"'The origin of monsters is shrouded in myth and legend…'" Van read slowly, taking care to enunciate each word. Behind her, the ominous figure of All for One listened with great interest. He had been frustrated when he discovered that the phenomenon that enabled mutual translation did not extend to reading. The monsters had been able to read a few words, enough to give him the vaguest, most tantalizing of ideas as to their contents, but the timely arrival of these Yiga had spared him much grief.
Not many texts had survived the advent of this so-called Great Calamity. A disaster, for sure; he had seen with his own quirks the devastation that surrounded the castle. If this Yiga woman was to be believed, the giant boar that flitted about in the sky above the castle from time to time was responsible.
Truly remarkable.
She and her clan of ninjas—the Yiga, they called themselves—had already proven useful. She and several others had spent the last day or so combing the library and verifying the information his monsters had given him. He'd told them to bring any interesting findings to him, and had been quite pleased when Van appeared late in the day with something that he would want to see.
The book in question was a part of a series detailing the history and mythos of this world, this "Hyrule." This particular volume dealt a great deal with monsters and Malice. If luck was with him, it might confirm his experiments.
After a moment, he realized that the woman had ceased reading. "Is there a problem, Miss Van?"
"Ah, no. Just taking a moment to translate." She shook her head before continuing. "'While it is not certain whether most monsters lived alongside the ancestors of the Hylians or were the result of some outside force, a common thread has been found between them all. Upon death, monsters will expel a dark, purple miasma from their bodies. What this miasma—this Malice—is remains unclear; scholars speculate that it may be the soul of the monster.'"
She paused again, scanning the page. "I'm sorry, this isn't the bit I wanted to show you. Let's see, 'further origins of monsters,' 'origins of Malice'—we already know that, so that won't help—here! 'Malice and men.'"
All for One leaned forward as she began reading again. "'Contrary to popular belief, Malice is not inherently inimical. Plantlife seems to be highly resistant to its effects, and some individuals claim that it may serve as an alternate form of medicine. While its medical properties have yet to be ascertained, it has been confirmed that it does have transformative features.
"'When distilled into a purer, liquid form, one may inject or cover a subject in Malice to bring about a variety of transformations. These rely heavily on the objects and surroundings of the subject, as they may influence the final result. Such transformations, however, appear to corrupt the individual subject. Indeed, it is speculated that the more intelligent monsters, Lynels foremost among them, were once Hylian. What combination of Hylian, beast, and Malice brought about those fell creatures, if indeed there is one, we shudder to think about."
"That will do, Miss Van," All for One said as she paused for breath.
"Are you sure? There's more here on the different kinds of monsters that the historian speculates could have been transformed."
"Oh, I'm sure there will be time to examine those. However, I have the information I need. Tell me, Miss Van, how would you like to see the birth of one such monster in the service of your Calamity?"
The Yiga stiffened before turning to face him. "What are you suggesting?" she asked slowly. All for One repressed a chuckle as she selected her words. Oh, it truly was entertaining to be the one in command!
Rather than answer her directly, he allowed himself another smile and gestured for her to follow him. With his little duck in tow, he navigated from the library back through the warren of corridors.
The monsters, he was pleased to see, had done a remarkable job of cleaning up the castle. They didn't understand the finer points of stonework, but they had managed to clean up much of the rubble and reinforce sagging walls and floors with their savage woodwork. Oh, it wouldn't do for his fortress in this world, but in the short term, it was sufficient.
After a few minutes, he led the bewildered Yiga into the atrium, where he finally began to speak. "We first began to suspect the effects of Malice upon individuals when Magne brushed up against it. She reacted… poorly. Since then, I have had a few bands of bokoblins—" his mouth twisted on the disgusting word "—out looking for… volunteers. They have recently returned with several such people, and with the information provided by the Hystoria, I believe we are on the right track."
Ahead of him, Tomura leaned over the railing, staring down at something in the courtyard. The lad glanced up at him as he joined him. "Master?"
"How is our guest, Tomura? Not too uncomfortable?"
