"Stay with me apprentice! Try to stay still, it won't be long!"

Izuku didn't comprehend much, but he knew for damn certain that staying "still" was not going to happen. How could he stay still when his entire world was a tumulting, turbulence-filled ride?

This wasn't how he imagined his first time riding a dragon. He didn't think he'd ever ride a dragon, but in those most wild fantasies of adventuring and dragon riding he had never imagined the part where he had multiple gaping wounds threatening his every second left in the land of the living as a renegade mage held onto him from behind and administering just enough healing magic to keep his insides from pouring out of him.

He expelled his lunch three times from the pain and the ride that was rougher than a ship at sea. It wasn't Red's fault, he'd been injured too. Ochako used her magic on him first after making sure Izuku wouldn't immediately die. But she only had so much power in her stores and to heal Red enough to fly and Izuku enough to stay alive was all she could really handle.

If he'd been lucid he'd have wondered why she was healing him at all, why she hadn't resolved her problem right then and there and let him bleed out in the forest. But all he understood was how uncomfortable he was and how much wracking pain was shooting through his body. He faded in and out a lot, but every time his head slumped Ochako was shaking him awake again. Her voice was going hoarse and the sound of Red's trilling calls were becoming weary too.

Izuku didn't remember much past the pain by the time the dragon's feet hit ground. And he only remembered that because of how roughly they landed. The unhappy sound that rumbled from the dragon's throat told of his own exhaustion and pain as the two mages on his back fell hard to the ground and Izuku cried out. Everything fogged over again, but he felt hands on him and more voices, human ones. They were frantic, loud, but unintelligible. He saw blurred faces when he opened his eyes, but he was feverish and couldn't trust his sight.

He was moved around and touched a lot, but somehow his back fell into a stiff bed and with an easing green light filling what little his eyes could see and somehow the pain stopped. His panic settled, his tight chest relaxed and in time his fever broke. He passed out the moment his body allowed him.

Time was amorphous. He didn't dream for a long time, but eventually his steadily clarifying mind started to drag his conscious worries into his sleep. It was reason enough to stir himself awake.

Izuku had never felt so stiff in his life and he groaned on his tight muscles as he shifted and forced his eyes open. His intent was to ease awake and get his bearings, but as blinked into the dim light he couldn't even see his surroundings, just the far too close, wide blown red eyes of the boy who'd turned into a dragon.

Izuku startled and jerked back, grabbing his torso as he did when searing pain burst over his body. He suddenly remembered why he'd been so still up until now.

"Agh! Shit!" Izuku groaned, but continued to shift back carefully from the exuberant boy at his bedside now scampering to his feet.

"He's awake!" he yelled to seemingly no one, "I think he's alright! Ochako, he's awake!"

"What is-?"

Izuku's sentence didn't finish, because the next moment brought the brown haired young mage bursting through the door of the small room that he could now see fully. It was lined wall to wall with potions and books and herbs and lit only by a couple flickering lanterns. It reminded him of the healing rooms at the Magesterium, but smaller and less refined in its method.

Ochako and Red were both at his bedside in an instant as a third person entered the room purposefully. She was a small, cute thing, perhaps a bit older than Izuku, with big green eyes that scanned the room in thought before grabbing a few items from the shelves and joining the others at his beside.

"You're okay?" Ochako looked him up and down, seemingly wowed, "It's hard to believe. You were in such a terrible state when we got you here I was certain you'd die!"

"He still looks awful though," Red shook his head at the stunned mage, staring baffled at the people surrounding him, wondering why they weren't trying to kill him anymore.

"Back up, please," the dark haired girl demanded, shoving aside the other two. She dropped into a seat on the edge of the bed and placed her wrist against Izuku's forehead. He tried to pull away from her, but she held him in place and forced him to let her check his temperature.

"Who… What…" Izuku couldn't decide on a question. He had a thousand. He always had a thousand questions, but this time they were all extremely relevant.

"Be still please," the girl said, putting her items on the table beside his bed. She then started pulling up at the bottom of the shirt and he realized he didn't remember putting on this or the pants he was wearing. He really didn't want to think about that.

But he did panic at the way the girl he didn't even know was practically undressing him in front of people he'd been in a fight with not long ago and hurriedly shoved her hands away, shaking his head.

"Wait, who are you?" he asked, "What are you doing?"

The girl smiled, the shape of her mouth making it look crooked. "I'm checking your wounds," she explained, heedlessly shoving his hands away and continuing to pull up his clothing to expose his chest and the multiple bandages strewn across it. "And my name is Tsu, I'm an apothecary."

That didn't quite explain anything, but he wasn't dead yet and it seemed to be because of this woman so he hesitantly stopped trying to keep her from checking the wounds. She undid the bandages one by one to see the wounds beneath and Izuku felt his stomach churn as he looked down. The sight was nightmarish. His eyes pinched up rather than see the wounds, half-close as his flesh itself seemed to be reforming itself in each place he'd been practically impaled.

"An-an apothecary?" Izuku asked, more to get his mind away from the sight of his own body than anything, "Doesn't that just mean you make poisons and medicines?"

"Apothecaries do a lot more than combine herbs here," Tsu said, tilting her head at a particularly horrible looking bit of flesh low on his belly, running her index finger against the muscles.

"Here?" he grimaced at the touch, but looked around himself confused.

"Blackmoss," Red filled in, moving around to the end of the bed, smiling big sharp teeth at Izuku, "There wasn't much Ochako could do for you after she sent that Demon soaring," he made a swooping motion through the air with his arm, "and we needed help so we came here. We couldn't bring you to your Synod friends because they would have hurt us, so we had to go to our friends instead."

