Chapter Text
For years now the earth had been dry and brittle, the grass brown and and burned.
The sun shone brighter and hotter as the summers grew longer every year. Now and then the bordering sea would carry in a breeze, bringing with it a bit of rain and relief. It was just enough to keep most fields alive - but only with extensive planning and a lot of work.
The people of Storrea were suffering. Endless days of hard labor in the sun and tight rations of food had taken its toll, leaving them thin, exhausted and aged past their years. Every morning and every evening the people prayed to the gods - for water, food and better times. And then, three years after the drought had started, they finally were blessed.
The particularly hot summer came to a close and the royal family was blessed with a second child. A hush fell over the castle, the city and then the regions farther out as the news spread: the queen had given birth to a second prince, marked by the gods with a dragon sign that covered his whole back. A dragon reborn in form of a human; a true blessing!
Their new prince was an Imugi, not a full dragon, but even so he would surely bring prosperity back to their land and people. Imugis were heralded as guardians of water, weather and agriculture after all.
And at once the hush over the country broke and gave way to cheers - loud, relieved and tearful.
The sky joined in and doused the land in heavy rain for the first time in years.
But the joy and relief that the Storrean kingdom felt that night was not shared by their western neighbors.
The Weril kingdom, too, had been suffering under the drought. Unlike the maritime Storrea, however, they were surrounded by nothing but land; there were no rain-bringing sea breezes, only hot, dry air that carried dust instead of water. The slight rain that came down now and again was not enough by far, evaporating as soon as it touched the ground.
To counter the drought, the people worked hard to redirect their rivers and streams to water their fields. But it just wasn’t enough. Many fields soon withered and the crops and vegetables that didn’t die, turned out much smaller. Fires spread with ease, burning land and food and people. The food was rationed tightly, but even so the small harvest just didn't yield enough food to go around.
Many people died in the first years of the drought but the people of Weril were tenacious. They kept working hard, redirecting rivers and improving their watering systems, studying and casting magic whenever their manual labour was not enough. Soon they reached a precarious balance again, where they were able to feed all the people - though this was only possible because their numbers had dwindled down so terribly.
In the night that the Storrean kingdom found hope and blessing in the form of their newborn prince, the western Weril remained completely unaware - even though they, too, received a piece of it.
Just as the dragon prince was born, rain doused the lands and among it a piece of the Imugi’s very being fell from the sky. It landed in a small village close to the border, right in front of a small child enjoying the first rain he had ever seen.
The child picked up the glowing blue orb that was as big as his hand and clumsily wiped of the mud that stuck to it. Then he brought it close to his face, curious eyes watching the shining swirls of gold and pink moving inside of it.
The child was so fascinated by the orb that he barely noticed as a familiar figure stepped up beside him.
“What do you have there, son?”
The boy looked up at his mother and held out the orb, the sea blue glow reflecting in his eyes.
“Ball.”
“Oh, that’s a very special ball! Look at the magic inside, it’s so pretty! Where did you get it?”
“It fell,” the boy explained, pointing straight up at the rainy sky.
“It just fell?”
“Yeah."
The mother looked up at the sky, at the sudden rain and the glowing orb in her son’s hands. Slowly her eyes widened in realization; she had heard of this in a tale once when she had still been a small child living by the sea. A soft, wondering smile spread across her lips.
She sunk to her knees in front of her son, cupping his hands in her own and closing them gently around the orb.
“You need to take good care of this, okay? It’s very special.”
The boy nodded. “U-huh! Why is pecial, mama?”
“It’s special because it is not just a pretty ball. It’s a heart."
With wonder in his eyes the boy again looked at the orb, one hand coming up to pat at his own chest.
His mother smiled gently at the gesture.
"Your hearts are connected. It will guide you but in return you need to protect it."
The boy blinked. He didn't understand it all but one word echoed in his mind:
Protect.