Work Text:
Kageyama slunk through the shadows of the trees with silent footsteps, bow and arrow at the ready, using the leaves to hide his approaching form as he stalked towards the open clearing of the woodlands where rabbits feasted upon lush, green grass.
On their way to do battle with the Demon King, he and Hinata had picked up a couple of friends, and that meant they had a larger group to feed whenever they stopped to rest. Aone, Yamaguchi and Kenma were out foraging, whilst Tsukishima, Hinata and Iwaizumi fished. The only one left was Kageyama, who volunteered himself to hunt.
He always hunted solo. It was easier to focus, it was easier to make a kill. His Elven ears twitched. Something was approaching from behind, something much larger than a rabbit. He drew his arrow.
“Kageyama!!!!” The rabbits fled. Kageyama’s eye twitched in annoyance, his teeth gritted together. Of course. It just couldn’t have been a bear, or a moose, or a dragon! No, instead it was the sprightly human who seemed determined to ruin his hunting every. Single. Time.
“Hinata, you dumbass! I was about to make a kill!” With hair as bright as fire and a spirit that burned just as bright, Hinata grinned as he jumped into the tree branches just out of Kageyama’s reach.
“You don’t need to! We caught a whole school of trout! There’s more than enough to feed everyone twice!” Grunting in affirmation, Kageyama returns the arrow to his quiver and wears his bow across his shoulders.
“Who’s on cooking duty? If it’s you, I’d rather eat tree bark.”
“Oh come on! I only burnt it once!” Kageyama raises an eyebrow, lips pursed together as he side-glances at Hinata, hopping through the trees alongside as they head back to where camp is being set up for the night. Hinata blushes and glances away.
“Okay, so I burnt the food twice, served it raw once, oversalted it more times than I can count, and gave us all food poisoning that one time. But that doesn’t mean I can’t cook!”
“Yes, it generally does. So who’s cooking?”
“S’posed to me but Iwaizumi volunteered…” The mumble draws a sharp bark of laughter from Kageyama, though he quickly pretends he never did and smirks instead.
“You’re that bad, even Iwaizumi stepped in.”
“Oh, shut up! You’re the one who puts the fire out every time you try and cook!” Kageyama’s nose crinkles.
“Because I’m a swamp elf, dumbass. Fire naturally dislikes me.”
“Swamp monster.”
“Tree gremlin.”
“Stupid!”
“Dumbass!”
“Is that the only insult you know?!”
“I just called you a tree gremlin, you- you-!” He cuts himself off, struggling to think of anything other than dumbass. Hinata bursts into bright, freeing laughter from the depths of his belly, almost falling out the tree he lands on, before swinging himself around a branch to slow his momentum and land safely on the ground.
For a human, he’s incredibly swift and agile. More like a bakeneko or a Kazu Kitsune. His fleet-footed ways amongst the forest and endless stamina meant he would often scout ahead of the group to find ideal resting spots, or warn of enemies up ahead.
“Kageyama, Hinata~.” As they enter the circular clearing, sheltered by trees reaching over to form a roof, Yamaguchi raises a hand in greeting. He’s peeling mountain vegetables, by the looks of it, and Kenma sits next to him, washing roots in a pot of water.
“I found Kageyama!”
“He disturbed my hunt.”
“You weren’t gonna catch anything anyways!”
“Obviously I was, dumbass!”
“Both of you, calm down.” The stern yet amused tone instantly has them closing their mouths, Iwaizumi chuckling at the reaction. As the oldest of the group, and with a likeable personality to keep everything in balance, there’s not a doubt the former Knight is in charge.
But he’s sickly. A run in with one of the Demon King’s minions left him with a wound that became infected, despite Kenma’s multiple attempts to purify it and Yamaguchi’s healing ability. It had only been three days, and yet Iwaizumi was weakening.
The small group was doing everything they could to adjust and find a cure. At the moment, that was more important than hunting down the Demon King. He could wait. Iwaizumi couldn’t.
“Yamaguchi, take a look at this.” Leaves rustle as Tsukishima and Aone enter the clearing, covered from head to toe in dirt, leaves, and moss. Aone’s hands are absolutely coated in mud, like he’s been digging with them.
