Bakugou's PoV

I walked silently after the others down the path to the village. The sun was still shining deep over the mountains and the air was cool and humid. Horses would be waiting for us in the village with whom we would set off. I would have loved to just fly on Red's back, but the order wanted us to be prepared for anything and Red to be able to pretend to be human. For once, I was in complete agreement with the order, after all, this was about Red's safety.

Red and Telana before me were immersed in an easy conversation and laughed cheerfully. Taran walked just a few steps in front of me, his hands buried deep in his pockets. I made some big steps to catch up with him.

"Taran." I said quietly, not to get the attention of the other two. The key keeper looked up in surprise and his dark, unfathomable eyes watched me closely. We had never had a private conversation before, and he seemed surprised that it was me who opened the conversation. But there was one thing that had been on my mind since yesterday. "I have a question...", I began slowly as I slowed my pace a little to increase the distance to Red and Telana. Taran nodded and adjusted his stride.

I took a deep breath. "Red told me yesterday about the extremely long life span of the dragons ... and that he might have inherited it."

Taran pulled his eyebrows together and it took a little time before he spoke. "You want to know if I think it's likely that he inherited it?" I nodded. Taran sighed and glanced at Red's back. "We know little about Kiri's background, only that he is a Kirishima. I won't tell you anything new when I tell you it's the healing clan. But at the same time it is an extremely old family, which always had a lot of influence because of its powerful abilities. You could say the Kirishimas belong to the dragon nobility."

I frowned. "I know, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Half dragons inherit, apart from their dragon form, one or two abilities of their dragon clan. Kiri can heal, but I think it's unlikely that he only inherited one dragon ability, because he comes from such a powerful family. Since no other ability has been shown so far, it seems likely that the second attribute is their long life..."

I nodded slowly and subconsciously, clenched my teeth. Taran looked at me worried from the side. "It must be difficult for the partner to accept," he said with compassion.

I pulled my shoulders up uneasily. Talking about my feelings has always been something I couldn't do well and I didn't want to do it now. "I could accept it, but I can't handle the uncertainty well," I growled anyway.

Taran nodded thoughtfully. "What did you say to Kiri when he told you that?" he asked, looking forward again to the two red heads.

"What do you think?" I hummed. "Of course that I'll stay with him."

A light smile settled on the lips of the other man. "Brave decision," he remarked.

"Anything for Red."

Taran gave me another side glance. "The order has a false impression of you."

"Tch."

"Hey, hurry up back there!" Telana shouted cheerfully and waved at us. She and Red had already reached the edge of the village and were waiting for us stragglers. Silently Taran and I accelerated our steps, so that we caught up quickly. Then we went into the village together.

The four horses were already ready for us. They weren't noble war horses like the ones I knew from royal service. They were relatively compact, robust and sure-footed, ideal for the mountains. Their fur colour was as inconspicuous as the rest of their appearance: brown. They were already saddled and bridled and just waiting for us to take them.

With them stood a sturdy middle-aged man, probably the stable master, and Mr. Dracoon.

"Morning everyone!" the president of the Order greeted us with a smile, whereby I noticed that he avoided my gaze. "Everything is ready, all you have to do is to get on the horses." Then he turned to Red, "Kirishima, could we speak privately for a moment?" he asked trustingly in a low voice.

Red nodded and looked briefly at me before following Mr. Dracoon. I frowned as I looked after them until they disappeared behind the next corner of the house.

Meanwhile the other three of us got on the horses that were assigned to us. Eventually I bent over to Telana. "What do you think he's talking about with Red?" I asked quietly.

Her green eyes wandered over to the place where the two had disappeared. "I think he wants to be on good terms with him before he goes on his first mission. He underestimated the bond between you two. Kiri seemed quite upset yesterday," she said thoughtfully.

I snorted. "I wear Red's mark visible to everyone on my neck, how can you underestimate our bond," I asked sneeringly.

Telana laughed quietly. "Yes, one would think that he, as president of the order, knows more about the half dragons. I think he just ignored it because it didn't fit into his plans. But otherwise he's actually quite diplomatic and a good leader."

"Tch."

The rest of the time we waited for Red to come back, we didn't talk. I played impatiently with the handle of my sword and the gelding below me put on his ears angrily as he felt my impatience.

Then Red came back. The cheerful facial expression had given way to an angry frown. Mr. Dracoon didn't look too happy either.

Wordlessly the half dragon got on his horse and nodded to us as a sign that we could start. He let Telana and Taran go first, so that he could ride next to me.

When we left the village, he waved smilingly to some of the inhabitants, but when we had left the last houses behind, he slumped down a little.

"What's the matter?" I asked worriedly and looked at him from the side.

"Mr. Dracoon... wanted to remind me of my duties," he said with his teeth clenched. I raised an eyebrow asking and waited for him to continue speaking. "I made it very clear to him that I'm working with the Order and not for the Order. I have no duties to fulfill, I do it because I think it is right."

I couldn't suppress a grin, and Red saw it. "Go ahead and laugh. He wasn't particularly pleased," he said seriously, but a stealthy grin had also settled on his lips.

"Well," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "They did teach you how to negotiate and stand up for your rights."

Red laughed heartily and his eyes sparkled in amusement.

"As long as we're still in the mountains and not near a village, we could actually fly, couldn't we?" I asked him with a smile.

Red grinned. Flying together was something we both always enjoyed. "Hey Telana! Taran! Will you take over our horses for a while?"