#flies with her own wings / cissnei.

[missingmywing]

Dragon AU, cause I'm stuck on mine...

Ohhh boy. Okay. Um. Yeah. First off, mine is… well. Really different from yours. And most of the dragon AUs I see. Dragonheart actually comes closest… but not exactly.

1.) Everyone has a dragon. There’s a soul connection that is formed as soon as they meet a dragon that is compatible (think Eragon… but absolutely everyone has a dragon). Dragons come in sooo many different sizes and species, there still isn’t a completely accurate way to categorize them all. Closest people have come are by region, and even then new types are constantly being found. When a human child is a certain age (depends on the region), they are taken to the… hoard? Pack? Group? (Okay I looked it up. A group of “domestic” dragons is called a Weyr. A group of “wild” dragons are called a Thunder.) -Weyr and walk among the eggs until they find the one that resonates with them. Then they take the egg home and protect it until it hatches, then raise the dragon. All dragons can use magic, as can most humans, but have differing levels of proficiency. When they reach a certain age (depends on the species), all dragons can shapeshift into a human form (thanks to their bond with their individual humans).

2.) Cloud is a human from Nibelheim, and Sephiroth is his dragon. There’s a few Weyrs of dragons in the Nibel mountains that are willing to work with humans (and the Thunders that aren’t), but the main one is in the caves at the top of Mount Nibel. In Nibelheim, children are taken to the Weyr at seven. So when Cloud was seven, he was taken to the Weyr (at the same time as Tifa, actually). Sephiroth’s egg had been found a couple of years before, and looked after until Cloud came up.

3.) Seph’s story is actually… pretty sad. It’s kind of the same as canon, but not. Lucrecia and Hojo were part of the same Thunder, while Vincent was part of a nearby Weyr. Differing from canon, Hojo simply wanted Lucrecia and an egg. Lucrecia and Vincent had a thing, but the rest of her Thunder disliked humans and, as such, the Weyrs. When Hojo found out, he attacked both Lucrecia and Vincent, and Lucrecia (holding her and Vincent’s egg) ran to protect the egg. Unlike canon, Vincent had the protection of his Weyr (and his closest friend, Veld, and his human… either Reeve or Cid. Dunno which yet. I kind of want Reeve, though… Nah. Cid is Vincent’s human. Reeve is a dragon and is Rufus’. I’m playing around with ages and timelines.) So Hojo was killed, and his Thunder was a bit miffed at the idea behind it, but didn’t mind too much. Hojo was creepy even in this verse, and he attacked first after all. So Vincent is fine, but thinks Lucrecia is dead (Hojo attacked them separately, and implied it), and thus doesn’t follow her to the Nibel Mountains. She’s exhausted from the flight, injured from Hojo, cold from the difference in temperature she’s not used to, and she uses the last of her energy to lay her egg and curl up around it. In doing so, she also lay magic on the egg, and Seph inside it, to keep it warm and safe from predators until someone finds it to take care of it. So his egg, and he himself when he hatches, looks… a bit different. Green eyes and silver scales, with feathers on his wings and fur alongside his scales. Not uncommon in the east, but on the western continent? Feathers, at least, are unusual. So Sephiroth is viewed as strange, and Cloud’s relationship with Nibelheim is the same as canon, so they’re both made targets.

4.) It culminates in an incident when Cloud is eight (Seph is thrown off a decent sized cliff by a few bullies before he’s learned how to fly, and Cloud jumps after him to protect him. Cloud gets a few broken bones, but Seph is physically alright. Mentally and emotionally, he’s rather traumatized,) that makes them both decide to leave as soon as Seph is big enough for Cloud to ride on while he flies, and as soon as Seph is over his sudden fear of flying. When Cloud is thirteen, they both leave to find a better place elsewhere. When they reach Costa Del Sol, they hear of the Dragon Racing Tournaments, and decide to try it out. There, they find their niche and make a name for themselves, and meet their best friends and greatest rivals; Zack and his two dragons, Angeal and Genesis.

5.) Unlike canon, Gen and ‘Geal are both fairly average in terms of childhood. No experiments or such. Genesis is still adopted, his egg was just… found. He was taken care of by Gillian alongside Angeal, and became attached to the dragon in the egg beside him. He had an inherent dislike of pretty much everyone else, however, even before he was hatched. So when Zack came along and Angeal bonded with him instantly, Genesis decided that if Angeal liked him so much that he couldn’t be so bad, and followed. As such, Zack, on vacation to Banora with his parents, got two eggs to take care of. He was a bit scatter-minded sometimes, but he took extremely good care of both his eggs. Genesis became as fond of him as Angeal as time passed. When they hatched, Zack spoiled them. Immensely. He tried not to, but… he was soft-hearted by nature. As they all got older, he became inordinately fond of reckless tricks while flying with Gen and ‘Geal, enjoying jumping from one to the other while in midair. They always caught him when he fell, anyway. They were introduced to Dragon Racing when Zack was twelve when Gongaga hosted a tournament, and they entered for fun. They won, and continued on to a higher level of the tournament, eventually winning the entire thing. They decided to turn it into a career, and started traveling around and making a name for themselves. They finally met their match when they were fifteen to a rookie pair from the mountains when they took on an Icicle Inn Tournament, and gained two new friends and their greatest rivals.

6.) I don’t have backstories for anyone else yet, but here’s a few other pairs. Aerith and her dragon, Tseng. Rufus and his dragon Reeve (who used conjuring magic to create a cat toy for Rufus’ and his own amusement). Cid and his dragon, Vincent. Tifa and her dragon, Reno. Elena and her dragon Rude, and friend from a Thunder that joined a Weyr, Cissnei. I’m still working out all the details (For example, I had the sudden thought that Yuffie and Cissnei would make a very interesting pair) but this is what I’ve got so far. Now I just need to write it.

[atlaslain]

general character tag drop bc its about time. skfgncf the last couple aren’t great but hey !