"Here's the deal," Bakugou began, holding up his hands with his palms facing her. "I have a power that I was going to use as a distraction… I can make explosions from my hands. I was going to do that pretty far way to make that big fuck and most of the humans go over to it, ride the horse back, and get Red out of the cage before they all return. That's… all I got."

Koge pressed her nose into his palm, sniffing it curiously. With a tender touch, he stroked down the length of her snout, heating up his palms as he had done the night before. Purring softly, Koge thought over his plan, though something just wasn't going to work. A horse just wasn't going to be fast enough to get back to the camp and still have enough time to get Red out of that cage with all those chains. And how was he even going to get all of that out of the way to escape? He had only a sword, and explosions wouldn't do the job because then he would just call attention to himself.

With a snort, Koge gave her head a small shake, disagreeing with his plan. Narrowing his eyes at her, Bakugou gripped the small horn she had at the top of her nose. "No? You don't think it will work? Why? Oh wait, you can't explain that to me because you're in your fucking dragon form. Why don't you change?!"

Hissing at him, Koge shook his hand off of her head, standing up off of him. As she allowed him up, she found a boulder that was resting up against a tree, deciding that it would be a good victim to her demonstration. After making sure she had his attention, she opened her mouth, displaying the sharp teeth and pale purple coloring of her gums. With the sound of a hiss, a sickening yellow-green smoke came from her throat, sprayed towards the boulder before dissipating into the air. Like it was metal cast into a fire, the boulder began to melt, turning into a thick liquid.

When she was done with her display, she looked back at man besides her, clicking in amusement at the surprise on his face. Bakugou crossed his arms over his chest as his brow furrowed in thought, eyes on the boulder. "You can do that to metal? To anything?"

Koge nodded, chirping softly in excitement at his understanding. Instead of walking, she hopped closer to him, stomping her feet into the ground.

"And you're faster than a horse…"

You got it, Katsuki!

"Fine." Bakugou snapped after a moment of silence, taking her snout into his hands again. "But you do everything I say. If I tell you to change, you change. If I tell you to run, you run. You leave me behind if I say so. I am not going to tolerate your stubborn bullshit. Understand me?" With a soft whine, Koge reluctantly agreed, pressing her nose into his cheek again. His hand running down her neck was comforting, but he was quick to leave her, picking up his sword and placing it back on his hip.

"You're barely big enough for me to ride on the ground…" Bakugou spoke softly, though he was more thinking out loud to himself rather than to her directly. "No saddle… Oh well." The thought of having to include her in this was making him sick to his stomach, but he knew that she had been right. He couldn't do this on his own, not with the way that Red was tied down. He needed her power, her speed and her corrosive breath.

Walking up to her, Bakugou ran his hand down the length of her snout, making her purr and nuzzle into him. "Are you ready?"

After a nod from her, he was up on her back, directing her through the woods to execute their plan.

The sound of Bakugou's explosion rattled Koge's mind, making her whine and lower her head, shaking it to try and relieve herself of the ringing in her ears. Holy crap, that's an intense magic! And from a human! He didn't ever tell me about this-

She was pulled from her thoughts by the feeling of his heels in her ribs, spurring her on to start running back to the camp. Although her mind was dizzy from the noise, she did as commanded, sprinting through the forest. She could already hear the loud stomping of her huge kin, his attention pulled to the explosion just as planned. So far, everything was going good, except for the hiss of pain that Bakugou let slip through his lips. "Fuck…"

Though Koge couldn't see him, his voice told her that something was wrong, and she whined in worry. Bakugou shook his head, doing his best to focus on holding onto her, even though the pain shooting up his left arm was agonizing. He hadn't made an explosion that large in quite a while, his body reacting badly to the magic. "Shut up and keep running. Don't worry about me." Damn it, I hope this goes away by the time we get to the camp… I can't even close my hand!

Both of them took a quick glance up as a shadow fell upon them, the large dragon gliding in the air towards the still smouldering trees, set ablaze by Bakugou's trick. "We'll only have about ten minutes…" Bakugou spoke quietly, not wanting to bring attention to them. "When we get into the camp, all the dragons will start to fuss and that will make it worse. We can't hesitate."

Koge gave a soft hum in understanding, stopping at the edge of the forest when they reached it. Many of the dragons in the compound were already upset, pacing and screeching in distress at the explosion. Red was awake, looking in the direction of the explosion intently, obviously recognizing it.

