Username: ABeardedDragon
Name: Pax
Gender: Male
Overcoming His Greatest Enemy:"Cora, what's wrong?" Pax asked.
"Nothing," she replied.
"You know I love you-" he said.
"Yes," his mate bluntly cut him off.
"But you've been kind of, well," he paused, "cold, bitter."
"I don't see it."
"Do you even love me anymore?"
"Of course," she said.
"This isn't you, Cora."
In their silence, he heard the faint static coming from her. His numb fingers reached for the sacred dagger in his pocket.
"Cora," he said sternly.
The viscet simply stared dead straight at him with empty eyes.
"I know what's wrong," he mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Pax pulled the engraved dagger out as he slowly approached her. He was met with a swift, harsh blow from her tail that left his shoulder stinging.
"You think you can fight me?" she laughed with a low-pitched echo. Her dull eyes glistened with challenge, sending doubt straight to the confused viscet. He hadn't seen her lively in weeks, and yet this spark seemed so... Alive. In his stillness, he didn't notice Cora headed straight for him, ramming her body into his side.
There was a metallic ringing of the dagger that skipped across the stone floor. Pax was knocked to the floor, stunned. As he scrambled to his feet, his mate kicked him back down. She reached for the weapon and lunged at him.
"Please Cora," he cried, "I want this to be as peaceful as possible."
The static crackled louder. She ignored him. The red viscet kicked her away and leapt to his shaky feet. Cora growled and dashed at him. Pax took his chance and grasped her arm, ripped the dagger from her hands. He pushed her down by her arm as she stumbled. His eyes closed as he took one swipe across her chest. The weight beneath him became still.
"I'm so sorry," tears rolled down his face as he slumped by his former mate. Through blurry eyes he saw her body darken before it seemed to evaporate and fade into the thick air like black mist.
"Forgive me," he whispered. Pax refused to move. Even long after Cora had vanished, his red eyes stared at the cold, stone floor. He screamed as he picked up the dagger and tried to force it into the unbreakable stone over and over again. When his waves of anger were over, he sat in silence until he felt ready to pick himself up.
382/400
Dealing With Strong Emotion:It's been four years.
Please come back, we urge you.The frosted winds carry bitter whispers that only he can hear. His torn white cape is tightly wrapped around him as he makes his way through the thick steam of the hot springs. Within seconds, white flakes of frost are already biting at his red coat. His paws sink into deep snow. Standing out on the edge of the mountain ledge, Pax watches the valley with still, yellow eyes. For most, they would hear silence. But as Pax closes his eyes and perks his ears. Listens. Earth crumbles miles away, plants slither as they grow yet he can pinpoint each exact plant. A low hum that he can not make out.
Why?Harsh winds howled in his ears. Pax frowns as he tries to find the source of the noise.
"Oh spirits," he said flatly, "what does the land need?"
Peace. The lords have been angered.The red viscet turned his head slowly, his cold ears flicked back. In his pale chest, he felt his heavy heart crack.
"No," he muttered, "not after losing her."
The sour memories of his beloved mate. Pax had sworn to protect the land, even if it meant the death of others or himself. A promise he wish he never made.
Very well.Silence. The air stood still. Pax turned his back on the valley with a frustrated flick of his tail. Laying down, he refused to move until he had made his final decision. Snow quickly smothered his body.
"I am not wanted, not after their rejection" he said, "the lords can take care of the land themselves."
Hours pass and crackling, like static, fills his ears. The red viscet snaps out of his trance and struggles to push through the white blanket above him. Corruption. It consumes those who dare let it flow through them. All too familiar to him. A flash of rage surges through him before his ears droop softly.
"I will help, spirits," he declares as he strides to the edge of the mountain once more, "for my love."
With his head bowed, Pax takes the long journey from the summit.
We sense you have made your decision.
May the land guide you, we await your return.369/400
1294/1500
Personality:An incredibly honest, quiet viscet who wants nothing more to heal the world and himself. He tries to settle fights that aren't his own, often taking his anger out on the fighting viscets, using violence to stop them himself. Of course, as he wishes to create peace, Pax will often scorn himself for his actions after this since he believes he should never use violence. He struggles to turn his back on someone in need. Similarly, he hates giving up on others and will do most tasks for others as best as he can, only admitting defeat when he literally can't carry on. It's easier for him to connect to animals than viscets. As much as he would love to, he isn't one for revenge at all. He likes to sit back and let life slowly take its course rather than make his own path. While he might not be fond of others, he is not one to judge or be cruel for any reason. In his mind, all life is equal and he can appreciate everything in nature, even the tiny insects beneath his feet. For the most part, he has great patience in tasks but not viscets. He takes most things pretty seriously.
