"What's with the clouds?!" a young boy shouted, "It's not just the clouds! Look at the sky! It no longer holds its usual blues!" another young boy shouted. As the two boys looked up at the phenomenon happening in the sky, far off in a deserted wasteland, where life had long ceased to exist, the air was now alive with furious gusts of wind spiraling towards the heavens.
Meanwhile, across the vast oceans—
"Captain, this makes no sense!" The thunder cracked violently across the stormy sky, while a teenage girl cried out, clutching the ship's railing.
"The waves… they're crashing from opposite directions! Our boat won't survive a collision like this!" a sailor shouted.
"Abandon ship!"
Across the realms, unnatural disasters wreak havoc, shaking the very foundation of the physical plane. Regular folks were dumbstruck without a logical explanation for the unnatural occurrences. However, the phenomenon struck an awe-inspiring chord in the hearts of everyone. Instinctively, they knew something was about to happen, but what?
In a realm surrounded by clouds, where the tallest bamboos grow, and the mountains are capped with snow, the atmosphere suddenly crackled with purple thunder.
"Roooaaaar! Ahahaha! Open your domain, you damn three-eyed furball!"
A colossal serpent soared through the sky, its form vast and overwhelming, stretching endlessly along the horizon. If a regular folk were present, they would be scared shitless of its magnitude.
" Then stop tearing through my formations, you damn reptile!" A deep growl resounded through the mountain range.
On one of its peaks, a feline figure shifted slightly, and three ash gold eyes glowed with annoyance while its fur gleamed under the celestial light.
"Also, stop sinking your scaly claws into my clouds and shrink your ugly self already!" the cat growled with irritation lacing every word.
Sensing that the feline was truly annoyed this time, the serpent's massive form began to fade.
"Yeah, I went a bit overboard this time," the serpent admitted.
A tall man with horns then materialized, his arms covered in glistening azure-like scales, with his aura emitting purple flames around him
"Considering you're always here to annoy me, I wish you'd just teleport in, but no, you just have to act the part of a wyvern and make sure every being near my territory knows that we're friends," the feline grumbled.
Then suddenly, on cue, came a massive white tiger, adorned with golden stripes and three ash gold colored eyes, walking lazily over to a bed of clouds larger than most mountains ever seen by regular folk. It flared its nostrils at the scaled man.
"Enough of your damn lectures, Torra." the scaled man snapped, " That brat you've been tormenting in his dreams, has he finally stopped waking up in terror?"
Torra scoffed, not bothering to look up at the scaled man.
"You're running out of time, you damn furball. Now is not the time to be mysterious." He continued on his rant,
"Honestly, I don't know why you won't just tell him directly as I did with my chosen," the scaled man smugly bragged.
Torra finally glances up at the scaled man and says with a dismissive glance," He is ready, Raizen." he then shifted in a more comfortable position on the clouds and lazily said
"Though it seems these two clans we favor won't be able to rise alongside these youngsters, soon enough, they will be legendary based on the merits of these brats alone-"
"Once again, the tale of the Dragon and the Tiger crushing all beneath their feet will reign." Raizen chimed in, interrupting Torra. Annoyed Torra grumbled, " You mean the tale of the wyvern and the tiger."
Raizen let out a boisterous laugh, then said, "I look forward to them making it here."
Torra closed his eyes, his expression neutral, followed by a length of silence.
"Hmm... It seems that brat is already in combat," Raizen mused, gazing into the distance. "I guess it is time for their journey to begin. Hey furball, let's take one final look at them, shall we?"
---
In the depths of a rocky terrain, evidence of a fight lay bare as broken trees littered the ground, and blood formed puddles across the soil. In the midst of this stood two figures locked in fierce combat.
A crimson colored bear, the size of a house, loomed upright on its hind legs, towering over its opponent. It is covered in a thick coat of flames that engulfs its body, and its claws glow red hot like magma as flames crackle along its razor-sharp edges. Its entire body was marred with jagged slashes, evidence of a prolonged battle.
On the opposing end stood a young male, covered in blood. His partially scaled shoulders and thick biceps were exposed through a sleeveless open vest. His lean, muscular body gleamed with sweat and blood, while two long streaks of lightning emblems ran from underneath his eyes, down his torso, and two streaks ran over his scales. His intense, shoulder-length, blue hair with its purple tips added to his fierce appearance. The young man tightened his grip around his weapons—chains crackling with lightning, attached to sickles mimicking dragon talons, and stared down the enraged beast; his serpent-like pupils narrowing, irises glowing ominously purple.
"A standoff with a Flame Bear over a fishing spot wasn't what I had in mind today," he mused. "But now that I think about it… You're probably tastier than some monkfish."
The bear then roared, remembering the wounds inflicted by the tiny human. Its fury ignited as it charged forward on all fours, summoning its strongest attack, fully intent on ripping this tiny human in half.
"Hmph. A contest of power again? Only this time, you're going all in, huh?" The young man smirked, his body beginning to glow with a fierce purple aura.
In an instant, he vanished from the bear's sight, and just as quickly, he reappeared behind the bear, completely soaked in its blood. A few seconds later, the air shuddered as the bear's torso vaporized to mist, leaving behind nothing but its legs and a few innards scattered on the ground.
"Crap. That was supposed to be breakfast," he muttered, flexing his fingers. "That damn bear really managed to stir my blood lust."
He sighed before glancing towards the river. "I guess monkfish it is then," and with that, he turned and vanished, leaving behind the bear's remnants on the ground.