Beautiful People - The Dragon {July 2016}

Time for Sky and Cait's Beautiful People monthly linkup again! And I’m joining in on the very last week of the month, like I do. Is anyone surprised? I didn’t think so. But I REFUSED to let this month go by without doing it. I love this round of questions! If you haven’t joined in yet either, you can do so by hopping over to Sky's post or Cait's, snag the questions, linkup, all that good stuff!

So something tragic occurred to me. Out of all the BP posts I’ve done, I’ve never actually done one for my Beast character from Burning Thorns! Like. . .HOW HAS THIS HAPPENED??? It’s a Beauty and the Beast story, I’ve done my Beauty character more than once. But Beast? NOPE. SO TODAY WE ARE FIXING THAT. These questions suited him perfectly. I’m quite excited!

Allow me to introduce you to the Beast a.k.a the Dragon. . .

    Keeping the weapon high, he used his other hand to wrench Rose to her feet. “Get out of here!”
    Their eyes locked, hers wild and fearful, but hesitant. A dark fae’s sharp claws ripped into his shoulder, tearing his cloak.
    “Dragon!” Rose shrieked.
    Growling in more frustration than pain, he slashed the blade through the creature’s chest, then shoved Rose behind him.
    “Go to the castle.”
    She kept her hands cupped against her chest, lips trembling. “But you—”
    “You’ll be safe there. Go!”
    Without another word, she spun and sprinted down the muddy path. One of the creatures loped after her but the Beast snatched it by the back of its leathery neck. He drove the dagger into its back, making a red spot, searing like coals. He did not wait to watch the body disintegrate to mist.
    Turning to the others, he snatched off his half mask and looked right into their dark, gleaming eyes. At their misshapen bodies, once so beautiful. Now monstrous. Like him.
    They moved back as one, hissing quietly.
    “Leave!” he roared. “You will not come here again!”
    He swiped the blade before them. Their hissing turned to screeches. They sunk into the ground and seeped into the shadows, not even leaving a print in the mud behind.
    The Beast stood alone, the only sound his own labored breaths.
    He stared at his shadow stretching into the depth of the Forest, casting darkness even upon the bright roses encircling him. His fingers crinkled the mask in his hand. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, he would still be a beast. No mask could change that.
    He was the Dragon.

~ The Dragon ~

1. Do they want to get married and/or have children? Why or why not?
He’s put a lot of thought into marriage buuuut more for the convenience of it, not for love. And for fear of spoilers, let’s just say this gets him in trouble. To put it lightly. . . *cough*

Children? Hm. I don’t think he’s opposed to the idea, but he hasn’t put great thought in it. He’d probably be fine with children as long as he can promise them a good life. He wouldn’t want to bring children into the life he had to live.

2. What is their weapon of choice? (It doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical weapon.)
He is his weapon. Swords and such don’t need to be bothered with when he can easily kill anything with his own hands.

He is a beast, you have to remember. *smile, smile* Though he does have a certain iron dagger that gets used on occasion. . .

3. What’s the nicest thing they’ve done for someone else, and why did they do it?
Well, the nicest thing is extreme spoilers. We’re talking serious spoilers, guys! So let’s just go with something nice, instead of nicEST.

Where I’m working on the book right now, he’s been secretly putting a single white rose on Rose’s doorstep every single morning to show he still cares. Because last he saw her he may or may not have threatened to kill her. Hey, ALL couples have their problems! Psh.

4. Have they ever been physically violent with someone, and what instigated it?
Bwahahahaha!!!!

Ahem.

Let’s just say the Dragon has a teeny tiny bit of a temper, that maybe sorta caused him to kill almost an entire horde of knights AND catch his entire garden on fire. BUT HE WAS HAVING A BAD DAY. We all have those, am I right?

But, er, yes, he’s been physically violent on many an occasion. He’s a temperamental little dragon and his life stinks. Can we really blame him?

5. Are they a rule-follower or a rebel?
My immediate answer was REBEL. But you know what? He’s really not a rebel. He’s almost worse. Because he uses the rules for his own manipulative purposes. Yes, he tends to follow the rules, but he hates them and makes sure they serve him instead of vice versa.

6. Are they organized or messy?
The Dragon is a total neat-freak and can be so OCD. He basically spends his life polishing his castle to the point that you might slip and die on his ridiculously shiny floors.

Buuuut, on the other hand, when he has one of his tempers the furniture suffers. If you see him hurling a chair or something at the wall you’re probably gonna want to run.

7. What makes them feel loved, and who was the last person to make them feel that way?
Well, this question hits the feels.

People seeing past his monstrous nature, seeing him as a person, not a beast, is the greatest love he can receive. And Rose was the last person to ever do that.

Before then, his parents always showed him love.

Basically, there have only ever been 3 (well, sorta 4) people in his entire life who have ever loved him. (No, I’m not crying, it’s just raining on my face.)

8. What do they eat for breakfast?
If he actually remembers to eat breakfast (which he often doesn’t), he has an enormous selection to choose from every morning, from sweets to fruit to meat to. . .pretty much anything you can think of. Perks of living in an enchanted castle that magically provides a ginormous meal in the dining room every day.

Usually he opts for the sausages. He’s a guy. Gotta have his meat.

9. Have they ever lost someone close to them? What happened?
Ugh, these questions. *sniffs*

Both his parents are dead. His father died fighting in a war that happened between their kingdom and another, and his mother died from grief soon after.

Because of said war and hard times, he’s witnessed a lot of death through his life.

10. What’s their treat of choice? (Or, if not food, how else do they reward themselves?)
The Dragon really doesn’t think about food that often. It’s never his priority.

His greatest treat is a peaceful night’s sleep, when all his warring thoughts aren’t plaguing his mind and he can just rest. Of course, nightmares get in the way a lot. But just being unconscious from the world for a little while is quite a treat for him.

~ ~ ~

Okay, so, my Beast may be wee bit tragic. And I’m really not making his life any better. But I’m a writer. IT’S WHAT WE DO.

So what do you think of my Beastie? Tell me about
one of your most tragic characters! (Because I know we
all have them.) Have you joined in Beautiful People this month??