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Not everyone in their tribe had been born into it, that was a fact that Kota knew plenty well. Their dragon and his partner had been lone wanderers before Hawk found them and brought them home, and there were some grown-ups who’d married in from other tribes, even a few who’d left their old tribe for other reasons and joined up with theirs. None of them had been townies though, unlike the weird little girl Aizawa had brought home from the last raid. A shifter, he said, though Kota had never seen or heard of a shifter with a horn like hers. She was weak, her pale skin burnt an angry red before they were even halfway done with chores, and her hair was white, like Shuzenji’s, despite the fact she was only a year older than him.
Kota stuck his leg out as she passed, catching her around the ankle, and she cried out as she hit the ground. “Go home already.” he scoffed, scuffing his foot against the dirt next to her face as he walked past. “Townies don’t belong here.”
“Kota.” Aizawa said sternly, and he winced. “What have I told you?”
“We beat up townies all the time on raids, how come I hafta be nice to one now?” he whined. Aizawa crossed his arms. Kota crossed his right back and stuck out his tongue.
“I’m going to go talk to Mandalay and Tiger.” Aizawa said after a long moment of silence. “You go help clean the horse tack, I’ll find you once we’ve decided what to do.”
“Alright.” Kota shrugged, turning towards the edge of camp where the horses were grazing. Cleaning horse tack was kinda boring, but also kinda cool, seeing how all the pieces fit together. He’d gotten through two sets of stirrup when Tiger cleared his throat behind him.
“You’re on firewood duty today.”
Kota groaned, hanging his head back to scowl up at his caretaker. “Do I hafta?” he complained, definitely not whining because he wasn’t a baby.
“Yes.” Tiger bent down and grabbed him under his arms, lifting him to his feet. “And you’ll be showing Eri how it’s done, as well.”
“What? No!” Kota kicked out at Tiger, who sighed and fixed him with a stern look.
“We’ve talked about this, Kota. Aizawa took her in, so she’s part of the tribe now.”
“She’s weak and dumb and-”
Tiger shook him, brow furrowing with a deep frown. “You are going to show Eri how to collect firewood, and if you come home alone then you’ll be helping the scouts find her. Understood?”
Kota crossed his arms and scowled at Tiger, who just shook him again. “Do you understand, or do I need to get Ragdoll?”
“I understand.” he huffed. “Can you put me down now?”
Tiger lowered him to the ground. Kota tugged his hat down more firmly on his head, fingers brushing over the horns fastened to the front of it, smooth and familiar. He almost wished they were attached to his head like Eri’s was, if only so he could whack her with them. Tiger gestured for him to follow, and Kota crossed his arms as he stomped after his caretaker. Collecting firewood wasn’t hard, when he did it with the other kids of the tribe it was even kinda fun, they raced for who could get the biggest pile of sticks the fastest. Stupid townie wouldn’t even know what could be burnt, probably. Maybe he would let her pick up bad branches, show all the dumb grown-ups that she didn’t belong here.
Eri ducked behind Aizawa’s legs as he and Tiger drew closer. Kota stuck his tongue out her. Tiger swatted him on the back of the head without even looking. “You ready, Eri?” he asked with a friendly smile. The townie looked up at Aizawa, who rested a hand on her head.
“I’m ready.” she said, her voice as small and weak as the rest of her.
“Good.” Tiger crouched, resting one strong hand on Kota’s shoulder. “Kota here is going to teach you how to collect firewood.”
“What?!” Kota shoved Tiger’s hand off his shoulder, scowling at the grown-up. “I never agreed to teach her!”
“Someone had to teach you, didn’t they?” Aizawa said before Tiger could reply, his voice cool and level as ever. “Eri’s no different from you, she needs to be taught how we do things before she can do them on her own.”
