I only own my OC and the plot of this here story. All characters and locations in the MHA world are property of Kōhei Horikoshi. Star Wars is owned by Disney. Enjoy the new chapter!
Binding the Galaxy Together
Chapter 14 – Island of Pain
Inside the Dragon's Lair agency building, an alien was sleeping soundly in the bed being lent to her by the dragoon hero with her droid on standby mode a few feet away. The full belly she got from eating at Izuku's house certainly was a huge factor in getting her tired. Inko could cook some tasty food but boy did it bring on a food coma something strong. So when Ryukyu and her got back to the building last night, Camilla retired early to her room to meditate for a little longer before she went to sleep.
She tried to go back into the vision she had from before to try and make some more sense of it but alas she was unable too. Only eighteen out of those twenty figures had solid shape to them and didn't look like floating masses of gas. One of them was clearly Izuku with lights on him like All Might which she didn't understand. If he was quirkless, then how could he suddenly have any bit of semblance to something like All Might's burning power? Speaking of burning, the other one with the clear shape had her confused too. With the red and white light in his heart and the heat and cold hitting her at the same time. Camilla couldn't make heads or tails of it. All of her intense confusion only multiplied when the voice of her lost master could be heard, telling her to trust them. How? How was she supposed to trust nineteen other people she hadn't met before? Her mind raced with all these questions over and over again. Confiding in R3 didn't really do any good. The droid just told her what she had been trying to tell herself; to not think too much about it. The astro droid was right but it didn't make her feel any better. When she finally laid her head down on the pillow of the bed and felt sleep take her, she hoped for the best. She may not trust a bunch of people she doesn't know yet, sans Izuku, but she did trust the word of Master Morlev, alive or dead.
The noise in the building was silent for the most part throughout the night allowing any and all who were residing there to sleep in calm peace. Ryukyu was up a few levels on the penthouse of her building sleeping while Camilla slept softly on the intern floor. The sun would be rising soon and the day could get started then.
*WHAM!*
"Wake up, Martian Girl!"
"GAAAAH!"
*THUD*
The sudden noise and the loud voice brought Camilla to an unexpected state of consciousness and caused her to roll out of bed. She shot back up to her feet and whirled around pulling with the Force a lightsaber and turned it on.
*PSSSSHHHHHEEEWWW!*
The green colored blade ignited from the hilt and bathed the room in a dim glow of the same color. Through that glow, the now present Mirko could make out what Camilla had on. Pajamas were on the Jedi's body, no doubt left behind by Nejire seeing as how they were a little long on Camilla's arms and legs.That combined with the mess her hair was in, the bit of drool coming from her lower lip, and the green all powerful sword in her hand, it just made the sight in front of the rabbit hero all the more hilarious. Mirko did nothing to hold back her laughter.
"Bwahahahaaaaaaahahahaha! Oh! Oh wow, kid! That's just! Aaahahaaahahahahaaa!"
Realizing now the "threat" in her room was Mirko, Camilla switched off her lightsaber while R3 beeped in annoyance behind her. The Padawan was thankful Mirko couldn't understand the droid's speech because she was agreeing with every word her metal friend was saying right now regarding the buff hero.
"What's going on?" She asked only half awake. "Did something happen?"
Mirko stood back up straight getting the last of her laughter out before dropping a duffel bag at Camilla's feet.
"Get dressed and ready. We're leaving in ten." Her tone went from teasing to serious alarmingly quick.
"Leaving? And going where?" Camilla asked.
"I'll tell you that when we're headed there. I'll be waiting outside."
Camilla didn't get a chance to get in another word before Mirko turned and left the room so the teen could change in privacy. Confused was just one word to describe how she felt right now. The others mostly were tired, hungry, and a wee bit frightened by how much excitement she could feel coming off Mirko when she was in the room. It did make Camilla think that keeping her waiting was probably not a good idea. Leaning down, she opened up the duffel bag put in front of her and felt around inside it. Grabbing what was on the top and pulling it out she recognized the feeling of that fabric anywhere. These were her Jedi robes. And judging by their fresh smell, they were in fact much cleaner and fresher than they had ever been before. It was nice. But no time to focus on that. Mirko was outside and the clock was ticking. She pulled out each item of her Jedi outfit one by one before she took her borrowed pajamas off.
Mirko wasn't known for being patient. She thought ten minutes was giving her too much time. Twiddling her thumbs against the wall for that long when she could be doing something more productive was not something she liked at all. Hell she wasn't even one to take kids on and be their teacher. Teaching was for people who actually had patience to deal with smartass teens talking back thinking they knew better than the actual adults who had more experience. So why the hell was the alien girl the exception here? Why did she have to waste her day sparring with Camilla when she could be out sending her feet into the guts of some unlucky villain? Well there was a reason that Ryukyu and Tsukauchi had to remind her of. That being, she was one of the only ones who actually could. To get some outside help from another hero with a quirk similar to Camilla's powers would be too much of a hassle. Not to mention they weren't sure who was trustworthy. Some schmuck out there could just be looking for a quick way to get on the headlines and make their way up the rankings by saying they were the first hero to bring in an alien. No way was Mirko gonna let that happen. Camilla had been through enough thanks to the Clone Wars. Any who tried to turn her into a lab right would be on the receiving end of her kicks. So for now, they had to make do with training the girl with the powers they had. Between herself, Ryukyu, and Nejire on weekends when she could, there was a pretty well rounded set of powers to work with. Close combat, ranged, and bestial. All in all a lot could be done with those three alone.
