsmanship. With the upcoming choosing ceremony, he decided to stay in town with his mother longer, and his fascination will drive him to visit it.

Veetabhi

Sanskrit origin: Meaning free from fear

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This dragon is a young, yet dangerous creature. Her height is roughly 15 ft at the shoulder, not nearly a towering giant, but don’t let this deceive you. Veetabhi has a semi-muscular build, strong legs, and powerful wings allowing her flight. Her weight, however, is not on the larger end, but rather in the middle. For such a “powerful” dragoness how will she be able to deal with the threat of larger dragons? This lies in her power, Veetabhi is a creature who can illuminate herself, a distraction before making her move. When she strikes she strikes hard and fast. She is agile and quick compared to those larger than her. While her height doesn’t take on the impressive, or fear-inspiring look, the rest of her appearance makes up for it. Her head is adorned with six ivory horns, this strong material is a faint blue, nearly white appearance. Her first two horns top her head and curve up and back slightly, with two slightly smaller horns doing the same in between them. Her last two horns curve around to the front of her face, guarding it against attacks coming from the side, they line up with her jaw(similar to Brontes for those that remember). Her facial features are rather sharp, her snout having a slight downward hook to it. Similar to that of a bird of prey, though not as long and unnatural looking. Veetabhi's fangs are occasionally visible along the edge of her mouth. Veeta's actual face shape is more slender, with smaller thick scales interlocking in a uniform pattern covering her face, her natural amour. The color of her face, overall, is a simple white.

Now this creature's eyes are rather stunning: a piercing blue, nearly white color is what they appear to be at a first glance, with small black vertical slits for pupils. Enlarging in the dark to allow her better vision during the hours when there is little light. Upon closer inspection, you can see light blue and gray flecks surrounding her pupil and an iced color ring surrounding her outer Iris. This dragon also has two eyelids, one is a translucent light blue color, hardly visible to the eye unless you look close to notice a slight foggy appearance to her iris. This eyelid she typically uses to block smaller debris from entering her eye, such as dust, while still being able to see. It can also help block brighter lights, almost like a pair of natural sunglasses. The second is her normal eyelid, completely visible when closed.

A special feature Veetabhi possesses is her wings. A pair that is out of the ordinary. Typically when you think of a dragon you visualize one with a single set of wings. Well, Veetabhi has two sets of wings. She tends to hide one, keeping it pressed almost seamlessly against her body. A dragon with a single set of wings would not have the same flying capabilities as she does, with her speed outmatching many others. Now her first set of wings is normally sized, while her second set is just slightly smaller, the difference is visible if you take the time to notice this about her. The shape of them is rather batlike, with a stronger membrane connecting the frame holding them together, at the tip of each bone in her wing, is a small spike. The color underneath her wings is a clean white. While a top them is a spirling opalescent pattern, white is the natural color that acts as her "base coat". Veeta earned this striking pattern during the time in which she reached maturity and began to receive her abilities. Now, this pattern is along her entire neck, back, and top of her tail, while her entire underbelly, chest, legs, and below her tail are more of a soft white. Veetabhi has a small spiral marking on her forehead. She has no other markings besides this on her body. The scales across her chest and underbelly are larger plates, while the rest of her is made up of smaller scales. Kind of what I was going for with the opalescent swirls, only much neater. The image (c) me. Link.

The last few features you may recognize on this female include the set of spikes she has along her spine. This row leads to the end of her tail and starts at the top of her head near her horns. They are colored a bright white and are not as flimsy as one might think, but rather a similar strength to her horns. When coming across this dragon you can notice a few other things such as her walk, rather quick and slightly hoppy on the ground. Veeta prefers flying, and the action looks almost effortless when she performs it. Though she will keep her head held high even as she may trip as she walks, if slight embarrassment comes from it she will continue to keep it high. Veeta is also one for facial expressions, often using her eyes and mouth to communicate. Her scent is never consistent, traveling through the void changes it depending on where she passes during her time there, though is often a soft scent of flowers and fresh air with which she surrounds herself with.

Personality:

Ambitious || Cunning || Patient || Dominant || Motivated || Social || Loyal || Calculating & Deliberate || Respectable || Observant || Intelligent || Optimistic || Cautious || Efficient || Confident || Opinionated || Sarcastic || Stoic

Veetabhi is a dragon with various traits, a few happen to be more apparent than others, such as her confidence, aggression, and her intelligence. This female is calculating and intelligent, she always has a plan and is quick to come up with one if there is a moment that needs one. Her moves are deliberate and well thought out, Veetabhi isn't the type to rush into a situation and make a fool of herself. She is observant, allowing her to get a better read on those around her, taking in various amounts of information regarding her opponent or the situation. This allows her an advantage in the present situation, and Veeta's years of experience only add to that. She is a respectable creature. She is a very efficient, and accomplished dragon, as shown by her recently developed and perfected abilities. This female also has a good deal of leadership skills, while she is not the Squad Leader's dragon, Veeta is among the slightly older dragons, and taking some form of seniority at times she is good at helping communicate and make confident, split decisions if need be. She was not totally set on the idea of having a rider, yet as she gets to bonding with them her mindset may change. Veeta won't make the first ride easy but she does know what is at stake and is willing to put her personal needs aside until her riders' needs are met. Her loyalty is a strong trait that is easily shown by this female. Her bond with her rider has strengthened through these trying times and his devotion to the other riders and dragons has strengthened in turn.

