The Dragon Prince - Discoveries

[automatonSun]

The island of Bakuhatsu was home to a Viking village of a brutal culture. Many would hesitate to even call them Vikings, they considered it a title they didn’t deserve. The Bakuhatsu village was often referred to as one of berserkers by others, for their love of violence. All Vikings liked to fight, they liked to hunt, but they didn’t like to cause harm and that was what the village prided itself in. Causing harm and dominating anything and anyone they could; they were competitive to the point of even causing harm to themselves. The goal of any berserker of Bakuhatsu was to die in some violent, flashy way. Life had no meaning if they didn’t have to fight for it. And death had no meaning if it wasn’t impressive; if one didn’t leave their mark then they would simply be forgotten.

The berserkers of Bakuhatsu especially took pride in their favorite sport of dragon hunting. No matter how often they hunted dragons it seemed that they came in a never ending stream of scales and fire. Not that any villager there would ever complain about the opportunity to leave their own marks on their people so they would never be forgotten. But none could ever measure to their chief’s ability to flawlessly take down any beast.

Bakugou Mitsuki was the chief of Bakuhatsu and she made sure to lead her people to fiery, deadly glory against the dragons. The winged devils they had to fight every day of their lives; not that any of them truly complained. It was an honor to battle the scaled devils, and win. Even if they did die by their maw, that was still an honor. It would leave their mark on the world, on their people, and ensure they would never be forgotten. Mitsuki was their most celebrated chief by far, and of course the village celebrated when her heir was born. Bakugou Katsuki would no doubt succeed his mother with the same unhinged ferociousness as her.

Or so they thought.


_________

Mitsuki's refusal to allow her young son to join their hunts, or defend the village from attacking dragons, was weighing on his patience. He'd passed all of his training, bested even their strongest warriors and proven to want to fight more than anyone. Why did he have to wait with the other children when it was so clear he was ready? At the expense of sounding childish, Katsuki believed it was unfair, and he was quick to take matters into his own hands when a dragon attack made it so his village was too distracted by the opportunity to fight to actually pay attention to where the children had gone. Katsuki quickly lead them to the mess hall for protection, but never went in himself. He snuck away in the midst of the fire to avoid being caught. If his mother couldn't see how far he'd come, and how ready he was to take part in his village's culture, then he would prove he was by doing something no Viking nor berserker could.

He would find the dragon nest and cut them down at the root.

He followed the smaller dragons, who seemed to fly back and fourth continuously. No one ever paid the smaller dragons any mind, but Katsuki did. Maybe they were reporting back somehow, or needed to collect more dragons to come aid them in attacks. Because they seemed to take advantage of the distraction their larger counterparts provided to move back and fourth, they were careless. They would never expect a formless, bumbling berserker to actually be stealthy in their pursuit of dragons. So Katsuki followed behind the small, multicolored cloud of flutterfires that were flying their way back to the nest; at least he assumed the miniscule reptiles were going there. Otherwise, the whole expedition would have been for nothing.

He'd followed them to the base of a dubiously dormant volcano and hesitated as they entered through a small cavern that steam billowed from. But he crawled within, and what he saw... it changed his life.

______

From that day on, Katsuki never asked to join the hunts again. Not even a token protest. When the adults left, he'd follow the trail the flutterfires left behind for him and meet with the dragon who'd managed to soften the teen's heart. She was beautiful, scales an obsidian black, accented by the blood orange coloring she had over her horns and eyes emerald green. She was also massive. A dragon of god like proportions. After seeing a creature like that be at the epicenter of the creatures his village decided were somehow lesser than than them put things into a new perspective that threw him for a loop. One look at her was all Katsuki needed to know. Humans were no better than dragons.

In a lot of ways, they were worse.

He visited her as often as he could, learning to withstand the blistering heat of her home. The flutterfires that he'd once used against her now cuddled against him, hiding in his clothes and hair. Katsuki suspected the alpha dragon to be tasking them with protecting him, and it made his heart warm. Something he would never admit to anyone but the Black Death he'd named Megami, and learned to communicate with.