The circle of who knew the truth about Camilla had to be kept small at least for now. Maybe it would grow in time but they had to take things one day at a time. Close to eight minutes passed and the door to the teen's room creaked open a bit and out she walked out fully dressed in her Jedi garb. The boots, tunic, robe, belt, and the red metal hilt of her weapon clipped to her side.
"Hold it."
Mirko held up a hand and stopped Camilla as she began to approach her.
"What?" The blind girl asked.
The rabbit hero pointed to the teen's belt, noticing the lightsaber on her one side. Only the one.
"Where's the other one?"
One of her hands went to her lightsaber as she assumed that's what Mirko was talking about. The Jedi pointed back to the door with her thumb.
"I left it in the room."
"Go get it."
"But it's not-"
"Go. Get. It."
The firmness in Mirko's voice, combined with Camilla not yet running on all cylinders left little room for argument. The teen wasn't sure why the rabbit hero was pushing her to bring both sabers but she had no energy yet to argue with her. So she went back to the room and retrieved her master's weapon. She returned to Mirko with two lightsabers clipped to her belt. Only then did Mirko seem satisfied.
"Alright. Now you're ready. Let's go."
Camilla didn't bother to ask where again. She figured the answer would be the same as before. So she kept quiet and followed Mirko to the elevator. When they were in, instead of hitting the down button, Mirko punched the up button to go up to the roof. Once they were there, they both stepped out onto the roof to find Ryukyu there waiting for them. Once the dragoon hero saw the two of them, she put a hand to her mask and transformed into her dragon body.
"Hop on. We gotta fly in order to get where we're going fast." Mirko told the Jedi.
Shrugging, Camilla hopped onto Ryukyu's scaly back with a Force jump like she did yesterday. Mirko was right behind her with a hop of her own. Both of them got settled and secured before Ryukyu took off. The crisp morning spring air was chilly against both the passengers' faces as Ryukyu got higher above the skyline. She kept flying out west near the beach where Camilla had crashed days before. Once she was there, she didn't stop. She kept going and flew out over the ocean. They had been flying for almost fifteen minutes now when Camilla finally tried to sense anyone or anything else below her as they flew. She got nothing. No signs of life or any structures. Usually that meant one thing. And it made her grip the cloth of Ryukyu's outfit a little tighter.
"Are we over water?!" She asked Mirko with her voice being lowered by the wind.
"Yeah!" Mirko shouted back. "It should only be a few minutes until we land!"
Camilla was thankful for that. Flying so openly over the ocean like this rather than in a fighter made her really nervous. There were reasons for that but one thing at a time. A few minutes passed and Mirko's words turned out to be true. Ryukyu descended and began to slow down. Up ahead, Camilla could sense…something getting closer. She wasn't sure what it was but it was indeed a small chunk of land that was coming up. A minute later, Ryukyu landed fully and Mirko hopped off. The Jedi was close to follow.
The impact her boots made on the ground and the way the soles felt gave Camilla one idea about what she was standing on. Kneeling down and running her hand across the ground confirmed it. Sand. She was standing on a beach. A small gust of wind caused her to raise a hand to protect her face as Ryukyu transformed back to her human form. When that was done, the Padawan stood back up to gauge her surroundings via the Force. She was indeed on a beach. The crashing waves she heard not far from her were a testament to that. At least it wasn't like Dagobah where there was trash everywhere. This one was all clean. In the other direction there was a wall and a small staircase leading up to higher ground. Mirko and Ryukyu were already walking towards it. Rejoining them, the three of them made their way up the stairs and to the level of the streets. When Camilla reached the top and looked around again, she was more than confused as to why the two pros brought her here of all places to train. This place looked like any common town.
Streets, buildings, parked cars, everything suggested to her that training here was not a good idea.
However, she couldn't see what Ryukyu and Mirko could.
What they saw were buildings streets that barely looked like roads anymore due to all the cracks in them. They saw buildings with cracked or missing walls and shattered windows. They saw cars that were so filthy and rusted with flat tires making them useless pieces of junk.
"Camilla, welcome to Mandalore Island."
The name caused the young Jedi to whip her head back to Ryukyu.
"Mandalore?" She repeated.
"Yes that's right. What's wrong?" Ryukyu was momentarily concerned about why the name caused the kid to look surprised.
"That's…there's a planet in my galaxy with the same name." Camilla shrugged. "Coincidence I guess….though that would make three."
She said that last part under her breath so the pros wouldn't hear her.
"Still though, why have you brought me here? Are you sure this is a good place to train?"
"Positive." Ryukyu answered. "Look closer. Do you sense any people around besides us?"
