Make it Courtship but Helpful

Apparition had chosen the location carefully. A stretch of woodland bordered the coast, its trees growing close together before giving way to a rocky shoreline. There was plenty of room for Maple to watch from a comfortable distance, and plenty of forest for Apparition's intended display. The colossal dragon rested partly submerged offshore, their immense body barely disturbing the surface as they waited for Maple to settle. They weren't particularly interested in making a grand entrance. The spectacle itself would be quite enough.

Once Maple had found her place, Apparition raised their head and turned toward the woodland. Their jaws opened, and a torrent of fire burst forth, reaching across the intervening ground to strike the trees. The nearest branches caught almost immediately, flames crawling along the dry foliage before climbing the trunks. Apparition continued breathing fire for several moments, setting a broad section of the forest alight before finally closing their jaws. They lowered their head slightly, watching their handiwork with quiet satisfaction.

The fire needed no further encouragement. It spread naturally through the undergrowth, catching on fallen branches and moving from tree to tree. Flames climbed higher, consuming the lower branches before reaching into the canopy, where the foliage began to burn in great, uneven patches. The woodland filled with the crackle and roar of the growing blaze. Smoke rose in thick columns, darkening the sky above the trees, and embers drifted through the heated air. Every so often, another branch gave way beneath the flames and crashed to the ground, sending a fresh burst of sparks into the air.

Apparition glanced toward Maple, their attention lingering there for a moment. They were curious to see how she was taking the display, though they didn't interrupt the fire's progress. The flames were spreading across a sizable portion of the woodland now, creating a wall of orange and red that stood out vividly against the darkening smoke. It was certainly an impressive sight, even from the shoreline. Still, Apparition had another part of their offering planned.

Their enormous body shifted beneath the surface as they turned away from the burning forest. The water around them began to stir, first with broad ripples, then with increasingly powerful currents. Apparition moved farther offshore, giving themselves room to gather the water without immediately flooding the shoreline. The surface rolled and rose around them, drawing into a tremendous swell. It grew larger with every passing moment, the ocean lifting into a towering mass that dwarfed the trees along the coast. The wave's crest curled and folded as it gathered height, while the water below churned with enough force to send smaller waves racing ahead toward the beach.

When the fire had reached its full extent, Apparition let loose the water he had beckoned.

It advanced toward the coast in a thunderous rush, its leading edge sweeping over the shoreline and crashing into the burning trees. Water surged between the trunks, swallowed the undergrowth, and swept over the forest floor. The flames vanished beneath it, their roaring replaced by the tremendous crash of the ocean. Trees bent beneath the force of the water, and roots were torn from the ground and carried along in the flood. Steam billowed upward where the wave met the hottest parts of the blaze, mingling with the remaining smoke until much of the woodland disappeared behind a thick haze.

The wave continued inland with enough force to tear trees from the ground, wrenching their roots free and sending them tumbling through the rushing water. Trunks crashed against one another as the flood swept through the woodland, stripping branches and foliage away before gradually losing its strength. Water pooled across the churned earth, carrying uprooted trees and broken debris back toward the coast. By the time the shoreline was visible again, the forest had been left thoroughly devastated. Uprooted trunks lay scattered across the ground, their tangled roots exposed, while drenched branches and torn foliage clung to what remained standing. A few smouldering patches quickly disappeared beneath the remaining water. The fire was gone, but the wave had left its own unmistakable mark on the landscape. 

Apparition surfaced fully offshore, their immense head rising above the water. The woodland had not been chosen at random. A group of settlers had been preparing to establish a settlement along the coast, and clearing the dense growth would have taken them an age by ordinary means. Apparition's fire had been intended to remove the trees quickly, and the enormous wave would leave the ground thoroughly soaked and the remaining debris easier to deal with. The animals and other living creatures had been carefully driven out of the area beforehand, leaving the woodland empty before the first flame ever touched it. There had been no casualties, no nests left burning in the branches, and no frightened creatures caught in the flood. It was a rather useful contribution to the settlers' plans, even if Apparition had made the work considerably more spectacular than necessary.

They turned toward Maple and lowered themselves closer to the shoreline, watching her with their usual strange, silent attentiveness. A deep rumble rolled through their body, the closest thing to a pleased announcement they could offer. His display was quite a bit more effort than presenting a pretty collection of trinkets or whatever else he could have done, but Apparition seemed perfectly satisfied with their choice. They remained there, waiting to see whether Maple had enjoyed the spectacle as much as they had enjoyed putting it on.