One of the good things about living somewhere that was three steps above a wasteland is that you could see visitors from miles away.
Said visitor's included invading armies.
Thus, when the five hundred or so calvary came to a halt in their perfect-ass lines in the dry prairie grass, no a hair nor hide of any of their tribe could be seen.
Katsuki himself watched from beneath a camouflage cloak made of the same grass in the field, listening to his own steady, controlled breaths. Yes, hiding and hoping they'd pass by went against everything fiber of his being, but he also wasn't stupid enough to see how many of his people would die on the metal armor and spears of this army. Iron, after all, was precious for their kind, so most of their armor was made of leather or hide.
"We know you're out there!" called out a man in the front of the calvary, with a long, red tail of horse hair poking out of his helmet. Very Roman. "Fire Dragon Barbarians, we know you have a tamer!"
Every hair on Katsuki's body shot up, hard and electric.
"Give him to us and we shall leave in peace!"
Katsuki clenched his fists in the dusty dirt to hold himself back. Coincidence that these bastards appeared mere weeks after the bonfire? Ha. Like anyone in their tribe would endanger themselves by outing him. It could only be another tribe. Why hadn't his mother thought of that when she chased him out? Probably because she thought they'd had enough tamers to not bother with the one kid they had.
When nothing by empty tents and a hawk circling above could be heard, the red-tailed-helmet man gestured behind him and a soldier, adorned in armor from head to foot, stepped forward, raising a hand only for it to become covered in flame.
"I'll give you to the count of five before my fire user lights the prairie," he cawed. "One. Two--"
"Oi."
He heard his mother's muffled gasp as the camouflage cloak fell off his shoulders. But Katsuki held his chin high, doing his best to look down at the men despite being on a horse.
"What does your greedy ass want with me?"
"Katsuki--" he heard his mother hiss.
The captain--for that's what Katsuki assumed he was--flicked his face towards where his mother hid, but kept his eyes on Katsuki.
"Where's your dragon?" he asked.
"What's it to you?" Katsuki folded his arms. "You said nothing about a dragon. Just a tamer."
"You're going to need to prove who you're--"
An explosion, all light and smoke, lighted off of Katsuki's held out palm.
"Answer the question, dipshit," he growled. "Did all of you come to back crack nowhere for one single kid and his dragon? What, don't have enough of your own?"
But the captain didn't answer him, only nodding to the men on either side of him and giving a loud click of his tongue. The entire front line of horses and their riders came forward, lowering their spears at the lone tribesman.
Katsuki 'tched' and lowered himself, drawing a spear from his back. The feathers he'd so carefully tied about the spearhead twirled in the breeze.
The horses stopped just in reach of him, making a circle about him.
"You will call your beast," said Captain Ponytail. "And will come with us quietly, or they all die."
Katsuki just looked at the shiny, tin-can bastard, something like lava percolating through his veins.
YOU ARE READING
Of Dragons and Second Chances
FanfictionBakugou gave his life to save the nerd. Shoot him, the kid had All for One and there was that whole 'my body just moved' hero crap, and Bakugou was a hero, damn it. That should have been the end. But some glowy-ass angel of death said because he was...
