The Whirl Islands, 700 Years Ago
"Catch!"
The rock left Lugia's wing and was soon tossing and turning through the air. In a couple of seconds, it was received by the outstretched wing of Silverus, who clenched it tightly and grunted as he almost lost his balance on the grassy surface of the sea-stack. Lugia laughed playfully as he watched Silverus stand up straight again and bounce the rock carelessly up and down in his wing.
"Good one! Maybe one day, you'll be able to catch like me!"
Silverus let out a cheeky smile upon hearing this.
"Oh really? You may be good at catching, but in the throwing division..."
Silverus arched back his arm and lobbed the rock as hard as he could, sending it flying straight past Lugia, who watched as it fell over the sheer drop behind him.
"...I'm at the pole-position."
Silverus smirked at an unmoved Lugia, who simply dropped backwards off the cliff, falling into a dive of the edge. He then twisted round, tucked his wings back, and looked up, eyes darting as he looked for the silhouette of the rock against the deep blue sky. Silverus walked to the cliff's edge, shaking his head as he watched his brother pursue his target.
Lugia spotted the rock in a second, and moved in to swoop underneath it. He was almost halfway down the rockface now, the ever increasing sea of blue filling his vision as he reached out with his right wing, keeping his left tucked to his side to keep his momentum up. Once in reach, Lugia's wing digits closed on the rock and he held tightly, smiling to himself.
"Gotcha!"
Just metres from the surface of the water, Lugia brought his tail forwards and flapped downwards, creating wake as his feet barely skimmed the surface. He then flapped downwards once more, propelling himself upwards. In a few seconds, he emerged from the top of the cliff-face and landed softly on the grass next to an impressed Silverus. Still shaking his head in a humorous manner, Silverus spoke up.
"If I can trust anyone to catch a rock thrown off a three-hundred foot cliff and bring it back to me, it's you, Lugia."
Lugia placed two wings on his hips and spoke in a mock-arrogant tone.
"Ahahaha, please - that's why they call me the 'spontaneous professional'!"
Silverus smirked again..
"Ah, no wonder the 'karp of the ocean scatter whenever you're in fifty miles of them..."
Lugia was then playfully pushed by Silverus, and almost fell over. They both laughed, Lugia patting a friendly wing on Silverus' back.
"What will I do with you, brother?"
With this, both Lugians jumped off the stack, took flight under their wings, and headed towards their cave further down the coastline.
***
"That still doesn't explain the inclement weather recently observed in the North..."
Ladricai was pacing up and down the damp floor of the cave, frowning to himself as he struggled to make sense of the situation at hand. The elegant figure of Seryth wandered next to him and placed a soft wing on his shoulder. Her deep green eyes showed concern as she looked her mate directly in the eye.
"We're going to get to the bottom of this, Cai, I promise..."
Ladricai turned away and stood by the entrance of the cave, staring endlessly at the fading sun near the horizon, a strong feeling of foreboding crossing his mind.
"I am the only force capable of altering the weather in the Whirl Islands, Seryth. I keep getting the foreboding feeling that someone, or something else is causing this. Something with more power than even I can muster."
Seryth sighed and craned her long neck underneath Ladricai's, smiling sympathetically as she did so in an act to cheer him up.
"You look tired, dear. Get some rest - I'll find out wherever our kids have got lost to this time..."
Ladricai reluctantly nodded, kissed her on the beak, and then continued to saunter back to the back of the cave. Calmly, Seryth took one last look at the great Lugian before walking to the cave's opening to prepare for flight. She had just lifted her wings and was about to jump when two small Lugian figures swooped around the corner, barely missing her. This sudden surprise made Seryth jump back and almost fall over, as the two adolescents began laughing to themselves as they watched their mother steady herself onto her feet. She placed a wing on her chest as she recovered from the shock, and frowned at the two.
"Where were you boys an hour ago?" she retorted with an air of annoyance. The two suddenly looked apprehensive, and looked down submissively.
"We were at the stack, Mother..." said Silverus guiltily.
Seryth looked even more disappointed as she looked down on her two sons.
"The stack? That's far beyond where we agreed you could go!"
