Dragon Slayer

One

As a child, Katsuki often explored the area where his family camped, looking for small animals to chase and cool rocks. It was during one of these expeditions that he met his first dragon.
They were at the foot of the mountains that time. It was the first time he had ever seen one up close, and he was amazed by how large they really were.
He took off when his parents started putting up the tents, climbing the mountainside as soon as he was out of sight of his parents.
The rocks were sharp against his hands, but they were well callused from seven years of living on the road, duelling with wooden swords, and climbing every chance he got. He eventually reached a ledge, crawling onto it with ease. The boy gaped at the scene below, the fields and trees and the tiny village in the distance. They were probably headed in that direction after this to stock up on supplies. Katsuki always loved visits to town markets. There was always so much cool stuff to look at.
He found a pile of rocks and decided to practise shooting them with the slingshot he had made recently, setting an apple from his bag on a taller rock. He slipped a pebble into his slingshot and flicked it out, hitting the fruit square in the centre.
"Woah!! That's so cool!" A voice behind him said in awe.
Katsuki jumped, startled by the sudden noise. He turned around, seeing a pointy smile on a face bordered with messy black hair.
"Who are you?!" He yelled, reaching for more pebbles to shoot in case this kid in front of him was any danger.
"My name is Eijirou."
Katsuki lowered his slingshot. "I'm Katsuki..."
"Can I try that?" Eijirou pointed to the slingshot.
The blond wondered if he should. This was a stranger and his parents had taught him never to trust a stranger with a weapon.
But he seemed like a harmless guy. He was small, tanned, and covered in freckles. His eyes were bright red and his teeth were sharp, but somehow, he didn't seem scary for it.
Katsuki reluctantly handed over the slingshot and set the apple back up, turning it so the mark he left was at the back.
He handed a pebble to Eijirou and let him have at it.
"You just pull it back and let go. It should fly straight." He explained.
The pointy toothed boy nodded, pulling the rock back and setting it free. The rock missed the apple by a few centimetres.
"Aw man!" He sighed. "You're so good at it. How do you do it?!"
Katsuki beamed proudly, his ego inflating.
"It's super easy!" He bragged, puffing out his chest.
"Oh..." Now Eijirou looked pretty dejected. He looked at the slingshot, and then the apple, eyes watering slightly.
Katsuki felt guilty about making him feel worthless.
"All you need to do is practise. Try again!" He encouraged.
Eijirou nodded, not looking like he believed the advice, but trying again regardless.
He didn't hit it the second time, or the third, or even the twelfth time. But Eijirou stayed determined.
They played with the slingshot until the sun started to go down and Eijirou finally hit the damn apple.
"Oh...I should head home..." The boy placed the slingshot in Katsuki's hands but he blond pushed it back.
"No. You keep it. We can play with it again tomorrow." He promised.
"Yeah!" Eijirou beamed. "Thanks!"
"See you tomorrow, then!" Katsuki started to climb back down the mountainside, hoping he could get home before dark.
He didn't know that there wouldn't be a tomorrow for them.