This was not great. Izuku had spent three whole weeks as a brand new adventurer and he couldn't be happier! Sure, he'd only really done small quests, mostly fetching various herbs used in medicine and healing tonics, but he'd taken on an entire trio of Goblins just the other day and won! He'd even managed to go up a rank from that, putting him firmly in E rank now.

Unfortunately, pay was low in these ranks and all his money had gone towards just survival, with none really free for his gear or his own health. He winced as he trudged down the street late afternoon, looking for anyone willing to give him a hand with his sword…he'd managed to break it deflecting a strike from a drake that did not belong so close to town, having to flee as fast as he could as it got distracted by a passing deer and lumbered off for a less pricklier meal.

But no smith in the city was willing to give him even an ounce of assistance…sure, he looked like crap with how dirty he was and the bloody bandage visible beneath his torn leather vest, and sure he had no real money to pay yet, but he needed a sword to make money! Yes, he could cast a few minor spells, but they were all self-enhancement, which didn't do him much good without a weapon to use with the enhancement magic!

He bit his lip as another surge of pain passed through his abdomen, forcing him to stop and press his hand against the bloodied bandage. That only seemed to magnify the pain, but he couldn't help it, he needed pressure to keep from passing out. If he fell in the street, he already knew the guards would simply toss him out or into an alleyway, and he'd likely get an infection that way (if he hadn't already). He had to keep moving. If he could just get some help, someone to repair his blade, he could go and take some quests and be able to repay them!

Specifically…that drake. He'd reported it to the guild, and dealt with a round of mockery for not taking it on himself. He was so tired of how…how…how condescending the other adventurers could be! He was new, didn't he deserve a break to actually try first? Yeah, okay, not all of them were jerks…but even the ones who weren't just looked at his dirty, hobbling form with pity. They'd already written him off and he knew it.

So what if he came from a poor background and a family far off in the countryside? So what if his father ran off when he was a child and left it just to him and his mother? He didn't have any less value than they did just because he was new to this! All he'd ever wanted to do was just be an adventurer, a hero, someone who went out and helped the people, kept them safe from roving marauders and monsters alike. He just needed a chance, that's all!

His musings were lost once more as he felt his knees buckle, his entire body quaking in pain. He bit back a whine of pain, refusing to give in, even as he pressed his hand against the wall next to him and had to force his body to move one more step forward. He would not be stopped here, not by this. Maybe…maybe if he spoke to that druid he delivered the herbs to last week? Maybe she could help? He'd been the one to fetch the herbs for her after all. Perhaps she could spare a simple tonic for him to manage the pain so he could continue? If no one was going to help him with his sword…then he'd use his fists, if he had to.

His mind and spirit were strong…but his body was not. As he felt his vision begin to darken, a part of him thought that perhaps he should not have left the guild in his condition…at least the staff there tended to be kinder than most, although the Vice Guildmaster still terrified him every time he spoke to the dark-haired ragged looking man. Too late now though, he realized, as his knees buckled and he found himself falling forward. His body unable to continue, his mind unable to hold on, consciousness began to slip from him as he saw the cobbled street rushing up to meet him.

Just before he hit, before he lost what little sense he had, he felt a grip on his arm catching him, stopping him from falling further with a strong pull. His blurry vision saw what looked like a blob of brown, before he lost what little sense he had and fell into darkness.


Izuku came to slowly, his body aching but oddly…warm? Very warm. The entire place felt suffused with warmth, and the sound of a crackling fire was odd. Almost…too loud? A clang nearby made him jolt, the sudden motion causing him to hiss in pain as he felt the rip in his side pull. The clanging sound stopped, and footsteps approached his now half-curled form.

"Ya awake? Gave me a bit of a scare there," a soft voice asked, making him blink open bleary eyes. At first, he could barely see, the room he was in was dark and slightly smoky, flickering lights scattering across what looked like stone walls. Blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision, he craned his neck up to see a concerned looking woman's face, brown hair pulled back under a headband with ash and soot streaked across her cheeks. Brown eyes glimmered in what he now recognized was firelight.

He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came was a croak as his raspy throat protested his reply. A second later, another set of footsteps approached, a voice he barely recognized audible. "Here. I brought his waterskin over." The brunette reached out of his vision and grabbed it, pulling it close and holding it out to Izuku. The greenette gratefully took it, one hand shakily pressing down to help him sit up so he could drain from it, but the brunette would have none of that, one of her very solid arms making it's way behind his back and helping prop him up as he drained what water remained from the skin.