Camilla's thoughts fell as she turned back to the landscape her vision could only limitedly make out. She stretched out her feelings and searched for any signs of life but was able to find none nearby. A few birds near the beach but that was pretty much the extent of it. Then she used her ears. Other than the crashing waves, not a single sound could be heard. No voices, nothing in the distance, not so much as a cough or sneeze. Just the waves and the rustling of the vegetation that had grown onto and through the walls of the nearby buildings.
"There's no one here." She concluded.
"Yup!" Mirko confirmed it. "But don't worry. This place has been abandoned for decades."
Ryukyu nodded as she explained further.
"Many years ago, a billionaire bought this island in the hopes of making an exclusive island home for any who could afford to and profit off it becoming a tourist attraction. In the start it was pretty successful gaining some attention. People would come to visit and some weekends the hotels filled up. But it wasn't anywhere near as popular as they were hoping it would, especially since I-Island became a thing. Not to mention some of the weather conditions out in this part of the ocean weren't something people wanted to be near constantly. Eventually the island was condemned and everyone who lived here packed up and left. Ever since then it's been deserted. Everything left behind here, the buildings and whatnot have been subject to decades of decay and waste."
"No one gives a damn about it anymore and that works in our favor here." Mirko continued. "This island is the perfect training grounds for you with plenty of terrain to work with. Hell the park in the middle of the island is practically a forest now. No one around to get hurt, plenty of different obstacles to jump over, and more than enough heavy objects for me to kick at you."
"The excitement I felt from you when you said that last part has me very concerned, Miss Mirko." Camilla muttered out. "But isn't training here also dangerous? If the buildings really are in such disrepair like you said, then wouldn't training near them let alone on or in them be dangerous? What if they come down on us?"
"Well then it's a good thing we have a girl here who can move things with her mind." Mirko countered.
"I'm not strong enough to lift a whole building!" Camilla protested.
Ryukyu rested a hand on the Jedi's shoulder softly to ease her mind a bit.
"I can assure you, these buildings will stand. Even though some of them are falling apart, that's not from sheer force. They were built to keep standing in the middle of a hurricane. It's mostly from years of moisture damage and internal rot that makes the walls shrivel. And if you do accidentally knock one down, don't think too much on it. It's not like the government cares much about this place."
The relieved a little bit of weight off of Camilla's shoulders. She didn't want to just destroy this place without a care if it could be helped. But if it was something the government of this world really didn't care about or have any ideas for, then what would truly be the harm if a few things got damaged? Or at least more damaged than they already were? Looking around again and concentrating a bit harder to focus her vision, she could see a bit more of what the two pros were talking about. Buildings were probably not supposed to have this many trees untamed and growing into the windows. Unless aesthetic choice but on a deserted island, definitely not the case. All in all it did seem like a good choice for a training location. Plus it was out of the way of the urban area so people wouldn't stumble upon them by accident.
"Alright. So when do we-ACK! GYAAAH!"
*WHAM!*
Her question didn't even get out all the way before Mirko came up from behind and grabbed her by the hood of her cloak. The rabbit hero then proceeded to throw her into the wall of a nearby abandoned café that caused a cloud of dust to fall from the walls and roof. Ryukyu turned to Mirko to see her cracking her knuckles and then over to Camilla who was now on her knees and getting back up with a hand to her arm nursing where she impacted the wall.
"Rumi, don't go overboard." The dragoon hero requested. "Remember, this is training, not an actual fight."
"Barely a difference." Mirko responded. "I'll call you when we're ready to get picked up."
There was nothing Ryukyu could do now and she knew it. She could warn Mirko to take it easy on her but she knew her friend wouldn't do such a thing. Even if she did say she would, the moment she flew away back to the city, there was no real promise the white haired hero actually would do it. Ryukyu knew her too well. So with that, she left them to it.
"Train hard you two."
Those were her last words before she walked back to the beach, took on her dragon form again, and flew away. Camilla was back up on her feet now and looking towards Mirko with a scowl on her face.
"You sure do bank on cheap surprise attacks, don't you?"
"You're the one with the power to see things before they happen right? You should've seen that coming." Mirko laughed back at the girl.
Camilla frowned more because she knew the pro was right. Getting thrown like that should have been easy to avoid but she didn't.
"I'm not gonna lie, Martian Girl. I don't plan on taking things easy on you just because you're a kid. That doesn't take away from the fact that you're still an all powerful warrior girl with an amazing power and a couple of badass swords. Someone like you should be able to counter whatever someone like me could possibly throw at you."
As if to demonstrate, Mirko walked over to one of the broken down cars and readied her right leg. In a quick moment, she gave the car a harsh kick leaving a foot sized dent in the passenger door and sending it flying towards the Jedi. A small gasp escaped Camilla before she threw up both of her arms and stopped the car in midair with the Force. Again she was surprised by the newfound strength in her power this planet's energy seemed to be giving her. Catching that car did cause her to slide back a bit on the sidewalk but she still caught it and was holding it in the air. However…
*WHAM!*
That momentary lack of thought gave Mirko all the time she needed to close the gap between her and Camilla kick the car again. Even with this new boost to her Force abilities, she could feel the strain hard in her head and body when the rabbit hero's powerful foot kicked the object she was holding. She slid back again until her back was up against the wall of the abandoned café she had slammed into just seconds ago. Her grip on the car was loosening and it was getting closer to her, about to sandwich her between it and the wall. So Camilla pushed.
