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Katsuki loved being outside the city. The fresh air, the space, the new smells…
The city was nice sometimes, a safe place to go home to. Plus his family was there. But he didn’t belong in a city. He belonged out here, where he could run and explore.
And hunt.
Katsuki had the scent of rot and old blood in his nostrils, and he was hunting that shit down. He’d come across the scent a few days ago, and he’d been tracking it since then. Not many things could outrun him, especially at night, but this thing had managed it. It only stopped to eat, leaving blood and the stink of death in its wake.
It had been hunting around a small town, devouring everything from livestock to one farmer foolish enough to investigate his livestock’s screams.
Idiot.
Katsuki shook his head, refocusing on his prey. He wasn’t sure what the monster was, but that just made his blood pump faster, boiling in his veins. It had been too long since he’d hunted properly, and nothing was going to ruin this for him. The scent was getting stronger.
Katsuki’s paws dug into the dirt beneath him, and he bit back a howl at the thrill of the hunt. He couldn’t let his prey know he was so close. He put on a burst of speed, abandoning his steady lope that he could maintain for days in favor of a blind sprint, desperate to finally catch up and sink his fangs into the monster.
Katsuki burst out of the crops growing in the field he’d been running through and into what looked like someone’s backyard. He skidded to a stop, ears flying back and hackles rising as he took in his surroundings. A scream from the direction of the house caught his attention as a wave of the creature’s rot-stench washed over him.
In the late evening light, with his currently-limited color vision, it was difficult to tell exactly what was going on, but there was definitely a family scrambling to get inside, all except for one one human who stood between the others and certain death.
Certain death was twice the height of a normal human, nearly skeletal in build, and carried that now-familiar stench of old blood and rotting meat. It let out a piercing cry, drowning out the screeches of the humans, and lunged.
Katsuki shot forward, knowing he wouldn’t make it in time and cursing himself for pausing. The creature’s claws hit the one human still outside, and Katsuki braced himself for the sharp copper scent of fresh blood, but it didn’t come. Instead, the smell of warm, loamy earth reached him as he gathered his haunches under him and threw himself at the creature, aiming for it’s throat. There was no time to puzzle over the unexpected scent, because the monster twisted, and Katsuki’s teeth met bone in its shoulder instead of tearing its head clean off. Katsuki snarled and wrenched his head, determined to do as much damage as possible, only for the creature to reach up and claw him off.
Katsuki’s flank stung, telling him the thing had landed a hit, but he refused to let go, grunting as he used the impact of the creature’s next swing to throw himself over the creature’s shoulder. He fell against its back, his weight yanking the creature’s body with him. It twisted, fell, and the human who was still fucking outside for some unholy fuckhell reason folded their hands together and swung them into the creature’s hip, directing its fall away from the house.
Katsuki had a split second to wonder how the actual fuck a human did that before the creature - and Katsuki - hit the ground. The impact jostled him enough that his jaw relaxed, and a moment later the creature was rolling on top of him to get away from an onslaught of punches from the human. Katsuki wheezed as the thing’s weight fell on him - despite being not much more than skin and bones, that fucker was heavy - and then tried to force himself to his paws as the thing rolled away.
The human - wait, that thing was too sharp to be a human, what the fuck - started to chase after the monster, but Katsuki yelped as his side protested the motion sharply and he slipped in his own blood. Damn, that monster must’ve gotten him deeper than he thought. Katsuki went down, snarling to himself in fury. He’d be fine by morning, but shit, it wasn’t the full moon and he couldn’t heal quickly enough to go after that thing.
“Hey, you’re hurt. Let me-” Katsuki smelled dirt again and snarled, snapping blindly when he sensed someone leaning over him. “Whoa, okay, maybe not.” Katsuki forced himself to stand on trembling legs and glared at the thing that wasn’t a human after all. “You were after the wendigo too, huh?”
Katsuki’s lips dropped, concealing his fangs as he blinked in surprise. A wendigo? He’d never met a wendigo that stank like that. Sure they usually smelled musty and all, but the rot smell was different.
“I think it’s decaying,” the not-human murmured, studying his own hands that were too angular to be quite human. “That’s why it’s gone crazy. It’ll keep killing, trying to fix itself, but so far that hasn’t helped it. Not sure what could make a wendigo decay like that, but it’ll have to be put down. Is that what you’re here to do?”