Tsukishima passes over what looks like a twisted, gnarled branch, except it’s obviously from underground. In Aone’s hands is a plant that Kageyama recognises. Upside-down iwakagami. As the name suggests, it grows into the earth, rather than upwards, roots spreading across the ground in a mandala.
They are incredibly rare, and only found in dry, mountainous regions.
Yamaguchi takes them with a scrunched up face and narrowed eyes, inspecting every inch of them and mentally listing through the uses and recipes they could be used in. Suddenly, his eyes light up.
“We need 3 tail hairs of a White Stag.”
“...What?”
“3 tail hairs of a White Stag! I can use those and the iwakagami to create Angel Plasma. It can purify any curse, physical or not, and heals a wound left by anything demonic!” The implication has them all whip their heads around to Iwaizumi, who blinks and rubs the back of his head.
“I’d appreciate that, but where are we going to find a White Stag? There used to be one around the castle grounds, but when Oikawa-...” He cuts himself off, lump in his throat, regret flooding his eyes. Talking about the Demon King hurts him, because the Demon King used to be his best friend.
Not anymore. Not now that he’s the pinnacle of death and destruction, chaos and calamity. Their old home was in ruins, Oikawa’s transformation into the Demon King having spawned a huge sonic boom that blasted away anything that wasn’t deeply rooted to the ground.
That included people. The survivors had either been left in ruin, like Iwaizumi in the rubble of the castle where he had lived, or had been blasted to the outer edges of the Kingdom and had to retreat to wilderness to survive. It was amazing, really, that they’d found each other like this.
“When a White Stag dies, another one is born.” It’s rare for Aone to speak a full sentence instead of communicating with soft sounds or physical gesture, so this must be incredibly important to him. Not just because it helps a friend - one of the family they’ve created - but because his magical ability lets him talk to animals.
Kageyama can talk with plants and water, Aone can talk with animals. They’ve got the grounds of ‘not getting lost’ pretty much covered.
“That- That’s great! That’s awesome! We can get Iwaizumi’s cure!!!” Hinata leaps into the air with a whoop, jumping like a star would leap into the sky. Tsukishima clicks his tongue.
“Calm down. We still have to find it, if you could think about things for a split second.”
“What did you say?!”
“You heard me.”
“Asshole!”
“Enough.” Kenma’s sharp instruction has them breaking apart, Hinata springing away from the spellcasting demon.
Yes, that’s right, demon. Back in the village, Tsukishima had been a humble shoemaker, but in the crisis that destroyed their home, a shard of pure demonic power had struck his chest. Others in this condition had flocked to the Demon King, called by his presence. Others didn’t have Yamaguchi.
In a way, Tsukishima owed his life to Yamaguchi. If he had gone with the Demon King as the shard commanded, he would either meet his end at the hands of these heroes, or his natural personality would have managed to irritate the Demon King into eradicating him.
Yamaguchi had managed to stabilize the shard, removing the demonic intent. It hadn’t stopped his transformation, brown robe now black, golden eyes filled with red flecks, and small, curved horns sprouting from his head, but it had saved him.
“Sorry, Kenma!”
“Sorry.”
“You don’t sound very sorry, Tsukki~.”
“Shut up, Yamaguchi.” The healer grins, crinkles around the corners of his eyes and dimples showing on his freckled cheeks with a hint of playful mischief. Tsukishima tries to hide his tiny smile in response, but he’s sure Yamaguchi knows.
“There’s a wetland within walking distance of here. We can reach it tomorrow by sunset.” Kageyama stands up from where he had kneeled on the floor, fingertips pressed to the soil as he read the flow of water deep below, in aquifers and underground springs. He’d projected himself along the flow of water, leading to the wetland nearby.
Aone nods at him, agreeing that it’s the best chance they have of finding deer, even more so the White Stag they desperately need. The Wetlands proved a sanctuary from all predators except dragons, and the lush feeding ground would draw in many of the deer.
“We’ll leave early in the morning. For now, let’s eat and rest.” Iwaizumi gesture towards the fish on pikes circled around the fire, fully cooked and ready to eat. Hinata and Kageyama bundle over, picking out the biggest ones and settling on a fallen log to eat.
