AN: I hope you enjoy so far. I am not doing good with chapter titles and the title of the story itself isn't one of my best ideas either, but well enough. I might change them later though.

The talking ceased from there. Shuichi being grumpy for being called weak in a none too subtle way, and that after the show he pulled off with the demon, and Katsuki not wanting to test his pain endurance more than necessary.

They had met up with another hunting party some time on the way and their comments on Katsuki's newest 'hook up' or rather Katsuki smug answer to said teasing had earned him a slap from Shuichi's flat hand onto the connection of his neck and head, which even though not very powerful had his ears ringing and neck aching for quite some time. He did not wish to test his luck any further least he end up with his ass on the ground as Shuichi had threatened. He bet he could and would dismount Katsuki given the chance. The barbarian decided to wait till the black haired male was a good distance away from him and cooled down before he would continue their interrogation … or his teasing.

It took them a couple more hours to arrive at his tribe's winter quarters because of the snow and the harsh terrain it left, the sun was beginning to set and Katsuki heaved a sigh as he saw the strong wooden walls rise before them.

They rode through the gate and his sigh turned into a scowl as his mother awaited him with her 'what the hell have you done now' look plastered to her face. He had send two of his riders to the clan in advance to inform them about their guest that day and clearly his mother disliked his decision to take up strangers. Or it was something else that ran through her head as she looked him over as he dismounted after Shuichi had slid down from under his cloak, now bare foot again and with a slight shiver as the cold caught him off guard.

It had been really warm underneath that cloak and more comfortable than he would let on. Besides the need to cling to the naked torso before him with the way the horse more staggered than walked along the road. He was sure Bakugo had made his horse stumble on purpose more than once. But now the dread of his current situation came rushing back to him as he watched the many barbarians move around camp and one female, the splitting image of the one male he shared the mount with, giving him a careful look over. Shuichi knew very well who she was and that he did not want to be on her bad side, which might be a tad bit too late by now.

"How can it be that I have been raising such an utterly useless weakling as you."

It was put as a statement, not a question and Katsuki spluttered at her words while the men around him snickered, save from a confused looking Shuichi. Katsuki made to bite back with a snarky remark, but his mother was faster smacking him across the head.

"The hell!"

"Shut it. You took a week dozing around just because of a little bit of snow and had that demon escape and none the less attack travelers. It is pure luck that it attacked someone as fast witted as our guest, who brought it down with nothing but a stone and a piece of clothing were as you and seven of our best men couldn't even find it! Did you slack off in training or is there some other problem that is having your head in the clouds."

Katsuki's head was beat red as he threw some insults at his mother, who returned them equally. Shuichi would have loved to watch with more eagerness, but he was preoccupied by the whispers being sent his way since the rest of the tribe near them had heard their leader pronounce that he had killed the demon, brought in on an improvised sled, nearly bare handed. Shuichi couldn't stand getting such attention from a large group of muscled barbarians and had kneeled down to hide his red face in one of his dogs furs.

"You really killed that thing with a stone?"

Shuichi looked up into red eyes again, but they were by far softer than Katsuki's and held a lot more joy within them. He wanted to object, say that he had help from his dogs and a good portion of luck. But the big redhead was walking right through his pack of dogs and leaning down to him not seeming to think for one moment that they might object to a stranger being this close to their leader. With the 'happy go lucky' vibe he radiated it was hard to be angry, which was his luck since his four legged companions tended to be over protective. Only Moro growled a little because she had to move out of the way.

"I am Kirishima Eijiro by the way!"

Eijiro said it with a big smile while extending a hand. Shuichi took it and twitched at the far to firm pressure on his hand, but didn't complain otherwise as he was pulled to his feet. Apparently forgetting about his question from earlier Kirishima made it his duty to introduce Shuichi to the people of the tribe, leading him around with a now grumbling pack on their heels. Shuichi could remember the names of some of the people that rode with them, like Hanta Sero, Ashido Mina and Kaminari Denki, but he forgot most of the ones Eijiro was introducing him to right away. Not that he planned on staying anyway so there was no reason for him to remember them.

While Eijiro lead him around the camp he didn't seem to take notice of his guests barefooted and shivering state. Shuichi would have loved to keep his backpack and other belongings close to him but he was simply swept away by this happy go lucky barbarian. Luckily Moro wasn't with the rest of the pack and she was sure to have an eye on his things. It was only when Katsuki walked up to them and wacked Kirishima over the head scolding that he took notice of the sorry state their guest was in.

"I am so sorry Shuichi, I should have notice sooner. Please forgive me."

He said it with big teary eyes and another whack on the head stopped his rambling.

"Quit it already and get your work done before the evening meal. And you will come with me."

