Chapter 3
Lovely Oddities
It's 2:00 in the morning, I am listening to the Harry Potter soundtrack and I have work tomorrow morning but when you feel like writing you can't stop until you finish. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter! The chapters after this will start to get more interesting, I'm sorry that chapters 2 & 3 are kind of more exposition but I wanted to make this story as well developed as possible! Have a great day everyone! I love all of the comments everyone is leaving, thank you so much! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
Izuku and his mother walked along a wooded gravel drive leading to a nice log cabin that was tucked neatly into the embrace of the surrounding trees. The sun was warm and bright, its rays shining through the tree leaves in a way that left little dapples all over the small pebbles on the driveway. The pair walked in silence up to the house, a slight bit of tension hanging between them, a mix of fear and worry about the other person. Ever since the visit to the hospital, Inko Midoriya had been extra protective of her son, calling or texting him all the time and staying up late at night, unable to fall asleep with the fear of a dragon sneaking in to steal her boy away. Izuku had started to worry about her almost as much as she worried about him. The lack of sleep and the stress of the anxiety from the attack was starting to have a negative impact on her health. Izuku glanced at his mother as they walked, the rocks crunching beneath their shoes, and let out a sigh.
"Mom I really am okay. I know you are worried and I understand why, you have every right to be, but I'm worried about you now. You look too tired," Izuku draped one arm around his mother's shoulder.
"I know that sweetie, the doctor would not have cleared you if you had not been physically and mentally stable with the current situation but I can't help being anxious! Sometimes I just forget how dangerous the world is and when you almost lose someone you love…" She wrapped one of her arms around Izuku's shoulders and pulled him closer to him, their legs almost tangling as they continued to walk down the winding path.
"Well, hopefully, this therapist can settle both of our anxieties, that way you won't have to worry so much. Neither of us will have to," Izuku said, gesturing to the cabin.
"Me too, Izuku. Me too…"
They finally reached the end of the drive and knocked on a pair of beautifully handcrafted walnut doors, breaking apart from each other but still holding each other's hands. To their surprise, the door flew open just a few short seconds after they had knocked, almost as if the resident of the house had been standing at the entrance to wait for them to arrive.
"Welcome to my home!"
To say that she looked odd was a little bit of an understatement. The woman standing at the entrance of her cabin was taller than both of the Midoriyas with long ivory hair that had been fashioned into one fishtail braid going down the back. Her eyes were a pretty deep brown and her skin was an even mix of pale and a light brush of a spring tan. It was what she was wearing that caught the Midoriyas by surprise. The woman was wearing a set of ashen combat leathers that complimented her hair with a slight gray contrast between the two. At the waist of her gray pants was a black leather belt that held an assortment of items such as a dead fish, a hammer, a shield, and a strange looking green root. Her hands were covered by heavy black gloves and around her neck, she wore a necklace of small bones. Despite this, the strangest part about her appearance was not the necklace of bones or strange combat gear but the large white and gray eagle that sat on her shoulder. Not waiting for an introduction from the pair of startled guests, the woman stepped to the side and gestured them inside with a bright smile on her face.
"Please feel free to make yourselves at home here, I've got tea on the stove right now that will be ready in just a few minutes," the woman followed them into the living room before departing into the kitchen. She came back a moment later holding a small tray of tea and some baked treats. She bent down and placed the tray on a wooden handcrafted table and the eagle on her shoulder took off silently, landing on a landing post on the other side of the room.
"Did you find the place okay?"
"Yeah it was no problem," Inko replied.
"Very good! My name is Haruka and I am here today to look over one of the few injuries my friend at the hospital wasn't able to properly diagnose, is that correct?"
"Yeah that's right," Izuku said, looking around at the surprisingly neat and pretty interior decor.
"Alright, what's your name? Izuku, right?"
Izuku nodded.
"Okay Izuku, give me a rundown of how you've been feeling and then we will take a look at the injury shall we?"
"Sure!" Izuku thought for a moment. "I don't really feel any pain in my hand anymore but I feel pain everywhere else. It is a really dull pain, to the point of me almost being able to ignore it but it is still there. It flares up sometimes though, I just feel pain everywhere in my body. It wakes me up at night sometimes. I also have been having these really weird dreams where I am in the dragon's body, the one that attacked me as if I am living in the dragon's life and all of the dreams are always full of terrible pain and horror."
Haruka nodded and wrote some things down on a notepad she had pulled out of a hidden pocket of hers.
"Any other issues or symptoms?"
"Well… yes actually. I feel like my senses have been heightened. Even just walking to your house today, I felt comfortable under the trees even though a forest is where I was attacked. I feel like my sense of smell and sight has been magnified, my hearing too so that I can experience things a split second before my friends and family do."
Haruka looked up at him for a moment, her eyes meeting his before she dropped her gaze and continued to scribble some things down.
"Thank you Izuku that was very helpful! Are you comfortable with showing me your hand where the injury is?"
Izuku nodded and held up his hand. His other hand shook as he reached over to pull off the glove he had been wearing to cover the mark, his nerves suddenly skyrocketing. He didn't know what was wrong with him, he felt like he was revealing a part of himself that he shouldn't, like taking off all of his clothes in public. Even so, he swallowed the strange feeling and ripped off the glove, turning his palm around so that Haruka could take a look. Haruka studied his hand for a moment, even taking it in her hands and feeling it with her surprisingly soft fingers. The eagle on the stand nearby ruffled its feathers and cawed, shaking its head and prancing in place before finally settling once more.
"Alright, Izuku can I be straight forward with you?"
Izuku nodded.
"And Mrs. Midoriya can I also be straight with you?"
"Yes."
"Okay good," Haruka took a deep breath and looked at them both in the eyes. "It is a brand, young Midoriya. It happens sometimes when a dragon is in serious danger and it needs to escape a situation fast but also doesn't want to lose something that it wants or needs. My doctor friend told me that you thought this dragon was a Night Fury? Those dragons are renowned for their intense intelligence which means that the dragon that attacked you could have very easily decided to save you for a later meal by marking you so that it could find you again."
Inko Midoriya gasped and Izuku felt all of the blood rush out of his head leaving his face a pale and sweaty mess.
"W-What?"
"Don't panic young Midoriya. I know it is scary but don't worry, the brand doesn't last forever and the dragon will soon lose interest. Also, if it is a Night Fury, that thing will be hunted from every corner of the earth and will have no ability to get anywhere near the city," Haruka sat back with a sigh and scratched her neck. "Even so, I want you to be very careful. Don't go walking alone at night, stay with friends and family during the day, and never let your guard down. As I said, you should be fine but your safety is as much my priority as it is your mother's so I want to make sure you know every precaution before you leave here, alright?"
"Alright. Thank you so much or your help."
"It was no problem at all young Midoriya, and while you are out living your life, I will order a new type of medication for you that will help you get rid of the brand faster alright? It should also get rid of the weird dreams and constant pain."
"Thanks again," Inko Midoriya said, tears threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. "We will see you in a few weeks."
"I look forward to it!" Even the eagle cawed at them as the pair walked out of the cute but strange little cabin and out into the forest.