All for One caught the tips of a grin from behind Tomura's hand as he giggled. "Oh, I'm sure she's plenty comfortable. She's stopped crying, at least."
"Excellent." All for One peered over the railing himself. In the atrium below, now clear of Malice, a table had been set up, though perhaps the term 'altar' would be more accurate. It was a massive slab of stone cut into the table shape of a table with raised edges, which was deliciously ominous. On its surface rested an individual in armor. The subject had been tied down, and several bokoblins had been stationed nearby to make sure any attempts at escape were thwarted.
Behind him, he heard a sharp breath. "Is that—"
"Yes, Miss Van," All for One confirmed idly. "But that isn't important. Now, you! Tu'gar! Go and help Compress with the serum."
The bokoblin he had shouted at saluted hastily before scampering off down one of the passages. It shouldn't be long before it returned with Compress.
"You—the bokoblins have names?" Van asked. All for One turned to face her and was pleased to see the absolutely thunderstruck expression on her face.
"Yes, Miss Van," he repeated, chuckling. "Though most of them are far too guttural and mangled to pronounce properly. Now, I will answer your other question, and then you will remain silent and observe. Yes, that is a Hylian down below. I had taken the liberty of searching the library myself, and while I could not decipher the texts, I did find a bestiary with detailed pictures of those contained within."
His smile twisted. "You see, back in Japan, I had an army myself that I commanded through Tomura here." The boy looked at him and seemed to glow at the praise. "While most of it was composed of super-powered individuals such as ourselves and Tomura's companions, I, too, had my share of monsters.
"We called these monsters nomu, and they formed the backbone of my forces. Unfortunately, I lack several key components and cannot make any more here in Hyrule. So, I had to find an alternative. The bokoblins and their ilk were a start, but they are much too fragile."
Footsteps echoed up from the room below, and All for One gestured for the Yiga to join him as he turned. Below, several bokoblins were wheeling a cauldron filled with frothing purple liquid. Given the way both Tomura and Van recoiled, it must have smelled truly horrendous.
Behind the group strode Compress. The magician had discarded his jacket, leaving him in his rugged vest and dress shirt. He strode up to the table and eyeballed it before turning to face the railing. "Everything seems to be in order, sir. We'll begin on your command."
All for One nodded.
Compressed stepped over to the cauldron and shooed the bokoblins away. The man hesitated for a moment before reaching into the pot. There was a brief flash of light, and then the Malice disappeared. Van's breath caught as Compress reached deeper into the cauldron and extracted a small, blue marble.
Always the performer, Compress bowed to his audience of three before stepping up to the altar and placing the marble in a small divot in the breastplate. He quickly retreated as the armored figure started struggling, though All for One paid him no mind. If his suspicion was correct, he wouldn't want to be near the table either.
With another flash of light, the roiling Malice expanded back into its original form and splashed down on the figure.
A scream split the relative quiet as the armored figure started thrashing around on the table. Bokoblins rushed forward to grab at the restraints, and All for One idly noted to have them bring some of the chains from the dungeons up instead. While he doubted any in such a state would be cause for concern, he had been surprised before.
Beside him, Tomura stared on, enthralled. The boy hadn't ever seen a nomu created before, so this was probably an enlightening experience for him. It would at least give him something to consider later.
The Yiga woman, on the other hand, seemed troubled. "What is the matter, Miss Van?" he asked, not bothering to keep his amusement out of his voice. "Concerned for an enemy?"
The woman's face hardened. "No. The Hylians and their monarchy deserve whatever comes to them."
He nodded in satisfaction and turned back as the subject's screams cut off. It gave one more mighty heave before slumping limply on the table. All for One eyed it thoughtfully before shaking his head. "Alas, I believe we overestimated the amount of Malice required. Tomura, have the boko—"
HSSsssss…
A mist rose from the corpse, obscuring it from view. The bokoblins started snorting and grunting among themselves until finally, one of them hefted its club and crept closer. It hesitated, dancing from foot to foot, before it reached out and poked the corpse's head.
