The Shout of the Meek
A ten-year-old Izuku Midoriya lay on his back in the park staring absently at the sky. He'd just received his daily beating at the hands of his childhood tormentor Katsuki Bakugo and his explosive hands, like literally explosive. Izuku had been born into a world where 80% of the population had some sort of superhuman ability called 'Quirks', he, unfortunately, fell into the 20% that didn't and because of this, he was constantly bullied.
Those who didn't bully Izuku simply ignored the young boy. Katsuki however, had been praised by everyone for manifesting such a powerful quirk and as his quirk grew so too did his ego. Manifesting into what seemed to be a God complex always treating others as if they were below him even those with quirks because. 'He was the main character and all the useless extras should stay out of his way.'
Izuku shook the thought of his bully out of his head as he picked himself up off the grass and brushed the dirt off, slightly wincing as he felt the pressure from his actions on his bruises. Some were new, some were old and some had been there so long he felt like they'd never leave. As much of a brute as Katsuki was, he wasn't dumb and would never leave lasting marks on obvious parts of Izuku. Even when marks were left on an uncovered part of the boy's body they disappeared before long.
Izuku always thought about reporting the bullying but there was a small part of the boy he'd once been friends with was still in there, somewhere. His legs began to move autonomously as he made his way home, his thoughts off somewhere else. If having a vivid imagination could be considered a quirk then he wouldn't be bullied at all. That's where the boy spent most of his time, lost in the fantastic worlds that filled his head. When he was treated like garbage in reality, he would often lay in bed for hours and escape to a reality of his own making.
Izuku walked in the front door to his home calling out to his mother that he'd made it back as he slipped off his shoes off. There were some mild pleasantries exchanged between the two but they weren't close. Not since the day she proved she didn't believe he could achieve his dream, all he ever wanted to be was a hero. When he was taken to the doctor and diagnosed as quirkless he was crushed, he was told he'd never accomplish his dreams. He'd never be a hero and that he should just give up.
That night he sat watching the same video he watched every night it was of his favorite hero, All Might. The number one hero in all of Japan and the symbol of peace. The small boy looked up at his mother with tears in his eyes. "Can I be a Hero?" He cried.
"I'm sorry Izuku, I'm so, so sorry" she collapsed next to the boy hugging his side.
'that's not what I wanted you to say' the now-adolescent boy thought to himself. Izuku called out to his mother letting her know to not bother him about dinner as he had already eaten on the way home. He slid his headphones in and prepared to visit one of his favorite worlds to visit. In it he fought demons, using special breathing techniques.
However, this wasn't the middle-aged Japan Izuku was used to. Instead, all around him he felt cold, he saw snow gently falling onto him. He stood up and saw an old stone building but the architecture wasn't anything that he'd seen before. This place was completely foreign to Izuku but something was drawing him to the building. It was like an otherworldly pull dragging him towards the door.
As his feet crunched in the snow as he stumbled towards the door, he noticed his breathing becoming quite labored the air around him was quite thin. That's when he finally took a look at his surroundings to realize he was very high up. He walked closer to the edge of the mountain he was on and took in the astounding view in front of him. This was the first time his imagination had gone above and beyond to the extent. He'd outdone himself this time.
Breathing in the sight in front of him he felt the pull tug him back toward the building, the crunch of snow underfoot soon became the clack of a boot on stone. This was when the boy realized what he was wearing, boots made of what seemed to be pure iron, what seemed to be a leather skirt with iron plates forged to it, an iron chest plate and a helmet which as he felt up the side had horns on it.
As he inspected his body more, he realized that it wasn't well, his body. His arms were long and slender his legs were smooth as he rubbed them together and there was a bulge in his chest plate. He was in the body of a fully grown woman. As he climbed the steps to the door there was a feeling of both unease and excitement growing within him. He reached out and pushed open the door finding it swung open with relative ease as if it was welcoming him inside.
When he entered, he saw a very ornate room not ornate as in there was a lot of expensive stuff in there. It was ornate in the sense that the stonework was incredible, when he was done admiring the space, he was standing in he noticed four people standing in the middle of the room. They were four elderly men all with grey facial hair wearing dark grey cloaks that obscured the top parts of their faces at the angle he was on.
One stepped forward removing the hood from his head revealing long gray hair that looked uncared for. "Hello stranger, I'm sure you are wondering why you are here. And why you have taken the form that you are currently in."
