Chapter Text
Katsuki kicked a rock as hard as he could sending it flying into the trunk of a nearby tree before stomping off into the woods. He needed to get far away from the village. Far enough that he couldn't near his mom yelling after him. She was being stupid. He could handle a sword. A REAL sword. Not one of those fake wooden ones for babies. So what if the village rules said he could only use training swords until his thirteenth year? He was already better and smarter and stronger than any of the other ten-year-olds in training. Besides, he was destined to be the leader of the barbarian village when he turned eighteen. Doesn't that mean he should get special privileges?
He made it deep into the familiar woods surrounding the village. His mother's yelling could still be heard way out here, but at least it was faint and easy to ignore. His stomps turned into softened steps as he trekked over tree roots and fallen branches and through crispy piles of dry leaves. Fall was his favorite time to walk through the forest. The air was cool and fresh in his lungs and his red cape was more than enough to keep him warm. The sounds of leaves rattling in the trees and birds chirping in the distance had him forgetting about the fight with his mom, but there was one sound that didn't fit with the rest of the serene fall afternoon.
Katsuki scrunched his eyebrows as he strained to make out the sound. It definitely wasn't human. Magical creature, maybe? Griffins didn't usually wander this close to the village, and any unicorn would be too quiet for Katsuki to notice it before it noticed him. Phoenixes were common in the area, but this sound wasn't the shrill cry of a firebird. It was a little deeper and a lot more distressed. Terrified trills and chirps grew louder as Katsuki followed the noise deeper into the woods until he stopped at the edge of a small clearing. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the silver metal cage and the small, red dragon trapped inside. The creature turned in circles in its enclosure, letting out terrified chirps in every direction. Most likely calling out to its mother. Baby dragons like this one didn't usually wander far from their nests. Dragons weren't able to shift into a human form until they got older, around the same time they started to breathe fire. This left them nearly defenseless and easy prey for poachers, and this one hadn’t even grown wings yet.
During his lessons with the other village children, Katsuki had been taught all about magical creatures and the ways humans would cause them harm. Even though his village respected the rarity and beauty of magical creatures, Katsuki had seen traps just like this. He had been told about how poachers would catch baby dragons in these cages and raise them in captivity. Village elders had told Katsuki horror stories of dragons being raised in terrible conditions and forced to be weapons for wealthy kingdoms, or shoved into fighting rings for entertainment. But the best, most important piece of information Katsuki had ever learned was how to disable traps just like this one.
The baby dragon hadn't noticed him. Still in a panic, it continued to turn in circles and cry out for help. Katsuki almost felt bad for it. Almost. The dumb lizard didn't realize that it could be alerting the same poachers that set the trap. Katsuki furrowed his brow and marched out to the cage. He was only two steps away before the dragon finally noticed him. It cowered in the corner of the cage, wrapping its scaly tail around his body until it was curled up like a red donut.
“Will you shut up you overgrown gecko?” Katsuki whisper-hissed. “Those idiots are going to find you if you don't be quiet.”
Katsuki wasn't sure if this dragon understood human-speak yet but it quieted down and stared up at him with big, round, red eyes. It was difficult to tell at first but there was a cut across the dragon’s right eyelid. It must have scratched itself in its pathetic attempt to escape. Blood matching the color of the dragon itself ran between the scales on its face. The cut wasn't deep, just a bad scratch on the soft part of the dumb lizard's eyelid.
“You're lucky I found you first.” Katsuki continued to scold the dragon while he stepped on the bottom edge of the cage and pulled up on the trap door. It was a struggle. He pulled with all his might until the hook caught on the door and it clicked into place.
“There!” Katsuki crouched down next to the opening of the cage waiting for the dragon to come out, but he was met with the same wide-eyed look the creature gave him when he first saw him. “You're free, dummy.” Katsuki gestured to the forest but the dragon continued to cower in the corner.
Katsuki sighed. Yeah, the dragon probably didn't understand human logic, but how stupid would Katsuki be to set the dragon free and then hurt it? He took a couple steps back, giving the creature some space. “You can come out now.”
The dragon continued to blink up at him, but this time its round eyes shifted between Katsuki and the opening of the cage over and over. Katsuki gritted his teeth in annoyance. He wanted to yell. He wanted to stomp his foot and scream at the dragon to just leave already, but he reined in his temper. Yelling would just scare the dragon more. So he waited. After minutes of standing still, with only the sounds of the forest between them, the dragon moved. It slowly picked up its front foot--more paw-like than claw-like since it was still a baby -- and carefully stepped around the trigger pad of the trap, keeping its eyes on Katsuki. When it got to the opening of the cage, it paused before darting out of the clearing and into the trees, its lizard-like body serpentining across the ground as it skittered over dead grass and dried leaves. In the blink of any eye it was out of Katsuki's sight and he let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. There. The dragon was safe. Katsuki had done his good dead and he could go home with his head held high despite the very public scolding his mother had given him earlier.