Of course, becoming the alpha's favorite meant all the other dragons from the nest took it upon themselves to protect him. Their attacks on the village were far less brutal, acting more as distractions for him to visit the one they considered to be their All-Mother than anything else. The flutterfires noticed the steady decline of his hearing and two identical ones, colored black and orange like monarch butterflies; took it upon themselves to become his ears. They hid themselves in his hair, nestled behind his ear. They'd buzz gently when dragons from out of sight wanted his attention. Any predator that may have attempted to ambush him, he was warned of. Eventually, he learned their language, and they learned his. He learned more from the dragons than he ever did his mother.

But what he was doing? It went against his culture, everything he'd ever known and had been taught was being spat on. Every time he rushed off to play with terrible terrors, every monstrous nightmare he healed, every time he learned a new weakness and strength from a dragon but chose to remain silent and watch his people flounder... It was clear. Katsuki had chosen the dragons over his own village. And the more time he spent with Megami, with Omo and Ono at his ears, the less guilt. His people only wanted to cause harm, but his dragons only wanted to survive and to care for him. They treated him with more love than he could ever remember his own mother allowing him. It was only natural, as his mind shifted towards the dragons being his true family and the humans being insignificant, that he became careless.

Without Omo and Ono in his hair to warn him, he never noticed the villagers following him at a distance behind him. Katsuki didn't hear them slip silently into the nest and he only realized what was happening when their horrified screams finally registered to his damaged ears, and Megami moved her hulking form, making the very earth shake with her roar. All the dragons in the nest scattered, taking to the skies in panicked movements. Omo and Ono quickly found Katsuki and nestled themselves back into his hair.

As Megami crushed the volcanic nest that had become his home, Katsuki looked back at the people of Bakuhatsu one last time and decided they were never his people. He didn't belong with people; he belonged with dragons.

___

Megami could travel far in a short time, but to avoid being attacked, the large dragon sent out a dramillion to scout for a new, proper home and settled the others into a temporary hiding place of a mostly barren island. They were stressed, and Katsuki had yet to fully comprehend that his life had been so suddenly upended, but when the dragon scout returned, it apparently had the perfect place to lead them back to and Katsuki had the honor of climbing over Megami's head and riding her to the new nesting area. The dramillion had found a lush, green island. But even better still, there was an area that lead to an underground, hidden environment that was perfect. Megami was able to fly into their new home, burry herself and rebuild herself with no issue. The dragons explored their new home and never hungered. They met sentinel dragons, and adapted beautifully to their new found freedom. Katsuki never had time to worry about his village or any other, not when all the dragons had decided to distract him themselves.

It had been years since, and Katsuki had grown into being a beautiful, wild haired young man. While he hadn't grown tall at all, his body had adapted to his new life. Muscle finely corded beneath his skin, he was built for his duty as Megami's prince. He cared for the dragons, learned their weaknesses and strengths to ensure that they were never put in a situation that could cause them harm. Katsuki learned to defend himself, should it ever be needed, but above that he learned to protect his nest. His dragons. And he could see Megami's pride for him in her eyes; it felt so much sweeter than his own mother's. That dragon meant more to him than the entire world, and he refused to ever let her down the way he had the day they were first discovered.

Currently, Katsuki made his rounds in collecting the herbs needed to heal most dragons' ailments in the forest above ground. He wore his hair in messy braid, decorated by the little rocks and gems the flutterfires would find in the caverns and bring to him, tangling them in his strands before he could protest. Not that he ever would, really. At his ear, Omo buzzed little alerts of the woodland creatures scurrying about. Maybe he'd bring Megami a squirrel, as a treat. Before he could entertain that thought, both Omo and Ono went wild, wings batting painfully at the shell of his ear in a panic, buzzes telling him there were humans nearby. And, when the tiny dragons calmed, he focused on his hearing while they directed him through the brush to find where the sounds of the invaders had come from. He trusted them to be correct, they hadn't been wrong yet, and he tightened his hold on the dragon tooth spear in his hand. Despite the fact he couldn't hear well, Katsuki knew how to be completely silent in, enough so to sneak up on even the most alert dragons so he was sure the humans would be no different.

