TCF: Dragons are Great!

Rebirth(1)

It was strange, the feeling surrounding Kim Rok Soo.

He could have sworn he was dead. He had certainly felt as if he had been injured beyond repair. The unranked monster that had swooped in the day after his vacation had ended was unexpected and nearly impossible to counter. They hadn't been expecting an unranked monster, and this one was fast. Dragon-like in appearance, with a wingspan that overtook multiple buildings.

It had taken days to pull the dragon to the ground, and another week to injure it enough to see the possibility of victory. Just when he had believed they could achieve the impossible, his second in command's voice sounded from across the crumbling roadway. Exhausted, bleeding from seemingly everywhere, Kim Rok Soo had just reacted. He knew it would be his end even as he activated his second ability.

The dragon's claw reached for his teammate, and Kim Rok Soo moved faster than time itself, if only for a moment. Although it was impossible to be certain, he could've sworn they met eyes, their mouth opening as if to say something, but his tired body only had enough power to push them out of the dragon's path. He would never be able to ask what they were trying to say.

His bones were shattered, and he had fallen to his knees, the ability spent. The shadow of the claws blocked out the daylight and his last thoughts had been of an irritated regret that he couldn't finish the fantasy series "The Birth of a Hero" that he had started during his vacation.

He had died, right?

But he didn't feel dead let alone injured. As a matter of fact he felt...strangely light. Powerful, even. All around him was warmth; a comforting feeling of home. Something he honestly couldn't remember feeling for years. How long had it been since he was this relaxed?

A voice spoke to him, soft, unfamiliar but so comforting.

"Oh? You must be close to hatching, I wasn't expecting this so soon."

Hatching?

Kim Rok Soo wanted to open his eyes, to see what exactly this voice meant by 'hatching', but something compelled him to stay as he was. A tickling feeling that said it wasn't time, not yet.

" Do not fret, my child. You don't need to rush. You'll be safe here in my forest, as you always will be."

A calming power washed over Rok Soo, and he felt himself falling deeper into sleep. He would wake up soon and figure this out, he decided. He just needed a bit more time.

The next time Rok Soo felt the beginning of consciousness return to him, the feeling of comfort, of safety, was gone. Instead there was an awful, pulsating dread and wrongness surrounding him. Something, perhaps the same instincts that had told him to rest previously were now pushing him to move.

So he did.

Inhuman appendages moved as he began to push against a tight, strong shell. Rok Soo balked at the feeling of a tail moving according to his will, pushing back against the shell to aid him in escaping. Finally, his snout hit hard enough that this gentle prison began to crack.

He continued to exert energy, questioning how anything born from an egg even bothered if it was this difficult. As his head left a warmth of what was definitely an egg, a cold, wet breeze ghosted across still wet scales.

His eyes opened, and he found himself blinking against the sun, which had decided to shine through large trees directly at him.

He looked down and saw what was a dark crimson egg, cracks all throughout what must have been his home for...who knows how long.