DRAGON'S BROOD II (Kirishima x Bakugou)

Chapter 6: On the Road

Kirishima's PoV

Katsuki and I flew along the foothills of the mountains. Of course we were much faster in the air than Telana and Taran on the ground. But that made the flight all the more relaxed and I sometimes changed course to the east or west when there were favorable updrafts.

Flying was the pure feeling of freedom. The wind running under my wings, the cool air, the infinite vastness: all this made my heart beat faster and I felt far away from the burden of responsibility and worries on the ground.

Katsuki and I had had our fun at first by flying risky maneuvers. He had held on with his legs, stretched his arms out into the air and screamed as if he wanted to declare war on gravity. That had put a grin on my face and it had only spurred me on even more.

But eventually we only enjoyed our togetherness. Katsuki had put his arms around my neck and snuggled against me as he looked at the landscape below. I held the wings stretched out and glided calmly, always looking for the next updraft that would carry us on.

Now the last mountain foothills extended below us. The border to the Todoroki empire was not clearly defined because of the impassable terrain, but rather flowing. But it was certain that we were definitely in the other empire as soon as we passed the last mountains. I looked at the wide plain in front of me and saw along the Kuma, which meandered through like a dark band. This was my homeland that had rejected me. It had something bitter-sweet to return to it.

Slowly I went into a descent. Katsuki on my back straightened up sighing a little, apparently not very enthusiastic that our little flight was already over. But he did not complain. He knew as well as I did that it was risky to fly so close to the border.

I spotted Telana and Taran with our horses and finally found a suitable landing place near them. I headed towards it and Katsuki sat up straight so as not to disturb my balance while landing. Gently I sat down at the foot of the mountain and let Katsuki get off me before I turned back. Well, almost, because I decided, as so often in recent times, for my half dragon form.

Actually, I had several intermediate forms, which I used for different applications. In the form I used now, I only had small wings and horns. It was, so to speak, the half dragon form in civilian. It simply showed who I was and I could only use the wings for smaller manoeuvres anyway. If it came to combat I would extend my wingspan and turn my fingernails into claws and thus into the second form. I used the third form mainly when I wanted to perform maneuvers in the air. For this form, my wingspan grew to six meters and when I folded them on my back, they rose high above my head. I also had a tail of this shape, which I used as a control element in the air. Taran once said I looked like an angel of death in this form. I wasn't quite sure if I should see that as a compliment.

Katsuki ripped me from my thoughts by gently pulling on my right horn so that I had to face him. A smile lay on my lips as he leaned forward to give me a quick kiss.

"Don't you think you should return to your human form for the moment? After all, from now on we are in an area that is hostile to you," he asked worriedly. His hand slipped from my horn just to find place on my cheek. I leaned into the touch. I loved it when the strong, unbending dragonslayer became so gentle and sensitive. A side of him that belonged only to me.

I sighed softly before I completely shifted back. It was not that I felt uncomfortable in my human form. On the contrary, it was still the shape I was most familiar with. Nevertheless I felt somewhat restricted. Switching between forms had become part of my everyday life.

Hoofbeats announced Telana and Taran's appearance. A short time later they rode around the bend of the mountain, each leading one of our horses by their reins. I detached myself a little from Katsuki and waved to them.

"And did you enjoy your flight?" Telana asked as she handed me the reins of my horse. "Taran got nervous when you didn't make any effort to come down again," she said and gave her boyfriend a teasing look.

Taran rolled his eyes. "Now don't pretend my concern was without a reason. Someone could have seen them."

I grinned at her little word fight. "It was good to be able to spread the wings again. We don't know when I can do it the next time," I answered Telana's question and scratched the back of my head, embarrassed.

She tilted her head back and looked at the sky. "Must be nice up there. Will you take me with you once?" she asked with shining eyes.

"Telana!" Taran said sharply. "Kiri is not a means of transport."

"But Baku-"

"Bakugou is his mate. That's something different."

I raised my hands to appease him. "Don't worry, I don't mind. We could fly sometime."

"Ha! See?" Telana said triumphantly to her boyfriend and pointed the finger at me.

I laughed into myself while I got on my horse. Taran and Telana continued to argue, but only half serious, as we continued our journey. The two rode ahead and Katsuki had lined up next to me. We rode close together so that our knees touched from time to time. At some point Katsuki reached out to take my hand. I stretched myself a little and entwined my fingers with his.

We rode along for a while until we were definitely in the Todoroki empire. We decided to spend the night at the Kuma before heading east towards the attacked village tomorrow.

I ignited a campfire while the others prepared our camp and fed the horses. Finally we all sat around the fire and talked about everything. To be exact, it was mainly me and Telana who talked, while Katsuki and Taran only contributed occasionally.

Both of us were so absorbed in our conversation that we looked up surprised when the other two suddenly got up.

"What are you up to?" I asked in surprise.

"Little practice fight." Katsuki replied with a superior grin. But also in Taran's eyes a combative sparkle was to be seen.

Telana and I watched as they drew their swords and positioned themselves.

"The two are strangely alike," said the Telana quietly.

I nodded. "Katsuki is hot-headed and spontaneous and Taran calm and thoughtful and yet ... they both approach everything with superior precision."

The two sneaked around each other, waiting to see which of them made the first move.

"Katsuki wins anyway," I simply said and crossed my arms.

Telana frowned. "Don't say that. You know for yourself that Taran is very good with the sword. And Bakugou's training didn't focus on fighting people."

I snorted. "You've never seen Kat fight before, have you? He will win."

"You sound like a proud mother," Telana giggled. I elbowed her in the side, grinning.

And then Katsuki made the first move. With a wide sweeping blow of the right hand.