Katsuki grabbed Shuichi rather harshly by the arm and had to avoid a well aimed bite to his leg from Amaroqu. He cursed as he pushed the dog away and Shuichi whistled him off, thought for a moment he considered letting the barbarian get bitten. Katsuki was growling at the dog and the dogs were growling back but he had loosened his grip on Shuichi's arm, still walking and sort of dragging him as if the dog never tried to jump him.

"Keep your mutts at bay or they will sleep outside the wall. I could also decide to get myself a new pelt if they try to bite me again, understood."

He didn't wait for a reply as he pushed Shuichi through the flap of a round tent, made of thick leather and furs as all the tents around, and closed it after practically kicking the dogs back out. They didn't try to bite him again though, even without Shuichi giving them an order.

The tent was by far warmer then the outside, with a fire burning in the middle beneath the opening on the ceiling. Some wooden boxes and wooden logs as table and chairs stood at the front left and right. At the back was a big sized bed made up of straw and fur on the left and a big wooden tube filled with warm, steaming water on the right. There were other things decorating the tent, necessary things as well as kinky stuff and weapons.

"This is my tent and you will stay here for the night, the dogs stay outside. Hurry up and wash yourself, there are some spare clothes you can wear. You can wash and dry out yours tomorrow since it's too dark for that now."

It meant he had to stay at least for another day and night for his clothes would probably not be dry till nightfall the next day. Unless he hung them above a fire and he did not want to do that, smelling of smoke would make it much harder to hide from the mountain creatures.

Shuichi saw his backpack and other belongings at the far wall of the tent. He sighed in relief, but searched around for Moro who he had thought would keep an eye to his things. He suppressed a shudder as he found her. She was lying comfortably on Bakugo's bed, on her back, paws stretched into the air and tongue hanging out.

Bakugo followed Shuichi's line of sight and growled. He stared right at the wolf telling it with his glare to get off his fucking bed while the wolf stared right back at him telling him to make her go. And the hell would he let her win. He stomped over the bed and grabbed her, not by the fur of her neck as Shuichi had thought. He just scooped her whole body up one armed in a death grip and avoiding a bite to his face by turning her away from him. She did however bit down on the arm not holding her down as it tried to grab for her snout.

Bakugo was fine with that, thinking that the old dog would need at least some sort of victory over him if she was to stay away from the bed and out of his tent. And just like that, with his right, now bleeding forearm clamped between her surprisingly sharp fangs he carried her to the flap and threw her out. She was nice enough to loosen her bite as to not rip his arm to pieces as she was sent flying, less rough as it looked and being able to land on all fours without trouble.

"And stay the hell outside!"

Bakugo turned to Shuichi again, shaking the blood from his arm and pointing to the steaming tube. Only now did Shuichi notice his slightly wet hair, he must have taken a bath before him.

"Now hurry up and take a bath, you're dirty. Evening meal should start soon."

And with that he left him alone in the big tent.

Shuichi only took a moment to consider his chances again before stripping and sinking into the steaming tub with a sigh. He was at a check mate. This was the last place he currently wanted to be, not that he feared his own life, but being so close to dragon slayers had him unsettled. He hadn't met many barbarians in his life, being able to avoid them while roaming the landscape. But he heard stories about the barbarian's rough way of living and temper. They were probably exaggerated to some degree but it would be wise to stay on their good side. Or at least try to do so, he wasn't very good at pretending though.

The red headed Kirishima might be easy to handle with his good hearted nature, he never though he would find a person like him between gruff mountain dwellers and bounty hunters. The young soon-to-be leader, yes they had heard about that down in Windfall, was another number.

He had shown spikes of his temper, but not as bad as Shuichi had thought. What unsettled him more than that were the knowing look in his eyes and sinister grin showing outright that he didn't believe shit about Shuichi being a lost village boy on his hunt for game. Well shit, it wasn't a complete lie but also not the whole truth.

Question now was how much he had to pay for the stunt. Might have been better off to give his fee to them right away … and go back empty handed. He probably would be alone in the night now with nothing but his hounds trying to dry his wet clothing and huddling near a small fire. Not sitting in a steaming warm tub to wash five weeks of grime from his skin, though the water was getting cold. He could also smell the cooking food, which was probably done by now.

Well, it couldn't be helped and he wouldn't be pleading to them if that's what they hoped for. He had his pride and knew how to stand up to it, disregarding his danger sense more than once. If he had learned one thing about tribes, may it be the ones in the southern hills and deserts or those in the northern mountains, it was that they disliked whiny beggars more than the people standing tall to their doings.