"Blackmoss?" Izuku repeated the name, wincing on the delicate prodding of the girl's finger. He had to think for a good ten seconds on why that name sounded familiar before it hit him like a ton of bricks. The last book he'd been reading at the Center Magesterium had mentioned Blackmoss. It was outside of Gaetha, outside of Synod touch, just past the borderlands near Tarlson, a three day ride on horseback from where they left, but a short flight on a dragon's back. But the geography was not what had stuck with him about Blackmoss.

"Bog Mages?" his brow tightened on the green eyed girl, his heart doing a little flutter of excitement. He shouldn't have been excited since it meant he was out of Synod jurisdiction and in the midst of heathens, but the Synod taught very little about the Bog Mages at the Magesteriums and his curiosity on them had recently been peaked.

Tsu nodded and got a thumb-full of an ointment off of the side table, touching each wound with a generous amount of it. "Is that going to be a problem?" she asked tightly, even as she tended to him.

Izuku swallowed and shook his head, searching each of the faces in front of him. "No...I, well, I'm very grateful. I'm just surprised is all. Why did you save me? You were going to kill me before. Wouldn't leaving me there have solved your problem…"

Ochako crossed her arms tightly and frowned at the ground, shifting. "Look I don't know if your completely trustworthy, but...well you didn't have to save Red's life. You could just have easily used that situation as a means to get away or kill us."

Red grinned wide, nodding his agreement, "I'm really grateful, apprentice. I really do owe you my life. I knew you were a nice mage."

Izuku half chuckled and then regretted it with the ache in his muscles.

"You don't owe me anything," he grimaced at the discomfort of Tsu's attention, "You saved my life right back so we'll call it even. And my name is Izuku, not Apprentice."

"That's a much better name than Apprentice," Red laughed, "My name's Eijiro and this is Ochako."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "I thought your name was Red?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "No, that's what Ochako calls me, because I'm red." He gestured over himself in example.

"I guess that makes sense," Izuku shook his head and squirmed that what Tsu was doing was beginning to hurt more than cause discomfort.

"Hold still," she ordered, pulling him back down flat by his arm.

Ochako shrugged and moved close to Red's side - Eijiro's side. She took his arm and tugged lightly, jerking her head away with a little smile.

"I think we need to leave him alone for a bit," Ochako said, reading Izuku's discomfort and the pinched look on his face, "Tsu has work to do and Izuku needs to rest."

Eijiro looked disappointed, but nodded. He threw a thumbs up and a grin to the patient. "Good luck, Izuku! You'll feel better soon!"

Ochako smiled softly up at him and pulled him along to leave.

"Ochako?" Izuku's strained voice caught her in her steps.

She looked back at him and blinked surprise. "Yeah?"

He hissed as Tsu held her hands open over the many wounds across his body and pale light started to form over him. His could feel his flesh moving under the spell and twist and restrict itself and grow. It was one of the strangest feelings he'd ever experienced, but he really wanted to say it before they disappeared.

"Th-thank you," he swallowed around the pain, "I meant it when I said I didn't want to hurt you. You're-you're a good person."

Her mouth tugged upward, maybe even a bit smuggly. She gave him a quick nod and then they left.

The rest of the day proceeded with Izuku coming in and out of sleep. Tsu was usually there when he woke up, ready to administer another treatment. He wanted to dislike her since every time he saw her he was put into more pain, wrapped up in bandages and then unwrapped. He didn't like the free reign she had on his body either, that he had no real privacy, that she had to attend to the wound in his thigh like she did the others and undress him past his comfort to do it. But everything she did to him helped to develop his strength and bring his body back closer to health. From the spells, to the potions, to the food she provided. And her attitude towards his nakedness was impartial, indifferent even, so that helped his embarrassment some, but he was still red faced every time. He still had his dignity after all.

After a while the treatments started to hurt less and the unpleasantness of waking to Tsu's face began to dissipate. The healing took a lot out of his own body each time it was encouraged to repair itself and he usually passed out after her work was done. Eventually he didn't find himself dozing off anymore when she finished. He tried to start conversation with her those times, wanting to ask about the Bog Mages and learn more about what sort of healing she did, but Tsu asked him to hold his questions until later, saything that she had other patients to see and work to do.

After one more good night's rest Izuku woke up feeling genuinely refreshed and, dare he say it, well. When he sat up he wasn't in pain and the shifting didn't make his body feel like it was falling apart. Izuku was thrilled and threw his legs over the side of the bed, smiling as he set his feet down and tried to stand.

But his legs weren't steady and the leg with the thigh wound wanted to slip underneath him. He fought for his balance, testing his weight and leaning heavy on the furniture around him. Across the room in a corner, his staff was leaning against a wall with a pile of clothing underneath. Izuku stumbled over to it.

He pulled the staff into the light and felt his stomach turn. There was blood all over it. Dried, old. With a shiver he shook past his horror and leaned on it while he grabbed the pile of clothing he recognized as his robes. He unfurled them and got a similar sense of disgust. They were coated in dried blood and ripped all over. If he looked close enough he'd likely have been able to match every rip with a scarred over wound on his body, but he threw it back down instead, shaking his head. The simple linen tunic and pants would do fine for the moment. It probably wouldn't do him any good to be walking around in Synod attire in a Bog Mage village anyway, especially not ones ripped and bloodied.

Izuku used the staff like a crutch and took this opportunity of finally feeling well to open the door and step out of the tiny room. He moved through the very simple house, covered wall to wall in herbs, bottles, potions, books, and a few living creatures in containers. He didn't see anyone else around so he shuffled through to its front door. He opened it up to morning light and he blinked harshly at it having been in that dark room for a long time. His eyes took a bit to adjust, but when they did, he looked out on a morning in Blackmoss.

