Chapter Text
As the group made their way up the long, winding path to where the heart of the coven was, Kirishima conversed happily with them.
"So wait, wait, wait...you're telling me that your eggs can incubate for fucking eternity?!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"Pretty much, yeah. They kind of have to be 'activated' after being laid. That generally involves an offering of something important to its direct family like the saved claw of a great grandfather or something. If that doesn't happen, it doesn't hatch. Obviously though for the egg to survive for eternity it'd have to be constantly warmed."
"How long do you guys wait then?" Ochako asked.
"The minimal age for dragon age incubation is a year! Approximately 3 dragons are born to a coven every 15 years to maintain population sizes." Izuku answered eagerly. Kirishima glanced over his shoulder at him as he walked, a small impressed smile on his face. "Heh. Sorry."
"No, you know a lot. Makes sense you were sent here, freckles." Kirishima said before turning to the front again. Izuku blushed madly at the impromptu nickname and suddenly found the mane of his horse, All Might (named after the legendary elven king), very interesting.
"Ah! We're here."
"This place is unbelievable." Kaminari said in shock. Understatement of the century in Izuku's opinion though. As they came up on the path, they peered out at the expanse of plain and vibrant greenery in front of them in the shape of an oval filling the space between the mountains. The sun brightly shone over dragons of a variety of colors, sizes, and builds. They filled the sky for as far as the eye could see. Large carts of large harvested vegetables like pumpkins, squash, watermelon were being sold.
"So here's the thing. It's a bit of a long way down so my friend and I can either fly you down there, no problem or you can take the path."
"I vote dragon ride!" Sero and Kaminari said simultaneously.
"We'll take the path." Katsuki growled.
"But-"
"Let's go." The two disappointedly followed him. Ochako and Shoto shared a look before opting for the dragon ride. A orange dragon flew up just then and the two climbed on and flew down. Izuku glanced hesitantly between his human friends and his newly acquired dragon acquaintance.
"I um..."
"Deku. What the hell, c'mon." Kirishima looked at Katsuki then back at Izuku, a slight smile on his face. He held out his hand.
"I can tell you want to. Your choice though." Izuku demounted his horse and slowly walked up to Kirishima, lightly placing his hand in his.
"Whatever." Katsuki said, urging his horse to trot off.
"You ever been on a dragon before?" Kirishima asked, drawing his attention back to those kind red eyes. He shook his head lightly, captivated by the man staring at him. Kirishima grinned genuinely. "Happy to be your first then!" Izuku struggled to stifle his laugh but snorted nonetheless.
"What?" Izuku continued to laugh. "Oh. Oh. OH! N-not like that! I-I promise." Kirishima said suddenly red at the implication of his own words.
"No, no I have a dirty mind." Izuku said between giggles.
"God, am I going to regret trusting you elf?" Kirishima teased.
"I don't think so, dragon." Izuku quipped back with a smirk. He squeezed the hand he was still holding in front of him. Kirishima couldn't help but smile before transforming (maybe with flair in order to impress a certain spectator, but who knew?" and doing a flip in front of Izuku who gasped and clapped happily. Unlike earlier, Kirishima was not covered in spikes indicating their retractability. Izuku climbed on his back, his heart beating fast in his chest. The dragon beneath him lightly huffed as if to ask if he was ready. "I'm ready when you a-" Izuku was cut off by the woosh of wind as he flew on Kirishima's back. Izuku felt the wind pushing his hair back and running through his tresses strongly. The combination of the warmth of the sun and the weightless sensation was utterly satisfying to Izuku. They weren't too high up to begin with, making it to the ground quickly even with Kirishima's covert stalling. After Izuku slowly slid off, slightly paralyzed by fear and having held onto his two small spikes (conveniently left out for Izuku's grasp) so tightly. "That was amazing!" Izuku said ecstatically as Kirishima transformed.
"Ah it was nothing, honestly." He responded embarrassed by but very happy with the praise.
"Nothing!? You're amazing!" Izuku gushed.
Soon the group was allowed to settle in a few tents put up for them since dragons slept outside. Kirishima soon took his leave too, saying that they would meet Ito tomorrow.
...
A blonde head of hair approached the tent frustratedly "Kacchan! You all finally made it down!"
"Eh?! Finally?! It only took us an hour, Deku."
"If you hadn't been so stubborn, it would have taken you a couple minutes." Izuku said, raising an eyebrow.
"Amen." Denki muttered as he and Sero went to join Ochako and Shoto.
"Look I don't need help from-"
"Kacchan."
"These lovely dragons." He said through gritted teeth. "I can do this all myself."