"We're sorry - but the truth is, we got lost. After a couple hours down at the beach, we got caught up in some bad weather. I decided that we should fly back to the cave, but I got disoriented and we ended up far North. I knew where the stack was in relation to the cave, so we decided to take shelter there until the storm passed. So it wasn't entirely our fault..."
The female Lugian's expression became less serious as she listened to Lugia, accepting what he was saying.
"Is this true, Silverus?"
Silverus nodded, still not looking her in the eye. Seryth loosened up.
"Well if that is true - I'm sorry I got angry at you two. But listen here boys, don't go up North again, you hear me? The weather is not itself up there at the moment..."
"Yes, Mother..." replied the two Lugians in unison.
"Now you two, get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow..." said Seryth, waiting patiently as the two boys walked up to the nest. She sighed to herself, before following them and lying down next to the now sleeping Ladricai. Her eyes slowly closed as she once again entered the world of dreams.
The sound of howling wind. The crash of mile-high lighting. Through the murky depths of cloud, a figure began to appear. Seryth's eyes opened wide in horror as electricity sparked around it, and it let out a blood-curdling roar.
"Nooooo!" shouted Seryth with futility, as she saw the figure charge up a lightning bolt with it's yellow wings.
In a few seconds of absolute terror, the great Lugian watched hopelessly as the bolt, now fully materialized, was released, and shot forward towards her. It was just about to collide with her chest when-
Seryth sat up quickly, panting, and looked at her surroundings anxiously. Ladricai was also awakened by this outburst, and looked at Seryth concerned.
"What is it, Seryth?"
Her heart was still pounding as she looked back at her mate with the unnerving look of shock on her face. She looked down at the floor, shaking and hugged Ladricai firmly.
"Bad dream..."
As Ladricai stroked her back gently, the same sense of foreboding from before began to overcome him again. He shook it off and stood up, helping Seryth up to her feet.
Lugia and Silverus were still fast asleep in their part of the nest. Lugia was curled up into a ball, snoring softly, and Silverus was stretched out on his back next to him, a contented half-smile on his face.
Ladricai sat down close to them and nudged them softly with the elbow of his wing.
"Come on boys, time to wake up..." he said, smiling.
Lugia was the first to awake, yawning as he lifted up and stretched off, shaking his wings and tail. Silverus remained dormant, however, as he rolled over onto his side, continually snoring. Lugia stood next to his father, wings crossed as he smirked humorously at his sleeping brother. Ladricai spoke up again, slightly louder this time.
"Silverus... come on now."
Lugia looked at the still sleeping Lugian, and chuckled.
"I'll handle this, Dad..." humored Lugia, walking over to Silverus. He sat down and moved his beak next to the side of Silverus' head, and inhaled.
"SILVERUS!" he shouted, making his brother suddenly come alive and stumble over a couple times, wings flapping as he recovered from this sudden shock. Ladricai and Lugia broke into laughter, as a mock-frowning Silverus stood up and walked past them.
"Yeah yeah, payback - I get it..."
The three walked into the center of the cave, where Seryth was waiting, in a better mood than before. Upon seeing her offspring, she smiled warmly.
"Good morning, you two! Have a nice slumber?"
Lugia smiled back cheekily.
"Well, that's more than what can be said for Silverus- oof!"
Holding back a grin himself, Silverus jokingly punched Lugia in the side, still looking forward as if he hadn't done anything.
"Ow..."
Ladricai came up next to Seryth, and placed his wings over the pool of murky blue water in the font in front of him. He gestured a couple of times, changing the ripples in the liquid, before lifting his wings up. The water lifted out of the font, defying gravity, and spread out, forming a virtual map of the Whirl Islands. The other three looked over the map intriguingly, as Lugia looked towards an island, and spreading his wings, he zoomed in into a lagoon at its center. He pointed at it, and looked at the other three as he spoke.
"Alright. We're going here today to practice your swimming skills, boys. We couldn't go there last time because of bad weather, but it looks like it'll be clear today. Also, Lugia is 142 today, which means officially, he is now an adult. This session should serve as a final confirmation, to see if you are indeed the worthy successor to me. He smiled at Lugia, somewhat humorously. Lugia was always a competitive one, and his father knew it only too well.