One of the corpse's hands shot out and seized the club. With a savage pull, the not-so-dead corpse yanked the club from the bokoblin's claws and sat up. Tethers loosened and snapped as the armored figure swung off the altar into a practiced crouch, scanning the room. The bokoblins shied away from its gaze, and it turned its attention to the balcony.
All for One laughed as he felt the creature's gaze turn to him. "So the Hystoria was right! Truly marvelous! I welcome you, warrior, as the first elite of my new army. Serve well, and you shall be rewarded!"
The armored figure didn't move, clearly considering the offer and, presumably, the consequences of turning it down. After a few moments, it seemed to relax and bowed itself down on one knee. A grave, gravelly voice grated its way through the helmet. "What is thy bidding?"
"Tu'gar!"
The bokoblin in question peeked out from the passageway, and All for One gestured at it. "Follow the bokoblin, warrior. It will take you to the armory where you may arm yourself accordingly. Return afterwards, and I will have orders for you."
"As thou hast commanded," the knight growled before standing and walking out of the atrium. All for One laughed again. They would have to test this new nomu, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it would meet his expectations.
Beside him, Van was staring down the passage it had vanished into with wide eyes. After a moment, she turned back to face him. "You—you did it. I don't know how, but it worked."
"Indeed! This is the power that I hoped to find here. We will have to question our new champion, but I believe we will find that its devotion to myself—and to your Ganon—have been greatly increased."
"I want to see how it holds up against the others," Tomura said suddenly. His crazed eyes had taken on the calculating light that had first caught One for All's attention. "If it does well enough, we could use it to hunt those UA brats."
"And the Champion!" Van exclaimed. "I think I'm starting to see the advantages of this transformation myself."
All for One smiled, and it grew wider as he sensed the tell-tale wisps of Kurogiri's return. "Then gather your men, Miss Van, and ask for a few volunteers. I believe the time is fast approaching to strike, and I want a few of these new nomu, these 'darknuts,' to lead the way."
Eijiro jumped in front of the caravaneer as the black moblin's club-like greatsword came crashing down toward him. "Oh no you don't, dude!" he shouted, raising his Hardened arms. The sword smashed into him, bouncing off of his arms and throwing the moblin off balance as the caravaneer scurried down the road.
The opportunity was too good to pass up. Eijiro unsheathed one of his long daggers and pounced on the moblin. The monster squawked and tried to swat him away, but he easily deflected its awkward blow before plunging the dagger up into its chest. When it stuck, he used it to heave himself upwards towards the moblin's face, which he struck as hard as he could with his Hardened fist before pushing himself away.
That seemed to do the trick. The moblin, already off-balance from striking what was essentially a moving rock, crumpled to the ground, its gurgles giving way to a trickle of purple mist. Eijiro yanked the dagger out and spun around, looking for another target.
There weren't many left. Of the group of monsters that had attacked the merchant caravan, there was only a single blue bokoblin dueling one of the guards, and it seemed to be winning. As he ran toward them, the bokoblin knocked the dude's shield aside before clubbing the guard in the chest.
'You're not dying on my watch!' Eijiro leapt forward, closing the final few meters or so between the two of them with a wordless shout. The bokoblin spun to face him, club raised, but it never got the chance to attack. Eijiro got up in its face with a series of quick, Hardened blows, knocking it around before, finally, something in the bokoblin gave out. The monster flopped over, leaking Malice.
This just had to happen today, of all days. He had gotten a message saying that someone at Foothill Settlement wanted to meet him. Since he had been heading back down Death Mountain with a caravan anyway, he'd figured he would check on it. It was a routine run, nothing he hadn't done before. Just a quiet hike down the red cliffs.
And then they'd been ambushed.
Eijiro sighed, wiping his dagger on the monster and sheathing it before hurrying to check on the guard guy. The man had seen better days. He had managed to pull himself into a sitting position, but further movement was hampered by his damaged breastplate. Eijiro whistled quietly as he took in the jagged dent from the boko club. The sound caught the man's attention, and he glanced down with a chuckle that turned into a wheeze. "Say what ya will abou' them monsters, they sure do know how to pack a wallop."
