Sekmet

STATS
Name: Sekmet
Age: 351 (or so she claims)
Gender: Female
Appearance: With bronzed skin and long black hair cut in the style of ancient Egyptians. Sekmet has dark eyes she enhances with heavy make-up. She usually wears long and flowy cotton gowns and gold jewelry. On occasion she wears something with a blue accent.
Personality: Mysterious, sensual and hard to please. Sekmet is as mercurial as the wind and can be cruel without meaning to. She does not know the meaning of empathy, instead she lives life solely for her own pleasure.

STORY
The air was heavy with the heat of a hot summer day. The inside of the small hut at the edge of the city felt cramped and oppressive. A simple orange cloth covered the doorway, offering some shade but doing nothing else to alleviate the heat.
The outside of the hut was dilapidated, white stucco that was turning yellow and flaking in different spots, and a roof that seemed ready to collapse. But the inside was quite cozy. Curtains and mats hid the crumbling walls with bright colours, metal chandeliers cast thousands of dots of light on mirrors, metal objects and geodes. Books were strewn about, some in stacks, some on tables, some even on shelves. The air smelled of candle wax, incense and old paper.
Inside Sekmet was busy earning by means of her craft. She chanted, turning her head up to the heavens and letting the smoke of the incense fill her nostrils and mouth. The client in front of her coughed and seemed about ready to bolt.
"You come here seeking fortune, but you shall only find destruction." She said ominously, "Dark shadows are closing in. Be careful of women with blue eyes and don't go near knives." She ended.
At this point her client actually scrambled up, whimpered and ran outside. At times like this she was relieved that she charged up front. At least she'd gotten paid for her work. She might have exaggerated a bit but her client had asked for details. And you could never be too careful around blue-eyed babes and knives. That advice had been free.
Getting up, Sekmet adjusted her long white dress and swept her black hair up in a ponytail. Some of the braided strands had beads in them and the movement caused soft tapping noises as some of the beads touched each other. The sun was curving down and it was time for her to go pay her respect.
As shadows lengthened and the sky promised cooling down, she leisurely walked down the small streets and alleys of Saqqara toward the desert. The River of the Nile was behind her and the sun welcomed her approach. Stopping at a small archway at the edge of town, she dipped her head and went inside. The warmth inside was welcoming instead of stifling and Sekmet relaxed in the comfort of the house of Ra.
"Welcome sister." the guardian of the temple said.
"Good evening." she replied.
This guardian was relatively new and didn't know yet that Sekmet liked to commune with her god in private. A little nudge would put him on his place she was sure.
"I've seen you coming here several days in a row. Have you been living here for a long time? I've never seen you before. Maybe we could..."
A little nudge would not be enough.
"No." She said, putting every ounce of her power behind it and nearly making the guardians heart stop. Stunned the young man backed off shaken.
With the nuisance taken care of. Sekmet started her evening ritual of prayer and renewal. She'd done this particular ritual 117.000 times before and it felt as natural as breathing to her. The warmth of the sun caressed her skin and renewed her energy. She would be ready to face another day.