After wiping at his mouth, he took a quick scan about the room…hammers, a forge, an anvil, a box full of scrap metal in the corner…he was in a smithy of some kind. His eyes landed on the brown-haired woman before him, recognizing the signs of a smith right away…the heat-resistant vest, the bared arms rippling with powerful muscles, soot and ash covering her clothes. His eyes turned to the other voice in the room, his eyes widening as he recognized the druid he'd brought herbs to just the prior week, the one he was thinking about earlier.

"M-Miss Asui, I didn't expect to see you here," he managed to croak out.

The short woman crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. "I told you to call me Tsu."

"R-right," he replied sheepishly, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced about, meeting the gaze of the blacksmith in front of him, the woman scanning him over with an unimpressed glower. "Um…how did I get here?"

"Ya collapsed in fron' of my smithy, ya idjit. I wasn' about to just leave ya in the damned street," she replied with an annoyed tone in her voice. "Had to call Tsu fer a hand to keep ya from bleedin' out all over my shop. Gods knows I don' need that sorta attention."

"I-I'm so sorry!" Izuku practically shouted, trying to bow but finding it nearly impossible to bend his waist that far with how much it ached. He settled for just lowering his head. "I was trying to um…well…"

"It have somethin' to do with that broken piece of trash metal ya had on ye?" the brunette asked, pointing to a table in the corner where the remains of his broken sword lay.

Izuku nodded sheepishly. "I um…I broke it when a drake showed up and I had to run. It was what wounded me. I've been looking for a smith to help fix it, but…"

"Yer broke, aintcha?" the brown-haired woman asked, crossing her arms over her chest and staring down at him.

He nodded, still keeping his head down. "I had hoped a promise of payment or something would do. I-I'm going back after that creature, it's too close to the city and it could hurt someone, but none of the other adventurers would listen to me when I told them, they all said I was making it up. I hoped that if I could stop it, I could both save people and make enough to pay someone back for the repair job…"

"Ya don' need a repair job, ya need a new blade. That thing's too fucked to be of any use."

Izuku hung his head, feeling all of his hope drain. If repairing his blade was too expensive, a brand new one was so utterly out of his budget he had no chance. He took a deep breath and clenched his fist tightly. "A-alright. Thank you for letting me know, and saving me. What do I owe you and Miss Tsuyu for that?"

"Just Tsu. And nothing. I used a remedy I made from the herbs you collected, you brought back extra anyway."

The brunette sighed deeply. "It's fine, yer fine. Don' worry about it none. What're ya gonna do about the sword?"

"Nothing for now, I guess. I'll just have to fight without it. I can enhance myself enough to have a chance."

"...that's suicide," the brunette replied bluntly.

He shrugged. "It's what I have to do. The others aren't going to stop it since they don't believe me, and if I'm not quick enough, it'll hurt someone. It's alright, I can manage!"

"No, you really can't. Not with your wounds," Tsu interjected.

Izuku frowned at her, but shook his head and placed his hand on the edge of the table he was laying on, leveraging himself up to his feet. "Thank you for your help, Miss Asui, uh, Miss Tsu. I appreciate it. But I'll be okay. And thank you, Miss…um…smith?"

"Ochako. Ochako Uraraka. An' stop moving ya moron. It's too late for ye to run off anyways, may as well rest up before ya go off and get yerself killed."

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly impos-"

"Try to get up again and I'll put ya back down meself," Ochako threatened, her muscled arms visibly tensing as she stared the greenette down.

Izuku flinched, getting a bit of a sense of impending danger if he tried to argue with the annoyed smith. He gave her a nervous smile, trying to bank on the fact he'd been told he had a nice smile. "Um…well, I mean, if you're certain it's alright…"

"'Course I am, wouldn' have offered if'n I wasn't."

"And with that, I'll take my leave. Izuku, if you're determined to be stupid, take this in the morning, it'll keep you moving…but you'll need to rest much longer," Tsu warned, as she handed Izuku a small glass vial filled with a softly glowing green-yellow liquid with the consistency of slime.