"You okay, dude?" Eijiro knelt beside the guy and started fidgeting with the clasps keeping the breastplate in place.
"Been better. Arm hurts somethin' fierce—Goddess knows, the beastie probably broke it—an' m'chest don't feel too great. Probably gonna need some time off after this run."
"Yeah man, I don't blame you." With a final tug, the breastplate came loose, and Eijiro winced. The jagged metal had cut up the shirt and flesh underneath. "We need to get you bandaged up. Can you walk?"
The guard grunted affirmatively. Eijiro tore a piece of cloth from the already tattered remains of his old jacket and, with a couple of nearby pieces of dead wood, tied a makeshift splint around the guard's wounded arm. He had to admire how stoic the guy was; he barely winced as Eijiro tied the splint tight and helped him to his feet. Dude clearly knew what it meant to be manly.
Slowly, carefully, they made their way down the road. When the monsters had attacked, Eijiro and the guard—Akum, if he remembered right—had sent the others away. Some had been hastier than others, and there had been some close calls. As they came up on the small line of carts and horses, he did a brief headcount before nodding to himself. 'Looks like they all made it.'
As they approached, one of the merchants looked up. "Good, you two survived! I was worried when that moblin started throwing boulders."
"Helps when your battle-mate happens to be a living boulder himself," Akum chuckled. "How'd you folks fare, Ehel?"
"Oh, we did all right." Eijiro shivered as Ehel scanned the two of them; she had the same knack as Nezu for seeing through people. "Better than yourselves, apparently. To! We need some bandages and an elixir for Akum."
"'S not that bad," Akum grumbled half-heartedly as Eijiro and Ehel helped him onto one of the carts. After he was seated, a young man Eijiro's age ran up with some cloth bandages and a small bottle filled with pink liquid.
"Bad or not, you were injured defending us," Ehel stated, taking the bottle and carefully sprinkling some of the liquid on the bandages. "We would not leave such risks unrewarded. Riot, rebind his arm with this while we bind his chest wounds. To, he'll need a proper splint."
"You got it!" Eijiro grinned and took the proffered cloth. It was slightly damp and smelled of… flowers? He shrugged and started unwrapping the makeshift splint. As he worked, he asked, "What's the stuff you dumped on these bandages? You said it's an elixir?"
"Indeed. It's a fairy tonic, and has potent restorative properties."
"Potent restorative properties…?"
His confusion must have been more audible than he realized, because both Ehel and Akum chuckled. Well, Ehel chuckled; Akum sort of wheezed. "Means it's a healing potion, boy," Akum said.
"Does it have to be used this way?" Eijiro asked. To appeared at his shoulder with a proper splint, and the two of them started wrapping the arm in the new bandages. "Couldn't you just drink it?"
"You could," Ehel said slowly, "but only in the most dire of circumstances. Fairy tonics are dangerously potent and hard to come by, as their main ingredient—the titular fairies—are most difficult to capture. So while drinking the tonic is enough to restore a man to fit bargaining condition—often better—most prefer to use it more sparingly."
Akum grunted. "'S a pain, sure, but it speeds up healing time loads. I reckon I'll be back in th' saddle in a week or two."
'A week?' Eijiro didn't know too much about how long it took bones to heal, but he knew that it wasn't usually that fast. The only time he knew about had been with Midoriya, and even then there had been limits to what Recovery Girl could do. Hyrule had some awesome stuff.
He finished wrapping the splint in silence as he thought about all the things he'd seen since waking up. Once he was done, Akum carefully flexed his arm before nodding. "Good work, this. Almost feels normal."
"Well, don't go swinging anything for a while." Ehel glanced at the road and the rising sun. "At the rate we've been traveling, I'd say we're about an hour from Foothills Settlement. Ozunda'll want to know about the monsters striking so close. Riot, could you run ahead and inform him? We'll be along shortly."
Eijiro glanced back and forth between Akum and Ehel. "What if the monsters come back?"