Yamaguchi thankfully takes the smallest, then grabs another to pass over to Tsukishima as Iwaizumi distributes to Kenma and Aone, leaving his own until the last. It’s a little charred, but he doesn’t mind.
The three tents, a hideous shade of yellow that Tsukishima very much disliked and made it well-know, are already standing at the outskirts of the clearing, close enough to get warmth from the fire but not close enough to actually catch fire.
Fish devoured and mountain vegetables nibbled on, the group retreat to their tents for the night. For the sake of practicality, Kageyama and Hinata are kept far apart lest they argue until the sun rises. It ends up with Hinata with Aone, Kageyama with Tsukishima, and Iwaizumi shares his tent with Kenma and Yamaguchi.
Under normal circumstances, Tsukishima would be with Yamaguchi, Kageyama with Iwaizumi, and Kenma would join Hinata and Aone. But Iwaizumi is injured, and the festering wound pulses in the night, giving him vivid nightmares and eating away at his flesh. Most of the time, he wakes screaming.
He won’t sleep tonight either, nor will Yamaguchi or Kenma as they try to keep the damage to a minimum. By the time morning rolls around, birds chirping and the stars fading from the sky, it seems their leader has finally fallen into a state of unconscious where the demonic energy from the wound can’t reach him.
Yawning, Kageyama drags himself from his tent, blinking when his eyes settle on Aone already in the clearing, tidying up the fire from last night and slicing fruit, with birds fluttering around him, some even on his shoulders. He smiles peacefully, nodding as they twitter away.
“G’morning.” Kageyama’s voice startles the birds, a few leaving, but Aone takes no offence to the interruption and instead raises a hand in greeting. Kageyama grabs one of the arrowheads he hasn’t had a chance to fix to the shaft yet, and plonks himself cross-legged on the leaf covered floor to help with slicing breakfast.
Apples, pears, and plums, paired with a few scavenged nuts and the silverberries Kenma found yesterday will make for a plentiful breakfast. It’s not long before Hinata comes scampering out of his tent, no longer warmed by clinging onto Aone through the night.
“Morning!” The remaining birds scatter and Aone smiles a little as he greets Hinata. It’s no secret that the half-giant and the human are really good friends. With Kenma in their group, they make an odd trio that are as close as can be.
It takes until the sun is casting gold upon the eastern horizon before Tsukishima emerges, looking slightly more grumpy that normal. He sneers at Kageyama, snatching away a freshly sliced pear to retreat into the forest for some peace and quiet. Kageyama blinks, Hinata laughing.
“... I didn’t even say anything.”
“You probably kept him up with your snoring!”
“S’better than screaming…” A very tired Kenma slinks out of the biggest tent, shivering in the cold morning air. He worms his way over to Hinata and wriggles under an arm, huddling in as close as he can between Hinata and Aone, though mostly leaning against Hinata since he’s always warm.
“Good morning, Kenma!” The mage groans quietly, burying his face in Hinata’s shoulder. Aone rubs his back, making a ‘shhh’ gesture to Hinata. It must have been a long and difficult night. The need for the 3 tail hairs of a White Stag was already desperate, but now, it’s critical.
There’s no way they can defeat the Demon King without Iwaizumi, or if two of their magic users are permanently exhausted. Kageyama glances at the tent, before he whispers, words appearing in a cloud of condensation.
“Where’s Yamaguchi?”
“Trying one more time to close the wound. I don’t think it’ll work.” A tense silence.
“Yeah, but… We’re gonna get that plasma stuff Yamaguchi talked about, right?” Leave it to Hinata to be almost stupidly optimistic. But his innocent words calm uneasy hearts, bringing about a sensation of peace. Aone nods, Kenma humms in agreement, and Kageyama looks skywards.
“There’s a lot of dew today. I could try taking a peek to see if there’s a deer herd nearby.”
“Birds said there’s some up north.”
“Thank you. I’ll travel the water that way.” Taking a deep breath, Kageyama puts both hands to the soil to increase his visibility, projecting himself into the aquifers from before. Following Aone’s tip-off from the birds, he follows twists and turns, jumping from aquifers to hot spring, to fog, to dew drops, and finally, he reaches the open expanse of water in the wetlands.