Grumbling he left the tube and rubbed himself dry with his old clothing before inspecting the spare ones laid out besides the tube. They were small enough to fit his frame, not that he was short mind, but his build wasn't exactly like that of the bulky hunters. Their clothes would hang around him like sand bags. He did see some less muscled males run around camp, the clothes must belong to one of them or to some of the female barbarians. There were some pretty muscled woman around, but most looked as slender as himself.

"Are you done inspecting, pearl? Food is ready, thought I told you to hurry it up."

Shuichi twitched and refrained from the urge to hide his naked body from the blazing gaze of the smugly grinning blond as he mustered him up and down. Besides the obvious scratches and bruises from the demon encounter, Bakugo couldn't keep himself from thinking how pretty Shuichi was. Feeling the gaze not leaving his body for even one moment, Shuichi pulled the clothes over himself trying not to look too hurried and still avoid any painful movements. There were even small boots, just right to fit him and a thinner fur cloak. Judging that they would sit around a fire there probably wasn't a reason to don heavier clothing.

Being done he simply stepped past the taller male who didn't move from his spot by the flap making Shuichi need to practically wind around him, still with the grin on his face. The younger male didn't dare look up into his eyes, knowing the wanting gaze he would find and planned on ignoring. Being outside Shuichi calmed his wolf hounds which were upset about his long absence, though it wasn't really long. They just didn't like being caged inside this wooden prison, just as much as him.

Bakugo led Shuichi towards one of the bigger fires having him sit next to him, luckily with a grinning Kirishima on his other side. It made him loose up a little just as the feeling of his dogs lying down behind his back had. Katsuki's mother, Bakugo Mitsuki and official tribe leader, as well as his father, Bakugo Masaru, were sitting on Katsuki's right while Shuichi and Kirishima were sitting left. Nearly the whole clan was gathered at the open space with the big fire in its middle and some smaller ones around it, save from the guards and cooks.

The people were sitting on logs around the fires or in clusters of smaller groups. The cooking fires and big pots surrounded by tables for chopping meat and the like were sat to the right. From there some of the barbarians, woman and men, started filling plain wooden bowls with the still simmering stew and meat, from the smell Shuichi could tell that it must be deer.

The bowls were handed out to those sitting around the largest fire, including Shuichi, while the rest of the tribe simply helped themselves to their share. A snap from Mitsuki's fingers got one of the cooks sauntering over with a hand full of meaty bones. A low whine from his back got Shuichi to look down into five pairs of 'puppy' eyes. Not that he had once thought his grim pack mates were able to bring that look, but he had seen it on different occasions before.

Refraining from a snort, especially since his mouth was currently full with stew, he gave a quiet nod of the head and in the same moment had to grab onto Blues thick neck fur to keep her from tackling the poor female cook to the ground. Katsuki had grabbed his wooden bowl from his hands just in case and Eijiro his shoulders to keep him from being pulled completely off the log, not bothering to down his laughter as Shuichi hung onto his frantic dog now with both hands.

It took but seconds for Amaroqu and Yashka to advance on their rude daughter which seemed to have forgotten her rank trying to grab a bone before them. Shuichi didn't let go as they put her in her place with more noise than actual bites and he still held on to her as the cook, now with a vary look, gave her the last bone after having served the other, more polite dogs. With eyes cast down, tail between her legs and ears pressed flat to her head she took the bone, a look of pure misery and slunk away into the dark to eat a good distance from the others. It was only some moments later as they could see her tail happily beating the ground earning another round of laughter.

Katsuki gave Shuichi his bowl and cutlery back and the clan resumed to their meal. They didn't speak much as of yet, everyone being hungry and not wanting their food to get cold while they wasted their breath talking. Shuichi enjoyed the food, it was well seasoned. He was a decent cook himself and managed more than just some fish or game roasted on sticks, as did most of his friends, when out in the wild. But the stew, especially with the fresh bread, beat everything he had managed so far.

As soon as everyone was done with their meal and had their cup of dark brown ale, which Shuichi tried to decline failing miserably, the attention was brought back to the guest among them and his reason for staying.

"I only had a short summary as to why you ended up riding huddled beneath my son's cloak."

That earned him some chuckles, more so as Shuichi wasn't afraid to outright glare at the woman for her implications. His ears only tainted the faintest hue of red just as much as Katsuki's, who didn't even bother looking at his mother and simply took another swig from his mug. It was his second already so any coloring to his face could be faulted to the ale anyway. Mitsuki didn't even twitch, her grin never faltering.

"How about you tell us why there was a demon hot on your tail and how you got the idea fighting back instead of trying to outrun it."

Shuichi took a sip of the too strong ale making a face, he never liked to drink. How much could he tell them without seeming to lie and making a nice story of it?