Simplistic homes on stilts filled the quaint town, cut down the middle by a well trodden dirt road. Large mossy trees created forestion at the east of the town and pure swampland encompassed the rest, barely held at bay but the town's barrier walls. The smells were far from friendly and the air was laden thick with moisture, but there was a lively sound in the air. Croaking frogs, chirping birds and crickets. It was in the middle of the muck, a place no staunch nosed nobleman would ever set foot in, but Izuku was wide eyed at it, taking it in like he was viewing a mountain for the first time. It was so alive and the people didn't seem to have a problem with the smell or the stifling humidity or the presence of a stranger on their healer's front porch. The inhabitants strode through the town in their loose, breathable clothing and talked like it was any other pleasant spring day. A few even waved to Izuku to his confusion and surprise. He waved back uncertainly, wondering why people who didn't know him were greeting like they did, but greatly enjoying the gesture either way.

Across the street Tsu was chatting with her neighbor, a basket on her arm and a bounce in her legs like she couldn't quite stand still. She noticed Izuku after a moment and quickly dismissed herself to run back over to him, calm in the face, but not in her step. She slipped an arm under his shoulder and set his weight against her to support his shaky leg.

"What are you doing?" she asked, "You shouldn't be walking around yet."

"I feel great," Izuku shook his head at her, grounding himself against the way she tried to guide him back inside, "I just needed to see some sunlight. It's really dark in that house. You don't have any windows."

Tsu clicked her tongue. "They're not important," she hummed, "It's important that you keep resting, though."

"Can I just rest outside for a bit?" Izuku flashed big green eyes at her, "It's stifling, but at least there's sunshine. It's getting depressing in that room."

Tsu frowned. "My home isn't depressing...but fine, suit yourself. Sit on the steps and be still and I'll cook something to eat. And please give me the staff. It might alarm people."

He wasn't thrilled about the staff leaving his hands, but he didn't require it to perform magic so he let it go. Not only was it obviously a Synod staff, but it was coated in blood and he couldn't disagree with Tsu's observation that it was alarming to look at. She took it and helped him down into a seat on her front step.

"Thank you, Tsu," he smiled up at her. She nodded shortly and then went inside to cook.

Izuku settled in to the heat and opened his eyes observantly on his surroundings. He followed the people in their day to day, noted their strange clothing, reptile skin on their shoes and scraggly material for their shirts. He'd really only just started mentally cataloguing these things when Ochako came into his field of vision, waving at him on sight. He smiled her way, still amazed at how she'd been so ready to kill him such a short time ago.

"Wow, you really must be feeling better if you're outside," Ochako marveled at him, running up.

"I am," Izuku nodded, "But Tsu didn't want me wandering around so she made me agree to stay here. It's not like I can escape anyway." He tapped his thigh and winced at the irritation he had caused himself.

"You aren't a prisoner here," Ochako chuckled, "Bog Mages don't have any issue with the Synod. They live simply and stay out of trouble, but they're hospitable people. More than a few lost mages found direction with them, no matter what creed they followed. They'll treat you no differently"

"When I asked about the Bog Mages back at the Magesterium I was always told they were primitive and weren't worth our time," Izuku shook his head, "But I should be dead right now and I don't think the magic our mages use could have done what Tsu did."

Ochako shifted and shrugged. "Like I said, the Bog Mages stay out of trouble and keep a low profile. The Synod probably doesn't have any idea how strong they really are. They taught me most of my magic growing up. And Tsu is the greatest healer in the world. You're lucky she was able to get to you in time."

Izuku dropped his head in a sigh, contemplating a moment how close he'd come to death and again how incredible it was that he'd survived. He felt underneath his shirt on the strange feel of reformed flesh on his lower stomach.

"I've seriously never seen anything like this before," he looked back up at her, "Her magic is enviable. But she seems really humble, like she does it because she cares."

"She does, but she can be very strict," Ochako nodded, rubbing her head, "She's very serious about her patients and she rarely asks for anything in return. She's been checking in on Red every day since we got here even though she's been keeping you alive and practically running the village at the same time."

He glanced over the town and found himself doubly impressed. It was a friendly looking place, but just the chattering and interactions around them told him how chaotic it could easily get, much trouble and work it probably was to hold this place together. Tsu deserved more than a commendation.

But instead of commenting on that, he grabbed onto another part of what she said, thinking about the boy whose life he'd saved from the Demon, who'd been a barely moving mass under a heavy barrage the last time he'd seen him before waking up to his energetic face yesterday.

"How's he doing?" Izuku asked, scooting over a bit to make room for Ochako beside him. She hesitated at first, but took the risk and sat next to him, still keeping a good amount of space.

"He didn't look so good after that Demon hit him…" he added as she got comfortable.

"Really well," she nodded, "I was able to pull the broken bones back in place with magic while we were still in the forest. Poor thing, he was hurting so much, but he insisted that he fly us here to help you… He saw something in you before you even took that risk for him, so he was pretty adamant. I really didn't believe anything you said back in the woods until I saw you save him like that. It's stupid of me to think this, because you're a Synod Mage and your entire existence puts mine in jeopardy, but I think you're a good person and I think you want to do the right thing. It seems like you care about people, even when you shouldn't. It's not like the other mages."

Izuku smiled to himself. "It's funny you say that. I feel the same way about you. It seems stupid to think a renegade mage is anything but misguided and prone to corruption, but you seem like a good person too. Maybe both of us were taught wrong about each other."

The girl's eyes darkened. "I wasn't wrong about your friend."

Brown eyes met green tentatively, before Izuku lowered his head. "Yo wasn't my friend, he didn't like me at all to be honest. We were just assigned to do a mission together. There was no reason to behave like he did and I hate myself for saying it, but I'm not sad he's dead. Red-Eijiro- I don't really know which to call him now - well, he was right to kill him. Yo would have cut his head clean off with that attack and then he'd have hurt you. He was in charge so I wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop him. It's better for everyone that he's dead."

