Dungeons And Heroes

Get To Safety

After the initial admiration and awe of the One For All, Izuku and his team were continuing onward to find Katsuki and the dragons. The volcanoes were not far from them now. Perhaps only a few miles away!
Tenya was the one to stop them. Throwing his hand out across the team, he whispered, "Halt. Did you all hear that?"
The adventurer, knight, witch, and prince all stopped to listen.
After a few moments of nothing, Ochaco shook her head. "I don't hear-"
"RAAAAAAAWWWK!" the earsplitting screech of a dragon resounded across the sky. Before any reaction could be made, a flashy red dragon dropped from the air to land in front of the unsuspecting campaign.
Tenya and Ochaco yelled in fright.
Shoto shuddered and his eyes widened. "Its a young one."
Izuku drew his new sword.
At the sight of that, the dragon backed away with a squawk. Its wings trembled as its claws dug into the ground. It lowered its head and ever so slowly began to morph.
"What in the heavens...?" Ochaco gasped.
The dragon's shiny red scales changed to human skin, it's limbs into human limbs, and it's head into a youth's with spiky crimson hair. His lips turned up, and spiky teeth were exposed. Miraculously, a full outfit of clothes was on his body. The boy pulled his loud scarf tight around his neck. "For your consideration," he huffed indignantly, "I am not young. I'm sixteen."
Izuku stumbled backward with a shout. "W-what?! Y-you're a dragon shifter! Like- like Crimson Riot!"
The new boy's face brightened at that name. He grinned widely and pointed to himself proudly. "Why, yes! Just like Crimson Riot! I call myself Red Riot, in fact!" His eyes travelled across the group. He noticed the prince among them. He fell to his knees. "My lord, forgive me!" he cried out, stunned. "I had no idea you were here! I would have greeted you sooner."
Shoto looked down at the dragon shifter. "No, no, stand up, there's no need for that," the prince assured him. As the boy did so, Shoto told him, "The title Shoto will do well for me."
Ochaco took a curious step forward.
"Ochaco, wait!" Tenya cried out. "He could be dangerous! He's a dragon!"
Ochaco shook her head and took another step, intrigued. "No, he's not. He's just a child. Just like us."
The boy prickled, flustered. "I am not a child! I am Eijirou Kirishima! I-I could bring you to the powerful dragon tamer of these parts right now, you know! I could!" The adventurers made no move to leave. Eijirou looked puzzled, but came back twice as strong. "I will! I-" His voice faltered and Eijirou's legs shook. "Please just leave. If you don't want to get injured, please leave. I'm warning you now." He looked at them with shiny, pleading eyes. "Katsuki and the dragons aren't as gracious."
"Then why don't you leave, if you aren't like them?" Izuku asked, confused. "You look like you don't want to be here."
Eijirou's eyes glittered with pain. "Because I couldn't leave him!" He threw out his hands. "I couldn't leave my best friend. I couldn't." He looked at the adventurers. "At least one of you must know how that feels. It would hurt me more to leave Katsuki in such a dangerous place then to leave myself to get to safety. Plus..." He ribbed his arm sheepishly. "This place is probably pretty safe compared to everywhere else right now. I'm not proud to say it, I'm really not."
"I know. I can tell," Izuku said sincerely. "But you're not the cause of all the attacks, are you? Whatever the case, I need you to take us to Katsuki."
Eijirou stiffened and his expression filled with fear. "You're not serious? That would be a suicide mission!"
"Katsuki wouldn't hurt me," Izuku assured him. "We were close friends when we were young. My name is Izuku Midoriya. And besides, we'll have you with us!"
Katsuki scratches the back of his neck nervously. "Look, Izuku, I don't know if this is such a good idea. I don't know what Katsuki was like as a child, but I can assure you that he's wildly different now. He's..." He waved his hands around, looking for the right word. "Eccentric. Conceited. Power-hungry... Blind. He's got horrible tunnel vision. All he can see is a way to be a hero. He can't see all the destruction he's causing. He wants to be seen as great, but he doesn't realize how much he's really endangering so many people."
"Then why haven't you just told him all of that?" Shoto asked pointedly. "Doesn't he listen to you? I thought you said you two were best friends."
Eijirou shook his head sadly. "Sometimes, tunnel vision can even block out friends. I've gotten through to him a few times. But he just doesn't listen. Our dragons are dangerous to the common folk. He may be a dragon tamer, but no one can tame him. He just doesn't get it." Eijirou sighed with a tsk.
     "Please take us," Izuku begged. "We're on this quest for the very reason! We need to see Katsuki. We have to stop these attacks. Otherwise we've failed, and we'll end up like your cam-" Izuku stopped himself.
Eijirou's eyes flashed. "You know about our campaign?"
Izuku looked away, embarrassed to have brought up such a touchy situation. "Yes. Your friend Denki told us about it. He told us of a dark power you all sensed in these volcanic mountains... well, except for Katsuki. Do you..." he looked back up at Eijirou. "Do you know anything about that dark power?"
Eijirou shifted uneasily and bit his lip. "Well, yes. It's all around. It... it frightens me, if I'm being real with myself. I want to be away from this awful place. I want Katsuki away from it, too. But he just won't listen!" he exclaimed desperately. "I'm glad that my other friends at least got away when they had the chance." He looked at the group before him with forlorn curiosity. "How is Denki?"
"He's fine," Ochaco answered that time. "I could tell that he misses you, though."
     Eijirou exhaled slowly. "Yes. I miss him, too. I miss Hanta and Mina, as well. I really hope they're doing alright."
     "I'm sure they are," Ochaco assured him gently. "But now, we really need your help, Eijirou. If we can get to Katsuki, I'm sure we can reason with him, cease these attacks, and work together to try and stop this dark power."
     Eijirou pondered this with a finger to his lips. "Okay," he decided at last. "Follow me, all of you. I'll take you to meet Katsuki."