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In the glow of the setting sun, Katsuki glitters like shattered topaz and molten gold.
The jewelry he is adorned with catches the light and radiates throughout the dim dressing room, creating little rainbows that scatter about whenever he moves. They reflect off the mirror Katsuki stands before and nearly blinds him. He closes his eyes and lets the red of his eyelids fill his vision when a servant comes up to him with a tube of lipstick and a compact. He crinkles his nose at the feeling of his cheeks being tickled by the fine hairs of a blush brush.
Needles and pins are pricked into him as finishing touches are added to his birthday attire and he hates every second of it. There are too many people around him, too many people touching him. He’s been standing in this stuffy dressing room for hours and he itches to move, to fight, to do something besides waiting and wishing for the day to be over. Out of boredom, he’s counted the number of times that he’s blinked, counted every breath that comes in and out of his body, he’s even counted the dust particles. But he has to endure this horrible feeling of being dressed up as some sort of doll to appease his mother.
When the makeup artist moves away, he cracks open an eye to glower at the woman in question in the mirror’s reflection. Queen Mitsuki isn’t even paying attention to him. She is instead pointing to various parts of Katsuki’s outfit and demanding that the seamstresses fix minuscule problems that bother her.
Katsuki feels weighed down, in both a literal and physical sense. Before, he would look toward his birthday with excitement, seeing as how the day began and ended with him being able to do whatever he pleased, regardless of what his parents said. This meant that he would be able to spend an entire day outside of his castle grounds, as long as he didn’t stray too far away from the kingdom. Instead, today, he’s being burdened with clothes and jewelry that makes even standing feel tiring. Not only that, but he won’t even be able to go exploring. His mother insisted that he stay on the grounds the entire day, seeing as how the events she had planned were just too important for him to miss even a second of.
He should’ve fought back, should’ve taken a firmer stand against his lying mother, because all he's done for the entire day was shake hands with other royals and nobles who gave him congratulations for his birthday. He opened and read congratulatory letters from those who couldn’t attend and wrote back to each person as a way of thanks because his mother said so. He’s posed for a painting, taste-tested foods that’d be featured at the buffet table, and changed his outfit more times than he can count. He was stuck inside his castle like a bird in a gilded cage, just like every other day of his dull life.
Now, as the evening arrives and he stops glowing like a field of wheat during golden hour, he comes to the depressing conclusion that the one day of the year he’d be able to leave his castle was coming to an end, and every other day after this would be spent how he has spent all the rest: bored and lonely.
“All done your highness,” one of the seamstresses says as she cuts one final piece of loose thread. Katsuki examines himself in the mirror.
As they fit the crown to his head, a memory of when he was younger appears in his mind. In it, he is sneaking into his parent’s room and opening a decorated box filled with his mother’s precious jewels. Beads, brooches, and glittering stones created a fluorescent explosion of light and color on his face, and he gaped in awe at the gems that remind him of candy. Katsuki compares that memory to himself today and grimaces at his reflection. The wonder of laying eyes on sparkling rubies and diamonds is nowhere to be found. Instead, there is misery coupled with a loathsome feeling that leaves his stomach bubbling.
He hates this life, more than he ever thought he would.
Katsuki reminisces about his past birthdays, remembers when they weren’t so awful.
He remembers waking before the servants and racing to the kitchen to cut himself a thick slice of bread, fry an egg, and grab a chunk of cheese, tomato, avocado, and goat butter before rushing to the forest behind his castle. There were things in the forest he’d discovered while munching on his breakfast such as peculiar mushrooms and other colorful fungi, small trinkets that Katsuki made up stories for such as a locket he found with a K engraved on its silver surface, butterflies with wings as transparent as glass, and birds whose singing sounded like piano trills. Exploring the forest was one of his favorite things in the entire world, but now he barely goes out anymore, seeing as how his mother calls him back almost as soon as he steps foot into the wooded area.
Mitsuki wasn’t always so strict with how he spent his time outside of the castle. Perhaps his father had gotten to her after badgering her with complaints of how dangerous the forest was for their child. King Masaru has always been a whiny coward so he doesn’t deem it odd whenever he somehow finds a reason to express grievance every time Katsuki finds a way to have fun on his own. Even when his mother gave him his very own dagger for his seventh birthday, his father would give him a century-long lecture about how to properly wield the blade before actually letting him hold the damn thing. He even took it away because he was worried that Katsuki would hurt himself, but despite this, Katsuki managed to steal it back and practice his slices as he traversed the magical wood.
He remembers looking for shiny objects and mysterious plants, jotting down his findings in a thick, leatherbound journal with his name inscribed on the front. He would hunt, scale big, looming trees and poke at leafy bushels that contained brightly hued berries. Then, when he became famished from expelling so much energy, he would eat whatever he stole from the kitchen or foraged in the woods. Sometimes he’d even try to cook whatever he’d hunted. As he scarfed down wild strawberries and fox grapes, Katsuki would listen to the music that nature composed, like a band of bees buzzing about, the rustling of foliage in the wind, the chirp and chitter of small animals and insects...
Katsuki adored those days when he could go and explore on his own. He could listen to the world breathe around him without anyone yapping in his ear about something or other, he could feel the Earth rotate under him as he lay still on the forest floor. More than anything he loved going about things by himself, like unearthing secrets around the river bend where he found spotted eggs and cooked them on flat-top rocks all by himself during the spring, inside a tree where he found an old love letter that made him gag with every sugary sweet declaration of love in the summer, where he picked up rocks and found creepy-crawlies and slimy frogs in autumn, and deep in the forest thicket where he found a dragon under a mound of snow and ice during the winter.
Katsuki has to stop himself from sighing aloud wistfully. Fuck, every time he remembers Kirishima’s stupid face he feels like he’s been punched in the chest. Memories of sharp teeth and red hair swirl around his brain like clouds in a storm as he recollects that winter, that bittersweet winter that ended with him feeling like his insides had been carved out. He never saw Kirishima again after the hunters came. Every once in awhile Katsuki wonders where he disappeared to, and if he’ll ever cross paths with him again. What if… what if he died? What if he got torn apart by a pack of monsters, or fell into a ditch and broke his wing? What if another group of hunters found him and captured him and…
No. Katsuki doubts that Eijirou would just lose like that. He couldn’t have perished. He held on for so long before Katsuki found him, and from what he experienced during their first spar together, he knows for a fact that he’s stupidly strong now. He is, totally, absolutely.
Right?
As Katsuki listens to his mother address the crowd of people who are no doubt itching to see their beloved prince, he remains unmoving as servants add finishing touches to his makeup. Outside, Mitsuki praises him with worthless compliments and boasts about his glory. Katsuki can do nothing but roll his eyes. He doesn't understand how the accolades can just flow from her mouth like honey when just a few nights ago she was spitting insults at him for being a pitiful excuse of a prince. Commendations mean nothing when they come from that two-tongued cow.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Katsuki feels a needling anxiousness fall bloom about his body. He begins to sweat, his nostrils flare with each uneven breath. A rock sits in his throat and his eyes begin to prickle. The servant who is dusting powder onto his nose smiles gently. He can tell she thinks he's tearing up because of the compliments, but really, he's just overcome with a yearning so powerful that he feels he'll succumb to an anxiety attack. The sensation arises every time he thinks too hard about his deplorable princehood, accompanying with it a low feeling of misery that washes over him like muddy water during a storm.
