Chapter Text
Katsuki growls and pounces on one of the dumb brats from the nesting grounds who’s come too close to where he’s playing with a pile of shiny stones.
The kid’s parents aren’t paying enough attention to it and it’s wandered over to try and steal his stuff!
He scrabbles to his feet, transforms and flares his wings, hissing.
The strange pup checks at the sight of his bright, iridescent wings and claws, but won’t stop eyeing the little pile of pebbles he’s been stacking.
They’re crystals and they catch the light nice and they’re HIS.
He lashes his tail and growls at the pup, but it’s still dumb enough to try its chances.
It lunges for his toys.
Katsuki jumps on it and hisses, showing off his sharp teeth and chomping it hard on the arm when it tries to scratch him.
The little runt squeaks and squeals, and one of the other grown ups in the clan turns to look at what all the fuss is about.
The dumb kid he’s chomping on chirps entreaties at her and she looks between them for a moment before sighing and nudging her tail between them to separate them.
“Hey, hey,” she frowns, “I don’t know what you’re fighting about, but get off now, go play somewhere else.”
Katsuki gives the tattletale brat his best glare and opens his mouth.
Freed from his jaws by a grown-up, the little brat hisses at him smugly, dashes forward to grab one of his rocks, and runs off back to its clutch, probably to tell its nest-mates about the encounter.
Katsuki sneers after him.
Such petty thefts are common among young drakes, it’s lucky the entire nest pack wasn’t here to scrap and scrabble.
He lets himself be shooed off by the stranger back towards his clan tent.
He stuffs his new toys under his arm and stalks off, refusing to be hurried by the harassed looking grown up who is grumbling about traveling with other people's pups.
His clan’s place in the run is towards the center, given his parent’s eminence.
Their clan is small: just him, his mother and his dad, so there’s never been anyone in the clan nest to play with either…not that he wants to!
The other pups are dumb!
And greedy!
Plus, it’s fine to play alone because it means all the toys and everything belong to him!
He wriggles his way under the tent flap with his arms full and drops his rocks in a pile of stuff he’s picked up on the trip recently.
It’s all really cool-
A shiny piece of metal shaped like a moon, tons of pretty stones and interestingly shaped sticks, a leaf the same colour as his eyes from a big tree he climbed to the top of, some bugs in their bottle terrariums he’s been keeping as pets, and a bunch of pretty sea glass that is the pride of his collection.
The little bits of glass are green, he likes green things, and the way they catch the light makes them especially neat.
His parents have been excited about him collecting things for his nest. They say it’s “about time” he “took to his instincts”, but they don’t know what they’re talking about.
His toys are just neat and interesting and fun to play with.
Collecting stuff is sort of a thing in their family, in all their families really.
He turns to study the other, much larger accumulation of things in the tent.
His parents' hoard sits in the middle of the tent and it’s super boring.
He drops into a crouch and starts to sneak over to the huge pile of gold and silk and fine chalices and boxes of spices his parents have amassed during their run this year, and is just about to start poking through it when a sharp voice cuts him off.
“Ah! What do you think you’re doing, brat?”
He feels his feet leave the ground as his mother scruffs him and starts to kick and growl, demanding to be put down.
His mother cackles and holds him at arm’s length so she can avoid his teeth and claws.
“Nice try,” she smirks, “What did I tell you about going near the hoard without permission? Don’t touch our stuff, brat. You better not have broken anything.”
“It’s MY stuff too,” he spits, fighting ineffectually to be let loose. “I just got here! Put me down!”
“Like hell it is,” she laughs, “It’s only your stuff because you’re my stuff.” She grins at him. “I should throw you on the pile with the rest of it.”
He glowers at her and she laughs and gives him a little shake.
“What’s that face,” she chuckles, “You can play on it, I’m glad you’re finally looking around to be honest, only I’m serious: don’t wreck anything- half this shit there is for your dad’s hoard.”
She drops him into the gold and he peers at it with more interest.
He doesn’t really get his parent’s preoccupation with collecting this dumb stuff, his dad always chuckles and just tells him he’ll understand when he’s “older” like he isn’t big already.
He thinks it’s lame that they have to go away for half the year to get more.
But if they’re starting to separate the loot that means-
“Are we near the home cave?” He asks his mother.