He turned to head back to the village when a familiar chirp caught his attention. Peaking out of a pile of leaves was a bright red head of scales with over-sized eyes. Katsuki crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, waiting to see what dumb thing the dragon would do now. Leaves fell off of its scaly head and back as it emerged from the pile. It continued to watch Katsuki carefully as it stalked closer. It took slow and deliberate steps as if it was afraid of scaring him. The dragon stopped a few feet away and sat back on its haunches like it was waiting for something.
Katsuki glared. “What do you want now? I don't have any food.” The dragon tilted its head at Katsuki's words, obviously not understanding. “Go home before you get caught again. I'm not saving you a second time.” The dragon straightened its head and chirped up at him, a soft trill in the back of its throat. Katsuki would never admit that it was kind of cute. “Go on, shoo!” He waved his hands at the dragon in a poor attempt to scare it away but the stupid thing’s eyes brightened like it was grinning and it’s tail wagged back and forth behind it. Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll leave.” He turned towards home, ignoring the now curious and excited chirps behind him. Stopping in his tracks and clenching his fists at his sides Katsuki spoke without turning around. “You better not be following me you scaly idiot.” After a beat of silence he kept walking but only made it a few steps before stumbling. Weaving in between his legs was the stupid dragon. About the size of a large cat with a slender and agile body, the thing almost tripped Katsuki completely. “What are you—?” Katsuki stopped, not believing his eyes. The dragon continued to slither between his legs while rubbing its face against his shins and chirping affectionately. This stupid creature went from being scared of Katsuki to cuddling against his legs in a matter of minutes.
Katsuki’s shoulders slumped as he looked to the sky and resigned himself to his fate. He still had hours before it would be dark, he supposed getting side tracked by a friendly dragon wasn’t the worst way to spend his afternoon.
Carefully reaching down, Katsuki’s fingers grazed the scales on the top of the dragon’s head while it rubbed its cheek against his shin. The scales were bumpy but surprisingly smooth and this close up they looked like rubies with perfectly cut facets shining in the sun.
The dragon stopped moving and looked up at Katsuki’s hand. Scared it might bite, Katsuki froze. Baby dragons didn’t have much to defend themselves, but they did have spikey teeth coated in a venom that burned and itched for weeks. But the dragon didn’t bite. Instead, it stuck out its forked tongue and flicked it against Katsuki’s palm.
He laughed and pulled it back. “Hey! That tickles!” The dragon must have found that amusing because the smile was back in its eyes as it spun in a circle excitedly and wagged its tail. Katsuki was actually starting to like this brainless beast. Thank the gods there was no one around to witness it.
“Alright,” Katsuki reached down and patted the dragon’s head. “You’re welcome for saving you, but you have to go home. Your mom is probably worried sick.”
Before Katsuki could protest, or even stand up straight, the dragon bit onto the corner of his cape and pulled. “Hey!” Katsuki had no choice but to step forward where the dragon was pulling him. “Don’t you dare rip this. My mom will kill us both and then have your scales made into a necklace.” The dragon continued tugging, not hostile but not quite playful either. It looked determined, as if it wanted something from its new human friend. “Alright, alright. Let go of my cape and I’ll go with you.”
The dragon released him with a chirp and turned to scurry into the woods. Katuki followed. While its tiny legs were skittering across the ground slower than when it left the cage, it still stopped every few feet to look back and make sure Katsuki was behind him. Across rotting logs, over freshwater streams, and through wild, untamed brush, Katsuki followed, grumbling the entire way.
While he had never journeyed this far into the woods, he still knew how he would get home. He paid attention to every twist and turn and took notes of how the terrain changed as he walked. The trees became smaller, and much more sparse. The ground more rock than dirt, and sloping up at an angle that had Katsuki stopping to catch his breath. “How much farther, dumb dragon?” Katsuki huffed as he climbed over a large boulder. As soon as he slid down the other side of the rock, he got his answer. Up ahead of him, too close for comfort, was the little dragon happily trilling and running in circles on a flat, rocky slab directly in front of the entrance to a cave.
Katsuki had followed the dragon back to its nest.
Unable to move and too scared to breathe, Katsuki clung to the rock for dear life. He felt the earth shake, pebbles jumped on the ground around the still-happy baby dragon. It was too late to run. Running would only provoke it. Katsuki had no choice but to stay completely still and watch as a huge, fully-grown, red dragon emerged from the cave. This was nothing like the baby dragon. This was a terrifying monster, big enough to wipe out his entire village in four good stomps. It had red eyes like the baby but instead of round and innocent, these were sharp, narrowed, and angry. Where a second ago he couldn’t breathe, now Katsuki couldn’t stop the jagged inhales and exhales sawing through his lungs. The dragon’s eyes narrowed on him and without a doubt, Katsuki was sure this was the dragon’s mother. Male dragons are smaller, more docile. That’s why the females take care of the young. If he had met the baby dragon’s dad, he probably would have survived. But with each heavy step the dragon took towards him, Katsuki was sure he wasn’t making it out of this.
