Wind blew inland from the ocean as the sky yellowed. Dancing palm trees sprouted up from pure white sand as wind blew past towards a wall of green bushes and more trees behind it.
When the sun started to set, a white cruise ship pulled out from the beach back to the ocean, leaving Flareon Light behind. The wind made him move a little further inland. The tips of his fingers and toes got cold on the sand. To keep warm, he decided to walk along the edge of the gentle, swaying waves.
He tugged against pressure on his forehead, only to remember that he put on a sleek white headband with a camera.
Slowking Chad set up dozens of cameras around in the trees and growth. Light tried looking for them, but only managed to spot two or three. The signal flares stuck up out of the white sand in a circle where Light walked over to wait. He sat in the center of the circle with his gray tail almost making him lose balance from how much wind it caught.
He wondered to himself about why they had all of this on a cruise ship, but he didn't want to ask Chad too many things. It felt like anything could be a touchy subject with him, even if he hadn't snapped at Light yet.
The beach got colder as the sky;s yellow darkened to orange. The sun was falling behind the horizon of the sea when a Light felt buzzing in his ear. It took him a second to register Chad's voice from his earpiece.
"Hi?" Light said.
"Hello. Can you hear me?"
"Yah."
"Good. Live-stream is already up and running. You alright? It's cold out there."
"I'm fine."
"I'll update you on how many people are watching if something happens."
Chad still doubted him. Light exhaled through his nose to get the annoying itch out of his chest without him hearing.
"Okay," Light said.
The sky became red and pink, then darkened. The only clouds were tiny strands that were higher than Light could imagine ever being.
The way it all reflected off of the water mesmerized him. The reflections were always shifting and turning with the water. The seagulls and sound of water rushing up and down the slope almost made Light forget what he was doing there.
The moment a line of steam came into view in the sky, the fading light and colors in the sky became eerie. Flareon Light stood up and paced around the circle of signal flares, taking each of them out of the sand one by one to turn them on with a simple switch on the side. The tops of the sticks started to glow with a flame that grew brighter as night fell. Once he finished, he went back to the center of the circle and sat down staring up at the sky.
The line in the sky started to look like a meteor. The distinct red and orange color of fire made it stand out against the other stars.
Light felt a buzz in his ear again.
"Okay, some fifty viewers now. They're all asking where the meteor is going to land."
"Say it'll be close by," Light said. "Advertise with that, then."
"On it."
He couldn't blame them for thinking it was a meteor. He would, too.
Light kept his eyes up for a few minutes. The red dot flew in a curve towards him and down to the ocean. When it reached the sea, it stopped moving down, but continued to get bigger. Water exploded up like clouds underneath it, rippling out in waves.
It didn't look like a meteor anymore.
"What…?" Chad's voice asked.
"Are all the cameras on?" Light asked.
"Yes…"
Light nodded to himself and stood up.
The breeze on the beach at night blew inland, and out to the ocean during the day. The breeze coming in started to tickle the edge of the fur on Light's face.
"Light, you need to move."
"I'll be fine," Light said.
"No, Light... I think you need to move now."
"People need to see it."
"Light!"
"And it won't crash into me."
"Bless your heart, young lad. It's heading right for you."
It got even bigger. When Light scaled the distance between Reshiram and himself, there were only a few seconds left that used to grip loose sand as hard as he could.
The sand broke apart. The force of wind flipped Light off of his feet into the air and carried a crackling, joyous laugh with it.
Light rolled on his side and got his feet back under him.
Reshiram stood still on the shoreline. Its feet broke the waves' shaky pattern, which still hadn't recovered from its arrival. The signal flares drowned. Droplets scattered across Light's face.
The last of the sun's light disappeared on the horizon. Reshiram's burned body and torn up wings became the brightest light on the horizon. The sand darkened from being wet and Reshiram's violent shadow. The waves bent out of the way of Reshiram's thick legs to reach the shore like before.
Reshiram's blue eyes were ebbing with steam rising to the sky.
"One thousand viewers," Chad reported. "I… can't believe it."
"Reflecting on your failure?" Reshiram asked. It's voice echoed over itself in layers. It gained a higher pitch in every echo. "But why here? I already made you the perfect place. A filthy graveyard."
"What do you mean?" Light asked.
Reshiram's body straightened out. Its wings settled at its sides while its head turned up past Light, almost to the sky.
