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Name
Dragon

Breed
King Cheetah

Gender
Male

Height
3'4

Age
3

Alliance
Light

Appearance
From being a male alone, Dragon has a biologically slightly larger head than females. Starting directly at the back of his neck is a stiff, black, spikey mane that goes down his back, getting smaller and smaller until it joins with the normal fur, splitting into three thick, black lines that go all the way down his back, joining at the tail together to form one thick, black line. This line stops halfway down his tail, where overlapping black bands of fur form, until they reach the tip, where it ends in a pale splash of yellow. Dragon's coat is a shining golden colour, the blotches that replace his spots in a beautiful pattern are pure black. His face is free of markings, save for his cheeks, which are flecked with small, black spots beneath his reddish copper eyes. His paws are pale and free of blotches, but they are completely black under them, which reaches up in between the toes. Dragon has white fur under his muzzle, and his back right foot is splashed with white. The fur of his underbelly is long and feathery, the colors blending together. Lastly, his claws are white, always out, because unlike other cats, cheetah's claws are only semi-retractable.

Personality
Unlike most cats that would have his fur, Dragon greatly believes he is different from everyone else, that his 'rare coat' is only a genetic problem. With that, he is extremely touchy about his fur, not liking to pretend it's there; in conversations he talks like it doesn't exist. A very down-to-earth, sensible cat, Dragon doesn't believe in any gods or myths or demons. Instead, he focuses on matters such as raising a strong pack, making sure there's enough food, and generally making sure that everyone can survive. Though helpful overall, this can make him a bit of a bore, though he does open up and joke with the ones he is close to. And without religion, one would think of him as having a low moral, and in a way, he does. His attitude usually makes it hard to get others to join any pack of his, despite how good he can manage to make the living conditions.
In battle, Dragon takes all of his negative emotions and uses them as power fuel, letting them take over. Though this makes him a fierce opponent, it can lead to a disadvantage occasionally if he doesn't keep his calm. A strategist nonetheless, Dragon likes to analyze and plan before the battle, then go all out during, which, if he does keep his calm, allows him to make strategies against his opponents.
Dragon is a natural planner, liking a schedule, and disliking to have to be too flexible. Most likely shaped by his upbringing, Dragon found a natural talent in strategy, though being a cheetah, direct force isn't his strong point. He's trying to learn how the minds of creatures work, so he can learn manipulation, though with the general plan of life, it may be hard to accomplish. Nonetheless, he still believes that only practice will make you better, and doesn't believe in taking big risks.

Background
"Are you sure they'll come, Dragon?" Misyra asked the king cheetah, looking out over the cliff on which they perched.
His ears went back. "Of course they will," He snapped when an annoyed snarl.

Ever since he was born, he was different. His mother named him for his genetic mess of fur, calling him 'Dragon'. And the way he acted, pointing out things that cheetahs much older than him would have missed, being annoyed with stupid questions all the time, and always sitting and thinking, planning out stuff, had also been noticed.
"Dragon, you are different." His mother would say as he waited for a cricket to come by instead of chasing it pointlessly. And when he'd come up with the insect in his mouth, blinking at her with his large, eyes the color of the red earth, he ask, "Is it bad?"
His clan, the clan of the mountain, was somewhat religious- okay, very religious, and believed in gods and such. Living on a single, small rocky mountain, and being so close to the sky, their belief of gods convinced them that he had been 'chosen by the gods' or something like that, and that he was a 'seer'. He spat at that notion, saying, "I feel perfectly normal" but the elders would only mutter about how he was too young to understand.
With his natural talent for planning, plus being a seer, the clan quickly made him a strategist when he was still merely a child. Even so, he dominated the other strategists in the clan. "No, that's just idiocy, it'd leave us wide open!" "Of course not, we attack at dusk."
As he became a teenager, more and more wars and such happened, and he was greatly depended on to lead the clan to victory. The pressure made him somewhat moody, but at least he had a purpose, as his mother reminded him.

Just as he'd calculated,the clan of the plains was advancing at them from behind.
"See- oh look, they have really big, muscular males in the front. Tell the elders to launch a sneak attack consisting of boulders to take out the big ones, then they'll be open." Dragon told Misyra, who ran off.
Sure enough, one rockslide coupled with an ambush later, they had achieved victory. Once again, Dragon was praised, but he just rolled his eyes and sighed about how obvious it was.

Dragon had a name among the cheetah clans, and with fame came hatred. There were assassination attempts more frequently as his clan beat others using his strength, and eventually, spies infiltrated the clan. By spreading lies throughout, they soon had people within the clan attempting assassination, some of which Dragon barely escaped alive. All of the spies, who were making up the larger portion of the clan, were sometimes taking away cheetahs to join the others, were making the clan of the mountain fall apart. Eventually, there were barely twenty members.
Dragon, deciding against living within the pressure and being under threat of death, left, leaving all his troubles behind, except one: he knew that it was him who had caused the downfall of the clan. If he hadn't been so damn... well, smart, if he had listened to his mother and acted normal, none of that would have happened. He was in the chain of beings different, the chain of being hated, the chain of being depended on, the chain of causing the death of many. So Dragon left to choose a life of solitude, until he came about a land where much open, free, unoccupied, untouched earth lay. And, his eyes reflecting the same color as the red earth beneath the rising sun, he ran to his new life.

No longer in chains.