Dragon Slayer

Fifteen

The four of them...shared a bond, something; a unique kind of bond that came from living under the same roof.
Kirishima, of course, had been there the longest. He had been born into the horde, after all.
Mina was the second arrival, born into a family of blacksmiths, the father of which had a nasty habit of throwing his wares at his children when they misbehaved. She had run away when she was about five, coming across Ryuku's lair by chance.
Denki was the next to join them. He had been from a farm family but escaped to be a musician. He wasn't a good musician, which was why he ran the tavern instead of getting up on stage like Kyouka did.
But he could write songs like nobody else could.
Hanta appeared a little after Denki. He was from a wealthy family that had sheltered him to the point of near insanity.
When he escaped and joined Ryuku's horde, his life changed for the better.
There were others, like Tamaki who always liked to be alone, choosing to sleep in the back of the cave and only really talking to Eijirou and Taishiro, who had left his village after being accused of killing the butcher's son. There were also a few wives escaping abusive husbands and a few peasants escaping poverty. Ryuku I had a horde of people with nowhere else so go, and she cherished every one of them.
But that day...Everything changed.
Ryuku was in her human form, which wasn't an uncommon sight. She was strong and experienced enough to keep it up for days without needing much rest. After all, she had to keep it up through most of her pregnancy with Eijirou.
"Ei, I need you to take the others through the secret tunnel and wait in the village for me." She whispered to her son.
"But...I had plans today and-"
"Please. This is important."
Eijirou swallowed, thinking about the slingshot in his bag. He was going to convince Katsuki to join the horde that day.
"You need to hurry." She insisted.
And so he did.
He remembered the way through the tunnel perfectly well. He had played in it all his life. So, when the group reached the exit an hour later, he was prideful about it. He couldn't wait to tell his mom how much he had hurried.
They found an in and booked a room to stay in and wait.
Days passed, some of the older members of the horde seemed to understand the situation and moved on. It dwindled down for about a week until only Eijirou, Mina, Denki, and Hanta were left.
"Should we go back?" Mina asked the morning after Tamaki left.
"I think we should." Hanta declared.
"Me too." Denki agreed.
"I don't know...mama said to wait..." Eijirou said, voice soft.
"It's been a week. What could possibly be taking her so long?" Mina wondered. "We need to go check it out."
"Give it a few more days." Eijirou begged. "She'll be back!"
But the kid didn't know how wrong he was.

Im sorry this took so long. I got busy for a few days going to the movies and out with friends and stuff. I'll try to post more but this week looks rocky.