She puts her claws on her hips and studies the tent and all its many boxes and furs and trappings.
“Yeah.” She grunts. “We’re gonna start heading back soon, we’re just waiting for some of the airspace to clear out so we can fly over the forest.”
Katsuki tries to keep calm, but his mother spots his expression and cackles again.
“What’s this?” She teases, “I know you’re not smiling about getting back and cleaning your nest- I hope you don’t think you’re about to go down the mountain and get lost again?”
“I’m not!” Katsuki lies.
He is.
The home cave is great, but like the run and the drive, it gets a little same-y and boring to be stuck with his folks all the time.
At least when they’re home he can go down the mountain into the forest to play!
He’ll be able to get more toys too!
“Katsuki,” his mom frowns, seeing through his pout, “I’m serious you can’t just run off all the time. It’s dangerous in those woods, kid.”
He growls at her and she shakes her head and throws her paws up.
“I don’t know why I bother arguing with you.” She says, “S’not like you’re gonna listen to me anyway. But if you leave the cave and can’t find your way back don’t expect me and your dad to run around looking for you all day!”
He huffs at her and feels smoke curling out of his nose.
His fire’s coming in; his dad says he’ll be able to breathe it soon, and here his mom is fussing after him like he’s still chewing sticks in the nursery nest.
He’s big now! He can take care of himself!
He digs himself into the pile of gold and ignores her, burrowing under the hoard until only his glowering eyes are visible under all the gold.
His mom looks like she’s fighting back the urge to laugh about something and shakes her head.
“You really are a brat,” she snorts, “You know that?”
He blows a smoke ring at her and she leaves him in the hoard to sulk until it’s time to pack up and leave the rest of the dragons for their final flight to their home cave for the rest of the year.
He honestly can’t wait.
Hopefully something fun will finally happen.
👑💛👑💛👑
“Izuku! Izuku! You get back here!”
Izuku ducks behind a tree with a breathless giggle and stands perfectly still.
The forest is bright and cool this morning with the first hint of the spring leaves drifting in the air flashing their jewel colours.
He tries to smother his snorts and twitches his ears back towards the glen to hear if he’s managed to give his mama the slip.
It’s quiet on the other side of the oak tree and he chances a look around the side to see if the coast is clear.
“Gotcha!” Comes his mother’s happy cry, and then her warm muzzle is at his back as he’s grabbed from the other side of the oak and scooped onto her warm, broad back.
“Aw mama!” He whines when she starts to trot back towards their brook at an easy canter. “Put me down! I wanna go and play!”
“I will not!” She scolds, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you all morning! You put your hooves back on this minute young man, and come have some breakfast- it’s dangerous for you to be wandering around at all hours like this!”
“Do I have to?” He pouts. “I can eat in the woods, I wanna go to the meadow and play!”
“Izuku.” She sighs. “You can’t stay like that all day baby…people will talk.”
She probably regrets teaching him the spell to transform now, but everything is so much more interesting with hands- he loves to touch and hold stuff and he’s molting his baby coat in his other form and that’s itchy.
“Fine,” he pouts and hops off her back to transform sulkily.
“There,” his mama says approvingly, nuzzling into his patchy, fuzzy coat and rubbing her horn across his back in loving affection. “My handsome colt! Come have some of this nice clover I grew for you this morning.”
She leads him into the little hollow under a massive upturned oak by the brook where they live and shoves him into a pink and green patch of tasty clover.
He eats quickly while she transforms and fusses at a shelf of their magic books and instruments she keeps by their little stove, and frowns at something on her desk.
Izuku sees something circled on her calendar there, and starts to bolt his meal as fast as he can.
“Okay!” He says, gulping down the last few blossoms he sees and hurriedly washing them down with a drink of water, “Breakfast! Can I go now?”
“Not so fast!” She says, tapping at her desk, “I don’t want you by the big meadow today, I want you to stay in the woods under cover or by the brook, understand?”
Izuku gives her a betrayed look, but she stays firm.
“You know what today is,” she reminds him. “The dragon drives are going to be overhead all day, and I don’t want you anywhere they can see you.”
“Aw mama!” Izuku whines.
He’s bitterly disappointed.
Every year at around this time the enormous, dazzling creatures could be seen wheeling overhead as they separated from their massive migration herds and went back into the mountains to roost until the winter.