"No you can't Kacchan. We all need help, you just hate asking for it. Kirishima is just trying to help us."
"Is he really? Is Kirishima just trying to help you 'freckles'?"
"What? Seriously Kacchan?"
"He's so great, right? Go find him to bother."
"What are we five Kacchan? I can have friends other than you, you know."
"Oh so now you two are friends. After what, and hour?" Katsuki scoffed.
"What is up with you today? You need to chill." Izuku said annoyed. Katsuki looked at him for another second then walked off angrily.
Eventually night fell and Katsuki had yet to return. Izuku sat outside of the tent listening to the sounds of his friends sleeping as he waited for his childhood best friend to come back after having a while to cool off. He yawned sleepily and looked up at the dark sky. The stars were probably as bright as he'd ever seen them and a faint memories from when him and his mother visited several years back played at the edges of his mind.
"Hey." Izuku looked to see Kirishima walking up to him. He sat down beside him and looked up at the sky like Izuku was doing.
"It's late, freckles. Why are you up?"
"Waiting for Kacchan. He's being dumb right now." Izuku said with a sigh.
"Kacchan...The short loud blonde?" Izuku snorted.
"Don't let him hear you say that." Although Izuku was short himself (5'4) Katsuki was only 5'10 (although he'd lie and say he was six foot) which was short in comparison to the dragons. Even the female dragon were 6'0 and above. "But yeah...he's a little moody." Izuku said sheepishly.
"Moody is one word for it." Kirishima joked with a light-hearted laugh. "I get it though, he doesn't seem too bad."
"He's honestly the best. We've known each other since forever and even with his mood swings and slightly abrasive personality...he's really a gruff teddy bear."
"Well hopefully I get to know him someday like you do, he's sounds manly."
"He is." Izuku said fondly. He glanced over to unabashedly study Kirishima's features. "I like your spots too." There was a red tint at either edge of his bare chest with small lighter spots on that area. Kirishima smiled softly at him.
"What's it like being able to fly?" Izuku asked as he imagined the feeling himself.
"Oh it's a feeling like none other. It's freedom and light, airy happiness that can't be taken or tainted by anyone below you. Feeling the wind rushing against your skin while knowing you are in complete control is amazing. It's manly as hell." Izuku's eyes snapped open at that.
"Oh my god...that's why you seem so familiar! You're him!"
"I'm...huh?"
"The red dragon, the one I played with when I visited as a young child. We used to run through the fields and pick flowers for each other and- and-"
"Little elf? You're the little elf!" Izuku nodded excitedly. "You wore that cute little hat that hid all of this pretty hair." Izuku laughed.
"It always got in the way."
"Mine too! But you know that though, you're the reason I started wearing bandanas!" Memories continued to rush back.
"I made you one and you called it manly! Just like you called everything manly." Kirishima chuckled.
"Bad habit of mine.
"Cute habit of yours." Izuku said.
"I never thought I'd see you again." Kirishima said, more seriously with a happy look. He stared intently at Izuku's eyes. "Little elf." Izuku smiled shyly.
"Oi, Deku. Shitty Hair." The two of them snapped their heads to look at an approaching Katsuki Bakugo.
"Uh...me?"
"Kacchan!" Izuku jumped up excitedly and bounded to Katsuki. Despite the smile on his face he on Katsuki's ear roughly in admonishment. "And would you stop giving people nicknames without their permission. Especially when they're mean!" Katsuki grunted in response then looked back up to see Kirishima standing up.
"You have shitty hair." Katsuki directed at him. Kirishima reached up to touch his spiky hair and laughed.
"We have like the same hair though." He shot back with a laugh.
"Well yours is worse because it's paired with those atrocious fucking teeth." Kirishima grinned amused.
"I think they're manly." Katsuki was mildly surprised someone who he just met was so completely unbothered by his insults.
"You fucking wish, Shitty Hair."
"What's your name? Not sure if you remember mine but it's-
"I don't give a fuck. Mine is Katsuki Bakugo though, prince of the Crimson Kingdom."
"Royalty, eh? Makes sense." Kirishima chuckled.
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"Means you're arrogant despite your position meaning jack squat outside of your realm." Kirishima said, not unkindly. "I like you though." Katsuki grunted and looked away and Izuku looked satisfied.
"Alrighty, my spiky haired friends, I think it's best we get some sleep before our meeting with Leader Ito, tomorrow."
"Wanna share our tent, Kirishima?"
"I mean as long as it's ok with Bakubro here, I'd be glad to!"
