Parentage
By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland
Raindrops fell to the earth in thick torrents as white streams of lightning raced downwards, most emptying into the air but many others striking the earth with the intensity of a maddened beast. The trees bent to the howls of the four winds and great stones and rocks tumbled down unyielding mountains and passed through many a great cavern before crumbling away into dust from the storm's ferocity. A snort of air, quiet as a breath, came from one such cavern as a leviathan's head emerged into the storm's power, eyes of flame unblinking from the rain. Charcoal lips curled in displeasure with narrowed eyes glaring up upon the heavens as though those greater beings were urging this great storm just to spite him further. A clawed hand clenched the wall besides the cavern opening, breaking weak rock loose to tumble to the ground. Even with all his power, he could not win against the forces of nature though he too could be called such a thing.
A smaller hand clutched his free one, with gentle claws not yet sharpened with age and a soft sound eased away the brief burst of anger within him. Fire eyes smolder away into glimmering coals of warmth as they fell upon the small form beside him with mirror likeness yet so different. These eyes were innocent of anger and bitterness, and did not contain any such thing as hatred. Affection and the innocence of youth lit these eyes but such light was now overcome by fear. This storm, for all its strength, caused one too many unpleasant memories to surface between the two.
For the elder, it reminded of a time of great pain and horrific revulsion of one's self. Of great hatred and bitterness for those who caused his ascension into royalty alongside his descent into a demon of Hell's deepest circle. Pains caused by those who ruled this world and by those few that were foolish enough, or strong enough, to give him challenge for his place in the order of life and death of his kind. For the child, it remind of the time of argument between father and brother, of a great shadow made of shining rock and great loss. The brother is still missed just as the father is still loved. However, for these two, this storm reminded them of something far more recent in their respective pasts, of an event too short a time ago to be called a memory.
A time of another dark shadow of the father, a copy of false voice and blue tinted skin, and another shining creature of hardened stone. Of glimmering crystals that towered beyond the trees and a great pillar of sand and power. Of a never-ending nightmare for the both of them. The father had fought and protected with all that he had but the shadow was strong and underhanded. As soon as the father was down on the ground in pain, the darkness claimed the child as a prisoner of a war nonexistent and fled away to its tower of grand height. The father, unable to break the child free, gave chase and ultimately destroyed the shadow with his own grand light.
Father and son were reunited once more.
On that day, not so long ago, the son vowed to make the father proud and to follow in the elder's footsteps. To become as strong as he, to be a piece of the storm, to be a king… Still, all journeys must begin with the smallest of steps and the son still suffered from the rational fears that comes with youth and could not help but call for the father as the great storm drew near. The father was not far, having learned of what distance between them could result in, and led the son to their island's central mountain where caverns galore adorned its strongest side, that which faced away from the storm's fury yet felt it all the same.
The father growled comfortingly to the son and ushered him deeper into the cavern before taking a relaxed pose along the stone floor. The son drew close to the father and grew ever more comfortable from the warmth of the father's large body and soon felt asleep to the powerful beat of the loving heart beneath the father's chest. The father rumbled gently and placed a clawed hand gently upon the son's brow, gently brushing away stray bits of stone and tree from the emerald scales. The father knew of the son's vow for a father's instincts were as great as mother's own and could sense the change within the child. What the son did not know was that he too made a vow on that just as he had when the son first accepted him as his father.
That first vow was simple with a powerful command behind it. To live and protect the child that the Winged One died for. That vow was nearly broken by the dark shadow. This new vow was something greater and, ultimately, far more powerful than the first. On that day, he vowed to be that he would indeed protect this child not because of a debt owed or because of the small link shared between them for their likeness in shape and power.
It was because the child was his son just as he was the child's father.
And as a father, he would do anything for his son. He would climb the grandest mountain to attain a small pebble to alight his son's face into wonderment. He would dive into the darkness of the oceans to bring the tastiest of foods to quench the mundane hunger his child still possessed. He would teach his son to be as strong as he so that no one could best him in all forms. He would even make peace with those whom he despised most if only to guarantee a safe and happy future for the child.
Why?
Because… the child was his son.
And a father's love knew such thing as boundaries.