"We'll be fine, lad," Akum said. He leaned forward and winced. "Miss Ehel'll get th' caravan moving, and once Ozunda knows, he'll send some boys as backup."
"The sooner you go, the sooner further escorts will arrive." Ehel made a shooing motion. "Go now, fly."
"Well, if you guys think you'll be fine, I guess I can do that," Eijiro said hesitantly before grinning. "Stones can't fly, but they can roll, so I guess I'll roll out."
Ehel nodded before she turned and began calling for the others to get the caravan moving again. From what few interactions he'd had with her, he was pretty sure that they'd be on the road before too long.
'All the more reason to get started.'
Eijiro jogged away. Within minutes, the caravan disappeared behind him. While he was worried, he knew that if they just went a little farther they'd reach the hot springs, and then they'd be safe. There wasn't much more he could do for them besides what they'd asked, so he tried to force his brain to change topics.
"I wonder who wants to meet me?" he wondered aloud. "It could be those soldiers from a couple days ago; they were pretty chill. Or maybe Beedle's back?"
It could also be… no. He squashed down the idea of it being anyone from home. He knew that everyone had made it to this planet or wherever they were, but he didn't know where they were. It sounded like Midoriya and All Might were down south somewhere, but he'd been so busy working on the slopes to check on that. Wherever the others were, they'd probably go to the one spot they knew they'd find the others at.
And that was okay. It was okay. Eijiro sniffed and shook his head. "Hey man, get a grip of yourself. It's not like you won't see everyone again, right?" The road didn't respond, and he sighed. He picked up the pace; might as well get this over with so he could get back to work helping people.
It wasn't all bad, honestly. As he picked his way over a part of the trail that had been covered in boulders, he looked back on his past couple of weeks. He'd been able to put his hero training to good use and was extremely grateful to Thirteen for the emphasis she'd put on rescue training. Those extra sessions in the Mountain Zone had really given him a lot of experience working in these situations.
And he'd needed it. Apparently, there was a lot of traffic between Goron City and the Foothills Stable settlement. While the Gorons themselves did all right—he still couldn't believe how manly the entire race was—the Hylians were a lot more squishy.
He'd discovered early on that, thanks to his Hardening and his training with Bakugo, he was much more resilient to the extreme heat on Death Mountain. He kept a couple of fireproof elixirs on him at all times to be safe, but for the most part he was able to tough it out. That had left him free to work on rescuing travelers and guiding caravans.
Honestly, it had been a fulfilling couple of weeks. He smiled to himself as he came around the final switchback before the stable. Yeah, it was lonely sometimes, but if he could protect others who weren't quite as tough, well, that's what being a hero meant, right?
Ahead, the road dropped through a giant, red stone archway before opening up to the foothills and the small village at their base. The titular stable was the center of the small settlement. It was surrounded by a bunch of small houses, a couple of shops and refineries, and even an old-timey smithy. Eijiro loved talking with the blacksmith; the dude was almost as thick as his Goron assistant and had all sorts of ideas about piping water down from the hot springs for the town.
As he passed under the arch, he couldn't help but once again be impressed by the manliness of these Hylians. Their kingdom got blown up a hundred years ago, and here they were, bouncing back.
"So you've come back from your moun'ain, eh, Riot?" an old woman called as he passed the first hut. "I though' you'd be gone for another few days."
Eijiro grinned. "So did I, ma'am. I guess someone wants to talk to me, and I was escorting a caravan on my way. How're your joints doing today?"
The old woman laughed and waved him on. "Jus' like you, checking up on everyone around you. The joints're fine; that Zizuk got some of that magic spring water for me. But enough about me; go on and meet whoever it is that's got yer attention. I hope it's a nice young lady, for yer sake."
He blushed. "I don't know if it is. The message didn't say"
A tough mystery, then," the woman cackled," and hopefully one of the feminine persuasion! Best be on to solving it. Go on, git! We can chat before you inevitably disappear into them rocks again."
