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They clash in a mess of limbs and verdant scales and claws. Snarling and baring teeth, a far shot from the love they held for one another. Izuku felt the rubble crumble under his claws as he recoiled from one of Todoroki's swipes. He hissed, the familiar beast hissed back thoroughly. He jumped away when the red and white dragon lounged for his throat in a deliberate motion, a killing blow.
Recoils further scaling up tiny buildings as he stared into the heated eyes of his once winged beloved. Oh, how things have changed in the state of war.
The dragon before him had once been his Shoto, quietly kind and sweet. Now, there was no sense of care for anyone within him. He had despised the idea of protecting humans. He had growled that they were cruel despite their weakness and that they should leave them be. Izuku had disagreed. They were living beings and therefore, should be protected from any monsters that were to come to harm them. Not all humans were bad in Izuku's mind. They had aspirations and kin and futures to reach.
They had fought over it countless times before finally, Shouto backed down. But not in the way Izuku had hoped. His defensive stance had softened as his angered face had slipped into something calmer. "I see that we will never agree on this." His strong wings flitted behind him as he turned away. "I will not help them. Goodbye, izuku” with a harsh bat of the dragon's wings he was lifted from the stone of their cave to the air. He didn't even turn as he made his way past the treelines.
Hot tears slid down his face and he shook his head to rid himself of them. He snarled. Shouto had made his choice, and he had made his. Fighting him was not what he wanted to do, but izuku was a dragon of prosperity and life, he felt the need to protect the humans.
Now here they were, months later fighting tooth and nail. It was pitiful.
Shouto lounged at him once more, thick body slamming into Izuku as he caught his green shoulder in his maw. His teeth broke past his iron-clad scales and he clawed down the Izuku's neck in hopes to rip him off. It barely worked. The large serpents tousled like this for many moments more. It felt like hours but realistically could have only been minutes.
Shouto was the one to jump back this time, huge wings flapping wildly and throwing up debris from the city. He carried himself into the sky above izuku showing his advantage while also showing his dripping wounds.
Past Izuku would have said he looked beautiful right now, soaring overhead in such a display of power. But now, Izuku could say he was monstrous, snarling and drenched in all red blood. Like his father, his mind hissed.
Izuku growls at the beast, mouth open and spilling with heat and light. The feeling is similar to cough as he spits fire at his flying opponent. It's green and sparking as the raw energy barrels towards the winged dragon. He misses. Shoto ducking out of the way and powering up his own attack.
The temperature around them drops as shoutout weaponizes his ice. Izuku turns, scrambling in the loose sense of the word across the building tops. Shouto follows him closely. When izuku feels the distinct chill of the approaching ice, he spins on his claws, knocking down structures and dodging under the ice in The process.
Izuku jumps towards his enemy, thick scaled legs shooting him up in the air in a way that only his body can achieve. His legs are strong, made for jumping to make up for his lack of wings. His teeth catch on Shouto’s thigh and when he falls he drags the other hissing creature down with him.
Rubble and dust fly upward and the ground shakes. The elemental dragon turns to him fast with his teeth bared. Before he can aim, Izuku catches him by the throat.
Shouto's struggling ceases, his broad chest heaving with exhaustion and pain. Izuku doesn't let go. It's like his jaw has been nailed shut. His dagger-like teeth sink deeper. He feels Shouto's breathing become weak and desperate before it's just hot air whizzing between his teeth. Despite this Shouto glare. Izuku's eyes can't tear away from these eyes that stare at him with such hate and betrayal. Even as his life leaves his body, the hate does not, and the dragon is left staring at the stormy eyes he once loved.
The huge beast feels his face contort and his eyes burn in a way that tells him he's about to cry. It's unwelcomed. Even as the small, lingering humans cheer and clap he feels empty. Wrong.
( Guilty, he is guilty. In the face of conflict, he had made his lover a casualty. How disgraceful of a dragon.)
The celebration is drowned out by the creature's mournful cry.
It will be known forever, the cry of Izuku, the weeping serpent.
The cry of a beast that in chasing what he perceived good had led himself to evil.
A beast so devastated in its actions that it tore itself from its name. The creature was no longer a respectful dragon, but a serpent.
The red and white dragon, Todoroki, as it had been named by humans years later, had been carried away by the serpent. It dragged the limp body over the building and took bounding leaps away from the humans. it disappeared for years. But, despite common belief, they were found miles and miles away from the city they had destroyed in anger.
The serpent had been found near months later making tight circles around loose dirt. His steps were heavy and scales raw and torn. His very being radiated stress and regret that chilled the very bone. The surrounding smell spoke of death so they drew their conclusions.
The weeping serpent frequented the raised dirt with the foul smell as if it were a holy temple. The area around it worn with age and misuse began to flourish with flowers of lily and lavender and love that ended too fast. He seemed to be ever-present, not allowing any human too close as he watched over the remains. And when the bones turned into dust no human saw the serpent again. All that was left was the earth dug up by claws and plants left withered in their wake.
With no one to tell the inner workings of the story, it became twisted with time and human perspective. Izuku was a protector of humans and yet a traitor to his kind. Seeing most dragons for the horrors that they truly were. And Todoroki was a hateful, hungry creature. His motives come only from rage and his hatred for humans. The wingless serpent had slain him without mercy and dragged his body away, watching over it to keep other dragons from mourning him.
Not that the humans thought the dragons would mourn him. They had found that the red and white beast had been related to the leviathan that was endemic and the weak ice dragon, Rei.
One of the strongest creatures and a weak dragon (known, at least) as his father and mother respectively.
The humans had twisted their lives and now had twisted the truth of the story. They didn't even know Shouto's true name.