A New Kingdom to Rule

Crumbling Remains

Bakugou had walked another day and night, searching for his dragon without much luck. His new companion had trailed along behind him, yapping away about everything unrelated to their mission. As annoying as it could be, the distraction was welcomed today. During the entire search, Bakugou had never relaxed his clenched jaw or released his tightened fists, fearing that if he did even for a moment his power would activate, his emotions being the culprit to give him away.

"There's only one place I guess we've not checked yet. Take it we'll go there next?"

Denki questioned as he bit into a green apple that they had been plucked from a nearby tree. Bakugou snatched it from him to pour water from his flask over it. Then returning the apple, he rubbed at his brow as if to massage out a growing headache.

"Don't just eat anything because it's there. At least clean it first you idiot! And yes. The ruins. That's where we go next."

"He really means a lot to you doesn't he?"

"He?"

"Oh I mean the supposed dragon. That's why we are here right? To search for this dragon, we're hunting it?."

"Hm."

Trees overhung the footpath that had been created by repetitive footsteps. Denki stripped off his shirt after finishing the apple, throwing the uneaten parts to the ground with a simple flick over his shoulder. Bakugou rolled his eyes each time, shoving his own fists into his pockets whilst continuing to stomp on a little ahead.

"So have you ever seen one before?"

"What? Dunce face im not paying attention to you right now. We should be focusing."

This time it was Denki who rolled his eyes, scanning the environment for any signs of something to entertain his boredom as clearly this conversation wasn't going to. Observing the atmosphere around he realised how truly bleak this part of town was. Empty dull meadows cushioned the land around him. No birds or animals of any sort made its presence known. The odd misshapen rock separated the meadows from the footpath ahead. Bakugou kicked a few out of his way, furious that they could even try to block his path. Sweat had started to gather in his palms causing him to unintentionally light a small crackle of an explosion, no bigger than a sparkler children would play with in the winter periods.

"Tsk"

Bakugou patted down his right pocket with his hand to put out the little flickers of burnt material. He didn't mean for his emotions to be so visible but too much was on his mind and it regarded his dragon, so already trying to control them would be a loosing battle. This hadn't gone unnoticed by Denki, even if he remained silent about it. Bakugou finished patting out the pocket until all that was left was a burnt hole and a reveal of white to show the shorts he was wearing underneath.
A little while later and they were walking upwards on a rocky path towards the ruins of an abondoned stone castle. Not much was left of the castle now besides a few standing stone pillars and a few dusty rooms blocked off from the sun.
Little could be found in public records about these ruins; rumours said it could have once been Toshinori's previous castle before his major downfall, another rumour said it once was the castle that belonged to Vampires that preyed on villagers that would loose their way and looked for shelter before drinking their bodies dry. Both were false. This castle had previously been destroyed by dragons although who build it was still a mistery. Those not used to the carnage a dragon could bring wouldn't have been able to spot the clues in the ruins - the burnt rubble, the fifteen inch scratches down the stone walls, or the collapsed ceilings.
Speaking of, Bakugou suddenly had taken off towards the ruins leaving Denki behind confused. Not even pausing to inspect the area, reaching the top of the hill in seconds, he bolted over the seven foot drop, using his blasts to propel himself. Landing with a thud before continuing his run into the one room, he kicked down the remains of the wooden door and had his hands smoking with explosives ready to go. Shouting into the emptiness of the room.

"Kirishima!"

Nothing.
There was nothing.
He ran to the next and shouted again.

"Kirishima!"

Gruff words escaped his throat. Anger and frustration leaking out with every syllable. The next he wasted no time in entering. Not even bothering to lift his foot to kick the door down, he simply held up his palm and let the blast do the work for him. Shattered the door clean off the hinges and flying to the other side of the room. Through the smoke Bakugou stepped into the room, head down but eyes forward ready to face the enemy who had dared to steal HIS dragon.

Nothing.

A palpitation caused him to cover his heart with his palm as he scanned the room, being careful not to burn himself. Storming to the other side of the room he continued to search for any clues. Was this worry he could feel or just a newer level of frustration?

Meanwhile Denki had been trying to carefully watch his footing as he began his walk down the drop, using his bum to slid down when it was too steep. In true Denki fashion this failed and instead after two wrong steps he had ended up slipping and rolling the rest of the way down the drop. Fortunately he remained uninjured but the loud bang he heard stopped him from double checking. Sprinting off towards the bang, he continued until he saw smoke a little ahead. Presuming that it was Bakugou he started to run faster in case he needed assistance. That was when he heard it. Bakugou had shouted a name; a name he had heard about before.

"Hey man why'd you run off like that?"

Finally catching up to him and cautiously entering the room Denki approached Bakugou. The collapsed corner of the ceiling gave just enough light to almost act like a spotlight for the middle of the room. Bakugou was stood in the dark on the otherside of this. His palms still illuminating the gentlest of glows whilst his body stood as a mere silhouette in the darkness. Despite the dark, Denki could still make out the red muderous look within his eyes. Bakugou's face was that of a true murderous barbarian now.