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The great All for One watched as the snowy white dragon’s wings heaved up and down, a pathetic excuse for flight. Every wingbeat seemed to only push the ice-scaled dragon up by a minuscule amount. All for One squashed down the urge to help him - Yoichi would never die, and All for One was not feeling in the mood to be helpful right now. Finally, Yoichi landed heavily - well, as heavily as those stick-thin limbs and sunken ribcage could be - by his side, and glared up at him despite looking a hare’s breath away from collapsing and letting the pasty snow swallow him whole.
All for One’s volcanic black claws sunk into the snow as he looked upon the dragon, his long neck curving downward with a disapproving expression in his slitted red eyes. The spikes on the icewings back rattled with rage, and with a hiss he stumbled backward, dodging All for One’s attempt to support his weight.
“You shouldn’t have come here. Your poor wings can’t take much more.”
“How dare you.” Yoichi wheezed. “You’re the one who enchanted my own scales to turn against me...if only I could tear them off, maybe I’d finally be free of you.” as if to demonstrate, Yoichi’s claws raked over his own silver pelt. His brother’s beautiful scales stayed on, thankfully, and his pure blue eyes narrowed in pain and frustration. Frustration All for One wanted to fix, but he sadly couldn’t.
The promise he had made so long ago wasn’t as much of a problem as the enchanted ring. Words could be forgotten. Enchantments couldn’t. Yoichi had made the protective ring for himself.
All for One’s maw twitched downwards into a sunken frown as his tail skimmed over his poor little brother’s neck, feeling the ragged beating of his heart. “Little brother, why do you exhaust yourself so? The scroll that contains my power will get back into my hands eventually.” he raised a claw. “I control your own animus magic. Any spell I do not wish for will not happen.” he felt so tired, so sad. “Just relax, allow me to keep you safe. Perhaps eventually we can reach an understanding and your curse will finally be over.”
All for One felt a pang of sadness as his brother’s thin claws dug into the ground. They were going to snap if he strained himself any longer.
How had this ended up like this? He could see the future, he was the all-powerful All for One, granted by the moon and stars the greatest powers that could shape reality. Yet his brother kept fighting him every step of the way.
An idea struck him. There was one option, if he allowed himself to breath the airs of humility for a moment. Though it was paved with a terrible risk, it was the only future he could see where his brother was by his side.
This would either go the way he wanted, or he would have a minor frustration. He couldn't die; he'd made sure of that long ago, but he saw the many futures where Yoichi decided to turn his gift against him.
He sighed. Three moons, do not let this be a mistake.
“Little brother, I am so tired,” he said, his eyes glittering with sorrow as the spell took effect. “I grant you your powers back for a single wish. Do you not trust me no-”
“All for One will now be a scavenger. The pathetic insects, as you call them, the ones we keep as pets and dress up and pamper against their will.” Yoichi spat.
All for One barked a laugh. “A scavenger! Little brother, that is an amusing joke, but I am trying to he-”
And his little brother, his beloved little brother who he had trusted with his full, godlike power, betrayed him. In a moment his scales sank into his flesh, and the world was suddenly bigger than him.
He had never intended for Yoichi’s wish to be permanent. It would wear off in one cycle of the moon, and by then All for One had planned for his little brother to be firmly on his side, and finally, his plans for eternal life with his brother, ruling over all the dragon tribes...the grand, flawless destiny his powers permitted he have. That would finally come to be.
Instead, his little brother had ruined everything.
He screamed as Yoichi looked down on him, the pathetic, scrawny dragon now towering over him, his new body no larger than Yoichi’s wrinkled snout. He fell to his knees, the wingbeats that had barely kept his brother in the air now blowing him backwards before he could grab his brother with his clawless, horrifically bare and naked front legs. When the snow kicked up by the icewing had settled, Yoichi was far in the air, not looking back even once.
A whole moon cycle. So long he would remain powerless. His little brother had done this to him. After all he did for him, the pathetic icewing repaid him like this.
No; this was his fault. Yoichi didn’t know any better. He didn’t realize All for One was trying to help. It had been his own fault for letting Yoichi get this choice.
No longer bearing a majestic maw with teeth that cut through steel and ripped through whatever he please, instead he now had a weird, squished mouth with blunt teeth that were no more dangerous than the lightest breeze.
His wings were gone, leaving him feeling unbalanced, and his natural four-legged stance felt awkward and even shameful. He felt like an animal. Which he was, now.
Humiliation simmered under his gut. This had been a mistake. He’d put his whole trust that Yoichi could make the right choice, and yet his little brother hadn’t accepted that he meant well. What a fool he’d been.
All for One growled, the sound coming out no longer as a rumble that vibrated the ground, but something that felt like his throat had been frozen over. Were scavenger throats truly so pathetic? They couldn’t even breathe fire?
At least he still had his mind reading and future sight. He saw the nearest scavenger village, saw that he was going to be cold and miserable, Yoichi having left him here, perhaps to die.
He stormed off, his squishy brows in a frustrated glare.