This is crossposted at AO3, name there Vegito_Princess. I haven't really posted anything new here in a while. Yes, I'm still working on The Water's Edge, but I also do other things as well. I have exclusive stories on AO3. I hope you go check them out. I dabble there a bit more lately since I like the freedom it gives me.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

-VP

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Part 1

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Green hair sparkled in the sun, eyes bright, face lit with an encouraging smile as a young man walked along a gravel trail. Today was the day, he finally got his pass to be a full-fledged wizard. It had been a grueling three years, and the apprenticeship was tough. Master Toshinori, old but wise, had finally deemed him worthy to go out on his own. Izuku Midoriya couldn't be happier that his Master had granted him this chance. He would not waste it.

Now, he had his first mission as a level 1 master in his own right. Once he reached 5 he could take on his own apprentice and show them the path. However, at the moment he was on a mission to start the most tedious part of his first steps. Gathering ingredients to make salves and potions for healing and curing illnesses. He knew the basics of this before his apprenticeship, but it was a blessing to learn more. Not all magic came from the body, Toshinori explained, some came from the soul, and others came from the earth.

He stopped at a clearing and smiled again, his cloak billowing in the soft breeze. He spotted the rare mushroom he was looking for. It only grew at the waters edge, the purple caps blooming large in direct sunlight. The purple shrooms, when combined with clear spring water and a touch of elven moss was a perfect salve for burns and deep cuts. It stopped the bleeding and soothed the ache.

He took out one of his glass jars and gently pulled the small clump of them out of the ground before bottling them. It was a small cluster of six, but they would do in a pinch. He decided to search around the rest of the lake before leaving the area just in case another patch existed. He eased the small jar into one of the many pouches tied around his belt. He took off his soft, brown shoes and waded around the edges of the small lake. The water was cool to the touch, and the gentle waves lapped against his dark gray trousers.

Izuku sighed and frowned slightly as he realized there were no more mushrooms. They were rare, after all, and he tried not to get too disheartened about them. He wiped his feet with the back of his cloak and put his shoes back on before moving on through the forest. Here and there he'd find a plant or two that would serve his needs. Mosses, leaves, and certain tree barks that could be used for purification.

Yet, something felt off about the forest at the moment. Something painful, sad. He placed his hand on the ground and reached out with his senses. His eyes opened wide, green lightning spiraling around his form as he reached for the pain and brought it into himself. A creature struggling to survive, a wound, anger, dismay. What were these feelings?

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Scaled flesh crawled along the forest floor, red blood trailing behind like a river. He was doomed to die, that damn knight sliced him good with a poisoned blade. He was a bastard, even to his own kind, cast out to die. He'd found a niche, a small clan of people to lead, yet he fucked up royally this time. He growled harshly, golden scales fluttering about. He was better than this, a fucking prince, but the warring kingdom didn't think so.

They'd sent their warriors after him, an ambush, and he got cocky. Their numbers separated and now here he crawled in the forest like a damned coward bleeding out. That damned sorcerer, Korogiri. Dark magic was a piece of work and he'd used it to separate them from each other. How dare he. That little shit.

Another round of white-hot fire slithered up his side as he finally made it to a small clearing where little stream of fresh water gently flowed through. He needed to clean his wound. No doubt Shigaraki used some kind of poison on him. Time was fleeting, and he couldn't shift back while in so much pain. He knew the risks, yet he decided to chance it. Now he was stuck like this and barely able to do anything for himself.

Eyes swelled with tears, but he refused to let them fall. He was too proud for that, no matter the damned circumstances. He would persevere.

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Izuku looked through the brush to see the wildest sight of his life. He thought these creatures were legends, just bedtime stories parents told their children. Yet, here one sat curled over. A golden-scaled dragon with bright red eyes. The side of its body tinted with red and a low growl of pain sliding off its lips. The creature was huge, towering, with huge wings and long claws. The face was contorted in agony as it howled, trying to clean the long gash on its side.

He looked on in fascination as the creature tried in vain to clean the wound, but fumbling paws only made the situation worse. Izuku gently moved forward only to hear a resounding growl from the creature and he held up his hands gently in a peaceful gesture. He didn't want to be eaten today, but it wasn't like he could ignore a living thing in need. He hoped to treat him, heal him.

"H-hey, big guy." Izuku smiled brightly as he eased his cloak of his shoulders and placed it on the ground. His green shirt was next, leaving only a white tunic. He rolled up his sleeves showing scarred arms and kept the smile up as he slowly approached.

