Journey to the Past
Chapter 5: Train Wreck
"Excuse you…" Kirishima grunted as a man walked briskly by. "We're all on the same train going in the same direction, what's he in such a hurry for?" He opened the door to the cabin and walked in. He glanced at the other faces in the room and scowled. "No luck?"
"Nope, I looked up and down for Midoriya but no sign of him. I hope he didn't go into someone else's cabin by mistake?" Denki sighed.
"Maybe we missed him, he does blend in really easily. Let's try again." Kirishima suggested and glanced up as Iida walked briskly down the hall. "Hey, any luck?"
"No, and there's worse news. I just came from the Royal Car and Lord Todoroki has gone missing as well."
"Shoto's missing?" Denki let out an aggravated sigh. "Oh man, now we've got two MIAs."
"Well, hey, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe the two of them are together and are catching up."
" just what kind of Fairy Tail life are you living in, Kirishima?" Denki frowned. "What are really the odds of the two of them being in the exact same place at the exact same time?"
~Meanwhile~
Todoroki stirred from his hiding spot, having fallen asleep among the duffle bags and suitcases. He'd snuck out after one of his father's meetings, duffing his "commoner" disguise of a simple long sleeve shirt, trench coat, dark trousers with suspenders and a newsboy cap. After making his way through the various cars he finally found the baggage car, and made himself a nice little bed before taking a much needed snooze.
"Hey! Come on this isn't funny! Please let me out!"
"Hmmmm?" Todoroki sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The baggage car was dark, and he could barely make out the figure banging on the door. "Who's there?"
Deku let out a small little gasp, and whirled around at the voice. He saw the figure rising up from the suitcases and gingerly making their way over.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize anyone else was in here. You wouldn't happen to have a key for the door would you?"
"Fraid not." Shoto gently brushed him aside and tried the door for himself. "YCrap… it is locked. So much for getting something to eat."
"I'm sorry. I guess the conductor locked me in here because he thought I was a stow away… which he's not entirely wrong." Deku poked his fingers together sheepishly. "I'm starting to wish that I'd stayed in Alderra."
"You and me both." Todoroki sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Well, sooner or later someone will come looking for us, or we'll reach our destination and they'll let us out. . we might as well get comfortable."
"I guess you're right." Deku smiled and extended his hand. "My name is Deku, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," Todoroki took his hand. "You can call me Shoto."
"Shoto?" Deku paused over the name. "You have same name as Lord Enji's son."
"Uh… yeah…" Todoroki inwardly cursed himself. "You can just call me something else if you'd like."
"Why? It's your name, after all." Deku beamed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shoto."
Shoto looked at that beaming smile, and was grateful that the dark prevented him from being blinded by its brilliance and purity.
"So what made you decide to get on this train?" Shoto inquired. "It must mean a great deal if you're willing to sneak aboard."
"Well I didn't exactly sneak…" Deku laughed, scratching his cheek. "You see, my friend Kacchan got turned into a dog by a wizard… when I was told there was someone in Tattooin who could help him."
"There's wizards and whatnot a lot closer in Alderra. You don't have to go all the way to Tattooin for one."
"Well…" Deku fidgeted. "There's another reason I'm going but I'm boy really supposed to talk about it."
"I see, forgive me for prying." He bowed his head in apology.
"Oh no, it's okay. Really!" Deku waved his hands around. "It's nice having someone to talk to. I didn't have many friends growing up aside from Kacchan do this is nice."
"Mmm same," Todoroki smiled. "Most of my friends I met through my father or my work. Though I do enjoy their company I can't help but feel there is this barrier between us."
"What do you mean?" Deku pulled his legs up to his chest.
"It's like talking to someone through a thin sheet of glass." He reached his hand out towards him. "You can hear each other, see each other… but there's still this wall separating you." He brushed the air, his voice becoming pained. "It's… frustrating."
"Then why don't you just break the glass?" Deku reached his hand out, pressing his palm against Shoto's. "If the barrier is that thin, then it shouldn't take much effort to smash right through it."
Shoto stared at the shadowed figure in front of him, his breath catching as the feel of their palms meeting brought heat to his cheeks. He started to speak but then heard a loud tipping bark from outside the door.