Pax is bitter to almost everyone at first, strongly remembering being driven away from society. In his solitude, he has 'forgotten' how to approach others or hold a conversation properly, making him appear rather awkward. He also struggles with newer elements of culture. Because of this and being normally stoic, he avoids talking as much as he can and would much prefer to bond with nature instead. He's highly emotional, describable as unpredictable, and it's not uncommon to see him crying over something small that happened weeks ago. Sometimes, he can snap into a fit of rage as he has struggled to hold so much anger back over the years. Pax runs from all of his own problems as much as he can, only brave enough to face those that aren't his own. When he makes a friend, he still acts cold and distant to them. Very rarely does he come around fully; his soft side is almost unheard of. It's hard to excite him as he never really looks forward to anything in particular. Pax is stubborn and it's particularly difficult to sway his opinion or make him do something he doesn't want to do.
400/400
Abilities:As sworn protector of the land, Pax is able to 'listen' to nature in ways that no others can; through this he can detect slight changes in the environment. The wind also carries whispers of the spirits who passed on his land. These spirits guide him to sources of corruption, which is a plague that slowly saps the life force of any living being, driving them insane and causing them to disrupt the balance of harmony. Pax is one of the select few immune to corruption and that can restore this balance by banishing corruption and return peace to the lands.
100/100
Who He Is:Pax was born to an average family, yet he never knew them. As a viscling too young to remember anything, he would cry for hours and refuse to sleep whenever a storm was approaching. The more severe, the worse he was. One storm brought heavy rains that flooded his small home town of Tarrin. While his parents had fought hard against the town's fears of Pax, they soon started to believe that their own son was, in fact, an omen; just like the rest of Tarrin had said. The pair began to ignore him and eventually traveled to the temple of Erica; one of the lords who oversee and protect the Southern Isles. Here, they abandoned him. Erica took Pax in, sensing his affinity to nature. She raised him as her own and taught him how to use his natural abilities to protect the lands, he would take her place if she were to pass away. After two years, Erica refused to speak to Pax unless she needed to, as he was now ready to be a guardian.
As the keeper of peace and guardian of the land, Pax was rather nomadic. He traveled across the Southern Isles to heal nature around him and restore the balance of harmony when it was needed. Occasionally he returned to Erica's temple and spoke to her, though she would never answer. He met Cora when he was trying to calm his first forest fire. As the lord of fire, Cora was there to keep the fire balanced and told him that forest fires were important for the rebirth of nature. After a short fight, they decided to settle and learn from each other. Eventually, she became his mate. They didn't see each other much as they were both busy with their responsibilities. Their love was short-lived.
A few months passed and Pax noticed that he struggled to fully attune to nature. Whenever he tried, he heard a faint static noise. Confused, he sought help from Erica. She came to answer him. The lord told ancient tales of 'corruption', a plague that once smothered the Southern Isles and caused all those under its grasp to seek out and destroy the lords; the victims would disrupt the balance of harmony and wished to snub out all life. For centuries it was believed to be banished by the seventh generation of guardians. However, its recent return had meant it was simply dormant. With time ticking, Erica taught Pax all she knew about the corruption. At the end of his training she gave him one of the few dagger of bindings, used to banish the affected to Atrusix, the resting place of corrupted souls. Pax soon found the source of corruption. His, now almost emotionless, mate. They fought until he managed to banish her soul.
After banishing Cora to Atrusix, her worshippers felt her absence in her temple and word soon spread of her banishment; the lords were quick to force Pax away from the edge of civilization. For years they chased him with forest fires, floods, unnatural beings sent to hunt him down. The isles had rejected him because of his 'betrayal'. Pax headed for the most isolated place he knew, the mountain ranges to the north. His new home became Vleihm Summit, the tallest mountain in the isles with conditions so harsh that no viscet would dare venture to the peak. It took months for him to climb as he battled heavy snowfall. For four years, he lived there alone and even forgot that the outside world existed. Until the spirits of the land sought him out.
600/600
Relationships:Noah is an old friend of Pax, and after his return from isolation, his only friend. It took a while for Pax to adjust to Noah's kindness again, but they now enjoy nature together just like before. Noah even offered Pax shelter from the lords in his forest until they caught up with him.
While Pax has never seen
Morpheus himself, he has no doubts that the divine viscet exists. The two can communicate through plants; as Morpheus can sense the death of plants, he can point Pax to abnormalities that are out of his range. Through their small 'talks', Pax has found that he rather likes the pure-hearted attitude of Morpheus.
Maleko is an enemy of Pax, without a doubt. The demigod was the cause of the storms in Tarrin that lead to the abandonment of the viscling. For years, Maleko had no other personal impacts on Pax; until the lords pushed him to Vleihm Summit. He helped by creating natural disasters that forced Pax to keep moving. Besides this, the two have rarely met, the red viscet hates how he acts. However, Maleko does not actually have a personal opinion of Pax.
194/400