Omo and Ono buzzed at his ears and he lowered himself further, hidden by vegetation. He pushed leaves lightly out of the way, spotting the legs of a human, stood in the middle of a clearing. Katsuki's hackles raised, outraged that any human would dare set foot in their home. He readjusted his hold on his spear and right as the human turned, facing away from his hiding space, Katsuki launched himself forward, both Omo and Ono flying out from his hair to act as backup should it be needed. He gripped the human by the shoulder, spinning them so they'd face him right before he pushed them to the ground. He bared his teeth, the charcoal coloring around his eyes making the bright red of his irises stand out from behind his pale fringe. the fur hood he wore fell back, and the twin flutterfires who'd become his ears over the years flew close to the trespassers face, inspecting them.

"Who are you, human?" Katsuki spat the word with disgust, as though being a human was vile to him. As though he wasn't one.

Sometimes, he wondered if he was, and other times he denied it vehemently.

[NicTheDjinn]

Life had never been dull for the resident trouble twins. The two always had each other to play with and were rough and tumble enough to even play with some of the village's wyrmlings. As they grew, little changed other than the size of their playmates and some hobbies. While Eijirou took more towards handling animal parts, his twin threw himself into things of the earth. Together they made quite the team as they started their apprenticeships, Ei providing the leather, tooth, claw, scale, and bone, while Tetsu forged anything the village needed from nails to weapons and armor, often using what his brother brought for him. Or at least he would, once he grew skilled enough. It was really boring doing nothing but making nails at the start...

Upon coming of age, the two boys clambered onto the backs of dragons, cheering nearly the entire way, much to the annoyance of the riders escorting them. Together with all of the children coming of age, they took their baskets and entered the dragon nursery, looking around in awe at the many dragons befriended to their village. While they normally lived at or near the village itself, they always migrated to this place to breed and lay their eggs. As such, the coming of age ceremony for the young Vikings was directly linked to the dragon's breeding cycles. The dragons themselves helped guide the freshly turned teens, shooing them away from eggs that were too young to be safely taken.

The two stuck together, as they always did, taking their time to look around as they wished. Most people only bonded with a single dragon so this wasn't something they wanted to rush. Then they came to a tunnel tucked far into the back of the cave, several dragon pairs brooding over their eggs visible from the entrance. The twins finally parted, each one venturing down opposite sides of the tunnel after sharing a reassuring squeeze of their hands. The boys were allowed to approach the most developed nests, the heavily plated dragon parents watching them carefully.

Eijirou approached a nest filled with deep red eggs with craggy plates along their surfaces. There he kneeled, looking up to the parents for permission before reaching out to touch one of the eggs. It was so hot it almost burned! Still, he didn't recoil, trailing his fingers over the surface of each egg. He froze as one of them chirped as he touched it, staring for a moment. He shifted closer, fingers caressing over the rough shell. "Hello there... My name is Eijirou..." He cooed to the egg, his heart jumping as it wiggles under his touch and he hears a happy little croon from inside. He looked up at the two dragons looming over the nest desperately, pleading with his eyes.

Tears welled up in his eyes as one of them lowered its great head, cooing deep to the little one in the egg before very gently nudging it closer. "Th-thank you... We're family now! I'll keep them safe with my life!" He promised, wrapping his arms around the egg despite the burn and the way the sharp edges knicked at his skin. It was SO much heavier than he thought it would be! Very gently he placed his egg in his basket then hesitated. They were kept so hot back here... He fetched several hot stones from the chamber and placed them around the egg. This would have to do till he got back and could warm the egg properly.

Meanwhile, his twin shivered as he frigid half of the tunnel across from the heated side, looking on in awe at the large ice crystals that looked almost like gems with their facets glittering in the low light. He was surprised to find that the ice was only around the edges, however. The very middle where the nests clustered was actually quite comfortable. Approaching, the nests carefully, watched closely by the dragons guarding their unborn families. He looked at each of the nests, filled with craggy eggs with a metallic sheen to them. Breathtaking... He finally found himself drawn to the nest with the most eggs clustered inside. Kneeling before it, he looked up at the dragons sat above him, even as he reached. They watched him even more closely than before, but didn't protest.

