1: In the dead of night, Izuku and Ochako flee for their lives.
Izuku gave one last glance at the room before he ducked down into the cellar, closing the hatch above him. It was pitch black, and if it weren't for his familiarity with the space, he would have fallen down the stairs. As it were, he counted the steps, making sure to keep them quiet and feeling out the final one with his foot before finishing his descent.
After the sound of his boots faded he heard the soft breathing of his guest. He shuffled his way to her bed and knelt down, lighting the lantern on a nearby crate. Her round face was illuminated, her cheeks still rosy, even in her sleep. Her nose scrunched up and she squinted her eyes, disturbed by the light.
He shook her shoulder. "Ochako," he whispered. "Ochako!"
She woke with a start, eyes wide and arms flailing. He batted them aside and gently grasped her shoulders, making her face him. "It's me Ochako, It's me!"
Her eyes focused. "Izuku?" He squeezed her shoulders. She sagged into his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Izuku."
He stroked a hand through her hair. "It's fine, Ochako. It's fine." He wanted to keep comforting her, but they were short on time. He pulled away but kept his grasp on her shoulders. "They're here."
Her crestfallen expression broke his heart, as it did every time. "Again?"
A loud bang came from upstairs. "Open up for the King's guard!"
She sighed and rose. Izuku stood back, letting her gather up her hat and robes before she put them into a sack and drew it shut. His own belongings were already slung over his back. When she picked up her staff, he took the lantern and went for the back wall of the cellar.
He pushed aside a wooden crate to reveal a small tunnel, just big enough to crouch in. Three bangs came from upstairs. "Open up!" Three more bangs.
"You go first," Izuku said. Ochako nodded, long since given up trying to persuade him otherwise. He passed her the lantern as she crouched down before following her through the hole.
A few thuds followed the splintering of wood, and heavy footfalls thundered above. Light split through the cracks in the floorboards.
They kept crawling.
He felt the mud seep into his pant legs as the noises became muted. The guards would soon find the tunnel, but they'd be long gone by then.
Over the past year their skills at digging had increased. The first tunnel they made could only be passed through on their bellies, and ever since they had been getting progressively larger. It made for a faster escape.
Izuku's hands sunk into the ground and he felt the grime push into his fingernails. As the freezing cold wrapped around his hands, he remembered the untapped water source he ran into three weeks ago. Luckily it wasn't huge, but it left him soaked. When he came out the tunnel, sodden and muddy, Ochako had tried to give him a stern look before she laughed. It carried on for a good minute as the water dripped onto the floor.
When she was done, and her eyes were wiped on her sleeve, she told him to 'get out of those filthy clothes.' What followed was the best bath he ever had ever. Of all time.
He would have blushed at the memory if they weren't fleeing.
The tunnel started to incline upwards and Izuku straightened into an almost standing position, a hand on the hilt of his sword. Ochako passed the lantern to him as she climbed the small ladders. A bit of fiddling later, and the cover was removed - a simple thing made of four planks of wood and some branched leaves.
She shuffled up, and when Izuku got his foot on the first rung of the ladder he put out the lantern and fastened it to his hip. When his head peaked above the surface, Ochako pulled him up.
They didn't give themselves time to brush off their clothes, setting off in a straight run that would take them into the forest. They would hide out there until they could be sure the coast was clear.
The barking of dogs bounced off the trees. Izuku turned. Dots of light were weaving their way around the tree trunks, the men barking their own war cries as they grew closer. A hand grabbed his arm. "Izuku! We need to move!"
Idiot. Why was he stopping? He scooped up Ochako and set off in a sprint.
He didn't think. He kept going forwards, letting himself be lost in the rhythm of his breathing and the brushing of leaves against his face. He stumbled over a rock, but quickly recovered.
Through the moonlight he could see the trees grow more clustered. The prospect of safety pushed him forward. Ochako turned in his grip, bringing her staff to bear. The gnarled wood crackled as her mana flowed through it. He wondered what she was doing until he heard the dogs barking closer than before, their teeth clacking together.
She used his shoulder as a brace as her echoed voice spoke the Word, "Grau!"
The force pushed him forwards, and he struggled to catch up to his legs, but from the whines coming from behind him he knew that her spell hit the mark. When he focused on the world in front of him, his heart sank.
A dozen armoured men stood in file, torches in hand and swords drawn. A captain was with them, a cross nailed proudly onto his chestplate. Izuku slowed, keeping at a safe distance. He put Ochako down and looked around, cursing in his head when he noticed they were in a clearing. They'd been corralled there without even knowing.
Izuku drew his sword. It was nothing special. A standard blade with a standard guard and grip, which was wrapped in a worn black fabric. Not even a guard would have considered it.
Ochako pressed up against his back as their pursuers caught up. They were encircled.
The captain stepped forward. "You have one chance to surrender to the Crown! Come with us and your evil ways will be forgiven!"
"Is that before or after you burn us at the stake?!" Ochako yelled. She and Izuku had seen too many friends die that way.
"Either way you will be redeemed!"
Ochako thrust her staff forward. "Grau!" The captain's armour dented as he flew backwards into two of his men.
The rest of them charged.
As the familiar ripple of Ochako's mana filled the air, Izuku moved to his first opponent. The man swung his sword from his shoulder, a textbook strike. Izuku met the blade with an underhanded swing, where it continued on through the man's neck. He stood for a second until he fell, sword falling into halves as his head rolled off his shoulders.
A shield bearer was next, covering up for a spear man behind him. Izuku batted the pole away with the flat of his blade before slashing through the shield and cutting off the man's arm holding it. He screamed and tumbled back into the spearman. Izuku thrusted his blade through them both.
The other guards slowed their approach, eyeing him carefully. They were only looking for one magic user. And they were right.
He never had the power for magic, but his sword was forged by the most powerful mages themselves. One For All. The blade that could cut through anything. The last one to wield it had been the late knight Toshinori, 'The All Might'. How he deemed izuku worthy still eluded him to this day.
He cut through three more guards swiftly. He was glad it was so dark. He didn't want to see any more blood.
"Grait!" Izuku's stomach lurched as his feet left the floor. "Gravitas!" Izuku sunk his blade into the ground and willed it not to cut as a wave of force pushed the guards away. "Graitimen." He landed and pulled his sword free, taking the time to inspect the clearing. Some guards were getting up, clearly disorientated, but dozens of fresh faces joined the fight. Just how many did they bring?
"Izuku." She was breathing hard, but he knew she had a lot more left in her. "There's no end to them."
He tightened his sword grip. "There will be. I doubt they brought an army."
"Izuku… is there a point anymore?"
"Don't say that."
"We just keep running, and they keep catching up. Everyone else has already - "
"Don't say that!" He looked into her watery eyes. "Don't you dare say it's pointless. We'll survive. We'll make it."
"But Izuku…"
"I won't let anyone else I care about die! Especially not the woman I love!" He faced the encroaching guards again, bringing up his sword. It gleamed in the moonlight. "I'm staying with you, no matter what."
Ochako briefly grabbed his hand and squeezed. "And I'll stay with you, no matter what."
She let go, and the guards came upon them.
A/N: Thank you for reading!
Had a fantasy setting bouncing around in my head, and I really wanted to write it. But I've got another fic I need to work on first. Might return to this setting when I get so far in my other fic, but I had to get something out or else I'd be thinking about it all the time.
Let me know what you think!