Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or Yu-Gi-Oh GX or any of their characters.
Seto watched the fierce-eyed boy duel with an almost predatory ferocity whilst watching from one of the highest—and the best—vantage points available. Indeed, it had been some time since he had seen such sport.
But, of course, for the silver-haired duelist, this was not mere sport. He understood that same ferocity all too well. Seto had experienced it for himself for at least fourteen years.
Understandably, Seto was eager to get acquainted with the young duelist, especially when they met quite by accident when they simultaneously met on their way out through the means of a side corridor that was reserved for those of a high status. Not unlike he himself.
Eerily observant, the boy noticed him right away. Shock and a touch of annoyance caused those sapphire eyes to flare hotly. Obviously, he thought himself alone in his superiority.
Ah, the haughtiness of youth…
However, he had not gone unrecognized. Seto pinpointed the exact moment where annoyance gave way to realization. It was then at the boy's weakest second that Seto seized his opportunity.
"Leaving?" he asked conversationally.
The boy just stood there. And while he stood there, a sudden defiant, distrustful expression creased his features. When it became clear that the boy would not answer such an irrelevant inquiry; Seto switched tactics.
"Good game," the elder man intoned. Genially, he stretched out a hand.
The boy stared at it before looking into Seto's face. Those cobalt blue eyes that so dominated the young duelist's countenance were haunted. The boy's very demeanor said it all. By nature, he was a hesitant soul that only let his true colors show on the arena floor. A sad boy—perhaps—that fought for his own convictions and with an arrogant aplomb that defied his age.
What was so deeply embedded in the boy's psyche? What secret pain—if any—did he hide? Could it even begin to compare with his own? What prevented him from taking his hand?
Phoenix. That was the young duelist's name. A fiery individual with a persevering heart in the face of adversity.
Did he consider him an enemy? Is that why the phoenix's wing would not touch the dragon's claw?
The boy was about to speak. Seto could tell.
"Thanks." The silver-haired duelist's tone was exceedingly cool as Seto's hand still lingered in the empty void that separated bird from dragon.
Vaguely amused now, Seto withdrew his hand. The kid was smarter than he had thought. Vanity made no impression on him, and he had no time for sycophants. Indeed, the phoenix would lay a fiery path between the inconstantly spaced stars above with nothing weighing it down. That was fine with Seto. Dragons could not abide surface admirers either.
At once, the air had become stifling, and it was little wonder. Two legendaries couldn't stand each other's presence for long, especially two polar opposites such as themselves. The dragon needed to soar towards the sunrise just as much as the phoenix craved the twilight. It was night now, and it was the phoenix's domain.
And, Seto was in it.
In the next instant, both males settled their gazes on the exit. Without a word from either mouth, Seto chose the right door while the young duelist burst through the left. A legendary never could submit to another legendary.
A bit fascinated by the experience and the young boy himself, Seto watched him leave. The phoenix always had been a solitary creature—just like the dragon. Bathed in its own radiance, the phoenix would take to the skies whilst living off its own fire.
Seto smirked and shook his head.
The kid has far to go.
Author's Note: I never saw a fic featuring these two characters before. This fic has some splashes of Far Eastern mythology in that the Dragon and the Phoenix do represent polar opposites. The Dragon symbolizes the active yang, and the Phoenix symbolizes the passive yin. I tweaked it a bit for the purposes of the fic.