Despite her unwavering loyalty to others, she is by no means a social creature. Veetabhi will pick and choose who gets to stay in her inner circle of friends, and who goes. Trust is separate from loyalty, and it is a hard thing to earn, and an easy thing to lose, just because she stays loyal to those in the group does not mean she trusts everybody, and she won't get too attached to many for that reason. She is a territorial creature, and one with a more aggressive side, her independence is strong and she is used to relying on herself, so working in a team setting with another human is new news to her. She values personal space and will quickly grow aggressive if you try to interfere with it. Veetabhi can come across as rather grumpy at times, her patience can run thin if the group isn't making progress, or some insufferable know-it-all won't keep their mouth shut. She dislikes those who don't show humility and finds them rather arrogant.

This female will not hesitate to protect her loved ones and friends. Touch a scale on their back or let a snide comment out and she won't hesitate to put you in your place. She is constantly thinking ahead and is quick to adapt to new situations. One could say she overanalyzes situations, preparing for the worst and best outcomes, which can come as an advantage at times. It tends to be a disadvantage in her social game when she starts to overthink her relationships or people's actions. Unless your actions are direct, she might assume you have a different meaning. Veetabhi is clearly strategic, though she won't always have the luxury of time to prepare. She is good under pressure, a fast thinker, and an even faster learner. She can pick up and adapt to new skills quickly. At times she can be very convincing, seemingly having almost a silver tongue.

This dragon is easily entertained. Veetabhi doesn't need much to keep her occupied, this female is content with taking a nap or watching the wind blow the leaves on the trees around. She isn't one to constantly have the need to go, go, go, but rather enjoys taking moments throughout the day to appreciate life and the nature around her. Veeta does, in fact, hate to stay in one place for long. She has had experiences with dragon hunters in the past, as well as quite the run down with various dragons, so being on the move makes her feel more secure, knowing she can't be tracked to a single location or isn't tied down somewhere. She does like to travel and has had many interesting experiences and stories from over the years. She enjoys admiring fun little trinkets, but she doesn't collect them. Veetabhi particularly likes anything shiny or anything that resembles her more unique appearance.

Rider: Open

“Science is in the real world, you brainless maggot!”

Name: Hartley Russell Barn

Nickname: Hart

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Birthday: May 23

Appearance:

Hart owns a pair of gentle brown eyes that look like dark, rich, honey in the sunlight. They are wide but downturned. He has a large, but proportioned nose, the ridge being thick and the apex well-rounded. He has open nostrils that usually have clusters of nose hairs that poke their heads out. His actual face shape is triangular, his chin being the peak. He does not have prominent cheekbones, but they are existent. He does have large ears that poke out of his head like a bald chihuahua’s. His lips are thin and rather non-existent and his brown eyebrows are very expressive and often leap up and down at different comments.

He has a mesomorphic body type which would give him an athletic advantage if he was interested in sports. His body is still fit as he lives in a world that requires students to be able to take care of dragons. If he had to choose between inside or outside, he would choose the indoors. Mainly because libraries are inside. In his free time, his nose—and sometimes his entire face—is usually stuffed in a book so that only his ears can identify him, which they undoubtedly do.

His hair can be described as a home-baked, fresh-out-of-the-oven gingersnap cookie. The wonderful, warm brown is his late spring to early autumn hair color. Then the slightly-burnt-but-still-edible ones are what his locks look like when the months grow cooler. Even the light sprinkling of sugar is accurate, except it is dandruff instead of sugar. He has horrible dandruff problems and there are always chunks of it somewhere in the thick bundle of knots. Knots, yes, his hair is very thick, and not often enough does his wild mane get groomed thus resulting in many tangles. Although he is a stickler for spelling and rules, he is not one for personal hygiene. He might take his nickname of ‘Hart’ too personally, as he often smells like one. If he was properly groomed, his hair would be shoulder length and glossy like a bratty dog’s coat.

He wears rather average clothing. Y’know, off-white, long-sleeved shirts with a leather jerkin over them, stained pants, and good leather shoes. He carries around a satchel with him, too. It is filled with books and snacks. He has a gittern with him also, because, why not?

