AU Week 1: The Sun Dragon (Drabble)
One eye opening lazily to glare at the sky, Sun groaned at the realization that heâd now need to move in order to keep out of the shade. Rising slowly to his feet, he couldnât help but admire the way his scales glittered in the light as he stretched first this way then that, the most satisfying pops running the entire length of his neck and down his back.
If he wasnât the most magnificent thing on this world he didnât know what was. What manner of creature could outshine the varying golds of his scales? Who could hope to fly faster, strike harder, or breathe hotter? Even amongst other dragons, Sun knew himself to be the most beautiful. Scarlet may be a close second, but the young red was far too interested in his hoard to properly groom himself as often as he should.
Awakened from his nap, and already standing, Sun leisurely padded over to the nearby lake, basking in the warmth provided by his namesake. Each of his siblings had their eccentricities; Scarlet his collection, Sage his quaint little cult that had sprung up around him, and Sun had his vanity. But in a world of short-lived humans, tiny elves, and hideous monsters, who was there to tell them they were wrong? That they werenât beloved of the gods and deserving of the lives theyâd chosen?
Staring down into the lake, he paused for only a moment to admire his reflection, for truly no being lived more awe-inspiring, more resplendent, more striking, dazzling, or majestic than he. He was the Sun Dragon, beholden to none, and the wilds were his to live as he pleased.
Snaking his head down to the water, Sun nearly lashed out in surprise when a long blue snout reached out from the lake to bump his own. Eyes clear as they sky stared up at him, his teeth barred in a humorous grin against skin that blended seamlessly with the lake even as the water rippled around this new dragon that had dared to enter his territory.
Backing away from the water, the righteous fury and heat pooling his chest was snuffed out as the blue followed him, the newcomerâs own scales every bit as brilliant as his own. The drops still sliding down his muscles only served to highlight all the strangerâs best features, and suddenly everything Sun knew about the world had been turned upside down.
How had he never known that there, just next door, had been another being just as perfect as he?