The Rider of Swift Winds, Allison Churchill is a Rider of Drake, and a defender of humanity, serving as a supporting character in the ‘Of Scales and Fur’ series.
In the alternate fanfiction timelines – which may become canon – Churchill also becomes one of the most dangerous mercenaries under the name of Tex. With a Wild West theme to her, anyone who can hire her will find that they’ve hired one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the region.
Appearance
Tex is a six foot, seven inch human woman with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, one eye being marred by a large vertical scar down the left side of her face.
She takes after classic cowboys or cowgirls, wearing a Stetson hat, jeans, cowboy boots, and overall trying to look like an explorer of the Old West. This extends to her weaponry, as she carries around two vintage revolvers and a bolt-action sniper rifle.
In the fanfiction timelines, she’s also taken to trying to give herself an androgynous appearance; all the better to keep others from guessing her gender and thus giving her a greater element of mystery and therefore intimidation.
Background
Allison Churchill was born near the Sea of Sands; a vast region of desert that was hard for upholders of the law to properly ensure justice and order was maintained. As a result, Allison learned to look after herself and her family from a very young age.
Interested in getting her living situation noticed by the higher-ups, Allison joined the Army, gaining the nickname ‘Tex’ ironically due to her being caught weighing yarn, as Tex is an actual unit of weight used for measuring yarn density. However, Tex also quickly showed off skill in gunslinging, being one of the best sharpshooters of her unit.
After Myst began to rally the demi-wolves against humanity, Tex fought by her fellow human’s side, but barely survived against the wolves, who proved way more of a match for the military than anyone thought possible. Hope seemed lost for a time, until General Drake came forward with the Rider’s Program; an experimental super-soldier program where the soldiers were not altered genetically, but given dragons to raise and then fight alongside.
Intrigued, Tex joined the program, and was paired with the wind dragon Swift. Finding him to be a natural fit for her, as his expert flying kept her at the perfect distance for utilizing her firearms, Tex took to the Riding Program with gusto, serving as an effective means of defense for Swift as he scouted out wolf territory and served as an effective means of surveillance and reconnaissance. The two have since formed a symbiotic pairing, and are rarely seen without each other.
In a possible future (currently explored with fanfiction), Tex ends up using Swift’s assistance to become a feared gunslinger and mercenary back in her hometown on the Sea of Sands, with Swift’s assistance ensuring she never missed a single shot.
Though the two might part ways, Tex would still manage to hold a rep as one of the deadliest gunslingers and bounty hunters on the Sea of Sands, even becoming a legendary figure to some due to her uncanny knack for hunting and ranged combat.
Abilities
- Expert gunslinger – a natural with firearms and a crack shot with a sniper rifle or revolvers.
- Hunting expert – has very good eyesight and can spot targets from miles away.
- Durable – takes a lot of injuries to actually keep her down.
Personality
A soldier and a mercenary at heart, Tex likes to give the impression that she doesn’t care about much other than her next paycheck. As a result, she’s stoic, no-nonsense and quick to the point.
However, despite her attempt to appear apathetic, she does care greatly for her dragon Swift, whom she sees as a son of sorts, and is rarely ever seen without. She’s also very loyal to General Drake, being grateful to him for giving her a chance in the Rider’s Program and for letting her meet with her surrogate son. And even in her mercenary days, she draws the line at hurting children, prisoners, or other ‘innocent’ bystanders.
However, beyond those exceptions, she doesn’t know or care that much about others, and hence has an easier time with her ‘mercenary’ style attitude.
Stories Involving Her
Trivia
- Tex was initially inspired by Agent Texas from Red Vs. Blue, with Churchill being analogous to Church, the name of Tex’s significant other, along with them sharing the first name of Allison.
- Later on, Tex received further inspiration from Erron Black of Mortal Kombat lore, as well as Samus Aran from the Metroid series.
- Originally, Tex’s nickname was going to be given because she was a Texan, and emulated the classic Texan cowgirl stereotypes. However, in an attempt to make the Roads of Gaia feel less ‘American’ and more like a fantastical land, I found out that ‘Tex’ actually is a unit of weight for measuring yarn, and so considered that to be a funnier origin for her nickname.