Personality:

•Snobbish •Petty •Practical •Rule-keeper •Trustworthy •Self-Righteous •Loyal •Hardworking •Prideful •Secretive •Pessimistic •Realistic •Brutally Candid•Not-A-Morning-Person •Introvert •Intelligent •Values Education •Choco-holic •Protective of Food/Books/Gittern/Friends •Secretly Wants Attention •Hypocrite •”Boring” •Educated •Thoughtless

Hart could be called snobbish and it wouldn’t be a lie. He is certainly a stickler for the rules and orders. Whoever doesn’t follow them are completely ignorant stupid-heads who’re going to lose their jobs, or in some cases, their heads. He is petty. For example, if you sit in his seat, he will certainly not share a couch with you and will spread his body as far as it could go to keep you off the sofa. It gets ridiculous at times, but it isn’t beneath him. Other than him just being petty, he is usually practical. He is not a tattle-tale, however, despite most people’s expectations. Hart will instead wait until you or anyone inside the party cracks and give away the secret. There is always a weak one. He will never give away a secret, that is something he swore from his single-digit years.

He is certainly an unliked figure in most communities because of his stuck-up behavior and self-righteousness. He is a trustworthy and loyal-to-the-end character, although his motives and actions can seem questionable at times. When he swears, he swears on his dear mother’s grave. When he promises, he does so on his life. He hides his fears underneath bravado and sneering. He likes making up insults, although sometimes they don’t make quite a lot of sense. He has pieces of creativity in him and likes to draw whenever he can. He also has come up with little ditties, too. He spends most of his free-time inside of books or playing a gittern. He is still perfecting his ability at the string instrument. He will not play it in public because he is prideful and refuses not to show off his “poor" skills at it to an audience.

He is hardworking. He is usually at work for his master and tries to take care of them as best as he can. He isn’t the best at making them smile or raise their morals because he isn’t exactly an optimist. He might crack a sarcastic joke, however, but they usually aren’t very good. He is a realist and doesn’t like it when people sugarcoat the truth. Facts are facts and anyone who is snowflake enough to cry at the truth should stay out of affairs of war. A world-changing event should not involve pansies who’ll bawl their eyes out if you tell them that Santa Clause ain’t real. Thus he is thoughtless at times. He can be socially unaware and awkward at times because he usually doesn’t practice that skill set in his free time. If it was up to him, he be a hermit who lives in a library in the woods. His grouchiness in the morning does nothing to aid his unfavorable popularity.

He is intelligent and educated. He might not be the smartest of the smart, but he is certainly not an idiot. He values education and learning. Most of the books he owns are about science or math, but he will read a fictional book whenever he is mentally exhausted or just in the mood. He will scoff at people who ridicule him for spending his time in books rather than hanging out in “the real world” (see quote). People have called him boring before and the fact is is that that adjective scares him. Sure, he’d love to live and be alone most of the time, but he doesn’t want to be friendless. He secretly craves communication, acknowledgment, and praise from other human beings. However, he won’t accept this as a truth because he likes to think he is completely independent from human affections (his reason is his own). This makes him very much a hypocrite (see the last paragraph).

He has a serious sweet tooth and will eat any type of chocolate dessert that you put before him. He will rarely eat any other dessert, although he does favor strawberry tarts. He likes most fruits and prefers them over vegetables since the green edibles are usually bland. He will happily eat green peas, however, as long as they aren’t mushed up into mash. He is protective over his food, books, and gittern. He also favors potatoes because they are versatile. Can he cook? Sort of, he can make the basic breakfast of eggs and sausage. He can cook a simple potato soup and anyone can make a sandwich. However, this is about his limit.

Alone, he allows himself to goof off some and he prefers to do this in the woods where he is usually always alone. He finds the trees comforting. This is where he teaches himself how to play his instrument and where he practices drawing. He does like to read there, too. He will occasionally dance and/or sing if he is happy and he always talks to himself. He makes jokes too. With strangers, he is reserved and skeptical. With a group he recognizes, he will usually stay reserved unless he feels comfortable enough to be otherwise. He might try to interact with them because he’ll submit to his craving for human socialization. Once you are his friend, he will slowly express more of himself to you. Like his immature side that gets drunk on chocolate and normal cranberry juice. He’ll play jokes with you and maybe even pull a prank. He cares very deeply for these friends and would fight anyone who messes with them.

Dragon: TBD, open

Strengths:

Educated—He reads up on his “modern” science and the newest mathematic discoveries. He tries to be well-rounded by being able to play an instrument and he knows how to draw decently. He does this for fun.

Intelligent—He’s not yet the brainiest one of the group, but certainly not the dumbest. A main base of his intelligence relies heavily on common sense and logic.

Trustworthy—You can tell him a secret and he won’t give it away. He’s like a safe and it takes time and energy to get him to crack.