"Thank you, Tsu," Izuku replied as he tucked the bottle away in his pack, smiling at the druid. She nodded, giving a wave goodbye to both him and Ochako, before pulling her cloak's hood up and exiting the smithy into the cool evening air. He turned back to the brunette. "Um…"

She rolled her eyes at him once more. "Just sleep there. I'll wake ya in the mornin'." She quickly turned away and began to walk to the back of the shop where he presumed she had her own sleeping area, not waiting for a response from him. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say…so he chose to let it go. He lay back, pulling his tattered cloak around himself more for comfort than warmth, since the smithy was plenty warm enough. He had a tough fight ahead of him the next day, so it was best he rest as much as he could.

He pulled at the chain around his neck, pulling a small pendant from beneath his green tunic and clasping it in his hands. The only remnant of his old life, the locket his mother had given him before he'd left on his journey, it was comforting to him to hold it and remember the one person who'd never quit on his dreams. He smiled softly, eyes closed, taking in a deep, calming breath…he would do his best, like he always promised his mom he would. Izuku was an adventurer, and he couldn't shy from danger when people needed help. But first…sleep. And then…a fight.


"...wait, what?"

Ochako sighed, shoving a scabbard into his chest once more. "I said you can borrow the sword. It's not my best work but it's serviceable. Under one condition!" She added, holding one finger up.

Izuku blinked at her, confusion writ across his face. "Um…you uh…sound different?"

She took in a deep breath, slowly exhaling. "Look…I was in a bad mood yesterday, okay? I wasn't up to watching my speech. I'm sorry for taking it out on you. But anyways…you're stubborn as the hells and I'm worried about you getting killed, which'll waste all the effort I put into keeping you alive. So you can borrow this to slay the drake thing."

Izuku worked his jaw, trying to figure out the angle…he'd been burned by being too trusting more than once, but something in her eyes struck him as honest, if exasperated. "What's the condition?"

"I'm going with you, and I get half the cut. We can work out getting you a real sword after you have some money on you to buy one then," she replied.

"Not to be rude, but can you even fight?" he asked. He wasn't trying to be mean, and she clearly had muscles (it was hard not to notice them after all), but that didn't mean she knew how to fight monsters.

With narrowed eyes, she strode over to the back wall of the smithy, reaching up and gripping onto the handle of a hammer that looked nearly as big as she was. A small flicker of pink sparkled across her fingertips, pink sparks flitting down the handle of the massive hammer and making it glow for a brief moment with the effect of whatever magic she was using on it. Izuku could only watch, gobsmacked, as she easily lifted the giant bludgeoning weapon (one-handed?!) and laid it over her shoulder without a care in the world.

She turned back to him and arched an eyebrow. "Do I need to, if this is what I hit it with?"

"...okay yeah, that's impressive, but that's not an answer. You have to be able to get close enough to hit it, you know."

She rolled her eyes again, something Izuku was starting to feel like she was doing far too often around him. "Can you even be picky right now? You can't win without your weapon. I'm following you whether you want me to or not, but it'd be better if we worked together don't you think?"

"It's a really dangerous creature though, Ochako! I don't want you to get hurt!" He replied hotly.

"And it's okay if you get hurt?"

"I mean…it's my job-" he began, but she cut him off.

"Pretty sure an adventurer's job is to adventure, which you can't do while dead. So stop. I'm going whether you like it or not. Deal with it," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest…which considering the massive hammer still held in one hand, held an implicit threat he wasn't entirely sure was accidental at this point.

"Fine, fine! Okay. I'll explain what you need to know while we go to it. It's past the southern gate, a few kilometers out. We'll need to skirt by the Aegis Ruins though, don't want to disturb the wraiths," Izuku began talking as they left the smithy, watching as she wrapped a few lengths of chain around the door, securing it with an old, rusted padlock that he was pretty sure he could snap with his bare hands, much less if he used his magic…but he kept his mouth shut. It wasn't like he had any right to criticize how others lived, considering his own condition…which looked significantly worse in the light of day.

His clothing was tattered and torn, skin visible beneath both the leather vest and the green tunic he wore over it. What wasn't ripped was covered in dirt and now soot, small splotches of dark brown indicators of where his blood had coagulated and dried, leaving him looking like a complete mess. But he didn't care. He had to educate Ochako on their foe now, before they got there, to make sure she didn't get hurt.

Not that he knew much about drakes. All he knew was they were distantly related to dragons, but nowhere near as smart or majestic, nor could they fly. They looked more like large lizards, really…save for the fiery green breath, the venomous fangs, the claws that could rot with a touch, and the fact it had six eyes for some ungodly reason. Everything about the drake was so weird…he'd never heard of any of that before, when he used to read about the various creatures adventurer's could face. But well, he was pretty sure it was a drake, so…that's the best he had.