Steely grey eyes broke from their gazes to instead look down at the babes tucked away within their thick shells. One at a time he touched the shockingly cold shells. They were cold on the inside! He could actually feel some of them flinch away from his touch. He frowned, disheartened at the reaction he got. Each time he stopped touching each when he felt the babes inside flinched. Still, he didn't give up. Egg after egg he touched till he stopped, noticing a gleam out of the corner of his eye. Looking over, his blood ran cold. There, lying unprotected on the stone, was a metallic egg. It had to have been rejected... Standing up, he went over to it, kneeling down and touching it, he hissed. It was SO much colder than the others, it burned!

Then he put it together. The two dragons thermal regulated each other's nests. The red eggs must produce so much heat they cook themselves alive while the cold eggs froze themselves. They nested together to reach an acceptable temperature... But this egg... This one, even though it had rolled closer to the heat, it was so much colder than the others. This wyrmling was doomed to freeze itself to death and so was booted from its nest so it wouldn't hurt its siblings. His frown deepened at that thought.

"We're family now, you and I. I won't abandon you." He promised, scooping the egg up despite the biting cold and placing it in his basket. Noticing his brother placing hot stones into his basket, he quickly started doing the same. "Ei! You need to cool yours or they'll overheat! Go get ice from over there!" He urged, thankful that he'd noticed his brother's mistake before it was too late. "The dragons are using each other's temperatures to keep the other's eggs safe. You need ice!" The panic in his poor twin as he removed the stones and fetched ice instead hurt, but he was happy everything was alright.

Together they left the tunnel and then the cave as a whole. It seemed they were among the last, a good thing as the ice Eijirou had stocked up on wouldn't last very long against the egg's incredibley hot surface. Upon flying back, they had to work out the issue of their respective eggs' needs. Thankfully, that was solved quickly. They simply laid the super heated egg next to the hyper cold one. Tucked up together, they kept the other safe.

The eggs hatch within the same afternoon, the twins all but vibrating in their anxiety as they watched on. The first to break free of their egg was the red, a cheerful little girl that eagerly announced herself in happy chirps. Rather than leaving the nest to toddle into her human's waiting arms, she turned from him. The two panicked for only a moment till she lifted herself, all wet and awkward, plopping on top of the other egg to heat it with her belly. She barked tiny claws squeaking along the surface of the other egg. Muffled little grunts came from inside till finally, that shell cracked as well.

Only once the second wyrmling had struggled free of his shell did they leave the makeshift nest, shoulder to shoulder till they reached their humans. Together the twins wiped down their new companions. At the end of the week, they would be declared men with their dragon babes at their sides. They had already agreed that the home they would build for themselves would be shared by the four of them rather than being two smaller homes, as such, they were allowed one larger plot of land to call their own. And so started their new lives into adulthood.

The scrawny 13-year-olds grew, as did their dragon companions. They trained together, both to fly and fight, but even to work together with their humans as they worked at and improved their trades. Much to the shock and delight of their village, it was discovered that the twins could actually forge on the fly so long as both dragons were present. With age and experience, the two were trusted with more and more and in time, that included scouting and hunting missions. Each trip out loosened their leash till they were even allowed tasks that would require them to camp out and fend for themselves before returning home.

This was one of those missions. The village had grown and while the humans had space to expand into, the dragons' were starting to get very testy inside their breeding caves. There simply wasn't enough space for all of them and they were started to squabble. The elders feared that full-on fights would follow if they didn't find them a new cave system to spread to. Together they set out on this incredibly important mission and at the suggestion of one of the older and wiser scouts, it was suggested that they check the islands off the coast. Though some appeared small, you never knew what sort of caves might be hidden under them. Still, they decided they would check the largest island first and move down in size. The bigger the better as it would take the dragons longer to fill a larger space.

Supplies packed onto their dragons, their friends charged forward, leaping off the cliff into the open air, almost lazily unfolding their leathery wings to glid till they needed to flap to maintain altitude. Given their heavy loads, the flight wouldn't be an easy one for them, but it should be manageable if they paced themselves. Sure enough, neither dragon was particularly happy when they finally set down on solid ground. They were quick to lay down and made it very clear they had no intention of moving unless they had to.

