The city of Tierm was teeming with life as the sun rose. Sunlight glittered off the surface of the water as the seagulls wheeled in the sky. Further out from the seaside city, a massive shape approached the shoreline, more than three merchant ship lengths long. the waters rippled violently before the dark shape stopped only a hundred yards from the city's docks, a bright blue light faintly pulsing from below.
Then, a smaller form rose to the surface, a large cloak wreathed over their shoulders. Charcoal-black scales emerged just an inch over the collar line of the cloak before it faded into olive-toned skin. Clawed hands lifted in the water before amber eyes opened to observe their surroundings, and a bass hum made the water ripple around the being as he flicked his tail to speed his approach to land.
A content snort made the surface of the ocean ripple and a low thrum deep in the beings chest showed his satisfaction in finding the right place to come up. Finally reaching a vacant section of the docks, the person cautiously looked about to check for anyone nearby before lifting himself from the safety of his home.
The humanoid stood tall as he placed his feet on solid ground, ocean water dripping from his frame before a burst of heat and wisps of blue fire from within made the water steam off. The cloak over his back did nothing to disguise the three rows of jagged spines, and his charcoal-black tail, decorated with smaller spines as they traveled down his back, swung lazily before setting down on the ground. Pitch black hair sat messily on his head, and a frame of scales curled under his eyes and sat on his cheekbones almost like an impromptu half-mask of sorts.
The male, for that was undoubtedly his gender, looked over his form, lifting the cloak see under it and turning before nodding in satisfaction. He only had this alternate form- magic could only go so far in alteration- so it would have to do; it fit with the name his people gave him, sounding more human and relatable than the Godzilla that the legends mispronounced it for. Standing tall and striding forwards the entrance to the town, the man-creature, Gojira, set his expression into one of seriousness. He was a Titan on a mission, and nothing would deter him from his goal.
He would find the source of power here, in Tierm.
"My gods… what is that thing?"
"Mother, who is he?"
"Someone call the guards…"
"What creature is that?"
Gojira let these words slide from his back like the ocean currents. They were humans who didn't know any better. His people and those who walked with them had faded from memory long ago, so it stood to reason that they would be cautious, nay, frightened of Gojira at first glance.
Glancing at the muttering masses briefly, the humanoid licked his lips before turning to a vendor on the side of the street. He was hungry, and he wanted to try something of the surface after so long eating raw fish in the seas and the abundance of magic in the bubble that made his temple home.
A medium-sized bag of blackberry tarts steamed on the wooden counter of the stall, the smell sweet and buttery in Gojira's nose. The vendor was shaking in his boots as the Titan in humanoid form stared at the bag.
"W-w-what do you want?" the vendor demanded, trying to put on a brave face as the stranger towered over him. "If you're here to cause trouble, I won't hesitate to call the guards!"
Gojira blinked in confusion before pointing with a clawed finger at the bag, trying to remember what the phrasing was for humans who asked for something. He never usually had to ask, he was offered things before, or he hunted for himself.
"Would like this... please."
Gojira's voice was gravelly and rough, thundering like the rage of the oceans and deep as the age he boasted.
The vendor paused, almost looking as if Gojira were trying to joke with him, before he stammered out the price, something about gold pieces.
Gojira furrowed his brow- he didn't have much of that… but he had the shiny yellow things, along with colored rocks and stone from shipwrecks he swam across in passing and would collect on a whim.
Raising a clawed finger for the vendor to wait a moment, Gojira dug into the pockets of his cloak and pulled out a small palmful of the green, and clear stones, placing them gently on the wood so they wouldn't scatter.
"W-will this do?" he asked, the words forming roughly in his mouth as his elongated canines got in the way. The Vendor was struck speechless before he quickly changed his manner, nodding brightly and smiling, though the scent of greed nearly made the Humanoid Titan want to gag- it seemed like humanity was still the same in some aspects, even after their first landfall on the surface.
With a polite nod, Gojira picked up the bag of treats and ambled away, the whispers and murmurs about his form and body wafting in the air with every step he took. Then, he paused, the sensation of magical energy rising sharply, and Gojira looked sharply down a pathway leading to what he believed to be a residential area.
No one was there, and the sudden upsurge had faded.
However, a young-looking human with startling blue whisps, darker, and more on the end of sapphire blue than his signature vibrant, blinding white blue, was walking quite fast down the very pathway, and Gojira snorted curiously before turning his body in a move to follow them.
The human boy may be the answer to the turmoil this world had fallen into.
Eragon's gaze was expressive as he wandered around the city. He had never seen so many people in one place before. It felt like only yesterday he was that farm boy from Carvahall, hunting on the Spine and helping bring food to the table. Then he found the blue stone, which turned out to be a dragon's egg. The stone had hatched, and Eragon had named the dragon Saphira, inserting himself into what he only thought to be myth and legend at the time.
Their flight from Carvahall and in a thirst for revenge, Eragon, Saphira, and the old Storyteller Brom had arrived at Tierm following a new lead in the chase for the dragon hunters, the Ra'zac. However, while Brom sought the answers through an old friend of his, Jeod, Eragon was exploring the marketplace near the docking area.
