#vaedar is the number 1 fanboy of his dragon ok his dragon is his bff

[vaedar]

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍: 𝐀𝐙𝐀𝐄𝐒, 𝗇𝖺𝗆𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖺 𝗏𝖺𝗅𝗒𝗋𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝖽𝖾𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝗐𝖺𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖿𝖾, 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖼𝗋𝗂𝗆𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝗈𝗅𝗍𝖾𝗇 𝗀𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝖾𝗒𝖾𝗌, 𝗁𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝟣35 𝖡𝖢 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝖵𝖺𝗅𝗒𝗋𝗂𝖺 𝗍𝗈 𝗂𝗍𝗌 𝗌𝗈𝗅𝖾 𝗋𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗋; 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐕𝐚𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐬. 𝖡𝗈𝗍𝗁 𝖽𝗋𝖺𝗀𝗈𝗇 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗋𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗅𝗂𝗏𝖾𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖿𝖾𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗍𝖺𝖼𝗅𝗒𝗌𝗆𝗂𝖼 𝖣𝗈𝗈𝗆 𝗈𝖿 𝖵𝖺𝗅𝗒𝗋𝗂𝖺.

𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐙𝐄

Azaes is a dragon with dark crimson red scales ( that have a red-orange-gold sheen when in the sun or light ) that shift into a golden color near the areas of his sails, the half of his wings and his belly. His horns, claws and teeth are smooth black, and his eyes are a fiery, molten gold. His flame is orange with veins of dark red that turn almost black.

As for his size, I’m using the above art of Balerion the Black Dread during the Conquest ( which means he was about little over a century old ) by this artist as a reference. By the end of his life, Azaes was 30 years old and was about the size shown above ( he’s the smaller, red dragon ). For perspective, compare him to the size of the horses below ( he could take a whole horse, probably two, whole ). There are a couple of factors that influence the size of a dragon other than their age, such as how free they are to roam and how much they fly ( the more they fly, the faster they grow, and Vaedar and Azaes did not go a day without flying... unless he was physically unable to do so ). Dragons never stop growing, only until the time of their death is imminent.

𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐙𝐀𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐕𝐀𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐑

Vaedar’s mount was hatched ( being the second youngest of his family’s dragons ) to him when he was a baby, and so his bond with the dragon was nurtured. It only strengthened with the passing of the years, the two being quite close. The first time he mounted the dragon, he was nine years old, using a whip, as was one of the methods for riders to make the winged creatures to obey and follow commands.

But Azaes is a very stubborn, capricious dragon and this only made him angrier, which made him shake Vaedar off, making him fall off and dislocate a shoulder. Azaes would after show his ‘apology’ by ‘inviting’ Vaedar to try again in a challenging way, which he did, even with his hurt shoulder. This was one of the more important bonding experiences for both of them, because little Vaedar understood then that Azaes is not just a mount to be subdued. Azaes also learned more of his rider’s strength, courage and worth, and saw he would indeed want to be by his side and fly with him. The transformation of mount and rider took a deeper meaning then, of companionship and kindred souls. They would become almost as one since then, feeling as the other does, so Vaedar eventually barely had to use any commands to ride Azaes. That connection was so seamless that it definitely made Vaedar a very, very skilled dragon rider, something he was quite proud of.

On more than a few times during interactions, Vaedar has explained to others that Azaes feels as he does, but how he interprets those emotions are not as complex or nuanced as a human might. For example, one occasion he explained that he would need to convey to Azaes that he was married, that he has a wife, and for his dragon to comprehend this better, he would have to feel for that woman as though she were his mate. Dragons can sense distress and fear in humans, but that of their riders they feel as if it were their own. Love, anger, sadness, pain. Those are more raw emotions, primal almost in a sense, and it’s what his dragon understands or translates his emotions into, even if what he really felt was worry or frustration. For Azaes, it might be anger and he could act out on the person that is the recipient of those emotions. This attachment also made the dragon jealous and prone to impulsive violence ( more so if hungry ).  

Once, he almost tried to kill Vaedar’s brother despite knowing him his whole life, because he sensed him as a threat ( which he was not wrong ). This can lead to momentary disobedience on instances when these emotions are too overwhelming, but the strong bond between them enables the rider to subdue the dragon rather quickly ( as long as he, too, can get a hold of himself ).

When dragons outlive their riders, they would wail and weep or release powerful roars of pain during the moment of their rider’s death. This deeper bond is especially ( and very likely, only, possible ) because Azaes hatched to Vaedar as a baby ( rather than the rider claiming him later ), and they grew together… and died together. He could feel his rider’s desperation and pain when they fell from the sky ( pelted by numerous projectiles of volcanic debris ) to the raging sea. Though it was only for a short time, because the dragon died from its wounds before his rider. This means that Vaedar did feel Azaes die, and this can be a rather traumatic experience for the rider who has been bonded since infancy to the dragon. In verses where he was 'cursed' with immortality and survives the Doom, this marked him deeply to the point of considering ending his own life. So during the Doom, Vaedar experienced the emptiness of no longer feeling that bond when his dragon died, before finally drowning himself.