Katsuki twitched his ears, trying to encourage the pointy creature to keep talking. He brushed at a series of deep gouges in his chest that must have been where the decaying wendigo - if that was what it really was - caught him. Something that looked like gravel fell from the wound, and Katsuki knew he would’ve been gaping if he’d been in his other form.
The gouges looked like they’d been carved into stone, and they were leaking loamy earth and gravel instead of blood.
This thing was a goddamn fucking honest to shit golem. Katsuki stared for a long moment, then shook himself as the golem bent down and scooped up a handful of dirt from the yard, pressing it to his wound. Katsuki watched as the golem packed the dirt into his wound, and then a moment later, there was no sign of damage other than a few slightly darker streaks on the golem’s chest where the dirt from the yard had replaced the stuff that had previously made up that part of his body.
“I think we hurt it, but you don’t look like you’re in any shape to run that thing down tonight,” the golem informed him. Katsuki snarled and laid his ears back, his hackles on the rise once more. “It’ll hide during the day, so we should have a decent shot at tracking it down after dawn. Why don’t you meet me back here then, and we’ll find it together?” Katsuki growled and took a step back. He wasn’t sure what the golem wanted, but Katsuki definitely wasn’t going to work with it. He’d find a dark spot to recover, then track the wendigo again on his own.
He’d be fine next time, as long as this dirt asshole didn’t show up and distract him again.
Katsuki lost the wendigo’s trail in a stream a few hours before dawn and when he doubled back to try to pick up the scent again, he found himself on the edge of another field, this one bordered by a road. Katsuki lifted his muzzle, scenting the air, and found only the smells of the nearby town. After a moment of consideration, he realized he recognized the area. There was a diner nearby, one he’d been to before and stashed clothes near. Maybe he could loot it or something. He was starving, and he needed to eat anyway to speed up the last of his healing and get rid of the lingering ache from his wound, anyway. Wendigo claws could fuck him up, apparently. He’d have to be careful when he found the creature again.
The diner was open when Katsuki got there, apparently being one of those twenty-four hour joints. Katsuki retrieved his stash of clothes from a hole he’d dug beneath a tree, shifted, and dressed. He grimaced at the streaks of dirt clinging to his clothes, but dirty was better than naked, so he shrugged and headed for the diner.
There was only one other customer there when he walked in, a redhead with his long hair pulled back into a ponytail. Katsuki barely spared the guy a glance before he headed for the booth in the far corner, motioning the sleepy-looking server over to take his order. Once he’d told the server his order - the kid was some greasy human Katsuki absolutely horrified with the number of pancakes he wanted - and was waiting for his food, he took a moment to consider his situation.
He needed to get some one on one time with that wendigo, but the ache in his side told him that going in without a plan wasn’t a great idea. Katsuki wished he’d thought to leave his phone at this particular clothes stash, because it would be really helpful to call Denki about now and make him get his lazy ass up to do some research on wendigos. Of course, if he did that, Katsuki was pretty sure Denki would end up mentioning it to their parents, and that would suck balls.
Katsuki did not need his dads finding out he let a wendigo claw him; he’d get a lecture for sure.
“Hey, you look pretty serious for someone who ordered enough pancakes to feed an army,” someone said. Katsuki stared up at the redhead, who was carrying a plate of eggs, bacon, more eggs, sausage, and a steak. “Mind if i sit here?”
“Fuck off,” Katsuki replied, glaring at him. The redhead grinned and plopped into the seat across from Katsuki, who caught a glimpse of weirdly sharp teeth as the guy set about devouring his meat with an honestly disturbing enthusiasm. For a second, Katsuki wondered if this was the wendigo - lots of creatures could disguise themselves as humans, and that was a horrifying amount of protein for a human, plus the teeth and all - but then he realized there was no stench of blood or rot, only the soft earthy smell of his own dirt-streaked clothes.
“No way. You’re gonna need food if you’re gonna heal up, and I didn’t see a wallet anywhere,” the stranger replied. “I’ll buy your food.”