Izuku really wanted to watch the strange creatures with their marvelous wings in their many colours soar overhead.
The herd wardens said they actually had a clan of them living in the mountains just outside the forest!
The grown ups had forbidden him to play near there, just in case they were dangerous.
Dragons and unicorns rarely had any dealings with one another, but according to the elders one couldn’t be too careful.
It made for pretty boring summers.
“I’m serious Izuku,” his mother repeats sternly, “Stay in the woods, and keep away from the border near the mountains, and be back by lunchtime, alright?”
“Alright,” he sighs, disappointed.
“That’s my sweet boy. Why don’t- why don’t you see if you can make any new friends today, hm? You can try again! Maybe you can bring them by for lunch!”
Izuku winces and fishes for a smile at his mama’s hopeful beaming face.
She’s been really hoping that now that his baby fur is molting, he’s going to be able to make a friend for real in the herd…
“Okay..”
He turns to dart away before she can ruin any more of his fun and his mama calls to his retreating back.
“And don’t talk to strangers!”
Izuku grins at that.
Strangers.
As if.
No one interesting ever came into their forest.
💚🍃🌱🌿💚
Katsuki’s finally ditched his parents and snuck into the forest!
It had taken them all morning to fly home and once his parents were settled into the home cave and busy scratching a new room at the back to house all their extra stuff he’d seized his opportunity in the noise and chaos of their excavation to sneak out of the cave mouth and fly down to the woods.
It’s so much more interesting down here!
Granted, it’s a bit harder to maneuver with all these dumb trees in the way, but the challenge just makes it more fun!
He can’t really use his wings so he has to walk and climb over all the rocks and the leaves and stuff, but that’s neat.
It’s cool and noisy in the forest, not with the groaning hum and chatter of the mixed voices of other dragons like when they travel, or the quiet murmurs of his parents as they talk to each other in the home cave, but with the riotous calls of birds and the stridulation of insects, and the susurrus of wind shaking through the leaves.
It’s a whole New World, and it’s all his to explore!
Except…it’s pretty big.
Like really big and after a while all the trees and things start to kind of look the same.
There’s rocks, there’s moss, there's little streams that can be splashed through…
He might be getting lost.
Well, he would be if he wasn’t a dragon, and one of the best of them anyways.
He has a plan; if it starts to get too dark he’ll just climb a tree and use the height to get his bearings. It’ll be easy to figure out which way the mountains are from up high and he can just fly home from there, easy.
He’s pleased with his problem solving skills and feeling smug about telling his mom about it later.
Let her say he can’t handle himself after that!
He plays for a while longer, enjoying the shade and the noise and all the fun smells and colours, until he starts to feel hungry and thinks it’s probably getting late enough to go home for dinner, and thus time to implement his tree plan.
It works great at first- he transforms and climbs up the biggest, knottiest oak he can see and is making decent progress at it with his claws and little flaps of his wings-
-But it turns out the birds don’t much like him in the trees.
All that clamor and racket he’s enjoyed overhead is suddenly directed at him with deadly intent as he scales up towards their nests.
He’s pecked and scratched and harried to the point where he really has no choice but to tuck his head and jump down.
He bares his teeth up at them and hisses in annoyance when his next two attempts are met with similar resistance.
The stupid birds won’t let him climb high enough to find his way out of the woods!
That…means.
He’s lost.
Katsuki looks around the woods again.
They don’t suddenly seem as fun as they did a moment ago, they seem big and loud and…
He needs to find a way out.
He considers trying to retrace his way back from the direction he came when he suddenly hears voices.
“-Shoot guys, it’s him!”
“-Here he comes-!”
“Hurry before he catches up!”
“W-wait! Wait up!”
They’re coming from somewhere close by!
He doesn’t know what sort of thing might be living in these woods, but he knows better than to stand there like a dummy and find out.
Katsuki shimmies up the big oak again, not high enough to upset the birds, but far enough from the ground not to be seen by whatever is coming.
He curls up small on a big branch and peers down through the thick leaves to see…
Some weird things.
They’re not dragons.
They’re kids. Three gangly, awkward looking kids with grey hair and eyes and big, spirally horns curling out of their foreheads.
They have cloven hooves for feet instead of talons and their tails wave behind them with dumb little pom poms on the ends.
Unicorns.