Ochako scrunched her nose like she was thinking about that future they had avoided and then shook it off, turning a curious stare at him.

"That's what I mean," Ochako said, "I lived in the real world, my magic hidden as it could be, and I've seen Synod Mages before. They don't speak badly about their own. Ever. Unless they're Fallen. I've never heard sympathy towards a mage who wasn't in the Synod. What they preach is scary. It doesn't sound like you. It doesn't match your personality."

"There are a lot of personalities in the Synod," Izuku smiled to himself, thinking about the people he grew up with, "Mages have to be serious people because of the burden of our power and the severity of what it means. It also helps in convincing the Masters that you're serious about devoting yourself to the Synod life of service and reparation. But we're all different. We're not all these blank slates that follow orders without thinking or horrible brutes that get off on other people's pain like Yo was. Koji was one of our most serious mages growing up, he felt so strongly about his life of service and being a perfect Magesterium student, but he had an absolute love for animals and he kept a little bunny hidden in his room for years. Hitoshi is super clever and lives for a good debate. And Shoto...well he actually fits the profile really well at a glance, but he has big aspirations. He's one of those people that wants to do something big and be remembered for it and if you can get past his cold shoulder he's actually a really caring person."

"You make them sound like people," Ochako cocked her head with a laugh.

Izuku smiled back. "Yeah. Crazy, right? But the Synod isn't meant to oppress mages, it's goal is save us."

Ochako's smile fell and she shifted away again, a wary glare on Izuku.

"I won't try to bring you in," Izuku rushed to assure her, "I owe you that much… I don't agree and I think you should be a part of the Synod, but I'm not going to force you. Things obviously aren't as simple as I grew up believing and I really do respect you. You acted selflessly in saving me and your magic is amazing! The way you got rid of the poison and then how you fought the Tempest Demon was just incredible!"

A dark blush spread over Ochako's face and she pulled into herself with a smile. But it didn't stop Izuku's gushing, he really was amazed by her and everything around him. He had the spirit of an explorer and a need for adventure, but had resigned himself to a life of study and magic cultivation until that mission was given to him. He never thought he'd be in a Bog Mage village or talking in a friendly way with a renegade mage. There was so much he could learn and so much he could experience. He couldn't even bother to fear the repercussions right now. They would be worth it, whatever they were.

"Seriously, you're fantastic Ochako," Izuku went on, "And Eijiro's magic is amazing too! I've been wondering a lot lately about shapeshifting magic because it's not taught in the Magesteriums. The most I thought I would ever see was maybe someone turning into a wolf, but an entire dragon!"

Ochako snorted when she laughed, shaking her head at him with bewildered eyes.

"Red doesn't turn into a dragon," she said, "He turns into a human."

Izuku's mouth was open to say something, but it got stuck. He didn't know what he was trying to ask. It was taking a while for his mind to wrap around that response.

"He-wait-what?" Izuku shook his head.

"He's a dragon," Ochako was laughing at Izuku now, "He hatched out of an egg. He's a flying reptile."

"But...he acts like a person," Izuku's head was a mess, dredging up every bit or history he could possibly remember being taught on dragons.

"What exactly do they teach at those Magesteriums?" Ochako controlled her amusement enough to explain, "Dragon's aren't mindless animals. They don't talk like we do, but they think and feel and understand. And if you teach them they can learn magic too. Easier than most people actually. Dragons are really in touch with the ether. That's how they talk to each other. They speak with their minds through their connection to the ether."

"Whoa," Izuku wished he had his notebook to be writing this down right now, "Has he ever talked to you using his mind?"

Ochako shook her head, "No, even mages aren't that in touch with the ether. But when we were younger one of the Bog Mages here used her animal speak spell to talk to him and he asked her to teach him how to shapeshift into a human. Once he figured out how to do it I couldn't shut him up for a week. All that time wishing our conversations weren't so one sided and suddenly all I wanted again was some silence."

She was smiling fondly at the memory and Izuku was in complete awe of it all. His entire image of Eijrio was so different now and he had a million questions for the boy...the dragon. But he was especially interested in how tenderly she talked about him.

"You really care about him a lot," Izuku said curiously, "Are you two like…?"

"He means the world to me," Ochako narrowed her eyes, "I'd kill for him. That's all you need to know."

"Point taken," Izuku gave a nervous laugh, not sure if he really wanted to consider the possibility of attraction between a human and a dragon of all things and understanding her threat well enough to let it go, "It's just… No one has even seen a Dragon in Gaetha since before either of us were even born. And yet he's here, blending in, and you somehow managed to befriend him."

"I rescued him," Ochako stood, dropping her boots into the mud beside the stairs, not trying to leave, but not comfortable sitting any longer. There was anger set into her eyes at her words, a very old hatred surfacing. "He'd have been a shredded pile of flesh and scales if it weren't for me. And for nothing more than some sick laughs and a few coins…"

Her teeth were grit and Izuku could feel the bitterness flowing off of her. Whatever situation she'd rescued the dragon-boy from was obviously something she held an unimaginable resentment towards. She looked ready to fume about it, to vent, but nothing further was said when the shaking of the sloppy ground whipped a smile back across Ochako's face in a split second.

The massive, red scaled head of the dragon in question came into view from the swamplands. He stepped onto the solid ground dripping in mud and moss and grime. His keen red eyes saw the instantly and excitement burst over his slit pupils. Not wasting a second, he loped over to them with energetic steps that rocked the small houses. The tremors knocked clay pots from porches and the large red beast received petulant shouts for the disruption that he didn't seem to notice.

He was much too big to just be traipsing through the village so carelessly, even if his wings were folded in close, so Ochako ran out into the road and attempted to stop him from shaking the town from its mucky, swampy foundations.

"Red, be careful!"