Kota opened his mouth, the argument that she was just a stupid townie and didn’t need to know anything about their tribe sitting on the tip of his tongue. A hard glare from Aizawa silenced him though, and Tiger sighed as he gave Kota a push. “Look at it this way. The sooner you finish teaching her how to gather firewood, the sooner you can get back to playing with your friends.”
Kota huffed and stomped past Aizawa into the woods, following the winding path started by animals and broadened by the feet of others collecting firewood since they made camp here. He grabbed random small branches hanging in reach and tugged, snapping them free to hold in his left arm. Behind him, he could hear the townie doing the same thing, even though he was sure she didn’t have water magic. He crouched to pick up a stick which had fallen on the path, and paused to listen.
Nothing unusual, birdsong and wind in the trees. He straightened back up and flicked the stick in his hand as if it was a whip, pushing a bit of magic into it and shooting all the water inside out against a tree with a loud, wet sound. The townie squeaked, and Kota snorted. Dummy was scared of his magic? She’d obviously never seen any of the warriors in action. He wasn’t anywhere near as strong as a grown-up yet, though he was better than a bunch of them at hitting the target when he shot water at it.
“Wh-” Kota turned around to glare at the townie, walking straight backwards as the path veered off to one side. They’d have better luck off it, anyways. “What’s your affinity?”
“Water magic, duh.” he scoffed, grabbing another larger piece of wood as he passed it. “Do you not even know the elemental magics, dummy?”
“I-”
Kota turned away, focusing on cutting a mostly-straight path away from camp. Behind him, Eri fell silent, and kept breaking sticks off of trees at random. He rolled his eyes and didn’t stop her. He’d learnt by copying the kid he tagged along with the first few times, if she was too dumb to do the same that was a her problem. “What did you even do to Aizawa to make him think you belong in the tribe?” he asked after a few minutes of walking, grabbing up good sticks off the ground as he came across them.
“Nothing.” she said quietly. Kota snorted.
“Suuure,” he drawled, grabbing another stick. “Because Aizawa is dumb enough to drag a useless weakling home for no reason.”
“I didn’t do anything to him.” Eri snapped, and Kota laughed as he turned to face her.
“Say it again, your voice sounds funny when you’re lying.”
“I didn’t do anything!” Eri shouted, and pitched one of her sticks clear over his head.
“Liar liar skirt on fire~”
Eri let out an inhuman screech, and Kota’s eyes widened as she charged him, horn sprouting into something wicked sharp and skin turning an unhealthy grey-blue. She leapt at him, and he dove sideways, laughing as she tumbled.
“You’re not even good at fighting.” he dropped his dried firewood and pointed the green sticks at her with a grin. “Check this out!” he forced magic into the wood, and all the water in all of them shot out to douse her. She staggered, skin fading back to stupid pale, and Kota tossed the now-dry wood down with the rest before tackling her. “I thought shifters were supposed to be extra cool, but you’re just lame.” he laughed, pinning her down with a hand on her horn.
Eri’s face scrunched up like she was about to cry, and Kota yelped at the sensation that spread across his palm. He recoiled, looking at his hand, and an experimental poke proved the strange pale patch to be soft and uncalloused. Eri shoved him, he shoved her back, and they rolled around the forest floor grappling until a roar much deeper and louder than Eri’s split the air, reverberating down into Kota’s insides.
They both froze, and Kota realized belatedly that the birds had stopped singing.
“I’m sorry.” Eri whispered, tears shining in her eyes as they both scrambled to their feet. Kota looked around frantically, and spat the only cuss word he knew. He couldn’t tell which way they’d come from, and they’d been walking too long to still be in earshot of the camp.
Heavy footsteps shook the ground, and Kota spun to face the beast approaching them. It was one of the Great Evil’s, unmistakably, too small to be one of the giants of the far mountains and way too big to be a person. Its skin was a mottled grey, the wounds littering its ugly hide a rotten green, and a single ivory horn jutted out above one of its black eyes. Kota aimed up at its not-quite-human face with a defiant shout, pouring all the rest of his magic into a blast of water at least as strong as what he’d staggered Eri with earlier.