Chuckling, Eijiro did as he was told, listening to the woman's cackles behind him as he went. The stable really wasn't that far from the edge of the village, but it took him a few minutes to get there. He was stopped a couple of times along the way and had similar conversations with the villagers each time. The people here had taken to calling him by his hero name and treated him like he was one of their own. It had its upsides, but he knew it was only a matter of time before they made good on their threats to find him a wife.
As he approached the stables, he caught the sound of music drifting over the rooftops. It had a lilting, adventurous quality to it. It was a remarkable change of pace from the usual quiet of the village, and Eijiro felt a thrill of excitement run through him as he broke into a job.
The source, it turned out, wasn't all that hard to find. A small crowd had gathered in front of the stable to listen to the musician, who was one of the strangest beings Eijiro had ever seen.
The figure was tall, muscular, and completely covered in blue and yellow feathers. A large, hooked beak sprouted from where his face should have been, and his arms seemed to be both arms and wings, though his feathery fingers didn't seem to have any difficulty with the accordion. Instead of feet, two large talons tore into the ground. His clothing seemed loose and rustly, exactly the kind that a bird might wear.
He was the manliest bird Eijiro had ever seen, and he knew immediately that he had to meet him. But first he had a job to do.
Slowly, so as to not disturb the listeners or the player, Eijiro worked his way around the crowd to the front desk of the stable, where Ozunda was nodding along appreciatively to the accordion. He smiled when Eijiro sidled up. "Back already, Riot?"
"You know me, man; always busy," Eijiro laughed. "But seriously, I actually have some news. I was escorting Ehel's caravan when we were attacked by a monster raiding party. They're fine, but it was up on that ridge above the hot springs. She wanted me to let you know."
"On the ridge?" Ozunda frowned. "It's been years since we've had to worry about anything other than individual monsters. I'll get some of the boys to go check it out. You want me to let you know when they're ready?"
"Yeah, that'd be great." The accordion swelled behind him, and he glanced back. "Different question; who's that? I've never seen anyone quite like him before."
Ozunda chuckled. "That's one of the bird people, the Rito. They live out west somewhere near Hebra. This one's here on some kind of quest."
"A quest, huh?" Eijiro leaned against the counter and listened while Ozunda went off somewhere. Yeah, he definitely needed to meet this guy.
Once the Rito was done with his current song, Eijiro clapped along with the others and started working his way through the crowd as the player started speaking.
"You are too kind, my friends, too kind." The bird smiled in the same impossible way that Tokoyami did, where it was more in the eyes than the beak. "I'm afraid that is all for the time being. Come back this evening; I will be here for the next few days researching one of the old songs, so please, stop by and I will share with you what I have learned."
"…good, love listening…bards…"
"…Rito…great singers…"
"…not fair…ask me…"
Eijiro grinned as he pushed his way to the front of the dispersing crowd. Dude was pretty humble. He could respect that.
The Rito looked down at him as he approached. "Ah, and who might you be? I don't often see Hylians with such vivid half-plumage."
"Ah, thanks." Eijiro touched his hair. It had been long enough that the original black was showing at the roots. "I'm Kirishima Eijiro. I'm not from around here."
The Rito laughed, a sort of squawk mixed with a regular laugh. "Not from around here! Well, I think that I can say the same. I am Kass, a traveling minstrel. Tell me, Kirishima, what brings you to this remote stable? Are you seeking the ancient songs too?"
"Nope! Someone sent a message saying that they wanted to meet me here. That wasn't you, was it?"
Kass shook his head, though the smile never left his eyes. "No, it was not I. Though I might have an idea of who it was."
'What?' "Really? Who?"
In response, the Rito jerked his head toward someone behind him in the inn. Eijiro leaned around to look and froze. Sitting by the counter, a bite of food suspended halfway between plate and mouth, was a man Eijiro would recognize anywhere. It was hard to forget the sharp glasses and engine calves.
Iida stared back at him, clearly just as shocked, before a smile spread across his face. He didn't even make it out of the chair before Eijiro, grinning so hard his face hurt, reached him and pulled him into a hug.
"Iida! Man, am I glad to see you!"
"And I you, though I had no idea you were here!" Iida pulled back. "When Beedle mentioned that there was someone I would want to meet here, I will admit to being a bit hesitant, but now I am glad that I came!"
