Jun Manjoume would remember April 29 for the rest of his life. He'd only been a child at the time, no older than 2 years of age, but what he'd seen that dark and starry night would haunt his dreams until the day he died. Head rested on one arm, he gazed idly at the moon before him.
The cold air whipped at his cheeks, as he lay swaddled in blanket in his pushchair. His older brothers at his side, his mother behind him, his grey eyes watched the eclipse with wonder. The moon slowly slid into align, the white light streaming from all sides, almost cradling it. There were gasps of joy, amazement, which soon turned to bewilderment and fear. The white light slowly began to fade through red to blue, drifting through the spectrum. Slowly at first, then faster, flying through the colours as the light began to pulsate and writhe. A bright light appeared in the centre of the moon. By this point, people around Jun were panicking, some crying out about the end of the world. Amongst the screams of the panicked, the world around him was oddly quiet.
The light flashed, and seemingly carved a gash through the surface of the moon itself. The streets and sky around them were bathed in a rich golden light as the gash open. And the stars rained down. Each light trail danced the colour spectrum like the moon before it, people fleeing from the streets. Jun felt the pushchair jerk, and his mother hurried to get back inside.
Growing up in the years that followed was dangerous to say the least. The 'stars' that had fallen, hadn't been stars at all. Rather, they were beasts. Mythical beasts. Harmless creatures, until provoked. Which is exactly what the military did. A special legion, known as Elite 7 was formed, designed to tackle these great beasts, but bullets were no use against a dragon. Jun thought the prospect of such creatures was amazing. He'd never seen any himself, not up close. When he was about 9, he'd heard the lone call of a griffin, but when he'd made it to the window it had been gone, chased by the hounding of the machine guns. The calls of machine guns rang out through the sky each night, often keeping Jun awake. He shouldn't of, but he would break curfew and wander through the woodland on the outskirts of the city.
Tonight was one of those nights.
Hands dug deep into the pockets of his trench coat, he slunk along the dark pavement. If he was caught, he'd face a fine, or even imprisonment. And he knew this. He'd just never been caught, not yet. Crossing the tarmac, he followed the trail that led into the woods. The same trail he'd followed every night, the past 6 years. Jun had started sneaking out when his remaining family, his elder brothers, had stopped caring. Not that they'd ever cared much.
But something wasn't the same tonight.
Jun had been walking a little over half an hour, and by now, he'd wound deep into the forest. It was odd, he'd never been this way before. His feet had led him, and now he was lost, thought he wouldn't admit it. "Tch." He huffed, and rolled his shoulders, continuing to walk. The branches creaked above him, which was odd, because no breeze plagued the night. There was a sharp intake of breath, and something tumbled from the tree as the branch gave out. Whatever it was, it lay still. Jun's eyes widened, and he started to back away, and turned to run. He didn't make it far.
Facing him head on was a large, crimson dragon. And as it started to snarl, the path was illuminated by the flames licking at its teeth.