Katsuki sighs in relief.
He wasn’t scared or anything, but it’s nice to know he’s not dealing with anything dangerous.
His parents have been telling him about the dumb ponies that live under their mountaintop since he hatched, he knows they’re mostly harmless.
They pause under his oak tree and trade smug, victorious glances for a second until someone else crashes much less gracefully onto the scene and makes them scowl.
It’s another unicorn.
He’s smaller than them and he’s panting like he’s been running really fast.
He’s all green and spotty with thick, curly fur. There’s splotches of rusty browns and blacks mixed in with the usual grey of the other colt’s coats and his horn is a deep, shiny black.
Katsuki blinks a little in surprise.
He’s never seen a green one before.
His fur looks interesting and soft from up here and when he transforms to smile at his friends he sees his hair is still green and curly and a bunch of his spots have stayed patched all over his face like he’s dusted in cinnamon.
He blinks again and shifts a little on his branch.
Katsuki likes cinnamon.
He likes green things too.
He didn’t know they could be green…
“You- you guys…are s-so fast!” The green one wheezes, rubbing a little at his chest. “I th-thought you said we were playing hide and seek! Not t-tag!”
The other boys glare at his hopeful grin and it falters a little on his face.
“Uh, anyways,” he rallies, “I uh, f-found you! D-does that mean I win? C-can we play something else now?”
He looks desperately between all their faces and the tallest of the boys huffs and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Fine,” he sighs, “I guess you can play with us, since you won’t leave us alone.”
The others grumble reluctant agreement and the little green pony beams with happiness.
“G-great!” He says, taking his fluffy tail between his hands and giving it a nervous squeeze.“Do you wanna play in the brook?”
“Ew, no, I just polished my hooves this morning?”
“Oh. Uhhh do you…wanna go pick berries by the elder’s hollow?”
“My momma says berries make your horn less shiny.”
“That doesn’t- Uh. Okay…h-how about we play tag some more?”
“I don’t want to mess up my coat running through the brambles, I just brushed it again.”
The poor green colt looks helplessly around at the repulsed, annoyed faces of the other boys and bites his lip.
“Do you…wanna see some cool bugs I found by the big ash stump this morning?” He tries in a tiny voice.
Katsuki leans forward eagerly, intrigued by the prospect of cool bugs, but the other boys flinch and make disgusted, wretching sounds.
“Gross!” The tall boy sneers. “Why would we wanna see a bunch of nasty squirmy bugs, Midoriya?”
The little pony cringes and twists his tail.
“Why are you always so weird?” The tallest boy sighs, shaking his head, “This is why no one likes to play with you.”
Katsuki frowns.
None of that sounds weird to him.
It all sounds super fun actually.
“I- I-” the green colt stammers and his eyes start to swim with tears.
“You can’t think of anything cool to do?” The tallest boy asks, seeming bored now. “Really?”
“I- I,” the boy sniffs and paws nervously with his little hoof. “I w-wanted to…go watch the dr-dragons fly in…maybe?” He says timidly. “They’re cool, right?”
At that the other ponies all howl with laughter.
“Dragons?” They jeer. “You wanna go look at dragons? Dragons aren’t cool! They’re dumb ugly stupid brutes!”
Katsuki starts to growl as they transform and start to circle the little colt, menacing him with their horns and kicking at him with their back hooves.
“Maybe you’ll get eaten by your ‘cool’ dragons,” they tease. “That’ll show you how ‘cool’ those stupid lizards are!”
One of the ponies actually manages to shove the little green unicorn down onto the floor and Katsuki decides he’s had enough.
He leaps down from his oak fully transformed and arches his back to show how big and scary he is, flaring his wings wide and showing the suddenly shocked creatures his teeth.
“Or maybe,” he growls, “Some ‘big stupid lizard’ will eat you instead!” He swipes his claws at them and they turn and flee in terror, calling for their moms.
Cowards!
Katsuki puffs smoke at their retreating forms and turns to look at the fallen unicorn.
His eyes are green too and wide with awe. He stares at Katsuki with open wonder.
Katsuki puts his paws on his hips and looks down at him with a triumphant grin.
“We sure showed them, huh?” He tells him. “You’re right about us by the way, dragons are cool!”
The unicorn looks completely stunned for a moment and then beams.