He wants out. He wants to leave everything behind so badly that it hurts. He doesn't want to be surrounded by lies, by people who pretend to understand him, by the same damn castle walls he's seen for threescore and ten. He wants away from his devilish mother and cowardly father. He wants to leave this kingdom in the dust and start over somewhere else, but he needs a plan. Katsuki has little idea how he'll get away without his mother sending knights to look for him as soon as she finds out he's disappeared. With a big breath in and a big breath out, Katsuki puts away the desire to flee his kingdom and decides to cherish what little quiet he has now. The moment is short-lived though, because before he knows it, his mother calls his name, resulting in uproarious applause.
The knights open the big, wooden doors. Katsuki, with shoulders back and head held high, walks out.
“It’s him!”
“The prince!”
“Prince Katsuki, look this way!”
Loud cheering combines with the boom-fizzle of fireworks overhead as he stands before the crowd of nobles and commoners. Katsuki's eyes, deep red and reflecting the colorful display in the sky, rake over them. He makes sure to have distaste present in his features, but the people don't care. They’re just pleased to be in his presence.
He’s never seen people so happy to be hated.
Katsuki decides he should look meaner, less appealing, so his eyebrows dig deeper and he snarls just enough to flash a fang. This just makes a group of rowdy mean near the front of the crowd to cheer louder. They love the show of ferocity. This only makes Katsuki snarl more.
His mother sneaks a hand toward his lower back and pinches the skin there tightly. His snarl becomes something akin to a forced smile, and the people applaud as Mitsuki dazzles them with a charming grin of her own. His father stands tall on his other side, smiling sweetly, and Katsuki does his best to ignore the intense urge he gets to run away to his room.
The party is in full swing. There is a band that plays a lively rendition of one of Katsuki's favorite songs and flower petals that fall from the sky like confetti. The velvety night sky is filled with light and color as deafening fireworks burst and fade, its explosions causing the ground to virbrate beneath everyone's feet. Honestly, what was his mother thinking? It's all just... too much. Everything is just too much for him tonight.
The clash of cymbals, the beat of the drums, the chorus of inharmonious singing from the crowd, the clapping, the yelling the laughing, and God, the fireworks are no better! Normally he loves them but with each resounding blast of the multi-colored display, he feels himself wanting to disappear to a quiet field where all that's around him is grass, the moon, and a never-ending sky dotted with stars.
Another rocket detonates in a silver shower and Katsuki decides that's the last straw. He just... he doesn't want this right now, any of it, so he rips out his earrings and relaxes as the noise around him becomes dull. He lets out a shaky breath he didn't know he'd been holding and looks around. The people are still dancing, the fireworks are still exploding, and the flower petals are still falling, but at least now it sounds like a distant echo rather than an assault on his hearing. He holds a hand to his chest and feels his heart doing flips behind his ribcage.
Katsuki guesses his mother can sense his discomfort because he sees her strolling toward him in his peripheral. She holds out a gloved hand as if to grab his shoulder, but Katsuki stalks off before she can reach him. He heads toward a table full of food, thinking that maybe stuffing his mouth will distract him in some way.
His mouth waters at the foods that are laid out. Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and venison all lie before him either steaming, bring grilled, baked, and layered with spices, seasonings, gravy, and finally circled with vegetables and potatoes. Portions of pasta topped with savory smelling sauces sit in large tubs, and seafood practically swims in vats of butter. There are fruit pies and pastries topped with icing and dripping in glaze. Katsuki doesn’t like sweet foods all that much yet he can’t help but lick his lips at the sight of golden brown beignets that are dusted with powdered sugar and golden honey. Cakes, eclairs, rolls, and cookies sit together looking delectable with their brightly colored frosting and sweet-smelling aroma.
Katsuki slides off his pristine white gloves and grabs the still sizzling leg from a roasted turkey. It's oozing oil and Katsuki can practically feel the grease coating his insides when he swallows down that first bite, but he doesn't care. He savors the taste of the peppery crust and juicy meat feeling as if, for once, something is going right during the night. Katsuki is going for more when he feels a tap on his shoulder.
He turns to see a girl and a group of what he assumes to be her friends standing not too far behind. The sight of them whispering and tittering behind their hands makes Katsuki feel annoyed. He can't even eat without being bothered about something. The girl's mouth is moving but he can barely hear anything, so he begrudgingly slides his earrings back in and glares at her as the music and fireworks abuse his eardrums again.
"What was that?" he questions.
"Oh, I said good evening, Your Highness, and happy birthday!" Her curls bounce around her face as she bows. When she comes back up she smiles cheerily. Katsuki's eyes immediately dart to her large overbite. "It's quite loud isn't it...?"
"Get on with it," Katsuki grumbles around a mouth full of turkey.
The girl’s eyebrows shoot up. “Well, my friend wants to dance with you but she was too afraid to ask her yourself. Y’ see, it’s her birthday, too! What are the odds right? Ringo!”
She waves over another girl who is being pushed along by the group of excited, giggly girls. They probably dared her to dance, Katsuki thinks.
“Happy birthday, Your Highness,” she says and curtseys. Katsuki can barely hear her over the uproar of the party.
Ringo looks like an apple. She has thick, reddish-brown eyebrows, green eyes, and short hair that is a homely shade of red. Freckles dot her like stars and she’s practically creating a puddle of sweat where she stands. “I’m so sorry for bothering you, I-”
He grabs her hand and tugs her toward a group of commoners who dance in a circle. They’re kicking up dirt as they spin and twirl and clap in rhythm with the music. “You wanna dance? Let’s fuckin’ dance.”
She blushes at his display of boldness. God does it make her look even more like an apple.
Ringo’s dancing was alright. She tripped over her feet half the time and she continuously glanced toward her friends who cackled every time she messed up. Despite this, she never pulled away in the middle of the dance and continued regardless of how awkwardly she moved. When the dance ended, they bowed and she skipped away to her group. He could hear them admiring her and squealing about a potential marriage.
Katsuki rolls his eyes and stalks off toward the pile of gifts waiting to be opened.
His gifts are just some of the same things he’s always gotten for all of his other birthdays. He’s given impressive-looking guns lined with gold and swords with spells carved into the hilt. He receives works of art created by some of the most talented artists of the century, priceless jewels, extravagant clothes, classic books, the same old things he's gotten a surplus of. There’s nothing new here; it’s all just objects that would pile up in his closet later on. He orders nearby servants to take the junk to his room and Katsuki trails behind them, keen on jumping into his bed and closing his eyes for a few minutes.
That should be everything for the night. He's greeted nobles and accepted well wishes from his people, ate a bit of food, danced with someone, and opened his gifts. Now all he has to do is sit in agony as the kingdom sings happy birthday to him while he stares down a cake only the royal family is permitted to eat.
“And just where do you think you’re going?”
Katsuki continues to walk ahead, ignoring the voice behind him.
Mitsuki catches up and stops him with a tight grip on his shoulder. “Did you hear me?”
“Loud and fuckin’ clear.” Katsuki slaps his mother’s hand off his shoulder and resists the urge to rub the sore spot. They stand inside a tunnel, one blanketed in golden flowers and lavender. It leads to another part of the gardens and eventually the castle. Katsuki was hoping to pick some of the lavender for his tea along the way. “What do you want, hag?”
