This child is Duo. Or rather, this is Duo as a child and how he appeared as a child. Long before he was a god of love, long before his divine awakening, long before his immortal life, Duo was a mortal, and he had a mortal name. In his mortal life, his name was Tie' and his mortal life was much different than you would expect a character like the immortal Duo to have. In an ancient world of dragons, in an ancient time, where religion was held high, this little dragon lived as the great taboo.
In this image, we see Tie' two days before his 5th birthday, finding one of his friends, the Ja bug he named Akoka. He sadly has no friends, and in having no friends, he has made friends with bugs. He loves bugs very much, and they make him very happy, though as to why he does not have any friends? Well, it involves his cloak you see.
Tie' has no friends other than the bugs he comes across because he is considered a living taboo. For on his world, it is taboo and considered a great evil to have golden scales, even worse, shiny ones. Tie' is a "luster dragon" meaning his scales are mirror like, and he has the taboo combination of gold and black. The world's laws state that such dragons are to be executed at birth, however he was spared by the leading matriarch and high priestess, and is protected by her decree. But there are many that wish harm upon this child, and everywhere he goes, he causes a commotion simply because of the color of his scales. So he is forced to wear a cloak, to hide his scales in public to avoid ridicule, drama, and being a target for aggression. Sadly, this doesn't always help, and he is forced to live outside of the city with his parents, away from prying eyes.
When his parents go to town, he tends to stay close to his mother, or plays behind some of the stands, seeking out his friends in the grass, bushes, or trees. Here we see him, after searching for his friend, finding him on a limb at the edge of the forest, away from others, where he could be at peace with his tiny friend.
There are similarities between Duo and Tie' as when Tie' became Duo, he kept his colors and horns, though altered his body to look different (Duo does not have ears, where Tie' does). Eons later, he created a chibi smol body of himself, which is only a foot tall, though psychologically, has it's roots in his childhood.
There is a lot of lore here, and I am happy I was finally able to have a pic of Duo as a child done to share. The lore is interesting, though I especially like this brief period since it is a very happy one in his childhood, before certain events that would change him.