“The fuck?” Katsuki scowled as he realized the guy was right, feeling the shift lurking beneath his skin. This guy - this thing - knew he was injured, had paid enough attention to him to know he didn’t have any money - stupid, Katsuki thought, why the fuck hadn’t he left cash with every single clothes stash? - and now the thing happily chomping away at more meat than anything should need in one sitting wanted to pay for his food?
“You’re real touchy, aren’t you? I thought wolves were social animals,” the stranger commented, shoving an entire fried egg into his mouth. Katsuki’s stomach churned. He couldn’t risk shifting here, not all the way. He let his fangs lengthen a bit so his grin would resemble a snarl more than a human smile.
“What the fuck are you and what the shit do you want?” Katsuki demanded, showing his fangs.
“Server’s coming,” the stranger informed him cheerfully. Katsuki dropped his lip to cover his teeth and glowered at the table as the server set a mountain of pancakes in front of him. As soon as the kid left, Katsuki turned his renewed snarl on the thing in front of him. “Dude, I thought you’d know. You saw the thing with the dirt, right? That should be pretty obvious?”
The thing with the…
“Fucking shitfuckhole,” Katsuki whispered. Was this thing saying what he thought it was saying?
“Anyway, I figured you’d hunt a rabbit or a deer or something to heal. Didn’t expect you to get pancakes. Your coat’s the same color as your hair, by the way. It’s really pretty.”
“How the assfuck?” Katsuki hissed. “How did you…”
“Language, dude,” the stranger chided. “Your pancakes are getting cold.” The change of topic nearly gave him whiplash, but Katsuki wasn’t one to let good food go to waste, so he started in on his mountain of carbs while he continued to gape and occasionally swear at the person sitting across from him. “Anyway, I thought for sure you’d recognize me. Don’t know why you seemed surprised.”
“Fuckass human shit,” Katsuki mumbled through a mouthful of fluffy pancake drenched in syrup.
“What? Wait, do I look like a regular human to you?” Katsuki nodded and continued shoveling food into his face. “Huh. Weird. I thought wolves could see through that.”
“Wolves can,” Katsuki agreed, reaching for the syrup bottle. His pancakes needed to drown in it.
“Huh. So since you shifted, you can’t tell anymore? That’s weird.” The stranger - the fucking golem - shrugged and started gnawing on his steak as he continued. “I know where the wendigo’s den is. I can’t beat it alone, so I’ve just been following it and protecting the humans it targets. If you helped though…” Katsuki nearly choked on his massive, sugar-soaked bit of pancake. He had so many questions, including why a golem was eating human food and where this alleged den was, but all that came out was a strangled cough as he forced down his bite. “So, are you in?”
“Huh?”
“If I lead you to the wendigo’s den, will you help me take it down?” the golem asked, grinning hopefully at him. Katsuki considered telling him to fuck off again, but he remembered the golem taking a hit from the wendigo’s claws a lot better than he had.
He needed a plan anyway. Why not make sacrificing the golem his plan? If it didn’t work, he could always run, get his phone, and call in backup. Maybe if he bribed Denki with cupcakes or something, he could keep their parents from finding out. If he went to Denki’s favorite human bakery and got the ones with the little plastic lightning bolt rings pressed into the icing, maybe Denki would actually lie to their parents.
Katsuki realized the golem was still waiting for an answer and nodded sharply.
“Sure. Pay for my pancakes and then lead the way,” Katsuki ordered before polishing off the last of his food.
“Great! My name’s Kirishima, by the way!” the golem replied, waving the server over to pay for both their meals.
“Bakugou,” Katsuki responded grudgingly. Kirishima the golem beamed and stood. Katsuki followed him out of the diner and toward the fields outside of town. Once they were away from the local humans, Katsuki slipped into the crops to strip and shift. He buried his clothes, then trotted back to Kirishima, shaking his pelt out with each step. The food had definitely helped him heal, he noted as he stretched and realized there was no ache at all in his flank.
Kirishima led the way through the fields, his pace slower than Katsuki’s natural loping gait but just as steady and effortless. Katsuki picked up the decaying wendigo’s scent from time to time, but Kirishima didn’t seem to notice. Katsuki wondered if golems even had a sense of smell, or if this scent was one that was more magical than physical, and that was why Katsuki could smell it but not the golem.