Red stopped suddenly in front of Tsu's house at her shout and his long neck craned back. If a mighty dragon could look sheepish, he definitely did. A chittering sort of rumble went up his throat as his head dropped down to her level and he nudged her with his snout. She stumbled back and shoved his head away.

"Where have you been, you're a mess?" she feigned a gag.

He snorted hot air that even Izuku could feel, over her, blowing her hair behind before dipping his head down and fluttering the frills on his head against her, depositing a hefty amount of muck on the girl. She screamed and swatted at him, but the Dragon was considerably larger than her and she didn't stand a chance.

In a mere moment she was as much a mess as Eijiro and the Dragon was laughing. Or doing something close to it. Short little huffs in his chest with bright eyes on the young mage. Ochako glared up at him and then kicked him in the leg. It did very little.

"Come down from there and fight me like a man," she chided, fists on hips.

Eijiro did the dragon version of a grin and gently lifted his paw to place it on top of Ochako and pin her on the ground. His head shook over her, again flicking mud everywhere, to which the neighbors voiced their complaints unheeded by the dragon once again.

Izuku smiled and watched with wonder, feeling like he was in some alternate world outside of reality. A place where people lived in houses on stilts and waved hello to strangers. Where a Synod Mage could sit among non-conforming mages and dragons weren't to be feared, but teased and played with like energetic puppies.

"Eijiro!" she barked, surprising Izuku that she actually used his name, "Stop! Let me up right this instant!"

The door behind Izuku opened and Tsu popped her head out at the mess in front of her house. She had no comment for the mud covered dragon or for how he was handling the girl under his paws.

"There's food inside, Izuku," she said and then shouted to the two scraping in the road, "Eijiro, Ochako! If you're hungry please clean up before coming into my house!"

Tsu put a hand under Izuku's arm to help him to his feet and he gripped onto her tightly when he put weight on his bad leg again. Still he continued to laugh lightly at the girl and the dragon while Tsu helped him inside.

"Tsu!" Ochako shouted, "You can't leave me like this! He's bigger than me!"

Tsu didn't even pause, just threw the door back behind her and helped Izuku to a chair by the table, the house now lit by a few lanterns, but still dim with its lack of windows.

"Do they act like that a lot?" Izuku asked.

"As long as I've known them," Tsu said plainly as she fixed him a plate, "Eijiro is very young and Ochako can be extremely immature at times. It usually ends up with him doing something like that or Ochako trying to scold him. We all learned to butt out a while ago."

The plate set in front of Izuku and he didn't wait more than a second to start wolfing down the fresh cooked meat and flat, warm bread. It was packed with flavor and spice he wasn't expecting. The food she'd given him before was bland and simple, but this had a lot of character, which seemed surprising for someone who put so little emotion into the things she said.

When he managed to slow down enough to breathe and drink something he noticed Tsu sit down across from him with her own food and a book of medicines, instantly pouring into the words and flipping through pages, like she was looking for something specific.

"He doesn't seem that young," Izuku observed.

"What?"

"Eijiro," he tried again, "He doesn't seem that much younger than me or Ochako or you for that matter."

At the inquiry, Tsu stood and walked to a shelf full of books, rifling through them a moment before selecting one and coming back to the table. She flipped through it until she came to a page with a scaled drawing and turned it to Izuku. It showed six very minimalistic images of dragons with numbers underneath and the silhouette of humans beside each different sized creature, scaled up from smallest to largest.

Tsu pointed to the third image on the scale.

"That's how big Eijiro is now," she said and slid down to the number beneath, "He's only about twenty years old. The first ten years is when a dragon grows the most, but they aren't considered adults until they reach about forty and then they still grow until they reach fifty to sixty years old."

She slid her finger to the last image and Izuku's eyes bulged to see how small the human pictured beside it looked.

"He's going to get very big," Tsu nodded, "And then dragons live on for nearly a hundred years after they reach adulthood."

She pulled back to take a bite of her food and flipped her medicine book back open. "Still very young," she concluded.

Izuku pulled the book in and thumbed through a couple more pages. It was an entire tome on dragons and their anatomy. The mage was bouncing in his chair in pure excitement

"Can I read this?" he asked.

Tsu glanced up and nodded. "Knowledge isn't something we covet here," she said, "You can read anything you like, though a lot of my books are herbological texts and anatomy diagrams. I don't want you to leave until I'm certain you've healed completely, so make yourself at home. Just forgive me if I'm not quick to answer questions, I have a lot to take care of here. I'm the only apothecary in the Bog."

He nodded in understanding, excited that he'd get some time to devour this book on dragons with a real dragon outside of the front door as well as access to any other books he could find in her house. Maybe something on shapeshifting like he wanted to learn about with Master Shota. Or other secrets of Bog Magic. He wouldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

A thrilling prospect, but as much as anything, a distraction.

Anything to keep his mind away from the bigger issues. Anything to enjoy this time while he had it and not think about what he was going to say when he got back to the Magesterium. How he would explain that Yo was dead and that he'd failed to capture the renegade mage or about a Tempest Demon in the woods outside of Tarlson and what that might mean.

He'd have to disavow ever knowing any of these people when he got back to the Center Mageterium if he wanted to stay clear of punishment, but for now he was simply going to relish his time with this new experience and his new friends for as long as he could still call them friends.

It was amazing what a good night's sleep and food on the belly could do to a couple of worn out mages. Nana had an energy similar to how he'd seen her at the encampment when Shoto had released her, strong and take-charge. Shoto was more like himself too, just the straight lipped little pissant that Katsuki had grown to hate.

The elves greeted the day with spirit and energy and had the absolute gall to speak to Katsuki in the light of day. It was hard to believe someone as composed and dignified - for a fucking Fallen Mageanyway - as Nana, would associate with such a half-brained cockbite as Denki, even if they were somehow related as the elf indicated. Katsuki generally had had positive experiences with elves. They were usually very skilled and didn't require him repeating orders. But not this elf. He looked like he'd be distracted by his own shadow. Katsuki just hoped he'd earn his keep and stick to his word when they got to Dawnsend.