"I haven't been active in this world in a long time. At the very least, not as active as in the old times. Back then, I burned those who would bring ruin against your kind. And now, your kind is ruled by those who would bring ruin."
"But, what are you doing here in Kaigan then?" Light asked.
"These 'countries' of yours must be destroyed. They are not within the natural order, and neither are you."
A sharp, scraping noise came from behind him. Light jumped and turned around.
Long pillars of glass burst out of the ground and overtook the line of trees and foliage. Traveling in a wave, it rose up into a wall. Light's eyes darted left and right as it surrounded him.
"I promise you and the watching world it will be painless."
"Well," Light muttered," you probably know how this whole self-defense thing goes…"
Reshiram flapped its wings. Light squinted and managed to see through the cloud of sand.
Glass spikes erupted on either side of him. Light became tunneled in by glass walls topped with sharp spikes.
"Alright. Authorities are officially inbound to investigate," Chad said.
Light couldn't escape. That news came too late. He had to last against it now until someone got here.
"Light," Chad continued, "try to push it back to the ocean. Jewel's ready with a harpoon. Its tail is a very high source of energy. It's a weakness."
Light would have to push it back straight on. The huge difference in size and spiked glass growing along its wings and white body were the main problems. Four of him would fit into each foot alone. With a lack of options, he decided to try and break up the glass with attacks and try to push it back from a distance..
Light swung his tail using Swift. Yellow stars barraged the dragon's chest and the front of its legs. Reshiram didn't budge. At the very least, glass broke off into shards and scattered on the sand.
"I think it's drawing some international level attention now," Chad reported.
"Oh great," Light said. "Just in time."
Light took steps forward. He built up energy in his chest that pressured his breathing. He ran forward and jumped when he reached the wall of glass shards on the ground.
Reshiram blocked his tackle with its wing. Light's bones creaked as his momentum stopped, and he fell down.
Reshiram lifted its foot and kicked him in the chest.
Light couldn't scream- he lost the air in his lungs. He slid on his back on the sand, bounced up and down until he stopped on the edge of the glass wall. A buzz in his ear didn't register.
A river of stars took over the night sky. A small chill wormed its way through his fur and skin.
"Light! Get up! Come on!"
Reshiram's head blotted out the sky, then the underside of its foot. Light dragged his limbs over his body.
Reshiram stomped.
Light's back pushed into the sand. The force and pain it made turned off every sense but his sight and hearing. The sound of the waves and cool air vanished.
"Light, please!"
"I'm the death people are wishing for," Reshiram said, lifting its leg. "These countries of yours are miserable. The lifestyles you've created are unnatural and disgusting. People deserve better."
Reshiram stomped. Light gasped for air, still able to feel his own breathing. His limbs numbed.
"The world is watching right now," Reshiram said. "I can feel it. They aren't scared for you. World leaders right now are thinking about what they can do to protect themselves, not their people. As they always are. And people are still under their control despite this? Outrageous."
Reshiram stomped. Light's limbs fell on the ground, and he couldn't pick them back up. He drew in air to use his only defense.
"Wait…!" Light coughed.
Red-hot glass stuck out from Reshiram's heel. The burst of adrenaline seeing it let him move his body.
Reshiram stomped. Hot glass sheared Light's leg. He howled towards the sky, then grit his teeth to swallow it.
Light was strong. He stared back at Reshiram's blue eyes to let it know. Reshiram stared back as it lifted its foot.
A fierce light hit Reshiram in the face. It reeled back, swinging its foot from over Light's body as it stumbled.
A blurry cascade of light soared over his head. He couldn't tell what kind of attacks they were. The cold, sinking feeling washing over him distracted him from the ferocity. Glass shattering and Reshiram's howls overwhelmed his hearing and stung in his head.
Reshiram's footsteps made splashes in the water. The tremors its legs made on the sand became dull as it was forced out in the water.
"Jewel!"
"I see it!" Jewel's voice screamed.
Relief let Light's face rest when he heard the strike. It sounded like steel stabbing through iron, reverberating in the air and up Light's spine through the sand. Reshiram's scream sounded like a nail scraping against steel, followed by a miniature tornado of wind. Reshiram's cry faded away with the flapping of its wings.
He wasn't sure what was going to happen next to him, but the mission came to a close. Despite his failing vision and slip into dreams, he won.