"I'm not going to hurt you." A low growl and a warning snap of spectacular jaws with large pointed teeth was his answer. Izuku didn't show fear as he looked down at the jagged injury. "I'm here to help you."

The creature growled again before it turned into a low keen. His head bowing forward before leaning down in agony. The blunt head of the dragon landed on the ground, the scaly skin paler than before. Izuku moved forward quickly to assess the damage. It was worse up close. The long jagged wound had a shredded, frayed pattern on the edges. No ordinary blade did this, and whatever the weapon it was tipped with poison. There was a deep blue hue around the edges of the wound that trailed out like veins.

Dragon's Ivy. An ivy root plant with blue flowers that had a deadly effect on any dragon it came into contact with. Izuku opened his left pouch and pulled out two of the mushrooms he'd just collected and grabbed an empty jar and squished the plants between his fingers. The liquid from them drained into the jar and he then dropped the smashed bits into the bottom. He then gathered the moss around the edge of the lake and continued to work.

The wound on the side of the dragon was fresh, still bleeding, so if he worked quickly he could use the moss to drag out the poison and then clean it with water. He'd then need to work the mushroom's with the rose oil he'd been able to get earlier in the day.

"Don't worry big guy, you'll feel better soon."

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The dragon looked down at the young man cleaning his infected wound. Why would this little runt help him? It didn't seem like this guy was anything special, and it pained him that if this worked he'd owe this little twerp a debt. His red eye twitched in irritation as his body was too weak to fight off the gentle ministrations of moss being applied to his slice. He'd given up fighting, yet it didn't make him any less angry about it.

He could feel the cool touches of water to his scaly skin, the smooth application of moss, the fire in his blood subsiding bit by bit as the green-haired wizard worked on him. He studied him, since that's all he could do. Scars lined his hands and arms, jagged lines of flesh mixed with calluses from years of work and spells. Green in many shades was all he could really see. Green hair, green eyes, green clothes. A healer.

He inhaled, something else was in the scent of this wizard. A breath of fresh rain and ozone, sparks of electricity with a backlash of power. A magic user … No, a magic wielder. What was with this interesting male? A hiss escaped him as said wizard gently pressed on his wound, the smell of medicines greeted his nostrils, his forked tongue tasting the air. A gasp escaped him as he watched the wizard's body light up with an electrical current, his hair standing on end as green lighting danced around him.

A warmth spread through his body all the way down to his clawed paws. He'd felt this magic only once before, so strong, so forceful, but so gentle all at once. He'd been saved by this magic before, knew its signature just as he knew his own body. His red eyes widened in disbelief. This wizard was a disciple of Master Toshinori. The great wizard who had saved his village when he was just a boy. A wizard he'd hoped to one day learn from … But his nature had prevented that.

"Who are you?" He asked in Drakon, knowing full well that his words would be lost. He could not speak the human tongue in his current state.

"I am Izuku Midoriya, Gold Dragon." His eyes bugged out of his head at the reply. What the actual fuck was going on.

"How can you understand me?"

"A master wizard knows all beast tongues." Izuku replied with a smile. "Do you have a name, Gold Dragon?"

"Katsuki Bakugou." He bowed his head.

"A human name? That is quite odd."

"Do you have a problem with that?" Bakugou suddenly felt irritation.

"It would mean you're a hybrid. This is quite interesting."

"Oi, I'm not a project for your study." The dragon huffed, a trail of smoke puffing out of his nostrils.

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Izuku smiled as he continued to patch up his new acquaintance. The gold dragon was quite the angry thing, even though a tad grateful. It seemed that the less pain he was in, the more lively he became. Running into a hybrid creature was quite a rarity as they were quite frowned upon in society. Hybrids came along when a mystic creature mated with a human magic wielder. Katsuki's existence was all the more fascinating to him since he was the rarest of them all.

Dragons were volatile creatures, at least that's what he'd been told in his studies. This was the first time he'd ever encountered any type of dragon. However, judging by Katsuki's personality alone he'd have to say the assessment of character was correct. He was a bit standoffish in their conversation, claiming to be fine even though he had clearly needed help. It seemed as if the hybrid had taken the world's burdens on his shoulders.

It had been hours since he'd started his treatments and it seemed that the wound had closed, leaving a thin red scar in its wake. He couldn't do anymore until Katsuki changed back. He wondered if he had the energy to do so.