The two chuckled softly, but certainly didn't complain. Their companions had more than earned the rest. They brought down all their supplies then went on to remove the harnesses from both of the poor beasts, showering them in affectionate praise for a job well done. The two were left there then, the teens agreeing to split up and find a good place to set up camp. They could start their search tomorrow after they'd had a nice rest. Needless to say, they had no idea that they were far from alone on the island.

It was so beautiful here too... The vegetation was far lusher on this island than on the others, it seemed. Surely the dragons would enjoy it here, should there be a proper cave system for them to nest in. Hopefully, they would find at least a decent-sized system here... Surely they could expand the caves for the dragons if they needed to? It would be more work, but an island of this size and an environment this nice might be worth the extra effort. The flight was a tough one only because they flew straight here, but if they had hopped from one island to the next, it wouldn't have been nearly as tough a trip.

Focus. Find a good campsite first. Some careful wandering later had him finding a decent clearing, contemplating if it was good enough. It could be used as a camp, but... He should see if there was any freshwater nearby. If there wasn't, they would probably be able to find something better than this. Perhaps he should have been more focused to start with...

He was suddenly being yanked around, losing his footing only to be forced to the ground with a sharp yelp. For a stunned moment, ruby eyes met wider matching ones only for the widened set to get distracted. "Oh, they're so cute!" Gasped the prone teen as he looked at the very upset little ones huffing at him angrily. His attention snapped back to the person that had tripped him when he spoke. "My name's Eijirou! I... Wait. Human? Are you not human?" He gasped dramatically, unintentionally showing off his unnaturally triangular teeth. "Are you a dragon?! I didn't know there were human-shaped dragons! Or maybe you're only part dragon... Can humans and dragons have kids?" He frowned in thought. Holy shit was this moron too stupid to be afraid?

He was distracted a third time when not one, but two dragons suddenly dove into the clearing landing hard and snarling. The one with a metallic sheen to its scales, clutched another very startled human in its claws. "E-Ei?! What's going on?!"

The faux redhead ignored his brother, instead focused on the very angry red dragon. She snarled viciously at the blond, smoke tailing up from her mouth as she stalked forward. "Spitfire! Don't! You'll hurt the little ones!" He ordered, a hand reaching out open palmed towards the angry beast approaching them. Thankfully the beast stopped her advance, hissing in frustration. She then unintentionally showed off her namesake, spitting a small ball of fire at the ground. Wait, no. Not fire. The ball appeared to actually be almost molten metal. All the same it did start to burn the grass around it.

The faux silver-haired teen dismounted carefully then. "Fi, don't be wasteful..." He urged gently, looking to the second dragon then nodding towards the tiny fire that was starting to catch. The red dragon huffed, but all the same, her great triangular head bowed and her maw opened allowing a wide, tapered tongue to reach out, wrap around the soft ball of glowing red metal and bring it back up into her mouth, visibly swallowing it down. As soon as she had, the other dragon huffed a cloud of cold vapor and the fire was put out. "Get off my brother." Demanded the newest human, now flanked on either side by two very unhappy-looking dragons.

[automatonSun]

Katsuki didn't startle at the appearance of two new dragons, though he was weary to see another human. But the dragons, they were... interesting; he hadn't seen any like them in the nests or on their way to their new home so long ago. They seemed opposite, but also the same, and it was interesting to see dragons that weren't from the nest be protective of humans. After all, Katsuki was Megami's prince, it was only natural the dragons from her nest viewed him as their superior and charge. He doubted the two humans had the same set of circumstances as himself of befriending an alpha and having an entire nest protecting them, so that meant that the dragons had individually selected these humans to be their charges.

Considering how fucking stupid the one at his feet was, Katsuki somehow doubted their judgement.

Still, the blond glared down the silver haired human, but stepped away after a glance at the red dragon, lifting his hands as he sheathed his spear at his back. "Sorry, I didn't know they were yours. Keep this one leashed, they're a fucking hazard." Katsuki said, offering the slightest tilt of his head to the dragons, one that meant an apology and truce in the more universal way the creatures communicated. He snapped his fingers, Omo and Ono huffing tiny streams of fire at the red haired human one last time before they zipped back into their place at Katsuki's ears. Their wings peaked out from behind the shell of his ears, looking like accessories until their little faux-antennae moved, or their tails made an appearance from where they had them curled around his lobe.