“Wow.” He whispers. Katsuki feels his tummy do a funny sort of flop at the look on his face.
He really must be getting hungry.
He transforms and the boy looks if anything even more amazed as he helps him up.
“I’m Katsuki!” He tells him as he pulls him up to his feet. “What’s your name?”
“M’Izuku,” the little pony mumbles. “T-thank you for saving me, Kasooki.”
Katsuki wrinkles his nose.
“That’s KaTSU ki,” he corrects.
“Kazooki.”
“Tsu-ki.”
“Thoo-ki?”
Katsuki waves him off and looks him up and down.
“You’re not very good with names are ya?” He says.
Izuku flushes and mumbles something about his being hard to pronounce, but he clears his throat and tries again.
“Katzhuki,” he says with a very determined expression.
It makes Katsuki grin.
“Closer,” he agrees, “But that ain’t quite it, you gotta put your tongue between your fangs when you say it: Katsuki. Like that!”
The little unicorn blinks his big green eyes at him.
They’re really cool when they catch the light..
“But I don’t have fangs,” he says, confused.
Now it’s Katsuki's turn to blink.
“You don’t,” he says, as the boy shakes his head, “Not even little ones?”
“No,” the boy says somberly, “Should I?”
“Well yeah,” Katsuki tells him, putting his claws on hips again, “No wonder you can’t talk right! How long until they come in?”
“I don’t think we get those?” The little unicorn says seriously, “My mama doesn’t have any, and neither do the elders.”
“Weird.” Katsuki says, surprised. Unicorns sure are strange.
No wonder his parents say they and dragons don’t mix.
Speaking of which-
He starts to wander away into the woods, and the little colt hurries to scramble after him.
“Wh-where are you going?” He asks hurriedly.
“Home.” Katsuki tells him.
He’s hungry and it’s getting late, he needs to retrace his steps fast or it’ll get too dark soon.
“Oh! Do you live on the mountain?”
“Sure do!” Katsuki declares with a grin.
“How did you get here?” The little unicorn asks.
“I flew down.” Katsuki scoffs. “Obviously.”
The boy scurries to his side and stares at him, seeming deeply impressed.
“You flew?” He repeats. “That’s amazing, Katshooki!”
“Katsuki.”
“Sorry!”
Katsuki shakes his head and casts around for the direction he thinks he came from.
“You’re really having a hard time with that, huh?” He says.
“I’m trying!” The boy wails, “But I think it’s harder without pointy teeth!”
“Guess you’ll have to call me that weird pony version of my name then.” He sighs. “That’s lame.”
The little unicorn colt brings his tail up between his hands and clutches nervously at it again.
“Can I…call you something else?” He asks. “My friends…call each other nicknames s-sometimes. I could- like…wecoulddothatifyouwannabefriends-”
“-what?” Katsuki stops in his tracks and stares at the little colt, who is red to his speckly ears and trying to hide behind the tuft of his tail.
“I said if you- if you wanna be friends,” he gulps, “I could..call you something different maybe? Like…a nickname, maybe?”
Katsuki’s tummy flips again.
Friends.
He’s never-
The little green pony wants-
“It- it can’t be lame!” He declares, crossing his arms and staring him down. “If you’re gonna- since we’re friends and all! You can’t pick anything dumb, okay?”
For a moment the little colt just looks stunned and then in a tiny voice so soft Katsuki has to strain to hear, he whispers.
“Are we gonna be friends? Really?”
“Well, sure,” Katsuki shrugs. “I mean, you think dragons are cool and that makes you pretty smart and you like playing games and catching bugs and stuff-”
“Do you like bugs too-?”
“-Who doesn’t like bugs?” He shakes his head impatiently, “They’re cool! Anyways, you seem okay, so I guess we can be friends.”
His eyes sparkle like sea glass when he smiles, pure and bright and so, so shiny.
“Okay,” he breathes, “Friends. Kacchan.”
Kacchan.
It’s-
“That’s okay I guess.” He declares.
Kacchan.
It’s kind of cool.
He’s never had a nickname before!
💛👑💛👑💛
Izuku is staring.
He can’t help it.
His new friend (FRIEND!) Kacchan is just amazing!
He was having trouble with Tsubasa and his friends and trying desperately to make nice and stay away from the meadow like his mama asked and it was totally worth it.
