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His mom and dad had always told him not to venture too far into the Great Woods, but Katsuki was five years old now, he's old enough to go exploring alone. He was going to be a legendary dragonrider when he grew up, he could deal with anything that might come in his way. He even had his own sword now! It was a present for his fifth birthday. None of his friends had their swords yet, and even if they did, the person who would have given it to them wouldn’t have been the King himself.
Katsuki was a Bakugou and that alone meant he was destined for great things, his mom and dad had always told him that. He wasn’t born into the best dragonrider clan for nothing. Ever since he had gotten his sword, he brought it with himself everywhere. A dragonrider’s first sword was ‘something to be treasured’, that’s what his mother had always told Katsuki. If he had to take a couple of short breaks because it was too heavy, no one had to know.
After his fifth break he reached a meadow he remembered from his trips with his father. He had never gone this deep into the Woods alone before. The only animal he came across was a squirrel. It was safe. He was safe.
The grass came up to his knees and there were small patches of yellow and pink flowers littering it. He vowed to pick a few for his mom on his way back.
He was halfway through the meadow when he spotted a patch of trampled grass. An animal, he thought, there was a struggle. He unsheathed his sword and followed the path of the crushed grass. There was some blood on the ground. The footprints stopped around a huge rock that was easily twice Katsuki’s size. He took a deep breath and inched closer.
On the other side of the rock, there was something red curled up in a ball. It was covered in scales and it was dirty, with straws of squashed grass stuck in it. Katsuki moved as slowly and as quiet as he could. The scaly ball shivered and let out a pathetic whine.
It moved the same time Katsuki got close enough to see that it was a dragon.
The dragon stood up on four legs and blew a tiny puff of smoke. It was small; had Katsuki stood next to it, it wouldn’t have come up higher than Katsuki’s waist. The baby dragon was trembling, one of its hind legs was so badly injured that blood was still leaking from it.
Katsuki had never seen a dragon like this one. Its horns were different from all the breeds in Katsuki’s books and its coloring was too bright. It had its right eye half closed—Katsuki only realized now that it had a cut above its eye.
Katsuki had his sword raised, but the dragon didn’t attack. Instead, it stumbled ahead on shaky legs then fell on the ground with a yelp. It didn’t look dangerous. It was too injured to be dangerous. Katsuki sheathed his sword and took a step towards it.
He had heard countless tales about legendary dragonriders who earned the trust of their dragon early on, but no one got chosen by theirs before they turned twelve. But not Katsuki. Katsuki was going to be the best dragonrider ever, he could get his own dragon at the age of five.
The dragon watched his every move. He took another step towards it. When it didn’t react badly, Katsuki stepped closer. This dragon was going to be his, he decided. He didn’t look away from its eyes as he slowly walked closer and closer, step by step. He was within arm’s reach when the dragon huffed. Katsuki stopped, ready to bolt, but the dragon only laid down and rested its head on its forelegs. Katsuki reached out with one hand. The dragon raised its head and nuzzled into Katsuki’s palm. Its scales were hard, but its body was warm, almost as warm as a human’s.
“Hi,” Katsuki whispered. He knew the dragon was going to choose him, he just didn’t expect it to happen this soon. “I can see you’re hurt. Do you want to come back to my town with me?”
The dragon turned its head and licked Katsuki’s palm.
“Can you walk?”
It pushed itself up on four legs. Katsuki patted its head, careful not to touch its injured side.
“C’mon, let’s go home.”
The dragon was limping, but it was walking. Katsuki kept his hand on its neck, patting it reassuringly from time to time. They had to stop every few minutes. They were almost at the edge of the Woods when the dragon collapsed with a whimper. Katsuki crouched down next to it.
“We’re almost home. Stand up and let’s go.”
The dragon didn’t move. Katsuki couldn’t leave it just there. He found it, it was going to be his dragon, he couldn’t just leave it so someone could steal it.
“C’mon. It’s not too far from here.”
It still didn’t move. He felt the low boiling of anger rising inside of him, but he took a deep breath and stopped himself from shouting. Dragons needed to respect their dragonriders, he couldn’t just yell at it.
He tugged on one foreleg.
“I’ll help, but let’s go.”
The dragon almost kicked him. Katsuki groaned.
“I’ll give you a piggyback ride, okay?” he snapped. “Do you even understand what I’m saying?”
It let out a low whine, but didn’t resist when Katsuki pulled it onto his back. It was heavy, heavier than Katsuki expected, but he could deal with it. What kind of a dragonrider would he be if he left his own dragon behind?
Every step was difficult, but somehow he moved them right to the outskirts of the Great Woods when he heard a familiar voice shouting his name.
“Katsuki, you brat, where the hell are you?”
“Mom!” he yelled back. “Mom, look! I found a dragon!”
He stopped moving. He wobbled under the dragon’s weight, but he dug his heels in the ground to steady himself.
“You found a what?” His mom’s voice was closer.
“A dragon! It’s injured, but it’s with me.”
Katsuki would never forget the look on his mom’s face when she spotted him.
“Katsuki, what the—”
“Mom, it’s a dragon! I have my own dragon now. I’m going to be the best dragonrider ever.”
His mom was beside him in a few beats. She lifted the dragon off Katsuki’s back, holding it up by its forelegs. It opened his mouth and coughed. No fire came out of its throat, just a little cloud of smoke.
“This is not a dragon, Katsuki.”
That couldn’t be.
“No, mom, look closer. It’s a dragon.”
She shook her head. “No, Katsuki, this is a shifter. A dragon shifter.”
Katsuki frowned. He hadn’t heard about shifters before.
“A what?”
“A dragon shifter. It’s a boy. But it’s also a dragon. He’s probably old enough to shapeshift into human form.” Katsuki didn’t really understand what his mom was saying. He didn’t know dragons who were also humans existed. “Oi, kiddo, I need you to shift before we patch you up, okay? I need to know where your parents are.”
The dragon—dragon-boy?—let out a loud whine.
“But let’s get both of you cleaned first.”
She cradled the dragon-boy in her arms and reached down with her other hand to mess up Katsuki’s hair.
Katsuki retold his entire journey on their way home. When they arrived to Katsuki’s house, they filled a big bowl with water, and his mom sent him to wash up. Katsuki bathed as fast as he could, but his mom finished treating the dragon-boy’s injuries by the time he was done.
When Katsuki stepped into the room, his mom put a finger to her lips. The dragon-boy had fallen asleep, curled up on the covers in a half moon shape. Katsuki tiptoed to the bed. There were bandages around his head and two of his legs.
“Is he going to be okay?” Katsuki whispered. “Did he shapeshift? Did you talk to him?”
She nodded.
“He’s going to be fine. He said it’s easier to stay in his dragon form so I told him to stay like that however long he wants. He will heal faster.”
“Where are his parents?”
She patted the sleeping dragon-boy. “They’re gone, Katsuki. We’re his family now. You found a friend.”
Katsuki joined his mom and patted the dragon-boy’s head. He nuzzled into his hand, just like in the Woods.
“What’s his name?”
“Eijirou.”