With as much strength as she could muster, she let out a cry of power and pushed out her arms and commanded the Force to push the car away from her. Which it did a little too much. The car was sent flying away from her and Mirko jumped over it right before it collided with her. Then the car crashed through the front door and windows of the vacant building across the street making an even bigger mess than there already was. With the car no longer in her grasp, Camilla saw the chance to jump away from the rabbit hero. She used her power to jump from the street and up to the roof of the café before sprinting off and jumping from roof to roof and try and put some space between her and the crazy rabbit woman. Mirko had no intention of letting that happen.
"Trying to jump away from me is a bad idea!"
Mirko immediately gave chase to the Jedi with her own powerful legs leaping up and after her. Camilla could hear her as she kept running and she had to admit this was a bad move on her part. The white haired hero could match her jump for jump. But she needed some time to think. Running wasn't exactly a time to think at her best caliber but it was still better than nothing at all. Mirko was gaining on her fast and her Force speed couldn't be used on the rooftops.
"Alright this is just training but she sure doesn't plan on making this painless. So what can I do? Maybe…wait. That's it! So simple!"
The Padawan made a hard right and jumped off the roof and landed on the street easily. When she turned around, she threw her cloak off and threw it aside showing her full grey tunic and called her lightsaber to her hand.
*PSSSSHHHHHEEEWWW!*
The green blade erupted out once more and the hum of the weapon was the only noise to be heard. Mirko came to a stop on the rooftop and looked down at the Jedi with a smirk on her face.
"Ooooohhhh. I see. Trying to keep me at a distance with the glow stick of death there. I can see why you'd think of that. Buuuuuut…"
Her response was a jump back down to the ground and kicking another car in Camilla's direction. Rather than use the Force to catch it, the Jedi jumped to avoid and it and sailed right beneath her before rolling on into the street. Before she landed her senses were going off in her head again. Before she could react she felt the harsh blow of a kick to her stomach. She was sent flying back to the ground and impacted harshly. Her lightsaber fell loose and turned off by itself as she rolled over a few more times. When she finally stopped, Camilla was barely able to get back to her knees when a pain in the side of her stomach stopped her from going any further. She clutched her side with one of her arms and struggled to move.
"Thinking I wouldn't get close to you just because you have a weapon was a stupid move."
Mirko's voice got closer along with her footsteps.
"Villains here on this world, they aren't always gonna get warded off by a weapon. They'll just charge in any way or try to overpower you from a distance. Shouldn't your master have taught you that?"
Camilla was kicking herself. Of course Master Morlev taught her that. Just knowing she let that lesson fall out of her head made her want to kick herself harder than Mirko just did. She just stayed in her spot on her knees and glared at the rabbit hero as she sensed her getting closer.
"I agreed to train you but I will hurt you while doing so. So I'm gonna fight you to beat you, kid. And that means-WHOA!"
*CRASH!*
Mirko just barely was able to dodge out of the way when a smaller car came flying at her from the side and smashed through the whole front wall of another building. Looking down, she saw Camilla with her other arm outstretched. Then she pulled it back and threw it forwards toward the descending rabbit. Mirko immediately felt a harsh push from the Force send her back a good distance. She was able to maneuver herself in the air so she landed and slid back on her feet.
"Rule one of war, Mirko."
Camilla was slowly getting back up with her other arm still at her side.
"Never approach your enemy slowly unless you know for sure they're down."
She reached her arm behind her and with a pull of the Force, her lightsaber back in her hand. The blade shot out of the top again and Mirko looked at her with an impressed smirk.
"You get back up. Good. That's really good. Every hero should be able to get back up no matter how much they've taken."
It was an impressive site, Mirko had to admit. The girl took a bad tumble but she got back up and even managed to push her back a bit. And she looked like she had every intention to fight through the pain. Only one thing about this look didn't sit right with her though. The other lightsaber wasn't in her other hand. She had two of those things. Why was she limiting herself to just one? Maybe a bit more harsh blows would get the answer out of her.
"Come at me, Jedi! Show me everything you got!"
Camilla registered Mirko starting to charge towards her with the full intent to give this all she had. The least she could do right now was give her the same. Gripping her sword tight, she charged forward ready to take the first steps that would make her master proud. When the gap was close to being nonexistent, both combatants jumped towards each other, one with a leg ready to kick and the other with her sword set to swing.
*BRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIING!*
Over at Aldera Junior High, the bell to release the kids from school for the day rang at 3:15 PM on the dot. As all the students funneled out the doors to head home, Izuku walked out holding onto the straps of his All Might themed backpack and headed for the gate expecting to see Camilla on the outside of it. He was excited to see his new friend all day today from the start at the beach throughout his classes. He wanted to talk to her more about the hero culture and society she apparently knew very little about. There was a lot to go over plus he wanted to ask a bit more about the whole meditation thing. When All Might was asked about it, the number one hero did mention clearing the mind could be a useful tool. But just so long as it didn't interfere with the regimen that was already in place.