"Well, as I already told your son I was up in the mountains … hunting for game, I again apologize for my confusion of the territories, I really did believe I was still in the king's forest not being used to the landscape. I had no luck so far catching anything anyway and thought I would move towards the mountains just a bit further before giving up."

"I climbed up this one narrow, stony valley to reach the forest on the other side, hoping for more chances. And you see there was this one cave up at the steep cliff. The entrance was slim but it went pretty deep down and it didn't look occupied with the snow in front of it. My pack was already further up the valley so I thought they would have noticed if anything was in there. Just to make sure and thinking they might have overlooked some bear having taken shelter inside, I climbed up and threw a stone down, pretty hard if I remember."

"Looks like the cave wasn't as deep as it seemed and my stone hit the, probably sleeping till that moment, creature with enough force to anger it. It jumped out making me stumble and roll down the hill, losing my backpack and anything else I had on me. I would have been stupid to try climb back up to get my weapons, cause this was where the demon was, so I turned tail and sprinted into the thick brush of the forest below. It was probably more in the way of falling down the hill than running but I managed to bring some distance, and some trees, between me and the thing."

"I knew about the creek further below and wanted to climb down the vertical wall and stay in there where the demon couldn't reach me till my dogs would have chased him off, or gotten my weapons whatever came faster. It worked out quite well at the beginning, since I didn't fell down and the creature couldn't reach me. But I hadn't thought the demon being stupid enough to actually fall down the cliff, less that it would hit me with its tail making me loose balance."

"The deeper part of the river bed as well as me not missing the jump to it was pure luck, still I already saw myself face to face with the ugly beast after resurfacing. I was lucky again, besides the cold water, that my pack had arrived just this moment managing to distract it and even more lucky as I saw your son and his men at the other side of the creek. I didn't notice them before being, well … occupied."

"I swam towards them sort of in hope and it was then that I realized they were up on the cliff with its nearly smooth and steep surface and I was down below with no chance to climb up fast enough. My hope got even more crushed in seeing that their arrows did nothing more but to anger the demon, which was approaching to me again besides my packs efforts to bloody its hide. I also realized that your son and his two companions, who were trying to reach the mouth of the creek where they could get into the river bed, would never reach me in time, so I was on my own again."

"Thinking fast I did the only thing that came to mind and made a makeshift sling from my wet scarf, throwing off my fur cloak besides the cold so I could move more freely, it was soaked anyway. I grabbed the first stone I could find and slung it at the creature as fast as I could which was stupid since it only angered the thing more as I smashed its nose. It was already too close to try and run. I took more time to select another stone and swing it right on my last chance."

"I am pretty good with the sling and bow for example and that hit, even with the makeshift weapon, should have had enough force to bring down a raging boar but it only dented its nose. Not being able to gather more strength to the hit and shrinking from the thought of having to use my short knife the moment it would dig its claws and teeth into my body I took the only possibility left: smashing the stone right inside its mouth the moment it tried to jump me and hopefully buying myself some time."

"I never once believed it would actually work and the stone blocking its windpipe, but what other chances did I have? After recovering from my rough fall to the ground I had only one thought in my mind: don't let that thing get back up and spit out my well placed stone. So I dove at its head, used my scarf to close its muzzle and tried holding it down while my pack had their weight on its free arm, the other luckily caught beneath its body and his behind still in the deeper waters were it couldn't get a good grip."

"I was scared witless being so close and the way it trashed it could have thrown me down any moment. I was frantically hoping your son and his men would arrive soon and kill the thing but they only stood back and watched me struggle till it had suffocated. And that's how I ended up here."

Katsuki choked on the ale at the accusation. Shuichi made it sound as if taking him to the tribe was a way of apologizing for not helping instead of how it really was. He glared at the grinning black haired while the clan was still chuckling or outright laughing at the story. He had told it like a professional story teller.

Mitsuki had just raised an eyebrow at her son after the story was told. Some of the tribe, mainly Kirishima, stormed Shuichi with questions for details of the encounter or about his life at Windfall. The young man answered them as truthfully as he dared without giving away too much information and instead amusing them with stories of the village live and its perils. Mainly funny stories of drunkards, men cheating on their wives and children pranks to keep the people occupied. And he was good at teasing too, getting the clan to tell their own funny stories about the life in the mountains.

Bakugo wasn't amused about all of them, mainly those revolving around his temper and 'bad hearing ability' as his mother called it, but he wouldn't stop them. He wanted Shuichi to feel at ease and get him drunk, though the latter was hard since the man was still on his first mug of ale and the night already far ahead that most of his clan had returned to their tents. But it wasn't the right time yet.

