Travel The Distance

Chapter 31

*Katsuki's POV*

The next day found Shoto, Deku, Four Eyes, Kyoka, Fumkage, Itsuka and me standing in the meadow at the ass crack of dawn. Remnants of sleep still clung to us like thick blankets, none of us were fully awake and none of us wanted to leave the Kingdom, but it had to be done for the sake of Crepitus and its people.

"Why did we have to be here so early?" Kyoka whined dramatically, leaning heavily into Itsuka's side.

"Shut the fuck up, dumbass. I'm tired as well but do you see me complaining!" I snapped at the short woman. Kyoka huffed and flipped me the bird in response, not even giving me the courtesy of lifting her head from the crook of Itsuka's neck where she had buried it. I tutted at my advisor and looked around at the remainder of our little party.

The most awake people appeared to be Fumikage, Deku and Four Eyes. The three of them were alert and appeared to find amusement in the sleep-deprived state the rest of us were in. I'm fairly certain Shoto was actually asleep. I had no idea how tired one must be to fall asleep whilst standing up, but it was a rather impressive feat.

"Let's get this over with. Wake up Icyhot!" I snapped at my boyfriend. Icyhot jolted awake and looked around him with wide eyes full of bewilderment before his expression fell back into its usual stoic blankness.

"Listen up shitheads!" I hollered to the group, " We don't know the exact location of Shigaraki's forces or the number of soldiers he currently has. Honestly, we're going into this as blind as a fucking bat, but we're gonna try so that we can at least offer the people of this Kingdom the chance to live. We're going to fly towards Endeavour, once we reach the border between Crepitus and Endeavour, Fumikage will then fly ahead to assess the distance between us and Shigaraki's forces. Once we know where they are, we will land and follow them through the shadows. I'll tell you the next step when we land."

Everyone nodded in understanding at the meagre plan that I had come up with. Kyoka and I stepped away from the group and from each other so that we could transform into our dragons. We shared a nod as we allowed the comforting feeling of scales erupting across our skin to overwhelm us. Our bodies morphed and our senses heightened, within seconds we stood at full height, looking down at the amazed faces of the others (except for Fumikage, of course, he had seen us shift enough times for the novelty to have worn off).

Kyoka's dragon was smaller than mine. Where I stood at 66ft tall, Kyoka was only 45ft. I was the biggest of all of the dragons, being King.

"You take Fumikage and Itsuka whilst I take the other three," I told Kyoka in a series of growls and huffs which made up the archaic language of the dragons. Kyoka nodded in agreement and went about separating the minuscule people below us into the groups we had decided upon.

My tail swept in front of me, the tip gently prodding Shoto, Deku and Four Eyes to one side whilst Kyoka lowered her wing for Itsuka and Fumkiage. The three men seemed to understand what was happening as they waited patiently for the other two to settle on Kyoka's back and for her to take to the sky. Once Kyoka was hovering above us, her wings string up some wind, I lowered my wing for the three to climb on.

I waited patiently as their feet moved along my wing and up to my back. They settled on my back and tapped my back when they were secure. Standing up to my full height once again, I spread my wings out and flapped. My entire body lifted from the ground making me feel weightless and free. With a nod towards Kyoka, we were off towards the border between Endeavour and Crepitus.

We were flying at a leisurely pace for a while before we arrived at the divide between Endeavour and Crepitus. There was no physical marker that distinguished the difference between the two Kingdoms. To the eye, it was as if there was just a continuous forest. Nothing to indicate that you were leaving one place and entering another. But there was a slight difference between the two Kingdoms which had me shuddering when we crossed the border. The aura and magic of Crepitus were warm, like the fireside when you're surrounded by your loved ones and those dear to your heart. The aura of Endeavour was, ironically, cold like the embrace of death. It had always been that way, but it was worse when we crossed over. Maybe it was due to Shigaraki being in power. Maybe it was because the royal family was hurt. Maybe Enji was dead, although the land was bound to rejoice when the mistake of a human finally dropped dead. No, the asshole was probably holed up somewhere like the coward he was.