Chapter Text
Izuku didn’t remember his family. It was an accident, he’d assumed. He had woken in the middle of the forest, alone and covered in soot. He’d figured he was around seven Snowfalls old at the time. He should have died in that forest by all logical sense. He was defenseless and held no memories prior to his awakening on the forest floor. However, against all logical sense, he’d survived. He was strange, compared to the others that looked like him on the rare occasions. Well, he assumed that. He was unsure what they were like.
He tended to avoid them. They seemed scary and acted as if they would hurt him. Besides, the forest warned him of the dangers the others possessed. The forest was the closest thing to a family for him. It taught him how to survive and kept him safe. He only needed to ask and he would be answered.
In his heart, however, he felt a stirring every time he saw another that looked like him. It burned through him slowly, tempting him to approach them. He ached to learn what was outside his home, but was always too scared to try and approach them. He stayed in his home. His every need was met here; he was safe. Every day he ran through the forest, taking only what was given to him. However, around his eighteenth Snowfall, everything changed.
The Sun Season had ended, signifying the beginning of Leaf Fall. This meant that the forest would get bitter in a few suns. He would fashion more animal skin clothing to keep him warm once the forest provided. He had been running through the trees, as he moved to the warmer parts of the forest for the next seasons. He only spent part of Flower Bloom and all of Sun Season near the mountains.
On his daily journey, the forest’s Aura had changed. It frightened him, for rarely did the forest’s Aura feel alarmed. It started leading him to the source of it’s distress. The Aura only got worse the closer he got. He slowed, careful not to give away his presence as he came across the source of the problem. From the bushes that the forest provided, he could see a place of temporary residence used by others like him. He called those The Others. They usually abandoned places like this after they stayed for a sun or two. However, something was off about this one.
For starters, The Others were there, lying dead on the ground. Izuku had seen death before; the animals of the forest often died. This was no different from the animals he had seen so he was not phased by this. Another thing that was off was that the sun circle-what they used to tame the sun when it got dark-was still warm. There was still a faint orange glow about it. Finally, the things The Others held so dearly to them were scattered about and destroyed. From a mere look, no animal had done this to The Other. He cautiously stepped out of the bushes to explore further.
He nearly collapsed as the forest assaulted him with alarm. This frightened Izuku to no end. For the forest to be this alarmed and frightened- it was unusual. He struggled to ignore the panic that the forest flooded into him. Whatever did this was as old as the forest and even more dangerous than The Others. For the forest itself to quake at the mere remains of its power this badly only could mean horrible things. He clutched at his head, pushing this area’s Aura away from himself. He needed to see if he could find anything that might tell him the story of what happened.
The forest quieted down, leaving his mind as he calmed himself. He opened his green eyes and started with The Others. Whatever killed them had to have left something behind. He started with the closest- an Other with clothing made of something that had a sharp, tangy Aura. He gently touched it and gasped, scrambling away. His heart thumped in his chest. The Other’s Aura felt unnatural. It was terrifying. He gulped giving that Other a wide berth as he moved onto the next.
This Other had strange hair. Half was as red as the leaves that fell during Leaf Fall, the other as pale as the first snow of Snowfall. He was hesitant to reach out and gently touch this one’s cheek. He was filled with a sense of sorrow from this one. He tilted his head, confused slightly. This one was still alive. He looked around, deciding that he was done here. He didn’t want to chance what scared the forest to come here again and finish off this Other. He gently lifted the Other onto his back, stumbling slightly. This Other was taller than him, and a bit heavier than what he was used too, but he got the hang of it quickly.
Izuku moved quickly through the forest, to safety within the trees. He didn’t stop moving for a long time, only pausing when he deemed it was safe enough. He sat the Other down gently against a tree. He moved to a few feet in front of the other sitting down. As far as he could tell, this Other wasn’t injured beyond a bump to his head.He waited for the Other to stir patiently as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon. Izuku couldn’t fight the heaviness of his eyelids and ended up falling asleep on the ground, resting as comfortably as he could.
Izuku was awoken by the sun appearing over the horizon. He yawned softly as he sat up, stretching his body. He was stiff from the chill of the night air. But the forest kept him warm as it always had. Now having time to think more about this Other, a question came to his mind. Why was this Other not as hurt as the rest of them? They were all dead; he merely had a bump on his head and was unconscious. He scratched behind his ear as he thought.
He jumped when the Other started to move. It was awakening. Fear compelled Izuku to hide, but curiosity's claws kept him firmly attached to the ground. He wanted to see what would happen when it awoken.
The Other groaned, placing a hand on its head, murmuring something to itself. Izuku gasped slightly, catching it’s attention. Cold eyes met his own, making Izuku flinch and retreat behind a nearby tree.
“...Who are you?”
It was calling out to him. Izuku understood The Others speech, although he didn’t know how. It was something he just knew. It was like reading the Aura of the forest. He didn’t know how he did it, but he did. Izuku curiously peered around the tree trunk, staring at it. This Other wasn’t threatening like most he’d observed.
“...I’m not going to hurt you.”
Izuku still didn’t speak. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth as he observed the other. The Other let out a soft sigh. He glanced around, “Am I in the forest?”
Izuku nodded once. He gripped the bark of the tree, ignoring it’s hesitant aura. He didn’t move closer but he edged out of the cover slightly.
“I’m Shoto,” the Other said, gesturing to itself.
Izuku tilted his head slightly and gently repeated the foreign word, feeling it slip off of his tongue, “Sh… Shoto…”
The Other-Shoto-seemed surprised at his response, nodding, “Yes. That’s my name. What’s yours?”
Izuku glanced up at Shoto. What was a name? He didn’t have one that he knew of… the forest only referred to him as Izuku. He tilted his head, “N… Name?”
“You… don’t have one?”
“What’s Name?” Izuku questioned softly.
“It’s what you’re called,” Shoto explained, “I am called Shoto.”
Izuku stepped out from behind the tree slowly. He pointed a hand at him, “Shoto…” He gestured to his chest, “Izuku.”
“Izuku…” Shoto tilted his head.
Izuku nodded, slowly inching forward, only to step back several steps, “Forest’s scared…” He looked in a direction, squinting his eyes, “Danger.” He moved up towards Shoto, “Come.” He grabbed his hand and ran away from what the forest was frightened of.