Suddenly much too close howling tore through the cold mountain air and had everyone clearly drunk just moments ago sit up straight with clear eyes as if they had never touched any booze. Most of them looked confused, including Bakugo, as his mother only chuckled deeply while Shuichi, now surrounded by a furry of whining and squealing dogs was grinning devilishly.

Without a second though he stood up and raised his cupped hands around his mouth starting to howl a greeting to his brothers and sister within the mountains, his pack following suit only seconds later. What surprised the men even more was as their female leader stood up to join them. Grinning Bakugo wanted to stand up too and let loose a howl of his own but his father and Kirishima pushed him back down shaking their heads. It didn't take long for their howls to subside as they listened to the wolves answering them. Whatever their answer, it had Shuichi's dogs increase their whining and trying to pull him towards the gate nearly making him fall to the ground, but he shook them of.

"Oi, open up the gate for the dogs so they can have a night of fun."

Mitsuki had sat back down after her order and watched Shuichi sending his giddy dogs through the open gate, after convincing them that he would not be joining them tonight. As he sat back down and after the gate was closed again, she smacked her son lightly over the head.

"The hell you witch!"

She smacked him again.

"You reckless son of a bitch!"

Mitsuki didn't seem to care that she just insulted herself.

"What the hell were you trying to do? Did you want to insult the wolves with your poor knowledge of wolf songs? Probably threatening to take their territory instead of giving a nice greeting with your inexperience. Don't howl with wolves, especially dire wolves, unless you know what your howling to them. Stupid brat."

Bakugo rubbed the slightly sore spot on his head but kept from growling too loud.

"How should I know that they had actual songs for this stuff, you never told me that there are nor taught me how to howl in the right way."

"And I won't till I deem you ready. You could ask your father too since he knows the songs as well as I. By the way that was a beautiful pronunciation you have Shuichi. Where did you learn them?"

Shuichi shyly rubbed the back of his head with all eyes set on him. Kirishima's were still a little uneasy as the howling seemed to have spooked him.

"Moro taught me and I didn't even notice till the first time I sang with them out in the wild. I just did it for fun at first to scare the village kids away from our fields, but Moro insisted on getting me out of bed every full moon so I would howl with her. I didn't object thinking she might miss doing this with a real pack and wanting her to still feel comfortable to stay with me. I had scratches on my wrist every morning to come from her pawing me any time I got the howl wrong."

Mitsuki was grinning.

"I was taught by my late grandmother and she used to hit my backside with the flat of her sword any time I made a mistake. I learned pretty fast then."

The people around them chuckled.

"Now tell the curious people, what were the wolves singing about? I bet you guys want to know right?"

Shuichi looked at her warily and asked if she had her sword with her, earning another round of laughter before he answered.

"It was pretty simple. They only gave a greeting and asked if we wanted to take their territory. We answered with our own greeting and told them we would heed to their judgement and had no intention of a confrontation. And that we would leave again soon. They seemed to like the answer and gave an invitation of hunting together, which had my pack excited. They have probably already met up and are out hunting after defining their ranks."

Bakugo raised a brow at that.

"Aren't you scared for your dogs? If the hag was right these have been dire wolves, more than twice as big as yours and vicious. They could easily kill them for entering their territory without permission. Not to mention that yours are only wolf-breeds and no pure blooded wolves."

It was Mitsuki who answered while smacking his head again.

"Wolves don't lie in their songs. They said they wanted to hunt together and they will keep to it unless the dogs proof rude. Then they would be chased off, nothing more nothing less. Besides, unlike humans the wolves have no use for terms like 'pure breed' or 'bastard'. The wolf hounds are just as much kin to them as other wolves or normal farm dogs. They may smell different but they are still able to acknowledge them as kin, unlike most humans would do."

"Whoa, that's pretty far sighted of them. I like it."

Kirishima from Shuichi's left side had butted into the conversation with a big grin, the spooky atmosphere of the howling wolves now gone. Even though still being insecure about the whole situation, Shuichi had warmed up not only to Eijiro but also to Mitsuki, liking her forward personality. But the moment only lasted so long as a certain barbarian's heavy left arm draped over his shoulders. Apparently Bakugo was sick of waiting to spill the beans. His grin had Shuichi suppressing his reflex to hit him at an inconvenient point, though the idea was alluring.

"So pearl, times up. We had enough fun for today."

His big right hand had reached around to play with the black opal earing in Shuichi's left earlobe, effectively trapping him between his arms and making him twitch, Bakugo's grin turned into a knowing smirk. Mitsuki seemed to have caught on fast but only leaned back with arms crossed and a frown on her face. She would see how her son handled the situation first. The way her son turned the gem this way and that way made her see the deep purple and blue colors of it and wanting to touch it herself.

