Travel The Distance

Chapter 43

I think Shoto wanted to delay our journey to his home Kingdom, it was clear in his actions. He took an age to gather what he needed and make his way out of the castle, though that could have been my impatience talking. He struck up a 30-minute conversation with Deku and Round Cheeks about baby names and their hopes for the future. Then just when I thought we were about to leave, just when I had lowered my wing for him to climb onto my back, Shoto gasped and told me to wait whilst he collected something which he had forgotten. It was obvious he was delaying our departure, could I really blame him though? After all, he was returning to a Kingdom he had abandoned. He was returning to his family who thought he was dead. He was returning to the possibility of his father being dead and a false King on the throne. I think I would try and delay setting foot anywhere near that mess if I was in his position as well. But... Even if I wanted to be patient and support Shoto, we couldn't wait forever. The faster we got rid of Shigaraki, the better. I knew I was most certainly being reckless by only taking Shoto with me, but I didn't care. We were going to kill him one way or another.

When Shoto finally emerged from the castle, I couldn't admonish him as I had wished to, seeing as I was in my dragon form and all. Shoto, however, seemed to understand the message conveyed in the squint of my eyes and the irritated beating of my tail. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to collect something to give to my family, if they're still alive." Shoto muttered. I nodded my horned head. I couldn't do much to comfort him.

Once Shoto was situated on my back, we were ready to leave. I spoke to Eijiro briefly, promising we would be back after a week at most and if we weren't, they should presume us dead and he was to take over. He seemed very opposed to this, insisting that we would return and that he couldn't possibly take my position. I wasn't in the mood to listen to him, so I simply hit him with my tail (sending him flying across the ground, though he wasn't hurt) and took off, the ant-like voices of my friends bidding us farewell from far below us.

The journey to Endeavour was silent. We couldn't communicate given Shoto didn't know how to speak with dragons and I was incapable of human speech in my dragon form. Our communication was limited to Shoto smoothing over my scales lovingly and muttering words that were lost to the wind, and me making non-comital grumbling noises to express my contentment.

Despite knowing we were recklessly walking into an unstable situation, being alone with just Shoto brought a feeling of wholeness to me. It felt like I was complete. As disgusting as it sounded, I don't know how I lived without him by my side. Having him close to me felt right and every second we spent in each other's company was sustenance for my soul. Ground Zero had implored me to accept the bond between us as soon as we realised who Shoto was, and as much as I had fought against him, he was right. Something which I would never tell the egotistical dragon who lurked within me. However, we were connected, down to our every thought, so of course Ground Zero knew what I was thinking.

"Don't sound too surprised about me being right, Katsuki. I know what's best for us." Ground Zero hummed in my mind.

"As if! You've nearly gotten us killed more times than I can count. Just because you were right once, doesn't mean you can go and get all cocky, you asshole." I snapped back. Ground Zero warbled merrily in my mind before retreating, his smug chuckles echoing around my skull.

"Katsuki, I'm glad we met." Shoto hummed from my back. His hands tightened on my horns. I couldn't see him, but I could only guess that he was staring out wistfully across the landscape, his two tones hair swaying gently in the wind as we flew. Shoto, somehow, looked majestic no matter what he was doing. If he was running a sword through a man, somehow, the blood splattered across his cheek and dripping from his hands only made him appear more handsome. If he was doing the simple act of sniffing a flower and staring out onto the mountain range, he looked angelic. The bastard was just lucky like that. Obviously, I couldn't reply, but I did flick my ear to show that I was listening.