Covered in furs and dragon-scaled armor, with the markings around his eyes; Katsuki could paint a very intimidating picture in his own right if it weren't for his height. Still, he held himself like he was above the humans, but strangely as though he were on equal footing with the enraged, flatheaded dragons, because he turned to the creatures again when he spoke; "What are you doing here? This is our territory, we don't take kindly to humans near our nest." He asked the dragons, of all things. He hadn't willingly spoken to a human in years, it was only natural he gravitated toward speaking with someone he was more comfortable with.

Plus, after hearing the red haired one asking if inter-species breeding was possible, he wasn't all that sure if speaking to humans was good for his mental health either.

[NicTheDjinn]

"A hazard?!" Protested the redhead, looking at his dragon in distress. "Don't listen to him, Fi! It's okay, you don't have to worry about me." He went on, hoping to comfort his dragon as he'd assumed the insult was being leveled at her. Understandable as she had definitely been the more openly aggressive one. Ironic as generally, she was the more friendly of the two. He flinched a touch as tiny spouts of fire came his way, but other than a little prickle of heat he was fine. Nothing more than he might encounter helping his brother at the forge. Still, at least he was free to get up now.

The red-plated dragon walked closer then, lowering her head right by her human. On cue, he reached up to grip part of the crest formed by the plating on her head, and then she was straightening, lifting him to his feet in the process. She was then right back to looking at the blond stranger as he spoke again. The steely dragon watched him intently as well, the two dragons now looking more curious than upset now that the danger seems to have passed and this new human was being respectful.

Though the dragons were clearly paying attention to him, it was the silver-haired teen that responded. "We didn't know anyone even lived out here. The nursery near our village is overcrowded. We were sent out to find a new place for the village dragons to nest before they start fighting for space." He was a little concerned about the fact this guy was talking like he wasn't human. Was he touched in the head?

"Uh, like I said, my name's Eijirou, that's my twin, Tetsutetsu. That's his boy, Flayke and this is my girl Spitfire. She's, uh, usually much friendlier..." He assured, watching her wearily as she started to move towards the blond again. Reaching out, he caressed a hand over her hot scales. "Be nice, Fi. He lives here and we weren't invited."

While Flayke watched on, in case, Spitfire closed the distance between herself and the new human, seemingly not the slightest bit intimidated. She sniffed at him curiously, getting close enough to touch, should he dare to. At this distance, he would be able to feel the incredible heat she naturally put off and be able to smell the scent of ash and heated metal she produced.

"If we're not welcome here, we'll search elsewhere, but let us stay at least a night. Our dragons are tired from the flight here." Assured the steel-eyed teen, caressing the chilled plating of his friend's neck.

"Tetsu... He said there's a nest here... What if we promised not to come back and ask for space for the dragons?" Whisper shouted one idiot to the other.

"Because the village kids wouldn't be allowed to come here to find their dragon partners..." Sighed the other.

"Oh... That's true, but... Isn't it more important that the dragons don't fight each other for space?" Countered the first.

Tetsu hesitated, looking up at his companion. He sighed, leaning in to rest his forehead against his naturally frigid friend. "You're right... Their safety and happiness is more important."

Eijirou spoke up again, daring to approach even though he was the one that was attacked. "If we promise to keep the other villagers away and there's enough space here, could our dragons come here to breed and nest? Please, they barely have enough room to move around in their caves anymore and though they will live in the structures we build for them, they refuse to nest in them. Please..." The poor guy looked honestly very upset about the whole thing, enough so that his dragon was turning way from Katsuki to instead nuzzle him, crooning soothingly too him like a mother dragon might soothe her hatchling. Soon enough the human was leaning down to press his forehead to her expansive one, both hands trailing along her jaw. "Shhh... I'm okay, beautiful... Sorry, I worried you." The duo may not be particularly bright, but at the very least it was clear that their dragons were very fond of them.