"This is one hell of a pretty thing and a tad bit expensive for a village boy working this and that. How did you achieve it?"

Shuichi tried to wiggle out of the others grip but it was no use. Bakugo wanted to use the chance with the dogs finally out of the way. He was close enough for Shuichi to feel the heat radiating from his body, face barely inches away. He wanted to turn his face away but found he couldn't, Katsuki's hand having a firm grip on his chin while he continued inspecting the opal.

"Ah well, that. It's just a piece of heirloom the late smiths wife wanted me to have once I came of age. I really treasure her kindness towards me and it is the only thing left I got from her, it has more of an emotional value to me. I carry it with me all the time now even though it may attract thieves and the like with false hope of a big catch."

He gave Bakugo a pointed look while chattering, which didn't have his grin falter in the slightest at the straight out lie. Kirishima looked between them with concern in his eyes, still not having caught on. Meanwhile Bakugo's gaze drifted down towards Shuichi's chest, past the string of moonstones, where he knew the little black pouch was hidden beneath the clothes folds. He was exited to know about its contents and let his hand slide down lower, wondering a little when Shuichi had replaced the sunstones by moonstones, while brushing his fingertips over the others skin.

"And what about this?"

His hand was roughly halted before he could get a grab on the bag, but not before pulling it out from beneath Shuichi's shirt by its strings. The angry glare he received was more than he had put past the smaller male. He did not let go of him though.

"I know it isn't in your culture to carry spirit-bags, but my mother was from the south and gave one to me before leaving. Keep your hands of it."

Bakugo frowned. He knew about spirit bags being used throughout the southern hill and desert tribes to carry little trinkets the owner had good or bad memories with and from important points of their live. It was to make their passage into the other life easier as the spirits would recognize them easily by its contents, providing a safe passing even without any rituals being held, like when they died far away from home. Some of the northern tribes had taken up on the custom too. He also knew about the supposed death that anyone who opened a spirit bag without the owner's consent had to fear, if the spirits were offended by it.

He just hadn't expected the little pouch to be such a bag and even if he couldn't feel any lies in what Shuichi told him, something seemed off. The bag wasn't worn enough to have been carried around for nearly two decades, but he didn't get the chance to interrogate any further.

"Bakugo don't! Your being rude trying to open the bag, it will only bring bad luck."

Kirishima, being naturally scared of anything too mysterious in complete contrast to his lineage, frantically tried pushing the older blond away from Shuichi. Bakugo only 'tsked' but let go as he felt his mother pull him back by the scrape of his neck.

He wanted to say something else, not about to let Shuichi off the hook this easy, but a high, nearly purring sound from the sky had everyone look up with wide eyes.

A pair of beautiful celestials was souring through the sky, leaving a colorful resemblance of the northern lights in their wake.

Celestials were rather small dragons, most never growing past the length of three humans. They had no wings and minimal squamation. Most of their elongated body was soft skin and fur but for patches of scales along their back, tail and head. Their elongated snouts and graceful bodies would dive through the air as if it was water. It was magic keeping them afloat. Their horns were spiraled and a fine silvery white in color as were their talons and fangs. Their skin would mostly sparkle like a pale blue moon with daggers and veils of diffenent colors racing above it, same as the polar lights their magic was creating.

Normally the stayed even further north, way past those dragons territories at the other side of the northern mountains which the barbarian clans were roaming. His mother told him about their life as she was told by her great grandparents.

They would eat anything from plant to fish and meat but they preferred to dive beneath the thick ice shields of the northernmost waters to hunt unknown sea creatures. They could hold their breath for days and melt ice meters thick even from below the waters. Only for breeding would they search for any near extinct or still raging volcanoes, to lay their eggs within the warm black ashes where the light of the moon and sun could reach them. The young hatchlings would be as black as their surroundings and change their coloring later.

And now the divine beings were dancing above their heads. It was breathtaking seeing them move as the polar lights danced around them. His mother had told him she saw a thunder of them only once, as they still travelled farther into the dragon's lands. They had stopped their all-out travelling through dragon territory as ordered by the king. The man couldn't stand them being able to pass through lands he could never even hope to possess, so he forbade it. Although they still would travel through it for weeks a year.

Katsuki would always hold this moment close as he had never thought he would see one even once in his live, least two of them dancing and singing above their camp. Though he had to wonder what brought them this far south and the moment was gone far too soon.

"Beautiful. Aren't you going to hunt them?"

It was Masaru giving an angry snort at Shuichi's comment, much to the surprise of his wife since he was normally a quiet and collected person. In contrast to her own personality.

"No tribe's people with clear mind would go after a celestial. It is bad luck for humans to kill something this divine just as much as it is with unicorns."