His knees gave out from under him while more and more of the dragon’s huge body emerged from the cave. All the while, the baby was still trilling happily and spinning in circles. Had that idiot led him here to be dinner? No, Katsuki was the idiot. He was sure of that as the dragon stood to its full height and looked down at him. He couldn’t think, couldn’t even manage to send a quick prayer to the gods to spare his life. He cowered against the rock and held his arms over his head as the dragon lowered it’s maw over his tiny body.
Just then, and over-excited chirp, louder than the rest, rang out and echoed against the rocky hillside. Katsuki managed to peek one eye open to see the mother dragon was no longer focusing her attention on him. Instead, she was craning her head towards her baby who was seated on the flat rock, wagging its tail. Surprisingly, the mother dragon sat back and heaved a deep sigh. Smoke curled around the dragon’s nostrils and not until years later would Katsuki truly understand how close to death he had been. But in this moment, Katsuki allowed himself to hope. He carefully lowered his arms and watched the baby dragon skip happily over to him and rub against his leg once again. Katsuki glanced between the baby and its mother and managed to take a full, steady breath when it seemed that the mother understood he was a friend, not a threat. He didn’t dare move. He stayed crouched against that boulder while he watched the baby dragon communicate with its mother. It chirped at her and spun in circles before weaving in between her legs. The mother huffed and gently pushed the baby dragon into the cage with her nose. Katsuki thought that should have been his chance to leave, but the mother didn’t follow her baby into the nest. She stayed seated outside the cave, large leathery wings folded against her back. While her baby was round-faced and sweet, the mother was sharp lines, wicked scales, and deadly horns. Katsuki would have thought she was beautiful if he wasn’t still terrified of her. She eyed Katsuki and he waited for an opening to slip quietly down the hill and run back to his village faster than he had ever ran before.
But the baby dragon returned. It carried a dead rabbit in its mouth, holding its head up high looking proud of its kill but also like it was keeping the carcass from dragging across the ground. The baby dragon pranced over to Katsuki and dropped the dead rabbit in front of him. Neither one of them moved for a long moment until the baby dragon nudged the rabbit towards Katsuki with his nose. Katsuki gently picked up the dead rabbit and hugged it to his chest. The baby dragon exploded in excitement, chirping louder and wagging its tail faster than katsuki had seen. The mother let out a low croon before once again nudging her baby toward the entrance of the cave. The baby wouldn’t go easily. It looked back and Katsuki and trilled until the mother finally managed to get it into the cave and she followed.
Katsuki was left alone. Still huddling against the boulder. Still clutching the dead rabbit to his chest. After three deep breaths, Katsuki turned and ran down the hill. The decline made him stumble but he refused to stop, too afraid that the massive dragon was following. He made it to the forest but didn’t let up. He sprinted between trees, tripping over sticks, and leaping across the stream. He didn’t stop running until he made it to the other side of the woods. A clearing opened up and rows of quaint stone houses with smoke rising from every other chimney came into view. He heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of his home but only relaxed for a moment before sprinting to his house at the center of the village.
His mom had just stepped out of the door with an empty water pail when Katsuki crashed into her with a hug.
“Brat,” she chuckled affectionately. “Are you here to apologize?”
Katsuki looked up at her, eyes glassy with unshed tears, dirt smudged across his cheeks, white linen shirt dirty and pants torn.
“What happened to you?” She petted his soft spikey hair back.
Katsuki didn't know where to start. He just stared up at his mom while she looked him over.
"Oh, did you kill this?" She took the dead rabbit out of his hands and examined it. "You did a pretty good job. These rabbits are sought-after for their fur. You could sell this in the city and get quite a bit of money."
Katsuki didn't know why, but he didn't like the sound of that. "Can I keep it?"
His mother smiled down at him. "Of course. I'll help you clean it." She petted the dead rabbit's fur and her smile faded into a frown as she studied Katsuki's face again. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Out in the woods," he started, "there's... There's a dragon... trap."
His mother's expression relaxed. "I'll send out a couple scouts to take it down." She patted Katsuki on the head before turning back into the house.
He wasn't sure why he didn't tell her the truth. She would have believed him and maybe even recounted the tale at the next village feast, bragging about how brave the village leader's son--HER son--had acted in the face of a fully-grown mother dragon. But... he didn't want that. The afternoon he spent with the baby dragon felt special somehow...
He decided to keep that memory for himself.