Swerving around the long reeds and grass in the water, winding his way through mangrove roots and under fallen trees, he looks around the entirety of the Wetland pond, searching for any sign of movement in any direction. Just as he’s about to give up, leaves rustle and a couple of doe push their way through the thickets, into the deep, pure water.
The deer are here. He wants to wait and see if the White Stag in in this herd, but Kageyama can only project for as long as he can hold his breath, and he’s running out of air. Before he passes out, he withdraws all the way back to his body and gasps as his eyes open.
He almost falls backwards onto the earth, if Hinata hadn’t lunged forwards and caught him by the shoulder with a concerned look and insane reflexes. Luckily, Kenma had sat up by then, so he wasn’t flung off the log.
“Are you okay, Bakageyama?” He catches his breath, nodding as the haze of suffocation leaves his vision.
“The deer are- The deer are there. I didn’t see if there was a White Stag with them.”
“That’s good enough! At least we know where they feed and stuff!” Kenma looks down at the ground, eyebrows furrowed.
“We know where they feed at sunrise. We could get there for sunset and find nothing…” Silence.
“Then we’ll just get them first thing tomorrow…” The sleepy mumble heralds Yamaguchi stumbling out the tent, rubbing at his eyes. Like magic, his appearance summons Tsukishima back from the forest, and the spellcaster quickly walks over to him to give him physical support.
“Thanks, Tsukki…”
“Shut up, Yamaguchi.” The soft words, spoken with no bite whatsoever, are followed by Tsukishima leading Yamaguchi to the side of the clearing, sitting him down, and returning to grab him some breakfast. They sit side by side in the shadow of an oak, Yamaguchi eating lethargically, and Tsukishima making sure he doesn’t choke.
It’s peaceful, calm and wonderful, and the sky starts to turn blue just as Iwaizumi finally emerges. He looks just about as tired as Kenma and Yamaguchi, but much more pallid. The wound must be getting worse.
“Everyone ready?”
“Iwaizumi, you haven’t had any breakfast.”
“I’ll be sick if I eat right now Trust me.”
“Ah…” Kageyama’s concern skyrockets. He decides to travel at the back of the group today, just in case anything happens in front of him.
Once the tents are packed away, they set off heading North as per Aone’s recommendation. Occasionally, they’ll stop for something to eat, or for the three most exhausted to take naps. Being small, Kenma is easy to carry, but Yamaguchi doesn’t have that luxury, and Iwaizumi is heavy.
They manage to arrange it so that Hinata carries the backpacks, Tsukishima carries the tents, Kageyama carries Kenma on his back, and Aone switches between Yamaguchi and Iwaizumi. It gives them just enough sleep to keep going, especially since their healer needs to be awake and fully focused to create the Angel Plasma.
“The ground is so soggy! I’m sinking into it!” Hinata’s cry jolts Yamaguchi out of slumber, apologising quietly when he realises he’s drooled over Aone’s shoulder. The half-giant doesn’t seem to mind, silently reassuring him as he lets Yamaguchi off his back.
Kageyama hops from one foot to the other in the soil, more like a marsh than solid ground, and his face lights up with a rare smile.
“We’re almost there.” He can tell from the amount of water seeping through the earth, from the plants he sees around them, the same ones he saw when he projected along the waterways this morning. It’s been a full 10 hours since then, but even in low light, everything looks the same.
Pressing his hand to a vine, Kageyama exhales instead of inhales, connecting to the life essence inside the swampy vegetation. He peels his blue eyes open calmly, hope in the sapphire depths.
“There’s 14 mammal life forces in the Wetland. One carries magic.” Whilst it could be something else, Kageyama hopes, dearly hopes, that it must be the White Stag they desperately need. Iwaizumi’s starting to look feverish and faint.
“It’s all up to you, Aone.” Kenma gives his friend a gentle pat on the back in encouragement, and Yamaguchi passes over a silk cloth to put the tail hairs in.