Shuichi gave a pointed look.

"But there are tons of unicorn products out in the black market, just because it's supposed to be bad luck doesn't keep humans from trying to make a fortune of it before their death. Where there's a demand there's an offer. And you guys are dragon slayers or not? No offence meant I am just curious."

Mitsuki answered this time.

"We may be as barbarian as can be, but it is exactly why we don't fool around with the spirits. The kings people may have forgotten the power any spirit can possess, but we are much too dependent on their well-wishing up so far north and close to the untamed lands. We hunt what we need to life and defend the land from upcoming evil, nothing more nothing less. We can walk past any dragons on our way, if there is no current need to bring them down."

The look on her face changed to one of disgust.

"And I would never stand up for anyone hunting after things as harmless, beautiful and pure as unicorns, celestial or snow fairies, just because they think it's fun and gives them money. My late great grandparents had told me stories they had from their grandparents and so forth about times were one was able to walk straight up to a unicorn and admire its beauty as they did not fear us back then. Same for the celestials and others, but that was a long time ago. Now they flee as soon as they see a human up to close, safe from the few times they honest your pure heart or something along the line."

Now her eyes as well as her husband's held a longing gleam as they looked up to the yet light ridden skies even after the celestials were long gone. Many others were still watching the lights dance above their heads as well. He bet those people that had gone to bed early would be cursing in the morning.

"This was a rare moment of joy and we should treasure it."

Bakugo cleared his throat, but Shuichi had seen the same amount of fascination in his eyes as well as any other. The moment was gone as his blue ones met with the red eyes of his 'captor' again and they suddenly remember why he had been taken to the clan in the first place. The grin was back on the barbarians face as Shuichi tried to hide behind his mug.

"As pretty as things go, I think our conversation wasn't quite over yet … gem hunter."

Shuichi spluttered on his ale and knew immediately he had fucked up as he could tell by the grins Mitsuki and now even Masaru were giving him. He could practically feel the realization dawn onto the rest of the tribe present and a side glance to his right told him even the scatterbrain Eijiro had caught on. The heavy arm of Bakugo was back around his shoulders and Shuichi gave in with a sigh, knocking back his leftover ale.

"How much of a fee do I have to pay to get your breath of my neck?"

Katsuki made to answer but a pointed finger to his face made him halt, as well as the grin Shuichi was giving him.

"Mind, don't forget the demon I already gave to you and that it's custom to house your 'employees' for free during 'negotiations'."

Bakugo gave him a look stating clearly that he was in no position to demand anything, as he was practically caught stealing from their land, since he neither informed them nor bargained the high of the fee, before going gem hunting or hunting at all. But he liked his spirits and would let him of the hook easy. This time only. The appearance of the celestials had him in a good mood today.

"Fine, I will see the demon as compensation for you trying to steal from us, but I won't forget it so you better behave now."

He patted the smaller male's cheek and took another look at the earring before taking it off to slight protest. He gave it a kiss and let it slide into his pants pocket. He decided to leave the string of moonstones where it was, it wasn't as valuable as the black opal.

"Don't worry, I will only take it as reinsurance so you will come back after you are done with your hunting. You did intend to continue searching, didn't you?"

A red faced look to the side was all he needed to know the answer. He gained the others attention back by tapping his chest right were the supposed spirit-bag was seated, ignoring the death glare.

"I won't ask you to show me the contents of this pouch, least anger any spirits nearby by forcing you. But I will ask you this and answer truthfully: are there any gems or other valuables inside that I should know of?"

Shuichi's shoulders sagged a little with relieve and he looked Katsuki straight into the eyes this time.

"No, there are no gems or the like in it that I stole from you."

Satisfied with the answer, Katsuki backed up and patted Shuichi's shoulder.

"There, not as bad as you thought it would be. And now spill, I know you have a second little pouch on you don't you. A bigger one."

Shuichi looked at the outstretched hand with reproach and pulled out another black leather pouch he had kept bound beneath his shirt. Katsuki didn't even remember when Shuichi did that, he had watched him dress after all. But he had felt it as the younger pushed past him through the tents flap. It was four times as big as the pouch around his neck, but Katsuki didn't seem satisfied with its weight as it was handed to him. He gave a glare at Shuichi who only glared back. He did not have much luck this season nor the time, which is why he was still out so late in the year.

The barbarian seemed to understand though that Shuichi wasn't withholding anymore, with a sigh of his own he released the younger and opened the pouch. In it was a handful of smaller leather and woolen pouches and even a small satin lined wooden box, but they were mostly empty. He found some mid quality garnets in one pouch, some leaves of silver in the other and to his delight a handful of clear blue aquamarine.