"Kacchan?" Deku stood up, the door rattling as someone on the other side jiggled the handle.
"Man, it's really welded down. Stand back, I'll break it down." Kirishima's muffled voice came from the other end. The door jerked and broke apart into splinters as Kirishima rammed right into and then collapsed onto a pile of suitcases.
Bakugou bounded in after him, leaping on top of his backside and then growled at Deku.
"There you are you damn nerd! How dare you up and vanish like that?"
"My bad, Kacchan." Deku picked him up and laughed. "Thanks for coming to rescue me though."
"Uh… a little help here?" Kirishima grunted from his spot under the suitcases. Deku frantically offered his hand.
"Oh, Sorry Kiri-"
"Shima…" Todoroki looked at Deku confused, having held his hand out as well for his fallen friend. The dim light coming from the other car gave him enough of a look to see the rich green eyes and mop of curly green hair hiding under the oversized hat. "Izuku?"
"LORD Shoto?" Deku blushed and dropped Bakugou to his feet.
"Oh hey, you were right Kirishima!" Denki poked his head in and helped Kirishima up. "The two of them were together."
"Thank goodness we found you both." Iida joined them as well. "Lord Enji is-"
Iida barely got the words out before a fiery explosion rippled from behind them. The baggage car broke apart from the rest of the train and everyone jerked around as the train picked up speed.
"HOLY SHIT!" Denki stumbled into a box. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know but there goes the dining car." Kirishima helped Iida and pat out the fire from his clothes.
"GET OFF ME DEKU!" Bakugou complained as both Deku and Shoto squished him underneath their combined weight.
"I'm trying…" Deku shifted under Shoto, the two of them bumping heads and looking into each others eyes again. "Sorry."
"It's… okay." He helped Deku up, a million questions going through his mind, but then stepped over to the door leading to the engine. "Okay, that can't be normal."
"Looks like somebody's trying to flambe' our engine." Denki poked his head beside Shoto. "Someone should go check on the driver."
"I'll do it." Kirishima brushed past them and tossed his cloak at Denki. "Wait here, and I'll check it out."
"Be careful man!" Kaminari called up and looked around. "We're going WAY too fast. Whoever hijacked the royal car must be trying to put some distance between it and the connected cars."
"Why only the baggage car though?" Todooki questioned. "If they were smart they would have broken the connection directly from the royal car and separated it from everyone."
"Maybe he couldn't gain access to it?" Iida thought… but Deku had another idea.
"This is all my fault…" Deku whispered, recalling the conductor who had tossed him in the car. "You guys shouldn't be here." Deku said it louder, rising to his feet.
"What are you saying, Deku?" Kaminari glanced over curiously.
"The man who locked me in here. He called it my private car… and he called me your majesty. He must think I'm Prince Izuku, It'stoo, and is trying to kill me. You're all in grave danger." He breathed a little heavier, tears filling his eyes.
"Calm down you damn nerd, stop jumping to conclusions." Bakugou barked, and yipped a little when Kirishima leapt from the coals.
"The conductor is dead!" Kirishima patted his arms down, the winter winds paired with the wicked heat from the engine causing him to shudder and sweat. "No one's driving the train, and the engine is getting way too hot. We're gonna have to jump off before this thing goes off the rails."
"Did you say jump?!" Kaminari gulped as Kirishima pushed opened the side door. Everyone looked out and down the side.. The drop not looking pleasant. "Welp, after you buddy." He tried to laugh it off."
"Wouldn't it just be easier to uncable the car?" Deku suggested.
"Great idea! Iida, Kaminari, help me with this." Kirishima went right to work, and Bakugou leapt from Deku's arms to bark and hurry over to them.
"It's not your fault." Todoroki told Deku suddenly catching his attention. "My father and I had always planned for something like this to happen. There are a lot of people who don't want there to be another royal family… so they do what they can to end the legacy. If they hadn't gone after you first, they may have still gone after me and my father."
"I still don't feel good about all this…" Izuku jerked as the train took a turn and he fell against Todoroki's broad chest. "Sorry!"
"Are you really him?" Todoroki gripped his shoulders, pulling him back a little to look him in the face. "Are you really Prince Izuku?"