“Please, Aone, please. I- I know it’s a lot to ask, but we need this.” Taking the silk cloth, Aone gives them a confident nod before he strides into the water, soaking up to his knees as he pushes aside the overgrowth and enters into the Wetland. The long grass reaches up to his waist, and as he enters, the herd of deer lift their heads, startled.
Gently, Aone reaches out to them with his ability. Deer might be skittish, but they can also be aggressive, so politeness is the key. He converses with them for a moment, letting them know he means no harm, he will not hurt anyone, he just needs some help.
It takes a full 6 minutes before the herd parts, allowing the White Stag to glide through the water with elegance and pride. In the low light of the sunset, it appears to be glowing, a beast made of dreams, clouds and stars.
Aone dips his head in greeting, and the White Stag does the same, showing his ethereal antlers. Unlike normal deer antlers, the White Stag’s are not made of bone, but of shimmering pearl, twisting like a unicorn horn and spreading out like branches on a tree.
“Please.” His quiet plead, begging the White Stag, does the trick. With a stomp of his hoof against the wet ground beneath the water, sending ripples across the pond, a doe steps forwards and nibbles at the tail of the stag, plucking a few hairs.
The White Stag swings his head to gesture her forwards, and she drops four hairs into the silk cloth. Aone wraps them up carefully, making sure not to let a single one escape, even if they only need three in the first place.
“Thank you.” He bows as low as he can, holding the position of gratitude until the herd walks of, leaving the Wetland. Holding the precious silk package as if it were the greatest thing in the universe, Aone wades his way back to the others.
Their bags are hung on tree branches, which is probably a good thing, as Hinata and Kageyama argue and playfight each other in the marshy swamp, throwing globs of mud at each other as if they were snowballs.
Tsukishima has some splattered over his face, caught in the crossfire, and stares blankly off into the distance as if he wishes he could ascend into a higher realm. Yamaguchi is a little further off, in a safe zone, mixing together a variety of plants and items that he’s picked up along the way, a habit that has turned out to be the key to saving their leader.
Kenma hides from the mud battle behind a large cypress tree. At first glance, he looks completely innocent, but then Aone sees a root lift itself from the ground, sparkling with magic, to trip Hinata up as he tries to attack Kageyama from behind.
Lastly, there’s no sign of Iwaizumi, but he can’t be too far from Yamaguchi if the healer is already mixing together the potion. Hinata spits out a mouthful of mud, eyes lighting up as he catches sight of the returning half-giant.
“Aone!”
“Thank goodness, bring the hairs over here, I need them now.” There’s no time to waste, and Aone jogs over to Yamaguchi, passing over the silk cloth with its precious cargo, the healer throwing a leaf Aone doesn’t recognise into the potion. He can see the Upside-down iwakagami flower brewing over a flame Tsukishima must have started.
That explains why Kageyama is being kept far away from the brew. Fire and Swamp Elves really do not get along.
“Don’t be alarmed if there’s a small explosion.” That’s all the warning they get before Yamaguchi adds three of the White Stag tail hairs, and a great cloud of lilac smoke billows out with a crackle and pop, rainbow sparks flying.
“Yamaguchi!” Swallowed by the cloud, Yamaguchi coughs and waves his hand in front of his face, blowing away the smoke before answering Hinata.
“I’m okay!” Tsukishima peers a little closer, eyes widening when they settle on the luminescent white mixture in the bottle, swirling with streams of blossom pink and lavender purple. He’s done it. He’s done it.
“Yamaguchi… You made Angel Plasma…” Possibly the rarest potion known to life, having only been mentioned in texts before the last demon war, 5500 years ago, and this inexperience healer from a small village has done it. Tsukishima always knew Yamaguchi was bound for greatness, brindling with overwhelming potential, but this is more than even he expected.
“I- I did it… I did it!” He picks up the potion bottle, hops over the leg, and kneels down next to where Iwaizumi is sitting up against a tree, held up by the roots. The fever is getting bad, and he peels open his hazy eyes with a tired smile.
“Congratulations~.” Kenma makes his way over through the undergrowth, kneeling down next to them. Carefully, he removes Iwaizumi’s shirt, wincing at the large gash across his stomach and chest, pulsing purple and black around the edges.
“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t stepped between me ‘n’ Kuro.”