He admired them in the light provided by the fire, his parents as well as some of the others had come over too. In the last pouch he checked was a small geode filled with mix of tiny amethyst crystals as well as milky mountain crystals. Pretty but not worth by much, the aquamarines were the best so far being of good quality. He turned back to Shuichi.

"Now, this is how it will go. You must be either greedy or desperate to be still out in the mountains, I guess the second one. I like capable men at my service and want you to continue with your work and keep the good relationship between us, not get you into poverty or whatever awaits you if you don't bring back enough loot with you."

He gave a small smile to the fidgeting man.

"You will be allowed to hunt for valuables within our terrain, but I want to see what you found before you go back to selling it and I want to be informed before you go hunting, not necessarily personal. I am sure your dogs will be able to find us anytime you want and deliver the message. The height of the fee will change depending on what you found and how much money you can gamble from it. The weather or others may have an influence in the fee as well so I advise you to have a good story ready if you want it lower. I don't need you to pay the fee right away as you leave with the gems. But as soon as you sold the load you will report back to us and I want to see the accounts proving the money you made from it. I might pay you a visit if you take too long for the selling. No trying to trick me there or you will have me asking around and breathing down your neck again. Do we have a deal?"

Even though begrudgingly Shuichi nodded and they shook hands. Bakugo put the gems back into the pouches and kept them, only giving Shuichi back the empty ones. Shuichi didn't object this time, not that he could, but the gems were safer here. Least he tumbled down another hill and broke them to pieces.

"You will get one of our special tribe signs to prove to other clans that you are actually having a deal with us. You might get into more trouble otherwise and it will be useful if you need their help. I can also give you one or two of my people to guard you on your hunt, don't want you attacked and eaten by demons."

This however Shuichi could and would decline. No gem hunter still sane gave away their secret hunting sides unless it was to their successors.

"No thank you, I am perfectly fine on my own. They wouldn't be able to keep up with me anyway."

Having nothing to discuss further and with it already being way past midnight they separated to catch some sleep before dawn. It was only now that Shuichi realized that he had to share the tent with Bakugo. He did try to hook up with Kirishima, but that was before his revealing of being a gem hunter and having practically tried stealing from them, which Kirishima seemed to have taken to heart. Bakugo had noticed.

"Don't worry about it pearl, that shitty-haired good for nothing will have forgotten why he was angry at you at all by tomorrow. You can try again, since you will be staying a second night for your clothes to dry completely. Not that he is the best choice anyway, there are better ones."

He gave him a wink and laughed as Shuichi simply flipped him off. Shuichi wanted nothing but to lie down in his sleeping bag and nurse the slight headache he had from drinking the ale, but upon entering the tent he realized his bag was gone. He was sure he had it rolled out just across the room from Bakugo's bed but it wasn't there.

During his rapid thinking he was grabbed none too kindly having no time to react before his ass landed on the barbarians bed. Bakugo threw a spare woolen blanket towards him which he caught easily, still a bit stunned at the sudden action.

"I had your sleeping bag washed and hung out to dry, it was damp anyway and reeked of wolf. No way would I sleep with that in my tent. But you may share my bed."

He was outright grinning at the dumbfounded younger. Having dimmed the fire and undressed down to his loincloth Katsuki lay down on the bed besides him, watching expectant. Shuichi couldn't hide his red face even with the dim light and it made the barbarians grin even wider. He watched Shuichi strip down to his loincloth too, sadly he put a light shirt on his body after but it didn't hide his attractive figure.

In Katsuki's eyes he was not only good looking but also sharp enough to give him counter, albeit worth to fuck. The blond male had no preferences to the gender as long as they appealed to him, though he mostly slept with other males. He would never forcefully push himself on someone, but he might as well go with some teasing. At least before being told to fuck off. He wouldn't mind, but he did not believe that Shuichi would take him up on the offer right away if he had his measure right. But it was worth trying again in the future. Giving chase was always more fun than any easy catches.

And he was right. Shuichi wasn't seething with rage at the blunt man, but it was close. He did have his experiences with other man sexually, preferring them to woman. That didn't mean he would let himself get laid this fast by some smug barbarian, however good looking he may be. Right, truth to be told he was sexy as shit and he would love to have the fun. But he would not go along like some naïve village girl, it would only bit him back in the morning and he was still pissed at having to pay the fee. And at being caught first of all.

No, Katsuki would regret playing him like this. Grumbling silently to himself, Shuichi lay down as far as possible from the blond haired muscle god, facing away and pulling the blanket around him tight. He could hear the barbarian chuckle darkly but the man made no further advances. After some time and listening to the others even breathing Shuichi relaxed and gave in to sleep.