"Call to him." Bakugou spoke to Koge, flexing his hand as he tried to subdue the pain. "I don't want him to be shocked when we show up." With a bob of her head, Koge let out a short, sharp series of clicks, to which Red's attention was instantly drawn. He tried to stand, but was held fast by the chains and leather straps, responding to her with a similar sound.

"Okay, go!"

Koge took off at Bakugou's command, sprinting at full speed. In a graceful display of strength and agility, Koge leaped over the metal bars of the gate that surrounded the dragons cages, landing with only a soft thud beside Red. Bakugou hopped off of Koge instantly, easily slipping through the gaps of the bars and moving to his friend, who was whining and trying to pull himself from his bonds.

"Shh! It's alright, I'm not leaving without you. Calm down." Bakugou hissed in a low whisper, stroking the large dragons cheek to calm him. First, he began work to remove the strap that held Red's mouth closed, knowing they may need his fire. Looking back at Koge, he pointed to the large lock on the front door of the gate. "Melt that." Koge did as instructed, ignoring the cries and whining of the other dragons. Not being able to save them as well broke her heart, but she knew they just didn't have time for it.

When the metal lock fell to the ground, Koge pulled open the door, struggling against the snow to get it as far open as she could so Red could escape. While she focused on that, Bakugou unsnapped the hooks of the leather straps, observing his friends wounds as he did. Gashes along his sides where he was grabbed, bite marks on his neck, and his wings had been broken. "Fucking poachers…" Bakugou cursed to himself, though Koge could hear him as she came around to melt the metal chains.

Between the two of them, the removal of the bonds went by in a flash, and Red took off running the instant he was free. After allowing Bakugou onto her back, Koge followed quickly after, mimicking her kin as he leapt up over the fence. Nearly immediately, they could hear yelling of the humans that were still back at the camp, though the two dragons were quick enough to vanish out of their sight before they could be followed. At first, it seemed to Koge that they may escape without a hitch.

That is, until a loud roar shook the ground, nearly making Koge topple over. Flying towards them was the large enemy dragon, spurred on by the humans on his back. Bakugou cursed, pulling his sword from his hip. "Damn it! Koge, get me on Red, now!" Her entire body coursing with adrenaline, Koge sped up, running along side Red's tail as it moved up and down with his long running strides. Timing it, Bakugou jumped from Koge's shoulders, snatching onto the large scales of his friend and expertly climbing up onto his back.

No longer having to worry about a human falling off of her, Koge turned her head to look at their pursuers, her fear spiking at the rapid rate at which the large dragon was approaching. What could she do? Red couldn't fight, he was barely able to run and it wasn't possible for him to fly. Bakugou had that magic, but that wasn't enough to stop such a large dragon. Koge was sure that the humans also had weapons. So what could she do? What should she do?

"Koge!"

Her attention was pulled to Bakugou as he yelled at her, now at his place on Red's head.

"Leave! Run away into the forest, they can't catch you there!"

Koge cried out in disapproval, though her backlash was instantly silenced by his words.

"You promised me you wouldn't hesitate to leave me! I said do it! Now!" He ducked down to dodge flying arrows, which bounced off of Red's thick scales. Hiding behind Red's large horns, Bakugou kept his glare locked with the halfling below, who continued to cry out and stare back up at him with agonized worry. He couldn't let her get captured, and if he was going to die here, there was no reason for her to join him. Swallowing his pride, he said one more word to her, his voice cracking as he let his emotions break through.

"Please!"

Koge felt as if her heart was being ripped straight from her chest, the intensity of his emotions nearly crippling her. No… No, I'm not going to! Skidding to a stop, Koge turned back to face the larger dragon, who let out a horrifying roar in a challenge to her. Hissing, Koge launched herself from the ground, speeding towards the dragon as she dodged arrows and spears.

His right eye… I need to blind him! With focused agility, Koge was able to make her way around to the side of his head, latching herself to his metal armor. Without thinking of the consequences, Koge quickly used her corrosive breath on the dragons only healthy eye, immediately making him screech and shake his head. With all her strength, Koge kept her grip and continued her power, until the dragon was thrashing in the air. Once satisfied with her work, she released her hold, backing away from the flailing dragon.

Just as she was about to flee, she was hit by an incredible force. The last thing she saw was Red still running in the distance before her entire world went back.