Not for the last time he cursed the fact that growing up where he did, with little access to books, he had no real idea what all was out there to face. He studied when he could, and always did his research before a mission…but he couldn't spare any time this time. That creature was truly deadly, of that he was certain, and it was very close to a major trading road…so he worried it would attack travelers if they didn't at least drive it off.

He was a bit weirded out by how the rest of the city looked at them…Elysium was home to no few numbers of strange folk within it, being the largest city left after the Storms ravaged the world. But even amongst them he supposed the pair looked odd…a dirty, bedraggled man with oddly colored hair (he never did find out why his family had green hair, even though they were human as far as he knew), and a woman in a smiths outfit toting a hammer as big as her. Speaking of the hammer…

"So uh…how are you carrying that?" he asked. He figured they'd be walking together a while, may as well find out what she was capable of since she was insisting on going.

Her face twitched for a moment, pride showing for a brief second before she schooled it once more into the casually blank look she'd had on her all morning. "It's my magic. I uh…I have gravity magic, but only on things I touch. So it's not super flashy or anything, but it makes smithing a lot easier when I have to lug big hunks of metal around or whatever. And made moving my forge around pretty easy!" she giggled at her little joke, the first sign of some happiness from her making him grin in return.

He couldn't help but be interested, his own smile growing wider. "You have celestial spec magic? Wow! That's incredible! You're the first person I met with that spec!"

"Um…spec?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, uh…guess it's not a common term, huh? I, uh, did some studies on magic when I was younger. I don't know a lot, but scholars like to divide magic up into specializations, or 'specs' for short. Celestial magic is magic from the stars…like sunlight spells are celestial, or magic that can call meteors, or well…gravity magic. You got a bunch of other specs…Elemental, which is divided into the various elemental types…Creation, Destruction, Daemonic, Alteration…that's my spec, Alteration. I can do self-enhancement magic, you know…make myself more durable, faster, stronger, whatever. I'm not great at it, but it really helps sometimes!"

Ochako blinked at the deluge of information he had just…thrown out there, but wasn't about to stop him. It was kind of interesting, and he did say they'd be walking for a while to reach the place where this drake creature was, so…why not listen? She never really looked into how her magic worked, it was just a part of her from childhood so she just kind of…worked with it. "Can you tell me more about my magic, then? I just kinda…use it, don't really know how it works."

He brightened up like the sun, making her feel like she needed a pair of sunglasses to try to dim the smile he shot her…before going off. Part of her worried she'd made a mistake as he started talking, going into way more detail than she imagined considering his statement about 'not knowing a lot' about magic…but she couldn't bring herself to stop him.

This might be the happiest he'd been yet, and it seemed to be distracting him from both the stares the duo was getting and the pain she could tell he'd been struggling with. Tsu's herbalist extract was going to keep him going…but it only dulled the pain, didn't remove it entirely. Tsu had warned her about it, since she somehow knew Ochako intended on accompanying the idiot on his quest. So she figured she'd let him just keep going on…at least it kept him occupied. Plus, it was kind of fun to watch him get so animated and excited. Like a cute little puppy!

Wait, what?


"It's close," Izuku murmured, holding one hand out to stop Ochako's forward movement. She stopped in her step, slowly pulling the hammer over her shoulder and into both of her hands, a subtle pink spark shimmering off her fingertips onto the hammer once more.

"How can you tell?" she asked, glancing about. They'd snuck past the ruins he'd called the Aegis Ruins without issue, although the occasional inhuman shriek had sent shivers up her spine and made her shudder at how wrong it had sounded. Beyond that, they were in a densely forested area, having left the travelers road about a half a kilometer back. The sunlight dappled through the treetops, highlighting the crackling leaves and branches scattered about. She could see no signs of the creature he'd mentioned, which considering its size she felt like she should.

"I can smell the poisonous gas it breathes…it's got a weird sulfur scent," Izuku replied, his eyes scanning around the forest.

Ochako took a deep breath in through her nose, unable to discern anything beyond the normal scent of nature around them. She looked at him oddly. "Aren't you a human?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't smell anything weird."

