Travel The Distance

Chapter 32

I don't know if I need to mention this, but there's animal death in this chapter and slight body horror, I guess. I'm not sure, I don't want to spoil stuff, but if you don't like either of these things, be careful. 

*Katsuki's POV*

After sending the letters off, we could only wait until dusk to enact our next move. It was fucking boring, just sitting there, knowing that there's an enemy for me to fight out there, yet I can't do anything about it. I grew restless, twitching in my spot, constantly sharpening my sword and allowing minuscule explosions to pop in my hands. By the third hour of our wait, it seemed as though I wasn't the only one getting restless.

Carrot Top's hands were constantly fluctuating in size as she tried in vain to entertain herself. Kyoka's earphone jacks whipped around, occasionally finding purchase in the ground where she would listen for a second before the ground vibrated ever so slightly and she would resume the process again. Fumikage was dead to the world, staring off into space with Dark Shadow curled up in his lap. Deku and Four Eyes were conversing in low voices whilst Icyhot sat next to the, creating various shapes out of his ice and fire. It suffices to say, we were bored and desperate for something, anything, to do.

"I'm so bored..." Itsuka whined, throwing her hands in the air and flopping back onto the earth behind her.

"Can't we do some recognisance?" Deku sighed unhappily, fist propping up his cheek on his knee.

"That's a great idea, but they'd most likely notice us instantly. The only one who can even get close is Tokoyami, and they would find the behaviour of a bird just watching them peculiar." Four Eyes sighed, chopping his hand through the air with an audible 'whoosh'.

"Got any ideas, Katsuki?" Kyoka asked, turning her head sideways so that she could look at me through her peripheral vision.

"Let's go hunting or some shit. It'll get us moving and we can find food." I huffed. My suggestion was greeted with nods and shrugs.

"Ok, why not. But we'll only be able to kill small animals. Although, how will we cook them?" Icyhot asked.

"Are you an idiot?" I snarked, "Do you, or do you not, have fire magic? If we're far enough away from them, we'll be able to disguise the smell and fire itself. Look up, stupid, it's gonna rain tonight, that'll get rid of the smell, so they won't know we were ever anywhere near them."

"There was some very in-depth analysis, Katsuki," Fumikage spoke up from the edge of the circle we had subconsciously arranged ourselves in. I scowled at the bird-headed bastard and turned to the rest.

"I'm up for some hunting. It's been a while since I've had the chance to." Kyoka shrugged. Everyone else soon nodded in agreement. Soon enough, we were off in two groups of two and one group of three.

Kyoka and I moved silently through the shrubbery of the forest with practised ease. Despite living comfortably in the castle for a year, my tribe and I had endeavoured to still go out hunting at least once a fortnight. We had been hunting since we were children, even if we didn't need to hunt for food anymore, it was therapeutic. A task which was engraved into our bones and soothed my worried mind.

"There's a gaggle of wild turkeys about 10 meters to the right. Ten of them," Kyoka whispered into the airy silence of our surroundings. I nodded silently and gestured for us to head towards them. If we were quiet enough, we would be able to snag a few of them before they were spooked.

We were both crouched behind a bush, peering through the foliage to see the gaggle of birds, all of them making annoying sounds and nipping at the grass beneath them. My mouth watered at the mere sight of them, despite having eaten breakfast earlier that morning, I was starving. Mid-day had come and gone and all we had eaten had been some dried meat and bread, I could devour an entire turkey whole without any problems.