That day came early at the break of dawn. Sekmet got up, got dressed, had a light breakfast and set out for her morning walk along the Nile. This early in the day there were not many people around and the world felt a bit like it had done when she was young. Life had been simpler though in truth nothing much had changed. people were born, grew up, made a living, trying to enjoy life. Maybe they married, had children, maybe they didn't. But undoubtedly they met their end at some point and time passed on. Sekmet was one who watched from the sidelines of the passage of time. Aware of it but not entirely subject to its rule.
But she still lived in this world and as such she had to take the passage of time in account. As Ra rose each day and rode across the sky, she felt his passage drain her. He was not a very compassionate god truth be told, but she had seen far worse masters.
Another god she had to pay homage to in this world was money. Earning a living was paramount as she still needed to eat and drink. And having a little something extra to treat herself with was a necessity as well when you lived as long as she'd had. She could make do with little, but if she didn't have to she wouldn't restrict herself.
So in the mornings she sat on a mat in the market and read fortunes for unsuspecting tourists who could appreciate her affinity to flair and drama. At midday she would eat a refreshing lunch and in the afternoon she'd return home and sell her talents to those who wanted real advice and not the dreams she sold to the tourists. She had a reputation which meant she earned enough to get by but not enough to be noticed or envied. Life worked best for those who kept a low profile. She'd learned that lesson the hard way.
Turning a corner, Sekmet noticed she was being followed. Now that was annoying. Maybe she hadn't been keeping a low profile as much as she had intended to. The man didn't seem to be a professional. He moved rather clumsily, making himself noticed by the way he tried to stay out of sight. He was tall and bulky with brown hair and a light skin that told her he wasn't local. 
Sekmet led her stalker closer to town and turned a couple of corners to lose him. At this point she could go her own way again, but she was curious. Just who was following her? And what did he want? Few things interested her anymore and a mystery like this was just the thing to liven up her day.
Scaling the walls, she climbed on top of the nearest building, using the many outcrops and windows to find stable footing. Looking down, she waited for her stalker to appear. He seemed quite distraught at losing her and looked frantically left and right. A pro would have looked up and down as well. 
Turning the tables, Sekmet starting to follow the man as he searched for her, gave up and continued to move away from the town center. He went back to the river. Maybe he wanted to try to catch another glimpse of her when she returned but she would not. Waiting didn't come hard to her. 
Enjoying the daydream of being a proper private eye, Sekmet wondered what the man's motives were. Was he a client that couldn't approach her through the right channels? Or a man sent to harm her? Was he maybe a wanna-be lover who was too shy to ask her out? Maybe she had to look deeper. Maybe he was someone like her, sent to scope her out, but surely someone like her would follow her with more finesse. No, the guy was a human for sure. 
After half an hour of waiting, he seemed to give up all hope of finding her there and walked on. Sekmet kept following him from a distance. She used the growing number of people between them to shelter her. The man wasn't looking back and Sekmet wondered if it was because he absolutely didn't think he'd be followed or if it was a ruse to lead her out. He seemed to be leaving town and soon she wouldn't be able to hide behind the tourists anymore. 
She could give up, but by this time every fiber of her being was intrigued. She really wanted to know who he was and what he wanted from her. 
Keeping such a noticeable appearance meant that she could dress down. Sekmet rused into a stall, washed off her make-up, bought sunglasses and a muted brown shawl that she wrapped around her waist. She tied back her hair in a ponytail and contemplated getting a hat. But she didn't have time to waste. 
Getting out of the store, the man rounded a corner. Sekmet looked around, making sure nobody else was following her and then quickly went past the street the man had entered. He was going straight and there were no more intersections until the street hit the wall of the city. Sekmet ducked into the next street and followed that to the wall, keeping herself parallel and behind her mark.
Reaching the end of the street she carefully peeked around. The man was still ahead of her. She hesitated and could just pull back into the street as he turned his head left and right. Maybe he finally had gotten a clue about stealth. 
Looking around the corner again, Sekmet saw that the man entered one of the doorways in the wall, most of them led outside, some led to small temples like the one she visited every night. 
As the man stepped through the door, Sekmet scrambled closer. She caught the door before it fell in it's lock and strained her eyes to make sense of the darkness. Before they could adjust though, a hand reached back and pulled her inside.

Disoriented, Sekmet found herself in a meadow with grass and flowers. Her mind had encountered a lot and was quick to accept that she wasn't in Egypt anymore. 
Next to her stood the man who had been following her. Turning to face him, she felt behind her for any wepaon she could use. Her hands met something like a warm statue. It was hard and unyielding but it wasn't cold as stone would be. Something below her hands quivered and a large head dipped down in front of her. 
"Welcome stranger." the creature spoke, "My name is Koriandersarth and I'm a dragon not a creature."
"Huh, I'm Sekmet." Sekmet replied.
"I was certain you'd follow me if I tried." the man said, "My name is S'til."
"So what do you want with me?" Sekmet asked, acting cocky to keep her composure. She knew she was outnumbered on unfamiliar ground. She needed information. 
"We're in a place called Darkling Dawn, on a planet that is not your own. We mean you no harm but would like for you to stay a while." Koriandersarth obliged her.
"I don't like that mindreading thing."
"Get used to it." S'til said to her, "So how about we go on a date and I'll fill you in on the wonderful world of dragons."