He shrugged. "I did a lot of hunting back home for Mom. I guess I just picked up a few things, you know? And-...wait…it's close. Real close. Okay, remember what I said Ochako…let me get it's attention, you can flank and try smashing it in a limb or something. If we can disable a limb we'll be better off."

She nodded, her grip on the hammer tightening. She tilted her head to the side to crack her neck, the loud noise sounding like a gunshot in the quiet air around them. Izuku's eyes shot back to stare at her, wide-eyed at the sound she'd just made, about to scold her…when his wide eyes went impossibly wider.

She barely had time to react, as emerald lightning sparked off his form, his eyes glowing a toxic green as he bolted towards her, shoving her to the side and holding up the sword she'd given up in a block as a massive pair of black-green claws swiped across where she had been. She rolled across the ground, hissing in annoyance as she felt something dig into her, glancing up to see Izuku's body ragdolling to the side, thrown by the force of the swipe. She leapt to her feet, hammer ready, finally getting her first glance at the beast he'd told her of.

She felt like he'd very much underestimated how big the damned thing was! Even crouched on all fours, it was taller than any half-giant she'd seen in the city, it's hunched back well over two meters tall, far taller than her or Izuku. A long, reptilian snout, open in a silent growl, greenish gas slipping between the rows upon rows of jagged teeth. Six burning red eyes embedded in its skull, the green-black scaly skin stretched taut over its sleek musculature. A tail swerved behind it, whipping out and smashing into a small tree, ripping it clear up from the roots and sending it falling to the ground next to her.

"Well, that coulda gone better," Izuku muttered, coming to stand next to the brunette woman.

"How the hells did it sneak up on us?!" she asked, flabbergasted as it started to prowl to the left, the duo turning to follow its movements.

"It's a lot quieter than it seems. That's how it got me the first time. I never even heard it growl or roar, it's like it can't make noise or something."

"Woulda been nice to know beforehand," she muttered.

"I told you! I told you it snuck up on me because it was too quiet!" He protested.

She wanted to tell him exactly what she thought of how that was far too little information for her to go off of, but apparently the drake was tired of their talk. It lowered itself closer to the ground, tensing its muscles…and then launched itself at them both. The duo jumped in opposing directions, her to the left, him to the right, the drake landing between the two of them and spinning about as it went, its claws scrabbling on the soft loam and underbrush. Its tail whipped towards her as its maw snapped at Izuku, but she couldn't watch his fight as the tail was about to strike her and she had no room to maneuver.

She held up the hammer before her, letting the tail hit the shaft instead of her. It was solid steel, so she had no fears of it snapping like a wooden one would…but her eyes went wide as a) it dented, and b), she went flying from sheer force. For the second time, she found herself cursing internally as she rolled across the ground, coming to a painful stop as her back slammed into a tree trunk a good half dozen meters away.

Ochako scrambled to her feet, finding that the original lackadaisical attitude she had earlier was coming back to bite her. She figured that this wouldn't be that hard a mission…Izuku was brand new, so he couldn't be doing anything that dangerous, right? But this thing was able to actually dent her hammer…she'd built it herself. The shaft wasn't just solid steel, but it was enchanted! There was nothing that she should be facing that should be able to dent that, much less launch her as far as she went. Her magic applied to her too, it let her be more stable, more 'connected' to the earth, as it were. It should have kept her on the ground!

…wait…Izuku also knocked her over. How strong was this drake? How strong was he?! Her gaze snapped over to look at the greenette, the electric green sparks skittering across his skin as he danced away from the creature's teeth and claws, hopping rapidly back and forth. She had the odd thought he looked a little like a bunny while he was doing so…no. Focus! She wasn't some damsel, she was Ochako Uraraka! Now she knew how strong this thing was, how hard it hit, she was ready.

She clambered to her feet and called upon the core of magic inside her, the force that she could bring to bear and wrap herself in. Pink danced across her skin, within and without, eyes and hands glowing softly as she let out a growl. She might not be fast…but she was strong. And though she changed her hammer's relationship with gravity…she did not touch its mass.

The drake was busy with Izuku, still focused on him and ignoring her as she strode confidently towards it, ignoring the burning in her chest that made her think she'd cracked a rib. She focused on its back left leg, the one nearest her. Lifting her hammer above her head, she brought it screaming down with as much force as she could possibly wield.