“What do I want? You didn’t even get all your presents! There’s still more you need to receive," she says, looking her son up and down. Probably scrutinizing every little thing wrong with his appearance and saving it to memory so she can yell at him for it later.
“I’m done opening presents. There’s nothing else out there that I want or need so I’m not opening anymore,” Katsuki huffs.
Her mother smirks cheekily. “Don’t worry, Dandelion, I’ve gotten you a gift that will change your life.”
“Wow, another sword? You shouldn’t have.”
Mitsuki slaps him. The sudden impact causes him to stumble. He catches the wall with one hand and holds his cheek with the other.
“Even if it was that, which it isn’t, you should be grateful,” she says, frowning deeply. She looks down at Katsuki as if he's a stain upon the earth and he finds himself shrinking back under her gaze. “These people are wasting their money and time on you, you know. Next year I’ll just tell everyone not to bother getting you anything since you want to behave like a horrible, spoiled brat.”
“What, so I’m obligated to take the shit they get me? I’m somehow obligated to be happy that these strangers are at our home being loud as shit?”
Mitsuki scoffs and massages one of her temples. “The one fucking time I decide to throw a birthday party for you in years and you complain and act like a little bitch the entire time... I’m so sick of your attitude, Katsuki. Some of these people traveled for days to come and personally wish you a happy birthday.”
“That’s not my fucking problem,” he growls.
Mitsuki moves toward him and raises her hand like she’s about to hit him again. Katsuki squeezes his eyes shut and waits for the strike.
"Your Majesty?" they both hear a voice squeak. They look toward the tunnel entrance to see a maid nervously gripping the front of her apron. She is backlit so Katsuki can't study her expression, but by the waver of her voice, she sounds anxious, like she walked in on something she shouldn't have but didn't have the courage to stop.
"What is it? Speak up," Mitsuki commands, hand on her hip.
"Erm, it's time for the prince's final gift?"
"Oh, yes, of course!" Mitsuki claps, suddenly excited. "We'll be there in just a second." The maid bows deeply and scurries away. She turns back to Katsuki and glowers at him in silence, shaking her head a little. “You don’t deserve what I’m about to give you at all, you know. You’re lucky I love you.”
“Yeah? You’ve got a funny fucking way of showing it.” He flinches when she moves but finds himself a little embarrassed when it’s because she’s strutting away.
“Come with me, boy.”
Katsuki groans. He reluctantly follows her back into the party, watching silently as she gathers partygoers and leads them to the center of the garden. It's gotten quieter. The fireworks and band have stopped, and the once rowdy people are now hushed, but still enthused. They're jittery as they follow the queen and prince to where the king is already waiting.
Mitsuki meets Masaru atop a stone platform adorned with celandine and ivy. Katsuki stands between the two and tries not to grimace as the crowd begins to applause. From where he stands, he notices how the crowd is parted in the middle, and how the ground is covered in petals and dropped food. What a mess it'll be for the butlers and maids to pick up. His mother lays a hand on his shoulder as she begins to speak.
“I must thank you all for coming to celebrate my darling son’s birthday. He is incredibly happy you all could come and make today so perfect for him.” Katsuki’s scoff turns into a grunt when Mitsuki digs her nails into his shoulder. “You've made tonight a wondrous one, but before we end the evening with cake, there’s one final gift he needs to receive before we can call this celebration a successful one.”
The air is filled with excited murmurs.
“Katsuki,” his father says on the other side of him, “you have to close your eyes for this next part, okay?”
“Why? Am I-”
“Will you just do it?” Mitsuki says through clenched teeth, trying not to drop her smile.
Katsuki frowns and closes his eyes. Masaru comes behind him and covers his son’s eyes gently, for extra measure. The crowd buzzes with excitement. He hears his mother whispering to someone and idly wonders what the gift could be. All he wants is to leave the kingdom. Anything other than that he won’t accept. Well, he'd also like to be crowned King of Aurelia, but he doesn't think that'll happen unless his father croaks. He doesn’t care if his mother thinks he’s a spoiled, unappreciative brat. He wants freedom, nothing more, nothing less.
Suddenly, he hears the crowd gasp. Men are grunting and there’s some sort of... growling noise? It sounds muffled, but it could be coming from a giant monster. What the fuck? Is he about to be sacrificed? Was this party even for him? Was this some sort of sacrificial ceremony that would end with his insides being slurped up like spaghetti by some terrifying abomination with hundreds of teeth and a thirst for blood...?
Well, fuck it, he’s excited.
If dying means that he’ll be reborn as someone with more freedom in his next life then he’ll take it. His imaginings of what he’ll be reincarnated into are interrupted when his father removes his hands from Katsuki’s face.
“Feast your eyes, my son, and behold!” Mitsuki gives a grand sweep of her arms. He opens his eyes and looks to where she’s gesturing to, only to feel his heart stop.
A dragon.
It’s a fucking dragon.
It takes at least thirty men to escort it into the garden. The crack of a whip resounds every time the beast thrashes about in its ropes. Bursts of cinders fly out of its muzzled mouth. Katsuki can do nothing but look on, dazzled, at the gorgeous creature that’s being presented to him. He gazes, entranced, as its crimson scales shimmer in the light of the fireworks, which have begun to explode again. All at once, the woeful night suddenly turns magnificent.
Katsuki suddenly appreciates the loud cheering, the annoying revelers, the flower petals. He appreciates his wretched mother and father, if only for a second, and he appreciates the nobles who traveled for miles. His people ooh and aah as he lays a hand on the dragon’s muzzle. It whimpers pathetically and looks upon Katsuki with golden eyes so liquidy he can practically swim in the terror and sadness that swirls within them.
Those red scales, golden eyes, and sharp horns… It’s unmistakable, undeniable. It has to be him... Right?
“Eijirou?” Katsuki whispers.
He stares at the blood-colored beast with unshed tears in his eyes and swallows past the rock sitting in his throat. So many feelings are erupting within Katsuki all at once. There is a violent blast of euphoria that sets his mind and heart ablaze with positive emotion, but, just like a firework, it comes, bursts, then sputters out, and is replaced with velvety darkness. Why is this dragon looking upon him with grief instead of recognition and relief? Where’s the unbound energy and enthusiasm that radiated off of his Eijirou in waves?
Maybe it isn’t him.
Maybe there are lots of other dragons in the world that have crimson scales and golden eyes. Maybe he’s just being delusional. Still, he can’t stop himself from moving forward and hugging the beast, uncaring of the fact that almost his entire kingdom is watching him express affection to another being.
Mitsuki and Masaru sigh in relief, happy that they gave Katsuki something that he liked, but ignorant of the schemes that are being plotted within their son’s mind.
At the end of spring, Katsuki has a dream.
He’s stuck at the bottom of a well with no one around to hear his cries for help. The brick walls that encircle him are too slippery to climb and the bucket used for gathering water taunts him from where it sways in the wind. He’s wallowing in despair when someone looks down from above. It’s a child, that much is for certain, but they are too far away so he can’t make out what they look like. Katsuki shouts at the child, tells them that he’s stuck.
The child yells back something with a voice that sounds like the ringing of bells and sends down the rope. Katsuki is overjoyed. He’ll feel the grass again, see the full sky again. The ruffling of the trees won’t be a faraway echo anymore. Katsuki climbs the rope quickly, eager to escape. The child is waiting for him, and even though Katsuki doesn’t know how to express his gratitude, he’ll at least try.
