Chapter Text
It had been hours since he’d been abducted by the Beast King himself. Hours since Izuku witnessed his friend collapse in the ruins of his throne room, grievously wounded. Lord Bakugou had left the burning kingdom behind quickly, sending them high into the night clouds to keep coverage from any archers or wizards in King Endeavor’s employ. His hold had not softened in the slightest, and Izuku had been forced to remain helpless to the elements.
Izuku thinks that, under different circumstances, he would be frightened. He had been captured by one of the most brutal rulers in all the kingdoms, being taken to hostile territory, and was very likely going to die being fed to some dragon or equally terrible beast. Any reasonable person would be terrified.
But Izuku wasn’t scared.
He was livid.
At one point, the ruler barked an order to the red dragon they were riding, and the beast descended from the clouds, weaving through the western mountain range that guarded the border of Todoroki’s kingdom. Eventually, they rounded a particularly sheer cliff face, only for the other side to reveal a hollow space.
A cave, large enough to house several dragons.
Izuku made sure he stayed relatively limp, biding his time. The massive wings beat against stale air as it descended, gentling their landing. Outside, the mountains illuminated briefly with lightning, a peal of thunder rolling shortly after. The dragon entered till they hit the back wall, blowing out a burst of hot flame against a deep fire pit. The potent nature of dragon flames lit the logs that had been left there on the first try, brightening the surrounding rocks and deepening some of the shadows. Huffing, it went to kneel- clearly with the intent to let it’s rider down.
Now.
Before the Beast King could dismount (or just drop Izuku like a sack of bricks, most likely), Izuku twisted, grabbing the boy’s hair and throwing himself off the side. Bakugou yelled as he was tossed off the edge, Izuku managing to spin them so it was the Lord of Dragons that took the brunt of the fall. Fury carrying him, Izuku raised his fist to punch his kidnapper across the face, glare meeting glare when the leader caught his hand before it could land.
“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” Bakugo grit out, eyes furious in challenge as Izuku continued to keep hold of his hair.
“What am I doing?” Izuku tugged out of the hold to try and punch again, but Bakugou used the momentum to tumble them, the dragon backing up with a questioning growl as they began brawling on the ground. “You killed my friend! You attacked during peace meetings, you monster!”
“HA?” The Beast King let out a burst of fire magic from his hands, forcing the fae boy release him and recoil from the flame. “I’m the monster? That two-toned bastard would slaughter thousands of my people without batting an eye!”
Izuku visibly flared at the implication. “He would not!” He dove forward, but the leader rolled to the side, leaving Izuku to stumble over the loose stone. Not dissuaded, Izuku summoned his fae magic, yanking a large stone towards the killer. He grit his teeth as the blond menace dodged, barely. “Shouto is worth ten of you- he wanted to right the wrongs of his father, and now you’ve plunged them into an even deeper divide!”
Red eyes flashed at that, unsheathing his short sword as he took a ready stance, gesturing their ride to move further away.
Uncaring, too driven by his own anger, Izuku looked to the fire, pulling out one of the sticks before placing a hand before the flame, intermingling his heritages. The flame immediately grew, flaring in a burst of power before being blasted forward.
Bakugo had only a moment to be shocked, realizing what was happening, before he raised his own hand to counter. Fire met fire, and Izuku had to back out first, dodging to the side when the King’s light dwarfed and overwhelmed his. Before he could strategize another attack, the warrior came at him with a yell, pinning him to the wall.
“You’re going to want to mind how you speak to your King.”
Furious, Izuku gripped the frivolous fur cape to hold his attacker close, head butting him as hard as he could. The man let go, staring at Izuku in outraged shock as his nose began to bleed. “You are not my king!” Izuku hissed, barring his teeth.
The barbarian ruler immediately cooled, moving forward to attack once more. But this time, Izuku countered. They moved across the cave space, once almost hitting the dragon who had to raise their paw or risk taking the brunt of one of Bakugo’s attacks. The Lord of Dragons managed to flip over his captive, gripping the back of his shirt and igniting it with fire. With the fabric smoldering and weakened, the attacker pulled, the tearing sound muffled by Izuku’s furious shout.
“Not your king? Could have fooled me, considering your heritage.” A fire hot hand landed against the smooth and protective green scales that fell along Izuku’s spine, shimmering a soft gold in the firelight.
Izuku shied away from the touch, turning so his back was to the cave, his enemies before him. But Bakugo didn’t pursue, expression still mulish but triumphant. “The second I smelled your blood, I knew. The real fucking question is who the hell are you?” He stalked forward for every step Izuku backed away, face growing more and more threatening. “All dragons were ordered to return to the badlands for their own safety decades ago. We haven’t had a dragonborn youngling in close to half a century. So what was a whelp barely able to hold a sword- let alone grow his own wings- doing in the heart of the territory most bent on destroying us?”