CRACK! The sound of shattering bones echoed throughout the forest, the massive hammer practically cleaving through the scales and skin to impact on the bone beneath, utterly obliterating it, sending shards of bone flying in every which direction, one cutting her cheek as it flew past her. She had no time to swing a second time, as the creature spun about lightning quick, it's claws swiping at her…and ripping into her chest.

The solid blacksmith's tunic she wore was shredded in a second, a trio of claws digging into her skin and catching on what felt like the edge of her ribcage. She had no time to scream as the swipe sent her flying once more, blood pooling across her chest and spilling up from her mouth, the acrid taste making her spit it out in panic.

"Ochako!" Izuku shouted, bolting towards her, but stupidly not watching where he went. The drake snapped at him once more, its teeth catching Izuku on the leg and shredding it, lifting the boy up and slamming him down onto the ground in a rage. Izuku bit back the pain, stabbing his sword into its jaw and trying to pry its leg loose, but the beast decided to launch Izuku away from it, sending the greenette flying off as well.

The drake began to limp away, something Ochako felt lucky for since it seemed like it didn't want to finish them off, at least not now. Well, on one level she felt lucky…on another she kind of wished it'd come kill her because she was pretty sure she was about to bleed out at this rate and the quick death was preferable…or was it the rot in its claws that was going to kill her?

She heard a loud, painful crash next to her, and managed to turn her head to look at what it was. Izuku was beside her, breathing rapidly, his skin pale and covered in sweat. Idly she realized he must have pushed himself to somehow reach her…not sure how, considering his leg looked in as good a shape as her chest felt.

He reached over to her, one hand glowing a soft green. "I-it's okay, Ochako. I can do small healing, we, we'll be fine, okay? J-just give me a sec, okay? Just have to stop the curse, that's all," he managed to get out, coughing as he did. He offered her a pained smile, one that didn't meet his eyes.

She could only burble in response, the blood rapidly filling her mouth, but the gentle touch of his hand on her side sent shocks of pain through her and made her arch her back as the agony rushed through her veins. Still, there was a comforting warmth coming from his hand, enough that she felt like she could breathe again, even as she felt the bleeding slow to a crawl…it hadn't stopped entirely, but it felt…delayed, as it were?

He gulped, retracting the green glowing hand and pressing it against his own leg, his wince of pain audible in the oddly silent forest. She watched as his own bleeding began to slow, to stem, the skin still ripped and torn but the blood no longer pouring, just oozing slowly. He sighed, the glow fading after a moment.

"O-okay. That'll hold us for a b-bit. You…you gotta get out of here, Ochako. It's going to come back. So, you go on ahead, I'll distract it, okay?"

She blinked at him. Rolling over onto her stomach, ignoring the fiery pain rushing through her, she managed to slowly lift herself into a sitting position. She gagged, spitting out the remaining blood in her mouth, looking up and glaring at him with blood and saliva dripping from her lips.

"Shut the fuck up, Izuku. I said I was comin' out 'ere to keep ye alive an' I'm gonna do that!" she growled, her accent slipping once more.

"Ochako," he began, before she cut him off.

"Look, even if I ran, it'd catch me! I ain't moving fast and neither are you!" He bit his lip, looking her over in worry…but not able to argue her point. She continued on. "Our best bet is finishing this fight. I got one good hit in, it's gotta be much slower, it can't chase any more than we can run. So let's fucking finish this!"

He let out a shaky breath. She could almost see the wheels turning in his head, back and forth, trying to puzzle out how they could possibly pull this off. He glanced down at her hammer for a moment contemplatively. "...do you think you could knock a tree over with that?"

"Pfft. I could knock a dozen over," she replied with a feral grin.

"Well, good, cause that's the plan," he said breathlessly.

"...what?"

Izuku pointed behind the two of them, to a more densely grown copse of trees. "I lure it in, you bring those down on its head. I doubt it'll kill it, but hopefully that'll slow it down more so we can get some blows in."

She glanced at the thick tree trunks, the tangled way they were closely interlocked, and then back at his bruised, beaten, bleeding form in front of her. Her entire body ached, every fiber of her being screaming in pain, her lungs still having trouble drawing in air. This seemed like a really dumb plan…but she didn't have any better. Ochako nodded at him, painfully climbing to her feet as Izuku followed suit.

One hand pressed to her bloody ribs, the other dragging her hammer behind her, she followed the limping form of Izuku along. She kept her eyes peeled for the drake…the whole silent thing had her worried about another sneak attack…which she apparently didn't need to worry because she saw it now. Limping back towards them, its beady eyes locked onto the duo, gas seeping from its open, drooling jaw. It was moving faster than they were, but their headstart had them reaching the trees first.