[automatonSun]

Earnest, that’s what Katsuki would call the human companions of the dragons. Not the quickest, maybe even not the strongest; but they were earnest and that could be its own strength in its own right. Still, “I wasn’t talking about the dragon, I was talking to her.” Katsuki said with a roll of his eyes, watching the dragon approach. He had some experience with dragons who emitted heat. Though admittedly, it was mostly monstrous nightmares who set themselves on fire. Still, the callouses on Katsuki’s hands and the natural resistance to heat he’d built up over the years made it so he could pet over the dragon’s flat head with no issue. “Pretty.” He hummed, letting his hand smooth over her head before offering it to her to smell.

He was very precise in all of his movements. Katsuki couldn’t vocalize many of the sounds that dragons used to communicate, but he could imitate the gestures, stance and general air he put about himself. To the humans, Katsuki may not be much, and the dragons may not be afraid of him, but he was Megami’s prince, and the way he stood spoke of his status amongst the dragons of his nest. There was a certain, inherent respect that came with that.

He watched the two humans interact, brow furrowing as they spoke of their dragons and nesting. Of village children going to select partners from breeding caverns... It was foreign to hear of such trust between dragons and an entire village. Somehow, Katsuki hated the thought of being the one to break it. “Omo.” He called, and the tiny dragon reemerged from his hair, fluttering right in front of him and waiting for orders, “Ask Megami if she’ll allow it.” He didn’t clarify what it was. He honestly didn’t need to. The flutterfire immediately zipped off, knowing it was about nesting. Katsuki brushed his finger up against Ono, collecting the flutterfire up onto his hand, “Get Ojo.” He sent that small dragon off too.

He wouldn’t have trouble speaking with the humans, for any words he didn’t catch he could always lipread.

“Our Alpha decides on whether or not your dragons can make nests here, and if the humans would be welcome.” His lip curled at the idea; but he’d seen these humans with their dragons. Katsuki couldn’t just assume every human was as bad as his own village, as much as he didn’t trust them. “But I’m the prince, I can allow you temporary stay without asking her first. But you have to move, this is speed stinger hunting ground, you have to respect their alpha. Or else.”

[NicTheDjinn]

The redhead blinked lightly when he was corrected, looking equal parts concerned and hurt. "*I'm* the hazard? I was just looking around. *You* attacked *me*!" He protested though it was more of a pout than anger.

The red-plated girl didn't flinch away when touched, even cooing happily when called pretty. When that hand was then offered to her, she didn't hesitate to lean in and press her nose right into his palm, snuffling for a moment before her great maw opened just a bit. Out came a wide, but tapered tongue, dragging its wet heat over his palm, forked tip catching on his fingers for a moment. While the surface of her plating was hot, almost like a rock heated in the sun, her tongue was even hotter. It was enough to hurt, but not enough to actually burn the skin.

The faux redhead smiled softly at the gesture, not seemingly offended by the way she was already befriending someone that had been threatening him a moment ago. "She likes you."

"She likes everyone." Pointed out his twin, though the soft chuckle that colored his words made it clear that he had nothing but affection for the sweet dragon.

Both teens were startled back to attention when it was announced that permission was being sought. Eijirou was the first to recover, more or less. "Really?! That's great news! If we have to prove ourselves we'll do it!" He added desperately hoping for the best for their scaley companions.

"You're their prince?" questioned the silver-haired one, frowning a little at that. Well, it would explain his speech patterns at the very least as well as his distrust of humans. How long had he lived among dragons to consider himself one...? These thoughts suddenly didn't matter at the news of what other dragons called this place home. "Oh shit... We need to get back to our stuff and move."

"Why the hurry? They're nocturnal aren't they? Sun's low, but it's still up." He pointed out, though even as he spoke he was approaching his girl and slotting a foot between her plates to swing himself up onto her shoulders, legs hanging just in front of her wings.

"Yeah and what do you think is gonna happen to our gear if the sun dips too low and we haven't set up camp someplace safe? Do you have any idea how much harder it will be if they get at our equipment on day one? Speed Stingers are scavengers, they'll take anything they like and there's no way we can catch them after they've taken off." Tetsu too mounted up, his dragon turning with a gentle nudge from one of his feet. "Sorry guys, we're gonna have to put everything back on you sooner than we thought..." He murmured, patting his dragon before holding on properly and urging him into the sky to get back to their things.