Turns out he didn’t need to go to the dragons, the dragons came straight to him!
Kacchan is incredible!
He’s a brilliant shiny creature whose black and orange scales catch the dappled lights of the forest and scatter them like fires, his wings are strong and impressive and his hair looks like all the colours of the trees in autumn and his eyes are the red of prettiest sunsets his mama takes him to see at the edge of the woods sometimes at summer festivals.
He’s wonderful!
And he’s got such pointy teeth!
He’s pointy everywhere actually with his claws and his horns and his strange, plated tail-
Dragons are so different from them up close!!
Kacchan catches him staring out of the corner of his eye.
“What?” He huffs.
His ears are like tiny fans, the way they open and close and droop down like that.
Izuku thinks they’re cute!
“Nothing!” He chirps brightly. Running around him, bucking in joy.
“What are you doing that for?” Kacchan asks, frowning and watching him skip and kick.
“M’just happy!” Izuku says, grinning. “It’s fun to spend time with Kacchan!”
“That makes you…kick your feet?” Kacchan asks, doubtfully.
Izuku transforms so he can rear up and dance and buck even more forcefully, showing off how strong his legs are.
“Yep!” He declares, “It’s nice sometimes to kick your feet, you know?”
“I guess,” Kacchan snorts, “You’re kinda weird.”
Izuku stops and paws nervously at the ground.
“Not bad weird, right?” He asks anxiously.
He really wants Kacchan to like him!
He wants to stay friends!
“Nope,” Katsuki yawns, “Just weird.”
He blows excitedly and trots over to nudge him.
“Where are we going, Kacchan?” He asks again.
The dragon boy rolls his eyes and clambers over a rock. “I already told you. We’re going home.”
Izuku lays his ears back thoughtfully. “I thought you lived in the mountains.” He says.
“I do.” The dragon nods.
“Then why are we going deeper into the forest?” He asks.
Kacchan stops in his tracks.
His mouth starts to pour smoke as he looks around (so cool!).
“Are you lost?” Izuku asks him. “I can take you to the edge of the forest if you are! I live near there!”
The dragon crosses his arms and glares at him.
“I ain’t lost!” He says, “I was just…taking a long way back! I’ve never been this deep into the forest and I wanted to explore a little!”
Izuku stares in wonder.
Kacchan is an explorer! Even with all of the wonderful and amazing places he’s probably already been. He still wants to look around Izuku’s humble forest.
He’s the best!
“I can show Kacchan around!” Izuku says, “There’s some really neat mushrooms around here! They’re speckled! And right by the big apple tree there’s tulips! They’re really pretty, they're yellow like your hair!”
“My hair’s not yellow, dummy,” Kacchan snorts, “It’s gold! Like treasure!”
“What’s ‘treasure’?” Izuku asks.
It must be pretty if it looks like his new friend’s hair!
“Oh, you know,” Kacchan says, shrugging, “S’that bright shiny cold stuff your parents collect. I guess it is kinda yellow…but it’s a better yellow! It’s shinier!”
“Kacchan’s hair is very shiny,” Izuku agrees quickly, thinking of a compliment. “Your mama must brush it all the time! It’s really thick and glossy!”
Izuku’s mama tries really hard to make Izuku’s coat sleek and shiny like the other foals, but it’s too curly and green to hold much sheen, even when she spends all day on it.
Kacchan gives him a strange look.
“What is it?” Izuku asks, feeling anxious again.
Katsuki shrugs again.
“Nothing. What’s a tulip?” He asks instead, frowning. “S’it a plant?”
“It’s a flower!” Izuku states, surprised. “Have you never seen one before?”
When Kacchan grudgingly admits he doesn’t know if he has Izuku instantly transforms and takes him by his paw (so warm!) to the apple orchard to show him the ones the elders have planted around the sacred trees.
Katsuki seems intrigued by the tulips and Izuku happily points out all the other flowers in the grove.
“My mama says a long time ago the elders planted them there so we could have something pretty to look at while we eat!” Izuku recounts happily.
Katsuki brightens.
“What’s there to eat around here?” He asks, eagerly. “Rabbits? Deer? I bet I can catch something bigger’n you!”
Izuku furrows his brows.
“Catch?”
“Yeah! I’ll get a big, fat rabbit! A fast one! Faster than any you can catch on your weird feet!”