Hatching
Jasmith had not announced the hatching of her clutch until it was nearly evening, interrupting an early dinner. Though the sky outside was clouded, there was no rain yet, a state that would hopefully last through the whole hatching. Candidates and spectators were pouring into the caverns as the Weyrleaders took their seats.
The golden queen was curled around a clutch of 15 mottled eggs, none of them gold. The dragons' omnipresent humming cut out suddenly as the first of Jasmith's eggs cracked open.
Six hatchlings had bonded when there was a lull in the hatching while the rest of the dragons tried to break their egg shells. One or two had developed extensive cracks where claws or toothed muzzles slipped out, so it clearly would not be long. One particular egg jerked and burst apart all at once, causing a stir among the candidates as the green hatchling inside threw egg shards about with her thrashing. The light green hatchling hissed in irritation and ruffled her wings--which only drew more attention to her, as it revealed the bright sheen of rainbow coloring on her wings. One hatchling, at least, took after her paternal grandparents' rainbow hides.
She wasn't alone on the sands for long, because the other eggs finally broke apart entirely, with a brown claw and muzzle breaking through one crack, and another kicked open by the back legs of its white inhabitant. The brown soon showed his own two-toned coloring, though his wings were a flat, matte black rather than his sister's showy rainbow, and their other sibling's hide rippled with the pseudo-iridescent sheen typical of Pernese whites.
The green-rainbow did not seem displeased at the attention. In fact, she seemed to preen as she prowled towards the candidates, a vicious glint in her eye. Innocently curious, the brown-black trailed after her, humming in a friendly manner. The dragoness snorted and reached out a claw--to trip him? Shove him aside until she'd Impressed? Whatever her intention, she didn't even have a chance to touch him before a snarling ball of white slipped between them. The white hatchling stood with spread wings as if trying to make herself look larger as she stood protectively in front of the brown-black, hissing at her sister.
With a snort, the green-rainbow turned away and made a show of ignoring the two of them, head held high as she passed by the candidates. Her eyes caught on Sekmet, and she nearly purred, introducing herself as Akheth. 
Let's leave these losers behind. I'm hungry.

Green-Rainbow Akheth 
Energetic, savage, has a caustic and mean-spirited sense of humor

With the safety of all fifteen hatchlings thus assured, the hatching officially came to an end, and plans began to be made for a hatching feast that would be held the next morning.The sands emptied as spectators and disappointed candidates left, and they would remain empty until whenever the next dragoness decided to clutch, and who knew when that might be?

Adult
Akheth flicked a particle of dust from her tail and stretched her wings. Yeah, she was beautiful. None ofher clutchmates could live up to her beauty, not even that pesky white with her iridescent sheen. 
"Youre absolutely stunning." Sekmet smiled, "But if you feel a bit out of it, how about we go get some spa time?"
Akheth considered it. Bathing in those natural hotsprings with all of their mineral goodness might be just the thing. She always felt rejuvenated after one of those soaks.
"That's because I make sure to pray before we go in." Sekmet admitted. 
It had taken her a while to fnd a fitting ritual to renew her bond with the powerful beings. But the words and gestures had come to her as they always did. And being in a world where she didn't need to hide was quite refreshing. There were far stranger beings around.
"So that means I should thank you." Akheth jested. 
The words were cold but Sekmet didn't pay them any heed. After all, she was indeed part of the reason Akheth shone the way she did. 
"Let's go before the sun sets." Sekmet urged, "It's almost time."
Akheth nodded and departed for the hotsprings after Sekmet had mounted.