Once he escapes the well, he is blinded by bright sunlight. He shields his eyes, rendering him unable to see the top half of the person’s body, but dirty, snow-covered feet and torn pants manage to peek from under his fingers. Katsuki snatches his hand away from his face, blinking against the sunlight. It has to be him, right? Eijirou?
When his vision finally adjusts, he finds himself staring up at the top of his canopied bed, the sweet tune of songbirds drifting through his open window.
As he eats breakfast, he wonders who the child in his dream was. Although he’d been unable to see their face, the shape of them was unambiguous and oddly familiar. Katsuki chews his eggs slowly, lost in thought. His dreams, while strange, were always unmemorable. He’d forget what they’d been about as soon as he placed his feet into his slippers and went to freshen up in the morning.
Curiously, this one stays in his mind so long that it feels more like a memory that he’s experienced rather than a simple dream. Ah well. Who’s to say that child wasn’t just someone he saw at the party last night? Maybe they’re a simple villager, or someone related to one of his knights. He keeps his eyes peeled as he heads toward the cell that holds his dragon.
Katsuki exits the castle and relishes in the breeze that washes over him. Spring has passed like a whisper in the wind, and summer arrives soon after, bringing warm weather and fresh fruit with it. Lush, verdant fields of grass surround the kingdom and Katsuki wonders what it’d be like to fly over a sea of green on a magical beast.
Katsuki walks up to the prison and scoffs at the large iron door and its stupid amount of locks. It sits ajar, allowing him to hear the distressed yelling coming from the inside. He sincerely doubts a big dumb door will keep his dragon from ramming it down and flying away, but apparently, they’d put some kind of magic seal on the entire confinement, something dragon proof to keep him locked up tight to ensure that he’d never break out and fly away.
Pulling the door open with a grunt, he enters to see the two knights who were supposed to be guarding the jail trying to tame the dragon. They uselessly stab at it with their lances but get not even a whine of pain. The iridescent scales are hard as diamonds and practically impossible to cut through. He snickers at the guards’ attempts at stopping the beast’s troublesome behavior.
“Well, well, well, what’s this then? Trying to slay ol’ Red?” He smirks as the knights practically jump out of their armor when they spin around at the sound of his voice. “That dragon’s for riding, not slaying.”
“Your highness! No, no, we aren’t trying to kill him! It’s just that he was making such a ruckus and telling him to quiet down wasn’t doing any good because he’d just get louder…”
Katsuki scoffs. “Well, I doubt your tiny little sticks are doing anything to tame him. If anything it’s just making him angry.” Red closes in on itself near the back wall and growls when Katsuki focuses his gaze on it.
“I’m taking him out for a ride,” Katsuki tells them and picks up the reins and bridle that sit nearby. He notices how the dragon relaxes at that and simmers down considerably. He creeps toward it, unflinching even when it shows its teeth in an attempt to seem scary. Before he can get any closer, one of the knights holds out a hand and stops him.
“I think it would be best if we waited for more knights to arrive. I mean,” the knight looks back at the red beast, “he can be a little rowdy.”
“Are you saying I don’t know what I’m doing?” Katsuki hisses.
The knight trembles and shakes their head quickly. “N-Not at all your highness-”
“Then you’d do well to shut your trap and open the doors nice and wide so I can go flying with Red!”
“Y-yes your highness!”
The two knights are pushing open the iron doors as Katsuki slides the reins onto Red. He notices how the beast stares at him out of the corner of its eye, emotions unreadable in its glassy gaze.
“What? Why’re you lookin’ at me like that, huh?” The dragon doesn’t make a peep, just continues to stare. He wonders what it’s thinking, wonders how it feels about its current situation. Maybe Red’s concocting a plan of his own to escape… Or maybe it’s thinking about lunch. Katsuki scrunches his nose at the beast and climbs atop its back. The knights scurry back into the cell and unshackle Red, who rumbles under him. It’s eager to fly off and feel the wind under its wings, he can tell.
As soon as the cuffs have been removed, Red takes off like a bullet, knocking the knights down on its way.
“Fuck! Slow down, you bastard!” Katsuki yells as the dragon speeds into the air. A slew of threats bubble their way up Katsuki’s throat but die on his tongue as he takes in the view of his kingdom from high in the air. The feeling that blooms inside Katsuki’s chest is indescribable and dangerously intense. They were so far above everything, the castle looked like nothing more than a crystalline dollhouse. He could fully see their kingdom, how the droves of people and horse-carriages move through the streets like a school of fish, how the smoke from chimneys rise from local bakeries and delicatessens.
A smile slowly creeps its way onto Katuski’s face but immediately disappears when he sees his guards running underneath them, yelling and waving their arms.
They looked like nothing but ants from here in the stratosphere. Small, insignificant little ants...
“That’s enough Red, we have to go back.” His thighs vibrate when Red rumbles beneath him. He’s flying toward the border of the kingdom, over the enchanted wood, and toward an unknown beyond that Katsuki is dying to see… But...
No.
“I said stop!” He tugs hard on the reins and the two twist through the air. Red roars at the sudden pull and attempts to right himself but Katsuki yanks hard The surprising amount of strength causes the both of them to veer dangerously toward the treeline before crashing. The collision isn't pretty; while Red is tumbling through the leaves and branches, Katsuki is holding on for dear life. Crows and local birds take to the skies to avoid being crushed as their homes are destroyed by the clumsy beast.
They hit the ground finally, albeit in an unceremonial manner, and both groan in pain. Great. Just super. Katsuki is pretty sure he has cuts and scrapes all over him, and the impact from hitting the ground has shaken him so badly he's seeing stars. The hard-headed bastard of a dragon wastes no time in getting back up though.
With a little shake, Red rises and takes off, but Katsuki is unable to hold on. He rolls off the beast’s back and hits the ground again. Katsuki moans and feels the back of his head for blood. He watches as his dragon tries to fly away again, only to be stopped by the invisible grips of his royal mages. They circle Red on brooms, yelling commands to each other over desperate cries and mindless thrashing. On the forest floor, woodland creatures skitter past Katsuki, off to find new homes now that their treetop ones have been demolished.
Practice makes perfect, not to mention some bumps and bruises.
Trying to make friends with a dragon was harder than he thought, but Katsuki was never one to back down without a fight, even if he constantly found himself rubbing at bruises that adorned his body. All the times he’d been thrown about like a ragdoll, all the times he’s landed hard on his ass, all the times he’d seen the world go upside down as he was flung into the air or tossed into bushes… it wouldn’t be for naught. He will learn how to tame this wild beast and ride it into the sunset, even if it kills him.
But no matter how adamant he is on learning how to control his new pet, Katsuki, understandably, can’t help but be annoyed. He hurts all over and he hates having to go to bed in pain, wake up having to switch bandages, and get massaged. During dinner, his father asked him how training was going but Katsuki blew up at him, questioning him if he was blind or needed his glasses replaced. Could he not see all the bandages wrapped around his limbs?
His father, after a tense moment, suggested they get rid of the wily thing, sell it off, or even kill it. Katsuki quickly opposed the idea, not wanting his chance at freedom to be taken from him. Masaru then told him he should take a break from trying to tame Red and focus on his studies instead, an idea that made Katsuki laugh into his beef stew. Yeah right. He won't be distracted by math equations and difficult spells while his ticket out of here is sleeping away in a cramped jail cell.