"Your mother and I will assess your performance. I'm sure you'll pass with flying colours."
Lugia smiled, excited, at his father. This was a big day for him, perhaps the most important in his life so far.
"Follow me, and try not to get lost again, will you?"
With this, the great Lugian walked over to the edge of the cave and jumped off, wings spread as he began to fly towards the island. Seryth and the two adolescent Lugians followed just behind him.
***
Within minutes, they were at the island, and Lugia and Ladricai were standing on the beach in a battle like stance. Silverus was sitting on a boulder nearby, rolling a small stone with his foot carelessly, while Seryth was watching the father and son intently, taking mental notes as she monitored Lugia's stance.
"Good, good! Now, for the final, and most difficult test. Now, the age-old saying says that offense is the best defense. Personally, I strongly disagree. If one cannot defend themselves, what chance to they have of taking the next strike?"
Ladricai stopped for a moment, before suddenly releasing an Aeroblast attack at Lugia in a quicker time than it takes to blink. Instincts kicking into overdrive, Lugia lifted his wing in front of him, lowering his head underneath it in a rapid action. The attack then struck it, creating a colossal orb of light, and a ear-shattering boom echoed for miles around and shook the ground beneath him. Ladricai straightened up again, eyes dimming, as he waited for the dust to clear. Panting heavily, right there was Lugia, still in the same defensive posture as he was when the Aeroblast hit him, a bluish energy glowing on his wing. He looked up, heart thumping in his chest at the others, all with a look of utter astonishment on their faces. Seryth spoke shakily, still not believing what she had just seen.
"Four-point-five-two microseconds exactly. That's the fastest reaction time I've ever seen for any Lugian, let alone one in training!"
Ladricai's open mouth turned to that of a huge grin as he ran forward and hugged Lugia tightly. Lugia smiled also and closed his eyes, highly impressed with himself.
"That's how it's done, son!"
Silverus was also waiting next to him, smiling. Lugia hugged him too, and Silverus patted him on the back.
"Congratulations, Lugia, you've earned it..."
Seryth was standing nearby, also happy for her son, when a loud crack of distant thunder echoed across the lands. The four stopped, and looked up, smiles disappearing from their faces. In the distance, a huge thunderhead was forming, lightning forking out within the clouds. Ladricai looked onwards, a painful look emerging on his face.
"Not again.."
Seryth came next to him and put a wing around his waist, also feeling a sense of dread.
"I'm guessing this isn't your doing, is it, Father?" asked Silverus, becoming worried. Lugia frowned as his wings tensed up into fists. The clouds were almost over them now.
"No, and I've had enough of this..."
Suddenly, a rogue lightning bolt struck down next to him, sending them all recoiling backwards.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" shouted Seryth frantically, as she began to take flight. Her mate followed, who was in turn followed by Lugia ad Silverus. Visibility was practically zero as the family avoided the lightning and thunder within the cloud. Ladricai was flying as fast as he possibly could as he grimaced against the wind.
Lugia had a look of sheer determination as he struggled to keep up, Silverus doing the same as he followed just behind him. Winds were now becoming unbearable as they tossed the four Lugians in all directions. A rockface suddenly came into view, surprising Ladricai as he lifted his wings infront of him and swerved to the left. Deciding quickly, the great Lugian shot upwards in an attempt to reach clear sky. Minutes of confusion passed before finally, the group broke the clouds. For the first time, they could see the full extent of the storm. A thick grey fog had clouded the entirety of the Whirl Islands, with only the highest peaks breaking out the top. Seryth had fear in her eyes as she looked on in utter dismay.
"W-what do we do?" spoke Seryth quietly.
Lugia appeared in deep thought for a second, before looking up, a powerful glow emanating from his eyes. He spoke up in a low, powerful voice.
"Get the boys to safety. I'll sort out the rest."
Seryth gave him an unsure look, before looking at her two sons apprehensively.
"Come on you two, on me!" she shouted, swooping quickly away, the two in pursuit.