As he walked out the front gate, Izuku saw the familiar head of ruby red hair over some of his classmates. He walked towards and waved to get her attention.
"Hey, Camilla! Ready to….what the…?"
His question died in his throat once he finally got a good full look at his friend. She was wearing the same robes from when he first met her but they looked a bit dirtier than he remembered. The cloak she was wearing over the rest of it seemed fine. He was fairly certain Camilla didn't have all those scratches and cuts on her head yesterday. What the hell happened to her in less than 24 hours to make her like this? She looked like she was leaning against the wall that made the gate as if needing support.
"Uuuuhhhhh…." Izuku couldn't form the question.
Camilla just waved him off, knowing what he wanted to ask.
"Let's just go." She said as she rubbed a hand to the side of her stomach.
"O-okay." Izuku replied.
As the two began to walk, of course the questions came.
"Alright so what the hell happened? Who did this to you? If you're too injured to walk I can just help you get back to Ryukyu's building." Izuku did look at her concerned as she rubbed her side.
Again, the young Padawan waved it off.
"No no. It's fine. I can walk to and from your place. Just uh…training today went a bit harsher than I thought it was gonna be."
Training? For U.A.? Of course that's what she was training for. It's exactly what he was doing with All Might. But what kind of training could have caused all this? Remembering who she was currently staying with brought an idea to Izuku's mind.
"Ryukyu? She did this?" He asked.
"Huh? No it wasn't her." Camilla answered her to put his mind at ease. "This was actually Mirko's work."
Izuku's brain began to process that. Mirko? He had heard that name before but where? He fished out his notebook and began to flip through the pages. He found the entry he was looking for near the back. It was one of his more recent entries in the book a few pages in front of Mount Lady. Mirko: The Rabbit Hero. Quirk: Rabbit. She's able to do anything a rabbit can such as use the enhanced muscles in her legs for high jumps and strong kicks as well as her ears and nose for heightened hearing and smell. A good well rounded power set for offense, defense, as well as search and rescue.
Izuku remembered seeing her on the news a while back ago when she made her first public appearance. The news cameras got some good footage of her jumping into a burning building and jumping out of it from a few stories up carrying some people with her to be treated for smoke inhalation. Her dark skin and toned muscles did well to offset the fluffy bunny appearance she had at first glance. She didn't really seem to be one for talking to the public though judging on how she avoided the cameras when the news people got closer to her. She just jumped away not wanting to talk to them.
"Mirko. Right. She's relatively new when it comes to the hero scene but…how did you meet her? And why did she do…this?"
It was a fair question. One that Camilla was ready to answer.
"Both she and Ryukyu are kinda in on my full situation with me being on my own. Both of them discovered me at the same time so they kinda took charge of me. So that means they're both training me up for U.A."
Izuku nodded thinking more about what the situation she talked about was but decided not to press it. If two pro heroes were already watching out for her, then he trusted it was being taken care of.
"Do you write everything you see about heroes in that notebook of yours?" Camilla asked.
"Yeah I do." Izuku answered.
"And you have an entry on Mirko?"
"I'm looking at it right now."
"Make a note that she might be a bit of a sadist. She was way too happy when she kicked me earlier."
Izuku didn't press for more after that. On Mirko at least. He still wanted to know exactly what she did in her training today.
"So is that what left you like this? Getting kicked by her?" Izuku gestured up and down her whole body.
"More or less." Was Camilla's start. "It was mostly just a fight that lasted for hours. At the end she told me she wanted to go like that just for today to see what needs sharpening and what doesn't. We had a little spar like that before but she wanted a better look."
Her mind flashed back to hours ago as the conversation rang in her head.
It was noon now and the sun was directly overhead. After hours of nonstop fighting, Mirko finally called for a break. The Jedi was more than ready for one as she felt she could barely stand up. Hours of dodging the rabbit's kicks and objects thrown at her, as well as using her saber to chop a few of them in half, it took a lot out of her. She had been in fights that lasted a long time in the war but never one that went this long against a single opponent. It was mostly hordes of battle droids and artillery that she and her master were able to take down with ease. Only very rarely did they come across an enemy that brought them into a drawn out fight. But even those didn't last nearly as long as what Mirko just put her through. Question remained though, why was it like this? Why weren't they just focusing on one thing at a time?
As she returned her lightsaber to the clip on her belt, Camilla plopped her butt down to the street and started to take a few deep intakes of air. Mirko just chuckled at the sight. Even with all that power and experience, she was still just a kid.
"So far so good, Martian Girl. I'm liking what I'm seeing."
"Will you please stop calling me that?" Camilla panted out. "And what exactly are you seeing? This has just been one long fight. You're not giving me any direction."
"Because I need to know what I have to work with."
The rabbit hero sat down on the ground next to her and crossed her legs.
"That little sesh we had on Ryukyu's roof gave me an idea but I wanted more info. And with a wider space out here, I could get that. Now I think I have. You got a lot more endurance and stamina than most kids your age. Your precision with your power is good but it can be better. So can your saber skills."
