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One thing about Rodan is that he is knowing. He is well aware of the things that happen on Earth’s surface, keeps a careful ear to the ground in terms of the other Titans. He’s not particularly fond of any, even if Methuselah has gotten him out of a few touch-and-go quarrels with less friendly Titans, but it’s good to know who’s active. Even if the number dwindles constantly.
It would probably stop dwindling if Godzilla would stop jumping them. He’s not particularly picky, though. He has no interest in squaring up with Godzilla anytime soon, so he simply stays out of the way and quarantines himself in the volcano Godzilla put him in.
Godzilla is a downright terrible friend. He doesn’t even come to visit! Rodan is going to kill him one of these days.
He’s joking.
Even if he were able to kill the King, he’s pretty sure Mothra would obliterate him, and she came pretty damn close when the False King had him under his control. He’s not looking for a repeat match.
He knows Godzilla is slipping between realms, knows he’s using the wormholes to return to Hollow Earth, but he can’t figure out why. Godzilla’s pocket realm inside of Hollow Earth was destroyed in the human’s efforts to revive him. It had worked, clearly, but the Titan is out of a home. There’s no reason for him to return to Hollow Earth, especially with the amount of enemies he’s locked down there. Isn’t that risky?
Rodan is worried for personal reasons. If Godzilla gets killed by something down there, who is going to take over the surface? Someone worse? The False King would have killed them all. Godzilla, at the very least, is content to let them be, so long as they remain peaceful. He’d only killed Scylla for rampaging through a human city.
Well. Tiamat was a different story, but it was probably a reasonable attack. She’d always been rather nasty. Last time he’d interacted with her, probably centuries ago, she’d tried to tear his wing off. It was one of several times Methuselah had come to his rescue, though certainly a time that stuck out for being rather baffling. It had been unprovoked! Sort of. Maybe he’d poked fun at her.
The point is, Godzilla is the best possible King for the surface. There are no other good options. Most other Titans would allow too much to happen, especially landlocked ones. Godzilla has a connection to the Earth that Rodan has yet to see in any other Titans, even Mothra. Nothing escapes his notice, for better or for worse. And Rodan cares for Godzilla, as much as he possibly can. They’ve been allies enough times that he’s confident he knows, to an extent, how the King operates. Godzilla is smart. Much smarter than he’s acting now, taking trips down to Hollow Earth and vanishing for extended periods of time. That’s not like him. Even before his home had been destroyed, Godzilla had only hidden away in it when he was hibernating. He takes his status seriously.
Rodan is also much smarter than he gets credit for, because he just knows it has something to do with that damn ape.
One ear to the ground means he hears the chatter. Scylla, before getting blasted to hell, had mentioned once that Godzilla focuses a little too much on King Kong, and the comment had stuck with him for ages. Because she was right, stars forbid. Rodan knows what happened on Earth’s surface, between the mechanized monster and the return of the Skar King to the surface. He knows Godzilla had teamed up with Kong on both occasions, even if the first time had been reluctant and only out of necessity. Godzilla is not particularly good at being kind, but he’d spared Kong twice and allowed him to retreat to Hollow Earth, twice. That’s more than he’d ever granted Rodan.
Godzilla slipping away, abandoning his territory in favor of another is unlike him. Something must have shifted in the dynamic between them, because Godzilla from even just a fight or two ago would never have left the surface for another.
He’s starting to feel a little crazy. He’s starting to sound a little crazy, too.
There is no “Titan radio” or anything of the sort- the only communication the Titans have with each other is whatever they are able to speak directly to them, and most of them don’t share a mother tongue. Efforts at creating a common language were stronger in ancient times, before wars had rampaged their species and before Godzilla had arisen victorious. The common language is still present, still something most Titans use when conversing, but progress was stilted, especially when the three-headed monster had broken through the sky and destroyed their planet.
Rodan doesn’t remember much common anymore. Apparently Godzilla does, though. Na Kika, in between naps at the bottom of the ocean, visits sometimes to let him know what’s going on below the water. Apparently, Godzilla is frighteningly good at common compared to most active Titans! Which isn’t to say he’s amazing at it, but passing phrases is much more than most Titans can offer these days, so it truly is amazing in the grand scheme of things.
Being put into hibernation means a bit more than what it seems. For one, it’s not really hibernation. It’s more like glorified naptime. It’s highly suggested that the Titans take a spin into dreamland, but Godzilla doesn’t seem to truly care if they don’t actually sleep. So long as they remain within their own zones and don’t start any ruckus, he’s content to let them do their thing. Rodan isn’t opposed to a nice nap inside of the volcano he’s been put in, but the surrounding areas have been more or less evacuated of humans for the time being, so he’s pretty sure Godzilla won’t beat him for stretching his wings on occasion.
Today is no different than any other. He wakes up inside the volcano, decides he needs to shake the heat off, and escapes into the skies for a moment of respite before returning. It’s been like this for years. Nobody seems to mind his flights.
Except there’s something in the water today. The sky is darker than usual, a trick of the light he convinces himself of imagining. The ocean is suspiciously quiet, the waves lapping at the shore softer than usual. It’s a peaceful day.
It concerns him immensely. There is always something going on beneath the waves. For it to be this quiet means the ocean itself is hiding from something. Something unnatural. Not quite right.
From his space in the clouds, he takes stock of what he can see and hear. He is no Godzilla, but his eyesight is sharp and efficient, perhaps even moreso. If something is so terribly wrong as he fears, finding a way to get back in contact with Godzilla is a priority.
The ocean is vast. Sometimes it feels like it’s never stopped expanding, deeper than he can even begin to imagine. If something were to be lurking within it, the chances of him managing to pinpoint it are slim to none. The deeper they are, the harder they are to find.
Maybe enlisting Na Kika would be a good starting point.
He tilts his head to shift course, another loop around his island in search of any irregularities. He may not know the sea, but he knows his territory. The surface of it, anyway. The thought of it engulfs him with a sudden burst of rage, so hot flames flicker to life along his jaw. Something is in his territory? An unsolicited visit from the unknown?
It could be nothing. But the air feels different on this side of the island, heavier and more uncertain. A lone cloud passes by him, casting shadows along the blue beneath him.
The ocean is vast. This spot below him, just a few miles off shore of his prison, is darker than the rest of it.
He swoops down without a second thought, pulling up in time to avoid taking an unfortunate dip. The water is dark and murky, unmoving as though the waves themselves are avoiding it. The skeletal remains of large creatures float within the patch, undisturbed despite how long they seem to have been there.
He rears back after a moment and beats his wings harder to return to the skies, eyes hesitant to leave the darkness. Something is here. Something is here in this realm and encroaching on his territory.
It’s hungry.
He wonders briefly, what for?