The Brave Men Rode Them

Of Clouds and Stars

Ochako skids through the forest, barely able to breathe through the overwhelming fear and confusion and holy shit that dragon had a fucking saddle and a name and it ruined her axe and he just hugged it like it was a freaking dog---

Black claws wrap around her shoulders and a scream tears from her throat as she claws wildly at its leg, finding herself grabbing on for dear life. "Oh gods," she whispers, clinging to the warm black scales and trying not to think about how easy it would be for the Night Fury to drop her. "Oh gods oh gods, oh fucking Odin's ghost oh gods..."

"You know, you could try just riding on her fucking back and not tell the fucking Chief," Bakugou's voice calls from above, dry and deadpan and so unusually fucking calm that it drove her insane. The Night Fury huffs above her and Ochako responds by clinging as tightly as possible to its leg, knowing full well that her Quirk will be useless against a monster that ruled the skies already. "Okay, then, you're getting on whether you fucking like it or not."

She lets out a yelp of shock as it drops her onto a tree, the entire top of it bending over under the dragon's weight. She latches onto a branch, anger slowly pulsing over her fear as she glares up at the dragon and the hero on its back---the hero that stole her chance to kill a dragon. "And why the hell would I let you tell me anything?"

Bakugou snorts, red eyes piercing and vicious, too much like a dragon's eyes for him to be purely human. The Night Fury eyes her through disdainful golden eyes, pupils narrowed to slits, and she glares right back despite the fear thumping in her chest. "I'm not gonna say a fucking word."

"Then how---"

"You are going to get on the fucking dragon, and let her show you." The dragon croons---fucking croons---at Bakugou, who quickly corrects himself. "Let us show you."

I can't believe I'm doing this, she thinks, still staring at the Night Fury. I'm a traitor to everything U.A. stands for, to my family, to...to everyone.

But I'm nowhere near as bad as he is, she reminds herself, pulling herself up the branch. I'll never ride a dragon by choice, ever. She hesitates, watching  the dragon's body tense, before pulling herself up behind him. The dragon's body is warm and lean, power and muscle radiating off of it and creating terrible pressure. Bakugou's presence doesn't help either; despite the fact that he's not swearing violently or visibly enraged, he feels cold. Cold and viciously angry, as if she's the traitor, not him.

She doesn't let herself dwell on it. "Now get me down."

Bakugou leans forward, resting a hand on the scales of the dragon that could easily snap their spines. "Striker, down. Fucking gently."

Ochako freezes as its wings open, legs tucking into its sides as wind fills the huge, sail-like appendages. Bakugou glances back at her. "Not so fucking terrible, right?"

She's about to hit him and climb off and down the tree when the Night Fury springs off the tree, rocketing into the air like a bolt of lightning. She lets out an involuntary scream, the wind tearing at her skin as they pick up speed. Bakugou is swearing violently at the Night Fury, only to freeze up as she's forced to grab him to avoid falling to her death. It doesn't last long before he's scolding the dragon again. "Striker, the fuck is wrong with you?! Bad dragon, very fucking bad dragon!" He glances at her. "The bitch isn't usually like this..."

The Night Fury somersaults, plummeting towards the ocean, and she screams again. Bakugou just scowls. "Oh, fuck no." The dragon speeds over the waves, and Ochako's about to scream for like the third time when they suddenly end up in shockingly cold seawater. She gasps for air, the chill of the wind all-too apparent when they resurface, before yelping just before the dragon drives them underwater again.

"Striker, what are you doing; we need her to like us," Bakugou hisses to the dragon as it ascends again, whirling like a corkscrew through the sky. For some reason, he doesn't seem scared at all, but Ochako most certainly is. The terror is a live thing inside her and she needs to anchor to something, to be able to breathe and relax and stop being so terrified---so she clings to him, burying her face in the back of his shoulder as she squeezes her eyes shut.

"And now the fucking spinning," the dragon rider notes. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

And she can't take any more of this, she can't, she can't, she can't---

"I'm sorry!" she gasps out. "I'm sorry. J-just get me off of this thing!"

And as if by magic, the Night Fury levels out, relenting. She can feel them going up, but their speed has slowed, the air currents created by its wings gentle instead of wildly.

Ochako opens her eyes on a skyscape of golden clouds. She gasps despite herself, a hand flying to her mouth as her eyes widen. Cathedrals, towers, palaces built of something more beautiful than any precious metal ascend around her, glowing softly. She's often wondered what it's like among the clouds, but she never thought that she'd reach them. Wonder replaces the tight knot of fear and anger, and she can feel her lips turn up into an awed smile. Hesitantly, she reaches out to touch one, and immediately falls in love with the silky-soft feeling of the clouds, despite the fact that her hand comes away soaked with water. She leans back with a laugh, finally finding the courage to let go of the dragon rider, and trails her hands through the golden clouds.

And then Striker takes them upwards, through the clouds, and emerges into a glittering sky of stars. Tears prick at her eyes from the sheer beauty of it all, and the aurora borealis starts to dance across the sky as if in response, as if to tell her what she already knows---that everything she knew about dragons was wrong. She peers over Bakugou's shoulder as the island's torches come into view, showing her the village from a perspective she never thought possible.

"This is Berk," Bakugou says quietly from in front of her. "It's ten days north of Hopeless and three degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. My village." He gestures at the island. "In a word, sturdy. And it's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests." He sounds as if he's quoting someone, Ochako realizes dazedly. "While other places have mice or mosquitoes, we have...."

"Dragons," Ochako murmurs. She finds herself twining her arms around him again, resting her chin on his shoulder. "And they're amazing," she adds, recalling all the times that the dragons have shown strategy or mercy, every time that the dragon marked for killing by the top recruit had tried to escape before going for the "prey". She glanced down at Striker. "She's amazing," she finishes, touching her neck with her palm.

Striker looks up at her and gives a surprisingly sweet, gummy smile.