Eijirou urged his own dragon to do the same, but found she was unresponsive. "Fi? What's up? We gotta go move our stuff before dark. Spitfire?" Nothing, she refused to take to the sky. She was, however, moving. Rather than taking off she turned a bit so the blond was to her side, kneeling so it would be easier for him to get up onto her back. "Oh... I guess that would save some time, huh?" He chuckled, actually laying forward onto her neck to hug her and give he some nice rubs. Despite her naturally high temperature, he didn't seem to mind it or at the very least was so used to it that he no longer shied away from the burn. "Such a smart girl... What would I do without you?" He cooed on lovingly, pressing a kiss to her rough, hot plating.

[automatonSun]

Katsuki rolled his eyes as the humans readied themselves to move. The speedstingers on their island were more than just scavengers. They’d been on an island with no large predators on the surface, any dragons chose to live underground in the amply space it provided since it was mostly hidden from humans who didn’t dare jump through the hole. Above ground, there was mainly prey animals, which meant less opportunity to scavenge. For dragons like the speedstingers, with quick metabolisms and huge appetites, the lack of any kills to scavenge from other predators meant they had to learn to hunt to fully satisfy themselves. Needless to say, if some humans holed themselves up in their territory, they would try to make a meal out of them.

Whether or not they succeeded was irrelevant, because it could be avoided altogether.

The blond dragon heir prepared to wait for his own dragons to return, planning to ride the larger one named Ojo he’d sent Ono to retrieve, only to turn back and see the red dragon, Spitfire, walking towards him with her rider, offering her back. Katsuki smiled, smoothing his hand over her shoulder, “Aren’t you sweet? Pretty girl. Alright, I’ll ride with you, as long as your rider behaves.” He looked above, just to make sure Ojo and Ono weren’t already on their way before mounting the dragon, right behind the other rider. He still didn’t feel like getting the scent of human on him, but he carefully put his hands on the other’s shoulders for some sort of purchase. “Don’t try to talk to me while we’re in the air, I won’t be able to hear you.” He could have probably said that in a friendlier way but it had been so long since he’d spoken to a person, human social queues weren’t his strength. And probably had never been, the people of Bakuhatsu were never known for their hospitality.

[NicTheDjinn]

The dragon cooed happily at all the nice touching and praise she was getting, both from her partner and their newfound companion. She remained close to the ground till she felt the blond settle himself on her back, then stood on her rather stubby legs. She finally started to respond to the faux redhead's wordless urging and turned to face the direction they needed to go. Her rider sat himself up, looked over his shoulder at his passenger, smiling brightly despite the blond's continued, if more subdued, hostility. "Gottcha! Make sure to hold on so you don't fall, take off is kind of jarring." He warned before turning his attention back to his dragon. "Come on, Fi, we should catch up with them."

This time, she responded like she usually did, squatting down low to the ground before leaping up as high as her short legs would allow her. Her wings flapped frantically for a moment to gain some altitude before they were flying more smoothly towards where they'd first touched down. It wasn't very hard at all to tell that taking off from the ground was not ideal for this species and also that their broad wings were more suited for gliding and stamina than speed and agility. The flight was fairly short as the twins hadn't had much of a chance to explore just yet, the pile of things they'd brought with them visible from the air. She circled her way down rather than dropping out of the air like she had before, trotting to a clumsy landing.

Tetsutetsu had already dismounted and was in the process of trying to coax Flayke into his saddle. It already rested upon the dragon's back, but he'd only managed to get a single strap on around the neck and was trying to get the straps at the base of the tail on next, but Flayke wasn't making it easy huffing frigid vape in annoyance and side-stepping or wiggling a hind leg at him to keep him from doing it. "I know we just got you out of these, but we need to move our things! I promise I'll take it off as soon as we find a place to came!" He pleaded, but it did little to convince his friend.

(( The Saddles look similar to this: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/dO3qwK I hope you enjoy the majestic dragon it's on as well. ))