After dinner, Masaru proposed that he try to at least befriend the dragon rather than jumping on its back every single time he goes to visit it. Initially, Katsuki scoffed at the idea and walked off. He wasn’t a friendly type at all so trying to befriend that thing would be like trying to pull teeth.
After he bathed and went to bed though, he found himself lying awake, thinking the idea over. He knows Red can understand him, seeing as how it loves to do the exact opposite of whatever he asks of the piece of shit, so he decides to be nice for a day and see how that works out. Maybe attempting to be pleasant will do wonders for their relationship.
That’s how he finds himself marching to the dragon’s holding cell, sweating as he goes. As the sun rises, so does the temperature within the castle, and Katsuki feels himself melting into a puddle as he hoists a basket of fruit higher onto his back. Even with his shirt unbuttoned and while wearing loose-fitting pants, he still feels unbearably hot.
As soon as the knights guarding the cell see him, they get to unlocking the big iron door. He watches them, annoyed, as unlocking lock after lock causes him to wait longer than he wishes. It seems kind of overkill at this point. Red can’t get out on its own and any thief who tries to steal him away will age ten years before they can get through all the jumps and hurdles it takes to even take a step inside. The cell also has a spell on it, so what’s the point? He doesn’t understand, why all the precautions?
The door finally opens. Katsuki strides into the darkness to see his dragon curled up in the corner. The cell is cool, a relief from the summer sun, but it’s also quiet and lonely.
Katsuki ignores thoughts of how depressing the jail is and how sad the dragon must be and slides the basket off his shoulder.
“Hey, Red.”
Red opens one eye and glances at him before closing it and nestling further into itself.
“I brought fruit, you stupid dragon,” Katsuki says and pours the fruits out onto the ground. Apples, pears, melons, and peaches all come spilling out. “Eat them.”
The dragon opens its eye again, looks down at the fruit, and then at Katsuki. It ignores the fruit, stretches, and lazily flops over onto its back.
“Fucking eat them.” Red doesn’t move an inch. An ugly scowl pulls at Katsuki’s lips. He kicks the basket hard, hitting Red in its face. The basket rolls away and Katsuki fumes when he doesn’t get a reaction.
“I’m trying to be fucking nice, you know,” Katsuki says. The dragon peers at him sardonically, as if to say “Well, you aren't very good at it.”
He throws a peach at Red. It splatters into pink juice and makes a wet sound as it hits the ground. The beast glares at him and lifts one of its paws. Katsuki smirks in victory. He doesn’t want to bully the asshole into doing what he wants, but hey if it’s gonna work out in the end it should be alright, right? His triumphant grin falls though when Red squashes all the fruit under its paws.
Juice flies everywhere and pulp hangs from the beast’s claws like severed flesh.
“You-” Katsuki starts, but doesn’t know how to formulate what he’s trying to say. He is angry, furious, and exasperated beyond comprehension. All that laborious fruit picking under the hot sun, swatting away aggravating flies and mosquitos, and combing the orchards for the ripest apples with no worms in them had been wasted. He spent hours walking up and down vineyards and strawberry fields to fetch something that’d appease this bastard but it just steps all over his hard work like it’s nothing.
Katsuki doesn’t know what to say so he just falls back on his rump and then his back. He rubs at his face and then at his eyes. Behind his ribcage, his heart is beating wildly. He wants to jump, shout, scream, and cry. The feeling of wanting to let all his frustrations out at this stupid bastard until his throat grows hoarse is so, so, so tempting.
But this is his one chance at escape, and he is not going to let it slip through his fingers just because his stupid, shitty dragon wants to be a stupid little shit.
Katsuki rubs his eyes for a long time. Colors and stars erupt behind his eyelids until a memory that appears at the forefront of his mind causes him to stop. He remembers having a tense dinner with his mother and father. They were arguing about something he can’t recall and had refused to eat. He remembers his mother rising from her seat and grabbing his face roughly, forcing the spoon into his mouth. He remembers slapping uselessly at her to make her let him go, accidentally scratching her face and knocking her crown off. His father told them to stop fighting but made no move to rise. He remembers.
Katsuki lets out an uneasy exhale and gets up. He kicks at the squashed fruit to distract himself from the memory. He looks up at Red, who watches him carefully.
“Listen,” Katsuki starts, voice a little strained, “if you’re going to fly for me, you’ll need energy. To get energy, you need to eat, you shitty dragon.”
Red blinks at him before shutting his eyes again and licking at his nostrils. Fucking gross.
“Look I get it, okay? You don’t want to be in this stuffy prison. Neither do I,” Katsuki mumbles. “There’s a whole world out there worth exploring and I’ll be damned if I have to say at this stupid castle any longer just because you don’t want to eat some damn fruit.”
Red stares at him, confusion in his big eyes. It’s paying attention now. Hah, he knew the bastard could understand him. Katsuki grins and walks up to the dragon until they’re face to face.
“If you want out of here,” he whispers, “You have to do what I say. No ifs, ands, or buts.”
For the first time since he received it on his birthday, Red looks at him, actually looks at him, and locks gazes with Katsuki. Instead of defiance and sadness, there’s curiosity and suspicion, maybe even hope...? Katsuki once again finds himself wondering what his dragon is thinking. He wonders if he has a family or if he moves in a herd. He wonders if he wants to go home, the same way Katsuki does. They were two beings who weren’t meant to be chained down, and instead meant to be free.
Red moves away suddenly. It steals an unsquashed watermelon from the pile of fruits and bites into it, crushing it easily. Red flesh and seeds fall from the beast’s mouth and it sends a jolt of excited fear down Katsuki’s spine. He imagines threatening bandits by shoving their heads into the waiting mouth of his dragon and puts his hands on his hips.
He’s so unbelievably giddy right now that he doesn’t even mind the weird looks his knights send him after he leaves the cell with an empty basket and a manic grin pulling at his cheeks.
It’s taken a lot of willpower to not threaten Red with death every time it decides to start flipping and spinning in the air without warning and he swears to whatever god is watching him that he’d endure another few years in the castle if it meant giving this dragon away and getting a newer, better behaved one, but other than that, relationship-building is going great. Katsuki rubs a bruise on his hip and winces. Slow, but great.
He’s leading his dragon through the forest behind their castle, pointing at plants, flowers, and insects and telling Red the names of them. It doesn’t seem to pay attention, just seems kind of happy to be out of the stuffy cell.
Red hasn’t been throwing him off anymore, but he’s instead falling off himself. The reins will slip out of his sweaty hands and the bridle sometimes comes off mid-flight, but he’ll be damned if he gives up. It’s the middle of summer now and with each passing day, winter comes closer still. In a few months, he’ll be riding his dragon without falling off into the heaps of snow below him. He’ll be traveling to towns and seeing all sorts of people and monsters and getting into fights with thieves and bandits. He just can’t wait to find new treasures, swim in raging rivers, defeat gargantuan beasts, and end battles with monster blood on his sword, a racing heart, and a feeling of triumph. His life finally begins in winter and he’s buzzing in anticipation.
They arrive at a clearing near the river. It's a peaceful little spot - wind sweeps gently through the trees and fireflies flicker on and off, their light reflecting and blinking like stars in the calm waters. Katsuki inhales the summer air and exhales, positively reveling in the peaceful scenery.