“He was going to curse you…”
“I could have deflected it. I’m a Mage after all, Iwaizumi.” With a quiet laugh, the knight shrugs.
“Blame it on instinct~.” Trying to distract him as Yamaguchi readies the Angel Plasma for application, Kenma takes one of Iwaizumi’s hands and nods at Aone to grab the other. Tsukishima holds down his legs.
“You’re overly protective, that’s what it is.”
“I saw my best friend turn into the Demon King. I lost him. I won’t lose anyone else.” Kenma’s peaceful smile quivers.
“What will you do when you find him?” As the Angel Plasma slides out of the glass and into Yamaguchi’s hand like a living slime instead of water-based potion, Iwaizumi grunts.
“Beat some sense into his dumb ass.” The light laughter covers up Yamaguchi’s murmur that he’s going ahead, and the healer turns his hand over to place the Angel Plasma over the wound.
Iwaizumi garbles a scream, trying to hold it back, because it burns. It burns, because the heavenly essence is fighting off the infection, eating away at the demonic curse, and closing the wound at the same time.
It’s a good thing the others are holding him down, because he’s strong enough that he would have managed to pull away if it were one person alone. Yamaguchi keeps his hand over the wound, pressing the Angel Plasma into it and chanting words he’s memorised from scrolls long ago.
Tsukishima helps him, filling him in when he gets stuck on pronunciation and hesitates. It’s a long, tiring struggle, and Kenma swaps out for Kageyama at some point, whilst Hinata watches from over their shoulders with tears in his eyes. Yamaguchi exhales.
“Nearly there, nearly there…” His shuddering tone is due to exhaustion, not just from the sleepless night, but from the toll of performing such a powerful ancient magic. He looks like he’s about to pass out too.
Something nudges him on the shoulder. He turns and gasps. The White Stag stands there, a vision of beauty and elegance. Persistently, it nudges as if to get past. Aone shuffle to the side, giving the White Stag just enough room to weasel in, and it presses its muzzle to the back of Yamaguchi’s hand.
A bright, blinding light fills the clearing like an explosion, a breeze blowing their capes backwards but allowing them to remain in place. Having closed their eyes, the first thing Yamaguchi registers is the tingle under his palm, and the wet muzzle removing itself.
“Is everyone else okay?” Kenma’s question echoes in the suddenly silent swamp, and Kageyama answers first with an affirmative, followed by Tsukishima’s humm and Aone’s grunt. Slowly, Yamaguchi peels his eyes open.
He gasps.
Iwaizumi’s torso looks like it was never injured in the first place. Lifting his hand, he notes that there’s a tiny scar at the exact place he pressed the Angel Plasma, but that asides, nothing. Not even discolouration of the skin, like Tsukishima has around where the shard impacted him.
“It’s healed…” He whips his head round to the White Stag, eyes filling with water.
“Thank you… Thank you, thank you, thank you!” The White Stag snorts, sounding amused, and strides off to the herd of deer waiting by the swamp borders. Yamaguchi watches them leave as the others tend to Iwaizumi, stirring with a groan.
He’s not sure if he’s going crazy, but he’s sure he sees the White Stag momentarily morph into a human, a beautiful boy in a white dress, with black hair, green eyes, and a kind, wise smile, and then he’s suddenly seeing the deer leap through the vegetation and thunder away in their herd.
“Iwaizumi!!!” Hinata’s excited chirp draws his attention back, and he helps ease Iwaizumi into sitting up.
“Careful, that was powerful magic.”
“You’re telling me. I feel like I was ripped apart and stitched back together.”
“Ew.” Iwaizumi laughs roughly, trying to push himself to his feet despite Yamaguchi’s insistence that he stays lying down. The Knight shakes his head.
“It’s almost night. Let’s find somewhere to set up camp. … Again.” He has to lean heavily against Kageyama to walk, but Kageyama doesn’t mind. He helps Iwaizumi along with every step, knowing that he’ll be the one to guide them to the Demon King.
The day they go into battle gets closer with every heartbeat, but today has been peaceful, and Kageyama hopes for many more moments like these with this group of adventurers. They’re friends, and nothing in the world is going to change that.