The girl had put up a fair enough fight for him not to hate her as much as the halfwit, but even she was far too spy in the morning for him to respect her. He hated to admit it, but Shoto was the only one with the proper attitude right now. This was serious. The world was at stake and they were trusting a Fallen Mage with their salvation. A thousand men had breathed their last the night before. This wasn't the time to greet the day with positivity.

The road to Dawnsend was luckily pretty straightforward, but Denki insisted on leading the way. The pink elf girl stayed near him, but still watched Katsuki very cautiously. He had no qualms admitting that he liked knowing he'd registered the proper amount of fear in her and he was prepared to reinforce it if need be.

Luckily it was Shoto that the two chipper elves were assaulting at the front of their party with their constant yammering and giving Katsuki ample leeway to avoid them. Which also meant that Nana was the one walking beside him. She didn't need support anymore, but he didn't trust that her strength was back as fully as she claimed. Someone needed to stick close to her in case she collapsed again so apparently that was on him.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Nana filled the void between them with her pointless concern.

"I'm fine," he bit, "Don't waste air with stupid questions."

"After what we've been through it's not a stupid question," Nana said, "I want to make sure you're stable and ready for what's coming. I can't have the people with me falling apart when the hard parts come."

Katsuki cut the air with his breath. "That was the hard part. Nothing that could possibly happen now can be worse than that."

Failure weighed so heavy on his chest that he wanted to fall forward. The sounds that had broken the air, the clashing swords and dying screams, cutting off so suddenly, dying out to the sound of brambling undead...the horrible silence that meant there was no one left to keep fighting. The burden of knowing that in the short moments he had been away from his troops, everything had been lost and everyone, the Lord Commander and every lieutenant and every soldier that pissed themselves before the battle even began, was dead.

"There's an Archdemon in our world," Nana said bluntly, "It can always be worse than that."

Katsuki sucked his teeth and shook his head, breaking away from the regret and the pain and the fear. His shoulders squared confidently, resolved in his goal.

"I won't crack," he lifted his chin, "I'm not crippled so easily. But I don't think the same can be said for your little pet mage over there."

Nana blinked at Shoto a few times as he was trapped in a conversation with Denki and Mina about how elves didn't use the titles of uncles, aunts, and cousins. Far from interesting or worth Katsuki's time.

"I think you're underestimating him, Captain," Nana hummed, "He's a veritable well of untapped potential. And I believe that the Synod finds him dangerous. I can't think of a single reason a mage with that much power and such stringent devotion to their ideals would be dropped at the fronts without years of Battle Mage preparation at the Center Magesterium and full admission into the Synod's upper circle. It's as if they hoped a Demon would snap him in half and save them the trouble of getting rid of him."

"This isn't making me like him more," Katsuki sneered at the back of Shoto's two toned head, so annoying, perfectly split red and white, like a middle finger at nature.

"I trust him," Nana countered, "He has no reason to be on our side, yet here he is. He's risking everything just like you are."

Katsuki didn't like thinking about the consequences of this, of what he was really getting himself into. He was confident that this was the only way and his duty was compelling, but he knew his superiors wouldn't see it that way. There was no way he'd be able to explain to Lord Sorahiko that he had walked away from his post and joined a Blood Mage in her quest to save the world. He could expect a court martial at best.

The Captain crossed his arms. "Fine, so he's risking life and limb," he grumbled, "He doesn't have the attitude of someone who just wants to help people. He doesn't act like you. He's just like every other damn Synod Mage I've ever met; cold bastards with superiority complexes. I've never met a mage I didn't want to punch in the face."

Nana was quiet for a moment before smiling sidelong at Katsuki. "I'm curious about something, Captain and maybe you can help me figure it out. Have you ever been to a Magesterium?"

"Like I'd choose to surround myself with more mages," Katsuki shivered at the thought and then rolled his eyes at her, "Are you going to tell me they're just misunderstood and have hearts of gold?"

Nana laughed very vocally. "I have a worse opinion on the Synod than anyone, don't make me laugh. Every Synod Mage I've met fits exactly to what you just said. They mindlessly follow and die for their ideals and treat the world coldly, but they do come by it honestly."

She watched Shoto closely while something dark came over her eyes, the younger mage oblivious to their conversation.

"The first thing the Synod takes from a mage is family. Not a single mage in the entire Synod could tell you their own lineage. They belong to the Synod for life. Family names are stripped and all connection ends. Families don't say their child is a mage. They say that they do not have a child at all, all for some foolish idea of some attainable salvation. I've heard plenty about young mages forming families in their Magesteriums, children trying to cling to some closeness they will never have from their guardians. They are cold children growing up in a cold world."

"It's pathetic," Katsuki pursed his mouth, "Clinging to a made up family..."

"You're a soldier," Nana raised an eyebrow at him, "You aren't going to tell me that the people you trained with didn't become your brethren, that your military family didn't become more of a family than your actual family over time?"

Katsuki huffed, but said nothing.

"There is something strange about him, though," Nana frowned thoughtfully at Shoto as he swatted Denki's hand away from the scars on his face, "When mages form those families they usually take a family name, to connect them to each other even when they get seperated. Some just take family names for the sake of feeling like they came from somewhere, and even the most serious and highest ranking mages have that in common…"

Katsuki's frown was filled with confusion on Shoto and then Nana. "Yeah, but he doesn't have a family name."

"That's my point," Nana shrugged, "I think it says more about him than I ever could, good or bad. It struck my curiosity...I thought maybe it had struck yours as well. Either way, it's something to think about."

Biting his cheek, Katsuki shook his head at her, but she was already nonchalantly moving on from their digression, looking over the countryside with a hum and a pleasant smile.