"I… don't know how to answer that." Deku shifted his gaze away. "Your friends certainly seem to think so… and they're not wrong in that theres a lot of similarities between me and the prince. I just…" He held his heart closing his eyes. "I don't-"
"SHIT!" Kirishima held up the broken ax. "That's welded good… come on there's gotta be something better that we can use!"
"Idiot, just blow the damn thing up!" Bakugou rummaged through a box and picked up a stick of dynamite between his teeth. "Here!"
"Kacchan, spit that out, that's dangerous!" Deku fluttered with worry.
"No wait, that outta work!" Kirishima snagged the TNT grinning. "That's man!"
"Humph! A man with guts!" Bakugou's tail lifted up tall and proudly.
c
"Everyone back up and take cover!" Kirishima lit the fuse and then snagged Bakugou on the fly as he ducked behind a large pile of suitcases. Todoroki crouched and pulled Izuku closer to him curling his body protectively over his to shield him from harm. Kaminari held his ears, and Iida said a little prayer before the explosion rippled and half the top of the baggage car flew off as the engine roared ahead leaving them behind. "YES ALRIGHT!"
"Iida hit the brakes!" Todoroki ordered and tossed off his trench to put out the small fires that had started.
"The brakes are out, Lord Todoroki!" Iida proclaimed as he tightened the wheel as hard as he could until it came clean off. "Blast it!"
"Relax you guys, we've got plenty of track. Without the engine tugging us we'll just coast to a stop." Kaminari assured, feeling relieved now that they weren't attached to the burning death trap.
"Uh… Kaminari-kun." Deku tapped his shoulder and pointed ahead. Denki looked in the direct Izuku was pointed and his eyes popped wide open as the bridge ahead slowly started to disintegrate before their eyes. "Oh you've GOT to be kidding me!"
"I may have an idea…" Deku grabbed up a hook and chain he found lying on the cabin floor. "Help me with this, Kaminari-kun." Deku pulled the chain with him to the other end of the car and shimmied himself through the grate. Kaminari started to follow but another jerk of the car sent him and iida tumbling into each other and into a large crate.
"You idiots!" Bakugou barked. "Get off your asses and help Deku before he hurts himself!"
"Kirishima, take over." Todoroki handed off his coat and scooted around the tanged bodies and boxes. "I'll help Izuku with whatever he's planning."
"You got it, boss!"
"Kaminari-kun!" Unaware of what was happening up top, Deku reached his hand out for the chain. "Pass me the-" he drifted off as Todoroki poked his head out and offered the chain and hook to him. "You're not Kaminari."
"He's a little tied up at the moment, I'm afraid you'll have to make do with me." He told him with a frown and placed the chain in his hand. Deku took it and tied the chain good and tight under the rigging. His grip started to loosen a little as the grate shifted with the next bump, and Todoroki snagged him by the wrist pulling him up before he could fall.
"You okay?" He asked, the two of them extremely close, eyes meeting, and breaths tangling together.
"Y-Yeah, WHA!" Deku jerked his head as he saw the grate he'd been holding onto go crashing against a tree, splintering the wood. "Holy whoa."
"To think that could have been you." Todoroki helped him all the way to his feet and turned his back to him. Flustered, but grateful, Deku rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand to hide his embarrassment.
"If we live through this… remind me to thank you."
"Hmmm…" Todoroki couldn't resist smiling at him. "If we live through this, I'll be asking you for more than just a thank you."
"Eh?" Izuku blinked in confusion
"Whatever you're gonna do Deku, do it now! We're almost at the bridge!" Bakugou yelped, and bounced atop a suitcase.
"Right! Everyone brace yourselves!" Deku picked up the chains and tossed them out the back of the car. The hook snagged onto the track and jerked them off track and flipped the entire car sideways.
"WHOA! Hey it worked! The car is slowing down!" Deku stumbled back to his feet and grabbed Todoroki's hand, helping him up as well. "Let's jump off now while we still have time!"
"You heard the man!" Iida hefted up their luggage and tossed it out into the snow. "This is our stop! GERONIMO!" Iida leapt out, followed closely by Deku, Todoroki, and the others.