The beast growled, swatting at its now-soaked face, and Kota grabbed Eri’s hand. Townie or not, nobody deserved to be eaten alive by one of those things. “Run!” he shouted, and dragged her along as he took off at a dead sprint. Eri stumbled, but quickly caught her feet and kept pace, racing ahead of the ground-shaking footsteps of the beast behind them.
“Can’t you- shoot it again?” she panted, and Kota shook his head.
“Used- too much.” he ducked under a low branch, weaving around a patch of brambles. “Can you- do anything?”
“I’ll try.” Eri yanked her hand free of his and spun around, planting her feet with a high, thin imitation of their battle cry. Dark energy glowed around one of her pale fists, and she punched weakly at the still-approaching monster. The magic struck it in the knee, and Kota cheered as it went down hard.
“It won’t stay down.” Eri panted, her face even paler than before somehow.
“Then we keep running.” Kota grabbed her hand again and pulled her along again. If they got split up Aizawa would murder him. Or at least ground him for Ever. The ground shook anew as the monster got back up to keep following them, and Kota’s racing heart leapt into his throat. “HELP!!” he yelled, letting Eri lead as he breathed deep to yell again. He yelped instead when Eri went down and he tripped over her, both of them tumbling across the ground. He scrambled back to his feet, but when Eri went to get up she fell back down again with a cry, grabbing her ankle.
“It hurts.” she hiccupped, tears spilling down her cheeks, chest heaving.
“I’ll carry you.” he blurted, grabbing her by the arm and pulling. He’d never managed to carry anyone bigger than him, but he had to now. He couldn’t just leave her to die!
The monster let out a deep rumble, and Kota peed himself a little when he looked up to see eyes darker than the night sky looking down at him. Eri sobbed, clinging to his arm as it reached for them, and then- then it wasn’t there. A sweeping curve of golden magic blew it clean off its feet, back into trees which splintered and fell under its weight.
“Are you kids alright?” an unfamiliar voice asked, and Kota turned to see a boy about the age of the new scout and warrior trainees. Golden light swirled around him, ruffling his green hair and gleaming in his eyes.
“She hurt her ankle.” he blurted, and the boy’s eyes narrowed for a moment, flicking between them and the monster already getting back up again. Then he smiled, wide and warm, and twirled his shining sword with a ribbon of golden magic trailing behind it.
“It’s okay, I’m here to protect you.” he promised, and for some reason Kota believed him. “You get your friend to safety, I’ll take care of the monster.”
The monster in question roared, sounding a whole lot angrier now than it had before, and Kota tugged on Eri’s arm, dragging her to her feet and wedging himself against her side. They limped backwards, Eri’s breaths quick and shallow and his own not much better. Kota had never seen their tribe’s warriors in action, but he thought it might look something like this. The stranger was a blur of golden magic and flashing light on his blade and bright red shoes kicking off of the trees and the monster and sometimes, it seemed, just the air.
“The knee!” Eri yelled, hand clutched tight on his shoulder.
The swordsman twisted midair, sunlight glinting on his sword, and the monster bellowed as it went down even harder than the first time, something thick and green oozing from the new cut that wrapped all the way around the knee Eri had shot earlier. The swordsman let out a yell and a burst of golden light as he leapt up to swing his sword and the monster’s neck, and Eri whimpered as its head rolled across the forest floor.
“Thanks for the help.” the stranger said, walking back over to them and crouching. “You’re not hurt, are you?” he looked between them. Kota shook his head.
“I’m fine, but she can’t walk.”
“We’re lost.” Eri sniffled, and Kota’s stomach dropped as he remembered that she was right. Being chased by a monster had made that part easy to forget.
“Maybe I can help.” the stranger offered with that same warm smile, holding out a hand. “My name’s Midoriya Izuku, what are yours?”
