Fantasy au [KiriBaku x Ikari]

[NicTheDjinn]

How long has it been since Eijiro and Katsuki left the blonde's village when the news came he was going to be married off to some random cheiftan's daughter? The redhead hadn't a clue-- but, he was just happy he and his lover were happy, even if they were in the wilds, fending for themselves. Both were more than capable of hunting and gathering and making camp when need be, and they had enough funds between them between various odd jobs as well as their own personal savings from before they left. Still, they both missed a proper bed at times, as well as a few other luxuries they had left behind.

Still, missing all that was preferable to being forced into an unhappy marriage where the pair would have to sneak around, and have to suffer through making hairs at some point. Katsuki was more than happy to be without children in his life, especially with how childish his lover could be at times. But, they adored each other, made each other feel whole, perfect.

Though, it was safe to say things were getting a bit.... Tense, as of late, due to the changing seasons. Game was thinning, either from migrating or being eaten all up in some areas, and they needed more meat to dry at the very least before winter struck, let alone better shelter. Eijiro may have been a dragon, but his inner flame can only burn so long in the harsh winter winds. So, they made their way to an area by a nearby village, hoping there may be more game there, or at least an abandoned cottage someplace nearby they can patch up and hole up in over the harsh, chilled months. The pair were split up, but not too far, mind you, looking either for shelter, food, or even both, if luck served them well.

Eijiro found quite a large buck-- if portioned, dried and rationed right, they could get at least three weeks out of it, four if they stretched it with soup! The redhead took to a mountain lion-sized version of his scaly self, knowing his natural weapons were far more effective than normal weapons in this case. Plus, should the buck try to gore him with his antlers, his thick, scaly hide wouldn't budge an inch-- at worst, he'll only be bruised. He was crouched low in the underbrush, poised like a fierce feline predator, his hind end carefully shifting, calibrating for his fatal pounce. When the moment was right, he lept from his hiding place, but while in mid-air, a large white mass of fur had taken the buck out from the side, caysing the stunned, confused dragon to sail in a neat little ark, before rolling harshly into a tree, as, unlike cats, he doesn't always land on his feet. The wind was knocked out of him, furthering his processing dilemma, but, while viewing the world upside down, he saw quite the gorgeous wolf, tearing into the throat of that buck as it let out its death-cry, his blood staining her lovely snow-white fur.

He could only stare in amazement, dazed by how effortlessly she had felled the buck, not realizing that his lover, also in wolfish form himself, was running over, knowing something was amiss with his lover.

-----

Ikari was under a lot of pressure.

She was the daughter of the Tenrousei clan's chieftain, which meant she had higher standards she had to live up to than the rest of them. Today was her Rite of Passage, meaning today was the day she would earn her ear piercings that marked her as an adult of the clan. The better the haul, the more she would earn. Most didn't earn more than three, then they would earn more as they accomplished more. Her mom and dad had the most, marking them as the leaders of the clan. They had the exact same number since power was held equally between Chieftain and Chieftess. Well, technically, her grandmother had exactly one more than them, because she was the previous leader, and if the current leaders couldn't make a decision, it would fall to her to do so. Generally speaking though, her grandmother stayed out of affairs now that she was retired. And one day, Ikari would be leader as well. Maybe not of this clan, as her family had ben trying to marry her off lately, but still...

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the smell of wild game on the winds. To everyone currently looking at her, she was a regular white wolf, hunched down in the grass as she sniffed out her prey. The scent was a deer! That was lucky. Deer were getting harder to come by, as the winter crept closer. She had really been unfortunate that her birthday was this time of year, though not nearly as much as the ones born in winter, though, admittedly, that didn't happen often. They didn't have mating seasons like common wolves, but they were (usually) smart enough to think ahead on such matters when winter was approaching.