Her saber skills? Why were those being called into question here? Camilla ran a hand instinctively over the hilt of her weapon in response to the assumption Mirko made.
"How come you don't use the other one?"
That new question caused Camilla to remember she had a second one with her. Her master's. Her other hand went to the other side of her belt and she plucked the lightsaber that once belonged to Master Morlev off and into her grip fully.
"Because I don't know how." She responded. "This was my master's weapon, not mine. I just...I don't feel right using it."
That answer was not going to fly with Mirko. Camilla couldn't see it, but the white haired hero was frowning at that.
"I watched that final message of his back at the warehouse with you. Remember? Your master gave it to the tin can so the tin can could give it to you. Sounds to me like he wanted you to use it. And I agree with him. As long as you have two of those, you should learn to use them both and not limit yourself to just one."
"But I don't even know how to wield two sabers at once." Camilla would've been lying if the thought of using both her blade and her master's together didn't cross her mind once or twice since landing here. "I mean I have the holocron to learn the form but I wouldn't be able to see the hologram make the poses for me to follow along."
Mirko clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she remembered that Camilla, while able to see, couldn't make out everything with that Force vision of hers. If the Jedi already had a form down on dual wielding those swords, then Camilla should learn it. But how could she if she couldn't see the damn instructional holograms? Just another thing to add to the list she supposed.
"Well as far as I'm concerned kid, that sword in your hand isn't your master's anymore. It's yours. And as long as you got it, you might as well put it to good use."
But that would be down low on the list. Right now Mirko had near everything she needed to make a full assessment of the Jedi's abilities. She just needed a bit more.
"Ryukyu isn't gonna be back to pick is up for another couple of hours. We'll relax for a moment and then get right back to it until I see her on the horizon. Got it?
Camilla nodded and returned her master's saber to her belt once more before sitting cross legged and focusing her breathing.
As Camilla came back to the present time with Izuku next to her, she turned to him with a reassuring smile.
"Don't you worry about my training. I can take it. So how are things going with you and All Might?"
Turning his head in all directions, Izuku was careful to make sure no one else heard what he was about to say to his friend.
"It's going along well. I'm really thankful to have the number one pro as my mentor."
The two continued the conversation down the road to the Midoriya household. When they got there, Inko was happy to that Camilla came home with her son again. However when she saw the girl,
"OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?"
She rushed to the bathroom and came out with every medical supply she had on hand. Bandages, painkillers, emergency stitches, the whole works. Camilla found herself unable and kind of unwilling to fight against Inko as she dragged her to the couch and sat her down. She didn't even have a chance to take her boots off she was dragged away that fast.
"Mrs. Midoriya, please. I assure you it's not as bad as it looks. Day one of training just went a bit more intense than I was expecting it to."
The Jedi tried her best to calm her friend's mother down but that only seemed to make things worse.
"Ryukyu did this to you?! Oh when I see her again I'll-"
"No no no! Mom calm down! This wasn't Ryukyu!" Izuku was beginning to panic.
"It…it wasn't?"
Thankfully that seemed to help at least a little bit. Inko placed the medicine down next to Camilla on the couch and listened as she and her son explained to her what she went through over on Mandalore Island.
"Oh I see. So it was Mirko. Can't say I've heard much of her before. But I should say if I ever see her I'll give her a piece of my mind. Training or not, that was going to rough on you."
Camilla wasn't sure she fully agreed with that. Sure it was only the first day of training but intensive training like that was probably in both hers and Izuku's futures with U.A.'s lesson plan. So why would this be too rough? Plus the idea of Inko trying to tell off the muscular rabbit woman seemed too funny in her head.
Reluctantly, Camilla took one of the pain pills at the insistence of Inko and rested on the couch while Izuku went and got changed. When he came back out, he took a seat next to her and looked over her making sure nothing else was too badly damaged.
"Well you sure can take a hit. That's good I guess." He surmised.
His eyes then scanned over the robes she had on. Izuku had seen them before but never this up close. This outfit of hers, the cloak, the boots, the belt and the tunic, all of it together looked like some sort of hero costume. Only it didn't look to be the most durable. And the style gave off something more of a monk's outfit rather than a hero's suit. Was that her motif or something? Some kind of monk warrioress with a laser sword? Or rather two? Looking down at her belt again, Izuku noticed there was another piece of metal on the other side of her hip instead of just the one from yesterday.
"Did you always have two lightsabers?"
Camilla sighed a bit more than she meant for Izuku to see. Again with the other saber. First Mirko now him. Still though, it wasn't enough to stop her from showing him anyway. Holding out her hand and pulling with the Force, the saber jumped from her belt and slapped to her palm. Then she pressed the button down.
*PSSSSHHHHHEEEWWW!*
Just like the other one, Izuku sat back in awe as the blade of the lightsaber seemingly came out of nowhere and rested atop the hilt of it. The only thing that really surprised him about this one was the blade itself. The one Camilla showed him yesterday was green whilst this one humming in front of him now shone a brilliant blue.