"Me too!" Eijiro laughed, feeling the relief wash over him. He wasn't alone out here anymore. "Man, it's good to see you. What've you been doing? Where did that crazy warp storm dump you? And how did you get here?"
Iida laughed and waved at him to slow down. "One question at a time, I think. When I woke up two weeks ago, I found myself in the laboratory of a most eccentric scientist named Robbie. I've been helping him with his experiments since. It was invigorating work, but I will admit that when Beedle told me that I had someone to meet here and offered to take me most of the way, I jumped on the opportunity."
Eijiro shook his head. "I don't blame you, man; doing lab work sounds like my actual definition of hell."
"Yes, well, I actually enjoyed the work," Iida said defensively. "But it did grow tedious. But that's my story; where have you been?"
"Here, actually. I've been helping travelers on the road to Death Mountain. Turns out there are these super manly dudes called Gorons whose skin is like rock that live up there. Sound familiar?"
Iida's eyes widened, and Eijiro grinned. "Yeah, it was kinda a wild first meeting when I showed 'em what I could do. Took 'em a while to figure out that I wasn't a Hylian, but we got there in the end. The road between here and there's super dangerous for most people, but I'm fine, for whatever reason."
"Amazing!" Iida exclaimed. "So you've found a way to put our training to a practical use."
"Yeah, I've been real grateful for those extra sessions with Thirteen. That mountain rescue training's really been paying off in a big way."
"I believe it. Here, sit down! Tell me some more about what you've been up to."
The two sat down. Eijiro couldn't believe it. 'It's one of the others! They made it!' Logically, he knew that the others were around somewhere, but seeing and believing were two different matters entirely.
It was good to sit and talk with Iida, too. It was funny, but he realized that he'd never really had the chance to just sit and chat before. Their friend groups didn't really line up. Turned out, Iida was pretty cool. A little stiff, but hey, who was the literal rock to judge?
They talked for a while. Iida was just getting into the part of his story where he fought off a friggin' laser robot when Ozunda returned to take his spot behind the bar. "All right, the lads are gearing up. This here who you were looking for?"
"Sure is!" Eijiro beamed. "This is my friend from school."
"Greetings, my good barkeep! I'm Iida Tenya!" Iida said with his signature arm-chopping motions.
Ozunda looked slightly bemused. "Ozunda. Will you be joining Riot here in his mountaineering adventures?"
"That's… a good question, actually." Iida turned to face him. "What is the plan, Kirishima? Obviously, we'll go help your caravan, but after that?"
Eijiro blew out a breath. "I don't know, dude. I honestly haven't thought that far ahead."
The two fell quiet for a moment. "Didn't Beedle say to meet the others at the Dueling Peaks?" Iida asked. "We could make our way down there."
"Yeah, we could." Something about that didn't sit right. Eijiro turned the problem over in his head before slowly speaking his thoughts. "It's just… we don't know if they're there, right? You know Midoriya and All Might; the two of them don't know how to sit still. They're probably out helping people. Like we should be."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. You've said yourself that you've helped a lot of people out up in—what was it, Akkala? Same as I've been doing here. What if we stayed and helped? Yeah, I want to see the others again too, but we're heroes; we should be doing hero things."
Iida nodded. "Heroes in training, but yes, I agree. Staying in one place—or in the vicinity, rather—will enable them to find us when they can. It's the same principle for when you're lost, which we are, in a sense."
Behind the bar, Ozunda cleared his throat. "Now, it's not my place to say whether you should go or stay, but I know that the folk around here have really appreciated Riot's help."
"How would we let the others know where we are?" Iida asked. "I've seen the maps, and we're quite a ways north."
Ozunda jerked his head toward the stableyard, where the sound of Kass's accordion was once again filling the air. "Why don't you ask the Rito to carry a message? I'm sure he'd be happy to soon as he's done."
"What d'ya say, Iida?" Eijiro asked. "Heroes?"
Iida was silent for a moment before a smile split his face. "Heroes."