"As long as you don't snore like Dunce Face, I don't give a shit." Katsuki said, and with that, walked off to the tent in his usual manner.
"Holy crap!" Izuku whispered excitedly.
"What?" Kirishima asked, matching his energy.
"Kacchan likes you! And so soon too!" He said with a starry eyed look of admiration.
"Oh damn really? Hard to tell." Kirishima said with a smile.
"Oh I promise he does, not that he'll admit it." Izuku said as they began to walk towards the tent.
...
The next day, everyone cleaned themselves up and were lead through the bustling coven towards a large cave at the very end of the valley. Katsuki was walking next to Izuku, adorned in fur-lined brown trousers, an open silver vest and a red cape with massive furs across his shoulders. His arms had intricate black tattoo markings along them and he had red talon like earrings in his ears. Kirishima was shirtless (which seemed to be a trend for all the dragons) and wore loose white pants with a fur waist band. There was a red tint at either edge of his chest with small lighter spots on that area. Izuku had a simple single earring in one ear, fitted brown trousers, an off-the shoulder button up shirt, and his signature satchel across his body. Although the rest of his outfit was far more casual than his usual style, his tiara was still firmly in his green curly hair. There were an odd trio surrounded by the rest of the group as they approached the entrance. Leaning on a large rock beside the entrance was Mina. She pushed herself up and used her head to gesture to follow her. "Leader Ito. They're here." She called out. Soon the cave opened up into a huge stoney room with various gems embedded in the walls naturally and lighting up the room. In the center was a huge, forbidding black dragon who upon seeing them began to shift. In its place, a very tall man with long, thick dreadlocks that reached his feet, a short curly black beard and warm dark brown eyes. He was shirtless with black trousers. He smiled kindly at them.
Izuku stepped up an bowed. "Leader Ito-" He was cut off by a hearty booming laugh.
"Izuku. You really don't remember me? I should have visited more." Izuku blinked, more memories appearing faintly in his head.
"Um sorry, vaguely I do but..."
"No matter, no matter." Ito said. "It's good to see you though, you're your mother's spitting image. And you remind me of your father." Izuku smiled a bit sadly at that.
"Thank you."
"It's nice to meet you all! Let's get started on what you came for. So I hear you're interested in knowing more about Melnia and whether her egg can help in this situation. Firstly, we dragons value egg hatching highly in our society so with our ancestor's centuries old egg...it requires the utmost respect and honor. There are only four eggs of hers left, I wouldn't even allow you to take it if I wasn't so sure it would be worth it."
"We're still awaiting word that the situation has become pressing enough." Katsuki said gruffly.
"Well here is your word. How dire this situation has become has shifted as of this morning." Ito began, very serious. "The Prince of Ashes has left the outskirts, followed by an army of the cursed."
"The cursed are physically weaker than normal beings, by far more susceptible to ailments and injuries...what is so terribly concerning about an army of them?" Ochako asked.
"Physically, yes. But they have found a way to tap into the magic harbored in them. That which is the result of the curse." The group gasped and exclaimed in shock at that.
"The cursed with magic? Is that even possible?" Sero asked.
"Extremely. They are destroying small towns and settlements alongside the border of the land. People are fleeing inward and his path of soot is leading straight towards the hearts of the kingdoms. Their magic is said to be completely unpredictable and difficult to control but...insanely powerful. Enough to kill a well practiced Elven sorcerer."
"So can her egg save us? The short answer is hypothetically, yes. The long answer is that it's complicated. You'd have to bring an offering of every part of the land despite being evidently hard-pressed for time. Then make it up to the tip of Wind Brooke Mountain which is meant to keep those without worthy cause, out. And finally, the result of this egg hatching as that those with an impure intent upon the wellness of the land will die. You have to understand, completely, what it is you are doing." The group nodded solemnly. Ito nodded and moved to the wall behind his throne. He transformed into his dragon state, placed a paw gently on it, took a deep breath and breathed white fire directly into the wall. We (save for Kirishima and Mina) shielded our faces from the immense heat. Soon he stopped and the wall was moved away to find four crystal looking eggs sitting on short pedestals in front of a roaring fire pit. He transformed again in order to pick one up and carefully place it in Kirishima's hands. "My two conditions for this egg is that you protect it with your lives and that Mina and Kirishima go with you to assist you." Izuku gasped happily, Katsuki groaned, Mina protested and Ochako not-so-discreetly celebrated the 6'0 curly haired addition to the group.
"Now, now that's enough, children. You all leave tonight. Mina and Kirishima will help you get what you need here and you should find other materials once you leave our coven. I wish you all the best fortune for everyone's sakes."