He doesn't know what it is, but something is stopping him from running away right this moment. While he can see mountains in the distance, pretty much within reach with his dragon by his side, he supposes it's simply because he isn't ready. Despite his moaning and groaning about how much he wants to be free, a part of him wants his escape to be perfect, so perfect that his shitty parents won't even see it coming. He can't wait for the day when he starts hearing of his knights showing up at towns and villages looking for him. The thought of being a wanted man and fighting off his soldiers makes him smile up at the creamy pink sky. His daydreaming is interrupted when Red whines low next to him.
"Oh, that's right," Katsuki says, distracted. He drops the reins and clambers onto the dragon’s back to pull down the elk that’s tied to it. Its limp body falls to the forest floor with a dull thud. Katsuki has to hold on tight as the dragon twists around and starts digging into the bloody meat.
He'd hunted the poor elk when he was out looking for berries to snack on. Red was soaring above the forest, looking like a giant butterfly in the hazy dusk. When he showed Red his kill, the big dumb dragon had hopped around, yipping excitedly. It could barely sit still as he tied the animal to Red’s back.
Katsuki had to hold back from calling what he'd seen "cute."
Katsuki curses as he climbs down, making sure not to get any blood on him as his dragon tears the meat apart. He looks on with disgust, but also interest. Red rips a huge chunk out of the elk’s middle and lays it near Katsuki’s feet, nudging it closer to him when he tries backing away. When he doesn’t accept it, Red growls menacingly.
Katsuki rolls his eyes. “Alright, fine, I’ll take it.” Red seems pleased with this. He continues to eat noisily and Katsuki goes looking for wood to start a fire.
A few hours later after they’ve filled their bellies, the two sit side by side at the river-shore, admiring the stars and listening to the crickets.
“You know,” Katsuki breaks the silence, “you’ll stick out like a sore thumb in the winter. Why couldn’t you have been a black dragon? Then you could easily hide in the shadows.” He groans. “Having a black dragon would’ve been so- What? Why are you staring at me like that?”
Red’s eyes are comically wide. Katsuki has no clue what he said to have garnered this type of reaction, but all he does know is that one second there’s a moment of silence, and the next he’s being pounced upon. He’s toppled over by weight so incredibly heavy he feels as if his back will break. Drool is slobbered onto him and runs down his face.
His dragon is acting less like a fearsome beast and more like a gigantic puppy.
“Off, off! Get off you big bastard, you’re too heavy!” At this, Red gets up and backs away a little. Katsuki groans and rises to stand, but the dragon licks at him and he falls over again. “Goddamnit, move!”
Red hops away playfully. Katsuki doesn’t trust the stupid dragon to not knock him down again so he keeps an eye on it as he stands slowly. “Stay right where you fucking are, asshole.”
Red does as he’s told, but he’s crouching low to the ground this time and zoning in on Katsuki, almost as if he’s about to...
“No,” Katsuki warns while holding out both his hands.
Red’s eyes turn to slits.
“If you tackle me again I’ll kill you jackass!”
Red does a little butt shimmy.
“I’m warning you!”
His warning is ignored. The dragon comes barreling at him and picks Katsuki up with its snout. He lets out an embarrassing yelp and holds on as he is skipped to the shore atop its nose. Katsuki gets thrown into the river and groans as his body lets out signals telling him to stop with the abuse already. He rises from the waters soaking wet when Red bounds up to him and starts splashing water at him. Katsuki splashes back, laughter slipping out of his mouth and mingling with the hooting of owls and low croaking of hidden frogs. He doesn’t mean to express mirth but damn it if he isn’t having fun right now.
Autumn arrives with red and gold leaves floating on the breeze.
Katsuki brings out the journal he’d put away so long ago after he stopped frequenting the forest behind their castle. He’s beyond thrilled to use it as a log during their adventure. He can’t wait to spot new birds, encounter new flora, travel to hidden kingdoms… God, just the thought of tasting exotic meals and making a name for himself out in the wild has his toes jittering in his boots. He can see himself sneaking into his dragon’s cell on a quiet winter’s night and it sends chills down his spine. Freedom is so close that he can practically taste it, and he imagines it tastes like sugar and lightning.
His thoughts are interrupted by a splash of chewed apple hitting his cheek.
Katsuki wipes it off in disgust and looks over at his dragon, who is devouring the bounty of apples that had been picked for him to eat. “Oi, try not to be so messy when you eat you bastard.”
Red considers him for a second before making retching noises and regurgitating a whole apple. It lands next to Katsuki’s feet and he jumps away in disgust.
“Ew! That’s disgusting, why would I want that?”
The dragon ignores him and continues to eat the apples, a crushing noise filling the silence. Katsuki kicks the apple that was spit up at him and he suddenly remembers the girl who looked like an apple at his birthday party. He can’t believe it’s been so long since that night ended and now it’s come to this: a dragon by his side whose mouth has apple juice leaking from it.
“Hey,” he claps and gets Red’s attention, “let’s get this flying thing right, yeah? Listen,” Katsuki comes closer to the dragon and pets his snout, “once I sneak you out we need to leave as soon as possible.” The dragon squints an eye at him and Katsuki scoffs. “What? Sneaking isn’t my strong suit, but I’ve got no other choice. The old hag has guards all over the place and she watches me like a hawk. We’ll have to be quick and quiet, you hear me?”
He gets a nuzzle in response.
“Listen! You’ll have to fly fast, alright? Once we’re in the sky, we’ve gotta fuckin’ move. No looking back.”
The dragon yips and Katsuki nods, taking that happy little noise as affirmation. Red might just be happy that he’s gotten apples, but he takes what he can get. “That’s a good boy.”
Katsuki wakes to complete silence. For a second he thinks his earrings have fallen out, rendering him unable to hear clearly, but he gropes at his ears in the dark and still feels them there. He throws his blankets off and shivers at the sudden exposure to cold air. Katsuki slips his feet into icy slippers and tiptoes over to his balcony to pull aside the curtains.
The snow comes down hard, but it also comes down silently. He can’t hear anything, even when he unlatches the lock on the balcony and steps onto the frigid terrace. He peeks over the railing and admires how the garden looks under the blanket of snow. He goes back to bed with a smile on his face, unable to bear the sight of the promise of a new future. While earlier in the year the thought of going into the unknown after years of being cooped up gave his heart a little stir, now he finds himself having to clench his chest every single time he wonders what could be beyond the fields and the forests that surround their kingdom. It’s overwhelming at this point.
After he wraps himself in a coat, boots, and scarf the next morning, he goes to the kitchens and thanks a maid who hands him a hot cup of peppermint chocolate. He’s almost out the door to see Red when he’s stopped by his mother.
“Good morning, Dandelion,” she says sweetly. She's wrapped in a sequined gown the color of mustard. Fur sits on the cuffs and around the neckline.
“Morning,” he grunts into his cup and tries to move past her. He is stopped when she steps in his way. “What do you want?”
“Where are you off to in such a hurry? Eager to get back to your little friend?”
“No, I’m going to see if a jump from the top of the castle will be enough to kill me.”
Mitsuki raises her hand and Katsuki immediately moves away. He’s surprised when the wry comment earns him a pat on the head instead of a slap in the face.
“I’m glad you like your little dragon friend so much. Capturing him took so much work… If you hadn’t liked the gift I would’ve felt awful.” She stares down at him while patting the stiff spikes atop his head. He feels her gaze striking through him, like an arrow with poison on its tip, and battles that hot, prickly feeling he gets on the back of his neck whenever his mother scrutinizes him.