"I didn't know they could be different colors." He muttered.
"This one belonged to my master."
*Ssshhhhhhhhp!*
The blade retracted again and the Jedi put it back to her belt. She tried to get comfortable on the couch but couldn't find the position to do it. The soreness was gonna be there for awhile. She hated to think of wasting a vial of bacta for this but when she got back it seemed like she was going to have to. There was no way she could go into training tomorrow unable to move.
"Are you going to stay for dinner again, Camilla?" Inko called from the kitchen.
"Appreciated, but I can't today." Camilla answered back. "I actually gotta be heading back to Ryukyu's building soon. I just wanted to walk and talk with Izuku some more today."
"The way you are now?" Inko came out from the kitchen to take another look at her. "Sweetie it looks like it took effort to just to get here."
"I'll be fine, I promise." She assured the mother.
Again the Midoriya mother looked over the girl's body and saw her struggling just to adjust her position on the couch. Then she looked over to her son who seemed to be sharing her concerns. Looking between them, an idea came to her head that made her smirk on the inside, and just a teensy bit on the outside too.
"Izuku, would you mind going with her? Just to make sure she gets back there alright?"
"Huh?"
"What was that, Mom?"
Both kids looked at her confused at the idea so Inko said it again. This time to make sure Izuku understood her completely.
"Would you mind walking Camilla, your friend, back to Ryukyu's building?"
"I did offer to just walk her there from school, but she insisted on walking me home first." Izuku told her.
"It's no trouble, Mrs. Midoriya. I'll be fine on my own." Camilla didn't want to worry the woman.
That response was not the right one to do that with. Almost immediately the two of them could feel a chill in the air. Looking in Inko's direction, Camilla could easily sense a new level of frustration and annoyance coming off this diminutive woman she didn't think was possible. Izuku for once was thankful that his friend was blind and couldn't make out the face his mother was making. Because looking into her eyes now made him feel frozen to the couch.
"Now Camilla, I'm sure that you're more than capable of making it back on your own. But I meant what I said yesterday about friends of my son's being like children of my own. So will you please allow my son to escort you back to Ryukyu's building to make sure you get back there completely alright and not more harmed than you already are?"
Her tone sounded so sweet and innocent but Izuku knew it all too well at this point in his life. Very few times he had been on the receiving end of it. And every time it made him feel like he had just shrunk down to the size of an ant compared to his mother. Camilla was feeling the true emotions behind that voice way too easily. This wasn't a request. It was a non-negotiable demand. And for some reason that she was sure not even the Force could explain, she couldn't refute it.
"Uh…s-sure, Mrs. Midoriya. Absolutely. Izuku I think we should get going now."
"Yeah let's go! Let me get my shoes on!"
No longer minding the pain, the two teenagers scrambled to the front door. Camilla practically dove out of it while Izuku hurriedly put his shoes on not caring about tying them until he was outside. When the door closed and both kids were out, Inko smiled and giggled, happy her idea worked. She only ever used that tone on Izuku whenever he seemed defiant to go along with any of her ideas. But here it seemed like he and Camilla both needed a little push to see reason. Well sure it may have just been a rough shove but whatever worked. She just went back to the kitchen with a bit more pep in her step as she thought more about her son and new friend alone together.
Just out the door, both teenagers took a breath of relief knowing they were safe from whatever it was Inko Midoriya just became a few seconds ago.
"Izuku, just what was that with your mom?"
"Something I hoped you'd never have to see, Camilla. Let's just leave it at that."
With his shoes now tied, Izuku stood back up and was ready to walk again but stopped when he realized he forgot something.
"Aw crap. My notebook. I wanted to bring it with me in case I learned more about Ryukyu."
Both teens turned back to look at the front door to the Midoriya household and thought about who was on the other side of it now. Izuku was the one who dared to speak his idea.
"Um…Camilla, do you think maybe you could..?"
"I'm more open to Mirko kicking me again then going back in there."
"Right."
The matter was closed. He would just have to remember whatever he heard then write it down later. With that, the two set off again.
Meanwhile at their destination, Ryukyu herself was seated in front of her desk while Mirko sat at the couch in front of it going over what she and Camilla did while on Mandalore Island. Of course the dragoon hero wasn't happy to see how roughed up the Jedi was when she landed to pick them up. And she was certain her friend the rabbit had a very good explanation as to why she had gone so hard with her when she specifically told her not to. The best she got was just an explanation. Was it good? No. Was it bad? Ryukyu couldn't exactly say that either. It was just what happened. Mirko had worked Camilla to the bone to find out what needed to be improved upon and what could be added. The idea of her learning to use both her lightsabers at once was an excellent idea but the problems the Padawan spoke of were valid ones. Neither of the pros in charge of her were good sword fighters. And bringing in another hero who was on the secret just to teach her was going to be a hassle. So for now, that was low on the priority list. Ryukyu looked over the notes she took down from Mirko's examination of the girl again.
Improve her speed and endurance, reaction time could use some work, jumping strength could be better, increase limit on what her telekinesis can take, and the list went on. As far as her swordsmanship went, that for now would have to be something Camilla worked on herself. She had her holocrons to help her as much as they could without her seeing the images. So the two pros had to leave that to her.