It was an unsettling thought, an idea that had him staring hard at the back of Shoto's head, wondering what sort of a sick fuck he really was, what ill intentions lay under his stoney exterior. But now wasn't the time and Katsuki decided after a moment not to think about it. He chose to turn his attention to more constructive outlets, such as figuring out what to do when they reached Dawnsend, what he was going to say, how he was going to explain himself.

Before evening even began to strike the horizon, the Keep of Dawnsend and the sprawling town below opened before their path. A collective sigh spread around the group, but Katsuki tensed. His words would need to be careful and planned from here out.

He got the others to agree to let him lead and for them to stay silent as they approached the gates city gates. The guards were shocked to see Captain Katsuki Bakugo on foot and in the company of unfamiliar faces, but they didn't hesitate in opening the gates to the man considered to be the fiercest, most formidable warrior of Dawnfell.

As soon as they made it inside the Lieutenant stationed at the wall barraged Katsuki with questions, sequestering them at his station to interrogate what had brought him here and who he had come with. Katsuki mingled the truth with a few white lies, but he was so trusted in Dawnsend that he could have told the Lieutenant that purple unicorns killed a Demon and these fuckers would have believed him.

"The encampment fell," Katsuki reported to him, fighting not to let the words stick in his throat, "The Lord Commander is dead. These people," he wanted to bite his own tongue for the endorsement he was about to give, "got me out of there alive to warn Lord Sorahiko that our defenses fell. We're all that's left of the army."

The Lieutenant was in shambles at the report, stifled a good minute but the crushing reality of their loss before pulling himself together enough to make decisions. "I'll-I'll send word to the Lord and his family immediately...we have to rally...we have to warn everyone…"

"You'll do no such thing!" Katsuki barked, "The Demon army will be held back long enough for the Tarlson reinforcements to get there. If we start a panic Dawnsend will collapse in on itself. Tell no one but the Lord of this or that we're here. I'll speak to him directly."

The Lieutenant snapped to his duty, rushing to follow Katsuki's orders. He got a few impressed looks from the elves and mages as the Lieutenant dashed from the station to prepare for Katsuki to speak to the Lord of Dawnfell.

"I guess I was right to save your life," Nana chuckled, nodding gratitude towards him, "You're already proving yourself incredibly useful."

"Must be nice for people to just listen to you," Denki crossed his arms both indignant and impressed.

"You just don't have the right assets for it." Mina smirked and gave her sizable chest a few taps.

Katsuki grumbled and ignored them as Nana demanded them to both keep civil tongues while in the guard station. She understood how tentative her position was, how easily her life and every life with her could be forfeit if anyone got a whiff of what she was. It was a time for them all to keep their mouths shut and let Katsuki do the talking. It was already suspicious enough for a Captain of Dawnfell to have returned from battle in the company of rogue elves and mages rather than his own troops.

When the Lieutenant returned he handed Katsuki a letter, just a formality, but it was a guarantee that all five of them were vouched for. Along with the letter, took a hooded jacket from the Lieutenant, not wanting to call attention to himself in Dawnsend where he would be recognized easily. The others would be fine, despite the layers of grime and blood matting the mage's robes. It just looked like muck now and it wasn't as alarming as the people of Dawnsend seeing the return of their Captain without an army at his back or the Lord Commander at his side.

With little further interaction with the guard, they left the station just behind the Lieutenant's messenger, but stopped in a huddle once they were out of the watchful sight of the guard.

Katsuki guided them to a rather raucous pub not far into the town. The gathered at its side to discuss the plan. Or rather, for Katsuki to tell them the plan.

"You two need to stay here," he demanded before they'd even fully stopp, pointing at the two mages and then to the swinging sign over the pub's door. /Flagons and Dragons/. Terribly titled, but a memorable spot from his first years stationed in Dawnsend. Many drunken nights, wasted hours, and thankfully fruitless pursuits.

"But we need to get the Honing Stone," Shoto argued, fingers flexing around his staff.

"Well you can't do that until we get you a convincing look," Mina countered, "Also you're both kind of gross, so maybe you should get a room and clean up…"

Nana and Shoto looked at themselves and then each other. Katsuki wasn't much different. Mud matted his clothing up to his thighs and the stench of blood and death and sweat poured from his unwashed body. Nana was a bit worse, having practically lived in a mud pit for days on end before the battle had even begun, but they had all gone from bloody battle to sleeping in the dirt and they all looked like it.

"That's probably a good idea," Nana agreed, getting a scowl from the younger mage and a smug look from Katsuki, "I will need to make sure I have my strength back completely before trying to using a Honing Stone and Shoto won't quite look to part of a Synod Master if his face is covered in mud."

Denki clapped, smiling and elbowing Mina, "Great then we'll get to it…"

"What exactly are you going to do?" Shoto asked narrowly.

The elf boy opened his arms, grinning. "Just going to talk to some good friends and make a few deals. Nothing to worry your muddy little head about."

Shoto blinked at him, but couldn't seem to find a response to that.

Katsuki didn't care for the idea of trusting something like this to those two skeevy elves, but they were scampering off on their featherlight feet before he could inquire further about their planned deviancies. He'd have yelled after them, but he had to keep a low profile, especially at a spot like this where he was known to frequent.

"Just go ask for a couple rooms," Katsuki tugged the hood closer to his face when he recognized a few people passing by, "The elf left you with money didn't he?"

Nana tapped the pouch Denki had given her, but cocked her head at the Captain. "What will you do?"

Katsuki clicked his canines together a few times like he was testing them. "I have to speak to the Lord. His son is dead. He should hear how it happened from me."

Nana nodded, lowering her eyes in understanding, but the little shit next to her just frowned at him.