“Izumi Kota.” he answered, and after a moment of sniffling silence jerked his head at Eri. “Crybaby here is Aizawa Eri.”
“Nice to meet you both.” Midoriya nodded. “Aizawa, would you be alright with me carrying you?”
Eri nodded, breath hitching wetly, and Kota narrowed his eyes as Midoriya lifted her in his arms. For all that he’d heard townies accused them of stealing children, he’d heard far more stories of their own kids going missing and being found dead outside of villages. This guy may have beat up the monster that was going to kill them, but he was still a townie. “Don’t try anything funny.” he warned, and the townie gave him a confused look.
“Kota, be nice.” Eri pouted, arms already wrapped around the townine’s neck. “He saved us!”
Kota crossed his arms, staring down the townie and weighing his options. Midoriya was strong, obviously, and fast. If he wanted to take Eri he could easily run while Kota’s back was turned. But getting him to put Eri down would be... really hard, if not impossible.
“Do you know which way you came from?” Midoriya asked, and after a moment Kota nodded.
“This way.” he said, grabbing Midoriya by the belt and marching off back the way they’d been chased. It wasn’t a hard trail to follow, the monster had left a whole bunch of broken trees in its wake, and thankfully the townie didn’t fight being pulled around by the belt. Kota stopped when they came to a clearing, and when he looked up at Eri she nodded. This was where they’d fought.
It seemed so silly now, that he’d actually tried to fight her for no good reason. Even if Aizawa had picked her up in the last town they raided, it wasn’t like she had any way to get back there, or contact them to bring them down on the tribe. And she sure as heck wasn’t strong enough to be a threat on her own. “We can get home on our own from here.” he told Midoriya once he spotted the pile of green sticks Eri had dropped when they started fighting.
“Are you sure?” the townie frowned. Kota kicked him in the shin.
“Yeah I’m sure! I’m not bringing some random townie back to camp.”
“Kota!” Eri scolded, and he snapped his mouth shut. They hadn’t actually told this townie before that they weren’t just out hunting or whatever. Pawable deniability, Hawk had called it once.
“Alright, then.” Midoriya said slowly, kneeling and lowering Eri’s feet to the ground. “Just be careful, alright? Where there’s one monster, there’s more.”
“We will be.” Eri nodded quickly, letting Kota pull her arm around his shoulder. “Thank you!”
“You’re very welcome.” Midoriya grinned, ruffling Eri’s hair as he stood. “Now I’d better get back to gathering firewood, or my friends will be mad when I get back to camp.” he laughed, but Kota didn’t move until he’d walked far enough away his footsteps faded into the background noise of the forest.
“We were supposed to be gathering firewood.” Eri whispered, and Kota rolled his eyes with a scoff.
“You’re hurt, dummy.” he pointed out. “I can’t carry you and the tinder.”
“Oh.” Eri flushed, vibrant even under the burn on her too-pale cheeks. “You don’t-”
“I’d get in way more trouble for coming home without you than coming home without firewood.” Kota huffed, turning them around and starting back towards camp. Eri was silent for a while, but as they stepped onto the trail she spoke up again.
“Will you get in trouble for your hat?”
“What about it?” Kota frowned, and Eri lifted her free arm to press her fingers to the right horn set in the front of his cap. Or rather, the spot where the right horn was supposed to be. It must’ve come out while they were running, or maybe when they were fighting? Either way, it was lost by now. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry.” Eri mumbled, and falling to her side again. “I should’ve said something sooner.”
“No, no, it’s alright.” he said hurriedly. “It’s just a hat.” that his dad had given him, but... he would’ve outgrown it sooner or later anyways. “And hey, now we match!” he grinned, and after a moment Eri grinned back.
“We do match!” she giggled, and Kota shifted his grip on her. Sure Eri was still weak, and not super smart, but she wasn’t that bad. And maybe if he was her friend, he could help her get less weak.