“R-rabbits?” He repeats, “L-like bunnies? Do- do you eat b-bunnies, Kacchan?”
Katsuki blinks and cocks his head.
“Well, yeah.” He says, sounding confused. “What do you eat?”
Izuku gulps and scuffles the ground.
“I don’t eat bunnies…I like them, I th-think they’re cute and so-soft…”
Katsuki frowns a little. “I guess they are pretty soft…”
Izuku points at the apple tree and says. “We eat fruits and grass and things! Apples are my favourite! You see that big red one? That means it’s ripe! It’s too far up to reach though.”
The apple in question is the red of Kacchan’s eyes and nestled in amongst its green and growing brethren high up in the branches.
Kacchan follows his finger up to it and snorts.
“That thing?” He says, “I can get that, easy!”
Before Izuku can even blink he’s suddenly off and up climbing the tree like a squirrel.
Izuku gapes.
He’s done his fair share of climbing for treats, but he’s never seen anyone climb so fast and so far!
“Careful Kacchan!” He calls, worried, but Kacchan is too high up to hear.
He scampers nimbly along the branch until he finds the little cluster of apples and plucks the red one with a triumphant grin.
Izuku stares up in awe, his chest feels like it’s filled with butterflies and he wants to buck and jump with delight.
His new friend is the best!!
“Amazing Kacchan!” He calls up to him.
Kacchan looks smug and pleased as he tosses the apple down to him.
He rustles around until he finds a few more and throws them down too.
Izuku notices he’s on quite a thin branch, reaching for another and warns, “Be careful!” But it’s a little too late.
The branch snaps under his friend’s weight and he tumbles through the air for a moment while Izuku bleats in horror, but to his amazement he opens his wings and rights himself enough to glide down and land more or less on his feet.
Izuku rushes over to him, breathless with worry, but he’s already shaking himself all over and beaming over at him.
“Are you okay?” Izuku asks, patting him over to check for hurts.
Kacchan just laughs and bats his hands away.
“That was nothing!” He declares, “M’way too tough and strong for something like that to hurt me!”
“You’re bleeding!” Izuku shows him the scrape on his wrist where it must’ve caught a branch on the way down. “We have to take you to my mama!”
Katsuki scowls at him and huffs, but relents when Izuku takes his paw with a whine of anxiety.
“Okay,” he agrees. “But we’re taking those apple things!”
🍎🍏🍎🍏🍎
Inko is beside herself with worry.
She let her little baby Izuku go out into the woods today and the herds are frantic with the tale of some terrible beast in the forest!
Her neighbour said a few colts were cornered by it and terrorized into running away!
She’s been dashing around the woods with the elders, frantically searching for her son while they try to track down the creature.
She hasn’t seen her foal all morning! It’s past noon!
Desperately hoping he had actually listened for once and come home for lunch, she gallops to their home hollow in search of him and cries loudly in relief when she scents him on the breeze.
She spots him sitting happily by the brook as she trots closer…
And he’s not alone.
Some little creature sits next to him, peering avidly over his shoulder as he points out the various plants in their garden and urges him to look at the little darting minnows in their pool.
It’s-
Well, goodness.
It’s a little dragon pup!
The young drake seems to be listening intently to everything her son has to say and tilts his head curiously towards the pond when he spots the fish. She watches as it bats cautiously at the water as if to check it for danger.
It wrinkles its nose and shakes out its wet paw as Izuku giggles with delight.
Inko stares.
She’s never seen a dragon pup so far from its clutch mates, she’s certainly never seen one this deep in the woods before.
Her son suddenly notices her where she’s standing by the entrance to their home and bolts up with a happy cry of-
“Mama!”
She transforms and opens her arms up to receive his happy hug as he clings to her and babbles about his day and his new friend and takes her arm to drag her impatiently over to where the other child suddenly crouches into a loaf and stares warily at her.
“Mama!” Izuku declares, proudly, looking over at the little drake with enormous, shining eyes. “This is Kacchan! He’s my friend! We’re having lunch!”
Oh.
Oh!
Oh.
Inko stares down at the dragon pup who suddenly transforms into quite the fearsome looking little blond boy and looks between his stubborn seeming pout and her own son’s delighted expression.
Oh dear.
✨✨✨✨✨