A/N: I've been thinking about this AU for a very long time. This takes place at any time during the plot (after joining the guild but before graduation) and has some pretty big spoilers if you haven't finished the game, though it's a little vague and a little different. I think about what the MC in explorers of time/darkness/sky does and doesn't remember all the time honestly and although I know it probably would've been kind of boring to implement, I wish they'd done more concerning memories. For example, the MC had never seen the sun, or the color of the trees, or the beach before, right? I kind of wish that had shown in the dialogue some days, but alas.
I think I'll call this au Heroes of Time.
(Disclaimer: I own neither franchise and would Absolutely Not Be Dying via university right now if I did)
His eyes open to a grey sky and darkness.
It's familiar like the back of his paw, he knows, but somehow it's the most alien thing he's ever seen. A thought swishes through the fog in his head - bright pearls in the sky, white and glittering and beautiful - before slipping out completely, and the riolu blinks. What was I thinking about, again?
There's a greeting above him, rumbling and warm. A figure, scooping him up with a laugh and a grin and an aura that feels like home. He wants to know if Izuku is ready to go, because who knows where the others are, and they've got a lot of ground to cover if they want to make it.
Izuku yips in answer, jumping down, tugging on the clothes of his much taller friend (partner, best friend, savior, hero, so much bigger and so much faster and so much stronger but will never abandon me). He only laughs again, ushers him deeper between the stone trees and dead grass and floating rocks.
He can't remember where they're going but he knows it's important, so Izuku puts the memory of what his friend told him aside and bounds forward.
(he forgets the texture of clothing that never touched his paws, the words he never heard come out of his partner's mouth, the warmth of arms curled around him in the pastfuturepastatimebeforenowbutwhenwas-)
Bursts of color before his eyes chase the fogged thoughts away. It's pink and blue and purple, a beautiful Pokemon hovering in the dead hollow space that had been empty moments before. They've gotten further through the woods than he realized.
"There you are," she says, gossamer wings sending her flipping and twisting through the air. (That's Nana his mind whispers, and Izuku thinks, who?) "I was starting to worry you weren't going to show up."
His partner laughs, teasing, one hand ushering the riolu onward as she flutters backwards and leads them on. It's quiet here, a moment of simplicity and happiness. Izuku wonders why it seems like this never happens often enough.
Then the already black sky seems to darken, and they all notice. The peace that had filled their auras begins to give way to pulses of worry and urgency, filling the Izuku's head with hues of red and orange. It looks like fire, the two energies twisting around each other, and the thought jolts him with a panic he does not understand. Nana's voice cuts into the air, and the budding hysteria fades like it was never there.
"We need to hurry. You still have the 'gift', right?"
Izuku does not know what she's talking about and says nothing, but his whole body hums with a yes. His friend says so for them both, and it satisfies Nana's curiosity.
There's a shaking beneath his feet and his first thought is *we need to hide*, which is ridiculous, because if there were an earthquake they should be far away from things that might crumble over their heads. Except, even as the world goes swimmy and blue, something deep in Izuku's mind tells him it's no earthquake, old memories conjuring millions of indigo claws that patter against the rocky ground and icy gemstones with a gaze that sinks deep, full of pain and loyalty so mindless it makes him want to cry. His friend has his arms around him, comforting whispers in his ear.
"Stay with me."
Around them, the tunnel shakes. Beneath his feet is empty open air. The grip on him loosens, then tightens, and Izuku clutches back as tight as his paws will allow. He wants to scream, lose himself in the aura that feels like safety and home but there's no time for that right now because the rumble only grows and with it comes a tide of terror, both his own and not. What's going on?
The light of the tunnel wavers, the ringing in his ears growing louder with each moment that passes. The warm hold (his friendpartnerguardiancompanionwhoareyou-) on him disappears. One last burst, everything vanishing in bursting shards of light, and Izuku fades away.
Please don't let go.
"TIME TO WAKE UP, KIDS, IT'S MORNING!"
Izuku groans at Mic's far-too-loud voice, head hanging off the side of his bed. Tenya and Ochako are already standing upside down, waiting patiently as he corrects his view and joins them by the doorway. He thinks to the fading dream, already beyond conscious memory, wonders about the chill in the warm summer air and what it all means. He goes through the morning address on autopilot, mind swirling with ideas just barely out of reach. If he could just press a little bit harder and understand what happened...
It didn't feel like a dream, but it wasn't a nightmare, so-
"Izuku, are you alright?"
Izuku looks up, meeting the worried looks of his friends. He glances at door to the guildmaster's room, sealed shut. There's no head poking outside to wish the trainees a good day, not today. No warm, sky-filled eyes to crinkle or golden muzzles to smile and usher them on their way.
"I'm fine," Izuku says, finally. He smiles. "Sorry, just thinking about what I was dreaming about last night."
(fragilepeaceandalifewillingtobelost)
"I can't really remember, but it was pretty weird."
"I see," Tenya says. He squints at Izuku, nose scrunched in a way that shows his teeth a bit, and says nothing.
"Dreams do tend to be like that, Deku," Ochako says, nodding sagely. Her tail twitches. "I had a really weird dream too, right before we met you!"
She launches into the story as she leads them up the steps, and Izuku takes the distraction gladly. He doesn't look back to the halls of the third floor, and soon his thoughts are forgotten about entirely.
The cold lost memories of blue eyes and warm arms tuck themselves safely away.