"I thought you were keeping a low profile," he huffed, "If he knows you're here, he'll assign you another post or something. You won't be much good to us then."

It wasn't a bad point and that was the most annoying part about it. But he knew Lord Sorahiko well and he felt confident that not only was this the right thing to do, but that he could appeal to the Lord correctly to be able to continue this mission. Someone like Shoto wouldn't understand that though. A shitty mage like him didn't have the slightest clue what it was like to have mutual respect with a superior.

"Don't start fretting you dickweed," Katsuki sneered, "Just worry about your damn rock and leave handling Dawnfeldens to me."

Shoto's mouth opened to be a pissant again, but Nana cut them both off, taking Shoto's shoulder and encouraging him to follow her into the pub and leave Katsuki to his business.

With all of that out of the way Katsuki slipped away from the pub and made his way up through the center of town. He ran into no resistance from the guard except surprise and unwanted questions about what happened at the fronts. He gave the shortest and curtest responses he could and took the familiar trek through the keep to the war chambers of Lord Sorahiko.

The Lieutenant's messenger arrived before Katsuki as he expected it would. When the Lord entered the room, parchment in hand, Katsuki felt the very weight of its every word on his face..

Lord Sorahiko was an old man, a man who'd lived through many summonings and had outlived hundreds of the men who rode to war with him. But he never seemed like an old man until that moment, until he looked Katsuki in the face and knew without a shadow of a doubt that his son was dead, that Lord Kan would not be returning.

The Lord fell hard into his chair, face in his hands. "Did he at least die honorably, Katsuki?"

The Captain's throat tightened. He couldn't tell him that he wasn't even there. That he didn't know. That he wasn't at his Commander's side when their armies were overwhelmed. For the sake of the weary old man, learning that his favorite son was gone, he would simply have to lie.

"He held the hoard to his dying breath," Katsuki said, knowing that part wasn't a lie, that it's what the Lord Commander would have done, "He honored his family and he honored Dawnfell."

The words he'd said to Shoto days ago stabbed his mind. "There's no honor in death", he had said. He still believed it, but suddenly he didn't want to. For the man he respected so much he hoped beyond hope that there was truly some honor to be found in dying for the noble cause of protecting Dawnfell and Gaetha.

Katsuki went on to explain to the Lord that a Blood Mage had lifted a barrier at the encampment to hold the Demon army away; it was simply something he couldn't lie about. The approaching armies would discover that truth soon enough anyway, but to save his own skin he told the Lord that he killed the Blood Mage, that he'd done his duty. It burned him to lie about that. He knew that in the end letting the mage live was staying strongest to his oath, holding fast to his true duty as a Dawnfelden; to end Summonings and protect others from Demons. But to the onlooking eyes it would only translate to one thing: "traitor".

When the Lord finally heard the full report and had calmed himself enough to speak like the noble he was, he stood and placed a hand on Katsuki's shoulder. It was a fatherly hand, the sort Katsuki hadn't known since his childhood, since the last time he'd seen his own father. It felt wrong, like he was standing where Lord Kan should somehow, like he was taking something that didn't belong to him.

"Take some time to rest, Captain," he said, "You've seen too much...I've seen these things myself and they are not to be taken lightly. We will have to re-rally, form up our secondary forces. I need you back out there...you're the best Dawnfell has."

Katsuki grimaced. "I can't, my Lord."

Lord Sorahiko dropped his hand. "What do you mean?"

Katsuki grit his teeth. This was the hard part.

"I have something I have to do first," he said, "I can't lead your army until it's done."

The Lord was surprised, both hairy gray eyebrows raised. "You're turning down a promotion? An order?"

Katsuki clicked his teeth.

"Never. I'm asking for time. That mage said the barrier would hold a month...give me that much time and then I'll return, you'll need it to gather troops and train them anyway and you don't need me that."

There was skepticism painting the Lord's face, but he considered it. Katsuki didn't know what to expect from him, especially not after he had just received such devastating news, but the trust in the Lord's eyes said more than words possibly could.

"This is very irregular and I'd prefer an explanation," the Lord frowned, "But I know you too well to think you would ask for such a thing without good reason, Katsuki."

"I can't tell you what I need to do, but it's for Dawnfell, for all of us…" Katsuki said, "When I return I will tell you everything and you can do with me what you will, but for the sake of Dawnfell and the whole damn world you need to let me do this. We may be able to change the tide before it even comes to another fight."

Lord Sorahiko sat back again and shook his head, "And yet you refuse to tell me what this all important mission is."

Katsuki stiffened from his pinched eyes to his flexed feet, face directed to the floor. "If I told you you would stop me."

"Seems like all the more reason to make you tell me then," the lord huffed air through his nose and Katsuki braced himself for the order that he was certain would follow, the one that compelled him to tell everything or face consequences. But instead the Lord looked down at the already crumpled parchment, the report that told of his son's death, and swallowed hard.

"He trusted you and so do I," Lord Sorahiko sighed, blinking away a stray tear, "Even as a boy you impressed my family. You're more Dawnfelden than any man I've ever known and I've seen them all, Katsuki. If you say you have to do this then I trust you know what you're doing."

He turned to Katsuki, taken aback by the Lord's words. He inhaled deeply, filling his chest and straightening his shoulders, bolstered by the confidence that the Lord had in him.

"The rest of this war will be short, I promise you that," Katsuki lifted his nose, steeled and feeling strong again.

Lord Sorahiko nodded. "I expect you at the Dawnwest barracks ready to lead our march in one month on the mark. If you arrive even a moment late I'll have you court martialed and discharged, is that clear?"

Katsuki flashed his teeth, somewhere between a grin and a grimace, dropping his head in a bow and internally praying to every power that those damn mages could actually pull this off.

He repeated the short words most often coined by his fellow soldiers from their Dawnfelden creed with an ironic huff. "Come demon or damnation."