Luggage scattered all over as the train went into a final skid and then plummeted off the cliff following the engine. The explosion erupted, flames and smoke rising up in a terrifying pillar.
Safely buried in the snow, Kirishima rose up to assess the situation and search for his comrades.
"Is everyone okay?" He called out with concern. He saw Bakugou half buried in the snow, his hind legs kicking around erratically as he tried to prop himself up and out. Kirishima plucked him up and helped him brush the snow off.
"BLEGH! I HATE TRAINS!" He snarled but then went a low grumble as Kirishima soothingly pet him. "I'M NEVER GETTING ON ANOTHER TRAIN FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE!"
"Wooo! We're alive!" Kaminari shot up out of the snow like a big bright yellow daisy. "I can't believe we actually survived that! That was crazy!"
"Indeed…" Iida adjusted his glasses as he made his way to the rest of his comrades. "Luckily we were able to avoid suffering any casualties."
"Hey, where's the Prince and Lord Todoroki?" Kaminari scanned the snow. "YO! OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE!"
"LORD SHOTO?! DEKU!?" Kirishima called out and rubbed the back of his head. "That's weird, we jumped pretty much all at the same time. They shouldn't have been too far from us."
~meanwhile~
Todoroki groaned as hr pulled himself out of a bush. In the distance he could hear his comrades call out, but his primary concern was with the figure that lay unconscious on the ground beside him.
"Izuku?" He stroked a hand over his face then gave it a light pat. "Hey, Izuku, come on get up! Izuku!"
Deku stirred, his vision blurring as the voice shifted and warped. For a minute he thought he saw a man with flaming red hair and intense blue eyes.
"You cannot stay here, boy. You need to run. Run as fast and as far away from here as you can. Go!"
"...but I cant go…" Izuku murmured half awake. "He needs me… I can't leave him alone."
"They'll kill you if you stay. If you want to protect him, you have to run!"
"Mnnng…. But i made a promise that I-" Izuku murmured as the images in his head began to fade… the cold suddenly gave way to heat and Izuku gasped as he jerked upward and into Shoto's arms.
"Whoa! Hey!" Shoto gripped his shoulders to steady him. "It's okay, you're okay."
"Heat… there was fire." Izuku rubbed his face, still feeling the warmth and looked around at the blizzarding snow. "What happened?"
"We jumped off a train, and you hit your head on a tree branch as you came out." Shoto gently rubbed a thumb over the bruise that was forming at Izuku's temple. "Nothing major, but I got worried when you didn't wake up right away."
"Oh… OW!" Izuku winced when he pressed fingers on it. "Yeah that really did hurt. Where are the others?"
"I heard them calling our names, but I lost track of what direction they were going because I was worried about you." He stood up and offered a hand. "We'll find them together, and figure out what to do from there."
"I know what we need to do. We need to find some shelter. I'm freezing." Izuku hugged himself, dancing in place before shimmying out of the brush.
"Oh, there they are!" Kirishima turned around when he heard the movement and waved. "Hey! You guys okay!"
"Yeah! We're fine!"
"Great, Iida found some kind of shed where we can camp out for the night. In the morning we'll wrack our brains and figure out how we're getting to Tattooin." He jerked a thumb towards the makeshift path in the woods.
"Good idea, I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted." Izuku sighed and gasped feeling around for his belongings. "My bag! My journal"
"No worries, man." Kirishima pulled off one of the bags from his shoulders and handed it to him. Izuku opened it and let out a sigh of relief to see the journal still inside.
"Thank goodness." He hugged it to his chest smiling. "Alright, let's get out of this snow."
"Good idea, you coming, Todoroki, or yah gonna hang out in the snow awhile?"
"I'm right behind you. I'm gonna see if there's anything else we may have dropped." Todoroki waved his hand, and slowly trailed behind them, his eyes lowering as he pulled out the slip of paper from his pants pocket and opened it up. He held the drawing up and out side by side with Izuku's walking form and smiled. "It really is you… now I can finally fulfill my promise, and help make you the best king there ever was."
~Ask Briry~
Bri: I'm bouncing a little between canon and non-canon content, but I'm hoping you guys like the extra criteria.
Next Chapter: Introductions and Explanations