He wants to question what she meant by Red being captured, wants to ask where she plucked Red from and if it had any family. Then Mitsuki tries adjusting his scarf and he decides to dodge her hands and leave the kitchen instead. Katsuki makes a beeline to Red's cell, breath clouding with each huff of breath. He ponders his mother's words all the way there, wondering if he should ask Red about where he came from. He knows he wouldn’t get an answer but those big ol’ eyes tell him everything he needs to know. He wonders if there will be sorrow there or even rage.
Katsuki's thoughts are interrupted when he gets tackled into the snow by a big red blob. Katsuki laughs as Red licks at his face, its hot breath warming his cheeks. The dragon jumps away and flicks snow at Katsuki with its tail, practically begging to be played with. Katsuki decides to humor the beast and throw snowballs at it, chuckling when it tries dodging them and ends up face-first into the snow.
Just as he suspected, his dragon sticks out like a sore thumb in the white environment. You have no choice but to catch sight of his vibrant crimson in the ocean of snow that’s coated the kingdom. Maybe he should’ve left in the summertime when he kept tallies of the number of bruises he earned and struggled to get along with the beast. No, this is better, Katsuki thinks even as the dragon ruins his third attempt at trying to build a snowman by ramming into it and running away when Katsuki yells at him.
Katsuki crosses off day after day and night after night on his calendar. As every day passes, he packs and unpacks, putting items into a sack and taking it back out when he thinks it’ll be too much to carry. He considers forgoing packing a bag at all, but then he decides that that’s a stupid idea and repacks everything.
Without warning, the fifteenth day of the twelfth month arrives and Katsuki rises at midnight. This is it, he thinks to himself as he equips a dark cloak and thick gloves.
This is the night.
He can hardly keep his breathing under control as he checks his bag. There’s his dagger, his journal, and a change of clothes. That should be enough. He’ll get food and more clothes when he visits villages and towns.
Katsuki pulls the hood up over his head and gives himself a once-over in the mirror. He lets out a shaky breath and nods at his reflection.
It’s now or never.
He gives his bedroom one last good look and leaves for what might be the last time ever.
Good fucking riddance.
He deeply inhales and exhales. He sneaks through the halls, his cape billowing about him like a shadow ready to engulf him, stopping and starting when he hears the clink of armor as guards follow their nightly routine around the castle. Freezing winter wind blows through an open window and rustles a flag with Aurelia's representative flower. It'll be the last time he ever sees anything Aurelia-related for a good long while. He stares for a bit longer.
Will he miss this place? Eh, he'll know in a couple of days or weeks.
Before going to the cell he stops by the kitchen to grab a few things for his plan. He makes his way to the cell finally and swallows at the sight of the same two guards that have always guarded the tower shivering in the cold. They draw their weapons at the sight of a hooded stranger, but lower them when Katsuki removes his hood.
"Your Highness!" They both kneel. "What're you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Katsuki draws the two guards away from the cell by claiming that he needs help in the kitchen. He'd appeared with a basket of chopped beef claiming that it's extra meat for Red from a kitchen mishap. The supper he’d been given was not filling nor was it tasty, so he decided to sneak down to the kitchen in the middle of the night to make his food. Not to mention, it was just so cold in his room… What better way to warm up than a hearty beef stew?
His plans were ruined when he accidentally spilled the broth and got vegetables all over the place. He adds that the kitchen was on fire for good measure and watches with wide eyes as the cell keys are placed in his waiting hands. The two knights promise to stop the fire and clean the kitchen before hurrying inside the castle.
God, despite how strong Aurelia’s knights are, they’re dumb as bricks and Katsuki doesn’t know if he’s glad or disappointed about this fact.
Nevertheless, the knights would see that there was no mess in the kitchen and that there was no fire they had to put out. Katsuki throws aside the basket and hurriedly unlocks the iron door. He pulls it open and winces at the loud groan it makes.
“Red?” He listens as the dragon yips excitedly in the dark and bounces around in the cell despite the shackles holding it down. Katsuki shushes it. “Shut yer trap you stupid beast! Do you want everyone to hear you?”
Red simply nuzzles his face. Katsuki pets it and sorts through the ring of keys until he finds the one he needs. He unlocks the shackles one by one and goes to get the rein and bridle that are sitting nearby.
“Quickly and quietly, you hear me?” Katsuki gets a nuzzle again to his cheek in response. He holds the dragon’s head still and looks it in the eyes. “Look at me! If we want out of here, we need to do this right the first time. Understood?”
His face is licked.
“Ew! Just come on you bastard.”
Katsuki winces at the loud creaking of the iron doors as they're opened wider. Red impatiently squeezes his head through, followed by the rest of his body. Katsuki shuts the door behind himself but doesn’t lock it; there isn’t enough time. He climbs atop Red’s back and gets a rush of exhilaration as he’s being lifted off the ground. His heart jumps to his throat when they fly up the length of the castle and toward the forest. So they’re going north first. He has no idea what’s north of the kingdom of Aurelia, but he’s certainly excited to find out.
He turns to look at his castle one last time, to give it the finger, but almost regrets it when he sees the queen standing on her balcony, arms crossed, watching him drift away. He feels kind of bad, considering she wasn’t such a terrible mother at first. Then again, as he grew older all he remembers is her physically abusing, berating, and belittling him. She wasn’t all that great in the end. She becomes a dot in the distance and Katsuki doesn’t know how to feel, but he doesn’t let this sour his mood. Beneath them, their shadows are like whispers flitting between the trees of the forest then rippling along the waves of the river.
Suddenly, they’re gliding through the open-air above a field of rolling hills covered in snow and Katsuki thinks he could cry. Scratch that, he does cry.
Fat tears are lost in the wind as Red twists and twirls throughout the vast, never-ending sky. They’re so high up that Katsuki can see how the horizon curves just the tiniest bit. They’re so high up that he could go star-collecting or cloud-catching come morning.
Katsuki holds on for dear life. He’s free! He’s finally free and he’s cold but he doesn’t give a single damn because he’d rather die of frostbite with a spectacular view than die with his last sight being that of his bedroom, or his study, or any other room in that godforsaken castle. But he can’t die now, his adventure has started! So Katsuki, despite wanting to see the new scenery, wraps his cape around himself and closes his eyes for a moment.
When he opens them again, Red is groaning low in his throat. He lifts himself from where he’d been laying on the dragon’s back and rubs his eyes. Below them, a quaint little village sits in a valley. Lights flicker off as the sky turns peach and periwinkle in the distance. Smoke rises from a chimney and Katsuki can only assume that it belongs to a bakery.
He gives Red’s back two pats and tells him to land on a mountain near a cave that’s a little ways away from the small town.
Touching solid ground after having flown for hours makes Katsuki sway on his feet, but he eventually recollects himself. He keeps his hood low and starts to descend the mountain when he notices Red trailing after him. Katsuki turns to look at the beast, snorting when it averts its gaze. Once he starts walking again, Red continues to follow him, and Katsuki sighs. He lowers his hood and spins around.
“What are you doing?” he asks. Red blinks at him, confused. “You’re not coming into town with me. Go back to the cave.”
Red looks past him, refusing to keep eye contact. Katsuki steps into his line of sight and points past the dragon’s snout.