Izuku couldn't help but nod, he felt somewhat small under the man's gaze. It was as if he was looking not at the physical form Izuku had taken but straight into his very soul.
"I am Arngeir, and the three behind me are Borri, Wulfgar, and Einarth. We are The Greybeards and we have summoned you here because we believe you have a gift lost for thousands of years. The ability to Thu'um or shout."
"Geez brain, you're out doing yourself here." he muttered to himself slightly taken aback at the feminine voice that came from his mouth.
"This is no work of your imagination young Dovah. If It was you would appear in your own body would you not?"
Izuku was stunned at these words an uneasy feeling building up within him. This was the first time he had imagined being in a different body let alone him being a different gender. Izuku could only nod in response.
"You have taken the form of the last living Dovahkiin or Dragonborn. Or that was at least the case until you. You young man are indeed Dovahkiin the hero of prophecy, destined to save the world from Armageddon. We Greybeards will teach you the words of power so your Thu'um may grow strong."
"If you guys are going to teach me this shout thing, shouldn't anybody be able to do it? What makes the Dragonborn so special. Why has useless me been chosen as some sort of savior?"
"Both valid questions young man. While we Greybeards have learned the Thu'um through years of study, you can absorb the power of the language of the dragons by birthright. As to why you were chosen, well the Dovahkiin you have taken the form of was a mere criminal. But I can feel a heroic spirit inside you barely being able to be contained. Perhaps that is why Fate chose you. Or maybe you were just lucky, or unlucky depending on how you view it."
'Heroic spirit' Izuku thought, smiling to himself slightly. "So, what you're telling me is as Dragonborn I get all of the power with none of the hard work? That sorta seems like cheating."
"You may get to skip the long haul of having to learn the language of the Dovah from scratch. That does not mean the knowledge comes free, Pogaas Hevno Ahraan will come to you child but you will learn of that in time to come. For now, Brother Borri will teach you the first word of your first Thu'um." The elderly man then turned to the other three men who had remained silent the whole time. "Borri, Meyz." when he spoke the air around Izuku seemed to rumble for a brief second before coming to a stop.
The one Izuku assumed was named Borri moved to the center of the room. The old man held out his arms in front of him and the whole building began to shake an otherworldly voice emanated from all around Izuku as a set of glyphs appeared on the floor in front of the old man. When Borri was done Arngeir spoke again. "Come Dovahkiin, learn this word of power Wuld."
Izuku walked towards the markings on the floor the writing or at least what he assumed was writing was nothing like anything he's ever seen before and his imagination made up different alphabets all the time. As he moved closer to the word on the ground his vision began to darken as the word began to glow. And he could hear chanting in the back of his head. It sounded alien to him though.
After a short time, the word stop glowing and Izuku stumbled back slightly the chanting ceased and his vision cleared. He felt a little groggy but other than that he was all good. Izuku felt a rush flow through him as if a small missing part of him had finally found its way back home. Arngeir spoke again. "Come, young Dovah, we must practice your Thu'um." When he finished speaking, he turned around and started walking down a long hallway. Izuku immediately followed behind him.
Izuku found himself in a large courtyard Arngeir had placed himself about 30 meters in front of him and spoke again. "Come Dovahkiin, reach inside grab onto your Thu'um and let it out with all you have."
Izuku looked inside himself trying to find the Thu'um that Arngeir was talking about and felt like flowing energy inside him. He assumed that was what was supposed to find so he grabbed it and pulled it forward and with everything he had yelled "Wuld." In an instant, Izuku was in front of Arngeir with a look of surprise on his face. The surprise turned to elation as he had realized what had just happened.
He had moved so fast that the snow behind him hadn't yet been disturbed when suddenly it surged forward causing him to jump back slightly. Coming into contact with the elderly man standing behind him. "I-I-I I did it. I did it Arngeir." He was jumping up and down in excitement at this point.
"indeed young Dovahkiin, you did it. This is merely the first third of this Thu'um, each one contains three parts each on making it stronger." Izuku's face grew even more excited and this. "But for now, you must rest. It's taken a lot of energy for you to be here for this long. Close your eyes and then when you open them you will be back where you need to be."
With that Izuku closed the eyes of the body he was in, opening them he was staring at the ceiling still not too sure about what had just happened. It felt too different for it to just be his imagination. But yeah sure his consciousness traveled thousands of years into the past and back again. But he couldn't shake the feeling he had. Something was changing. He just wasn't sure what.