Once they were out of sight, Ladricai shouted with incredible authority, his voice heard for miles around.
"Show yourself, and confront me now!"
He heard a electric buzzing sound below him, before a huge vortex began to form out of the cloud, expanding and gaining height, before it stopped right infront of him. Ladricai shielded himself, as the wind slammed into him. Then, the vortex began to partly dissipate, revealing a bird-like figure, angled at its edges and arcing millions of volts of electricity from the vortex around it into itself. Its eyes were glowing bright yellow as it spoke with a powerful voice.
"So we meet at last. The legendary Ladricai, Guardian of the Seas? What a joke!"
A bolt of electricity left the figure's mouth and slammed into Ladricai before he could react, sending him tumbling over and over in the air. He righted himself, and growled menacingly at the threat in front of him.
"It was you all along, wasn't it? You were the one bringing terror and destruction to the Whirl Islands. This is a crime, and I won't stand for it!"
The Lugian then roared, eyes brightly glowing blue, and released an Aeroblast at his opponent. To his utter surprise, the electric bird did not flinch, but closed his wings just before the attack hit him, and stopped it in his tracks. It laughed. Ladricai's eyes were nothing but that of horror as he watched on, in disbelief
"Defense is the best offense? No wonder you're as weak as you are!"
The figure then released the captured Aeroblast back at Ladricai, who just reacted in time and lifted his wing up to deflect it. The attack ricocheted safely off, but his attacker wasn't over yet. Unexpectedly to Ladricai, the figure launched another lighting bolt at him, pinning his defending wing to the side of him. He found himself unable to move as he shouted out in peril.
"No!"
Meanwhile, a few miles down the coast, Seryth was still desperately trying to find the cave, dodging lightning bolts as she looked around frantically. Lugia and Silverus were doing the same as they looked on hopelessly. Suddenly, a patch of cloud cleared in front of them, revealing the cave just a few hundred meters away from them. Seryth noticed this quickly, and she pointed to the opening.
"Over there! The cave, I can see it!"
She pushed forwards to the cave as fast as she could. Almost there now, just a little more and her offspring would be safe. They were almost close enough to touch it when a huge lightning bolt cam down and struck the rock above the cave, triggering a massive rockfall. Seryth, Lugia and Silverus looked on in horror as the roof of the cave collapsed, destroying anything and everything inside
"No, no way!" shouted Seryth, tears in her eyes as she watched her home being destroyed. The power to control the weather was contained in that cave, and now it was lost forever. There was little hope to stop what was causing this now. She had no time to mourn before a yellow figure suddenly materialized in front of them, throwing the three back in surprise. In it's wing was a struggling Ladricai, becoming weak as he tried to resist the bird's strong grasp.
"Well isn't this just peachy?"
The figure clutched Ladricai tighter around the neck, making him choke as his eyes burned with pain. Seryth and the two young Lugians looked on, speechless, as they could not believe what they were seeing.
"The whole family, here for a celebration! Well, enjoy it while it lasts, because I'm about to kill four birds with one stone..."
The creature charged up its electricity attack again, but Seryth wasn't having any of it. She flew forward, roaring as she collided with the figure head on, releasing Ladricai from its grasp. He struggled to keep airborne, still recovering from the bird's choking grip. He looked up to see Seryth and the bird engaging in wing-to-wing combat.
"Arghh!"
Seryth slammed her left wing into the bird's jaw, hearing a loud cracking sound as she did so. She then did it again, from the right this time, eyes burning with a rage the others had never seen before. An uppercut this time. Then a kick in the gut. Seryth was being utterly relentless. No-one was getting in the way of her and her family. A weak look in its eyes, the figure looked up for a one last time as Seryth prepared for the final blow. Suddenly, the bird's wings electrified as it grabbed her with a vice-like grip. Her fist was stopped in its tracks as she felt electricity zap through her nervous system into her brain.
Hovering speechlessly nearby, this image burnt something violently into Lugia's mind. A terrible memory he'd never forget for as long as he lived. A burning fire, similar to that of his father's, flashed into his eyes and he charged forward, slamming with incredible force into the figure, sending it recoiling backwards. Ladricai watched as it released its grip on Seryth, and she plunged limply towards the ocean below. He dived down and caught her mid-fall, tears welling in his eyes as he propped up her head helplessly.
