Creak, chink.
The little dragon scrabbled at the walls of the egg for what seemed a rather long time.
Finally the shell gave way and sunlight drifted into the space.
The hatchling cimbed up then tumbled out into the the bark 'nest' in which the red eggshell also rested. He blinked up at the bare branches above, and the blue sky beyond. With the world to explore, he clawed at the sides of the nest, struggling to gain enough purchase to move up.
He just put a claw over when a blue dragon arrived, gently ushering him back into the nest and providing a clawful of meat. After he gobbled it down, she helped him out of the nest but kept under close watch...at least until he yawned and she returned him to his resting place.
"Rest well, little one..."
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Hours passed in a similar manner of waking, resting, and wandering under supervision, at least until the hatchling found the nearby pond.
Then he sat and watched his reflection for most of an hour, trying to understand why the dragon on the other side only moved when he did, and why he disappeared whenever his nose or claws broke the water's surface.
He might have sat there even longer had he not tumbled into the pool facefirst. His guardian collected her charge swiftly, but not before he had dreged up a silver coin, clutching it to his chest.
Then she held him close to ensure he retained sufficient warmth, while watching him eagerly examine his prize.
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Days passed and the small dragon grew, frequently returning to the pond and starting to dive to look for more objects like his coin. Though his guardian was puzzled that a red dragon would take such an interest in swimming, she nonetheless permitted it.
This did not pass completely without incident. Twice she had to rescue him when his foot stuck on vegetation growing at the bottom of the pond; after the second time she shook her head and wondered aloud, "You seem to find plenty of trouble. What am I going to do with you...?"
Though it began with some incoherent growls, he tilted his head and tried mimicing the last part, a word he'd heard from his guardian plenty. "...gy...gyu."
She was quiet for a moment, then smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes, you."
As tradition stipulated, she named the little dragon after he spoke his first word. "You yourself, little Ipse." Also in the footsteps of tradition, she then spent the next several minutes teaching Ipse his own name.
More days went by; in addition to his own name Ipse began learning other things, such as making use of his swimming aptitude to catch fish and his eye for shiny objects to begin collecting trinkets into the nest.
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Weeks passed; Ipse quickly outgrew the nest and built a larger one next to the blue dragon's. His guardian and mentor's name was Enitkiir - and by no mere coincidence was she given this task, for she was Ipse's older sister.
The two were the only family members still present, their parents having passed several months before Ipse awoke.
Their crystalline tombs resided elsewhere in the forest, and Ipse would go visit them frequently, praying for their blessing as well as the blessings of all his ancestors - as his sister taught him to do in the ways of tradition.
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Months passed; the two siblings continued growing closer and Ipse continued growing in general.
Enitkiir taught him how to fly, starting off of the ground, then tree branches, then hills, and finally from a nearby ravine.
With this skill mastered, he also gained much greater proficiency in hunting and could start to help watch over the family's territory.
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Years passed; as a full-grown dragon he joined his sister in keeping the territory in order, warding off explorers who came too close, and occasionally meeting with other clans.
He continued to find small, shiny objects to collect - an instinct his sister chided, but always with a smile.
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On a day following a thunderstorm, the peaceful life broke. Ipse woke to a net draped over him and staked down. Someone shouted, "It's awake!"
"Quick, take out the other one!"
A piercing cry from Enitkiir quickly alterted Ipse to the gravity of the situation; he snapped the net easily and dove for his sister.
However, she was already gone. The spearman who wielded the weapon was also gone in a matter of seconds, nothing but ash. Over the next few seconds, the would-be ambushers broke into chaos...but most of them went up in flames as Ipse's firey rage washed over them.
Most of the remainder were slain by the dragon's claws, and only one quaking man in a yellow tunic remained, standing against a tree. Ipse almost killed him instantly as well, but then reconsidered - he might be useful.
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Ipse put a claw to his captive's neck, growling with every word, smoke bellowing from his mouth. "Who are you and where did you come from?"
"P-please...just don't kill me..."
"Tell me!" The smoke billowed into the soldier's face.
"...the baron sent us to locate dragon scales for his collection..." A pained cough and sputter in the smoke. "...Fortian, the Baron of Aurdinas..."
"Where is this 'Aurdinas'?"
"Due south, a city of great wealth...please, let me go..."
"You are contemptible. You, your master, and everyone who serves him. I will find this man by his gold and remove every trace of him from this world." With barely a twitch, Ipse severed the soldier's throat and dropped him.
He turned to his fallen sibling, asking the elders for strength...with their help, he let instinct take over, breathing over her not fire, but a stream of magic to preserve her, encasing her in diamond that her scales might never cease to shine.
Still giving his will to instinct, still being led by the spirits of the elders, he launched himself skyward, southward.
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"One day, the miners in Aurdinas heard a noise from the horizon - an unnatural noise that pierces the ears, an unheavenly screech that no human mouth nor machine could conjure.
A great red Dragon rose up from the horizon, its senses set on the stench of gold emanating from the settlement. Aurdinas was well-fortified but even they were no match for the Dragon. Aurdinas went down in flames, every single one of its citizens scorched to death, or suffocated in the smoke. After every last building had been razed to the ground, the Dragon made its home atop the dead Baron's hoard of gold.
Aurdinas is under Dragon occupation."
- Brawlmasters, Brawl VI Lore
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Knowing quite well that he could not readily move all of the treasure he owned by conquest, Ipse began rigging up traps, patrolling the area for opportunistic attackers, and finding unlikely allies in the few creatures that crossed his path.
Once he accumulated enough defenses...he would bring the treasure back to his sister's grave. And then...he didn't know what he'd do. He didn't really care any longer either.
All that mattered was completing his revenge.