"What is that thing?"
"Is it some kind of monster?"
"Magic- a foul art, I tell you. Wonder if that poor soul dabbled in it too much?"
Murmurs and gossip began to flutter around the young rider as he neared an area of the crowded market, and brown eyes widened when he saw the cause of it all.
It was a creature unlike any he had seen before, with the leaf-like spines and the long, scaled tail at the back similar to a dragon's. It seemed to be male, and stood and walked like a humanoid, however, and there was a head of hair and skin where it peeked around the cloak. Even so, something in Eragon's most primal instinct told him that this creature was dangerous. That he should advert his eyes and bow before it…
«Eragon… do not do anything to draw it's attention! Go back to Brom immediately and tell him of what you have seen!» Saphira's voice was alarmed, almost afraid, as she looked through her Rider's eyes.
Eragon realized that the primal instinct he was feeling wasn't his own, but Saphira's.
What in the name of heaven and earth, could make a dragon want to bow? «What is it?» the boy asked, turning and briskly walking away. Saphira rumbled, almost nervously, but in relief that her Rider was getting away from the danger. «I do not know… but every instinct in my heart is screaming at me to either bow down or flee its sight lest I make it angry. It feels powerful, ancient… moreso than the dragons.»
The boy blinked at the shudder running through the dragon's mind but chose not to question it for now. He made his way back to Jeod's house to find Brom waiting impatiently outside the door. "Took you long enough, boy," the old man said gruffly, but he noticed the alarm on the boy's face and he straightened. "Were you recognized?" Brom asked sharply, instantly going with the assumption that their cover was blown.
Eragon shook his head slowly, puzzled by the emotions coming from the blue dragoness he was bonded to. "No. it's just that, in the market I saw something."
Brom's eyes flickered up, scanning the streets that Eragn had traversed, before his eyes widened at something behind the boy. Leaning down, Brom muttered into Eragon's ear.
"Get inside. Lock the door until I say to open it, and do not think about eavesdropping."
Eragon opened his mouth to protect, but when his eyes flicked back to see what Brom had spotted, he went pale. The creature that he saw in the market had followed him. Now that Eragon saw it's face and the front of it's body, he could put a gender to it- the top of his body was shirtless, exposing patches of scales that faded as they closed in in the chest, abdomen, and belly area. A human face peered out from behind a curtain of black bangs, but eyes that glowed with amber fire seemed fixed on him.
Eragon promptly shut his mouth and did as Brom instructed.
As he slipped past the old man, Eragn saw him grip his sword a little tighter, preparing for a possible fight.
Gojira drew up short when he saw his target slip past an older human male. The Titan tilted his head, considering his options. He could force his way past the old man, but that wouldn't really give him a benefit of the doubt. Talking with the human seemed the best way to go, but with how he's holding that metal toothpick they call 'swords', the old man seemed ready for a fight.
Relaxing his stance to appear more open, Gojira moved forwards once more.
"Good morning, friend," the old man said gruffly, shifting to keep the door behind him. "What brings you to this area?"
Gojira snorted, tilting his head as he stopped about a tail length away from the old man (about five feet give or take). He furrowed his brow, trying to formulate the right words, before he remembered them.
"Nn-not here," the gravely voice said lowly. Amber eyes looked the old man up and down, seeing an extremely faint magical energy around him, an indigo blue that intertwined with an ocean blue, the latter of which was almost completely gone.
It was the same as the boy's, only the boy's secondary color was a sapphire blue, like the oceans in the deep where Gojira had risen from.
Clawed hands flexed, the claws on the ends of his fingers glinting in the sunlight and making the human tense minutely. "I'm sorry to say that I don't feel quite safe going with someone I don't know." The human stated, voice deceptively calm and pleasant. "How do I know you aren't trying to rob me?"
Gojira snorted. "N-no need… wanted you dead? W-would be."
The old man's brow furrowed, his expression changing as he thought out that statement. Gojira felt something in his mind itch, like an errant mite under his scales. The Titan shook his head, and the itch was gone. Gojira changed his stance then, the plates on his back flashing to warn, but in a slow cadence, also to soothe that he meant no harm. "P-peace, Old One…" he rumbled. "K-know. I know everything."
The old man's face paled before he seemed to look closer. The itch in Gojira's mind returned, stronger than before, and the Titan bared his teeth in a feral grin. "Do not t-take me as… weak," he warned, tail swinging threateningly. His plates flashed even more. "Was old… long before dragons flew the skies."
The old man's brow furrowed into a glare and the blade at his side hissed as it was partially drawn.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
Gojira's plates dimmed before the flashing stopped altogether. The swinging tail settled, and his amber eyes, which had taken a blue glow, faded into their flaming lavalit color once more.
The feral grin faded into a smirk, and he lowered his head, though he kept his gaze on the old human.
The old man's breath caught when he heard his answer.
"The one King to rule Them all."