Silverus also felt a sudden need to fight, and slammed into the other side of the electric bird, knocking more life out of it as the two began to ruthlessly pummel it.
"No... don't leave me now!"
Ladricai was now struggling to control his emotions as he rested his head on her great belly, crying endlessly. She was unresponsive to his every action, her heart was stopped and she wasn't breathing. The electric shock had paralyzed her from the inside out, erasing centuries of memories and removing any and all life force from her. She was gone.
"Arceus give me strength!" said Ladricai under his breath, still in tears.
"I'm so sorry, my love..."
With this, he released his grip on her, letting her body plunge into the water, devastated. He knew what he needed to do. He had to avenge her.
Lugia, in the same vein as his mother, was relentlessly punching the figure, all emotion vanished from his face. In a fit of rage, he opened his mouth around the figures head, and bit down hard.
"Arghhhh!" shouted the bird as he felt his skull crack in several places. Lugia pulled back hard, ripping several huge scars on the figure's forehead. Suddenly, a giant light blue beam slammed into the bird, knocking the electricity out of it, and sending it falling into the water below. Angry beyond measure, the great figure of Ladricai flew up next to them. His voice sounded different - broken and pained, and yet more powerful than ever. He looked up, no form of distraction in his eyes.
"There's something I've got to do. Something you two aren't going to like. Follow me!"
Without question, Lugia and Silverus followed their father in close pursuit as he flew straight upwards. Soon, they were out of the clouds. Ladricai looked at the two with a mixture of sadness and determination as he spoke in a way they would never forget.
"I'm must sacrifice myself create a portal to the human world. I need you two to fly through it."
Lugia looked in fear as he realized what he meant.
"You can't do that! You'll die!"
Ladricai looked at Lugia and Silverus with sadness, as he began to well up again.
"I-I know... Listen to me - as soon as you pass through, you'll be transferred to a human form. To them, you'll be just like everyone else. It's safe, and it's the only way I can ensure it stays that way..."
Ladricai looked at his sons, who were still unconvinced.
"This is what your mother would've wanted. Do it for me, and for her. You are the only ones which can carry on the legacy of the Lugians of the Whirl Islands, it's your destiny!"
Lugia reluctantly nodded, and he held a crying Silverus by the shoulder, as he watched his father's body glow.
"Remember me..."
With this, their father's body exploded into millions of tiny fragments, which quickly coalesced into a small portal, which lit up with fire as it burnt a hole through the fabric of the two universes. Lugia looked at Silverus and held him close.
"You go first, brother."
Silverus, still sobbing, nodded, and flew forward, entering the portal and disappearing from sight. Lugia took one last look at his home, ravaged and destroyed by the storm, before turning around. His eyes met with a horrifying sight. The portal was shrinking. His eyes were alight with fear as he flew forward as fast as he could. He reached out with a free wing for the portal, now barely the size of a football. He was too late. The portal vanished just before he touched it. He'd missed his chance. His whole family was gone.
"No... please, no..." whimpered Lugia, unable to comprehend his failure.
In the human world, the sun was rising on a new day. The birds were singing and the sky was clearing. A young woman in her early twenties was strolling along the ridge, hefting a big backpack on her back. She stopped and stood upright by a rocky ledge to admire the sunrise. She needed this. She needed release. Release from the stresses of life, the pain of every passing day. This was her dream.
She was cut from here trance by a whooshing sound behind her. Turning around, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Right there, in front of her, was a mewling newborn baby, completely exposed on the grass. She looked around, to check if the parents were nearby, but the view was empty of people for miles around. She lifted the baby up, and stared into its deep blue eyes.
Who would leave a baby on a hill in the middle of nowhere? It looked cold. She picked it up and cradled it for a few seconds. Something deep down was telling her that this baby was her responsibility. She trusted her gut instinct, wrapped the baby in a spare shirt to keep it warm and began the trek back to her car.
Little did she know who she just picked up.
THE END
© Razordraac