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SolifugeSpace
ohh, you've asked for it now.
alright, just to clear things up this is based off an au of my favourite game series, so a brief overview tends to follow similar points to the games. it's a 4-game series, each following the story of two characters. the games leave a lot of gaps between them in terms of connecting together.
so, let's start our little story some thousand years ago, when a powerful entity created two servants and protectors for it, two coatls. all's well until an accident leaves the two stranded in some other world- a dark and shadowy realm of negativity and hate. while helpless and waiting to be rescued, they argue about serving their patron, until the female leaves her brother, disappearing into the darkness and swearing revenge, to return and destroy the entity she feels controlled her. and when she does, a shade-corrupted horror appearing in the sky, her brother and an incredibly powerful psychic fae that had taken up duty as protector both almost die just to weaken her, enough to keep the malevolence at bay for a few thousand years. it's a little-known myth, often disregarded by dragons as being no more than a campfire tale.
fast-forward a couple thousand years to a small clan being battered by frigid gales in the southern icefield, praying to the icewarden for safety, but getting only a few arrogant dragons who charge into the blizzards and never return. the prayers slow down, and hatred sets in amongst the dragons, until any traveller who appears with offers to help is bluntly shoved into the snowstorm, seen as mockery from the icewarden. confusion sets in, however, when a young coatl appears at the clan gates, as surely this child cannot be sent by the gods to stop the blizzards. while the elders and the priests argue, he gets taken in by a family of ridgebacks. after a week, the young coatl is thrown from the clan into the frozen wastes, and after a long trek, finds himself facing a monstrous imperial, the cause of the storm and the killer of those who had tried before him. despite the coatl's best efforts, he barely wounds the imperial, and just as he prepares for a death blow, a spiney body pushes him into a ditch. the eldest of the ridgeback children, whom he'd made good friends with, had followed him out and saved him. together, the two slowly fought the monster, and eventually, by sheer luck, managed to slay it.
however, the storms just picked up. determined to find the cause and stop it, whatever the cost, the ridgeback presses onwards towards the tallest of the nearby mountains, followed by his friend. despite the rations stolen from the clan (maybe half their food supply) and the two's best efforts, hunger, hypothermia and frostbite had almost overcome them both by the time they'd climbed the summit, and it was with the last of their power that they held off the ice-encrusted shadebeast summoning the blizzards- yet, with the coatl's final strike, the icy shell was shattered and the fading monster created one last blizzard, strong enough to freeze solid everything for miles around- before the gale died away forever. although this story, too, is a myth, many plucky adventurers search for the frozen ruins of the lost clan, believing the story to be true.
let's go to more in the present, maybe just a few years ago now. a gaoler and a guardian go on a similar trek through a frozen field, weary from years of running from a threat that never slows down. they can still hear the accusations ringing through the market, see the bogsneak's triumphant smile as dragons start to charge. they're being hunted, hunted because of a single dragon's lies, and are still looking for a way to prove their innocence. hearing shouts grow louder, they dart into a cave, but turn to see the most esteemed rescue team of the time follow them in. an old imperial, looking sadly at them, with a menacing ridgeback and a powerful guardian flanking him. behind the trio, more teams flood in, a skydancer and her companions, a snapper with his grunts. the two fugitives, cornered, wait, determined to go out fighting. instead, a blue blur launches in from the cave mouth, pulling the guardian into the crowd behind him, and a red figure hurtles into the imperial, sending him scrambling. as the new arrivals cause chaos in the crowd, the fugities run for their lives, not stopping until a red nocturne soars above them, laughing, and lands in the snow in front of them, a blue coatl right behind. the fugitives start to stammer their thanks, but are stopped, the nocturne hands them both bags full of supplies, wishes them luck, and the two are gone, with just the sound of laughter lingering on the cold breeze.
...alright, that's not all of the whole thing, but my fingers are tired. i'll maybe write out the rest later. all of these have continuations, as such, so if you particularily want to hear one of those, just say.