She murmured to Izuku out the side of her mouth "How are you gonna keep it focused on you and not me?"

He gave her a tired smile. "I got a plan…you won't like it, but I'll live and that's what I promised, right?"

"You didn't promise me anything, so if this is you promising I'll take it…but don't think I won't bash you over the head if you break this sword too!" Ochako said, narrowing her eyes at the green-haired man before her.

He just nodded at her, pushing her to the side as he reached down and swiped his hand over his bloody leg, getting as much on him as he could. With a clenched fist, lighting sparked around his hand, the blood boiling in his hand as heat rose, the acrid, iron scent making Ochako's nose twitch…and the drake's eyes locked onto Izuku's form.

"Oh you fucking-" Ochako began to curse, but had no time to react as the drake, apparently very attracted to burning blood, launched itself towards Izuku, dragging it's shattered leg behind itself as it went. Ochako pulled the hammer up and wound up for a swing, what little magic she had left all focused on the hammer to give it just that little extra oomph, watching as the drake followed Izuku into the copse of trees, just as they intended…and she swung.

One, two, three, four trees fell before her mighty swing, the cracking of wood making the drake start to spin about…but not quickly enough, as the trees all began to crash down atop the creature with a sickeningly loud crunch. Its front right leg was pinned, the tail stuck in place, but it was clearly not dead, and Izuku wasn't about to give it a moment to rest. He ran towards it, eyes focused, ignoring the bloody leg and the poisonous gas that he ran through. He leapt up and over its head, his ripped tunic pulled over his mouth, eyes watering from the gas as he landed roughly on its back.

He rolled once, trying to keep his footing as the creature bucked and tried to pull itself up, but Izuku was not done. He lifted the sword up in both hands, pointed down, and with a loud cry, rammed it into the middle of the beast's spine, as deep as he could. The creature, still disturbingly silent, arched its back in pain, thrashing wildly to try and buck the man off.

Izuku held on tightly, but Ochako could see the pain in his eyes as every motion threatened to rip his bloody grip off the sword. With a start, their eyes met, and she got the faintest impression of an idea…a stupid, suicidally insane idea, but one that for some reason she felt might be their best bet to finally finish it off.

She began to jog towards them, increasing speed as she went, biting her lip as she felt the slowed blood flow from her gaping side wound beginning to increase, whatever magic Izuku had done starting to fail. She never really did this, because it never seemed to go right…but fuck it, they were already one foot in the grave, may as well go out with a bang. With a thought, she applied her magic to her body, lightening herself just enough to leap into the air and over the drake's back.

Izuku reached up one bloody hand, Ochako lowering her own to grab his in turn, and pulled, Ochako now a human missile heading towards the drakes back. With her other hand, gripped tight about her hammer, she swung once more, slamming her hammer into the pommel of the sword, feeling it being driven into and through the drake's body, severing its spinal column…and shattering the blade.

The creature's motions ceased instantly, its entire body going limp, as her magic faded away and sent her careening off its side. Izuku slipped off with her, no longer anything to grip, and the two fell to the ground in a tangle of bloody limbs and pain. As they lay there, panting, she felt the wound in her side bleeding more freely again and gulped in sweet, sweet air…even as she worried this was the last time she'd be breathing.

Izuku stuttered to a kneeling position, his bloody leg now limp and dangling behind him. The green glow about his hand lit up once more, weaker, flickering, but he pressed it to her side with a strangely warm smile, slowing the blood flow once more. After the light flickered out, he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut, groaning in pain.

"...why bother? No…no way we make it back in time, Izuku," she murmured, her head lolling to the side to look at him.

In response, the facedown man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, reddish brown cylinder of some kind, something she'd not seen before. He managed to roll over and look up at the sky blearily, his hand shakily lifting the red cylinder up. He flicked at the top of it once, twice, thrice, getting more and more frustrated…until finally, a small orange flame lit up at the top. After a moment where she stared in confusion…the cylinder vanished from his hand, launching into the sky and exploding in a fiery manner, not unlike a firework.

"F-flare, to let the collector team know to come get the c-creature," he managed to haltingly explain. "S-stuff like this sells well…reagents and such. They are pretty f-fast. We s-should be okay…"

"...you owe me for that sword, you know," she gasped out.

