Chapter Text
Izuku quickly realised the first problem. He had no idea where he was and had no way how to find out. Around him was an endless forest and nothing else. Not that it would be more helpful if he got in a town. People were wary when it came to hybrids. Moreover, if it were predators, which a dragon surely was. Izuku would be surprised if anyone willingly helped him. He was on his own.
Well, it wasn’t exactly something new. Izuku went through the majority of his life without friends. They weren’t really welcomed in his childhood home when he was a kid. It was only a few houses, not even enough to call it a town. People there were extremely close-minded and many times accused Izuku’s mother of being a witch. One day, they would go to her for a potion for their sick child and the very next day, they would throw a rotten tomato at her. Izuku hated how they treated her, so when she didn’t survive a particularly harsh winter, he left for good.
The first year was the hardest. Then, he met Ochako and Tenya, and through them, he got to know Shouto. Literally a prince! From the very start, Shouto proclaimed Izuku his best friend. These were confusing but fun times. Did his soulmate have someone, too? Someone who was waiting for them to return.
Izuku had to figure out how to get to them.
Tetsu was on the way for about half a day, and honestly, he was getting a tiny, tiny, bit annoyed. His soulmate wasn’t really physically capable. With this small body, he had to take a break every few hours. It was nothing like his days-long journeys without stops, which he was used to do before he was imprisoned.
And maybe one day, he would get strong enough to transform into his full dragon form and fly for days once again. He was stuck in his human form for so long. And even if he, as a human, had wings, he didn’t doubt they would be too weak to keep him in the air.
That all was the music of the future. Beautiful music, indeed.
Okay… Izuku wasn’t proud of what he had done. But! There was no other option. The merchant could buy another map and would continue with his life. He wasn’t even hurt, running away as soon as he saw Izuku, abandoning his carriage in the process. Izuku took only the map and a little bit of food. Everything else was left where it belonged.
Well, he still felt kinda bad about it. He had never stolen anything before. A desperate situation called for desperate measures. Plus, the map was an actual help since the fortress was marked there. The only downside was that it didn’t map anything outside of the kingdom. Izuku had to guess in which way his home was by the shape of the border.
It might take a few days, but he was going to get there!
Tetsu found another problem. Great… Never had he had to deal with thieves. This was a completely new experience for him. In the past, they would rather run before him. Now, it was different. He was small and weak. Perfect victim for being robbed or, worse, kidnapped.
He was so glad, he noticed them before they could notice him. It took only a second for panic to settle in. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t fight them. They were three of them and he was alone. But there was nowhere to hide, and if he tried to run, they would easily see him and catch him. There was only one option… Tetsu looked up.
Huh. Tetsu really thought that it would be harder. For how weak Izuku’s body was, he seemed to be born for tree climbing. It took a second for him to get so high he saw above the trees. Tetsu sat comfortably on one of the thicker branches, listening to the thieves under him. They were no wiser.
It was an accident. Izuku didn’t mean to do it. He underestimated his soulmate’s abilities, that was all… Yeah, he should have realised that dragon hybrids would be able to breathe fire. Izuku cringed as he looked around him. He managed to put out the fire before it could spread even further but the damage was made. Well, this place is going to be a nice little glade.
But hey, it kinda solved his previous problem of being cold. The still-hot ash was practically calling for Izuku to just lay down and sleep. How was he supposed to resist? Without care of how dirty he would end up, Izuku fell to the ground. The night was cold, especially for reptilians like the dragons were, but at the moment, he was warm and surprisingly comfortable.
Izuku let out a low rumble deep in his chest. He was too tired to think of how much it reminded him of a cat’s purring.
Tetsu was on the way just the second day, and he already wished it was going to be over soon. He wanted to be back in his body so bad he was going to cry. Don’t take him wrong. His soulmate didn’t have a bad body. Sure, it was small… and weak… and getting tired quickly… and clumsy… and prone to illnesses if the cough after the last night could tell anything… Fine, it was far from ideal.
At least it was supposed to be only temporary. He was giving himself the positive talk the whole day. Izuku was alive. He had to be. This wouldn’t happen if he was about to die. This soulmate stuff always worked. There weren’t any stories that something went wrong. It was an ancient magic. One of the kind that was inside everyone. It didn’t matter if they could use other forms of magic or not.
After going over all of it for what felt like a thousand’s time, Tetsu suddenly found himself falling on his ass. How could he not see the person before he walked directly into them?
Izuku wasn’t really thinking about where he was going. The endless walking was exhausting him both physically and mentally. He just wasn’t used to it. When he went for some herbs that didn’t grow around his home, he took a few days for the journey so he wouldn’t have to hurry. Here, he would stop at a nice pond, there, he would take some time to watch a cute family of deers.
Now, he didn’t have time for any of it. He could only walk and walk. It was seriously numbing. The sun, shining through the branches, was the only indicator that he still went in the right direction. The only escape was daydreaming. Izuku could be very creative when it came to his imagination.
He was so deep in his thoughts, not actually looking where he was going, that he didn’t notice a figure appear between the trees in front of him. This led to Izuku bumping right into the stranger. He watched them fall, too shocked to attempt to catch them.
Izuku wanted to apologise, but words got stuck in his throat. He stared into the green eyes, the same eyes that he saw every morning in the mirror. His soulmate seemed to share the same sentiment, as he didn’t make any effort to get up.
“You’re Izuku…” Honestly, it was weird to hear it. It was his voice, it came out of his mouth, but he wasn’t the one saying it. Izuku looked at his soulmate. At himself! Realising something. “Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to get to know your name.” God, now he felt embarrassed. Thankfully, his soulmate didn’t seem to mind. “I’m Tetsu.” He said with a wide grin.
Izuku got down on one knee and offered a hand with the intention to help Tetsu up. It was only when they touched it finally happened. Bond snapped in the place, now sure that they truly found each other. It was quick. Izuku only blinked, and suddenly, he was the one sitting on the ground, staring up at the dragon hybrid.
Tetsu blinked a few times, but then he gave Izuku the same grin as before and tugged him up. “It’s nice to meet you and see that you’re -or I’m..?- Alright.” His voice shifted from happy to almost apologetic. As if it was his fault for being imprisoned.
“I can tell you how I got out if you want to. We have plenty of time before we get back to my home.” Izuku didn’t even consider the option that Tetsu would want to go anywhere else. At least not immediately. He knew for sure that Tetsu wouldn’t want to return to where he was. For now, Izuku’s home was the only safe place.
As they walked, Izuku started talking. There wasn’t that much to say, but his nervousness made him stutter a few times and go into a little bit too much detail about the mould than would be necessary. Sue him, of course, he was nervous. He was always like this when meeting new people. Moreover, when they were destined to be his friends.
He was glad that when he looked at Tetsu, the hybrid seemed to be genuinely interested. It felt nice to have someone who listened to him. He had his other friends, of course, but that wasn’t the same. Ochako couldn’t keep focus long enough to listen to Izuku’s ramble, Iida had too much work to have longer conversations, and Shouto always managed to fall asleep.
This was different and… nice. Maybe he would ask Tetsu if he wanted to stay with him. Izuku had one empty room in his house. A small place that didn’t have any purpose. It sounded nice to have someone there. Not to live alone.
And who else would be a better choice than his newly founded soulmate?