A wave of the wendigo’s old blood and rot stench washed over him, making Katsuki curl his lip at the smell. A little way ahead of them was a ditch, a division between the fields that carried rainwater between them. Part of the ditch was covered, so farming equipment could cross it. Katsuki looked a little closer and realized a concrete tunnel had been placed in the ditch and then covered with dirt to create the bridge.
Katsuki crept toward the den, wondering how such a small shelter was enough for a wendigo. He thought the creatures needed deeper, darker hiding places. Maybe this one was out of sorts because of the decaying thing? Katsuki shook off his thoughts and focused on pinpointing the creature. He couldn’t see it from the top of the ditch, so he picked his way down to the little stream of water at the bottom. His ears twitched in surprise as he realized this must be why he’d lost the trail and hadn’t been able to find it; the creature hadn’t crossed the stream, it had followed it home.
Katsuki peered into the tunnel, searching for any sign of the hulking skeletal monster, but found only concrete and shadows. He tried to scent the air, but the lingering stench of the monster’s makeshift den was so powerful that he couldn’t tell if the creature was nearby.
“Bakugou!” The golem’s voice reached him a second before something hit the water behind him. Katsuki whirled, snarling, and found Kirishima on his back in the water, pinned beneath one of the wendigo’s feet. For a second, Katsuki was afraid he was going to be facing the wendigo alone, but then one of Kirishima’s hands clamped around the monster’s ankle, while the other grabbed its foot and yanked.
There was a sickening crack, followed by a screech from the wendigo, as its foot came right the fuck off. Katsuki saw the monster swipe at Kirishima’s head and threw himself towards the ditch’s wall, using it to bound up until he was level with the thing’s chest. Then he launched himself from the top of the ditch, jaws clamping down on the creature’s arm. The stench of rotting meat filled his nose, and he nearly gagged, but his weight dragged the decaying monster off balance at the same time as Kirishima grabbed the broken stump of its leg and pulled.
The creature went down with a cry that tore at Katsuki’s eardrums, clawing at the golem pulling on its leg - holy fuck, was Kirishima trying to pull the thing’s leg off? - and shaking its other arm in an attempt to dislodge the angry wolf gnawing on it. Katsuki decided to follow Kirishima’s example and dug his paws into the mud at the bottom of the ditch, then wrenched his body, pulling on the monster’s arm with enough strength to tear it from its socket. Katsuki spat the disgusting limb out and went for the thing’s neck.
Once he actually managed to get his teeth around the back of its neck, a sharp snap of his jaws severed its spine. Katsuki choked on the wave of decay that swamped his sense of smell and leaped back from the creature, which was suddenly dissolving. His eyes widened and his tail clamped between his legs as the various pieces of the wendigo he and Kirishima had torn off crumbled away to nothing, followed an instant later by the thing’s torso.
Katsuki snarled, staring at the heap of dust slowly dissolving into the water at his paws.
“Yeah, decaying things do that,” Kirishima sighed, grimacing as he started to climb out of the ditch. Katsuki wondered briefly if being exposed to water would be harmful to the golem, but he seemed to be moving fine as Katsuki bounded up the bank after him. “So, what’s next for you?” Katsuki hesitated at the question.
He really needed to report back to Tatsuma, and possibly ask about getting someone to purify the area or some shit. Who knew what kind of gross things the wendigo dust could cause? That stuff had to be dangerous, right?
And speaking of dangerous…Katsuki glanced at Kirishima, considering. Golems were rare, and this one didn’t seem to have a master. That made him especially dangerous, even if he had just helped Bakugou take down the wendigo. Plus he’d seemed familiar with the whole decay thing, so he could have useful information.
Tatsuma would definitely want to meet him.
Katsuki trotted up to Kirishima and shouldered his leg to get his attention. Kirishima grinned down at him, head tilted curiously. Katsuki bounded forward, heading for where he’d stashed his clothes - it would be easier to retrieve his phone and wallet and the rest of the things he’d brought with him if he was in human form - and then pausing to glance over his shoulder.
“Want me to follow you?” Kirishima guessed. Katsuki ducked his head in the closest thing to a nod he could manage as a wolf, then started off again, this time with Kirishima in tow. Katsuki tried not to enjoy that too much, or think to hard about how easy it had been to fight alongside Kirishima. Afterall, golem’s fate was up in the air, so Katsuki didn’t want to get attached.