"Alright." Ryukyu set the list down. "This looks like a good place to start."
"The kid's good, Ryuko. But she has a long way to go before she's top ten worthy." Mirko commented.
"Let's just get her U.A. worthy before we worry about her spot on the charts. Remember it isn't just combat and power skills that we need to work on with her. We need to get her started on Braille."
Mirko chugged down the last of her glass of water before she looked to her friend, remembering that tidbit being brought up with Tsukauchi.
"Did you ever hear back from the detective about that?"
"This morning yes." Ryukyu answered. "He has a contact over at one of the outreach programs for the disabled. Camilla starts classes next week."
Ryukyu had heard of that same program before. The Musutafu Disabled Helping Hands Organization. They were a group funded entirely by donations that worked to help teach disabled people how to live with their disabilities. Such as teaching sign language, learning to walk with prosthetic limbs, and of course, teaching the blind to read and write with Braille. Thanks to the guise of the Forceful Mind quirk, Camilla's story was told to the people in charge of the program and they agreed to bring the girl in next week to start learning. That was one thing to check off the list.
"Nice. Now we just need to see if U.A. would be willing to accommodate that Braille crap on their tests." Mirko voiced the other problem.
"I asked Nejire to bring that up with Nezu at her earliest convenience but she hasn't gotten back to me about it yet. He must be a little too busy right now."
"Well here's hoping she finds out soon. The sooner we get an answer, the sooner we find out whether or not those Braille classes for Martian Girl will be a waste of time or not."
"I'm certain Nezu will be willing to make it work."
The ding of the elevator was what interrupted their conversation as the battered Camilla and Izuku both walked out of it. The latter of which suddenly froze upon seeing two pro heroes in the same room as him.
"Sorry for intruding. I just wanted to introduce Izuku to Mirko."
"Oh it's not a problem, Camilla. We were just talking." Ryukyu assured the Jedi.
As she walked more into the room, she turned back and noticed Izuku was hesitant to follow her. Feelings of nervousness, excitement, and a little bit of panic filled she sensed coming off her friend as he looked on into the room seeing not only the number nine hero at her desk, but also the very same rabbit hero he had seen on the news before. The same one Camilla told him just earlier today was responsible for her current state of bruising and pain.
"Umm….h-hi…I'm Izuku M-Midoriya. I'm a friend of Camilla's. It's nice to meet you."
Slowly he bowed in the direction of the dark skinned rabbit woman and she in returned raised a skeptical eyebrow back at Izuku.
"This is the kid All Might's teaching?" She asked not believing it.
Izuku suddenly snapped back up to attention upon hearing that Mirko knew about him and All Might being teacher and student. Those nervous feelings he had suddenly multiplied exponentially as he began to panic.
"I! Wha?! How?! Um?! I uhh…well! You see Miss! It was!"
This went on for a good thirty more seconds until finally Izuku was stopped by the sound of Mirko's howling laughter.
"BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA! Oh man, kid! You really gotta take it easy!"
A few giggles could be heard from Camilla and Ryukyu as well but at least they were trying their best to keep them hidden unlike the rabbit hero. When she finally stopped, she sat back up and looked Izuku dead in the eye.
"Relax, green bean. I'm not gonna tell anyone about that. I can keep a secret and it's not my business to say anything."
Izuku felt a lot better hearing that from Mirko. Though he wasn't sure how All Might was going to take the news that Mirko did in fact know about the two of them.
"Thanks for that. But…how did you even learn…?"
Ryukyu answered before he could finish.
"I accidentally let it slip in conversation, Midoriya. I'm sorry about that. But I promise you, Mirko here can be trusted to not say anything to anyone else."
Izuku wasn't really sure about trusting someone he just met but the hero fan boy inside of him was screaming, "It's okay! She's a pro! Trust her!" So he decided to just leave it at that and nod as a response t Ryukyu's statement about it.
"Alright then…I….I'd ask you for an autograph but I don't have my notebook with me."
He turned over to gaze at Camilla seeing a chance to tease her.
"All because someone didn't want to go back inside to face my mother."
"Wha! Says the guy who asked that someone to go in his place like a sacrifice!"
Both present pros had no clue what the two were talking about but it seemed like something interesting happened at the Midoriya house. Still though, it wasn't as nearly as important as what Camilla needed to be told. So after Izuku bid his friend and the two heroes goodbye and made his way out of the agency, the Jedi was brought up to speed about what the training today told the heroes and about her upcoming reading and writing lessons. They were all points that she could agree with and did so, more than ready to take the steps necessary to be the best peacekeeper and Jedi she could be.
First though, she needed to get rid of that pain in her side. And maybe find a way to get Mirko back for it.
A/N
Fun fact! Mandalore Island here is based off a real place off the coast of Nagasaki called Hashima Island. The story behind it is quite interesting and different than the one I came up for this one. Go check it out if you already haven't.
So! New chapter done! Next up is the weekend for our little group and what will happen?! Tune in next time to find out! Until then, see ya!