Loyal—He is loyal to the end of the line. When he chooses a side, he keeps it, despite any underdog situation against his favor.

Weaknesses:

Prideful—He is very prideful and it is a shame because he could be a decent person if he wasn’t. He can’t be wrong and he can’t make many mistakes in public. If he hasn’t mastered something, he feels very exposed to show his skill at it.

Snobbish—He is quite the snob and this is a large factor that goes into the pile of why he is rather friendless. He has also been described as a killjoy because he is a rather serious person who doesn’t like to participate in after-dark swims or underage drinking or disobedient, immature parties for that matter.

Thoughtless—He doesn’t know when he should stop talking if what he says hurts someone's feelings. He won’t straightforwardly insult them, but he might say something very frank that could upset a tender person.

Self-Righteous—With most people his age behaving recklessly, he is different. He sees it as a good difference because he is more mature and compares them. He watches the other do stupid stuff and agrees with himself that he’d never do that. This comparison causes him to be unjustly judgmental of others and it makes him look down his nose at them even more.

Likes:

-Reading

-Drawing

-Chocolate

-Strawberry Tarts

-Fruits

-Potatoes

-Learning

-Sleep

Dislikes:

-Morning Wake-up Calls

-Annoying Cry Babies

-Most Vegetables

-Reckless Behavior

-Idiots

-Worms (don’t ask, it’s a thing)

-Salty foods

-Swimming

Fear: He’s scared of drowning and of worms. The worm part was because of a stupid dream. Drowning is because he’s scared of water. He’s scared of being friendless because he might be boring. Being judged by others and being called out for being a fraud.

Affiliations:

Mircea Cryolar | Cousins from Mother's Side | on pg2

Hart won't admit it, but he likes that his family is there. He appreciates Cea and their brotherly relationship. He's not so friendless as he thought he was after all. Cea actually lived with him and his family before going to the academy, so they have a close relationship already. He knows about the worm dream and is one of the rare people who he'll perform his gittern in front of. They like to have sugar and book parties and hairdo sessions. Hart considers Cea his personal tailor and fashionist, yet likes to go around looking like trash just to get on his nerves. Cea is also teaching Hart how to bake.

Love Interest: TBD, open

Voice: He has an averagely loud voice that becomes sharp when he is annoyed, disapproving of others, or whenever he is in a verbal war. He originally spoke with the vocabulary of his origins—the southern country. Whenever he becomes angry, defensive, or irritated, it returns to him. He tries not to use it because he considers that part in his life a very unmannerly, improper section. So he tries to speak in good, proper English that reflects the good breeding he tries to assume. Oh, yes, it sounds British, usually, but his country slang is total southern country American—y’alls, an’ everything.

Reputation:

He can be interesting to watch because he's socially unaware at times. Some people might not even notice him since he is usually quiet. He is a stick-in-the-mud, too, because he usually won't join in on the fun, but he won't leave either. He just likes to watch people do the activity, but not actually participate. However, if you find him by himself in the woods...you'll see him as a weirdo who sings and dances to his own music.

Background:

He grew up in the south. His educated mother taught both him and his younger brother, Rolland, how to read and write. Hart had a particular love for it rather than his brother, so their mother focused on him mainly and was satisfied as long as Rolland could read and write a little. They weren’t rich enough to buy several textbooks, but there was a library in a town nearby that Hart would practically live in. He worked there for a little bit. He would take home with him at least two of the books, whether it was educational or fictional. He would mainly read them in the woods where he felt the safest.

As a younger boy, he was the weird, big-nosed, big-eared nerd who didn’t like sports. Other children bullied him for his love for learning and his nose always was in a book. So he ran to the woods to hide from them and found it quite comfortable. He then came up with a tall tale about the forest to scare the others away, which it did successfully.

By the age of fourteen, he had read all of the books in the library multiple times and was quite frankly bored. His parents had the bright idea to send their child with the most potential for greatness to a great uncle up north. This relative, Taylor Gibstone, was academically inclined and was known as the scholar of the family. He worked as a professor at a decent university that Hart was both too young and too poor to attend. Given that he was family, Professor Gibstone agreed to house and tutor Hart privately in the evenings as long as the boy got himself a job.

The first notable thing that changed was Hart’s voice. He found that they had a different accent than the south. All the interviewers were prejudiced against his southern drawl, so he remained jobless for a while to his great uncle’s impatience. They even doubted his capabilities even after he proved to them that he could read and write. So he learned how to speak like them, their accent, and their lingo. He finally was hired as an assistant at a small grocery shop. All he did was restock the shelves, write down their costs and aid anyone who needed help. In the afternoons and most of his spare time, he studied hard to please Gibstone. However, their relationship only lasted for half of the year, January to July; his fifteenth birthday is included in this period.

Then he got picked by a dragon.

Other:

My Father’s Dragon, one of my favorite children’s books