Hi!! Sorry for the very LATE update and Merry Christmas!!

Warnings: this chapter is pretty dark as it mentions gore and descriptions of death. Also, this chapter is a bit of a mess teehee

Staring blankly at the campfire, you pulled a blanket over your shoulders, keeping your body warm and toasty. In the back of your mind, you couldn't shake the image. Every time you closed your eyes, the terrors of what you saw today shook you to your very core. Corpses. Surrounding you staining the walls and floor lay a sea of dismembered, mauled, rotting corpses. Men, women and children, all dead, not an ounce of life in their cold dull eyes. Above, a few were put to the stake, others hanging from a rope tied around their necks. You remember staring at a child's head peering down upon you for so long that you were sure you felt daggers piercing your soul.

This was not what you imagined—not even close. For children to die, made your stomach churn and ache, your mind clouded. Your heart broke in two as you buried what you could once the magic of the rune disappeared completely. You clawed into the dirt, weeping, hoping that giving the villagers a proper burial would ease their spirits and begin a new adventure in death. What you couldn't bury, you burned to ash. Clothes, toys, treasure—until you stumbled on a scroll. It looked untouched by the blood which meant it belonged to a poacher. You stashed it away and continued.

To make matters worse, you did it all on your own, making it easier for the others to cope. However in reality—it did nothing as your heart was torn asunder.

A forgotten memory brought you back to the day you and your father laid your mother in her final resting place. You both shared a private moment as father and daughter away from your kingdom mourning the loss of their beloved queen. Instead of a coffin, your mother wished for her body to be wrapped in cloth so that her body could feel the embrace of the earth. Planting a branch at the head of her grave, you surrounded the site with a wall of vines and flowers, forbidding anyone who wished to visit the grave. You remember sitting there alone, long after your father was summoned, talking and weeping until nightfall.

"Your grace,"

You flinched, startled by the sudden call in your ear. Moving your gaze away from the fire, you find a cup held in front of your face by Iida. Steam rises from the cup as Iida waits for you to accept the drink. Sitting around the same fire are your three companions. Each stuck to their own, although, it became increasingly difficult to think of anything positive after everything. Especially Kirishima, the poor halfling hadn't stopped crying once he spotted the dragon marks desecrating the village and the scent of ash, afflicting his senses.

Bakugou sensed it as well, yet he remained unbothered by it or so he says. Standing afar, arms crossed, Bakugou kept his face hidden in the fur of his cloak. The sense of familiarity is haunting him again. Another whisper in his ear, sinister unlike the last time irked the hell of him. A disgusting call of his name forced the young king to react. Clicking his tongue, he snarls, waving a hand near his ear. "-piss off ghosts,"

As for Iida, he made herbal tea for everyone to distract himself from no longer thinking of the hurt rather than the well-being of his comrades. He saw himself as the rock holding the group together. He understood the heartache but not to this extent, so he wished that his comfort was enough.

"Thank you, Iida," You thanked him, accepting the tea into your hands. Taking one sip at a time, you flushed away the itch in your throat and the lingering taste of vomit. A hand traces the shape of your cup, your body shivering while cuddled up by the fire. Sitting beside your body is your sword. You'd gazed over the blade occasionally, fingers itching to reach over and attack at any given moment. The beating of your heart, bashing against your chest was felt in your skull.

Calm your heart Y/n, You told yourself, placing a hand on your chest.

A sniffle across the fire caught your attention. It's Kirishima wiping his nose with a finger, his eyes puffy and red from his tears. Shuffling on your bottom, you stood up on your feet, walking around the pit. Lowering down next to Kirishima, you rest your head on Kirishima's shoulder. For a while, you sat there listening to Kirishima's cries, rubbing your hand up and down his back between his wings. You didn't say a word as you cannot relate to his pain nor could you think of a way to convey your sympathies towards him and his kin.

"I feel pathetic...crying like a baby," Kirishima suddenly confesses, looking over his hands wet from his tears. Turning the same hand, Kirishima wiped his cheek.

"Don't be Kirishima. I feel the same way," You admitted, taking another sip of your tea. Iida clears his throat.

"It's best not to think about what happened today. We need to be well rested for the days ahead," Iida explains, earning a hum. As much as you agreed, thoughts would stay with you for a long while.

"You're right Iida, but I don't think I can sleep after what we...saw today," Kirishima spoke, his voice shaking. "If we were here sooner maybe we could've of-"

"Could've what? Prevent a massacre beyond our control," Bakugou pipes in, walking towards the fire. There's a rock by his foot as his body lowers itself to the ground, Bakugou picks up the rock and tosses it up before catching it in his palm.

"Bakugou!" You and Iida said in unison.

"Oh shut it, you all knew what you were signing up for. If you're not up for this mission, feel free to leave, I won't stop." He retorts, snagging on his blade and the rock he held on to. He rests his sword on his lap and drags the rock along his blade, sharpening it. "It's too late for us to sulk now. What's done is done."

"Sorry, Bakugou," Kirishima whispers.

Huddled in sombre silence around the crackling fire and the rhythmic scraping of Bakugou's sword, your eyes haunted by the echoes of your surroundings. You played with your empty cup, tapping your fingernail on the wood.

As the night wore on, Iida and Kirishima rose from their places, exchanging subdued good nights which you returned. Their silhouettes faded into the darkness of their tent, leaving you alone with bakugou. A grumble in your ear startles you but sighing, you run your finger along the rim of your cup before you drop it into the fire.

Pulling yourself back onto your feet, reaching around you for the pouch attached to your back, you scrounged for a scroll. When you grasped it in your hand you unravelled it reading what was written. The letter, a damning missive, was inked by a remorseless poacher, detailing the atrocities committed in service to his malevolent master, who you assumed to be Dabi.

As you read aloud the ink-stained words, the weight of despair settled upon your heart. The poacher's sinister prose unravelled the tale of his merciless conquest, wherein the innocent villagers were cast as pawns in a gruesome game—all except one who escaped into the fog. Cruel is how you would describe the pleasures derived from the poachers' actions, thanking their dark lord for the freedom to do so.

In a surge of fiery anger, you crumpled the letter and, with a determined hand, cast it into the flames that flickered in the hearth before you. The paper curled and blackened, mirroring the fury that burned within you, vowing to avenge the lives lost and bring justice to those who played with the fates of Takoba and the missing dragons.

Picking up your sword, the blanket slips off your shoulders, revealing your blood-stained clothes. Gripping the handle, you turned to Bakugou, asking an unspoken question as a deafening clap of thunder echoed in the air.

"So what now?" You asked, eyes watching Bakugou's face contort into a serious expression as he tended to his blade. A sudden downpour began, raindrops mixing with the blood on your clothes and the fire hissed. It was as if the heavens themselves wept as it washed your last ounce of compassion.

The air hung heavy with anticipation as the Dragon King paused the rhythmic motion of his sword amidst the rain, his piercing gaze meeting yours in silence. You approached each other, meeting face to face amid the storm and after a pregnant moment, he answered with a resolute edge, devoid of remorse. Your hearts intertwined with the burning desire for retribution.

"We kill them all," The thunder roared in agreement, riling the storm.

—-

👆 I also lost the GIF banner 👆

So yeah....if you can't tell y/n is sort of adopting Bakugou's belligerent personality (sort of)

This will make sense in this part of the story as it progresses.