Ikari stopped when her prey came into sight. A buck! Even better. This would be the best haul of the season. Maybe even of last season too. She would definitely live up to her family's reputation with this one. After carefully assessing that the animal did not notice her presence, she sprang, not needing to even think about how much force she needed to apply; it was second nature by now. She took down the creature swiftly, which was good, if she had missed, a buck could certainly do quite a bit of damage to her. However, as she took the creature down, she felt a rush of wind as something sailed passed her, though she forced herself to ignore it as she dealt the killing blow to the buck. She made it as swift as she could as to not prolong it's suffering.

Once that was done, she turned her attention to what had sailed passed her, to find it was a red dragon, now upside down against a tree. He must have been stalking the same prey, and her interruption of his pounce surprised him enough to change trajectory. She had never seen a dragon land like that however... clumsiest dragon she had ever seen, though admittedly, she hadn't seen many. However, her guard was up when the other wolf came onto the scene. She flattened her ears against her head in a silent growl. Though... was it possible these two were shifters? She had never seen a dragon with a wolf before, and they were clearly companions, because they weren't fighting each other. In fact, the wolf almost looked protective of the dragon as he stared at her. There was really no way to tell if a wolf was a shifter. So, there was really only one thing to do to find out.

"ThIs is my kill. Back off!" All shifters had a mental link they could communicate with, and that's what she reached out with now, in conjunction with the warning snarl of the language of animals. This way, if they weren't shifters, they would still understand her growl, and if they were, they would probably understand both. And if they were, it also told them that she was more than a common beast as well.

-----

Just their luck, huh? Katsuki gruffed in annoyance as the smaller white wolf snarled her claim on the buck, befire nudging at his scaly lover. "Whatever-- Eijiro, stop staring like a fool and get up. You look ridiculous." 'Eijiro' let out a sad sort of trill as he rolled sideways, ending up perpendicular to his prior stance, before shaking himself out. "That woulda lasted us a month, too...." He whined, his head ducked faintly. "Don't be a hatchling-- we'll find something else, even if we gotta go inti that village." He softly bopped the dragon's snout with his paw, earning a startled and indignant snort and chuff.

"Fine...." The scaly shofter whined, before sitting carefully on his own tail, avoiding sitting in the snow directly. "Hey! Are you from the nearby village?" Eijiro soon asked, making the sandy wolf shoot him an incredulous look. "Also-- is there an inn there? And maybe a butcher, or at least a food merchant of some sort? We're kinda traveling--" the Sandy wolf tackled the dragon, looking annoyed, his paw pressed firmly on the other's muzzle in a dominant, silencing manner. "*We are fine, we can look for things on our own, thank you very much.*" Katsuki grumbled at both the dragon and the white wolf, before freeing the prior. "Let's go-- mayne we'll find something else before nightfall." "But Katsukiiiii!! We haven't ate since yesterday!!" "Then we'll be motivated to hunt something today, *don't you think*?" The pair bickered softly as they began to pad away, intending to try to find somwthing on their own....

Or at least, Katsuki was, Eijiro looked back at the pretty white wolf with perhaps the most pathetically adorable pout one would ever see on a dragon's face. He was nothing more than a scaly puppy.

[Silver Wings]

Ikari watched the strange duo before her, her feeling of unease dissipating with each passing moment. These two were just a couple of idiots. Clearly, her prize had been in no real danger to begin with. Though, the blonde wolf seemed a tad bit smarter than the dragon, although much angrier. Once it became apparent they were leaving, she was about to do the same. That was when the dragon caught her attention by giving her the single, most pathetic look in the world. She grit her teeth at the (brief) internal struggle.

"Yes. It's where I live." And she let out a sigh before the next sentence left her mouth.

"We're having a celebration tonight, so free food and drink. If you guard me while I carry this back, I'll tell them you're my guests."

After all, this was her right of passage, so of course there was a celebration. She didn't feel the need to mention it, however, as they would find out if they followed her back. She was more than capable of hauling the buck back by herself, but if something else decided it wanted her catch on the way... well, that might be dicier. And she couldn't return empty-handed.

And she wasn't about to let one of them carry it. She didn't know them. What if they bolted with it? Granted, the dragon didn't seem the type, but she wouldn't put it past his angry companion.