"Uh-uh, you broke it, not me!"

"I did it because you wanted me to!" she replied with what little force she could.

His chuckle was breathy, almost inaudible, but she couldn't help but smile at the little sign of life in him. She felt a giggle bubbling up in her chest, although now that she thought of it, that could be the blood too…

A strange pulse of energy formed near the duo: a blue circle appearing a few meters away. Small at first, it pulsed again, growing larger, and larger, and larger, until it was nearly as large as the drake had been. She had to narrow her eyes as it grew brighter and brighter, nearly blinding…erupting in a flash of light that did blind her for a moment. She heard voices, at first indistinct and calm, but a sudden eruption of noise had her whining quietly as it hurt her head even worse now.

"Holy shit!" a voice said, both awed and confused.

"Izuku, what the hell?" a feminine voice asked quietly.

"H-hey guys…I uh…wasn't lying about the d-drake, see?" Ochako heard Izuku speaking but still couldn't quite see, blinking rapidly to try and clear the flashbang, spots filling her vision up.

"...Izuku, that's not a drake…that's a Fel Drake!" the second voice said, concern evident in the voice. "The two of you killed it?!"

"It was fucking close," Ochako managed to grunt, her vision slowly coming back. She could see five indistinct shapes in her vision, but heard another few who were apparently touching the…fel drake? Was that a subspecies or something?

"Toru, now's not the time. Let's get these two back and to safety," a voice interjected quietly.

"Yeah, you're right Riki. Does anyone have any potions on them?"

"I have brought spare with me. Allow me," a deeper voice said. Ochako saw a dark shape looming over her, a gentle arm that felt oddly soft reaching behind her head and helping to tilt it up. A bottle pressed against her lips, and praying it was some sort of painkiller, she happily accepted the drink, feeling the soothing, sweet liquid filling her stomach…the magic slowly filtering into her. She let out a relieved sigh, feeling the skin on her side slowly knitting back together, the pain reducing slightly…enough that she was pretty sure she'd live.

The figure gently lay her back down, stepping over her and kneeling next to Izuku's prone form, the green-haired man barely conscious. She sighed as she saw another figure, a more slender one, kneel next to her. "Sorry, I don't believe we've met before? Are you Izuku's friend?"

"Let the idjit borrow a sword…came along to be sure he didn't get killed so I could get my sword back. And he still broke it," she managed to get out.

"I did not break it, you did!" he protested again.

"It was your plan!"

"I didn't say a thing!"

"But I knew it was your plan!"

"I didn't know it'd break!"

"You-"

The two of them were cut off by a giggle from the person hovering over Ochako, her vision clearing enough to get a vague sense of almost shimmering greenish hair and a kind smile. "So you're not an adventurer then?"

"Smith. Ochako Uraraka, I'm a smith," she replied.

"Well Miss Uraraka…you're quite the warrior it seems," the voice she'd associated with 'Riki' said with an amused tone in his voice.

"She's super strong and cool," Izuku said softly. She tilted her head to the side to see him gazing at her with a tired smile, and gave him one in return.

"Izuku was pretty cool too…even though he still broke my sword."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Nope!"

"I'll pay you back, I promise, okay?" he said softly, all mirth gone from his tone.

"Yeah well, you'll have the cash for it, that's for sure," Toru mused.

"Huh?" Ochako asked, confused. The healing potion had not fully healed her, not even close, but she was out of danger it seemed…but she had no energy to get up, so she decided to just keep laying there for now.

"You're splitting it I assume, right, Izuku?" Toru asked, ignoring Ochako's question.

"Of course, she did as much work as me!"

The pale woman kneeling next to her nodded. "Well…uh…this is a Fel Drake, not a normal Drake. So uh…it's a higher tier monster."

"What's a tier?" Ochako asked, confused.

"Missions are classed by their tier, which corresponds to adventurer ranks. A normal drake is a D or C tier mission, depending on how big and old it is…Fel Drake's are B tier missions…"

"...oh," Izuku said quietly, apparently as confused as Ochako was.

"Wait…you didn't know what tier it was?" Ochako asked, turning to stare at the greenette with wide eyes.

"Um…no?" he said in a meek tone.

"...what the hell even is your rank?" she asked, realizing he'd never brought it up. He seemed so confident in being able to handle it, he must be at least C, right?

"E?"

"...what?!"