“Into the cave, now.”
Red stretches his wings and hops over Katsuki with a single flap.
“So you’re just gonna ignore me?” He’s about to give this damn dragon a piece of his mind. They’d come all this way, gone through all that training, withstood those last few torturous months at his kingdom plotting together, working together, and becoming a team, just to waste it all because his dragon didn’t want to hide in a cave for a few minutes. Katsuki grips the beast’s tail and holds it tight, even as Red keeps walking and dragging him along. “Dammit! You can’t come to the village with me looking like this! Don’t you think everyone will make a ruckus about a gigantic fucking dragon prancing into town?”
Just as he was about to use every swear word he knew and possibly wake the entire village with his yelling, a magnificent burst of light erupts before his very eyes, nearly blinding him. Katsuki stumbles backward and falls into the snow, watching, astonished, as globs of light firework around the dragon’s body until the glowing dims, leaving behind nothing but the glistening shape of a… human?
The glowing stops and melts away into the snow, until all that is left is a boy. He grins down at Katsuki with a mouth full of sharp teeth. “I can come into town with you looking like this, can’t I Katsuki?”
Okay. So-
Okay.
His dragon is… human now? Well, he’s taken the shape of a human. His skin is dark and decorated with scars and his eyes while having lost their gold luster, are now a striking crimson, as well as his hair. He’s still sporting wings and a tail, and once Red catches him staring, he laughs.
“Oh! I almost forgot about those.” The boy tucks his wings and tail in. They slither back into his body and Katsuki watches, entranced, as his dragon stands fully human and, unfortunately, fully naked. Katsuki immediately rips off his cape and wraps it around the boy, ignoring the way those piercing red eyes follow his every move.
This boy… Is it even right to call him Red anymore? Because while his dragon form, hair, and eyes are all a vibrant crimson, his appearance reminds him of someone, someone that he’s kept close to his heart all these years. He thinks back on that one winter where he played with a boy who lit up his life and made him feel content, even if it was only for a little while.
Katsuki gapes at the other as familiarity washes over him, memories of a stolen cape, training in the woods, and hunters coming to the forefront of his mind. This couldn’t be that same hungry, bleeding boy from before… could it?
He looks Red in the eye and fights the urge to look away. There are so many emotions behind those ruby irises it makes his stomach feel funny, but Katsuki focuses above his eye. There! That scar that sits behind thick lashes, it’s got to be from the hunter. Katsuki’s heart is beating like a bass drum in an orchestra as he lifts a hand and thumbs at the little scratch. It’s faded, but...
“Eijirou?” Katsuki says quietly. “Is that yoOOF-”
Eijirou practically knocks the wind out of Katsuki as he tackles him, sending them both into a mound of snow. He makes a noise that sounds like a mix between a laugh and a sob and hugs Katsuki tight.
“Oh Katsuki, it’s me, it’s me! It’s me,” Eijirou says, weeping into his shoulder. “I thought I’d never, ever see you again.”
“Get off bastard!”
“So much happened after I left Aurelia, it was just one thing after another! I thought-”
Katsuki shoves him off. He stands, grumbling, and brushes snow from his clothes. Eijirou stares at him with wide eyes and Katsuki turns away, face flushed.“Look, no offense, but you’re heavy as hell and I’d rather not have my clothes get wet from the snow and make me even colder. Plus you’re… exposed.”
Eijirou sniffles and wipes his lingering tears away, a toothy grin stretching across his face. “Right, sorry.”
“You don’t look sorry asshole. Here,” he says holding out a hand. Eijirou takes it and hops back onto his feet before going in for another hug. So this bastard… He’s been living at his castle the entire time, listening to Katsuki’s complaints and woes and eating his food? This boy who he’d found on the verge of death as a child came back to him in the form of a hard-headed dragon, and made no efforts to give Katsuki at least a hint as to who he was? Katsuki pushes him away punches him hard in the arm, relishing in the way he grunts in pain.
“Ow! What was that for?!”
“For being a colossal, dumb, stupid, idiot buffoon.”
Eijirou rubs his arm and frowns deeply. “What are you talking about? I-”
“You’ve been at my castle this entire time and you never said a goddamn thing about you being… you?!”
“You didn’t ask!”
“Why would I-” Katsuki stops to massage his temple. “Why would I go up to a dragon and ask it to tell me its true identity, Ei?”
“You were venting to me all the time! I thought at some point you’d make the topic about me or say something like ‘you look familiar!’”
Dammit, he’s right. Since he doesn’t have an adequate response Katsuki pouts and plucks Eijirou in the forehead in annoyance, but winces when pain shoots through his finger instead. Eijirou, having hardened his forehead, smiles smugly and dodges a snowball that comes hurtling toward his face. The two goof off until the call of a rooster echoes throughout the valley, reminding Katsuki of why they’d flown there in the first place.
Katsuki grabs Eijirou’s hand. “C’mon, enough playing around. We have to get you some clothes.”
Katsuki leaves the village with a new cape, a map, and a belly full of buttery biscuits and warm milk. He’s glad that the vendors he bought from were people who were eager to earn money, rather than learn where this new face mysteriously appeared from. The girls that hung around the stalls were staring a little too hard though, so he made his purchases quick and slinked away without entertaining them.
Kirishima leaves with new clothes, gloves to cover his sharp nails, and a belly full of meat they’d gotten from a friendly butcher. He reminded Katsuki of a puppy with how excitable and inquisitive he was, always asking questions and staying on one topic for no longer than a second. Now, he’s scarfing down a slice of blueberry pie that stains his lips a deep indigo color and peeking over Katsuki’s shoulder as he analyzes the map. He chews loudly in his ear and almost chokes when Katsuki shoulders him away.
“Could you chew any louder, bastard?!”
“Shorry,” he says around a mouthful of pastry. “Hey Katsuki, where are we gonna go now?”
Katsuki gazes down at the map. He looks at where they are currently, a speck next to the Kingdom of Aurelia, and scans all the kingdoms and landmarks. He’s interested in the kingdom of fire and ice that’s up north, but a little birdy in the village told him that down south is where an old relic of one of the greatest heroes of all time was last seen. There’s so much to do, so much to see. His wanderlust is so intense that looking at the map makes him dizzy, so he rolls it up and turns to Kirishima with a smirk.
“Anywhere we fuckin’ want.”
Kirishima smiles big, causing butterflies to flutter about in Katsuki’s stomach.
After leaving the village in the valley, they go in a random direction and travel the land, meeting new people and getting into fights with bandits and thieves. They see beautiful sights and fight monsters, they anger evil wizards and purchase potions concocted by scheming witches. They make friends and foes and eat food made with heart and soul and dance together in festivals all night long. They go fishing in crystal clear waters and explore deep mines that glitter with brilliantly colored gemstones.
At one point, Katsuki had a dream. He was going to become the greatest king in all the land and rule over a great many people with his divine knowledge and beat down anyone who dared to challenge his kingdom and his ideals. He’d be the golden paradigm of Aurelia and show people like that damn Deku that he was no weakling who needed aid.
But, as all dreams do, it dissipated into mist, and he awoke to a new reality. Katsuki never in a day of his life imagined that he would be doing all of this with a partner at his side, but as he runs for dear life away from a gargantuan giant carrying hoards of treasure in his arms, Kirishima at his side, he doesn’t think he would have it any other way.