"Can you shift into your human form?"

"Why?"

"I can do no more healing in your dragon body. I need to assess the damage in your human form."

The dragon grunted with an agitated huff before closing his crimson eyes. Smoke swirled around the tall form with a bit of bright red fire, almost like a tornado, before the form of a man settled into place on the ground where the massive beast once stood. He was tanned, toned, and his blonde hair shined in the setting sun as bright red eyes opened to peer at him from a scowling face. His arms were covered in what appeared to be tribal tattoos and he sat before him covered in a red cloak with navy blue trousers. His feet were bare, the bottoms covered by scales.

Izuku swallowed hard as he scooted forward and looked at the wound on his side. Katsuki's abs clenched as he dabbed the weeping wound with clean moss and he hissed with the sting.

"Hey, be careful with that Deku."

"I'm not useless." He replied with a huff. "I just saved your life, or did you forget that."

"I was fine."

"You keep telling yourself that." Izuku moved in again and this time gently poured a bit of cool water on the wound to ease the pain. "You're lucky that I was able to heal the wound in your dragon form. This wound is superficial. They were targeting your bloodline. Once I cleanse and repair this wound, the scar should be gone."

"Fine. Just hurry up."

Izuku placed the salve against the wound with gentle pressure. In his human form, the slice went from the underside of his left nipple all the way down to the top of his pants. The long, thin cut weeped a bit but otherwise all of the poison was out of his system. It was a risk using his healing magic, but he was willing to take it. Something drew him to this hybrid and he wasn't going to question the fates. Toshinori said he had a knack for the healing arts, the wielding of magic, and he showed promise. Just because he wasn't innately magical didn't mean that he couldn't be a wizard.

The scars on his hands were a testament to his dedication to the craft. After the first year of learning, drinking potions, and working out his body, Toshinori decided he was worthy of his magic and effectively became his successor.

"So what made him choose you?" Katsuki's rough voice broke the silence.

"Pardon me?"

"Toshinori."

"I don't ..."

"Don't lie, nerd." He huffed, red eyes connecting with green. "I'm not some dumb animal in human skin. I know the stories of the Master Wizard. He saved my village when I was a child and I know that power. Felt it before. Toshinori got the power from a wizard before him. It's how it's done. Not everybody believes that tale, but I did. Clearly it's true, so what did you do to catch his attention?"

"Young Midoriya, what I'm giving you is a gift passed down from the family line. I have no children, so you will be my successor. I've searched villages for someone worthy, and when you rushed in to save those people after this village was attacked I knew you had the potential to become my apprentice. This power has been a legend and it must stay that way. It can't be taken by force, only given. Tell no one. If someone finds out, that's no fault of yours, but make them promise to keep it a secret. Vow this, and my power is yours."

Izuku sighed, leave it to the first person he saves as a master to figure out his secret. Why did fate bring him here?

"An enemy clan attacked my village. Their leader is the carrier of plague magic. A dark art so heinous that it is forbidden, yet somehow he learned to wield it. I don't have magic of my own, only potions and shields of a sort. I saw my friends lying there, and I just couldn't watch them die. I rushed in, tossing potions, shielding charms, things I had made myself and saved them. Toshinori was amazed at my prowess. Amazed that a simple human was able to save people without magic and decided that I would be his successor. I was braver than even those with a magical gift and my feet moved before I thought about what I was doing." Izuku shrugged. "You can't speak of this, however. It's to remain a legend."

"Of course." Katsuki sighed before leaning back in the grass. "I hate this bullshit, but I owe you."

"Owe me?"

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Bakugou growled out as he returned his crimson gaze to the wild green eyes of the wizard beside him. "Yes, owe you. Is there an echo in here?"

"I'm just not sure what you mean."

"If you knew anything about dragons, even hybrids, you'd know that we take our debts seriously. In your case, it's a fucking life debt." He sighed, irritated. Of all the people to be in debt to. "You saved my life, now I'm honor bound to do the same."

"That's not really necessary." Izuku started picking up his supplies. "I help without the need for repayment."

"Are you insulting me?"

"No." He stuttered.

"Look, like it or not you're stuck with me until the debt is paid." Bakugou grabbed the wizards shoulder and clenched down. "That's the way it works. To try to deny my debt is an insult."

"But what if you have to stay with me for life?"

His brows furrowed. "It doesn't matter. I'm with you until I save your life, or you die."